Infertility investigations/IVF in Scotland - thread 2

[Kitekat81]

A thread for those who are undergoing infertility investigations / IVF in Scotland 🙂

@Kamiros welcome to the thread 😊 What's your timings for meds and stuff? Sounds like you're similar to a few of us.

@jonrik eeeeeeeek! So exciting. Do you have another early start tomorrow?

Ahhh @jonrik so excited for you!!

For the ladies who have started northisterone already - did you take all three at once or spread throughout the day? I start Tuesday

It's a late morning one @pixelflower. Will have a nice slow start to the day and take it easy tomorrow. I know you can basically go about your day as normal but I feel I need to lie down so "nothing falls out" before it's attached. I know it's a bit silly but will make me feel better!

Thanks @pixelflower. I have an appointment this week to finalise that- we're doing flare protocol so hoping to be started meds next day 1 so about 3 weeks, prepared for not quite making that though and it being the next month.

@willithappen I've been spreading them out through the day. Eeeek, it's February now so we're starting this month! I think I may be feeling a little like when people decide to try 🤣🤦

@jonrik I say whatever you can do that makes you feel better you should do. I've already mentioned to my husband the thing about getting McDonald's fries after. I've listened to a podcast where a fertility expert gave their opinion on it but I'm still going to make him take me to the drive through 🤣

@Kamiros oh, that's not one I've googled before, will have to have a look. Think it's good to mentally prepare. I'd tried to prepare myself for being too late to start this month so when things happened on time I was excited.

Sorry for another double post but thought this might make you guys laugh too.
Just went on Facebook and there's another bloody scan photo. Then I see who's posted it, my friend who has a scanner for her animals. I just got jealous of a sheep 🤣

Hope all goes well today @jonrik! Enjoy the slow morning.

Argh @pixelflower - that made me smile. I’ve had a very full on weekend of pregnancy announcements Spent most of yesterday with my tummy in knots, I’ve come off Facebook already but thinking I might need do the same for Insta or hugely limited my scrolling time.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you @jonrik - Good luck for today!

Good luck today @jonrik 😁

Welcome @Kamiros

Good luck today @jonrik ! Be thinking of you all day. Like you said take it nice and easy :)

Thanks @pixelflower I will try spread mine out. A friend going through it only took one a day as she wasn't told three and she's ended up fine so I don't think it's too big an issue, I'm just over thinking absolutely everything now that it's officially IVF month!!

My partner and I had a little argument about it all Sat morning. So all the positivity I have had recently and then Sat it all went to pot. I think maybe he's starting to panic now it's so close, but I still need to remind him that it's not guaranteed to work, it would be at the earliest March before I'd be pregnant if it did work, then there's the 9 months of actually being pregnant 🙈

We need to buy our house by the start of next year so he seems to think it's not the right timing now. I was furious because of all the waiting and being like two days away from starting.

Also, he buys and sells Pokémon cards and he sent ones away to be 'graded'. Due to the pandemic and it being a company in America he sent them to it's taken 9 months already since he sent them and still not back so he was moaning about how long 9 months was. I was like 'YES!! Exactly nine months is a LONG time' lol

Hi @willithappen I was told by the nurse to take 3 a day could take them all at once or through the day, maybe phone and double check as everyone is different it’s so you have a really heavy bleed to ensure the lining is ready for all that happens that’s why some people have to stay on it longer.

There’s a lot going on with you, not easy is it and blokes have the easy part of it just the sample in a cup we do all the hormones etc 😂

Hi everyone! I hope it's OK for me to join this. my DH and I have been trying for 3 years, 2 years ago we went to the Dr and got put forward to a gyno, we got all the tests done and my DH had to get a SA which came back low, I was booked in for a HSG but went on AF the day I was supposed to get it done and the gyno said there was no point in doing it because I couldn't get pregnant naturally so if my tubes were blocked then it would be dealt with when I got put forward for IVF. I've had to lose some weight which I've struggled with but I'm nearly there, I'm due to see my gyno in April but unsure of the date yet I'm still waiting to hear back but I think once I hit the recommended BMI I'm going to phone to book an appointment with them and see if I can get in earlier, I should hopefully then be referred to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for IVF. I have a couple of questions that I hope you'll be able to help me out with though -
Currently my partner vapes - he is intending on stopping once we get told that we can go to ERI but how do they check this? Does he get a blood test or does he just have to breathe into a tube? What's the process for NHS funding? And I'm terrified of needles, the thought gives me the creeps but I know it's just part of the course and if I need to do it then I will but does someone show you how to do it or are you just left to figure it out?
Sorry for all the questions, I feel like I've been on this road for years and now that I'm close to my BMI it's starting to get more real and I'm panicking about everything that I need to do now! How long did it take from seeing your Dr/Gyno to when you actually seen an IVF specialist?

@LabradorMum yeah a lot going on. Was a bit of a downer on Sat. Just men being confusing haha. The other day he was on about taking all the days I have appointments off work so he can drive me in/come with me!

@conall welcome to the thread! I'm pretty sure they will show you how to do the injections :) I know for Aberdeen the first one is an epi-pen so not too bad!
For the smoking myself and partner had to breathe into a tube. I'm not sure the rules on vaping and if it's considered the same as smoking. My partner mentioned being a social smoker so they wouldn't refer us until he had stopped completely for three months. He got the same result on the smoke test as I did - I have never smoked a day in my life.

For funding I believe all clinics in Scotland are three rounds on NHS if neither of you have a child already. If one or the other does I think it can change. Your clinic will be able to confirm your funding though once you go through with it all.

Hope this helps!

@willithappen thank you! I'm hoping he's going to just quit or go down to 0mg, I'm not wanting to finally get an app. for IVF and then have to wait while he quits so I'd rather he just done it now! I'm hoping my BMI will hurry up and lower, I'm feeling like it's so close to the finish line in regards to my weight that I'm just eager for it to get there! We got told by the gyno that we should get 3 rounds so I'm happy with that, it's just I wasn't sure if the paperwork was a big process or not. I'm just excited to get it going but nervous all at the same time!

@willithappen they are super confusing and they say we are difficult to understand 😂

Hi @conall and welcome to the thread. Vaping is still classed as smoking on NHS and you will both be asked to blow into a carbon tester I don’t know if vaping shows up anything but you both have to be smoke free for 3 months they will ask this question and you will both be tested.

NHS funding is as below for Aberdeen, not sure about Edinburgh:

www.aberdeenfertility.org.uk/costs/nhs-criteria

Depending on your age you may only get one cycle not 3.

You are shown by the nurse how to give yourself the injections.

Before Covid we were about 4 months before we got an appointment.

Lot on information isn’t it 😟

@conall I would definitely get him to stop sooner than later. Like I said it pushed our time back - they wouldn't put us on the waiting list until it had been three months of him stopping. So HyCoSy in Feb and should have gone on the list after then but my partner hadn't stopped social smoking until start of year so we were given a March review appointment - this was then cancelled due to Covid and got a late April appointment so we were pushed back a whole three months because of this in total. :( never mind, we're here now

I called clinic and it's three tablets per day for me. Glad I asked now as I couldn't find details anywhere. She said it's fine to take them all at once :)
@LabradorMum @pixelflower getting any side affects from the tablets at all?

Hi @willithappen best to check as everyone is on different plans for different reasons.

I am not on them, I took the decision last week to defer for a month for personal and work reasons, o was worried sick about what they would say but the nurse reassured me and said it happens all the time. So I will be a month behind you guys now 😟

She did say it was three before opening up my file so not sure if it's meant to be three for all but you are right, all different plans for different reasons

@LabradorMum that must have been a tough decision for you but the right one for you it sounds like. A month isn't long in the grand scheme of things and at least you know where you stand with it also instead of the unknown wait of waiting to hear from the clinic.

@willithappen @LabradorMum thank you both! I'd prefer he just gave up vaping altogether if he can't I'd hope he goes to the lowest dose that he can and I've made it clear that I'm not wanting to have to wait for 3 months considering it's taken 2 years for me to get to the weight I need to be well just over 2 years - BMI is sitting between 30.3/30.6 right now so I'm getting closer, I've started Keto recently so I'm hoping the weight will hurry up and shit like it has done in the past month, kicking myself I hadn't done it sooner. Thanks for the info @LabradorMum I'll have a proper read of this later. The gyno said that I would be entitled to 3 so that's good I'm 28 right now but should be turning 29 by the time IVF starts. It's so much info to take in! I've just been focusing on my health for the past two years to get us here and now that we are closer I'm trying to get as much info as I can. I know there was an option that you could go go a Dr's to get the injections everyday as that is what my friend did but due to covid I don't think that option would be available now so I'm hoping DH will step up and do the injections if I don't feel like I can!

Sorry about the formatting on my previous post! @willithappen @LabradorMum

@willithappen it was the best decision I know a month is nothing and I felt so much better after it. I have been given extra responsibility at work and it wouldn’t have worked in with the scan timings and there is stuff going on with my partners mum and my mum so felt a little stressed and didn’t think it was conducive to go into it with all the hanging over me.

@conall so hard they just don’t get it they have it simple compared to what we go through!! That’s good news 3 rounds. Never heard of going to the doc to get them done. Maybe once you see it happening it will be a little easier for you 😁

@LabradorMum for sure sounds like the best decision for you all round then

@conall don't worry about the post! Happens sometimes ha.
I have never heard of doctor doing injections either. I'd think if it was a thing before it wouldn't be now due to Covid as they won't want someone in every day. I know Aberdeen have knocked off one of the monitoring appointments so we only get two monitoring scans now rather than three. Not sure if that's Covid related or something that would happen all along but seems they want us in less.

@LabradorMum I hadn't heard of it before until someone I know who is terrified of needles got told they could go see a nurse and they'd do it for them, that was pre-covid though so it'll be different now I'm sure!
DH has been pretty good with helping me stick to my diet but he doesn't like to talk about IVF until it's happening so I've felt a bit alone for a while and thought it was finally time I reached out and joined a community, I've been lurking here for a while so thought I'd join

I'm sending everyone positive thoughts ☺️ it's a hard place to be but the end goal will be worth it!

I understand the lonely part! My partner doesn't like to talk about it either. I'll keep him updated with what's going on. I heard him telling his friends on the PlayStation a while back after he watched the video on what happens which I thought was weird. Saturday turned into an argument because I didn't cuddle him back first thing in the morning 🙃

It's such a supportive thread here and good to talk to others going through things