IVF - May

[TheSnufflet]

Couldn't see a thread for May so I thought I'd start one!

Anyone else doing their cycle in May? I just got my calendar through and all the injections look extremely Not Fun (this is my first time doing it) 😕

@TheSnufflet Also horrifyingly after I posted this realise that this is means I'm now going to have my birthday around the end of 2WW.... Will either be a very good or very bad birthday I feel....

@2mumlife that is ridiculous!! I find the 2WW agony and having had three failed transfers I’m just on edge continually. Then I start to dread going to the toilet in case I see any blood. It’ll take more than breathing exercises to get me through! Xx

@mowglika same 😂 hoping that it's "heathy" extra calories that my body will be kind 😬

@VenusStarr yeah I think I actually prefer being in control of my injections. I normally bruise easily and surprised I hadn't with the insulin needles. Good luck with your biopsy.

@2mumlife I actually microchip dogs so used to needles, just never on myself 🙄

@VenusStarr no down regging for me so I'll be straight on the ovaleap cd2. I'm guessing that will be about the 28th April, so I'm guessing transfer will be around the 10th to 14th May!? No idea really haha!

I wasn't able to try my last 2 cycles as I had to re-do my MMR vaccine. Felt really weird after month on month of that being go time! A bit like I had no purpose if that makes sense!

I am really going to try to stick to OTD I think. Not sure how likely that is as I usually test early every month!

@2mumlife both the fresh and FET were positive but I miscarried the FET at 7 weeks. I got dc from my first fresh cycle.

It’s scary though to think I got 4 blasts from that cycle and only one resulted in a live baby, I was a couple of years younger then. Wondering how many eggs I will need this time to get 1 healthy embryo.

Fingers crossed the extra protein will do it’s thing - trying to stick to under 40% carbs and over 25% protein which is actually not easy in practice.

@KayReeves TWW is horrible isn't it? I just can't switch off during it because of never making it to the end without a period I'm with you that it'll take more than breathing ! She also did this exercise if writing down all the bad things (anxiety, waiting etc) on one side of a piece of paper, and said if you scrumple it up and throw away you don't get the things on the other side (which said pregnancy, baby, family) which I also found monumentally unhelpful as none of the good bits are guaranteed at all ...

@mowglika Ah thanks for reminder! Nice both were positive even if one sadly ended. We started with plans for 2 but now I'd just be relieved to get 1 baby tbh.

Interesting all the protein chat, not something I really thought about during our fresh cycle

Hello ladies! Can I join? I will be having a FET in May, with a starting date around May 15th (if AF shows up on time!). I suffer from thin lining, so I will need stims to thicken my lining even though I am having a FET. This will be my 6th transfer: 1st one resulted in my DD then had 4 failed ones (including 2 chemicals). Since I wanted to know what was going on, I had a new EC after the last failed transfer and had my 4 resulting blasts PGS tested and only one came back normal, so that’s the one I will have transferred! I think this will be our last try. We still have 6 remaining blasts from my 1st EC but they were not PGS tested and are of pretty poor quality with grades such as 5CB and 3BC. Also, i have been doing this for so long now, I feel like I need to move on... I look forward to following all of your journeys on here!

Hello everyone!

(And special greetings to @VenusStarr and @FingersXssd83, I remember you both from previous threads. Sorry to hear your journey has continued to be difficult @VenusStarr and congratulations on the birth of your little one @FingersXssd83).

My history, I'm 35 years old, in a same sex relationship. Had 3x donor IUI and 1x IVF in 2018 which yielded 1 BFN, a missed miscarriage and 2 chemicals. Changed clinic to one that believes immune causes of miscarriage exist and had a FET of our only frozen embryo in summer 2019 which resulted in the birth of our son last spring.

Due to my low AMH for age and previous not great response to IVF (7 collected, 4 fertilised, 3 day 5 blastocysts of which 1 was transferred, 1 was frozen, and 1 was discarded by the clinic ) we've opted to do a freeze all cycle now in the hope of banking some good embryos for when we're ready to expand our family. Additionally due to the pandemic the clinic is not willing to prescribe prednisolone which I'm convinced is what made the last pregnancy stick. Although plan A is for a freeze all, we've agreed that if I produce only viable embryos that are unsuitable for freezing we will do a fresh transfer.

Our clinic has taken on a lot of additional NHS funded patients who had cycles cancelled in lockdown and their administration has really suffered as a result. So I am due to start northeristone on Wednesday 27th but currently have no medication and no protocol, also they want us to redo all our consents as they have moved to a digital system since we completed them the first time so we are frantically trying to get those done.

I'm not expecting amazing things as we didn't have a great result last time and since then I have got older, more sleep deprived, and my diet is less good due to running around after our son. Also I am still breastfeeding and have been warned that this is likely to reduce my response to the medications. This clinic seem to be much more on the ball clinically than the last and I have been taking shedloads of supplements so I can only hope those things tip the odds in our favour.

@Tarsette Don't discount the "low" graded embryos. Our son was a 5BB- blastocyst! I completely understand needing to stop at some point for your sanity though.

Hi @TinyPaws 👋 thank you, it's been a tough slog but feeling hopeful now we're trying a change of approach. I seem to recall you were at BWH (if I'm wrong ignore me!) but I was under them and my ccg moved us to Create and I will be having prednisolone prescribed by them as I have immune issues too. An alternative might be to get a private prescription?
Not long now before you get started :) hope your meds delivery comes soon!

Hi @Tarsette :)

I start a 6 week mindfulness course next week and I've got acupuncture on Wednesday, so hoping that will help my mindset. I'm trying to be realistic but equally I want to enjoy this process - well as much as you can when you're on a tonne of meds, hormones and sticking yourself with needles everyday! 😂

Hi ladies, can I share my story here ? I'm 37, have a son (7 y.o.) whom we've got after 2 years of ttc. In Feb 2021 we decided to go for the ivf having no good luck with conceiving our 2nd baby naturally for years.
My fertility test showed a dramatically low AMH of only 0.46 🙄😰 with not lots of hope for the success. Surprisingly for everyone and my doctor in particularly, I've got a very good response to medication producing 14 follicles 😯 of which 12 eggs were fertilized. By day 3 all of them were viable. By day 5 - 5 blastocysts were created, of which 1 embryo has been fresh transferred. By day 6 other of embryos were of bad quality ( 2bc, 3cb), and only one 3AB has been frozen. Sadly, I've had an early MMC after my fresh transfer (7 weeks), recovering from it at the moment and need to visit my doctor soon for next steps.
Needless to say I'm devastated by MMC and now don't know how to move forward with my frozen embryo which is the only one... So scared it won't happen next time too :(
My doctor is good but doesn't explain much and you need to ask precise questions to get any info from her. Should I ask for some additional tests after MMC ? Should I wait longer before doing FET ? Should I postpone FET and do another round of eggs collection? I'm confused and would appreciate any advise from the community. Thx!

@VenusStarr Yes it was BWH, and I was not impressed by them at all! Hopefully Create will be a better experience for you. I'm convinced that pred was the thing that made the difference on our successful cycle. Very interested to hear that Create are willing to prescribe it despite the covid situation!

@olipoli123 I'm so sorry for your loss. Hopefully your doctor will be able to answer some of your questions. With regards to doing another round of egg collection prior to FET, I suppose it depends how many more cycles you're prepared to do, your financial situation and how many children you ideally want.

@Tarsette Congratulations on first baby! I'll be doing FET about same time as you (AF 18th if it turns up on time) and also medicated (because I have variable cycle lengths). It'll be our 6th try (4 IUIs and 1 failed fresh transfer). Fingers crossed for you!

@TinyPaws Were also in same sex couple here, 4 IUIs and 1 failed IVF with nothing but BFNs here so hoping 6th tries the charm! I'm really curious about breastfeeding when doing IVF, I thought you had to stop due to hormones affecting baby? If we ever get 1 we're hoping to go for second before I turn 35 so would be interested what advicd you've been given re: IVF and breastfeeding. Congratulations on first baby and good luck!

@olipoli123 Sorry to hear about MMC. I'm afraid I don't have any advise as not been in your position, but best of luck whatever you choose to do.

@2mumlife There's actually no good evidence that breastfeeding is harmful to the nursing infant or that it compromises the success of the IVF cycle. A lot of clinics refuse to treat nursing mums but mine is ok with it. They did say it may reduce my response to the stims and could reduce my supply though. I didn't want to wean my son earlier than we both want to facilitate an IVF cycle that realistically may not even be successful.

I'm so sorry for your loss @olipoli123 ❤️ I've had 4 losses and have done lots of tests. I had my thyroid tested, plus lupus anticoagulant, antiphospholipid syndrome and factor V leiden as part of my recurrent miscarriage tests but these are only available on the nhs after 3 losses. But your clinic can probably do them. That might reveal answers. Mine didn't, so I did immune tests, but these are quite costly (but worth it if you get an answer).

@TinyPaws I know a few people from my clinic who had steroids. It's annoying how so many clinics take a different approach.

@KayReeves I mean, IVF is basically the normal 2WW on steroids, I'll probably be climbing the walls the entire time 😬

@Crazydoglady123 Aha, you're one of the earlier people in the group! Fingers crossed for you 🤞

@notyetamumbuttrying Going by your baseline scan date, I reckon you should be doing EC around the same time as @KayReeves**! Of course, everything can change after the baseline scan/how you're responding to the drugs but it's nice to have someone on the same timeline as you 🙂

@mowglika ahh that's really annoying of them! Interesting you get more than one scan though, I get the one and then I'll know if my EC and ET are accurate for sure.. I'm also planning on being low carb/high protein throughout my cycle (I've done keto many times so I'm pretty used to it) how are you finding it?

@VenusStarr See, I need to make my husband watch the videos still - he's said he'll do it, but I know he's quite squeamish about blood etc. Here's hoping that you and I won't have to do it ourselves (of course, I will if I have to). I'm hoping I'll be given levothyroxine, but I know it can take a while to kick in so I'm not sure if that'll affect this cycle IYSWIM. Although, starting late has to be better than not at all!

@2mumlife I get you, it's a completely personal decision. I'm being massively pessimistic about the whole thing so I'm fully expecting it not to work and am instead looking forward to what might be nice if it doesn't - boozy lunch in the sun on hols is on the cards if it doesn't! I haven't even dared to dream of what I'll be doing if it's positive - it feels like bad juju to even try to imagine it. It's why I've never once bought anything baby-related like babygros, because I think having something like that around would be the most crushing thing, like having a physical item to represent my longing (plus after being infertile for this long it's massively wishful thinking). But then again, massively personal decision!
I'm actually coping pretty well with lack of caffeine! I just have my one morning cup then herbal tea for the rest of the day. For the first week it just made me realise how tired I was in the evenings, I felt like going to bed at 9pm, but now I seem to have come through it 🙂
If the TWW is around your birthday, you HAVE to make some contingency plans - either for good news or bad. I hope it's good news though 🙂

Hello @Tarsette, @TinyPaws, and @olipoli123 🙂

OK, so by my calculations, here we all are on the calendar (do let me know if I've got anyone wrong!):

@TeaAndCrumpets1: EC week commencing 26th April (estimated)
@Crazydoglady123: EC 3rd May; ET 8th May
@mowglika: EC 4th May; ET 9th May
@DoctorBambino: ET week commencing 10th May
@Georgie87B: EC 13th May; ET 18th May
@VenusStarr: EC week commencing 17th May
@FingersXssd83: EC week commencing 17th May
@TheSnufflet: EC 19th May; ET 24th May
@clolo: EC week commencing 24th May (estimated)
@KayReeves: EC 21st/22nd May; ET 26th/27th May (estimated)
@notyetamumbuttrying: EC 21st/22nd May; ET 26th/27th May (estimated, going by your baseline scan date)
@Tarsette: ET week commencing 31st May (estimated)
@Gardenlady543: ET week commencing 31st May (estimated, dependent on ERA/EMMA/ALICE results)
@2mumlife: EC week commencing 31st May (estimated)

To be added when we have more information:
@JesHope345
@Maddie020
@olipoli123
@RazzleDazz1e
@TinyPaws

Have I missed anyone?

NO idea why so many random asterisks have appeared out of nowhere??

Hello All,

I need to catch up on the full thread but I am starting ICIS in May. I will get my timeline next week but AF should be coming around 3May.

Excited to join this group and go through this with other people. I suffer with horrendous anxiety and so I am feeling excited but so so frightened. I hope we can all support each other and share tips.

Sorry if this has been mentioned before but it's there any foods I should be eating for growing better eggs?

X x x

Welcome @olipoli123 @Tarsette @TinyPaws

@TheSnufflet that's a scary thought 😅

How are you feeling @mowglika? My ovaries are starting to feel achy and twingey. My left one more so but I always respond more on my left one and that's also the side of my cyst.

@StrongEagle lots of protein from different sources (meat, dairy, pulses, fish, veggies, nuts etc)

Hi @StrongEagle and welcome 🙂 it sounds as if you are expecting AF around the same time as me! Are you doing long or short protocol? Is this your first time? And do you have provisional dates for egg collection/embryo transfer? I have rotten anxiety too so you're not alone 🙂

As to foods - generally there are things like pineapple/brazil nuts/pomegranate juice/avocados/oily fish that are mentioned as good things to have throughout the cycle, but ideally you would have been taking supplements for approximately 3 months beforehand to improve egg quality before collection (things like ubiquinol/Vit D/folic acid/prenatal multivits etc).

@TheSnufflet thanks for doing that hun! She said transfer 28th to me at the first chat but she never mentioned EC but I guess as a general rule it's 4 days after scan? I booked a mini break with the girls 21st-23rd May not knowing when ivf would start. Gonna have to cancel it aren't I! What will I tell them? I never cancel social gatherings esp with restrictions now lifting etc. It's only in the uk but it'll be so suspect to now cancel. Can't use money as the excuse it's paid for already 🤔

Thanks @TheSnufflet seeing your calendar is reassuring but sad in ways that we’re all here and going through this, each with our own stories of how we got here.

On another note, anyone else sick of hearing lockdown ‘baby boom’ stories?! I know I am!! Xxx

@notyetamumbuttrying yes I think the general rule is 4/5 days after scan. Ooof bad luck! I would just tell them you've got surgery suddenly allocated to you that you've been waiting for for ages - hopefully they won't press it. If pressed, you could always say it's a laparoscopy or something? That's what I've said to various people, just got a procedure coming up that I've waited for for ages..

@KayReeves I think IVF is actually way more common than people give it credit for, it's just noone wants to bloody talk about it (least of all my husband, for whom it is 'private'. For me, I want to shout AAAARGH I'M GOING TO BE STABBING MYSELF DAILY FOR A SCIENCE EXPERIMENT, ISN'T THAT WEIRD??? to the entire world! but I can see his point as it makes me sounds like a mad person 😂)

I've heard the opposite - as in, there is a baby bust due to lockdown and people are putting off procreating due to job losses and uncertainty? Not me, I was valiantly trying all throughout. Fat lot of good it did me though!

Oh jeez @notyetamumbuttrying you can't use the lap one as you've just had one 😬 Can you use isolating as you've been near someone with Covid as an excuse?