IVF August/September cycle buddies

[foodiefil]

Starting this thread early!

We've just booked for our second round to start August 2nd with egg collection September 8th.

I was on the Jan/Feb thread earlier this year.

Come join me :)

@Bluebonnet3 thanks for working everything out! I've actually got my AF as of yesterday so will be contacting my clinic tomorrow to arrange for a scan to see if I have DR.

Hopefully will get a date to start my stims soon and my 3 scans before EC!! Exciting times 😬😬😬

So I guess I am still technically in the DR phase with buserelin injections. Will update this thread after my scan! I think I have quite similar timelines to a few people in here.

Good luck to everyone today.
I'm just off for my day 8 check up.

Hope it goes ok @Hansoo !

Quick question for everyone. Obviously I know caffeine is BAD. I stopped drinking it last December in preparation for my first cycle and have only had 3 real cups of coffee between then and now, and that was once I had miscarried. Yesterday I read that even decaf could be bad too! I drink between 1 - 2 (usually 2) cups a day, then 3+ litres of water. Does anyone else drink decaf, has anyone heard that we shouldn't? I know it does still contain caffeine hence I've only drunk a smallish amount each day, but it got me worried. Thanks x

Just finished. They found 6 follicles that they said were ready and some smaller ones. I have to ring back after 2pm to discuss the plan

@hansoo awesome news! I have mine at 1130!

@Goldilocks2528 yes, I drink decaf, I have one a day usually! Recently been having less but you're allowed a small cup a day. I honestly wouldn't worry 😊

@nedalert
Good luck for yours.

I've just rang my clinic and left a voicemail to book in a scan for DR - can't wait to get dates in the diary!!

@Hansoo exciting to know things are progressing!

@Goldilocks2528 i have been sticking to my 1 cup of coffee/tea a day limit (though i heard you can actually have 2 cups) and sometimes having just decaf. But have never heard about decaf being bad?!!!!! That is slightly worrying.... can I ask what the downside is to decaf?

@Gensola I was scanning through messages and saw you are having a scan today/few days this week. Good luck!

And everyone else, good luck for this week whatever stage you're at :)

@Nerdalert good luck for your 11:30!

Hi @Hansoo Sounds good to me. I had 4, and they got 3 eggs last time. Fingers crossed for you.

Thanks @Nerdalert. Hope your scan goes ok later this morning.

Hi @ngy21 Apparently decaf still contains some (albeit a small) amount of caffeine, it is not totally caffeine free... as you would think it is from the name!

@Goldilocks2528 - just had a look at the 'it starts with the egg' section on caffeine as this book is basically my bible right now! She recommends switching to decaf coffee, so can't be that bad? The author is very straight with her facts and recommendations. She says that studies have reported that the risk of miscarriage begins to rise at 50 to 150 mg of caffeine per day during pregnancy and there was a large study that showed the miscarriage risk for those who drank 4 or more cups of coffee a day before pregnancy was 20% higher than those who drank less.
So I wouldn't worry about decaf if I were you

Thank you @KatRee! I didn't think to check there, really it should have been the first place I looked! Very reassuring

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Good luck for everyone scanning etc this week 🤞

@Hansoo great news from your scan - must be exciting to be progressing to the next stage!

@Goldilocks2528 I would of thought a small amount of decaf is ok, especially as you are limiting it.

Unfortunately I'm starting to have some side effects from my bruserelin now, the main one being my mood being all over the place. Had a bit of a wobble last night, but feeling better this morning after a good night sleep.

@Goldilocks2528 I just remembered there was something there as it prompted me to try to cut down on my tea to be on the super safe side. 

@Nerdalert Good luck for today

@Hansoo I've also just got back from a scan- they are probably going to tell me to trigger today - eek!

@katree
Ooh. That's exciting stuff.

That's good information about decaf, thank you. Can I join you? I'm in the 2ww after an FET, last chance saloon. This is our second time - first fresh transfer was successful, but i can't remember the timings and now I'm panicking I have no symptoms!

I had my scan today (day 11), too, along with another bloodtest (which my clinic seems to base their decisions on). I'll find out later today whether to have one more evening meriofert (I'm on max dose of 450) or do trigger instead. EC date will be confirmed, too.

Does anyone have any opinions on optional add-ons like embryo glue, embryoscope, imsi & picsi (for use with icsi)? Assisted hatching? My clinic has offered them a la carte or a package deal, and I need to decide yes/no before EC. There isn't much guidance, but HFEA has them as amber and red, for not enough clinical trials to say whether they help or not. Apparently they won't hurt (other than the wallet) but they may not help. Or if they help it's like a few percentage points better.

@Goldilocks2528 that is a bit misleading! I should cut out my normal caffeine from now then... as I had been having one cup of normal then the rest decaf!!!

@2mumsandason sorry to hear about your side effects. I only really had one bad day to date and that was feeling nauseous and headache, this was around day 3-4 or taking buserelin. I haven't had anything too bad since then and today will be day 14 for me.

My clinic had called me back for my DR scan on 31st Aug with hopes of stims starting on the same or following day! Excited but at the same time i feel its going to be a long wait for this scan....!

Hey guys,

So I have another scan booked for Wednesday, we have approx 7 follicles at the moment but they are still a little smaller than they would like. I have to almost double up on Gonal F for the next few days to give them a boost. Find out on Wednesday if we get collection Friday.

Thanks for all the messages this morning. Hope everyone else's scans go okay x

@2mumsandason Sorry you've been struggling a little, but glad you are feeling better today. I had a monster headache last night, which seems to have gone now as the morning has wore on and I've drunk a load of water. Keep positive x

@Bluebonnet3 I didn't have any extras, just ICSI. To be fair none were offered or suggested but then my last cycle was on the NHS. They haven't been mentioned this time around, maybe they will be, sorry I cant help! I do know that my SIL had extras on the 3rd cycle, and that's the one that worked for her. She said she doesn't know if that's why, or if it was coincidence, but she had glue and the scratch I think.

Thanks @ngy21 and @Goldilocks2528 . Trying to drink lots of water and keep busy!

Good to hear your bad day was around day 3-4 of take bruserelin @ngy21 - that's where I am now, so hopefully things will ease over the next few days.

Hope your headache stays away @Goldilocks2528 !!

Positive vibes! x

Fingers crossed for you @Nerdalert. If it is any reassurance, 3 of mine were fine when I took the trigger, the 4th was measuring 13mm (they wanted it to be at least 16mm). When in went in for EC though it was big enough, so they seem to catch up pretty fast.

Hi everyone, just catching up with everything after a busy weekend!

@Hansoo I'm glad today's scan went well, and hope you've got your plan for EC now - very exciting!
@KatRee and @Bluebonnet3** you too! Are you triggering today in the end??

@Bluebonnet3 sorry to hear about all the side effects and especially not sleeping well! Our NHS clinic used embryo glue and the embryoscope last time, at no cost but without mentioning them, so I'm guessing there must be something useful there since it's NHS using them? Having said that, it didn't work in our case...

And thanks for going back and figuring out who is where - I'm definitely scanning around the same time as @Gensola and started stims on 17 Aug, so just a couple of days after @Nerdalert

@Nerdalert very similar situation here! They saw 10 follicles but all small and they've upped my dose of Gonal F to 450IU, with a scan on Wed. Good luck for Wed, let's hope these follicles pump up xx

@ngy21 yeah, you have a date for your scan! Excellent - 31 Aug will be here before you know it :)

@itsmschanandlerbong I'm sorry about the left side not responding and hope the ones on the right are doing well. Have you triggered in the meantime? If so, very best of luck for your EC - keeping everything crossed for you xx

@Gensola wow all that cycling and those steps is great! I did a lot of walking this weekend (not too much more than your usual amount though!) and I was totally exhausted
@Goldilocks2528 sorry to hear you're feeling really tired too, and you had such a bad headache xx And sorry about your side effects too @2mumsandason! Glad you're better today though xx

@Ttc8 welcome and good luck with Wed scan! Much like @Bluebonnet3 and @KatRee, our office is still closed so all WFH. I told my manager and we're doing IVF and he's been super supportive and told me not to worry at all, and to take whatever time I need. If I'm out for a couple of hours, I just make up the time when I can and ask someone to cover for me at my meetings, otherwise I use my sick days (I'll take a couple around EC).

Hugs all around and I hope everyone is keeping well xx

Hi. So trigger tonight. 22.45.
Egg collection Wednesday.
Not sure when transfer will be as we are coming up the bank holiday

Hi everyone, hope you are all well and today is good day for everyone.
Im literally just starting the fematab 6mgs this evening - first timer here so I really am clueless. Did anyone have any bad side effects from this? Also tmi question - is it ok to dtd while stimming? Asking for a friend, lol 😁

Hi @SerendipitySunshine - best of luck with this one -2ww must be such a difficult time

@2mumsandason Sorry the side effects have kicked in now- hope you made it through today ok
Sorry you've had monster headaches to contend with @Goldilocks2528 , hope they've stayed away today

@ngy21 I wouldn't worry too much about 1 cup of coffee, seems like it's during pregnancy rather than before that any less than a few cups a day has been shown to have an effect. I think I just cut down on it to feel like I'm doing every little thing I can possibly manage

@Nerdalert -good they are keeping a close eye on things and can adjust meds accordingly 🤞for good progress by next scan

Thanks @beachbum85. Hope you get good progress at Wednesday's scan too!Like @Hansoo I am taking my trigger tonight (9:15!) and EC will be Friday morning. I am a bit nervous, firstly about the trigger injection itself as I seem to always mess up the first time I take a new med and only get one shot (literally!) at this one! How are you feeling @Hansoo?

@ChasingRainbow - I asked dr Googlethis question a few days ago and most sites said ok but use a condom in case of the very, very unlikely event that you spontaneously ovulate all those eggs in one go.

Hope everyone is hanging in there -warm wishes to you all wherever you are in this process xx