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 :)

@Gensola Hope your scan shows good progression and you can move to EC soon

@ngy21 managed to get the second one in without incident- not been too messy so far, but it's early days!

@Hansoo Keeping my fingers crossed for you and those four! My clinic said the same to me - if there are one or two by day 3 they would do the transfer then

Thanks for the well wishes again everyone- I've had my call from the embryologist and a good proportion have fertilised, so feeling very relieved. They will call again tomorrow.

@itsmschanandlerbong - do you get a day 2 update from your clinic?

Hello, a bit late in the day, but I hope you don’t mind if I join the thread! So helpful to hear other people going through similar experiences. i had my egg collection yesterday - 4 eggs from 9 follicles (I have low amh of 2.7 so I think the eggs collected were in line with expectations, though the number of follicles made me a bit optimistic that there might be more!). Did not sleep last night because I was so anxious that none of them would fertilise but found out this morning that all 4 did. I was not at all prepared for the emotional highs and lows of the process and my husband seems to be completely oblivious to it - he slept last night as if he had not a care in the world…! So now just hoping to get through til Monday with at least one blastocyst surviving for transfer. All fingers crossed for everyone going through the process, it’s been inspiring to read your stories and feel a bit less isolated!

@Bluebonnet3 thinking of you and your EC xx

@itsmschanandlerbong very glad to hear you had a better fertilisation rate! everything crossed for Sunday!!

@Hansoo very glad to see you've got 4 embryos! I hope they all keep going strong xx

@KatRee really glad you've had a good fertilisation rate too! It's nice that you get a Day 2 update as well - good luck for that :) I must say I also had a little giggle about your first pessary incident - they really are so fiddly but I'm glad the second one was OK.

@Nerdalert date changes are really annoying but they'd only do it if they thought it would increase your chances, so fingers crossed that it pays off. Have you managed to shift everything around as you need to? xx

@Gensola I'm glad they didn't up your meds - hopefully no OHSS this time and also no problem with the shell from overstimulation! I've always had slightly more meds than I need so hopefully you won't need all those 5! I really hope it works for you so you don't have to look at the reversal xx

@Lifa I'm really sorry for all you've been through, but it's nice to see you here on this thread - I'm glad it's helped you feel a bit better and I'm sure you'll continue to find lots of support from all these lovely ladies :) and best of luck for this time round xx

@99pctpractice welcome! can't get better than that fertilisation rate, you must be so happy :) keeping my fingers crossed that they'll make it to Monday! It's a neverending rollercoaster and I don't think anyone who hasn't lived it can understand, even our partners, and these threads are invaluable - I hope you get some rest today xx

Thanks @itsmschanandlerbong and @KatRee

Thanks all for the good wishes! This morning's EC was successful and easier than my first time. (This is my second round, but at a different clinic.) I was out of the recovery room after about an hour, even though i was fully sedated. They were really going for it with my fertility meds this time, trying to maximise the number of eggs. (My first time they collected 5.) And now at age 42, they wanted to be able to have more to choose from and hopefully some to freeze. They collected over 20 but said not all of them were mature. I should find out tomorrow the official count plus how many (hopefully!) fertilised.

In the end we decided to go for the optional embryology package (extra £ for embryoscope, embryo glue, imsi & picsi (to complement the planned icsi), and assisted hatching.

They said day 3 and day 5 transfers are most common and i should get updates on days 1,2,3&5 (today being day 0). Of course, it's one day at a time. Can't look too far ahead. EC done, check!

I'm supposed to drink 3L water a day and start the progesterone pessaries tonight, then twice a day afterwards. I have 7 days off work, so hoping to rest lots and stay calm. 🙂

Glad it went so well @Bluebonnet3!! Excellent news
Can I ask what meds you were on this time? I have been told I am on the highest does of everything, inc. 300iu of Gonal F. However I have seen ladies on much higher doses of this so i don't really understand why they say that's the highest they can give.

Amazing news @Bluebonnet3 - really glad the extra meds paid off, that's such a huge improvement from last time! Fingers crossed for very good news over the next few days, and hoping for many embryos to make use of the optional package :) Enjoy your time off too xx

@Goldilocks2528 I'm on 450IU of Gonal F atm. I had 300 IU last time, and then this round I started on 375IU and then they increased it to 450IU... but things seem exactly the same as last time, if not slower and there are no additional follicles (which is what we were all hoping for).

@Goldilocks2528 I was on 10 days of 450 meriofert (first few days was 450 fostimon, but nurse said it's essentially the same thing), then 11th day of 150 meriofert, then 3x gonasi trigger (15,000 units total). I think the cetrotide (ovulation blocker) was the regular dose. I suppose the meds may be also related to bodyweight/height. I'm in the overweight BMI category of 28. Last time i was on 225 meriofert for 12 days then 1x gonasi trigger. I think also that knowing how i responded to the meds first time around helped make the case for increasing the dose.

Thanks @beachbum85 and @Bluebonnet3. I asked them whether increasing my dosage for this 2nd cycle would yield a better result (4 follicles and 3 eggs last time, all mature. 2 fertilised. ) but was told it wouldn't and I was on the highest dose the clinic would give. I really don't understand why when so many others have a higher dosage. Maybe it is because I am 41 have DOR, maybe they just think I'll always get low follicle numbers and low eggs so there is no point giving me a higher dose? I find it very confusing.

@Hansoo fab result! Fingers crossed they do what they're supposed to 🤞🤞

@KatRee no I won't get an update until tomorrow, day 3.

@99pctpractice that's great that they all fertilised!

@Bluebonnet3 best of luck for the days ahead! 🤞

Welcome @99pctpractice - Great you got 100% fertilisation rate. Your OH sounds a bit like mine - I swear he forgets this is even happening sometimes!
I'm hoping my transfer will also be Monday 🤞for all our embryos

@beachbum85 It feels like a relief to have got to the point where I can laugh about losing some of the meds rather than freaking out! The pessaries are slippery little things, aren't they?

@Bluebonnet3 Glad your EC went well- that's a fantastic number of eggs and amazing they've managed such an increase by adjusting the protocol
Hope a good number are mature and fertilised by tomorrow

@itsmschanandlerbong 🤞for goodness for you tomorrow morning

Hope everyone is well and hanging in there wherever you are in your cycles xx

Egg transfer Monday. 3 eggs doing great. The other one is average. It is average because even though there are 5 cells they are uneven. But it might get better. They are waiting til Monday so they can can choose the best one.

@Hansoo that is great news! Fingers crossed for that little one and for your transfer on Monday!! Hope you rest up until then :) are you on progesterone until then?

@Hansoo I have everything crossed you 😊 I have my transfer in Tuesday however it's a frozen donated embroy x

Yes taking progesterone injection and folic acid. But thinking of changing to pregnacare

Amazing news @Hansoo let us know about Monday, keeping everything crossed for you.

Started stims yesterday. First day and felt so bloated. Still feel bloated now. I'd forgotten all about these symptoms. But it feels like we're over the brow of the hill. Just hope we get some good embys.

Lovely news @Hansoo - I hope they all continue to thrive

I just got a call from the clinic and all of mine from yesterday are hanging on in there too, so they are looking at a Monday transfer for us too.

@katree
Glad to be going through this together

Scan today went well - 17 follicles showing up now but none are 18mm yet which is where they need them to let me trigger. So having to stim over the weekend and rescan on Monday.

Same @Hansoo - here for the hand holding!

That sounds really positive @Gensola - 🤞they'll be ready to go by Monday

@genosola
Well done.

Turns out my EC was quantity over quality, but that's how it goes sometimes. 28 collected, 21 mature, 6 fertilised normally. (6 is still more than last time.) Clinic will update me tomorrow whether transfer is (hopefully still going ahead) Sun or Tues.

@itsmschanandlerbong hope you get good news today! Looking at transfer Monday?
@Hansoo @KatRee @99pctpractice also good luck for transfer on Monday! And you too @Lifa for Tues! Take it easy this weekend and look after yourselves.

@Gensola sounds like you are making progress. Good luck for Monday scan.

I'm sure I've missed out on some posts. Good everyone is ok. It looks like a busy bank holiday weekend for this thread. Anyone have nice weekend plans? Other than sitting around watching too much tv I will be cat-sitting for a friend. 🐱

@Bluebonnet3 thank you, I hope you get good news tomorrow 😊 I am planning of totally chillaxing this weekend, enjoy your weekend 😘

Hi all,
I hope you are doing well. All my notifications seemed to have stopped so just came on to look and have missed so much!! 😲
Will spend a bit of time catching up and seeing where you are all up to! 🥰 Congrats to all the amazing EC numbers, it's so great to see!! And gives so much hope! And good luck to all having ET very soon...sending lots of baby dust your way 😍

I'm currently waiting for AF but will be on norithisterone first so unlikely to be on stims until October now 😫

@Goldilocks2528 I just had a brief read through and I don't know if it helps but my AMH is high for my age however when they did a baseline scan last time they said the AFC was low and the two didn't really align. I was on 225 meriofert last time and will be on 450 ovaleap next time (they agreed it before the baseline scan but will be having another to see if the cyst on my ovary has gone). I still don't think much more will happen though as there don't appear to be too many follicles to grow. But, I feel better that I'll be on a higher dose and you might just need to push them a bit. As far as I know 450 is the maximum and anymore than that won't make any difference (according to my consultant)

Hi everyone, mum sent virgin in flap mode.
Had my 2nd round of IVF using donor eggs, only 1 made it to blastocyst official test day is in a few days and am scared. Scared if it works and if it doesn’t.

Thank you @Bluebonnet3. I'm sorry you have had a big drop off between EC and fertilisation, but great that you have those 6. Got everything crossed for them and you.
I am also trying to have the most stress-free weekend possible here. Enjoying being able to do a bit more now EC is over with -we had to present negative COVID tests before that so were pretty much self-isolating for the 2 weeks before

Welcome @TanBr - This is my first cycle and currently waiting to see if any of our embryos will make it to day 5. It's such an intense process- this group has been such a great support. I imagine the tww is a very scary time. I really hope you get that positive result. Have you found anything that helps distract yourself or keep calm in the meantime? Sending hugs and positive vibes