IVF July/August 2021

[Bethpalmer20]

Hi everyone.

I couldn't find a thread for ivf cycles July/August 2021 so I hope it's OK to start one. I was on the March/April thread for my fresh cycle and it was so nice to have support from others going through the same thing.

My fresh cycle was successful but unfortunately I miscarried at 8 weeks pregnant. We are start a frozen cycle with one of our 2 frozen embryos. Aiming to start tablets around the 10th July with the hope of transfer towards the end of July.

Would love to know if anyone else is in the same boat or has any tips!

@Bethpalmer20 glad the transfer went better. Fingers crossed for you to have good news next week.

@Janefx40 I think IVF is the most stressful thing we've ever done especially alongside both of us also working full time each with the usual work annoyances too. Ivf is a stress emotionally and financially that no one understands unless they themselves have gone through this. My other half and I have also been having arguments this cycle - though I think mostly this is the different meds making me more emotional and annoyed at things. I'm keen to plan donor cycles 6 and 7 and we will need to sacrifice quite a bit to finance them with a loan as we have burned through all our savings now with the current two cycles ( 4 and 5). We are both 40 and been trying to conceive for over a decade- this has pretty much ruled our lives but I'm accutely aware that time is slowly slipping away from us (more stress!). I hope you have been able to talk things through with your other half. Sending you a virtual hug.

@SerendipitySunshine I'm glad the bleeding stopped and I will be hoping you have good news Monday our thread is definitely owed some🤞

@beachbum85 that's good re the follicles growing and the count. Do you know when your EC will be?

@SerendipitySunshine oh so pleased you have spoken to the clinic now. Let's hope the bleeding stays away now and there is good news on Monday

@beachbum85 8 sounds good. I think slow growing is better than quick in my experience so fingers crossed.

Thank you @Helene2019 and @Bobtat for the supportive words. I think you are probably right @Bobtat. DP has had beers so now much happier!! All will be ok.

Not much battery and on a campsite so may log off now for weekend but sending you all love x

@beachbum85 hope they keep growing well and that it's good news on Monday.

@SerendipitySunshine must be very hard to wait until Monday but good sign bleeding has stopped - praying it's a sticky one for you.

@Helene2019 I am in absolute awe of your determination and resilience. I really hope it pays off soon for you.

@Janefx40 I'm glad the beers have helped and that you're feeling a bit better about things x

Glad your weekend improved @Janefx40 and thanks so much for the supportive words @Bobtat @Helene2019 - I caved and tested a day early - it says 2-3 weeks pregnant. I'm hoping it says the same tomorrow and then they'll give me more progesterone to hopefully keep the bleeding away. Feeling so excited and a bit petrified of getting my hopes up.

@SerendipitySunshine that is fantastic news. Congratulations. I know it's early and anything can happen but 2-3 weeks is a nice strong result. Fingers crossed for tomorrow

We had all 3 of our embryos still developing at Day 3 yesterday and they defrosted the other 5 ok. They are all now travelling towards blastocyst and if we have any left they will be tested. Just praying we have at least one to test but no idea how likely that is. Update tomorrow x

Congratulations @SerendipitySunshine - amazing news!! :) I hope the bleeding stays away for good and everything goes smoothly over the coming weeks and months xx

@Janefx40 great to hear that all 3 were going strong and they've been joined by your other embryos! Keeping everything crossed for you that there will be some to test. Lots and lots of positive thoughts coming your way for tomorrow's update xx

Thanks @Bobtat @Janefx40 @Helene2019 @ SerendipitySunshine - still don't know when EC will be but I'm hoping that the scan goes well tomorrow and they say I can trigger in the evening for EC on Wed

@SerendipitySunshine ahhhhh that's fab news. Congratulations!

@SerendipitySunshine brilliant news 🎉 I'm so pleased for you. Also glad the bleeding stopped. Hope you have uneventful few weeks untill your first scan!

I did my OTD test today confirming BFN. But now planning rest for a few months (loose some of this cycle's weight - why do the meds make me just want to eat all the time???) and then will do our last cycle before moving onto a donor cycle. Thank you @Bobtat for your words. I think some people think we are mad spending so much money, time and effort trying to start a family. I have faith we will get there somehow!

@Helene2019 I'm so sorry :( I was really hoping for a little miracle for you.. you and your partner have been through so much... I'm glad to hear you have a plan to keep going despite the stress and cost, and I'm keeping everything crossed for you to get there next time round. In the meantime, enjoy these months off and take care of yourself! Hugs xx

@SerendipitySunshine remind me - is this one the result of an FET from the fresh cycle your first child came from or is is a new cohort?

@Helene2019 I really believe that if you have enough strength and determination to become a parent that you will. There are so many ways to get to the end goal; you just have.your own journey to get there.

@beachbum85 best of luck for the scan.

@Helene2019 sorry to hear that. Enjoy the few months of rest 😘 x

@Helene2019 I'm so sorry - this is such a hard journey - take good care of yourself and rest up for the next few months. Sending lots of love

@beachbum85 good luck at your scan

I was up all night vomiting - in a campsite - lovely. Now just feeling drained. In a couple of hours time I might find out from an embryologist that I'm never having another child and my DD will never have a sibling. There's no nice way to get this information so I suppose this is as good as any but it still feels overwhelming

@Janefx40 oh Jane you poor thing! It all sounded promising at the last report, but I know your mind will be going crazy! What is it they are testing for and why have so many frozen ones been defrosted as well - sorry you probably explained but I can't find it.

@Bobtat because of my age, it is likely that nearly all if not all of my embryos aren't viable. So the chances are that you wonky get a viable embryo from just one egg collection. Every time you do a transfer it takes time for your body to recover and we don't have time so we have done 3 back-to-back egg collections to get as many eggs as possible. They freeze the first 2 rounds at day 3 and then defrost them alongside any you collected from round 3 then take them to blastocyst. If any make it then they will test them to see if they are normal. This reduces the chance of miscarriage but doesn't remove it. Anyway we may not get that far. First we have to have a blastocyst to test and that is what I will find out today x

@Janefx40 ohhh what a tough night and wait!! I'm thinking of you this morning, hoping for good news and sending you my love xx

Thank you and @Bobtat for your well wishes

@Janefx40 everything crossed for you 🤞🙏🏻

@Janefx40 wow - that's so intense. I don't know they did that. What a huge amount of strength that must take. I hope you're really proud of yourself for going through all of this, whatever the outcome. Everything extra crossed for you

My clinic have emailed and said I can go for a scan this Friday and if all looks good they will start me on meds for a back to back FET from next Monday with a view to transfer first week of October. Hoping for a smoother transfer this time (last one was a bit traumatic as catheter kept getting stuck) - one of the consultants has agreed to do it so I feel a bit less anxious. I don't know huge amounts about grading but the embryo is a 4BC so not as developed as the ones I've had put in before.

@Bobtat that's good news. How are you feeling about it? It sounds like your last transfer was pretty traumatic but I hope that is unusual and won't happen again.

I don't know anything about grading either. My first clinic did Day 3 transfers and my DD was a morula when they transferred her so not gradeable. But I always figure that if a morula can become a perfectly healthy child then any grade of blasto can too !

Finally got my call just now. We have 2 blastocysts that have been biopsied and we have 3 early blastocysts that they will check on tomorrow to see if they can be biopsied too. The other three are compacted morula so could also make it by tomorrow. I'll get a call by tomorrow to see if we have any others but she said she'd be surprised if we didn't. I'm not worried about slow growing because as I said above our DD was a morula on day 5 anyway

X

@Janefx40 fantastic news! So pleased they are developing well. Hopefully the biopsies will go well and the ones that aren't quite there yet will progress overnight. How long until you get the biopsy results? Will it be quite quick?

I'm feeling ok, thanks - confidence a bit knocked by the BFN obviously - but ready to go mentally and physically. Thanks so much for telling me that your lovely DD was a morula. We have a morula left too (as well as the 4BC) but I had sort of discounted it in my head because it didn't sound the same as the others so that has made me more hopeful that we might have two chances.

@Janefx40 amazing! so glad 2 have already been biopsied and possibly up to 6 more could make it tomorrow :) fingers crossed for them to push through! Let us know tomorrow xx

@Bobtat glad to hear you can go again so soon, and you're ready for it! Hoping for a very smooth transfer this time, and a positive outcome for you :) xx

Scan today went well and I have 8 follicles they've said they'll get, so trigger is tomorrow evening and EC on Thursday! So glad the time has come and I really hope they manage to get an egg from each of those follicles!

@beachbum85 sounds promising - best of luck!

@bobtat I'm on my 2nd FET (also back to back) after a traumatic first FET! I know how anxious you feel but this time went a lot smoother for me! Sending you the best of luck!

Great news @janefx40 I'm keeping everything crossed for you 🤞

Sounds very promising @beachbum85 so glad your time is finally here, it feels like you've been waiting ages!

@beachbum85 that's great news! I always have a few nerves in case they don't get the eggs they expect but they usually do! Enjoy your day off and best of luck for tomorrow.

@Bethpalmer20 hope you're doing ok and feeling ok?

We had 2 more embryos make blastocyst for freezing today. None of them are perfect quality but they said they are good to average so I'll just have to take that!

Thanks a lot everyone!
@Bethpalmer20 this definitely feels like it's been a long time coming... I'm getting quite excited about it all now. @Janefx40 definitely some nerves here too, but they sounded quite confident to I'm trying to hold onto that and trust the process :)

@Janefx40 that's great! So you have 4 biopsied and frozen in total?! Really good! :) I have everything crossed for positive results 🤞🏼 🤞🏼 did they tell you when they might get back to you?

@Bethpalmer20 how is the 2ww going this time round? Will you be testing this weekend? xx