Continued chat of all things IVF, FET & to feel sane...cycle buddies August/September -

[Bluemeadowbaby]

Hey ladies ☺️

A new thread to continue the one we've maxed out from the FET cycle buddies May/June. Anyone wishing to join no matter what stage you're at we're here to support you along the way.

A little background around me - I have a little boy who's 16mo from my second IVF round in 2019. I'm just embarking (restarting after covid setback) on my first FET cycle with the embryos I have in storage in the hope for baby #2 🤞🏼
I have severe endometriosis, hydrosalpinx tubes which have been removed so my only hope is for IVF to work again. It's been a long old journey but if I can give any hope, faith and a tonne of support to anyone who needs it I'm happy to share my story, updates on my cycle and be there to have a general chin wag ☺️

We've got this! ✨ x

@2mumlife heyy my scan is 13th April. The nausea is pretty bad this morning. Keep on fetching but no vomiting. I still do a pregnancy test everyday to keep checking it’s ok, how did you get through the wait for the scan? x

*retching

@Bluehawaii29 I just tried to accept whatever was going to happen was going to happen. I tried not to test every day, because I made myself crazy during my previous chemical pregnancy obessing about line progression, so I bought a 2 pack of the clearblue weeks indicators and used them once a week to check that hcg level was rising. I had a massive bleed at 6 weeks and thought I was having a misscarriage, so got scanned early (I had a subchorionic hematoma, which self-resolved before the 12 week scan). I only threw up once, so hopefully you can avoid actually being sick. I found eating small amounts of carbs frequently helped as well

@2mumlife thank you :) I use the cheap strips one a day and just check the test line still darker than control line. I know it’s not healthy to keep doing this but it makes me feel better for the day so I figure I’ll keep doing it for 1-2 more weeks. The last clear blue I did on day 13 post transfer was In afternoon and said 2-3 weeks which makes sense as that’s equivalent of 4-5 weeks. Am 5 weeks + 2 today so planning on doing a test weekend of 2nd April and hoping it says 3+ by then but I’ve heard they can be dodgy and has to be first urine sample so not going to get too obsessed if it doesn’t say 3+ Still by then. that bleed must have been scary for you but I’m glad it resolved xx

@Bluehawaii29 Yeah the hcg level for the 3+ weeks is very high actually. I held off a bit for getting my 3+ as I wanted to make sure it was there on the first go so to speak. I didn't POAS every day, but I did keep the original test we did on OTD and kept looking at that a lot lol (I actually still have it!)

@2mumlife yeah we still have ours :) going to put it in a box and present it to sister and bro in law in a weeks time for my bday dinner and surprise them :) x

@2mumlife do you mind me asking roughly how many days post transfer you were 3+ on the clear blue just so I know roughly when to do it x

@bluemeadowbaby I think it's good that you want to focus on yourself for now. You need this time to relax, adjust to what happened and then when and if you are ready you'll do another cycle! ☺️

I am still doing my stimms and started feeling bloated. I have 3 injections to do every day + tablets! I can wait for egg collection to happen! I am also self isolating cause covid cases in London are very high at the moment and don't want to risk it!!!

@2mumlife did my FMU today hence why up so early! It’s finally showing as 3+ weeks this time relief to know it’s been progressing since I last took it on sat although that time I didn’t take FMU and did it some time in afternoon which probably wasn’t a good idea for accuracy. just glad I don’t have to stress about that now but still going to be a long wait for this scan! X

@Bluehawaii29 I'm really not sure I'm afraid when I tested 3+. I know I waited until I was over 5 weeks on the due date calculator as I'd read lots of stories about people worrying when it didn't show 3+, I think I waited until maybe 5+3, about that time anyway. Glad you got your 3+ it does feel reassuring to know hcg levels are increasing (I went through a chemical before, so I wanted the reassurance hcg was going up).

@Francesmalin offt thats a lot of prodding. It wont be for long though :)

@2mumlife thank you I’m also 5wk + 3 today when I got the 3+. I haven’t been pregnant ever before but have seen a lot of peoples experiences of chemical pregnancies and being a Dr I have seen a lot of the problems that can happen in early pregnancy so its hard to always stay positive but today has given me a lot of reassurance and hope that I can try and be a little less anxious from now on x

@Bluehawaii29 My CP I knew something wasn't right even before I went in for my blood hcg even though it was first BFP I'd ever had. This is why I swear by never testing early and that FRER are evil.

@2mumlife were your test lines fainter with your CP? x

I’m day 20 post transfer now and test line this morning was still a whopper hope it’s a good sign xx

@Bluehawaii29 So I had a clear line on FRER 6dp5dt with my chemical. It never got any darker though. It didn't show on OTD using a 25miu on clearblue. I actually went in for my blood hcg check (which is standard at my clinic) and started crying on nurse before she even took my blood. I was absolutely right as my hcg level was very low. I had repeat bloods taken 3 days later. The morning of those I STILL had a line on FRER even though my blood hcg was only 5. This is why FRER are evil - they pick up far too small a volume of hcg. If you're getting 3+ on clearblue its not a chemical pregnancy :)

@2mumlife aww sorry you had to go through that, sounds awful. I understand why you are so pro testing near to OTD now which thankfully I did this time round. Thanks for your reassurance as well. I will try and get that out my mind now and stop thinking the worst always! x

@2mumlife you are right! Not long to go. Follicles are growing nicely and lining is on track too. What the standard lining for transfer?

@Francesmalin Everything is sounding great :) Clinics will vary in what they want for lining, normally they are wanting your lining to be at least 7mm, some say over 8mm at "trigger"

@Bluehawaii29 Its hard not to worry. My biggest worry was another CP. Because of the holidays I didn't get my bleed taken on OTD to check hcg - the clinic were nice and still did it few days later because of what happened last time, and my blood hcg was over 5,000 that time, which gave me a lot of reassurance.

Great! My lining was a bit over 7mm this morning and have around 10 follicles between 13 and 18. Back for scan Saturday though. My doctor wants to make sure I get stimms a bit longer to play all the tricks in the book and make sure the eggs mature this time. I am trying to focus on the positives and in the fact I am in good hands. @2mumlife did you do a double trigger after you had that cycle with high immature eggs?

@Francesmalin yeah we did double trigger with Busserelin and Ovitrelle. They also left my follicules to grow bigger, and we delayed egg retrieval by an extra hour after trigger. We basically changed everything we could about the cycle, so I was on Ovaleap instead of Menapur, and did a short rather than long protocol. Keeping everything crossed you have a better cycle this time X

This is what we are going to do. We'll trigger with buserelin and gonasi. ☺️

I can't believe I am getting all agitated for the the step one. After that there are so many other steps to take into account but small win at the time

@Francesmalin The onky way to do this journey without getting overwhelmed is small steps at a time :) Things look good today, and that's the important thing

This morning I had another meltdown after my last scan at the clinic because 2/3 of my follicles are over 22mm and I am scared that by the time we collect them they'll be over Cooked. The consultant said that everything is looking good and I shouldn't worry but I just can't help to think I will be in the opposite situation I was six months ago. I am thinking what if they have screwed up and once again I'll end with no eggs to fertilize?

Trigger tonight anyway so not long to wait now

@Francesmalin Try not to worry and overthink. Just try to trust in the process now. Keeping everything crossed for a positive egg collection!

@2mumlife thanks for your reassuring words. Yes I am trusting the process and I feel calm today. Not long to go!

I'll let the group know how it all went in the next few days