IVF/FET October/November 21

[2021babyhope]

I think I'm a bit early on some of the other threads so starting one for October/November 😊

1st fresh cycle in august ended in CP.

Booked for follow up consultation 30th September so hopefully I'll be able to transfer late October early November 🤞🏼

5 frozen blasts. Hoping to transfer 2 this time round but I'm not sure they'll let me 😬

Welcome @IVFGotThis05!
I just went through my first IVF cycle last month, I was on Gonal F not menopur though!
How are you feeling about the injections? That seems to be something that stresses people out the most!

I just found out today the rough plan for my first ever FET. Have to go in for my CD2 scan tomorrow. We are going ahead planning for it and doing scans even though I haven't actually confirmed that I have any embryos that will be transferrable (all were PGT-A tested, and the results won't be back until about a week into my cycle- but have to just push forward and hope for the best! There were 4 so really hoping have at least one euploid...)

Thanks @tulipsandsnow ! Ah how did you find it ? I really don't mind the injections, I mean I don't like them but I don't stress about doing them... it was more the stress of 'has it worked!?' for me. But today showed it did and now fingers crossed my little follicles grow !

Ah so when do they decide you are going to have FET ? Have you previously had fresh transfer ? I'm still new to a lot of the process... although I read a lot, until it actually happens to you it's hard to take it all in. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, the waiting must be so hard.

@TheSnufflet @paintfairy @lucymills1234 how's day 5 feeling? Forgot how much I hate Cetrotide until the moment it started stinging this evening going in! I'm not brave at all to keep going back for more IVF, I just forget how horrible it is 😂 that being said @ExhaustedPigeon1988 if I had to do EC on paracetamol, I don't think I'd be going back for round 4 for sure!

@Chrischross I've always had embryoglue in previous transfers as it was standard - had 5 transfers of 7 embryos and one turned into a baby so not sure if I'm an advert for its efficacy. Won't be this time as it's not standard at this clinic.

@IVFGotThis05 Hiya I'm on menopur too I've had my baseline scan and scan 2 on Monday, I have scan 3 booked on Thursday - my clinic don't provisionally book EC so it's interesting to see when yours is booked as I think mine will be around 9th

How are you finding stims ? X

@MrsC2018 I'm actually day 7 today. Second scan tomorrow. Feeling good though. Definitely better on the stims than just the buserelin. Odd stomach upsets but it's minor. I'm not on cetrotide but that doesn't sound fun? I use ice though before and after as it definitely helps!
@strawberrysummer19 my clinic doesn't book EC either. I'm guessing it'll be next week but I'm not sure when I'll actually know.

Seems like loads of are fans of embryo glue, annoying that some clinics aren’t longer offering it. Like some have stated before, I’m also doing it so that I know I know I’ve tried everything and because it worked the last time.

@ExhaustedPigeon1988 I have my baseline scan on Friday if all goes well I’ll start oestrogen tablets the next day 10-12 days. I’ll have one more scan then to check lining then progesterone injections for 6 days. All being well transfer should be November 15th, give or take a couple of days. The down regulation part is always the worst. Not much happening and you’re left feeling miserable. Things do move pretty quickly after that though, I think.

@IVFGotThis05 welcome! How exciting. I was on combined menopur and gonad f. I would just say try and relax if you can. I drove myself crazy being anxious and frightful.

Hi everyone, hope ok to join.

I started stims last week, it's my second ivf after a failed fresh in may/June

Menopur with low AMH of 5.8 but partner had high dna fragmentation last time which we didn't test until last cycle failed so fingers crossed for this one.

Feeling sore and bloated around my tummy! So hoping that's a good sign, last cycle my folicles were slow to grow although did get a collection of 9 and 7 fertilised which I was happy with considering low amh

Nice to read people's journey and not feel so alone in this process!

X

@Holskey so glad to see some good news here.

I'm still on busrelin and not adding another drug until the fourth and only then if everything is nice and quiet, whatever that means. It seems really quick for you @IVFGotThis05 - my baseline was ten days ago and I'm looking at ec the eighteenth or thereabouts, it's so weird how different clinics are different.

@strawberrysummer19 I really suspect high DNA fragmentation in my dp but we've not had the test. He has terrible psoriasis and is just medically obese, although he doesn't look it at all. It's so frustrating to be doing so much to be healthy and get my own (also overweight but only a bit) BMI down to see him not really making that many changes. He keeps pointing out a friend of ours who had no trouble even though the bloke is twenty stone and smokes all day, good on them,I guess, but it's obviously not ok for us. DP doesn't smoke,btw, he's just got a not great diet.

Please can I ask what you did about the DNA fragmentation? Xx

@theotherfossilsister definitely baffling how every clinic is so different. Maybe there's not a wrong answer?
@strawberrysummer19 welcome!

Update from me - day 8. I dunno if to be pleased or not. 🤣 I don't really know what the goal is. But I quickly (how accurate i am is possibly questionable) counted the screen. Asking to take a photo might have been more useful. I look to have 10 between 10mm and 14mm (this is the only bit I'm sure about). Then about 4 more at 8mm. And then some more smaller than that. Which doesn't really feel enough? The scan lady seemed happy with it all and cheerful and said everything was going nicely and on track. And if they progress at their current rate she'd expect them to be here (pointed) by Friday. She guessed they would scan Friday and likely EC Monday. But she said don't hold her to that, as it might be later. So I'm to look what meds I've got left on Friday before going, so they can check I've got enough. I'll get a call later though once the dr has reviewed it.

@paintfairy I had to laugh when you said you were old at 39 as that makes me ancient! I'm 42 - this is my third cycle, my first two were at 41. Your day 8 scan sounds good to me, those are nice numbers and with any luck the 10 between 10mm & 14mm will all get to maturity, and some of your others could definitely get there too. As you probably know, the good thing about not having a massive range between high and low measurements is that you're less at risk of some going past their prime (over-mature) whilst others catch up. I'd take today as a win (unless you have a much higher AFC than the number of follicles that they can see growing and expected more?). It's good that the Dr reviews your notes and then you get a call, you only get a nurse making the decisions at my clinic.

@MrsC2018 I do my Ovaleap injections in the evening so I'm on day 6 today but have had 5 doses. I'm feeling bloated now so I hope things are moving along in there, but keen to get to Friday and have the scan to find out! Last time my follicles grew faster than on the first go but I had 15 ranging from 8mm to 17mm which I don't think is ideal. I don't have Cetrotide, sounds miserable :(

@tulipsandsnow fingers crossed for your PGT result, I'm debating now whether to PGT or not and the wait sounds like agony.

Welcome @IVFGotThis05 Hope your first cycle is going well. It's different for everyone but for me EC was fine, the bit I found harder was the wait after EC for updates (no of eggs, fertilisation, day 3 numbers, day 5 numbers...) so my advise would be to (if possible) plan some distractions for that time. You won't be able to completely take your mind off it, but anything you can do to reduce the worry is a bonus.

@lucymills1234 🤣 I meant I'm in the old bracket. As opposed to under 35 and I'm the more ideal threshold.
My AFC was 15 last month. So I suppose about right?
I take my drugs at night too. So I've not actually taken my day 8 drugs yet.....

Can someone answer this actually. I think my clinic aim for day 5 transfer. Stupid question, but what is day 5? Is egg collection day like ovulation day and day 0? So for example, if EC was Monday, transfer would be Saturday? Or is that not it? I'm wondering what would happen if EC makes it fall that the transfer would be a Sunday too (clinic doesn't open as far as I know). 🤷‍♀️

@theotherfossilsister so after a failed round of ivf Where we got no blastocysts at day 5 ( did at day 6) my DR didn't want me to cycle again until we tested dna fragmentation ....
Thank god we did as it was high as suspected and we were told to diet and take supplements for dna fragmentation for 90 days. I can send you what we were advised to take.
The diet was more us than advice given but after lots of research it was basically low or no carb, cutting out sugar (where possible!) no alcohol and caffeine which we were already doing but this time having no cheat days off for alcohol this time around.
We introduced nuts and seeds daily along with flaxseed and chai seeds and we cut out red meat just because we tried to follow Mediterranean diet which suggested red meat in small doses but we went vege and eat lots of quorn. It worked for us so I'm more than happy to send over recipe ideas - I'm no way an expert of medically trained but happy to share my knowledge
It lowered so much that we were able to cycle again after the first results saying we couldn't even ivf xx

@paintfairy my clinics have counted EC day as day 0 so if EC was Monday then the transfer would be Saturday. My clinic's also closed on a Sunday so the transfer would then be done on the Monday at day 6. They do transfers on day 2 or 3 or day 5 or 6 at mine presumably to get over the Sunday closure

@MrsC2018 thanks! I assumed it would be day 0 but wasn't actually sure. Interesting about the transfer. I suppose day 6 is OK, it just seems late.

@MrsC2018 are you at Care Chester? I think I remember that from another thread. They told me they always do FETs on day 6, even if it's a day 5 embryo. I had a natural FET so if it landed on a Sunday- no luck, try again next month. Luckily mine landed on a Monday but imagine it landing on a Sunday if you have a 28 day cycle.
@paintfairy day 6 seemed late to me too, especially as AF comes 13 days after ovulation for me. Not much time! It worked though (so far 🤞).

@Holskey my previous 3 rounds were NHS at St Mary’s and I'm currently at Care Manchester - both are really similar, use the same meds and terminology etc. St Mary's did everything but EC on a Sunday though so was surprised when Care said they're literally closed!
I've had one fresh transfer on day 5, 2 FETs on day 5, one fresh on day 3 and another FET on day 2 so might be nice to have a day 6 😂 My baby came from the day 2 though so I'm also mindful that just cause the embryologist doesn't rate the embryo it's not necessarily a doomed transfer (she was an ungraded PN transfer ♥️ and she's perfect)

@MrsC2018 ah I misremembered, but wow, all those transfers and it was the day 2 that became your special little one! 🥰

@VenusStarr how did you get on?

It is so weird isn't it, how much difference there is between clinics.

I'd love to know more about the diet if that's ok @strawberrysummer19

Thank you xx

@theotherfossilsister sure. I tried to follow the Mediterranean diet but it wasn't for me so I just adjusted it.
1/ I changed my cooking oil to olive oil and used it daily and where I could
Recipe idea 1/ I would heat some quorn pieces with olive oil and then add at least 5 veg/salad and then try to have 5 for dinner if I could. I read that somewhere. At first it was a chore then it became like second nature.
2/ stopped using jars/packets and created my own by using spices and olive oil - worked a treat
3/ cut of pasta and swapped to soya bean pasta - Aldi sell a lovely range and my fave is the green one
4/ changed white bread to wholeMeal
5/ stopped eating the usual yogurts I eat as they were high in sugar/sweetener I changed to full fat ( not fat free as they add sugar in - fats ok that can be burnt off ) Greek yoghurt
Tesco creamfield had the lowest sugar I have found over the weeks I was looking - something like 5.6g per 100g
Breakfast idea 1/ Greek yoghurt, handful of blueberries and pineapple ( Tesco do a bag of frozen pineapple which we have daily)
fruits like blueberries and pineapple over banana - we have blueberries daily
6/ vitamins - the Marion glenville for the dna fragmentation then I take DHEA for egg quality and the usual vit c and e but 1000mg a probiotic and co10
7/ nuts and seeds daily for DP he has a pot to take to work and scatters over breakfast or lunch
8/ we buy two bags of spinach a week and he has a huge handful in most dishes
9/ loads of tomato's - can't remember the reason but there's a good vit in for male reproduction- we try to eat tomato in various forms but we love organic vine tomatoes
10/ changed to organic eggs and milk
11/ when we do a roast ( with one or two small roast potato as a treat!) we make more veg up and then make up soup for the next few days as snacks (as can't bear soup for main meals )
Cut out / limit chocolate sweets biscuits and pastries cakes etc - he did none and then last part of diet had a bit here and there which was ok
Just watching your sugar intake so do you really want/need that etc
I've cut out tea as I like a sugar in it so I've changed to peppermint tea but I don't have caffeine anyway
I think that's about it! As I this is just what worked for us but now after my ivf I will still
Be careful and watch what I eat now as it's also made me feel better, more energised and I can really taste things now!
Let me know if you have any questions or anything else I can help with xx

Thank you checking in @Holskey its a BFP!! 😭🥳 ❤️ Levels are 113 today. In complete shock. Genuinely thought it would be negative and was convinced I'd get bad news. Still no real symptoms either.

Hope everyone is OK xx

@VenusStarr that's AMAZING news !!!! I'm so happy for you!!! Xxx

@VenusStarr absolute best of luck 👏🥳♥️

@VenusStarr 🥳🎊🎉 I'm so happy for you!! I was almost too afraid to ask as I know how heartbreaking a bfn would be, especially after everything you've already been through. Brilliant news! 😊

@VenusStarr congratulations!! ❤️🤩