IVF/FET Jan/Feb 2022

[Juno231]

I know I'm a bit early but knowing that I get to start in January I think I'll go mad just twiddling my thumbs until then.

With Christmas clinic closures I think there's a fair few of us around waiting for Jan to start, so hopefully we can gather here for support in the mean time?

About me - 33 years old (although I turn 34 in Jan!), TTC#1 for two years with unexplained infertility. Am due to start my first ever round of IVF in January (NHS). I've been told I'll do short protocol and in terms of next steps I've got a trial embryo transfer in two weeks' time, and both OH and I have to get blood tests done in Dec. I can order my meds from the pharmacy in Dec as well so got that to look forward to ha.

I'm currently predicted to start my cycle on the 31st of Dec which would mean having to wait a whole cycle due to the new year bank holiday getting in the way. My cycle can vary by a few days though so I'm really hoping CD1 actually comes a day or two later!

@Frenchiepupmama sorry - I've never taken Prostap but hopefully there are others on here who can help x

@slowresponder
@Sydney1986x
@Justawannabemam

Hey, I think we are all around the same time. I had my baseline scan today (day 8 of 300 ovaleap, long protocol also with Buserelin).

Right ovary - 12mm
Left ovary - 15mm, 14mm, 13mm, 12mm

Next scan on Monday and then egg collection will be Weds or Fri.

I got a little teary today, whilst the nurse said the number of follicles were fine I was expecting more than 5

Anybody any advice was what is a good amount of follicles at baseline scan long protocol?

Hey @MollyVanDer

I had 4 . Then they got 6 . They wouldn't do it if thry didn't think it was viable..

Is this your first cycle ?

I'm on my 2nd and they've increased the overleap to try and create more .

Good luck for your collection

@Justawannabemam thanks. It's my second, first one was short 9 collected, 5 mature, 2 made it to day 5, one transferred but didn't work out, the other not good enough to freeze.

The nurse said she can see two more smaller ones that may come through. Hoping they have a growing party this weekend!

How are you getting on?

Ah I’m so pleased there are some others on a long protocol because honestly I am getting impatient now with the wait 😂!

@Justawannabemam are you feeling about being on the maximum dose for ovaleap? I am sorry to hear your two previous cycles didn’t go as planned, I can’t imagine how difficult that must be. I don’t even want to think of that being a possibility although I know it’s absolutely possible 🥺 good luck to you too and look forward to reading how you get on x

@slowresponder How are you feeling today and any symptoms? Good luck for your scan if you don’t reply before then. X

@MollyVanDer yes we are 😀! May I ask is buserelin a spray or injection? seems like that’s a popular choice for many clinics from what I’ve read on here. How exciting that egg collection is next week! I think it’s such an emotional rollercoaster, allow yourself to cry, it’s hard when we hear of people having 20 etc but every body is different, responds differently and as cliche as it sounds it really does just take one 💕. I unfortunately don’t know what is considered a ‘good’ amount but hopefully others can help x

@Sydney1986x
I was a bit bothered about being on max incase I over stimulated but they reassured they will scan me throughout so hopefully that.wont happen .

This is just my 2nd . Got another 1 on nhs if needed .hopefully not although like you say we all know it can happen . X

Thanks @Sydney1986x wish you all the best, it did feel long and now it's all coming very quickly with egg collection and transfer likely next week (wed and sun).

I'm doing Buserelin injections each morning and then Ovaleap in the evening x

Hi @Janefx40, I think we may have been on the boards during our pregnancies previously. I’m also nervous about my PCR, really don’t want anything to delay our cycle! Where are you in your cycle?

@BegoniaGal7 oh how lovely to meet again! Let's hope we have the same outcome 🤞🏼🤞🏼I'm on cycle day 8. Scan tomorrow and PCR. So many people seem to be positive but without symptoms so am feeling nervous.

@MollyVanDer it's always hard not to feel disappointed if you don't have a large number. But in my experience the most important thing is not how many there are but that they are even sizes. I've done 6 egg collections and I've had cycles where I've had lots of follicles but very different sizes - they collected lots of eggs but only a few fertilised. I can never know for certain but I suspect it's the ones that were similar sizes that fertilised. Then I've had cycles with just 5 similar sized follicles but the number fertilised was the same. So although you don't have loads, all 5 are a similar size which to me is a good thing. That's just my personal experience. People say this endlessly but you only need 1. Fingers crossed xxx

Good evening ladies,

I hope you don’t mind to join, I was reading your posts since the beginning which gave me so much information as we are on our first (hopefully the only) fresh IVF cycle, private as we didn’t meet the criteria for NHS funding, I turned 36 in August. Unexplained infertility, all result are good and in normal levels and we had 3 unsuccessful IUI last year.
Today (day6 of GonalF) was my second scan (first after baseline) and my lining is good (8.2) but follicles (15 of them) are a little bit behind on size (all around 10mm) so they increased my Gonal-F injection from 375 to 450 which is the maximum. I was so fine until today (I didn’t care all the side effects) I didn’t have any emotional roller-costing moments, put the “robot-face” up, doing what I needed to do -however I hate the needle really- but the fact that they increased my unit, its continuously in my mind. My next scans are on Monday and Wednesday, EC is on Friday. Only 1 week left. Is one week enough of those little bubbles to grow to the right size? Also so nervous of my PCR test on Wednesday.

I know we are all beautifully unique and different, and shouldn’t compare but here I am 🤦🏻‍♀️

Thank you for your kind encouragement @Janefx40

@Dobcaty if it helps most of my follicles grew 5mm within 4 days and they say they grow more in the latter days as oestrogen levels in the body increase. 14mm - 20mm from what I've read is the usually size of mature eggs so I have everything crossed for you x

@Dobcaty and @MollyVanDer I was disappointed when I was told that I had about 8 follicles on second to last scan during stims, in the end I ended up with 19 eggs and 14 mature. There was a lot of increase in the latter few days so hopefully the same will happen for you.

Hoping to join this thread as preparing for another EC soon and perhaps an FET in feb.

For me they got all my mature eggs from the follicles over 13mm apparently. The 5 immature ones were from the smaller follicles

@MollyVanDer @BlueSilver23 thank you! Honestly! Just felt suddenly so disappointed. But today is a new day and I have some sore pain on both sides so I'm pretty sure it will be better results on Monday, well 🤞. Luckily I'm working all weekend so it's no room for overthinking 😂

Hi, I'm due to start treatment planning next week for ivf long protocol. I've been anxious and worried just waiting to start, Scared of the outcome too! I'm 36 with unexplained infertility
How long did yours take? Did you have side effects? Did you have good eggs?

I need some positive stories to help me cope

Hey. Hope you don't mind me joining. Not sure if I'm a bit ahead as I had my egg collection yesterday and in the wait to see if I have anything to transfer on day 5.

Have been reading previous posts and it is comforting to know that many of the worries and thoughts I've had, others have to.

For me I had (I think) 13 or 14 follicles on my last scan, and they retrieved 8 eggs of which 5 where mature (2 of these fertilised). My follicles had a wide range of sizes so not sure if this is the reason for fewer eggs - I do know 2 follicles where quite big (>20mm prior to trigger) but I was on stims for an extra 3 days as during my last cycle I had a high percentage of immature eggs and they wanted to prevent that again.

I have read so many times that it only takes 1 good quality egg so i'm trying to hold on to that.

@Geep sending some positivity your way. What protocol are you on, short or long?

Will they give you an update on how the embryos are doing before day 5?

All the best x

Hi everyone! Don’t mind me joining this thread.
I had my first fresh IVF cycles in November and in December I had a BFN I was devastated, but good news is that I have some frozen embryos so that’s what is keeping me going.
Next step is a frozen transfer after two full periods but at the moment my periods are all over the place. I got my first bleed 2 days before my OTD and now my second bleed has started 1 and a half week early I just don’t understand what is going on with my body and I’m so nervous that it will delay my FET which should be in February. This Whole IVF journey is like a whirlwind😰 has anyone had issues with there period after a failed transfer? The nurse thinks it’s just a withdrawal bleed but how can I have two heavy bleeds in the space of three weeks

@Amyhope123 sorry your cycle didn't work out. It is normal for periods to be a bit chaotic after a cycle. Mine are usually delayed rather than anything else but all kinds of different patterns can be normal.

Do you track ovulation? It can be a useful way to be aware of what your body is doing. Generally our luteal phases are fairly regular but ovulation varies.

After a failed cycle or egg collection cycle my ovulation is usually delayed 4-5 days but after a chemical it was 60 days and similar after my miscarriage.

I'm afraid there's no way of knowing what your body will do but your period will show up sooner or later

Sorry not to have a clear answer x

@Janefx40 I started tracking ovulation straight after my failed transfer and according to the OPK I got a peak on day 15 however my period started 5 days later, I just don’t know what’s going on and I’m so eager to get into my FET I just want to be pregnant 😰

@Amyhope123 agh that is frustrating but I think we've pumped so many hormones into us that it's not surprising our bodies are a bit confused. If you had a positive OPK then I'd say that was a period rather than a withdrawal bleed, albeit a strange one. Hopefully your body will settle down now.

Hi @MollyVanDer

I had 13 days of ovaleap injections (so short I think). Initially was only meant to be only 11days but got extra as they wanted to make sure I didn't get a high number of immature eggs like last time.

I will get a call on Monday (day 3). Last time I got 3 mature eggs and 1 fertilised and made it to day 5 and transferred but was unsuccessful. Cant imagine we will have any to freeze this time but im hoping at least 1 will hang on for us to transfer.

Does anyone else here have low AMH? I am getting quite nervous about the possibility of not responding the drugs and having to cancel treatment.

@Dobcaty I also had my 2nd scan after baseline yesterday! Today (Saturday) is cd7 for me, and I will do my 6th gonal injection tonight (My clinic has people do them in evening)

I'm estimating my EC will be next Friday, Saturday, or Sunday so we will be on pretty similar timing having to do the torturous wait to see how the eggs get on after collection!

@Jennie154 hello, yes me too. I have the same concerns.. This is our first IVF cycle, im 37 v.Soon to be 38. Husbands tests were fine. So said unexplained infertility. Im on the short/flare protocol and just about to finish norethisterone tablets, then next Fri a Prostap injection followed by 5 days of overleap injections in the evening and have two internal scans/bloods booked for 21st and 24th. I'm guessing won't know how body will react, I have feeling il need to do injections for longer to mature the follicles. I'm just hoping the follicles develop and that it won't be abandoned. What protocol are you on? Sending lots of positive vibes your way