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!

@crazycatlady1981 hello over here too 👋🏻

Is anyone starting stims next week? I’m not caught up on here to know who that might be 👀

Oh @Justawannabemam I’m going in on the 26th with a possible EC the 7th!

@thislittlebird hey. That's 3 of us collecting on the 7th

@Bluebonnet3 I don't blame you! Really hoping for positive outcomes for you and hope this next lot of stims go okay.

@PcosSOS amazing news!!! 9 still in the running! Absolutely fantastic!

@tulipsandsnow that's good news, they don't need to be graded the best, they just need to make it and then you've got a good chance. Hope you can keep your mind occupied until Thursday

@Bec18x glad you are feeling well and no signs of OHSS. Good luck to you and @PcosSOS for Thursday and your transfers.

EC tomorrow for me! Slightly nervous as last cycle was so positive that I'm worried we won't match it 😩

Good luck tomorrow @Coops0406!

@Justawannabemam who is the third of us? 🤔

@thislittlebird I thiught it was someone else but ive read her message wrong.

Im sure others will be joining us.

Send me a DM if u want to chat direct. I sometimes find messages can get lost if lots are positing x.

Hi there!

@thislittlebird I'm having my baseline scan this Friday so if all ok, I might be startimg my stims. It's my first round so I'm not sure what to expect really!
But it's so good to read everyones' comments here, helps a lot! Xx

Will do, thanks @Justawannabemam. I’m bound to be freaking out on the 26th, I’m too anxious not to.

I have struggled to keep up here, January seems a busy month for us all! Probably because should-have-been-December people roll in (like I did).

@thislittlebird thank you 🥰

Day 6 embyoligist update: not much to report, will wait one more day to see if one (or 2) of the remaining 2 early blasts develop enough for biopsy and freezing. Ugh--looking more likely than we will only get the one this round. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Today is also second day of stims (in duo-stim protocol) and i feel quite bloated. Maybe i need to lay off the salt and go for healthy choices instead! All want is a burger and fries. :-P

@Bluebonnet3 you're doing amazing! 2 days down, not many to go!

Hey all, unfortunately of our 4 eggs collected none made it past two cells so we are done. Meeting next Thursday to discuss cycle 3!

Could anyone share what their clinics have said about what size follicles should be at the last scan before collection? I'm seeing conflicting info on google.

Good luck to everyone this week. Baby dust x

@MollyVanDer I’m so sorry to hear that and best of luck with the next cycle.

My clinic said they book in egg collection once at least 3 follicles reach 18mm or over.

@Coops0406 good luck for EC today ✨

@MollyVanDer so sorry to hear about your embryos. On my previous cycle, at my last scan which was 4 days before EC, I had 4 follicles that were 17-18mm, one 15mm and one 13mm. They got 5 eggs and only 4 fertilised so I’m guessing that they were the 17-18mm ones which goes along with what @PcosSOS said about 18mm being good. x

@Coops0406 good luck for your EC today! 💕

@Frenchiepupmama @crazycatlady1981 thank you so much ❤️ Will update you later

@MollyVanDer I'm so sorry, stay positive and best of luck for your next round 🥰 My clinic only do EC if there are a minimum of 3 follicles at 16mm and over at the last scan, and ideal sizes are 16-19mm. They still grow after the last scan and trigger so sometimes bigger than that may mean the eggs can be slightly over mature by the time of EC. In my first round they said that happened so the embryologist recommended I only stim for 9 days rather than 10.

@MollyVanDer I'm so sorry to hear your news. Hope you and your wife are doing ok. This is such a tough journey sometimes x

@MollyVanDer Sorry to hear your news. Wishing you the best of luck for the next round. My clinic (well known London one) told me that they got all my mature eggs from follicles over 13mm in the end. I had a few immature eggs also collected but they came from follicles a little smaller than 13. So for me at least that seemed to be the ‘cut off’ size. Ideally they said follicles should be around 20mm but think that’s quite high and I got a few mature eggs from follicles smaller than that.

I also was started on a slightly lower amount of stims which was upped after a few days when the follicles were not growing as they hoped. I actually had around 30 follicles in total and only ended up getting mature eggs from about half of those. They were slightly worried about OHSS hence the lower doses but for my next round I’m asking to be on the ‘normal’ doses from the start to try and ensure we get eggs from most of them next time! It felt like a bit of a wasted opportunity of all those follicles to me! I would ask about stims that work on follicle size as well to ensure you have enough. It’s more important to get a few of good size rather than too many follicles that are not big enough like me. Size matters with follicles!

Good luck for EC today @Coops0406 !

Also to any other EC and scans! The thread moves so fast it can be hard to keep track. :-)

Hi All, Just realised how the ivf outcome is so unpredictable, I feel like it's down to luck sometimes, basically same as natural pregnancy. I think ivf increases that luck though and that's what keeps me thinking positive. Stay strong ❤

@MollyVanDer Look forward to next cycle. Big hugs ××

@Coops0406 Good luck on your EC!

@MollyVanDer sorry to hear this cycle wasn't successful. Do you know how long you have to wait for the next one?

@Bluebonnet3 @NaomiNatNat thank you 🥰

Hey guys just catching up on all the great news. @PcosSOS wow that’s so exciting to have so many good embryos, it looks like a good number for Friday. I remember we had 7 out of 8 fertilised, then 5 on day 3 so I thought we’d lose some more by day 5 but it stayed at 5 so you could still have all 9!
We are using 2 embryos so but nervous about dipping in to our remaining 4 in case this cycle also doesn’t work but I guess it is better to eliminate them until we get to the one that will actually work and doesn’t just look good. I’m in the lull between cycles so time seems to be dragging now before my frozen cycle next month. Anyone else starting FET around mid feb here? x

@MollyVanDer I’m really sorry to here that the embryos didn’t succeed this cycle. I had 3 lead follicles the week before my EC and they were debating whether to do EC that week but because those were at 18mm and there were a good number that were lagging they decided to up my menopar instead from 150unit to 220unit and I carried on doing this for a further week until my trigger shot on the sat which meant my EC was on Monday. Surprisingly they collected 8 eggs which I was pleased with but I think on my lay scan we had counted 10/11 potential eggs. They were saying there were two 14mm ones that may catch up before EC but looks like they didn’t but I had a few 17mm ones so looks like they also made good eggs that fertilised so I think you can just get in there below 18mm on the last scan

Can I join? I had successful ICSI in 2019 leading to my DS and 2 frozen embryos. Had an unsuccessful FET last year. Been a lot of messing about because our clinic has been moving but finally getting on with second FET. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much as this embryo is not such good quality but I assume they wouldn't freeze unless it was reasonable quality? Best of luck to everyone!