IVF/FET October/November 21 part 2

[paintfairy]

The other thread is full so I'm hoping everyone will find this!

Thanks all. I'm not going to focus on the grading as it's all a load of poop. I had a top blast last time which ended in MC so it means nothing. It was just something that added to the nerves yesterday.

Any tips for what to do during tww? I'm continuing meds and vits obvs but forgotten if there were any particular foods recommended, did anyone try anything?

Test day for me is Thursday 2nd December but that's 14 dpt so I'll probably be testing at 9 days if I make it until then. Previously I've tested at 7 but I'm not feeling the urge to... Yet!

@CycleGirl20 we have the same otd!

Amazing, glad you don’t have to go through those anymore. End of injections is a great milestone point. I felt I had to stab myself with one of mine as it wouldn’t puncture the skin, I ended up icing the area to numb it for a while and then really stabbing it in 🤦🏼‍♀️ The things we go through!!

@Hufflepuff1 pineapple!! It’s meant to be great for implantation so I’ve been having that each day. And I know it’s important to keep your fibre up to avoid constipation too.

@makeithappen2022 and @CycleGirl20 sounds like you’ve both had a mare with your injections! DH does mine and he is very good I must say, I’ve had no issues.

@Gensola my DH can't look whilst I do mine. I had to inject him with some meds he needed earlier in the year. I did ask him if he wanted to do my IVF ones in case he wanted to be involved. I hadn't realised how bad he was with them!

I will start with my injections tonight. Just came here to see if there are any pregnancy news to cheer me up and saw @paintfairy's and @strawberrysummer19's tests!!! Congratulations! 🎉🎉🎉 So happy for you guys! ❤️

@CycleGirl20 I saw your post about freezing rules in Germany. I also live in Germany (in NRW). Which Bundesland do you live in?

I had only one round of ICSI. We got 9 matured eggs and only 4 of them fertilised. I wanted two to be transferred, so they froze first two on the first day and transferred me day 3 embryos. I also found it extremely stupid since there is no guarantee to have an elligible one out of two on the Day 3 or Day 5 😪

Frozen two didn't stick either. So this round will go with the Day 5 culture. Doctor told me that they will wait for all the embryos to develop until the day 5. If there are 5 good quality embryos on the day 5, they will freeze 3 of them and transfer 2. She didn't mention any limitations about the quantity. Maybe there is an exemption for the people who has failed transfers before... 🤔 I will check the law again and go to the dr for a scan next week. I will also ask her, will let you know.

Btw, I will also use thrombosis injections this round. Stressing about the side affects 😟 About the progesterone, I always used them until the pregnancy test. I used Cyclogest twice a day in the first round and this time I will use one progesterone injection + one Cyclogest per day. By the end of the month I don't think there will be any part left on my belly which is not stabbed 😅

Honestly if this round doesn't work, I am thinking about going to University of Ghent in Belgium for the 3rd round. I already check with insurance (TK). They said they will pay half of it as long as it is in the EU. You just need to submit a treatment plan. It is 3 hours drive from where I live and I read great things about that university hospital. They are pioneer in many developments in fertility treatments.

@CycleGirl20 those injections sound horrible! @makeithappen2022 were they menopur ones? Some of mine seemed blunt and you had to stab them in. The ovaleap and buserelin were fine.

@MrsC2018 I'm sorry it's not better news 💐 Your positive outlook is admirable and I'm sure your holding your precious little one all the tighter 💕

@lucymills1234 I'm so sorry there was no miracles for you. You really deserved one. I'm hoping with all my might that one of those you have frozen is destined to be your child. Perhaps the one that should have been transferred! Your clinic should do that transfer FOC. Let us know what they say 💐 I know it's no substitute for in-person support, but you have so much support here ❤

@CycleGirl20 I checked the Kryo documents we signed for the long culture. It says they will put only 5 to long culture to wait until Day 5 and if we have more than 2 at the end, they will freeze the leftover ones. I also checked the law, nothing mentioning limitations on long culture though... German law is really outdated and also prohibits the donations. They were discussing to change the law last year. God knows how many years will it take to update 😪

@Cayandsimit I'm in Berlin, but we did live in NRW for 6 months and will probably move back there long term but had to be in Berlin for work and it's obviously not a great time to move jobs. Berlin is a bit much for me! Unfortunately we have to pay privately at the moment as we're not married 🙄. Another outdated law. It's the German Embryo Protection law. I told them we wanted twins so they'd cultivate 5 to day 5, then we "changed our mind" and they had to freeze one. This is our first go at IVF. Luckily we have one frosty and 10 frozen fertilized eggs.

Going to Belgium sounds like a good idea. I might look them up. If we need another round I'm thinking about going abroad. The having to freeze most as fertilized eggs, develop only 5 to day 5 then transfer one after another is likely to add a lot of time and TWWs because we can't start with the embryo out of the whole batch that's likely to give the best odds.

Are you starting stims?

@CycleGirl20 yes, I am starting this evening. I am fine with stims but I will inject Enoxaparin (Claxene) for the first time. I know some people including you used heparin injections. I also know that getting bruises is the common side effect but have you experienced anything else? I am on the 2nd day of my period. I usually get heavy flow on the 2nd and 3rd day. I am a bit scared that Enoxaparin injections will increase the bleeding even more.

German Embryo Protection law is horrible and I hate that insurance doesn't pay for unmarried or gay couple's treatments. Abortion is legal in Germany, why not having all your fertilized eggs to sit in the cultivation until the day 5? 5 day embryo is a "human" but not a 4 week old fetus? Don't get me wrong, I am not against abortion lol . The reasoning in this law is just ridiculous...

Hi! I wondered if it's too late to join this thread? I'm on day 4 of stims: 450iu Ovaleap and adding in Cetrotide tomorrow.

Anyone else at this phase or are you all post ER/transfer?

@Cayandsimit I was given thrombosis medication as a precaution. My clinic do that for anyone who gets more than 15 eggs at collection because of OHSS and blood clot risks.

I didn't get bruising or anything. My injections were mostly fine. I did get pretty bloated though, especially after egg collection.

My partner and I thought about getting married so we'd be covered on health insurance but then we didn't want our wedding to be about IVF! It is ridiculous. I'm hoping the new government will change it.

@CycleGirl20 I totally understand you 😔 You should be getting married because you want to, not because of IVF.
I hope it works out for you this round so you never have to go through this again 🤞

@paintfairy mine were cetrodide but think were a few blunt ones.

@notsofertilemyrtle welcome! A tip with the cetrodide, ice the injection site first. Ovaleap was a dream injection, nice fine needle but these aren’t as good, still fine but icing will def help! Wish I had known for my first one. You are on the same meds as me but I was 300 Ovaleap, I wonder if we have the same group of clinic.

@notsofertilemyrtle I just finished my cetrotide this morning and it was not my favourite. Agree with the tip about ice and make sure you have the technique down I.e grabbing a piece of skin, needle in and then releasing the skin before slowly injecting. For some reason I found the cetrotide needles more difficult than the other stims. I wish my clinic had spent a little more time on that with me. A couple of times I forgot to release the skin before injecting as I panicked and that did not turn out well! but others on here had no issues at all so hopefully you’ll be in the latter group!

@BlueSilver23 @makeithappen2022
Thanks so much! I'm very nervous about the Cetrotide. My husband will be administering them thank god. I need to really walk him through the pinch and release as I didn't know that. The videos from Care aren't amazing. I might watch some from other clinics on youTube.

I wish you could do the Cetrotide with the little insulin needles that came with the Buserlelin kit but they look too small for the volume.

How did you feel on the Ovaleap @makeithappen2022? I'm bloated and a bit wonky today. Hoping it means it's actually stimulating follicles!!

@notsofertilemyrtle yes similar to you, def bloated. It definitely worked for me, I have 12 follicles on scan one and that went up to 19 before egg retrieval. I felt very full is the best way to explain it! When is your follicle growth scan?

@makeithappen2022 that's fab!! I have low AMH and my scan before my last AF showed 11 follicles so I guess they need some help.

Scan number one is on Weds which is day 8 of treatment. Praying for good numbers!

Where are you at in the treatment cycle?

@notsofertilemyrtle @makeithappen2022 I’ve been very up and down with my follicle count, first scan showed 5-6 follicles then next one two days later showed 30. But final scan showed likely only about 8 or so were the necessary size so a bit disappointing given the number of follicles that were there on day 6. But it is what it is. Also feeling very bloated with sharp pains right now two days before egg collection.

I am feeling so rough - just had to leave a friends birthday dinner early as I am exhausted and feeling really sick and weepy. The higher dose of progesterone I’m on is really taking it out of me!

@BlueSilver23 that's quite the rollercoaster! I really hope you get a good outcome from the egg collection. I wish we had a little window we could look in and see what's going on in there!!

Hey everyone, good to hear some positives, and sadly some negatives too :-/ hope everyone's doing ok through all this though? Been watching the old thread and wondering what's happening, just came across this one by accident lol x

@Gensola I've got really sore breasts. I think that might be the progesterone. I'm obviously hoping at 6dp5dt it's also because I'm pregnant, but... They're making me tired too and I'm only taking one in the morning.

@ExhaustedPigeon1988 glad you found us! I was watching that thread too thinking I'd said something as no one replied! How are you?

@CycleGirl20 that sounds positive. I'm on day 2p5dt. When are you testing?
My boobs are heavy but I don't think that's a new symptom lol. Also tmi but I haven't been for a number 2 since transfer. I've cut out my tea which normally spurred things on! Not sure if I should be worried about the constipation though.