Weight loss for IVF 2021/2022

[WeightlossKin]

I need to lose three stone to qualify for IVF. I've got one to lose for my referral and two more after that for treatment.
Creating this for myself and for others who might want to buddy up!

@WeightlossKin Low carb is brutal! My plans of low carb/low sugar/high protein haven’t quite worked out lol. We still have Christmas chocolates in the house!

Fingers crossed all is good by the end of March. A loan if not is a good idea.

Yes, I’m on stims now! Day 7 today, I have a scan tomorrow so hopefully everything is working as it should. They haven’t re weighed me yet, which is good, I’m bloated and crampy and I know I have put on weight with all of this. I’m hoping to avoid the scales for as long as possible!

It's a good sign you've still got Christmas chocolate in one way @Lauralozzle! A lot of people would have snaffled that away by now!

Oh how exciting, how are you feeling on stims?
My thought process is that you need your BMI down to claim the funding for IVF, and the funding would have been closed before you started, so surely they won't weigh you again?
You'll naturally gain as a result of some of the meds. It'll only be an issue if you need to have a frozen transfer or another round I think?
Anyway! Try not to worry too much and don't be hard on yourself.
Is the scan tomorrow to see how your ovaries are doing?

@WeightlossKin I’m a bit bloated and have the odd twinges down there!

That’s my thought process to re weigh ins. I had a few because I kept going under and over and every new clinic (GP/Fertility Clinic/IVF clinic) wanted their own records of confirmed bmi below 30. Hopefully this round works because I suspect if I need a FET that’s probably another weigh in, so I’d have to step it up again!

Yes, scan tomorrow to see how I’m responding to Stims!

Hi all,

Hope everyone is doing ok?

I had my fertility phone call. She would have booked me in for a Hycosy appointment as my bmi is close to 35.

However I did ask questions as in if my tubes were blocked, what would be the plan of action. She then informed me that I would need ivf, but then informed me I would not qualify for funding on the nhs. I thought it was because of my bmi, which is correct but she told me im over 35 and they don't fund for anyone over 35yrs old.

Which has made me quite angry, because all this time up till now, no one has told me this.

So now it's going down the private route. I have booked my Hycosy privately for next week and will see what the outcome is.

@MrsBiddy The NHS postcode lottery is just a joke! I’m sorry they stop funding after 35. That’s rubbish and not every CCG does.

Fingers crossed for private route! It’ll be much quicker than NHS!

Let us know how your hycosy goes. At least things are moving for you now, as frustrating as it all is!

@MrsBiddy that's so frustrating for you! I would have thought your GP would have said that to you. Then you could have made an informed decision about going ahead with things a bit quicker if possible. It's rubbish. At least (on the very slight positive side) you know where you stand now and have your next steps in place. How are you feeling? Do you have to keep your BMI below 35 for private?

@Lauralozzle are you having Egg collection soon? 🤞 How are you doing?

@WeightlossKin Yes, egg collection is very soon! It’s today! I’m a bit nervous about it, hence being awake at 4:30AM.

How are you?

They did weigh me again for pre-op, and I was over but they said the meds can cause bloating and water retention. I was worried they’d cancel it but they haven’t, it was just needed for pre-op - for the sedation I propose!

@WeightlossKin I know, you'd think someone would have told me 🙄, oh well! Least we now know it's the private route. I have my Hycosy tomorrow so at least we will know if my tubes are blocked or not. I'm not sure? I'm just a little over 35 for my Hycosy but I think I want to reduce my bmi anyway to be abit more healthier.

@Lauralozzle good luck! Hope your egg collection goes well xx

Has anyone told family that they are having problems conceiving? We haven't told anyone, I might tell parents if we need ivf etc , to explain certain things etc.

@MrsBiddy I told my family and a few of my friends which I do regret now as sometimes I don't want to talk about it. I didn't think we'd have any issues so I told people we were trying for kids as soon as we got married. So I think people would naturally guess at this point that something wasn't right...
I mean it is nice to have people to talk to as well because it does really effect how I'm feeling, but also I don't like all the questions 🙈

@Lauralozzle how exciting! Fingers crossed for you, I hope it goes okay. Hopefully you are tired enough for a lovely nap after. Do you have the whole day off??

@MrsBiddy I told a few people but regret it. It didn't make them any more considerate and didn't make any difference to how supported I feel. Nobody I talk to can possibly understand as they all conceived effortlessly, even people twice my starting weight ☹️ which I know isn't their fault but means I'm surrounded by a lot of people who don't understand the urgency and desperation around the weight loss even when I've bloody told them why!! It's caused me more frustration.
We'll be telling in-laws when we start IVF, as I do think they'll be supportive and excited for us. It'd a really hard one and I think different for everyone.
Sorry 😂 bit of a rant. It's my hunger talking.

Like @MissLB I struggle with the questions and the asking if we're there yet.

@MissLB @WeightlossKin

Thank you for your replies. It's so difficult but I think I'm going to keep it to ourselves and if and when we need ivf, then we'll tell parents.

I just don't want lots of people to know that might pity us, ask lots of questions or give their opinions.

Such a horrible group to be apart of but nice to know that there is supportive group on here that understands.

I let you know how my Hycosy goes tomorrow xx

@MrsBiddy I had mine two weeks ago. Actually the most supported I've felt since starting this journey. I hope the team you have are as nice as the one I had!

@WeightlossKin how's the diet going? I'm down 12 pounds since starting this boot camp thing 3 weeks ago!

@MrsBiddy I’ve not really told anyone. My sister knows, one friend knows we are on a list as it slipped out when I was hammered one night for Christmas drinks! I don’t want the questions so have been very quiet. Good luck with your Hycosy!

@MissLB 12lbs in 3 weeks is amazing! Well done!

@WeightlossKin Yes, today off and tomorrow too.

@MrsBiddy for me it was the people who said things like "have you tried just not trying"? Or r lt the need to tell me IVF wasn't a guarantee.
How did the hycosy go??

@MissLB that's amazing! I've still got 18lbs to move. my body doesn't react well to anything and despite consist calorie and carb restriction it's very slow going. It IS finally going, so. Just sticking with it. You're doing so well! I'm very jealous and would love to lose like that - all that hard work you're putting in is paying off!

@Lauralozzle how are things now? Did the egg collection go okay? Fingers tightly crossed for you! When will you have a shiny embryo put back in? 🤞🤞

@WeightlossKin Egg collection was ok. We got 6 mature eggs. Not bad as all from one ovary.

Fertilisation not so great. Only 2 fertilised with ICSI. Transfer Saturday, if there’s anything to transfer.

It’s hard. I’m trying not to think about it lol 😂

@WeightlossKin

Yeah, I think some people feel like they have an opinion but if they haven't experienced infertility then they don't really have any right to express their opinions and should just shut up lol!

It was ok, the person was shoving it around quite firmly as I have a fibroid, so wanted to get a good view of the fallopian tubes. It was very uncomfortable at times and felt like the wand was going to eventually come out of my mouth lol

But he said they were all clear and the fibroid wasn't going to affect anything as not in the way and made me aware of pcos (which I knew about already)

Now it will be ovulation induction next, but unsure if it would be natural or iui. I think we would prefer iui as it puts a lot of pressure on my husband to 'perform' and sometimes doesn't happen and he gets very upset about it 😔

Has anyone ever had IUI? Or ovulation induction? How many appointments were there? As I start a new job (was made redundant). I'm worried on how much time I'd have to either take as annual leave or as unpaid 😞 which doesn't look good for a new employee.

Xx

@Lauralozzle I'm sorry you've had such a drop from egg to embryo but I think there's usually a big difference isn't there? It shines a good light on those two that fertilised! They could be absolutely perfect, they must have something going for them if they fertilised when the others didn't. Well done ovary! Will cross everything for you for transfer on Saturday. There's so many post hurdles to get past! Are you distracting yourself with lots of lovely things as much as possible?

@MrsBiddy oof that sounds a little bit brutal, you're a right trooper going through that! Glad nothing of note was found. My husband can't handle the pressure either and the more pressure there is the less performing happens. I can't comment on iui unfortunately ☹️ maybe worth asking one of the other IVF/infertility groups if you've not already?

We are going to see our chosen IVF clinic tomorrow. We're doing a "back up" sperm banking just in case. We've had terrible sperm test results before so are starting early in case we need to do more than one. Ideally this will resolve the pressure issue of him having to do it on egg day and not being able to, and it would be good to have more sperm available in case there aren't enough from the sample on egg day! We'll need to pay for this privately regardless of if I get to the right BMI or not so may as well do it now. It feels good to be taking a step forwards! Fingers crossed he gets great results and they can freeze lots of swimmers 🤞🤞I'm making a big assumption that they actually test it....

Hope everyone is okay.

So, we only had one one embryo in the end. It wasn’t great quality and today on official test day it was a BFN. I have a review booked in for 27th Feb.

We’ll be going private now.

I'm so sorry @Lauralozzle
How are you feeling about everything? It's such a shit.

@Lauralozzle

I'm so sorry 😞 it's such a hard journey 😞 xx

I had my day 21 progesterone test results and came back as 0.5 which is low.

They don't know if it was the correct day, so have been told to call the nurse on cycle day 1 and then they can work out if it was correct day.

Got my doctor call booked in for March, if I haven't ovulated then I guess I would be going on medication for ovulation induction.

Once again my bmi is just over 35, and was told I need it under that to take the medication 🙄

Im still using my OvuSense monitor for bbt, this month is completely flat on my chart 📊 I dunno whether it was my Hycosy that has messed everything up or stress from starting a new job.

Hope everyone is ok x

@WeightlossKin @MrsBiddy Thank you. It is shit, but I expected it. I’m ok, pissed off, but ok.

I’ll have to really look at my diet for my next round. Less sugar. I had far too much sugar, especially around Christmas and everything.

@MrsBiddy That’s rubbish about your progesterone levels being so low. Makes sense about them calculating if it was the right/wrong day though. Should be about 7 days before your period, but if your cycles are irregular then that doesn’t help. After my H.S.G I ovulated a week later. Ovulation induction sounds like good next step. You can get it below 35 if it’s only a bit over. I know it’s hard though. The weight issue is just another dimension to this shit show.

I’ve put on 8lbs over this cycle, so ideally need to get that off so I don’t feel like a bloated whale! Over half a stone in two months. Urgh.

BMI was created by the devil wasn't it?
@MrsBiddy as Lauralozzle said, if your cycle isn't a perfect 28 days then it's easy to get the wrong day. I had my "day 21" test on day 28.

@Lauralozzle don't be too hard on yourself. IVF meds are notorious for causing weight gain. If you're going private does your BMI matter as much?

It's looking more and more likely that I'm going to end up paying privately 🤷 can't wait to no longer torture myself with this diet but not actually sure how we'll go about funding anything!

@WeightlossKin No, the BMI shouldn’t be so much of an issue. As long as it’s under 35, which it is.

We’ll be funding private treatment via a loan. It’s the only way. We can’t save up that quickly and we can hopefully go for a multi cycle then.