IVF / FET March/April 2022

[AliceAbsolum]

Thought I'd start a thread for those starting rounds in the next few months.

I'm 36. TTC for 6 years. This will be my 4th transfer. It's a double embryo FET in Cyprus.

Welcome welcome 😁

@SUMMERTIME02 sorry not sure what happened to my grammar there haha. A few of the ladies on another thread have used the glue x

@Steph2345 this was my first EC so obviously can’t really base anything on it (the results can vary so much from cycle to cycle), but I also did four IUI cycles in which they kept upping my stim dose to make me grow more follicles and it never worked. So depending on how next EC goes if I need one, I might just find out I’m a poor responder. Not like the number matters that much if I still get a few good blastocysts, but if the blasts aren’t good enough to implant, that’s when you want a higher quantity I think. So we’ll see!

Good luck with your scan today, also you @PMAmostofthetime! Crossing fingers your ECs are soon. And aww yes I agree this thread really helps. I think at the end of the day, we are willing to do whatever it takes…that’s why it’s so devastating when it seems like it might not work or the results aren’t what we hoped!

@SamTTC @Steph2345 how many follicles do you both have? I had 6/7 at first scan. They did seem to respond to the meds and at final scan there were 3 big and the other 3 not far behind. With one of the left we wrote off. I did only got one egg but that was from the left ovary which was the original tiny one that had surprisingly grew to 19mm. Realistically they thought cos of the trigger incident the big follicles probably had ovulated but I'm hoping next time the 6 follicles have 6 good eggs 🤞🏻 for us with low AFC and AMH it's quality over quantity and it really does only take one strong one. I've always been so scared I'd never get to EC and get one NHS round before they gave up on me. But the clinics really do want to help.

Thank you everyone for your good luck wishes for today!

@SamTTC I had the same when we went through IUI, our first one was fine meds wise but each one after we kept having to increase the dosages. I’m sure you’ll get blastocysts that are ideal for freezing/transferring. When was your EC? What are the next steps for you?

@HJen22 have you tried nighttime Kalms (they can make you still feel a little groggy the next morning though) or apparently valerian root is really good - best in tea form. I have had the night teas before (Pukka do a good one and I think possibly Tesco have their own version) which contain it and may help you.

Sorry I've just realised asking follicle count was insensitive, just wanted to try to reassure that I don't have a huge amount either.

Thank you, I'll look into them! I haven't tried anything medicinal at all, apart from my OHs antihistamines he got prescribed a while back (which I know I shouldn't be taking as they are his). I have tried sleepy tea but I can't stomach it, the one I have tastes like flowers haha. Before all of this I was such a good sleeper. I don't often have an issue falling asleep, it's staying asleep that seems to be the problem. And when I'm tired I'm more emotional, make bad food choices and just get so down. I'm hoping the GP can give me some advice just to check what's ok when going through IVF xx

@HJen22 I think it's fine to ask things like follicle count, hopefully we can learn things from each other's experiences! Obviously everyone can feel free not to answer :)
For me, I had 16 follicles at the baseline scan, but by my second scan only 6 were growing and those were the 6 I had extracted (one was empty). I only had one on my right ovary that was huge compared to the rest, so I'm guessing it ate up all the meds on that side? There were actually lots of follicles on the left side, but they only took 5 because all the rest were just too small to extract, which was frustrating, because I do think they triggered me a day too early - which was partially my fault, as I've been lowballing the length of my cycle, so I think they were worried I would ovulate on my own. Anyway, you learn something new all the time!

Ovulation does really sound like a good reason for why that happened to you, how great in a way to learn all that and for the doctors to be so transparent with you about it! Anectodally it does seem like you need some luck to run into doctors who are genuinely invested in their patients' success, and it sounds like you have!

Ps I actually have good experience with Tisserand's sleep oil, the one you rub on your neck and wrists. It helps put me to sleep when I struggle with insomnia. It's worth a try maybe?

@Steph2345 my EC was in February, I got three blasts out of five eggs retrieved, the first was a fresh transfer that failed, and then I needed a month's break before my first FET, which will probably be mid-April. So a bit of a ways to go still :)

Hello everyone, hoping to join this thread as hopefully will be undergoing an EC and/or FET in April (periods and appointment scheduling permitting!). Was supposed to be a month or so ago but I went and got Covid . Was on the previous November thread and it was very helpful while I was going through the process so hoping it will be helpful again second time round!

Have had a previous EC for freezing and egg banking and got 14 eggs to freeze with a few others collected unfortunately too immature to freeze. Had a bit of a time with stims and ended up in a&e at one point as well as having a reaction to one of the drugs, and had to stop stims slightly early as LH got too high. Also had to increase stims halfway through as follicles weren’t growing well so I often wonder whether I couldn’t have got more if I’d been on the normal dose from the start (I was started on the low dose due to risk of OHSS). Afterwards I ended up bleeding post EC for well over a week. Now being investigated for coagulation issues because of this. My AMH is a little on the low side for my age I think but the consultant didn’t seem concerned. I’m hoping this time around will go a little smoother as I really struggled with the injections and how time consuming it all is last time. I still haven’t shifted the weight I gained from the meds!

Best of luck to those currently on stims or EC/FET!

@SamTTC I remember you saying 16 to 6 now. It's so hard to know what meds are going to do isn't it. Sadly nothing is a given. You're right, you do learn. That's great though that you got 3 blasts, that does show quality for those you retrieved! And at least should you need to go through EC again (which I really hope you don't have to) they can learn from when you triggered last time and adjust to suit. But you have your Frosties so focus on that and the hope that they bring to you.

Yeah and ultimately it was the Drs decision to wait another day for EC cos there was just no way of knowing how much or the trigger had went in. Due to me only have 6 follicles it didn't give us much wiggle room. He'd said if I'd had 20 they'd have done it to see. There's no way of knowing those 6 follicles had 6 eggs either but I just hope next time things go smoother and we can at least try the big 6!

Oh that's a good idea, I've also used the Lush sleepy cream that I'd bought my OH (he's never slept great but I have, going from being a great sleeper to a rubbish sleeper is hard to cope with haha, I'm not used to the lack of sleep!)

Basically I couldn't be bothered googling cos when you do it just comes up with everything safe for pregnancy not IVF so I'm rinsing the NHS some more and asking for their help haha.

@PMAmostofthetime thanks for the advice! I'll definitely up the water intake and watch my diet. I have my migraine meds at the ready too in case I get an attack so hopefully I'll be OK. It never occurred to me that meds might not be OK for use during IVF so I'll look into that.

Interesting reading about people’s issues with migraines, I had terrible trouble while on stims with this too, that’s what I ended up in a&e for - terrible migraine and vomiting the day after I upped my stim dose. Had to have iv pain meds/antiemetics. Clinic insists that it was nothing to do with the stim dose being upped suddenly but I still think it was. Regarding meds while undergoing ivf; I’m currently waiting to hear from my doctors what migraine meds I can and cannot take so I’m hoping they have an answer soon! The thought of terrible headaches again this time is worrying me.

Quick question ladies - do you think it’s ok to dye your hair before an embryo transfer ? Probably sounds like a mad question but I’m in that stage where you feel like everything and anything may or may not impact in the wrong way somehow !!

@Brightertimesahead not a daft question but I have no idea of the answer. I’m getting egg collection tomorrow and my hair desperately needs dyed and it needs cut but I’ve been too scared to get it cut in case I caught covid in the salon and my cycle got cancelled 🙈. Can’t wait to do all these things next week!!!!

@HJen22 thank you, i'll check it out! x

@Brightertimesahead i'm not too sure tbh, but i would suggest try hold off if you can. Only because of the chemicals in the dye adding to your already high hormones of ivf meds x
im a bit extra, i cut down on perfume/deodorant any types of strong fragrances/creams before and during ivf.

@Brightertimesahead I probably wouldn't honestly. It depends on how soon before, but I'm pretty sure it's best not to, just based on the general guidelines regarding hormone-disrupting chemicals in fertility treatments. There's one article that covers it here, obviously that's just based on a google search but worth looking into: www.tomakeamommy.com/should-you-dye-your-hair-while-trying-to-conceive-safe-ways-to-color-your-hair-during-ivf-the-two-week-wait-and-pregnancy/
I know some salons do specifically chemical-free treatments for pregnant ladies, maybe go through one of those? It's up to you though! I think it's always worth to weigh up these things with whether we can stand ourselves/our lives while going through treatment.
For example I've gone almost completely 'clean' in my products since trying to conceive, but occasionally I'll use a face mask or a hair mask that I know isn't totally clean, just because, well, it's been a long process and that clean stuff unfortunately isn't as effective as products with chemicals and my skin/hair dries out very easily!

Most women get pregnant without taking any of these precautions and they have totally healthy babies, so who knows really? I think just be as mindful as you can manage to be, and otherwise live your life. But that's just my opinion/approach :) you could always ask your clinic maybe! I'm sure they've had similar questions before.

@BlueSilver23 welcome! oh no that sounds awful at your last retrieval. And then COVID, too! Are they changing your protocol this time or doing anything to keep you safe?
Just so I understand your situation (and just explain as much as you feel comfortable) - you are egg banking in this cycle as well, but will begin to defrost and fertilise them for transfer one by one? Or how does it work? I don't know anything about egg/embryo banking really :)

@BlueSilver23 welcome! And I'm so sorry to hear of the tough time you've had with Covid and the difficulty with stims and post EC! I hope the investigations lead to some answers and that your journey for EC and possible FET goes much better.

@Brightertimesahead I'm not too sure but I think as well as research and asking your clinic (someone else will have asked, no question is a silly question!) that to go with your gut. If it doesn't sit comfortably with you and you're not sure, you're probably leaning more to not.

My GP eConsult was useless; they emailed back saying I was getting 7-8 hours so I should try and go to bed later. Like I've not tried that. Sent me some links to look at too. I'm exhausted so can't help but fall asleep at 9pm. Even when I go to bed later and force myself to stay up, I wake up at 4/5am! I called the clinic (which I should have just done first but I didn't want to bother them) and the nurse was so lovely. She said I could use Kalms or something herbal during cycles but I'm going to try avoiding pills and I'll try an oil or something else homeopathic to add to my pillow spray and sleep cream etc.

Sorry that should have said between cycles not during as I'm currently not on any meds. Shouldn't be taking anything during I'd expect xx

Welcome @BlueSilver23 so sorry to hear you had a precious round cancelled but covid. It seems a perilous journey from egg collection to transfer stage these days doesn’t it? I really hope your next go is a bit less eventful for you - although my husband and I always try and remind ourselves at the beginning of these cycles that a month is long time to expect no hiccups of any kind ( or at least that’s been our experience!) I very much hope however that you find it a bit easier next time though

Thanks everyone for your advise re: hair dye - I’m glad I posted. I won’t be doing it. I think it will pray on my mind too much. And also I can’t really afford it after having to pay for my blood thinning injections ( ouch)

Is anyone on or been on Lubion injections? Took my first today and seem to be having a bit of a reaction … ( nothing I’m too concerned about yet)

@LT103 good luck with collection!

@Steph2345 how did your scan go?

@HJen22 before my cycle I used antihistamine as a sleep aid- made me feel Meh the next day though.

@Somatronic my paperwork says I can't take any ibroprofen or nsaids so I checked about my sumatriptan and they said no.

@Brightertimesahead my hair dresser said that sometimes the colours won't take because of all the hormones in you, it just washes out.

@BlueSilver23 welcome to the group sorry to hear about your Covid issues it's add more stress to an already stressful time doesn't it, 14 Frosties that's amazing! Hope you can start soon.

Thank you everyone for the good luck wishes, scan went well, still a little fluid on the right ovary but 3 follicles are at 18cm so trigger tonight.
EC Friday- waiting for a phone call with times.
Relieved as I was up all night worrying about OHSS. My ovaries are kissing and they said that's ok but I googled it and it says sign of Endo and causes issues with IVF - wish I hadn't done that now.

I am really excited though is that weird?

Also stressing about 3 injections tonight- 2 normal one Trigger- time to be confirmed in a phone call later.

@Brightertimesahead i took Lubion for my EndomeTRIO test cycle back in Jan. I felt quite sore and bruised with it.
It also would get quite red and itchy at the injection site. But it got like a day after i stopped it. I had only used it 6 times up until my biopsy day. This time will be using it up until after my transfer.

@Brightertimesahead sorry i meant it got better once i stopped with the daily injections.

@PMAmostofthetime yeah I really struggled to actually wake up today! Had a real coffee and that helped (been drinking decaff for about 8 months prior to my first cycle but figured I'd allow myself one a day now, how rock and roll haha), I'll just try and force myself to stay up a bit later and see if that helps me sleep past 4/5am!

Glad to hear your scan all went well and trigger tonight for EC on Friday! Try not to worry too much about google, trust the team. That's a lesson I've learnt along the way. Have a treat organised for tonight after your injections and have a wee celebration that tomorrow you're jab free. They will go ok, you've got this!!

Thanks for the welcome everyone!

It’s 14 eggs eggs not Frosties at this point - I wish! . I got 20 eggs overall (out of about 30 follicles) but several were immature so couldn’t be frozen, probably because I ended stims a bit early. I think the plan is to start on the dose I upped to halfway last time. The consultant was very pleased with the outcome even though I felt awful so wants to keep it roughly the same. I may ask for a frozen transfer so that I have a month to recover after the bleeding issue etc post EC last time, I would feel a bit jittery putting one straight back when feeling so unwell I think.

I was supposed to be egg banking for FET later on but after discussion with the consultant we are thinking instead of a further round of banking this time to just go ahead and make embryos this time and transfer one back (provided I’m lucky enough to get to that stage!). It’s complicated by the fact that I’m single so I originally opted for storing eggs rather than embryos to ‘future proof’ if you like. However I think I’ve made the decision to go ahead with it all on my own even though I haven’t yet hit the ‘dreaded’ age 35 just yet so still have a little time to think about it! It’s a big decision to choose to do it by yourself but I think I want to at this point. It’s one of those things I think you can always find a reason to put it off so I’m just trying to be a bit brave! I’m not particularly waiting to meet someone and won’t be basing any decisions around my fertility on that so it’s feels like the time might be right for me. I want to do another round of EC on top of the 14 eggs I have to give myself the best shot of more than one child but what will be will be. The consultants suggestion was to combine the two, undergo EC, make some embryos, put one back and store what we don’t use together with the eggs I already have (again, if I’m lucky enough to have that choice!). So I’ll have some eggs and some embryos stored in theory. The one thing you can’t do with ivf is make plans for anything!

@PMAmostofthetime wooo so close now! I totally get being excited, it’s finally happening!
I agree with @HJen22, I would trust the team as well but of course we all Google and catastrophise over the results…that’s part of the process. Depending on how this round goes you can always get tested for endo if they/you suspect that it might be present. Lots of women have endometriosis so it’s not impossible, but it’s also very treatable if it should be the case, so I wouldn’t worry. Especially since it might not be what is going on at all! I would say one round at a time and take it from there!

@BlueSilver23 ah that makes sense. That sounds like a really good plan! We are in similar situations by the way :) Literally on the day I turned 33 I was like ah sh—, I don’t have time to wait for ‘the right man’ anymore! 😅 And knowing how long fertility treatments can take for some women, plus all the waiting time before even starting treatment, I decided to just get on with it. I’m the child of a single mother too so solo motherhood never felt like a hard/bad choice for me either.
And I don’t believe in timing. It’s incredible really how the ‘perfect time’ to get pregnant just comes and goes all the time, I’m sure you can all relate to this. Like last summer when I was doing my IUIs, it would have been absolutely perfect for me to get pregnant. Lots of my acquaintances were falling pregnant, and work-wise it just would have been very convenient. Right now, it feels awkward in terms of work and social life, and who knows how it’ll feel in six months?? Life just happens and you have to prioritise the things that are important to you, not wait for the stars to align- particularly with something like this, where actually planning when to get pregnant is so out of our control! (It’s like when you’re first imagining getting pregnant and trying to steer around a December birthday or whatever, and at this point it’s just like…please just let me deliver a healthy baby, literally every other factor is irrelevant!)

@SamTTC Nice to hear someone else in a similar situation, some family members think I’m a bit nuts (my mother had me totally naturally on the first try at 40 with severe endometriosis so she thinks it’s easy and that I have lots of time! But we all know the odds of natural conception at 40 aren’t brilliant, so id rather not risk waiting, especially as my amh is lower than I’d like) but I’m also the child of a single mother so like you it doesn’t feel like a ‘last choice’ thing at all. Just normal. And I don’t want to wait only to wake up one day and realise I no longer have the choice because I waited for a man. So I’m just trying to give myself the best chance and not take it for granted. I work in healthcare and in oncology so seeing people who were having their fertility choice taken from them suddenly got me thinking about checking my fertility and egg freezing, and now I’m here looking at FET! It’s not great timing for me really but I’m following my instincts on this!

Sorry to hear your IUIs didn’t work out, I was looking at this but since I decided to freeze some eggs anyway I thought I’d just go straight to ivf and kill two birds with one stone so to speak! Are you looking at further IUI or ivf now?