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 😁

@LT103 I'm the same and I won't hear now until Wednesday.

I'm now researching identical twin statistics during ivf

I don't think it's higher with IVF but it can still happen and would obviously be something to avoid if it meant triplets or quads potentially. We have lots of twins and 1 set of triplets in our family. Twins are good, and while we all love the triplets I wouldn't wish it on anyone!

Another girl in a thread here just had that happen!! Two blasts, both stuck, 1 split and now she's expecting triplets.... very scary, but totally magical 💫💫💫 it's like you wait all your life for a bus (baby) and then three come along at once 🥰

For me it's definitely a question of age (I'm 40 👵🏻): I always thought I'd have a few kids, but I've gradually revised things down to being happy if I even have one... multiples would be amazing... but so would one 😊

@PMAmostofthetime i found EC totally painless and very easy... it's cool, you see the transfer on a screen!! What you could brace yourself for... and maybe this is just my pervy clinic, is that you're very exposed 😬... legs up in stirrups, but because they use an ultrasound as well, your belly is bare too.... it caught me by surprise, even if I probably should have realised 🤷🏻‍♀️ Tjey gave me a gown fortunately, otherwise I'd have been sitting there in only a bra, but I'd probably remember to wear a vest and socks, just to feel a bit less naked!!

Good luck today @LT103 let us know the good news when they call!!

My driving instructor had triplets via IVF! Two were transferred and one split. I have a few friends with IVF twins too. The first few years sound tough but then they definitely seem to reap the benefits as they have a playmate the same age! I've never thought I'd cope with twins (or possible health risks) so only transferred one! When I see my friends I do wish we had twins though!

You always hear about the split stories because they’re shared more - because they’re unusual! The reason twins are a bit more common in ivf is because they transfer multiple embryos, which obviously increases the chances. I am pretty sure the chance of a single embryo splitting in the womb is equally likely regardless of how it got in there.

When I was a child I wished so desperately I had been a twin and I have always harboured a secret wish of twins, for the children’s sake- best case you have a built in best friend for life, or at least someone to motivate you to find your identity quite early on.
As for myself carrying and raising two kids at once, as a single mum…I think having just one is much preferable, logistically! 😅

Thank you all. This is my first time. Long story.. I'll shorten it as much as possible 😉
I've had unexplained infertility since I was 25. My then boyfriend got cancer and had sperm frozen. He recovered but we separated. I met my husband and we tried and tried. Went for more tests but still unexpected infertility. He had children from a previous relationship so we didn't qualify for funded IVF and didn't have the money or credit to fund it ourselves. Unfortunately he was killed a few years ago and my whole world stopped. I'd lost my future with him, but I'd always felt that his children would be my future in some way. When he was killed everything changed. I lost my soul mate and any glimpse of a family in the future.
I'm so lucky, because my now partner is so understanding of my situation and we decided to start trying for a family. Nothing. After more tests (I know... three times!!) Were told its unexpected infertility again but he also had a slightly low morphology count (is that the word). He doesn't have children so hurray... we finally qualify for IVF... but I almost feel its 15 years too late. The doctors knew it was me as the problem back then and my eggs have now aged 15 years. But I'm holding out hope.
I'm now really trying my hardest to do all I can to make this work.
Is there anything I should be doing? I take my vitamins, I've cut back the coffee intake, I don't drink... any advice would be great as its my last chance. Once I hit 40 they won't fund anymore so if this one doesn't work... I think that's it xx

@Turning40andstartingIVF my goodness you've really been through a hard time. I'm so sorry about your husband's passing. It sounds as though you're doing all the right things! Have you been to counselling? I found it really helped me with feeling completely consumed and stressed about TTC and time running out. I'm 100 times more laid back now than I was a year ago. When I asked my consultant what I can do re egg quality she suggested Co-enzyme 10, 600mg a day so that may help if you're not already taking it?

I wanted to ask how people are coping with Covid worry? The nurse I spoke to yesterday said several couples have had their cycles cancelled recently due to Covid. I'm so nervous (not about getting sick - I had it in December and I was fine) just in case it means my cycle is cancelled. I have to go to work 3 days a week (I work from home the other days) and I have to take public transport so I feel like a sitting duck. I'm going to ask my boss about working from home a few more days but she will probably say no. I'm working from home for two weeks from the 11th April so it's just this week and next week that's causing the problem. I've cancelled all the gigs/events I had planned for the next few weeks.

@Somatronic covid is another of my worries too. I work in a school so I'm around students every day. I can do my work my home (I'm not a teacher and after the lockdowns all systems are able to be done at home). But I just don't know how I ask to work from home without sounding like an idiot but it's really worrying me. I wear my mask and stay away from people but if I catch it... there's now other chance for me. This is it. A cancelled cycle means no IVF as I won't quality again.... makes me anxious.

@Turning40andstartingIVF
I'm so sorry about your loss and trauma it's also been exacerbated by the fact that your area doesn't fund IVF on the NHS if one person has children.
They do in my area, as long as both doesn't have birth or adopted children.

I think we all have the fear of it not working i or running out of tries, I was told to cut out caffeine as much as possible, so I quit my favourite soda, because I was drinking at least 3 litres a day and it was a good job I did because I totally would have choose Soda after EC instead of the water I need.
I take Folic Acid with vit B and Vitamin D 3000 iu.
I have since learnt that protein in your diet is very important and milk.

My OH has stopped using the hot tub, hot baths, sauna's etc to improve sperm quality and takes Proceive men.

My clinic will freeze embryos for up to a year free of charge and then the charge is £295 for the year so we have already budgeted for 2 additional years just in case and the cost of meds and ET is far less than the full IVF with EC.

So maybe you could look into that and see if that would be an option.
1 cycle NHS at my clinic is classed as 1 fresh transfer 1 Frozen transfer so I see that as 2 goes, is this the same for you? This could reduce your anxiety.
Also then if you had enough eggs and you could afford it, you could try an additional time at lower cost.

Hope this makes sense and is helpful.

I'm 35 so I get 2 cycles ( if this round doesn't work) But I found looking into cost effective ways to continue helped relieve my stress levels slightly.

@Somatronic I worked through and tried to WFH as much as I could but my job involves visiting people and hospitals and meetings etc and I had to go to the office at least twice a week so I couldn't totally avoid it. I wear masks and use hand sanitiser religiously.

I wash my clothes and have a shower when I get in from work.

I had EC Friday and I'm now isolating until ET.

I've had 3 vaccinations and I had an antibody test which showed I had antibodies so that helped me feel less anxious but I'm still super strict with it. I use the blue disposable face masks and only use them once.

I avoided all social gatherings and events and as no one knows we are doing IVF aside from my boss it's been tricky but manageable.

@LuckyNovember thank you for the heads up and you have also given me less anxiety about the discomfort.

Very interesting about the split embryo's I have researched it and there is a higher change of splitting with 5 day blasts 8-10% more likely.
So around 1 in 10 of us.

I would love multiples.

@Turning40andstartingIVF I'm so sorry - you've been through more in 15 years than anyone should in a lifetime ❤️‍🩹

IVF can work first time, and I think it's come on so much since 15 years ago that things you mightn't have solved then, might be solved now.

I'm also taking ubiquinol (CoQ10), will start DHEA after OTD in case of a next round, pre-natal, and multivitamin.

I had been dabbling in adaptogens and functional mushrooms, but the quality on the cycle just gone was worse than the previous, so I'll drop them for now.

Look at your diet; I used to be vegan, but it's much much easier to get the right TTC diet if you eat yoghurt and eggs and salmon. (I can be vegan again after it's successful 🌱)

I also read that blood sugar variance can be damaging to egg quality. I got one of those arm monitors for 2 weeks, and my blood sugar is a 🎢, so have been trying to eat much more low-GI, fewer carbs... which has the added value that I think it really helped to stabilise my mood, which is a helpful bonus with all the hormones mixing things up.

The last one is stress. Some things say this impacts quality because high cortisol disrupts healthy levels of other hormones (?), but even if it's unrelated, it's been a really good excuse for me to try to get on top of some of my chronic stress 🧘‍♀️

I think of all of these as "marginal gains", every little bit helps... more and more as you get older! And btw, 40 is not old, loads of women still have babies at 40, it just takes a bit more time and effort 🦾

You're definitely owed some good karma. Do you have an appointment yet, when will you start?

@Somatronic I'm terrified of Covid interfering with my cycle!! DH is high risk, so we've had to be pretty careful the whole time, and it was ok until back to the office a couple of months ago. I'll start going by bike now that the hours changed, but until now I've been taking the (packed!) train.

My work have been really decent about flexible hours: so even if I'm coming into the office, I can arrive and leave at off-peak times and this really helps. It might be a compromise your boss would accept?

I always wear an N95 on public transport, makes me feel much more comfortable. My big risk is AT the office, that's where I lack discipline...

@Turning40andstartingIVF if you/OH catch covid during your cycle, many clinics will allow you to continue stimming, go to EC and freeze the eggs, then complete the cycle when everyone is recovered, so it shouldn't affect your funding in that way. (I saw on boards here that if OH catches it, better anyway to wait 2 months before his part, as it can damage sperm quality.)

@Turning40andstartingIVF I'm so sorry you've been through so much, have you had any counselling?

It sounds like you're doing the right things but as others have also mentioned diet can be quite important. Protein is good to include in every meal generally but also look at fat intake (good fats) so 2 portions of oily fish a week, greek yoghurt or a small serving of nuts. Fats are really important for female hormones.
Easier said than done but try to do things that make your mind happy...I'm still going to the gym which my clinic has said is fine as long as i dont do too much but walking or swimming or whatever helps reduce stress try to do.

@Turning40andstartingIVF I am so sorry to hear about all you've been through. I think the worst part of all this with IVF is the time/money cap that is imposed on patients. It's like, you know this technology and the help is there, but just out of reach, because of some formality.

One huge benefit of you doing this one round, even if it is not successful (which is absolutely CAN be! Don't lose hope in advance!) is that they will run a bunch of tests. Being given the "unexplained" label at 25 is infuriating in retrospect, because I'm sure there is an explanation! And as LuckyNovember said, the technology has come such a long way since then, it is more likely that they will be able to actually diagnose you. And you can potentially use that in future to understand your fertility better and perhaps work with a gynaecologist to tailor an at-home treatment plan for you (for example, Clomid is considered an IVF drug, but it actually "just" works to stimulate ovulation, so it can be prescribed to couples trying naturally).

I suggest the podcast "Ask the Egg Whisperer", which is American and so frustrating sometimes because they have all promising-sounding kinds of tests and add-ons that are not available to us, but the doctor who hosts it specialises in IVF for women over 40 and so she has a lot of supplement, nutrition and lifestyle tips that I think you will find very useful.

@Nutrinerd Congrats! 5 to freeze is totally fabulous :)

@Somatronic Covid is a worry. I worried about getting over the border here, then having to cancel the FET, and now I'm worried about getting it if we get a BFP. BA have changed thier mask rules, and while I'm not keen on the things and not sure about the evidence, I also dont want to sit in a tiny box full of breathing people for 5 hours. But what can you do? - Only what you can do. Its not in our hands.
N95s are good apparently.

@Turning40andstartingIVF Goodness, you've been through so much, what a journey for you already to say the least. Do you know what your AMH is?
I recommend the book "It starts with the egg" Its a little bit OTT imo, but it does discuss a lot of options when it comes to egg quality. I took DHEA, but it wasn't successful so made the decision to move into Donor eggs,

@HJen22 How are you doing? Hows the exercise going?

@PMAmostofthetime @LT103 Hope today goes quickly so you can find out more about your embabies tomorrow!

Re- multiples. I'm not thinking about it atm. DH and have decided if this cycle works to have a scan at 7 weeks, partly because I would want to know how many there are.

Decided to have Camembert for dinner, then remembered I couldn't. The guidance is so wishy washy - NHS Wales says you cannot eat peanuts when pregnant, NHS England says it not a problem - what?

Also why cant you have herbal tea?

At least I dont have to sweep or mop any floors you can tell me clinic is in a warm country, doesnt mention hoovering.

Ive just had my call and out of my 9 eggs, I have 7 frozen embryos!!!! I can’t believe it!!
Now we just need to wait a week for case review and then do our consents for FET

@Turning40andstartingIVF 40 is def not too old so don’t worry about that!!!
We have both been taking pregnacare/well man conception and I have been taking ubiquinol for last 3 months to help egg quality.
We both stopped drinking last 3 months too to help sperm quality mainly. But other than that we haven’t done much. It really is just pot luck in this game but don’t think your age is against you!! Fingers crossed it all goes well

@somatronic. I’ve seen a few on here have cycles cancelled right before egg collection due to covid. My clinic never tested us but if we had caught it it would still have been cancelled.
Once we started treatment we just stopped seeing any family/friends really. Just for the 3 weeks of treatment. OH worked from home for almost all of it. I couldn’t but pretty much everyone in my work has had it other than me so it was prob the safest place. We all have PPE in work anyway so I just took every precaution I could and crossed fingers.
I really didn’t want to have to pay for drugs etc again if it got cancelled

@Turning40andstartingIVF I am so very sorry you have been through so much. What a tough journey you have had!

Some things I did before and during our first round, upped my omega 3 intake with salmon and a high fish oil supplement, cut out caffeine and alcohol completely for about 6/7 months, took ubiquinol, folic acid, vitamin D, C, NAC and zinc. I also tried to drink around 3ltr of water a day. There are so many things that you can try, and it made me feel like I was doing the best I could.

@Somatronic I was SO worried about catching Covid and our cycle being cancelled. I shielded from just before stims (because of a close contact scare) and then it took some of the anxiety off. As there was plenty of that generally, worrying about Covid didn't help! Does your boss know you are going through IVF? It is definitely worth requesting to work from home some more to take some of the stress off.

@AliceAbsolum I watched your vlog, well done to you both for sharing your story and being so open and honest, it was great. It really touched me. You guys seem to take it all in your stride and have such a positive attitude, it's so refreshing and inspiring. How are you feeling after ET?

I'm good thanks; I slept in and missed my spin class today (I'm sleeping a bit better now I'm forcing myself up past 9pm haha) which was annoying but went to the gym anyway before work. Getting out the house a bit more is definitely helping with my mental health. I'm still wfh full time so it can be easy to not see many people through the week, other then dog walker haha!

@PMAmostofthetime @LT103 @Steph2345 I hope you ladies are hanging in there waiting for updates! It's not an easy time but I have every faith you will all have some embabies xx

@LT103 wow that's amazing! 7! What a fantastic outcome! You must be overjoyed! I am super happy for you! Xx

@LT103 that's AMAZING!! Congratulations... you have so much to work with, that's like five rounds in a single go 🤩 that's baby plus siblings 🥰 what a beautiful thought!!

@LT103 so pleased for you 7 frozen is amazing!

How does everyone manage with drugs and the workplace? I’m fortunate to have a great employer and have a flexible part time contract so can adjust my hours/days in to some extent, but trying to find the time to draw up drugs in some pokey cubicle/deal with multiple pessaries and not drop them everywhere is challenging. Every time I need to take them involves extricating myself from whatever work scenario I’m in, going to my office to get meds, finding a loo that isn’t out of order and not let the 3 people who will inevitably stop me divert me for too long. I honestly thought I would deal with it all better, plenty of people manage complex drug regimens and their daily lives but I’m being a bit acopic about it all.

@LT103 wow! That's an amazing number! Congratulations.

From all of your comments it seems that we just have to keep our fingers crossed re Covid. My boss knows I'm doing IVF but she's not keen on me working from home any more than I do. I mentioned my conundrum to her today and she offered me a better mask so that's not great. I work in a very busy, male-dominated, fast-paced job full of egotists and narcissists so I never get very far with these things! Being a sensitive introvert is no fun around here - WTF did I choose this career again?!

@AliceAbsolum I enjoyed your list of Dos and Don'ts. My clinic seems very lax so far on that kind of thing. I wasn't told not to do/eat anything yet. I asked about my beloved migraine medicine yesterday and was told not to take it after the transfer, which is terrible news but hopefully I'll find an alternative in the meantime.

@LT103 congratulations!! There's a good chance you won't need another collection - that's amazing :)

I'm happy, my period arrived today, exactly on schedule (I'm still not used to it being so regular!). Now I can officially begin my FET cycle. Of course there's still the hurdle of having my scan and there might be cysts... I've had one IUI cycle cancelled due to a cyst, so now I half expect it to happen every time. But barring that, then I'm about two weeks out from my transfer finally.
NOW I have to quit the sugar for real..!

@SamTTC how exciting!!! When is your first scan?