IVF 2022

[Chocolate18]

Hi ladies,

I am on the waiting list to start IVF in the coming months.

We are doing it with the NHS and it's our first round. Our clinic doesn't have amazing ratings on the HFEA website and the customer reviews are pretty poor as well. We don't have much of a choice but it's the only clinic available to us. How important is the choice of clinic for successful outcomes?? What tips would you give a newbie starting out her IVF journey? What did you wish you knew before you started?

We haven't told any of friends or family about this because we don't want to add extra pressure. Is this the right call? Are the needles painful?
Is it true that the medication needs to be stored in the fridge?

I didn't like our clinic or the nurses, whilst it is their everyday job I definitely felt that from them and thought they were insensitive and 'unbothered' just because it's run of the mill for them doesn't mean it is for me.

Having said that, I loved my consultant and embryologist, they were incredibly caring and knowledgable, they would happily chat to me and address any concerns I had however small and that made a huge difference to me.

I read all the reviews on our clinic which was 30 mins away and considered the next nearest clinic with slightly better reviews which was 2 hours away. Ultimately it came down to travel time and there are points where you are back and forth a few times in a week and I knew I couldn't spend 4 hours on a motorway every time I had to visit clinic and that dictated decision in the end

It's an emotional rollercoaster and I found that more difficult than any injection I had (the fertility counsellor they provided was also crap)

Despite the terrible 'bedside manner' of the staff/ nurses the actual medical treatment was good and We had a positive outcome.

I would read and listen to as much information as possible before you start. Id recommend the 'big fat negative' podcast (start at the first series) I learnt so much terminology from it and it meant I was better equipped to understand and absorb the medical terms/ drug names and processes being thrown at me when we started.

Thank you @yorkshireteaspoonie! All of the information you've shared is super useful. I will try and go through as much IVF material as possible so I am familiar with the medical terms and the process - it doesn't sound like the professionals provide more information than needed or answer any questions etc. Re the injections - Do you know if we will need to store the medication in our fridge? We may have friends staying over during our planned treatment cycle and I haven't told them about our treatment so might be awkward if they open our fridge lol! Were you nervous for the egg collection part? You will not believe it but I received some blood labels from our NHS clinic today and they have sent me someone else's labels - had I not checked it, I would have been sending my bloods with someone else's details..what a nightmare!

This type of thing is making me very nervous - I hope I can trust the doctors and their expertise..

Honestly there is a big difference between clinics and I wouldn't waste any rounds at a clinic I didn't have confidence in. But there is a big difference between how good their outcomes are and patient reviews into how they found individual staff etc. If I were you I would do some research into their success rates but really look at what stats you are given. Some are more useful than others. Given the cost involved if it isn't successful I would much rather travel to a clinic further away and have the best chance of success.

Some of my meds had to be stored in the fridge and some at room temperature, for our first round only half of our family knew so I hid them in the salad drawer of our fridge - no one other than me looks in there! I found the injections okay actually, got used to them quickly and nothing more than a few seconds of discomfort first thing each morning then on with my day - avoid the part of your stomach that is in line with your nipples though as you could pinch a nerve (which I did once - painful). Your IVF clinic should talk you through this and let you practice on a "faux stomach" ahead of prescribing your meds. There are also some vids on youtube etc.

I had two NHS cycles, my original appointments, investigations and funding were all via the NHS clinic but the IVF itself was outsourced to a private clinic. I don't think the clinic itself will necessarily change the outcome but not feeling stressed out will help your mindset for sure so maybe prepare yourself for overrunning appointments and needing to pipe up with questions (my experience anyway) and like above poster said the first few appointments may feel like it's run of the mill for the staff involved.

I'd second the podcast and I also read Get a Life: His & Hers Survival Guide to IVF before starting.

In terms of egg retrieval - you can get quite bloated in the run up so comfy clothes defo needed.

I found the IVF boards on here really useful so worth having a read of those too - good luck

Hello, wondering if I can join, the previous thread I was on has been closed.

I'm 38 and this is our first round of IVF we went private just because of my age and waiting times for nhs.

Had egg collection last Thurs and had update today on day 4 of the development of the eggs... So far so good. We managed to get 7 at egg collection and 5 have got through to this stage.

I'm to turn up at clinic tomorrow with a 'comfortably full bladder' and hope that one has made it to final blastocyst stage.

Found egg collection no bother. Litarly knocked out and no pain after, very mild cramp for couple hours other than that fine.

More nervous with egg transfer as I'm not even good with smears👀

Sending Baby dust to all ✨

I didn't need to store any of my drugs in the fridge but others on a different protocol might have to. Putting the embryo back in is literally a 5 minute job, takes less time than a smear and was less uncomfortable!

I did however burst into tears once I got in there, mainly I think because this is the moment it all works up to and I was overwhelmed and alone (covid meant OH was downstairs in the car park)

It felt very 'this is it' 'this is the moment' And from this point you are told that you are now 'pregnant until proven otherwise' (until the TWW wait is over)

What I didn't know was that there would be a screen and they would show me my embryo like they show you your baby at ultrasound. That was very overwhelming. Don't worry about the sticker mix up, we had a similar thing with something else which made me panic but before they start they go through rigorous checks if you and the embryo to make sure you have the right one!

Forgot to say that egg collection was fine... BUT I had conscious sedation and I remember feeling awake/ felt some pain and mumbling as such at which point I think they gave me some more sedation/ pain relief. It wasn't the most pleasant experience so if I were you I'd opt for being fully knocked out (I wasn't given a choice)

I felt bloated and sore afterwards but not in pain. Plenty of rest and sleep. The TWW goes SO SLOWLY honestly you need to think of something to occupy your mind in this period of time otherwise you will go nuts. Wether it's puzzles/ sodoku/ box sets... anything you can do to while away time while technically resting. I was far too paranoid to do anything that might require physical exertion! Which is probably silly but her ho... the irrational world of IVF!!

@yorkshireteaspoonie thanks for putting my mind at ease. Im nervous/excited and damn scared of the procedure but your message has helped.

I've only got tomorrow and Wednesday off work. I'm a dental nurse in a hospital and always on the go... Don't have anymore annual leave so need to go back Thurs onwards. Will speak to clinic and see what say.

Hi there, @Chocolate18, we've moved your thread over to a different topic now and hope that helps.

@Frenchiepupmama how did you get on, on the day?

@yorkshireteaspoonie it went well thanks although because of the storms in Scotland my clinic had a power cut on the mornin of egg transfer 👀 but everything apart from the computer systems were back up and running so that was OK! I met the embryologist who said three had lovely blastocysts had made it and she was hoping the other two would catch up by end of day 5 so four could be frozen and would be call me later to let me know. Had procedure done which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Got a call later to say i got a grade A put back in and their is another grade A and three Bs stored away. Now it's waiting game next Fri for blood test to see if its worked. First round of ivf and trying kit to get hopes up as I know how difficult this process can be🤞✨ How r u?

@Frenchiepupmama that's a brilliant result you must be thrilled! Fingers crossed everything moves forward from here for you.

I'm 39 and currently 29 weeks pregnant. Our PCT only funds one round of IVF and we only got one embryo to blastocyst stage from the 3 retrieved. I was so deflated at the time as I listed to all the other women in the recovery ward being told how many they retrieved (10+ on average) when I only got 3, my consultant was very staunch though that 'you only need one!' And low and behold we did only need one.

Our one embryo was a 4AA grade one and has sailed through all scans and NIPT tests which I'm still in shock about to be honest (after constantly being told you're medically 'geriatric' after 35! With no time to waste! 🙄)

@yorkshireteaspoonie congratulations! That's wonderful news☺️ your message gives me hope, I'm 38 and like u said u do get made to feel over the hill if your over 35. I feel quite deflated today and I don't know why... Think I am preparing myself for the worst next Fri. Too worried to get hopes up.

When they originally told me the only got 7 I was worried but when 4 out of the 7 had made it and they just two were As and 3bs and A went back in. I am hoping it a good sign. Like say, only takes one. I keep saying come on little A keep going ✨