IVF / FET March/April 2022 Thread 2

[AliceAbsolum]

Shiny new thread as we filled up the last one.

Hi ladies how are you all today. So just an update from me. EC went ok yesterday, little bit sore yesterday but ok today. They collected 10 eggs but 1 wasn’t any good. So out of 9 only 5 have fertilised so really disappointed, just hoping we have one left for Monday

@AliceAbsolum I was under sedation but I could feel stabbing pains. I reckon the sedation made me more emotional and shouty too. I'm mainly just mortified haha. It's all good now.

@somatronic Ah they would have heard it all before and worse! Don't you worry.

@Suki2020 I hear you that 5 isn't what you would have wanted. I hope you get a decent number though, could be 1 fresh and 2 in the freezer 👍👍

@Somatronic congrats on your 9 eggs! I hope for great fertilisation tomorrow for you! And as @AliceAbsolum says, they will have heard it all before. Hope you get plenty rest this afternoon!

@Suki2020 9 eggs for you too, well done! Hope you're feeling ok today. 5 fertilised is still great but I know it can be a bit disappointing. Sending all the luck for a good number on Monday 🤞🏻 xx

Thank you to everyone sending well wishes ☺️

I had a bit of a unnecessarily dramatic night yesterday evening, I suddenly had a whoosh of pain/nausea/dizziness that spread up my body, got super hot and faint, I honestly thought I had an ectopic rupture (I've internally bled before from an accident in surgery and this feeling of faintness/nausea felt similar). I felt so out of it I honestly thought I was going to die. Husband called an ambulance, I got sick while he was on the phone.

But by the time the ambulance arrived I was already starting to feel better 😬 They had to take me in anyway, and in a&e they did an external ultrasound to look for free flowing blood and thankfully found nothing. I was ok apart from slight aches and an icky stomach which made me think I probably just got food poisoning 🤦🏻‍♀️(we went out for lunch, I had a different meal to my husband)

They wanted to keep me in overnight to scan my uturus etc just in case, but weren't going to scan me till epu opened in the morning. So that meant a night in a&e with less than 2 hrs sleep.

I've had the scan this morning and after a lot of searching the sonographer found the sac in the right place, or at least she thinks she found it, but it's way too small based on me being 5+4, she estimated 4 weeks. So not looking good, which is as expected.

Then I got feedback from the doctor said the only way to know for sure is to rescan, and have booked me in again next week. So the limbo continues.. My HCG is still increasing so I guess it's not totally over, my number is ridiculously low but it's doubling every 2-3 days since measurements began.

So the dramas/uncertainty of IVF continue! Can't just be easy right?! Also now I've been in a&e, 2 wards and epu, in a covid treatment hospital, so I'm dreading to think what I might have picked up. It was so sad in there too...so many seriously unwell people, all alone..

@ginandtonicformeplease I'm so sorry you had to go through that twice alone.. it's just heartbreaking.. I'm so happy for your bfp and keeping everything crossed for you this time round 🤞🤞

Congratulations to all with recent good news and hope everyone else is hanging in there whatever stage you're at! X

Congratulations to you both, a huge step to have completed retrieval! Hoping this is the only EC you'll need. 9 is a good number and @Suki2020, I totally understand you feel underwhelmed but please try not to focus so much on attrition rate from day to day - it doesn't tell you how many embryos you'll get, and each embryo's success rate isn't dependent on the others'.
@Somatronic oh noo I'm sorry you had that experience! I was awake for mine too and definitely felt the needle despite the anaesthesia...don't be embarrassed, you can't control how your body will react to that and I'm sure the doctors and nurses have seen it all!
Hoping you both have a restful recovery, drink lots of water and eat protein :) are you potentially having fresh transfers or freezing?

Aww @HJen22. don't feel like you are complaining, that's (partially) what we are here for. Really really sucks that you are so ill. It's a small mercy that at least it happened in between cycles!

And thanks for asking, I'm really looking forward to the wait finally being over and there being a short window of time where I feel like I have a chance. On the other hand, I am not really able to get my hopes up, I just feel like the transfer is way too late and I am extremely doubtful that the progesterone will successfully delay my period (which without the medication would start only 5 days after my transfer). And if my period starts too soon before my test date, I won't even be able to have another transfer in that cycle, which bumps me into the clinic's summer holiday and basically means I won't have another EC until August at the earliest and, arg...I'm spiralling a little, not going to lie. I feel very powerless at the moment and I wish I knew enough about all this to better advocate for myself.

@somatronic gosh, that sounds scary but excellent news on your 9 eggs. The crying and roaring sounds entirely justified!

@Suki2020 glad your egg collection went well. Understand your disappointment with the numbers but fingers crossed they all continue to develop well.

@Herewegoagain881 sorry to hear about your dramatic evening. Awful to be in that limbo period, I’ve been there myself. All I will say is that I drove myself mad googling hcg levels and outcomes and no good can come of it though I know it’s nigh on impossible not to. At least you are being seen early which is something at least. I hope the next week passes as quickly as possible for you and here’s hoping for a good outcome for you 🤞

@Steph2345 congratulations! All the trials and tribulations of the last few weeks must seem so worth it now!

@Bluebonnet3 congratulations! I think we will be going down the same route if we decide to do another round/s. We had hoped to PGT-A test ourselves but didn’t have any still going by day 6 unfortunately. Would you mind sharing which clinic you are with? My clinic were very professional but the treatment didn’t feel at all tailored to our circumstances (I am also older and my husband has high DNA fragmentation).

Hope everyone else is doing well.

I’ve had an odd few days. Decided to test early after the pains I had earlier this week. Got a faint positive then started spotting the next day. Spotting has continued but turned from brown to red. Continued to test and no line progression but it doesn’t seem to be fading either. I’m wondering if it could still be the trigger though it’s 16 days since then. Is that possible on a first response? I know they are super sensitive so am thinking it’s picking up the trigger rather than it being a chemical (have had chemicals before and all have had some line progression before a quick drop off). The line also seems far too faint for the dates (11dp3dt). Shouldn’t have tested early as am driving myself mad now!

@Herewegoagain881 you poor thing! That sounds so frightening, I hope you're OK.

@SamTTC and @HJen22 thank you! That makes me feel better. We're having a fresh transfer hopefully. They've it pencilled in for Tuesday if any embryos make it. We're doing ICSI (poor DH was very disappointed at that but his sperm hasn't been right since he had Covid) so I'm not sure what effect if any that'll have on our chances.

@Herewegoagain881 oh my gosh that sounds very scary and eventful! I hope you are ok and feeling better, and getting lots of rest. I'm so sorry that your scan wasn't better news, and that you are in limbo for longer. I really hope that the scan next week comes around quickly and things turn around for you. Sending all the love and positivity, look after yourself x

@SamTTC oh that sounds so stressful, I'm sorry. Hopefully the clinic are used to this timeframe, were you able to express your worries about AF coming too soon after transfer and we're they able to give you information as so why they are doing it this way?

@Soleste I really hope that the line gets darker for you, when is your OTD? Have the clinic been able to give any advice or just to wait until test day?

@Somatronic oh that's gutting, did they do a repeat semen analysis since and it wasn't good, or just his sample on the day a little less than they'd like for ivf?

I really hope Covid hadn't effected my OHs sperm, I'm trying not to worry or think about it but I'm also worrying if the clinic say something like we can't do our cycle as scheduled cos we've had Covid. Albeit it our cycle doesn't start til June. They've never said anything to make me think that, when I first asked back in Jan the nurse just said as long as I was well and didn't test positive at the time of EC. But I know other clinics have said different. Really could be doing with no extra hurdles!

Hello...been catching up and lurking in background again, manic work week. Time is dragging to test day and feeling rough presumable with progesterone. Still very swollen and crampy which is making me paranoid, mood swings and the most painful boobs! This has def been the hardest week of the process for me. Is this normal?

@PMAmostofthetime sorry it was so drawn out for you. Hopefully you feel better once pessaries are out of your system.

@Suki2020 i had 9 eggs but only 2 fertilised. We had 1 good one after 5 days, ET was last saturday so dont give up hope. 5 is a good number and you only need 1

@HJen22 thank you, OTD is this Saturday. I’ve mentally written it off as being good news tbh. I haven’t rang the clinic as it’s really difficult to get through (they cut you off after 20 mins on hold!) and I’m almost certain they’d just tell me to wait until Saturday, by which point of course we will be well into the bank holiday so I assume I would then need to wait until Tuesday for any bloods…if they agreed to do them which I’m doubtful of 😩. Ah well, less than 48 hours to go…

Have you considered getting a DNA fragmentation test on your OH’s sperm? Unfortunately I don’t think you can get it on the NHS but it’s another angle to consider to give the IVF the best chance of being successful (most reasons for high frag are treatable is what we’ve found).

@HJen22 he did two before he had Covid and they were both perfect. Then one since where his count was normal, but less than it had been and the morphology was poor. I don't know for a fact that Covid had anything to do with it but it's the only thing I can think of. I guess today's sample mustn't have been ideal because they said we're doing ICSI but they didn't go into the specifics.

@Somatronic sorry the wording "wasn't good" was not what I meant! I'm glad they are able to do ICSI and I hope your DH is ok. I'd think they use it a lot, we also had to confirm it as ok to do so should it be needed in our last round. They'll just never know how the sample is going to be til the day.

@Soleste oh of course the bank holiday! Not ideal! Sorry you couldn't get a hold of them! Try and stay positive but I know that's not easy x

@Autumn245 We only transferred 1 and with my son my hug was 1267 at 13dp5dt so "m guessing there is still one in there. Since my clinic is in the Czech Republic we will schedule an early scan with Ultrasound Direct at 7w2d.

@Bluebonnet3 Congrats on the bfp!!

@SamTTC @LuckyNovember Yeah, all of these holidays are really throwing a wrench into our plans. I would hate to be pt off for an entire month with you were LuckyNovember.

@Herewegoagain881 I am so very sorry you are having to go through all of this. I've spent the night in A&E during these covid times and it's terrible. I'm sending every positive vibe, wish and prayer out there for you.

Thanks @Soleste @Somatronic @HJen22 @TommieNC

@Soleste yes I already drove myself a little crazy with all the googling! I have managed to stop now (probably because I've read everything there is to find 😄). I'm waiting to hear back from my doctor about the NHS scan findings, I pretty much know it's not going to work although they'll probably say wait and see. I kind of just wanted it to end so I can just get myself ready for my final transfer, but I'm the flip side I can't bring myself to stop until I know there's definitely no growth, as I wouldn't be able to handle the "what if". 🤞🤞 for your test line getting darker tomorrow!

@HJen22 I'd be really interested to know if covid is affecting IVF chances also. We got covid in late December 21, it did cross my mind at some point to ask the doctor but I completely forgot, but it's on my list of things to ask in my debrief meeting

@SamTTC do you know how much progesterone they are giving you? If they give you a lot hopefully it will stop AF 🤞 is yours a fresh or frozen transfer? Sorry I've lost track 🙈 I remember wishing that I didn't have a fresh transfer in the end and delayed to do a frozen one because I was showing signs of ohss before transfer, so I think that transfer was a little wasted. It's such hard knowing what to do in these situations but I really hope that they can give you some more information to help with your decision on what to do next. I really hope it works out! xxx

Sorry for my typos, the lack of sleep has fried my brain 😄

@Nutrinerd I also forgot to say previously that the pains you have recently been feeling could be gas pain from progesterone/pregnancy? Progesterone slows everything down and causes a gas build up, the joys..!

@Herewegoagain881 oh my goodness I totally missed your post earlier, what an ordeal!!! Did you feel better right after you got sick? Maybe it really was food poisoning, though what an awful coincidence if so. Good thing there is no bleeding or anything like that, but what a fright you must have had. And damn, the wait is just cruel, I'm so sorry you are going through this. When is your scan next week? Does the fact that the sac is in the right place rule out a potential ectopic at least?

(To answer your question I'll be on 1200 mg of progesterone a day, which I think is my highest dose yet, so yeah maybe it will make a difference! I think I'm just being crabby at the moment, I'm sure the progesterone will help (ha ha)).

Thanks @SamTTC yes I did start feeling better once I got sick. I'm fairly sure the scan shows it's not ectopic which is a relief as it'd mean I'd be at higher risk of ectopic in my final cycle, but the only niggle is that the sonographer couldn't see one of my ovaries as it was a blocked view, so I'm hoping the sac she believes she saw in the uturus will have grown enough next week for ectopic to be discounted even more. Scan should be next Friday, although I'm waiting on feedback from my fertility doctor, I sent him the report from epu this afternoon for feedback on what to do next.

That's great you'll be on a higher dose than previously! I'm honestly on so much that my pee smells of progesterone 😬 so I have no concept of what is actually a good high dose without being completely over-medicated like I am, but maybe some of the other ladies on the thread can share how much they were/are on so you can request more if needed!

@Jampot36 that’s exactly how I feel. Sore bloated lower tummy, starving and feeling sickish all the time, exhausted and my boobs are so sore. Bah.

@Herewegoagain881 haha, yes I was the same with the googling - could probably have done a phd on the subject! Thank you for the 🤞, like you I’m not so hopeful but we will see. I hope they don’t keep you waiting too long but good you are prepared for the wait and see approach. Hope you are having a more restful evening tonight x

On the Covid point, my husband saw a urologist who said it was his view that Covid probably did have an effect on sperm quality but that further research was needed.

@Jampot36 have you had your transfer? Progesterone tends to make most of bloated and really moody so don’t worry. If you’re worried about the cramping chat to your nursing team to put your mind at ease, but from a non-professional perspective I’d say some cramping is to be expected after what we have put our bodies through! Make sure you’re drinking enough and if anything gets worse definitely discuss it - you don’t need the added stress of worrying at this time x

@Steph2345 yes transfer was last saturday so 3 more days to get through and i can test.

@Iwouldlikesomecake I'm not glad you feel the same but also am, very reassuring to know its not just me. How are you coping with the wait? Not long for us now.

My cat walked on my boobs when i was bed this morning and i nearly jumped through the wall!