IVF - Stims Aug - Egg Collection Sep

[RMS0209]

Hi ladies! 👋
Just as the post says... cycle day 1 of my first IVF round, 20 days until I start Norethisterone then Menopur & Fyremadel.
Looking for others starting cycle or in the cycle for some company.
Sending lots of luck to you all! ❤️

Fab numbers @Bellwells ! Hope they keep developing well for you :)

I wish I could have started stims yesterday, getting so impatient as all the friends who got pregnant at the drop of a hat early in the year are about to give birth or already have, so I'm feeling a bit left behind, inevitable really! They're all lovely and I'm so happy for them, they say I'll not need to buy anything I can have all their things 😅 spent so much on this ivf malarkey that we'll need them!

General question for you gilrs - have you been asked to stop having coffee whilst on stims/treatment? My clinic has asked me to and I've tried and really struggled in the past couple of weeks. I cut down to one for over a year now, but the clinic has asked me to go zero caffeine, which I thought was a bit extreme. Not sure if you've also been advised this?

@Tinkerbell098 my clinic hasn't made any life style suggestions other than saying mine and my husbands vegetarian diets should allow for some fish... kind of defeats the object of being a vegetarian and we eat really well and balanced, plus my sister is pregnant despite being vegetarian and loads of my mates have kids with similar diet! Plus some vegans.

I gave up coffee as has my husband, which was really hard for him as he works from home.We found decaf vile until finally settling on Ily brand decaf and that seems to have hit the spot enough that we can believe we've had a coffee when we haven't, a caffeine placebo!

Thank you @Imisscoffee2021, when are you now due to start stims? I know how you feel but our time will come and when it does the timing will be perfect x

@Tinkerbell098 before I started down regmy clinic said no caffeine, no alcohol, up your protein intake but make sure you have a balanced diet.

I almost had a glass of coke at a wedding yesterday but caught myself in time.

Heya ladies. Thanks for the well-wishes 😊

@Bellwells great numbers indeed! well done 👏👏😊interesting that you have an earlier scan to see how they're growing. Are you private or NHS?

I didn't really know much about numbers and size until my scan today and reading in forums. When I went for my baseline they said something about 11 on one side and 10 on the other, but I didn't ask, I assumed it was the amount of folicles, which now I think was right.

My scan went very well today - all going to plan so far - fingers crossed it continues that way. My response was good she said. She measured all the folicles and told the other lady all the measurements. So this is my Day 10 of stimulation and I have 8 folicles that they consider as mature. I think they said anything from above 15 (don't know the actual measure) is considered as mature. And my 8 range from 15 to 23. I was mentally padding myself on the back haha. And she said they will collect any over I think it was 10(?) which is another 7, so 15 in total at the moment. And collection day will be Monday most likely. I'm waiting for a phone call now to confirm. I can't wait to have them collected now haha. It was interesting to hear that I have a few more big ones in the right ovary as this is the one that is a bit sore. Like when I pee or during the scan. And yes I'm looking forward to not being so bloated anymore. Having said that, I guess that's what pregnancy must feel like 24/7 haha 🙈Do you feel bloated or anthing down there yet @Bellwells ?

@Imisscoffee2021 I hope you won't get too bloated with the stims! and yes tell me about beig naive when first starting two years ago.. Loads of my friends also got preggers and had their babies since then.. would've been nice had it happened straight away and be there with them.. but it is what it is.. we've made it thus far, and it'll be worth the wait when this awesome little person eventually comes along ❤

I heard about the postcode lottery in terms of waiting lists, but I didn't know the number of cycles also differs. That's a bit outraging considering we all pay the same level of national insurance contribution! I get two on the NHS living in Wales. And luckily we get funding in the first place as my partner already has kids. I heard in England we wouldn't have!

@Tinkerbell098 great question! I skim-read quite a few research articles and found that caffaine has a negative impact on pregancy and live birth rates! They found that caffaine intake of about one cup a day is okay, but anything more than that decreases the success rates for both! And that goes for both man and woman. So since starting the meds we both limited our intake to one cup a day, which is my normal intake anyway, and this last week before collection/transfer we've cut out coffee all together just to be on the safe side. xx

@Honeybunie oh thats amazing news!! Congratulations grow follicles grow!

Today will be my fourth day of stims, I’m at a private clinic as a NHS patient on a short protocol, I’m not sure if that has anything to do with why they scan ealrier.

I had my call not too long ago and they told me to start Cetrotide (which stops you from ovulating) and the antibiotics tomorrow morning so these ovaries are defined moving in the roght direction!

I feel a bit bloated and oh my I can not stop weeing I went about 20min ago and it feels like something is pressing against my bladder and it’s making me want to do again.
Oh and tiredness lets not even mention that 😂.

@Bellwells Must be a private clinic thing to do then. Nice to see progress reports hehe.
Ahhh that's what Cetrotide is for.. I was wondering how they control the eggs not just ovulating all by themselves 😂
Haha I guess the weeing is a good sign.. things are moving along nicely hehe.
I've not been feeling too tired thank godness, but I did fall into a deep sleep on the sofa yesterday afternoon which is not like me haha and I can't concentrate so well in work..
Be interesting to see how you feel after introducing Cetrotide @Bellwells That was my only real bad day.

@Honeybunie Oh no how did you feel with Cetrotide? I heard it really stings 😣any advice or tips?

@Bellwells It's pretty similar to my Meriofert injections. I think the needle is ever so slightly bigger, so might sting a tiny bit more. I think my first few Cetrotide left a bit more of a scratch with the needle on the skin, but that got better with practices. But I don't feel much when it goes in. The first two gave me a bit of a skin rash and itch like an insect bite! But that went after like 5min. And since day three I had no irritation at all anymore, like my body got used to it.
And on the first day i had very brief dizzy spells and felt faint when walking around Tesco.. that wasn't nice. But that didn't come back after. Maybe just take it easy on Day 1 while your body gets used to the new hormone that you are introducing.

@Honeybunie okay great thanks so much.
random fact I’m on Meriofert too (and Fostimon its a dual injection for me)

@Honeybunie any updates? are you in for collection today? if so, good luck, hope everything goes smoothly X

Hello everyone :) im new here and new to ivf.
i really hope everyone's treatments are going well!

Just wanted to say hi as im due to start (down regs) end of August and feeling apprehensive. Keen to follow your journeys and cheer you along, and would be grateful for any tips!!

Im 33 and recently found out that i have low AMH levels of 3.87 :( so disappointing, although my last scan showed 5 follicles on each side so not all is lost i feel. Just need them to be good quality!!
Hubs is all fine so it's all on me and i'll be on a long protocol/ agonist cycle.

Due to start my first round at the end of August with a down regulation injection of Prostap (just the one off injection lasts several weeks apparently as buserelin injections are not available in the UK at the moment), then start stims mid September, egg collection end of Sept. Transfer in October.
Of course i know the timeline is always subject to change 😅 but here's hoping It goes smoothly.

Also trying to avoid getting Covid again so my cycle doesnt get delayed by 3 months ! It's like an olympic sport trying to avoid covid these days!! Just an extra layer of stress we don't need hey.

Hi! @JessinEdinburgh sending you lots of luck! Will be excited to hear your updates xx

Hi @JessinEdinburgh! Ten follicles is great! They can defiitely work their ivf magic with that.
It's like stepping back in time being ultra covid aware again isnt it? I need to step it up ahead of my cycle, I work in such a busy tourist attraction type of place so hard to avoid summer holiday crowds! Good luck with the next few weeks, waiting so tricky!

Hey @Tinkerbell098 thanks for asking xx :) yes the egg collection was yesterday. I was so ready to get rid of them as I was walking like I was actually carrying raw eggs around with me lol. It went to plan apart from they only found a vene third time trying outch. They collected 14 eggs yay. I'm waiting for the phone call this morning to tell me how many have fertilised.
Had a bit of a drama during recovery as I have very low blood pressure. I was fine at first, then got really bad cramps and started feeling sick. So they put me on a paracetamol drip and gave me an anti sickness drug. Then my blood pressure dropped, so they had to lie me down flat again which added another hour to my recovery.. not a pleasant experience overall, but I made it home okay.
Then I started to have sharp pain in my pelvis yesterday evening, whenever I move around, go for a wee or pass wind (and you do get bloated and constipated after the collection too which does not help in this instance). I'm trying to call them this morning to find out if it's normal as I'm a bit worried.

May I join? Starting stims end August for retrieval around 12th Sept I expect.

It’s my fourth round (embryo banking) so I am a bit ‘meh’ about it all now.

I’m on human growth hormone injections daily in August to prime my dusty old ovaries for action so it feels like we have started…

@Honeybunie if it is just a pain when you wee etc then that is normal ime and tends to go after a few days. But if you have that plus other OHSS symptoms then definitely check!

Hi @Phrenologistsfinger wow fourth round. how are you dealing with it all? i cross my fingers and toes for you! embryo bank i guess refers to frozen embryo transfers or am I wrong?
Thanks for your advice! the nurse said as long as I don't suffer from breathlessness and I get better every day it's fine. just take paracetamols (I love how paracetamol is the cure for everything lol). I just didn't expect to be in pain with every move I make. I guess it is quite an invasive procedure. It's just when you've not gone through it before, the info sheets don't seem to do it justice. It said I'd be out after hour following egg collection which wasn't true for me, and it said to expect 'some' pelvic pain after collection, which doesn't sound like the sharp pain I experienced. Alas it got a bit better today and the nurse put my mind at ease. i just didn't expect for it to take days to recover, and the way I'm feeling at the moment it doesn't seem right to put an embryo inside me soon lol. I don't even wanna be in my skin right now lol.
Oh the embryologist rang this morning too. 12 out of the 14 eggs collected were mature and 11 fertilised yaayyy so they are aiming for Saturday for transfer and I'll get another update on Thursday about how they will have developed🍀

Thats such a fantastic result @Honeybunie congratulations! :)

Thanks @Imisscoffee2021 ❤we're super happy 😊

@Honeybunie hope you're feeling better today. Are you on short protocol did you say? Those are amazing numbers! Good luck for the call tomorrow. Hope you are having a relaxing day today X

Thanks @Tinkerbell098 ❤I do feel better today thank goodness. The pain has eased. so I'm thinking I should be in good shape again by Saturday 😃Still very bloated. There was me thinking that'd go away straight away once the eggs have been collected lol. Also started on my progesteron injections (Lubion) and pessaries for 18 days now. The Lubion leaves the injection area very sore for the day and longer, which I haven't had with other injections before (apart from the Gonasi trigger). Poor belly 😄

@Honeybunie oh good to hear you're recovering well. Not long to go now :) Bless you, hope the injections will get easier with time. It'll all be worth it in the end.

We requested counselling at the clinic so they rang up to book an appointment. They asked when I'd be starting and I said not sure, was asked to ring up on day 1 of my cycle to get going. She said "oh we have that bank holiday coming up so unlikely it'll be next cycle"! I'm so desperate to start and now more depressed even before I have started counselling. Seems it'll be delayed by a further month :(

@Tinkerbell098 the counselling person said that? What do they know? Sounds like BS to me. Is your period due to start during the bank holiday weekend? Surely that's not a reason to delay another month. Just because Monday is a bank holiday?! I am on a short cycle - you too? I had the same, that I was meant to ring on Day 1 of my cycle to book me in for the drug appointment. Down reg (first mediation) would start on Day 23. We had our first consultation on 21 June. And it so happened that my period had started the day before on 20 June. When say saw that, they said I could start with this cycle and booked me in for my drug appointment there and then. We then had the drugs appointment on 11 July, my Day 22 (as we were on hols between), and I started my down regulation tablets that day for 10 days. So if your cycle is similar there should be an awful lot of time to get you your drug and a drug appointment.

@Bellwells how was your scan on Monday? X