ERA / EMMA / ALICE testing thread 5(!)

[VenusStarr]

Just setting up a new thread as we're coming to the end of thread 4.

@Janefx40 @birdbybird @seven201 @Gardenlady543 @patientpatient @MyEasterEggs @thislittlebird @Yuliaaa @Violette22

❤️

Oh @thislittlebird I’m so pleased for you, I was just about to check-in. How you feeling?!

@OrangeBengal thanks, a little stunned I think. A bit panicked because of the new spotting, spot of red, but I’m hoping that’s ok. It’s just hard to believe. We went out and bought more tests, hopefully the line is still there in the morning. It’s so hard, three years spent seeking a second line and then when you get it it’s like no one prepared you for what happens now. Obviously I’m aware of what could happen, but one day at a time it is, I guess.

Definitely, enjoy it @thislittlebird. Achieving this implantation is such a big deal. One day at a time as you said and spotting seems quite common from what people say. Maybe check if you should take even more progesterone with your clinic just in case?

@OrangeBengal yeah just the implantation feels huge, me and dh were saying that feels like a massive hurdle on its own. i just took another progesterone because I thought more can’t hurt. I need to check in with them after I test again in the morning.

Excellent, seems like you’re doing all the right things @thislittlebird. Enjoy the rest of your night. Today. You. Are. Pregnant.

@thislittlebird wow! Amazing news. Try not to worry about the spotting - impossible I know. Good plan to take the extra progesterone. So pleased for you. Enjoy it (as much as you can) xxx

@Janefx40 as I’m sure you know, it’s feels hard to truly enjoy….I’ll be on the one day at a time wagon 😬.

Hope everyone else is ok on here, I know it’s a long slog for everyone.

@OrangeBengal I’m definitely going to have to repeat that!

Good luck tomorrow @MyEasterEggs for your transfer and @seven201 for your hysteroscopy @2021ivfagain hope your scan confirmed ovulation ok x

@thislittlebird oooh! Tentative congratulations!! Eeek!!!

@MyEasterEggs best wishes for transfer tomorrow!

@Gardenlady543 I'm feeling ok about the hysteroscopy. I think I'm alright about the procedure. I just want whatever problem they find to be instantly fixable as I don't think I could handle a new big problem! I have a cold (negative lateral flow) so a bit worried about whether it will go ahead. I assume it will, but there's always a bit of background worry!

Yay to the period! I really hope your next ones are quick enough so you can do a transfer pre-Xmas shut down. Sorry to hear about your friends news and the impact it had on you. How do you feel about it now? Is it the end of this week you said you're starting back at work?

@Janefx40 thanks! Mines Friday, not tomorrow. Busy week on here! I'm going to assume that all is good with you still since you haven't said otherwise

Thanks so much @Janefx40 I’m feeling a little nervous about the prospect of another pregnancy after so many losses, but we couldn’t be doing more to help this happen, so I’m also allowing myself to feel hopeful and maybe even a tiny bit excited 💛

@thislittlebird congrats! That is very exciting! I do know exactly what you mean though! You wait so hard for the lines and then when the my finally arrive the anxiety ramps up a notch!! Keeping everything crossed for you that it all progresses nicely. I too had spotting (literally 2 hours after my fist pos test!! 😫) but it has settled now. The nurses said it is really very common at this stage….. of little comfort I know!

@seven201 and @MyEasterEggs good luck for your transfers. Everything is crossed for you both 🤞🏻

@Janefx40 they didn’t offer repeat bloods. Think their normal approach is to now wait until the first scan. It’s going to be a loooong 2 weeks!
Hope you are still feeling ok and everything progressing as it should.

hope everyone else is ok too…. It really has been a busy week on here! x

@thislittlebird gentle congrats. I know how anxious this time can be and I hope you can find some joy in it. (I thought I’d posted well wishes on another thread…but seems I’m getting mixed up with usernames now…so apologies!)

Lots of love to everyone 💛

@Hopeful199 @MyEasterEggs Tjanks both, definitely in the mindset where I don’t know how this will go, I’ve never had a positive before so will try to remain pragmatic for now, my lines are not dark.

@MyEasterEggs I think I’m on the Sept/October FET/IVF thread but haven’t posted in a while.

Hi, I am new to this thread. I understand you have to do EMMA / ALICE / ERA on days 15-25 of a cycle. Can you do them straight after an egg collection? EG egg collection on days 13-14 ish, freeze all, and then do EMMA / ALICE / ERA?

And then once you've done it, how long does it typically take to do a FET? If it all comes back clear can you start the following cycle? If it doesn't come back clear I guess you need to spend a month or two taking antibiotics / probiotics to try and clear any infection?

I am just trying to find ways to save time.

Congrats on the BFP @thislittlebird

Good luck for the hysteroscopy @seven201 let us know how it goes.

@AdviceForJane I've attached the timing from the manual, if you are doing a ERA it needs to be LH surge +7. You'd only do it in a natural cycle if you plan to transfer in this type of cycle though. If you plan to transfer in a medicated FET then you need to do a mock medicated FET. I don't see why you couldn't do it in the cycle after a collection as long as your specialist is happy with this. The collection cycle massively threw off my next cycle though, it was 10 days longer than usual. The result should come back in around 2-3 weeks, if you need antibiotics then they usually recommend 7 days followed by 10 days of vaginal probiotics. So realistically you will need 2 cycles, 1 to do the biopsy and another to await the result and treat it if needed.

My friend is very upset, I can't believe her specialist was so pessimistic to her. :(

I got my treatment protocol through after chasing it since I spoke to my specialist 3 weeks ago and it's got so much wrong with it, it has to take provera in it which has never been discussed, it has the wrong start date and dose of steroids, the wrong start date of heparin, the wrong frequency of PIO, the wrong timing for intralipids and it flits between talking about cyclogest and utrogestan as if they have just edited someone else's protocol, not a great start since I'll allergic to utrogestan. Literally everything I get is followed by 2 hours of admin time while I try to right it. I'm just pretty annoyed about a load of things that have happened at this clinic.

It was my first day back at work today, supposed to be a half day catching up on admin but then this protocol came in this afternoon and so I ended up spending the whole day at the desk.

@Gardenlady543 thanks. I'm on the train heading for premier inn! I'm feeling a bit erm restless about it. Feels important, like make or break. I don't normally feel this way for tests and treatments. On the way to dropping me off DH said "this could be it" and I laughed because we've had that convo soooo many times.

Gah, such a nightmare with the protocol. It's all so bloody time consuming! Was work ok?

@seven201 oh gosh no pressure from your DH then! The amount of this could be the issue and now we've found and resolved it I've been through! I think going into things these days the outcome I hope for, is for them to not find a completely new and unexpected problem! Also I like the anaesthetic! Fingers crossed they get everything sorted during the op tomorrow and you can have a relaxing time at the spa as a reward.

@seven201 oh yes good luck and enjoy the sedative!!! It is lovely.

@Gardenlady543 how annoying about your protocol. It's exhausting having to do everything yourself!

@AdviceForJane welcome. I think we probably all felt keen to just get on with stuff as quickly as possible but sometimes you just have to accept delays. I think it might be worth doing the ERA in a different cycle in case the stims have changed things for you. You really want to mimic the cycle you are doing with the transfer. I know it's frustrating to wait. I had to wait a whole 8 months in the end for this transfer! It was awful but we got there xxx

@Janefx40

Hi. My consultant said I didn’t need to do an ERA for this protocol. I’ve heard that natural FET is more precise with timing. I did a medicated FET cycle 3 years ago with no era and it failed. But I did have success with a fresh transfer.

Could I just ask why you decided to do era? Did you need a special protocol for your fresh transfer?

@2021ivfagain I did an ERA because I wanted to have checked everything before we transferred even tho I actually had a good rate of implantation so probably didn't need it. It was just about me avoiding panic later on if it didn't work. I was doing the other tests anyway but it did delay us and it showed my window of implantation was normal anyway.

@Janefx40

I understand. I don’t think I can afford to do era if this transfer doesn’t work. Also it would mean more antibiotics and my microbiome has been the biggest issue for me.

I know this sounds silly but why is an era not used in a fresh cycle?

@2021ivfagain an ERA can be used in a natural cycle although usually one with a trigger to make the timing of ovulation accurate. Mine was done in a natural cycle but it's less common because the whole point of an ERA is to time things exactly and obviously this is easier to do with medicated. Globally some people do era with naturals but very very few at CRGH.

@2021ivfagain oh sorry you asked about a fresh cycle. I'm not sure actually - I never looked into that x

@Janefx40

Thank you. I don’t know what to do. Having a crap day. My husband has got covid. I’m ok as we have been sleeping in separate rooms for months to protect me. In fact, he was self-isolating in his room yesterday. They thaw my day 3 embryos today. It’s taken me this long go get this far.

Due to high fsh, my consultant said I shouldn’t delay transfers. I responded well this time.