ABC IVF timeline & advice

[maybebaby2023]

Hi everyone,

Myself & my partner (lesbian couple) are looking to begin our IVF journey shortly. I will (hopefully!) carry the baby, using my own eggs, and donor sperm will be used. We haven't yet had our initial assessment/scan as I've only just had my coil out (this was the Mirena coil which had been in for 2-3 years to help with periods). I haven't had a period in the duration the coil was in and clinic have recommended having this out for 1 month prior to the initial assessment so we'd be looking at end of Sept.

We are looking into using ABC IVF, due to their reviews, general helpfulness so far and the fact that they're a substantial amount cheaper than clinics closer to us.

The ABC clinics in Manchester/Liverpool etc are about a 4 hour drive from us. We would be looking at potentially staying nearby to the clinic for the duration of the cycle.

It would be really helpful if anyone who has gone through IVF at ABC could shed some light on the timeline of appointments, i.e. how many in-clinic appointments there are, etc? Obviously, we will do whatever we need to but having a rough idea would be good!

Also, the initial assessment states that 30 areas of fertility are checked. Can anyone who has had this at ABC expand on this any further?

After the initial consult, are you able to go ahead as soon as AF arrives or is there a bit of a wait?

Thanks so much in advance :)

Hi @maybebaby2023 I had IVF/ICSI treatment a year ago with ABC/Create fertility and gave birth 3 months ago. I will try to answer your questions and if you want to ask more please feel free to send me a private message.

The initial scan checks everything; your uterus, ovaries, tubes etc. it’s a very detailed scan which they will give you the result of at the first phone consultation. After the scan they’ll briefly tell you the result, if there are any issues etc.

This was my timeline: to start with the clinic will send you a lot of information on e-Mail, you and your partner have to read everything and watch all the videos and there are some questions to check if you’ve done it. It’s long probably took 2-3 hours in total. Then I had the first initial scan done, about 3 weeks after had phone conversation with prescribing nurse who told me what treatment we are going for (I.e ICSI) she prescribed the medication and briefly told me about the treatment and send you a link to watch a video on how to do the injections. Then the medical company will contact you on when to deliver the medication, you have to be at home that day as some of the injections have to be be stored in the fridge. Medication was delivered the week after and my period started the day after. You start the injection (Bemfola) when you’ve had one day of bleeding (not just spotting) so my period started Saturday and I started injection on Sunday evening. Did injections Monday, Tuesday then had the first abdominal scan at the clinic. Then I was told to start the next injection that day (Cetrotide), then on Friday had vaginal scan continued with both injections over the weekend , Cetrotide around 12 noon and Bemfola around 8pm. Had next vaginal scan on the Monday, then abdominal scan on Wednesday and was told I was ready for egg collection 2 days later. That evening I took the HCG trigger injection, you have to do it exactly 36 hours before egg collection you can’t be too late or too early as they might cancel your egg collection. I had egg collection on the Friday and the embryo transfer was done on the following Monday. After egg collection I started the progesterone suppositories and continued with them till week 12. I had a lot of side effects of the medication, so be prepared. I tested positive 10 days after the embryo transfer.

From
the day my period started till embryo transfer it took 16 days, I had 2 abdominal scans and 2 vaginal scans, 1 egg collection and 1 embryo transfer.

If you want to know more please feel free to send me a private message. I hope I have answered all your questions 😊

This is so, so helpful - thank you!

@maybebaby2023 You’re welcome. All the best and keep me updated 😊

This is hugely helpful @K2012 as I will also be at Create. Congratulations!

Would they do scans and egg collections on a Sunday if that’s when it needed to happen @K2012? Also, could you choose what time of day your scans were?

@maybebaby2023 forgot to mention that the first abdominal scan was on the Wednesday.

@AbsolutelyEverything Thank you and all the best to you too 🙏🏻
I’m not sure if they would do it on a Sunday and I don’t know about time of scans either as I just said yes to the times offered.

I’d suggest both of you to take 2 weeks off work whilst you have the treatment as it’s hard and if you get side effects of the medication you feel really rough.

@K2012 so you had an email with info first of all (presumably on booking the consult?) and then the consult scan, why was the nurse phone call 3 weeks after that? I thought they’d phone you pretty quickly with your results, etc? Sorry if I’m being daft! 🤦🏻‍♀️

@maybebaby2023 I don’t remember if I had the e-mail with all the information, videos etc. before the first scan or after. I had the scan 21st July and husband had to do a sperm sample which was in the beginning of August and the nurse consultation was on 10th August so they got the scan and sperm result.

After the first scan they give you a quick result.

@K2012 we’ve booked in for initial scan on 28th Sept and nurse consult on 4th October. We’ve also gone ahead and stored sperm from our chosen donor as we both agreed he seems SO perfect for us and didn’t want to miss the opportunity. Hopefully we’re not tempting fate but as soon as we ordered it suddenly his 10 UK pregnancy slots have all been taken and as such he is no longer available!🤞🏼
I haven’t had my period since stopping the Mirena coil (had no periods during the 2 years it was in but regular prior to that). Think I should be due v soon so currently in Greece and wishing hard for it to come, just so I have some sort of reassurance that I still work! 😂
As it so happens, our donor is Greek so feels very special being in Greece currently!! Never wished a holiday away so quickly in my life!! X

@maybebaby2023 Great! 👍🏻

All the best for the treatment and do keep me updated. I don’t get much time to check posts here lol as I’m busy with my baby so please do tag me so I will get an e-mail notification.

@maybebaby2023 how did the scan go?

@K2012 it went well, I think! Thanks for asking. They said I had c. 10 follicles on each side and nothing alarming jumping out at them. Not sure if 10 follicles is good or not...? The Zoom nurse consultation is on Tuesday so should have a bit more info then. I had some bloods taken whilst I was in the clinic for Thyroid, Rubella and CMV but the results aren't back yet so that'll likely be Monday

@maybebaby2023 That’s great to hear all the best 👍🏻

@K2012 feel like I'm going insane waiting on them moving things along. I've been chasing the patient coordinator for a week to get the treatment consult booked in and no further forward. Did you find them to be slow? I think AF is due 18th so probably not going to be able to do cycle this month :(

@maybebaby2023 Oh no sorry to hear that. Didn’t you have a consultation after your scan last week?

@maybebaby2023 have you received the medication?

Have you tried to e-mailing your patient coordinator?

@K2012 we're getting there now. Medication is hopefully being delivered tomorrow.. period due Sunday so here's hoping! Our patient coordinator hasn't been great, she's only just got back to me today since I emailed last on Tuesday and tends to just send pro forma/copy & paste emails that don't really cover what I've asked...

@maybebaby2023 Okay there’s hope!! Great that you can start your medication soon.. Do you have a date booked for your first scan?

can you try to call the clinic and ask someone else to get back to you?

@K2012 so my period arrived last Tuesday, 18th. Started stims Wednesday evening. Had my first scan this morning and they said 2 follicles are measuring 13mm, 6 or 7 are about 10mm and the remaining 6 or 7 are quite a bit behind and not likely to amount to anything. They said egg collection will probably be around Monday 31st. Just need to hope the middle of the pack follicles catch up a bit and the two front-runners don't get too far ahead! I think that would mean a D5 transfer would fall on a Saturday so not sure now that would work

Hi @maybebaby2023 okay how often are you having scans? How are you finding the medication, any side effects?

Has the clinic said they’d do a day 5 transfer instead of a day 3 transfer?
My clinic was open on Saturdays and also in Sundays if it was needed I believe.

@K2012 my first scan was on day 5 (yesterday) and my next scan is tomorrow. The medication has been fine so far, to be honest. Felt a bit lightheaded and headachy after the first Bemfola but that subsided, and the same with the first Cetrotide. Haven't had any issues with rashes/pain from injection site whatsoever. Before the first scan, I was a bit apprehensive as to whether I was even doing it right...!! They haven't said whether it'll be a D3 or D5 - what did you have?

Okay that’s good to hear I felt really rough taking the injections.

I had a day 3 transfer, as they say it’s better in than out and from what I understand with IVF if there are no issues they prefer a day 3 fresh transfer, day 5 are more for frozen transfers (that’s my understanding of all of it anyway.

@K2012 Ah that's rubbish. At least it was all worth it 🤗that's interesting, I had just thought D3 was preferred if they didn't think any would reach D5 in the incubator. If they wanted to do D3 that would be even better for us as we're currently staying down here in an Air B&B and missing home!

@maybebaby2023 Okay hopefully they will!

How did your scan go today?

@K2012 Good (I think!) thanks. Here’s a pic of the progress since Monday. The left (beige) is definitely the harder working of the two. I’ve to up the dose ever so slightly to try and push them up to the line a bit and then rescan Friday. The ones at the very bottom don’t look like they’re going to amount to much