IVF Oct/Nov

[NorthernDuckling]

I can’t see a thread for anyone doing egg collection early November so thought I’d start one.
had my nurses appointment earlier this week to set out my plan with EC on 7/11 - eek. It’s my first NHS round (we were going to do it in April but I didn’t feel ready).
I was due to start period yesterday but it hasn’t happened and hoping it starts today, the clinic said there was some wiggle room but not much. Why is it I can usually predict it to the hour and when you need it to start it doesn’t 🤯
I would love to chat to anyone else with EC early Nov as DH is already fed up of me talking about it - it’s going to be a long 6 weeks!

@NS05 thank you. I have called them and they've just told me to increase my progesterone pessaries.

@MammyandAva so sorry to hear about the bleeding. It might still be fine. Praying your little bub is safe and healthy🙏

Thank you @NS05

@NS05 I have just had a call from the clinic and my HCG has rose from 78 on Tuesday to 226 today so that's a positive sign

Oh that's amazing news @MammyandAva I really think it could just be implantation bleeding, hopefully it will subside asap. If it were bad I really don't think it would have over doubled!

Hi @Thelotusflower probably not what you want to hear but I had a lot of twinges until my period started. I was so certain it had worked because I got a bit of implantation bleeding on day 2-3. Did your clinic test your progesterone? The progesterone should stop your bleed if you are absorbing it. It’s tough taking a test when you know it will be negative.
@MammyandAva great results on the blood test.
My second period is currently a week late, I’ve done some Googling and apparently it’s really common to be 10-15 days late because you tend to ovulate late (I gave up testing for ovulation years ago because it was stressing me out and I got a bit obsessed) so I don’t know if this is the case with me.
I’ve got another load of forms to fill in before I can book the nurse appointment, things are moving (but quite slowly).

@NS05 thank you.

The clinic have said it may be cause by bruising but they said their happy with the results and it shows it's progressing as it should be

@NorthernDuckling am I right in thinking you had a fresh transfer ? If I remember right ? My next period after failed fresh took a while to come, I think I was 40 odd day cycle until it eventually came.. they said that it’s normal to have a long cycle after as all the excess hormones used for egg collect ,I was described it as - hormones are like a cascade .. the presence of one kicks in the next to start .. and so with such a high dose given through the injections etc it takes longer to get your hormones to get back to normal amount /cycle.

@MammyandAva hope the bleeding doesn’t mean anything , that must be reassuring for you that the HCG is good.

@Thelotusflower fingers ctissed their is still hope 🤞🏽 Hope you are ok will be such a worry xxx

@hopefullsosbry yes it was a fresh cycle, I’m not too worried after googling, it took 8 months to get a period when I came off the pill so I’m not surprised my body is out of kilter this time.
hopefully it will start sometime after Xmas and I’ll be able to get booked for the FET in late January/early feb.

@NorthernDuckling hope you are not waiting too long

@MammyandAva that sounds really positive. Hope thats given you reassurance.

@hopefullsosbry and @NorthernDuckling thank you. Ive been processing it since last night, so feel a lot better now. I think once my official test is done, I will start to get back to some kind of normality. Just going to spend a couple of months gettong my body back to good health and then see what we decide.

@NorthernDuckling glad there is progress, even of it is slow. Re. Progesterone, our clinic dont seem to do that. Not that ive asked.

@Thelotusflower mine didn’t check it either but the consultant said they would this time because it may have been low which is why my period started. It may not have been that but I’ll never know. I don’t think it is something they check as a routine but if you do start to bleed it may be worth asking about.

Thank you so much everyone. The bleeding has stopped, still having cramps but not as bad as earlier.

I have just done another clear blue digital and it has changed from Positive 1-2 weeks (on day 7) to Positive 2-3 weeks - so that's made me feel slightly more at ease.

Aw amazing @MammyandAva it probably was just a heavy implantation bleed! Hopefully you can try and relax over Christmas and have a scan in the new year 🙏

@NS05 thank you. Unfortunately this morning the bleed is there again, much lighter than yesterday morning and just light pink. But seems to have eased off now I've done my pessary 🤦🏻‍♀️

Tempted fate, my period started yesterday night and wow it was heavy. I went through a nighttime pad, I’ve had to strip all the bed right down to the mattress 😭 hopefully this is normal, TMI, I usually have fairly heavy periods but at a guess there was about 3 table spoons overnight.

@MammyandAva Praying everything is still ok. As it is light and has stopped im sure it is.

@NorthernDuckling wow. Didnt realise the second bleed might be that heavy. I am usually heavy too, so will see what happens next month.

@MammyandAva I had light pink in my first pregnancy for 2 days and then 2 days of brown and all was ok! I'm sure it's just implanting. By 6 weeks you can have a scan so not too long to wait 🙏

@NorthernDuckling sorry to hear 😭 hope you aren't to uncomfortable!

So it's official today- BFN

I also (sorry if Tmi) got a very significant clot this morning. I presume this would be one of the embryos? It was the size of a flattened strawberry (?)

Apart from our first cycle where there was no fertilisation, we have since jad 4 transfers and each one resulted in implantation failure. This time, was getting treatment for slightly elevated killer cells- steroids, intralipid infusion. Also on 600mg pessaries a day and inhixa for blood thinning (i get clots/at risk of clots anyway)

Just dobt really know what to try next. AMH was really low and only originally found 3 follicles. Then after stimming me on the highest dose, 36 follicles, 19 eggs, but only 2 fertilised. So wondering if natural ivf/natural modified is better? But that seems to be going backwards and might not work for me. And that menas more cycles and it wont be that much cheaper per cycle as i will still need ICSI.

So confused. I have a review booked for 16th jan, so i guess they might tell me something useful...

@MammyandAva amd @Nat4819 hope you are both still doing ok.

@Thelotusflower im so sorry it didn’t work, I’ve been getting huge clots too.

I think from following your journey there are a few things you need clarifying:

1. why when you had 36 follicles and 19 eggs did only 2 fertilise using ICSI, because you would hope for at least 50%. It sounds like there might be an issue with either the eggs or sperm (or both). We’re there a lot of immature eggs - and how would they improve this if you did it again.

2. you didn’t freeze your second embryo because they weren’t sure it was a high enough grade - why and how could this be improved?

3. implantation, you started to bleed whilst on progesterone was that because implementation never happened or because your progesterone levels were too low? Or was your body just not ready because you were having problems with the OSSH

If it was me, I think I’d want to try something different but I have no idea what! You could try natural, it’s a gamble that the one egg is a good egg but your body wouldn’t be under as much strain - I’m not sure I’d be signing up to another long protocol without some serious changes.

have you always used the same clinic?

@Thelotusflower I'm so sorry it hasn't worked for you this time. I agree with everything @NorthernDuckling has said, I think you need to get some detailed feedback and guidance from your consultant before deciding how to move forward, and also perhaps get a second opinion from elsewhere. I also agree that possibly changing treatment protocol and/or clinic could be something you should look into. Have you had ERA/EMMA/ALICE tests done? Someone on another thread posted about a new treatment protocol, Duostim, that had given her very good results after previously unsuccessful egg collection IVF cycles - I've posted below what she said about it:

"Duostim is where you do two egg collections in one menstrual cycle. In the luteal phase egg collection (second collection of duostim) more eggs are collected due to follicles being leftover from the follicular phase. So after first egg retrieval you start stims 5 days later then do another egg retrieval after 12 days of stims."

I have no idea whether this could suitable for you but thought I would mention just in case. I do hope you're able to get a break over the holidays and indulge in some self-care, lots of lovely food and time with your loved ones.

So sorry @Thelotusflower its such an emotional rollercoaster and it’s also so much to take on with all the reason why it may not have been successful, hope you can discuss with clinic about your next steps going forward. Best of luck with it all and hope you have a nice chilled /relaxed Xmas 💖

Hi all,
Thank you for your replies. I really dont think i will get the answers i want.

1.already asked about low fertilisation (we had 13 or 14 mature eggs) they said 'theres no way of knowing'

1. Why was other other embryo not strong enough? Again im sure they have said or will say 'its just one of thise things' they wikl probably put it down to age and not givr anything conclusive.

1. Are you not meant to bleed whilst on progesterone? I didnt know that. But i know there was no implantation as i did a pregnancy test every day. I thought it would be useful information to know to take forward- but their advice on the letter (and from the nurse when i spoke to her) was not to test early. I dobt see why they would not want to know if implantation had happened or not. My ohss was getting better.

I didnt like my last consultant. But this one seemed really nice, sympathetic and must also know her stuff as she is the director of that clinic.

Didnt really want to move as the location is really convenient (there was a time when i jad an appt and there were train strikes and i was so pleased i wasnt going to London for my appt - the stress! The communication is also really good. They always call you back same day, normally within an hour or two. Lots of positives but also lots of oversights, (like they didnt check my vitamin d, but when i had it chekced from my gp anyway, and sent them the results, the clinic told me it is too low and i need have tablets for it. Had i not checked myself, we would never have known.) but then i think is it just going to be the same everwhere, if good at one thing, they will lack somehwhere else?

We dont even know if we should go again.we have done all 5 treatments privately for different reasons. Just seems like we keep throwing money at it. This time was the most expensive.

Ive thought of the ERA etc - and feel disappointed that this wasnt suggested to me at my original consultation.

I also heard about duo stim, thanks. Good reminder. The problem seems to be implantation. So much to think about.

Thanks for all the help ladies.

So sorry @Thelotusflower it really is such a hard time and so much to think about. I hope you can enjoy your Christmas and have supportive people around you. I must say my clinic the Evewell are very thorough and I would recommend them to anyone if you were looking to move. They have incredible success rates. Take the time you need to recover ❤️