ABC IVF October 2022

[maybebaby2023]

Hi everyone,

I just thought I’d start this thread as I’m impatiently waiting to begin IVF through ABC in Leeds. We are a same sex couple using donor sperm. Never been pregnant before or attempted to so entering the unknown but everything has been positive so far. ABC recommended IVF over IUI due to the low success rate of IUI and donor sperm costing over £1000 a go. My period is due tomorrow and it would be amazing to find other people going through this journey too. I’ve been trawling old threads but can’t see any current ones so please feel free to redirect me if there’s an existing one!

Here’s our timeline so far:

28th September: baseline scan - 19 follicles (10+9). Bloods were done for Rubella, CMV & TSH. I think my TSH was either 1.31 or 1.13.
4th October: nurse consultation over Zoom
13th October: treatment consultation over Zoom, prescribed 100iu of Bemfola to start, Cetrotide, Ovitrelle.
14th October: donor sperm arrived in clinic👼🏼
15th October: meds delivered

…. and here we are!

Hi,

We are also a same sex couple and currently with the ABC clinic in Leeds. We have our treatment consultation coming up soon and can’t wait to get the ball rolling.
How have you found the process so far? :D

@Brit22 Ah brilliant, very exciting! The whole team at Leeds are so lovely and thorough, I was just saying to them today that I’ll genuinely miss them 😊 the only one I had a slight issue with was our patient coordinator wasn’t the best at communication but everyone else has been amazing so it’s not affected our opinion of them. I had just had my egg collection today, 8 eggs so will hear from the embryologist tomorrow how they’re getting on and, all going well, will be having the transfer either Thursday or Saturday. 😃 is it your treatment consultation coming up or the initial scan?

Great news, I’ll look forward to seeing your updates on here. 😀

We having a nightmare with our patient coordinator, she hasn’t replied to us for 3 weeks. So just messaging our old one from Manchester which isn’t ideal but very grateful that she’s still helping us.
Its our treatment consultant, so hopefully we can start it soon. The wait is killing me.

@Brit22 I totally understand your frustrations. Our treatment consultation was booked for the Thursday and my period was due the Sunday. I was soooo anxious that it wasn't going to be sorted in time (esp with the patient coordinators terrible communication) but I kicked up a bit of a fuss and managed to get the medication dispatched on the Friday for delivery on the Saturday. Typically, my period didn't end up coming until the Tuesday but it was reassuring to know the medication was here anyway. I found it useful to chase the sperm bank as well for delivery of the sperm as they won't let you start the meds until the sperm is in clinic. Luckily that arrived the day the medication was dispatched so all worked out ok... Just! Now the nervous wait to see how our embryos are doing, not due another phone call until tomorrow and the wait I've found to be the hardest part so far as we've done all we can 🤔

@maybebaby2023 oh that’s given me a little hope bit of hope for us.
So we have our treatment consultation on Tuesday and our sperm is due to get delivered on the Wednesday.
Any news on your embryos?

Me and my Wife are about to have our first FET this Monday, I’m apprehensive but more excited, though, this alternates on a daily basis. We have two little beauties on ice after our fresh failed just under 2 years ago.
My advice to anyone, if it doesn’t work first time, please be kind to each other, it’s a rollercoaster of emotions and nothing prepares you for it. Support each other, always.

As for ABC, we are at Liverpool (for scans) and Manchester (for V-Day) I have been told I won’t be allowed in for the transfer which is disheartening (told it was very possible I could) as I wasn’t allowed the first time (due to the Cove) but it’s now down to there being more ‘space’ in theatre. It’s like they think people want to be all up in their grill while it’s happening; when actually we just want to support our partners. So yeah, I’m annoyed but trying to trust the process!

Our first coordinator, was pretty useless (choosing only to contact when money needed paying and ignored any questions regarding stages/steps/questions of treatment) but in all fairness since our last interaction with her she is now on maternity leave so we have a new coordinator and she seems okay, so far as we can tell. Our nurse who we have had all the while is really lovely and I’m hopeful that next time we get to see her is cos we’re pregnant.

Hope everyone is doing well in their journeys! Let us all know how you’re doing!

@Brit22 ah that’s brilliant. After the consult, the patient coordinator will (or should) contact you to take payment. Then the drugs company (Fertility2U) contact you to organise delivery.

So we had a fresh transfer today of 1 day 3 embryo, 9 cells grade 1. We have 4 more bubbling away and hopefully they’ll be freezable on day 5 (Saturday). They said they recommend going for day 3 where you have less than 3 excellent quality. Our transferred one is excellent quality but 2 of the remaining 4 are good quality and 2 are slightly slower in developing. It was lovely seeing it go in but I feel no different (unsurprisingly!!) which is a bizarre feeling and just hope the next 2 weeks go by quickly. Fingers and toes crossed. 🤞🏼

@MrsRandMrsR Good luck for Monday! I hope it goes well for you this time around 🤞🏼🤞🏼. It’s such a shame they’re not allowing you in as we are with ABC in Leeds and they allowed my partner into the theatre for transfer today. She was all scrubbed up! Maybe query it with them?

@MrsRandMrsR @maybebaby2023 all the best to you both 🤞🏼I can’t wait to be at that stage.
I’m just glad to have found this site and hear of everyone’s experiences, it’s been very useful.

Ahhh I wasn’t able to go in yesterday, I didn’t question it because she made it clear I couldn’t go in, but I waited in recovery which was better than nothing and the team were actually really lovely, so it didn’t feel quite so isolating like it did last time.

Our little 4BA thawed and transferred well. I initially had to question the one they were thawing out first (we also have a 4AB in the freezer) but they explained that the B represented the inner cell mass (which becomes the baby) and the A represents what becomes the Placenta so it seems for us with our embryo that the Placenta is the most developed and prioritised over.

This 2WW is actually killing me off and it’s only been 1 day. I don’t even know what to do with myself and I’m pretty sure my wife has had enough of me asking if she’s okay, if there is anything I can do and ‘will you keep your feet and womb warm please!’

I’ve had a couple of tears and wobbles today on the sly, it’s just emotional and sometimes I feel I’m not gonna survive a negative test again. I allowed myself to think positive last time and that got us nowhere.

My Wife deserves more than anything to be a Mum, she’s a fabulous Step-Mum to our/my 10 year old already, but I just want this for her/for us so much.

@MrsRandMrsR I’m glad the transfer went well and I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for you that this little one sticks 🤞🏼🤞🏼 what date have you been given for the test?

It’s a week tomorrow until our test date and I’m an absolute wreck tbh. I’ve been having loads of cramping (some sharp, shooting pains low down and other times just a general dull ache), peeing a lot, sore boobs, very tired and occasional slight nausea and I have no idea if it’s to do with the progesterone or otherwise. I keep alternating between being adamant that I think it’s worked to being so sure my period is coming - all within the space of 5 minutes. It didn’t help that the clinic phoned and said we only have 1 to freeze, a 5BA. We thought we were going to have 2 but the other arrested 😔 just finding this part so hard and I’m really driving myself insane. Our immediate family are aware and are all so positive, I feel like I’m the only one being negative. I’m just absolutely terrified of seeing a negative test.

@Brit22 how did your consult go?

@maybebaby2023 it sounds positive 🤞🏼 I take it you haven’t caved and done an early test.

It went well yesterday, we ended up just doing it over a phone call as zoom wouldn’t work. She give us the green light to start the injections when my cycle starts which is hopefully going to be the 17th. But of course she said someone would be in touch after the call to take payment so we can get the medication shipped but no one call!! SHOCK!! We both work in an environment where we can’t have phones with us during work so we not going to be in today to take a call if they do call, as we were hoping to get it delivered on Friday as we away at the week so won’t be in to have it delivered and at work all next week 🤦🏼‍♀️.

@Brit22 typical!! If you phone the main reception and just say you need to pay the balance so that meds can be dispatched, they can take payment from you - that’s what I ended up doing. I would say the communication is sooo much better after you’re past the patient coordinator stage so just hang on in there and keep on top of them! X

@maybebaby2023 Came out from work to no messages or voicemails, so I tried to phone reception but it’s closed. It says 6PM on the website which is clearly wrong. Honestly the communication is terrible, if we hadn’t already started with this clinic I’d of defiantly gone elsewhere.

We have been given a range of dates to test 😅 the 18th (as advised by our Nurse Consultant) then told the 19th by clinic and then told on the letter to test 2 days after that last date, the 21st… So it’s all a bit strange. Think we will go for the 20th, it’s the weekend and we can either be really happy together or supportive but sad. I’d hate to be at work for either news really.

I was at work and she text to say she’d had some minimal light brown discharge today; so I’m trying not to get my hopes up. You don’t just don’t know if it’s due to implantation or the cervix being irritated by the transfer, could be anything really.

Did you hear anything @Brit22

How are you feeling @maybebaby2023

Keeping my fingers crossed for you both! ❤️

@MrsRandMrsR i don’t think I could wait that long to test. Fingers crossed everything is all okay for you both. ❤️.

I heard nothing again today so I rang the reception and made the payment myself. Why I have to do all the chasing I do not know. The receptionist said she’s get my old coordinator to give me a call (from the Manchester clinic when I’m actually at the Leeds one). I questioned my actually one was but got nowhere. They said they were going to send the prescription over so I rang the supplier and they haven’t received it. So looks like I’ll be doing more chasing around tomorrow.

@Brit22 @MrsRandMrsR well I had some excitement this morning! Felt so sick driving home from work last night so I decided to test today. 8dp3dt and about 6 days before the official date… and look! I know it’s not the trigger in my system as I took one a few days after ET which was negative. Can’t believe it!

how are you both getting on? X

@maybebaby2023 OMG congratulations ❤️👶🏼. All the best to you both. Now just take it easy.

I’m still having a nightmare with the meds! I’ve rang the reception again this morning and getting nowhere. How hard can it be to send it over to get them delivered. I’m losing hope that we will get it done in time for this month and we won’t be able to do it next month with it being so close to Christmas. 😩.

@Brit22 thank you 🥰

I had success with sending a stroppy email to the patient coordinator saying I felt they were stalling for no reason and jeopardising the chances of us starting the cycle that month. It immediately generated a phone call from them saying they had sent the prescription etc. The cut off time is 1pm so there’s still time for it to be done today if you badger them 🤞🏼

@Brit22 I would say as well as soon as you start the cycle, you have no dealings with the patient coordinator and the other staff have been brilliant at communicating so hang on in there. It will be worth it 💗

@maybebaby2023 I sent an email to our patient coordinator saying all that, so thanks. She got back to us and said she’s spoke to the Leeds nursing team and they are just waiting for the doctor to sign it. Surely it takes 2 seconds for a signature though! I can’t fault her really she’s been brilliant getting back to us but she can’t really do much when she’s at a different clinic to us.

Eeeee look at that line! How lovely and reassuring ❤️ keeping all my digits crossed for you!

I think we had Fertility2U for the meds, we had to make sure someone was in and they wanted the name of the person who would be at home to sign for the meds, so just make sure you’re home!

I’d love for us to test early; but we did that last time cos #impatient and then Flo arrived so it was an awful time, not that testing later would have helped but just feel if we hold off on testing then we can’t be faced with the negative consequences sooner and that somehow makes this feel better right now!

Keep us updated on your progresses!

@maybebaby2023 @MrsRandMrsR well it’s a bloody miracle fertility4u finally have our prescription and we’ll be getting our meds on Tuesday. I think I’ll be getting done for harassment today though after all the chasing 😂.

@MrsRandMrsR hope the rest of this week doesn’t drag too much for you. How is your wife feeling?

@maybebaby2023 So my meds have just been delivered which I’m please about, now it’s just a waiting game for my period to start.
I’ve got a question for you if you don’t mind. These ustrogestan vaginal capsules when do you start using them? Just on the box it says 3 times a day but not actually when.

I hope everyone is doing well 😊 x.