December IVF

[Eggling]

Hi 👋 I can't see a thread for December IVF so thought I'd start one for those squeezing in treatment before the Christmas cut off.

Backstory from me: one toddler DD from previous IVF ICSI in 2020. Trying for baby 2, have lost our 3 frozen embryos from our first round over the last few months (2 failed FETs and one didn't survive thaw) so heading into a new round. Aiming for a fresh transfer if possible after a freeze all cycle last time due to OHSS risk so I'm starting on low dose bemfola 112.5. AF due next week so just waiting for my meds to arrive the back to being a pin cushion for the next few weeks!

@Eggling i can imagine it’s really hard for you, with you been through so much. I just really hope that it all works out for you this time round. My fingers are crossed for you and you get the family you’ve always wanted 🤞🏼.
I reckon you should question them one it about the dose though.

Im quite lucky when it comes to the other half being involved in the scans/appointment etc because we both work at the same place. So they’ve allowed us special leave to attend them all and we can claim the hours back that we’ve lost.

That's good @Brit22, great you can claim it back. Scan was alright this morning, follicles are growing nicely but just waiting to see what happens as to whether we need to freeze all, I'll get a call with my blood results later today. We're not changing the dose as we're aiming for fewer but better quality eggs this time whereas last time there were loads but maybe iffy quality. I feel much better about everything right now (who knows how I'll feel tomorrow though 🙈)

Hope your appointment goes well!

@Eggling pleased you’re feeling a bit better about things today - sometimes helps to just have a rant and get it out!

When we were first on the ivf route after many years of trying then discovering that I had endo and needed surgery before we could get going, most friends were onto baby number 2 and some were on number 3 at that point - was pretty soul destroying….that coupled with a couple of family members who also got pg at the drop of a hat too later on in the journey when I think we were then 4 rounds down with nothing to show other than a transfer that hadn’t taken. It was brutal.

We then went down the donor egg route as mine are buggered - we think from the surgery mentioned above - not helpful; we’re raring to go and had a saline scan/ scratch ahead of the FET we had planned. This was March 2020 when Covid was kicking off. That scan then showed that I needed more surgery before we could have the treatment round - then Covid hit so it was all then delayed. At which point I did wonder if the universe was trying to tell me something. Managed to get the surgery done that summer then we started the FET in the sept and DS is a result of that.

My very long winded point is that a) it’s bloody hard b) it’s hard to keep going when others around you are seemingly having an easy time of things compared to you but c) if you really want it then stick with it - you can absolutely do this and we’re all in it together on here and rooting for you!!

@Brit22 looks like all going well! Good luck with your appt!!

We’re just trucking along here waiting for the 1st now. Tablets are def working though and I feel loads better now I have some estrogen back in me! Thank god!

Oh my gosh @TheGlitterFairy what a time you've had. It's so hard when other people seem to have their families come to them so easily and I do feel it's made me quite bitter, I know I'll move past it if and when we do get lucky again but at the moment it's definitely having an impact on some of my friendships which is tricky as it just makes the whole thing even more isolating.

Glad you're feeling better now your hormones are balancing out a bit!!

I've just had a call from the clinic and my oestrogen levels are only 1000 and another consultant has looked over my notes and they are happy to carry on as though going for a fresh cycle, subject to what happens in Mondays scan. So we shall see - cautiously optimistic right now though 😊

@Eggling Im glad your scan went well this morning and you could possibly have a fresh transfer, which is good news.
Yeah works been really good about it.
Im not to pleased about todays scan but I am booked for egg collection on Monday.

@TheGlitterFairy Thanks, I dunno how I feel about my scan this morning. My follicles are growing fine and I’m booked in for egg collection on Monday but the women thinks I may have a polyp or a fold on my uterus 😩. She is getting a second opinion but if it’s a polyp I won’t be able to have a fresh transfer and I’ll need it removing. Praying it’s just a fold, but she didn’t say anything about it on my scans on Monday or Wednesday. 😩😩.

This was the print out

@Brit22 those look like some great follicles! Sorry you had some bad news, fingers crossed it's a fold and nothing to worry about. It's extra stress you don't need though! What time are you set for trigger shot tomorrow?

@Eggling i really hope it is but I do think it’s going to be a polyp 😩. As I remember my first scan back in Jan the women said I had one then, but when we started again in October she said there wasn’t anything there.
My trigger is at 21:15 and the procedure is at 09:15 on Monday but I’ve got to be there for half 8.

Hi all,

I would love to join this forum! When I was still towards the beginning of my infertility journey I found the forums really helpful for my sanity.

So my background: 32f. No children yet. Tried for over a year, then have been at a fertility clinic for a year now. We did a surgery to check my tubes, have beginning stages of endometriosis. Had crazy periods (42-48 day cycles) so then we did 3 medicated IUI's over 5 or 6 months. All of them were failed attempts. We just finished our first round of IVF in October. Did great, DH had good sperm count, and I made 19 eggs. Unfortunately we got a call the next day saying not a single one had been fertilized. 18/19 looked good, but still something didn't work. Not to mention I ended that egg retrieval with super harsh OHSS, and nothing to show for all the hard work.

Now we are onto ICSI. I start all the stims tomorrow for day 3 of my period and I'm hoping, and trying to not loose hope in the whole process. It's back to shots, shots, shots and also trying not to Google every thought that comes through my head.

I hope to chat with you guys, and just find some kindness, because watching everyone conceive with no issues and being told to relax and wondering if I can even have biological kids at all is just a stressful piece of life right now

@22Mama Welcome to the group 😊. I’m finding this group so help with it being my first go with IVF.

It sounds like you’ve really had it hard and I couldn’t imagine what you’ve been going though. I really hope that this round works for you both 🤞🏼. Good luck with injections and hopefully you get no side effects.

It’s hard isn’t it. My partner has 2 kids from a previous relationship which I adore but I’d just like to be able to have our own. I know it sounds selfish but having kids is something I’ve always wanted.

Hey girls!

hows everyone doing? Any side effects to report?

Just wondered if anyone else is on Ovaleap? I start tomorrow and wondering if I should take it out the fridge for a bit before I do the injection as I hear it is more uncomfortable if it’s cold but as there’s more than one dose in a vile can it be left out the fridge for a while and then be put back in? Hope that makes sense 😬.

@Brit22 hope trigger shot goes well! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that it's not a polyp.

@22Mama welcome! I'm so sorry that happened, it's just heartbreaking when you think you're finally getting somewhere going through ivf and then not getting your baby. And then OHSS on top of that must have been so much to deal with. I really hope this round gives you your little one.

@ZAMichelin1991 no side efforts throughout the injections and good luck with yours tomorrow.

@Eggling thank you, my fingers are crossed for that too. My trigger has been done, so roll on egg collection on Monday. I’m looking forward to having a lie in tomorrow and not having to get up and do my cetrotide. How you doing anyway?

Thanks @Brit22 glad to hear you haven’t had any side effects. Good luck with your egg collection 🤞🏻 and hope there’s no issues with a cyst xx

I mean Polyp not cyst!

@Brit22 I don't think it sounds selfish. It sounds like you just love him, and also want to expand your family, and it sounds like you are looking for the miracle of childbirth for yourself. I think it must be hard.
-Thank you also for your kind words. It has been really quite rough. I don't know anyone who has gone through it quite like it am, and I have exactly one friend who had an IVF baby and it worked right away after one go! So I'm sitting here and "Waiting on a miracle" from the words of Encanto lol 😂

Also, @Brit22 best of luck ! I'm sure you are feeling nervous but the egg retrieval I thought was very easy and the going under anesthesia was so fast. I had almost no side effects from that! I know you will do well, and I am hoping for you that everything will work afterwards.

@ZAMichelin1991 I have now done the IVF cycle and egg collection once through and I'm back on Ovaleap since yesterday. My doctor recommends leaving it out 15 ish minutes before the injection time. So at 9:30 I get all my disinfection stuff together, then at 9:40/9:45 I will put the shot out. We clean up the site, and read instructions if needed or switch out the medicine vile and needles and then we do the shot at 10:00pm. It's easier that way honestly! The one that always hurts me was the cetrotide -which always got a red rash and itching right afterwards(which is normal and can be expected. Or if you get OHSS, the thrombosis shots really hurt for some reason.

@Eggling it felt so devastating to think all my eggs all 19 were not being fertilized and all that work, and the bloating and the shots were for nothing. I basically listened to Taylor swift's bigger than the whole sky non-stop, because it made me feel like someone understood what it felt like to have had that loss. It feels very hard to explain to people not going through this - family etc, they are like well just do it again and make more eggs. It's like yes l, we are but also it's not easy, it's tiring work, and the OHSS was just the salt in the wound.
I hope You are right Eggling that thus round brings us something. I'm so hopeful, but feeling too cautious. And I'm so so so nervous. Not about shots, or egg retrieval- I saw all that work, but about afterwards. I can barely think about 2 weeks from now. Where are you in your journey?

I'm hoping for a Christmas miracle at this point.

Best of luck ladies. Keep us in the loop how it's going

Sending lots of love and care

@ZAMichelin1991 Thank you 😊. I’ll keep you all updated.

@22Mama Thank you for those kind word it means alot 💕. Fingers crossed we both get what we’ve been hoping for this time round and keep us all updated on your journey.

@Brit22 congrats on having triggered! Hope you got a good lie in this morning!
I'm doing ok, feeling a bit bloated, will have to see what the scan says tomorrow morning.

@22Mama oh that song always makes me cry!! I know, it's so hard and people that haven't been through it don't really get it, even if they try and be sympathetic. I'm on cycle 2, we were so lucky and got our lively DD from our first cycle and had 3 frozen embryos, we've been trying since May with the Frosties and had two fail to implant and one not survive the thaw. I've found it tricky as to me they were more than 'just' embryos if you see what I mean - I've thought and dreamed and worried about them for two years so the loss felt very real. Hoping we get lucky again, I also had OHSS first time but only mildly, did mean a freeze all though so we are using lower doses this time in the hope of a fresh transfer bug touch and go as to whether that will be possible. Totally get your nerves - I was saying to DH the other day when I was feeling down that I'm just terrified of everything, not the procedure itself but all the stress afterwards and the the 2ww and then a test. Hopefully it's a positive round for all of us on this thread this time 🤞

@Eggling i thought I’d have a lovely lie in this morning but that didn’t happen. I guess lie inns are overrated anyway.
Another early one tomorrow as I’ll need to set off about 06:45 as the clinic is an hour and half away from where we live. I’m sure I’ll be excited to get up though.
Good luck with the scan tomorrow and keep us updated. 😊

@Brit22 good luck for tomorrow! Hope all goes well!
and @Eggling for you too!

Welcome @22Mama and @ZAMichelin1991 - difficult journies for all - really hoping for your Christmas miracles!

@Brit22 congrats on triggering and all the best for tomorrow morning! I've got everything crossed for you that it's not a polyp 🙏🤞 xx

@Eggling I hope all goes well at your scan tomorrow. I'm so pleased it was good news after the last one and that there's the possibility of doing a fresh transfer xx I'm keeping everything crossed for you too 🙏🤞

@ZAMichelin1991 I hope the first injection goes/went well!

@TheGlitterFairy I'm glad you've been feeling a bit better on the estrogen. Not too much longer to go until the 1st.

Welcome @22Mama! I'm so sorry you've had such a tough journey. Really hopefully that this is your time xx

I've got the first of my monitoring scans tomorrow morning and I'm starting to feel a bit anxious about it - just not sure what to expect in terms of number/size of follicles etc and hoping everything is progressing OK. Quick question: If your partners go with you to the appointments, do they normally come in for your scans? For my baseline scans I've always just gone in on my own, but wondering if for these next ones it might be good for my partner to come in?!

@kamaha Thank you and all best for your monitoring scan tomorrow 😊 xx

At my clinic partners are allowed in everywhere but theatre. So will be waiting for me in recovery to come out. Helpfully yours will be the same. Xx

Thanks everyone 😊

@kamaha my clinic is the same, DH came in for my scan on Friday and it was actually really useful him being there as he could ask questions too and I didn't have to explain everything afterwards. Hope all goes ok tomorrow x

Thanks so much @Brit22 and @Eggling, that's really helpful to know! All the best for today xx

@kamaha @TheGlitterFairy @Eggling @22Mama So egg collection went well and we got 15 egg 😊. No one mention any polyps so fingers crossed for a fresh transfer in 3 days time. The egg collection in it self went really well the staff were absolutely lovely and made me feel very relaxed. I was absolutely out the count and can’t remember a thing 😂.