IVF warriors - journey continues

[Tinkerbell098]

Have created this as our old one has maxed out. Let's continue to support each other in this challenging journey of IVF.

@Imisscoffee2021
@Decaffe
@seekingbabyk
@MinBins
@acaciabluebell
@MammyandAva
@Spin101
@1stcycle

@badassmum22 Yeah I think we’ll wait at least a week anyway. Don’t wanna disturb the little fella 🙈
I won’t test super early no. I’ll try and keep busy to pass the time and not think about it too much. I’m quite good at keeping myself busy with work 😊 Last time I tested 1-2 days early with an 6 days earlier test kit and I think I’ll do the same again this time. How about you?

@Honeybunie I think I'll try to wait as well, haven't even bought the tests yet.

@badassmum22 @Honeybunie congratulations on being PUPO! Hope the TWW hasn't been too bad so far.

@seekingbabyk hope you enjoyed OH's birthday. Happy birthday to him. When are you off to New York?

@Decaffe how are you getting on? Has the spotting stopped now?

@Imisscoffee2021 hope you're keeping well and bubs is growing nicely. When's your next scan?

I got my AF today, so have taken my first injection tonight to start my FET. Had a tear in my eye when my husband injected me as I couldn't believe we are on it again after 3 months. Here we go again!

@Tinkerbell098 I am so relieved it came in time to do your cycle! So you'll be PUPO at Christmas time? Fingers crossed you get lots of lovely embryos and a Christmas bfp! Have you had your initial AFC done for this cycle? xx

I've got a scan on Monday at my clinic when I should be 8 + 2, hoping bubs is still growing in there! Had some mild mild burny stretching feelings this week and did a few heavy lifting things at work from habit that I kicked myself for after, and keep getting a little bit of stringy pale brown cm bits but apparently pregnacare multivitamins can do that, cm went bright yellow when I started taking it! So going to go back to my separate vits! No more bleeding at all even after last internal scan so that's a relief. I have a retroverted uterus and have become very constipated so some of the cramping I think has been from my bowel butting up against my uterus as its against there rather than my bladder!

Had my first midwife appointment on Thursday, the booking in one, very surreal! Haven't got an NHS scan til Jan 5th when hopefully if all is well I'll be 13+3. Will have a scan just before coming home for Christmas just in case we feel like we want to tell family, but not sure tbh, one moment I'm bursting so say and then I imagine giving bad news and just can't yet!

Sorry that was a very long update! Hope everyone is well and enjoying the run up to Christmas! X

@Imisscoffee2021 thanks! We are doing a FET so not making anymore embryos. It'll be from the same batch I had in September. Great to hear everything's well and you'll be having a scan on Monday. Aww having the midwife appointment must have been amazing. Totally understand wanting to wait a little bit longer to tell family. Have you thought of ways you'd break the news?

@Tinkerbell098 oh yes sorry so many different stages in our team now I got mixed up! Even better, less meds and no collection :)

I've had so many ideas since I first started TTC, but I think I'll just tell them. I had plans for my husband where I'd have a big reveal but after so long and being so in it together I just very frankly said I'm pregnant by the way when I got back from visiting the folks, and he was so stunned anyway so a nice natural moment :) like me he doesn't want to be too excited, but feeling more real now.

Are you having lots of scans for your FET to time with ovulation or do the meds suppress it?

Aww that's sweet. Nice natural moments are so precious. It's a medicated cycle. So I've got 5 ganirelex injections from CD1 to suppress and then starting oestrogen pills from day 3. Hopefully I've got a scan on Monday (I've left a message for them to ring me back with a scan appointment). The plan says they'll scan again around day 12 and hopefully transfer around the 20th. Fingers crossed it all goes ok.

@Imisscoffee2021 what was your FET like? Did you have any injections at the start or just start on oestrogen? Did they time yours with ovulation?

@Tinkerbell098 mine was just oestrogen tablets and then progesterone pessaries. Lovely and cheap at first then I got lubion which is £100 pound per week, have to take it til 12 weeks. Whatever works though!

I was a bit worried about my FET as I'd read so much about others being timed round ovulation and they never scanned me until a week in and that was only to look at the lining, I had to ask about ovulation because I hadn't ovulated when I would have and they looked at my ovaries and couldn't see a corpus luteum. The nurse just said yes that sometimes happens because of the oestrogen which made me think wasn't necessarily part of the plan! It works though so clearly know what they're doing 😅

@badassmum22 Yeah I’m still to buy my tests 😊 I still have one early one but need a clearblue digital for the day. How’re you getting on?

Thanks @Tinkerbell098 ☺️
I’m glad you can go ahead with the FET before Christmas and started on the med. one step at the time 😊

speaking of injecting @Tinkerbell098 @Imisscoffee2021 I read yesterday that the needle should be injected dart-like 🙈 I always do it slowly. How do you do it? I’ve not had a good run the past few days with the Lubion and I wonder if I can improve my technique.. it’s been quite painful, swollen and itchy the last two days. Yesterday’s is like an insect bite. Weird that some days it’s better than others.

also re FET, with a medicated cycle they do not want you to ovulate isn’t that right? I started on a natural cycle FET and with those they time it around your own ovulation so you need to pin point the exact day. I couldn’t find mine as I had contradicting results using the same test kit. So we had to abandon.
with the second attempt they had me on progynova, 3 tablets a day, and at the day 12 scan to check the lining, mine was only 6.4 and they saw they one of my ovaries was about to release an egg. So the medication wasn’t strong enough to thicken my lining to over 7 and to suppress my ovulation.
so third attempt, I’m now taking 6 progynova a day, at the day 11 scan my lining was just about 7 and my ovaries were ‘nice and quiet’ she said, so not producing any hormones themselves which is just what they want to control the thing. At least that was my understanding

Excellent news that AF has arrived @Tinkerbell098!

I had six days of dark spotting after embryo transfer. I now think that was purely from the transfer process, it took longer than the first time and I think she did have some trouble getting the catheter in.

Since then, absolutely no spotting at all so clearly the magic Lubion is doing its job. And it therefore confirms for me what I have been trying to say to my GPs for years; namely that spotting for up to six days before my period starts is a luteal phase defect associated with a drop in my progesterone levels.

Today I am 10dp5dt and the tests are negative so it hasn’t worked for me this time. Frankly I would be happy to stop all meds now but if I did and AF arrived in the next few days, then it’d mean starting my next egg collection cycle around the 1st/2nd Jan. And no one wants to be doing that! I’d worry about clinic closure, bank holiday closing dates, postal delivery of meds going awry etc. So, I will carry on with the progesterone for the next few days just to push my cycle back a bit.

It’s a shame, I was really wanting to just get a second pink line this time round. Whether the clinic’s utter snafu over my progesterone levels, the tricky transfer, the stress over those few days, or something else meant it didn’t work, I’ll never know. I do feel though a bit cheated that I wasn’t really able to give the transfer a fair shot.

I am starting to think now that it simply isn’t meant to be for me to be a mum. That there is a reason it’s not meant to be.

I think the thing is, that I have always had hope. When talking with my friends, family and DH, I have been relentlessly positive and optimistic that it would all work out eventually and it would one day happen. They have even commented on the fact I always think it’ll be fine and work out.

Now, for the first time in years, I’m actually starting to think, eh no. In all likelihood now, this isn’t going to happen. The future is going to be different. The optimism and hope has gone.

@Honeybunie Hello! Just thought I'd share what I've been doing with Lubion to make it easier :) We warm up the vial beforehand (just rubbing it between the palms). I also usE a heating pad and warm up my tummy. Lubion is an oily injection so the colder it is the thicker it is.

My husband injects it like a dart, so as quickly as possible. He said pushing it in is really hard, so he keeps his thumb on the plunger as he pushes it in and holds the syringe while administering. You have to push firmly but slowly so takes a good 15-20 seconds to push it in.

Hope this helps, it might be stuff you already do/know but I thought it may help x

@Decaffe sorry this one hasn't worked. I sometimes think there's no rhyme or reason for them working, you do the best you can and clinics try to, and it just doesn't take. My first transfer was a too grade hatching blast and didn't ever have a wind line, looking back I think the faint lines I got were still from the trigger. Do you have another round booked in?

I've had the exact same thoughts as you, spent so much time feeling positive and talking so positively about it all, then I'd have a wave of awful clarity that it just wasn't going to work for me for whatever reason, and how ironic when I was the one who always loved kids in my family and have been told id be a great mother one day. Those intrusive thoughts are inevitable, doesn't mean they're true though.

Good idea to stay on meds to time your next cycle, that night be the one, you just never know! Sending big hugs xxx

Sorry for all the typos, bloody phone keypad!

Aawwww @Decaffe so sorry it hasn’t worked this time. But don’t give up hope yet. You have another cycle (or even more?) to go yet and with every try you increase your chances 😊 that’s how I look at it. The stats are quite low per transfer (at least in my case) I always think it’ll likely take 4-5 tries before we’ll be successful. And you and your clinic have learned something new again which they can improve next time. Unfortunately it is a bit like trial and error isn’t it. But you still have more attempts to go, which I’m sure will go loads smoother 😃 And I know exactly how you feel. I felt like that when it didn’t work last time. And even this Friday after my next transfer I got really upset thinking I might never be blessed with a little one. I think a lot more negatively in general just to protect and potentially prepare myself. But there is still way to go and transfers to have. So you have to look ahead and forward to these 😊 have a good cry and then pull yourself out of it again. Do something you enjoy and treat yourself to something nice xx

Hi @itshimi wow that is ingenious to warm up the Lubion first! Thanks so much for the tip! I didn’t know it was oil based. Makes sense 😊
I thought about trying the dart hit this morning but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it 🙈 does it hurt when your husband does it?

@Decaffe I'm so sorry it hasn't worked this time. Don't lose hope yet, it's all a learning curve. Hope you can raise all the issues you faced this cycle at the review appointment so they listen to your concerns and don't dismiss you next time. Sending you lots of love X

@Honeybunie I think you're right about the medicated FET where they don't want you to ovulate. I think it's because, when you do ovulate, they have a tiny window where they have to transfer the embryo, and with a medicated one, they can control it a bit more. I could be wrong, but I might ask at my next appointment, just to be sure. I know for a fact they're suppressing my ovulation because I am on ganirelix. I've got lubion injections coming up, starting before transfer, not looking forward to it! How many are you on on per day?

So, two injections done, 3 to go. First scan booked tomorrow morning. IVF here we go again!

@Tinkerbell098 Yeah that makes sense! And yes my last attempt was abandoned because I was ovulating (on top of thin lining). What are they checking for you tomorrow? the lining as well? I only had one scan on day 11-12. I'm only on one Lubion a day thank god. How about you? Hope the scan goes well tomorrow x

@Honeybunie tomorrow's just a baseline scan to see if my lining is thin for me to start oestrogen. The next scan would be on day 12. I'm also only on one lubion. OH has been doing all my injections so far. When is OTD for you?

@Tinkerbell098 Ah I see, you have a slightly longer protocol. They strip the lining first. I just had to start taking progynova on the first day on my period without a baseline scan. Before we started I also thought OH could help me with the injections because I wasn’t sure if I could do it myself. Luckily I had no problem and he’s always out and about with his job anyway. I’d probably smack him if he were to put a needle in me anyway 😂
my test day is Monday next week. I’ll do an early test on Saturday though to prepare myself.

@Honeybunie Glad to be able to help! Did you try warming it up? I really hope it was less painful for you!

It doesn't hurt as much anymore. It pinches a tiny bit when it's going in and then just feels like a bit of pressure.

Hope it gets easier for you x

@Decaffe I'm so so sorry it didn't work. I can't imagine how you're feeling but please don't lose hope. You just never know with these things. I hope you're doing okay mentally and emotionally too. It can be so difficult to come to terms with it. Sending you so much love and praying that everything works out xxxxx

Hi ladies from NYC!!

@Tinkerbell098 I'm so happy you got it in time to start your meds for FET before Xmas! So excited for you!

@Decaffe I'm so sorry it didn't work out for you but don't ever feel like it's not meant to be. I do believe in fate and I think sometimes you need to not get something to make you realise how much you want it. Keep going though - it will work out for you eventually! And I think the more rounds you do, they get your meds just perfect in the end!

@Imisscoffee2021 awww it's so exciting for you! Can't wait to hear about your scan next week!

Hope the rest of you are all good too x