FET/IVF - January 2023

[Jane1284]

Hey

I would love to get a group together of some of us who are undergoing IVF or FETs in Jan. I found it really helpful to have the support of those going through similar last time (Nov 2020).

My story: I am due to start my first FET in January of my one and only frozen embryo. The embryo is from a cycle in Nov 2020 when I was almost 36. I have low AMH and AFC and it was my first and only NHS round. I got 4 eggs all which miraculously fertilised, 1 made it to day 5 and was put back in with a fresh transfer. Sadly it did not stick. 1 egg was left until day 6 and it finally made it to blastocyst. It has been frozen. Rather than having a FET back then they advised me to do a banking package of 3 cycles due to my low AMH/AFC so in Jan 2021 we started our first private IVF cycle with the same clinic (Kings). Once again I was on max stims (gonal f and menopur) and it looked like we would get 4 eggs again but when I woke from EC they told me they only got 2. I had a bit of a breakdown. I was so upset going through all that including over £2k worth of drugs injected to only get two eggs. It felt even worse as I had let myself hope it would go well. Out of the 2 eggs only 1 fertilised normally. On day 3 the embryologist told me it was average quality and she wasn't sure it would be good enough to freeze on day 5 if it even made it that far. I couldn't handle the thought of going through all that mental anguish to not have anything to freeze so I made a last minute decision to go in for a day 3 fresh transfer. I had zero expectations but somehow that average embryo stuck. I was so stressed all pregnancy and worried about everything but amazingly I gave birth to my first baby in Sep 2021. He is now 14 months and I am turning 38 in 2 weeks.

Now it is time to get back on the IVF/FET train. I have been for my initial scan and blood tests. The scan was fine. Still not many follicles but not significantly worse. Waiting for a consult with the Dr next week for an update on my AMH (can't wait.... ) where she'll also decide on our protocol. I am leaning towards a medicated FET just so we can plan it a bit better. If that doesn't work then it is back to a 3 cycle package of IVF.

I hope I haven't bored anyone reading this to tears. Would be great if anyone else out there would like to be a cycle buddy? :-)

@LF82 Oh, sometimes I wish I was on a mild/short protocol because down regging is so slow!!

I’m looking to start stims end of December/early Jan. I’m long protocol so I’ve been taking buserelin since 9th December. The injections haven’t been that bad, I numb the area with an ice cube first!

Good luck!

@Fourfrosties Ahh that’s no annoying your GP can’t prescribe the meds!

@LittleDoveLove It’s been a bit mad here too trying to get everything sorted for Christmas! I still have presents to wrap!!!

Im okay. Bored of the down regulation, but have a busy few days coming up now. My anxiety at the moment is that I’m worried down regulation drugs won’t work. Period is pretty much over, I’m dreading getting EWCM in a few days (that’s when it usually shows up) and having to cancel the cycle or carry on with buserelin for even longer. The side effects aren’t even that bad, just tiredness really, I just want to get this bit over and done with!

@Lauralozzle i will remember that tip about the ice! Hope everything goes to plan for you for your next treatment

@Laur0606 I am so grateful for your comment about your medication on the fridge. My clinic did not tell me they needed to be stored in the fridge.
I now have to get emergency repeats and make formal complaint.
I even filmed the lady showing me what to do with everything and it wasn't mentioned about storage. I am both upset but also shocked that I could have been injecting myself with drugs that haven't been stored right and in be danger Nevermind it effecting the ivf treatment.
My Christmas Day will be calling the nurses line to try and get this mess sorted out. Not the Christmas I was hoping but very thankful to be on this thread x

@LittleDoveLove Meds that’s needed to go into the fridge for me came in a separate package that stated it needed to be stored in the fridge. That’s my stims medication, everything else I have doesn’t need to go into the fridge.

So, my down regulation drugs, trigger and pessaries are not refrigerated. You might not need emergency repeats if your meds are ok without refrigeration.

@Lauralozzle no now I have gone to the bag it says on the boxes keep refrigerated. It is rekovelle and another one beginning with C.. I have never had to put medication in the fridge so I had no idea.
There was nothing clear on the bag of drugs about separate storage.

We also have a drug appointment at the clinic and they go through everything. Except at mine it didn't have my amounts written in my book, they prescribed me the tablets when I had already agreed with them I would be following natural cycle and then she said nothing about storage or any drugs. I felt like as soon as I got in there she wanted me out of there. Even told me it was on you tube how to do all the drugs.
I feel really anxious and stressed now as they have all of our money and I can't use the drugs.

Sorry that was meant to say had* not have an appointment

So sorry you are having to deal with this unneeded stress today @LittleDoveLove . I hope you manage to speak to one of the nurses today and they can advise.

I hope all of you have a lovely Christmas and can forget about treatment for the day xx

I hope everybody can have a nice day and put IVF/Fertility to the back of our heads.. even for a few hours x

@LittleDoveLove I’m sorry they didn’t tell you about storage. Have you managed to sort it out?

I hope everyone had an ok day yesterday. I didn’t have a completely dry day, had a very small glass of Prosecco with Christmas dinner (we were out with family). Also had a very small glass of port as I was prepping dinner for today when I got back.

Today is Christmas part 2. My family over, I have non alcoholic drinks at the ready!

Hope everyone has a good day today. January is getting closer! Treatment start dates are getting closer!

@LittleDoveLove hope you managed to speak to the nurses? @Lauralozzle I had a small glass of Prosecco too. We are away tomorrow with my husbands family so trying to work out how to discreetly not drink without anyone realising as they will no doubt think I am pregnant - nothing further from the truth!

Clinic still closed so rang the emergency number again which is gynaecology and got same nice lady. They helped me with the pharmacy , I am a few days short of the first one we take but if my cycle begins I now have some in the fridge.

I'm going to call on weds when it is open and make a formal complaint and get them to confirm procedures for drugs and order the remaining few I need.

Glad everyone had a lovely Christmas I did manage to have a nice day and trying to relax more today. Just Nosecco for me but did have a couple of red wines watching a film on Christmas Eve though x

@LF82 Appletizer in a wine glass if you drink white wine :) x

Hi everyone!

Happy Christmas! I would love to join your thread, as I havent been confiding in anyone bar my husband. Myself and DH did our first round of egg collection in September. I am now on long protocol before transferring one embryo in January, probably about the 25th, not really sure tbh!
I started Buserelin on the 21st and booked for downreg scan on 4th Jan. All going well, I will start Fematab (I think that's what it's called!) after the scan. Waiting for AF to appear in next day or two.
Found Christmas exceptionally hard this year; it's awful but I'm just counting down the days for 2022 to be over. I've found the whole process so stressful and emotionally draining. I've actually booked an IVF therapist for myself and DH in early Jan to hopefully help me deal with the emotions I'm feeling.
Anyway, sorry for the long post... hope to have a few buddies along the FET way!! Best of luck to everybody else going through the process 💪
Ali xx

Start my very first ivf round short protocol mid january. I know people who have been through ivf so that helps but finding the whole thing daunting and overwhelming. Im 40 all tests have come back fine had 17-18 follicles amh 11.7.Anyone who can support me that i can ask dumb questions to much appreciated. Any tips to make more successful also welcomed :-)

Hi everyone!

Hope you don’t mind me joining in. My husband and I had planned to do a fresh IVF cycle in October 2022 but I ended up with OHSS (despite doing mild IVF) and so we had to do a freeze all. We have 3 frosties in the freezer and are planning for a January FET. My period is due any day now so just waiting for that to arrive and I’ll be starting progynova and hoping for a good start to 2023 🤞🏻

Welcome to the new joiners. Great to have you on board!

@ali2021 sorry Christmas was so hard for you this year. Not long until 2022 is over. IVF was so much more emotionally challenging than I expected. It is a lot to deal with! Good idea on the fertility counselling. Our clinic provided one session per round and my partner and I used it on our second round. Was good to talk things through. Thinking about getting some counselling later next year to deal with the decision of potentially stopping IVF if it doesn’t work for us in 2023.

@zarascan47 ask any questions you need :)
I hope amongst us all we can help in any way possible. It’s great that you have friends that have been through IVF too. Sounds like you have a great number of follicles so that’s a great starting place. Is your round on the NHS or private?

@Purrrrr sorry about your OHSS. That would have been horrible. Hopefully you’re feeling much better now and ready to start your FET. Great that you have 3 embryos frozen. I hope your period arrives on time and you can get started.

I’m impressed by those of you who managed alcohol free Christmas days. I most definitely did not but I’m not beating myself up over it. Need some joy in my life haha. Got my nurse consult tomorrow. I’ve also ordered myself a full thyroid blood test from medichecks which I am going to do. I can’t stop thinking about my tsh being over 3. I was on thyroxine for my last IVF round and now I’m not so I’m paranoid that’s going to affect things. Can’t stop thinking about it. At least if I do a test again I can send my results to my clinic and hopefully they’ll prescribe me thyroxine again. Google tells me that all fertility clinics say under 2.5 for fertility. Don’t understand why my clinic is adamant under 4 is ok 😫

Anyway- I hope you are all doing ok and getting ready to say goodbye to 2022. I’m back to work tomorrow so enjoying my last day off today. Xx

Hi all,
I'm also going to jump on board the January train!
I had IVF ICSI round in September but unfortunately it ended with a BFN. My frozen round in November was cancelled, now I'm going to try another unmedicated round in January. I have 4 embryos in the freezer and I'm assuming my transfer will be around the 20th.

@Jane1284 my thyroid level was 3.8 and I was prescribed 25mg of levothyroxine to bring it down. At my last check, it was 2.4 and my doctor was happy with that.

For everyone else just starting out, nothing is as daunting or complicated as it seems initially. Keeping your head screwed on is the hardest part so go easy on yourselves. I'm hoping to see lots of BFPs on this board as we get into January X

Morning all, my saga continued as the clinic rang me first thing to say they don't refrigerate once dispatched so to use the ones they gave me as they are fine for 3 months and that's what they do with everyone. I have made a complaint about whole thing. Lack of being able to contact anyone for 4 days for support and advice, no communication around it at drug app, labels saying different etc.
Spoke to head of the ward and she did apologise for everything.
I'm still uneasy but we are where we are. Need to relax now as AF is due soon and I will need to start the Rekovelle any day now.

Can I ask a FET question. If the fresh transfer doesn't work for us and we are able to store some embryos, how soon after a failed fresh cycle transfer can you do a FET? What does in involve time wise and drugs?

@Jane1284 going private im 40 so cant affor to wait for nhs also higher bmi im really lucky my clinic takes people with a bmi of 40 and below also. Fingers crossed for 2 weeks time when it all starts for me

@zarascan47 I am 40 in a few weeks too 😊. I was waiting for tests via NHS but ended up paying private for them as would still be waiting now 18 months on!

@LittleDoveLove its a shame the nhs are so delayed i did some the pre testing via nhs to save money which was a life saver as this is all so expensive. Just had a call about the medication which is being delivered january 9th and she luckily mentioned non has to go in the fridge as that was going to be my next question

@ali2021 Good luck with your FET. Sorry Christmas was so hard for you this year. IVF journey is hard, you don’t think how hard it’s going to be until you’re on it. hopefully speaking about it during therapy will help you process it. It’s good to have someone neutral to talk to about it all.

@zarascan47 Good luck! Ask away!!

@Purrrrr Good luck with your FET

@Jane1284 I didn’t quite make it alcohol free but significantly ‘alcohol reduced’ Christmas was had! How long until you hear back from medichecks about your thyroid?

@LittleDoveLove I’m glad the meds saga is sorted now!!

I had my down regulation scan today. It’s not worked, my lining is too thick and i have a follicule that is a bit big. They sent me for a blood test and called me this afternoon.

I have to take a pregnancy test (I laughed my face off when they said that, seriously, there’s no bloody chance). Then, when I confirm it’s negative I have to take half my trigger and then wait for another period. I’m guessing that’ll appear in about 2 weeks! Then call again on cycle day 1 for another down regulation scan. I’ve got to take buserelin still throughout.

At this rate, I’ll be looking at February for egg collection and transfer!

@Piapea Welcome and thanks - that's pretty much the same as my levels last round! 3.9 and then put on a small dose to bring it down. I'm thinking of asking for the same this time even though it's only 3 currently. Just want to do everything I can to help. Good luck for your fet :-)

@zarascan47 - private is a good idea. The last thing you want to do is be waiting around for NHS if the wait list is ages. Great that your clinic takes a higher BMI too. There's no good that can come from being forced to lose a drastic amount of weight to start treatment. It just ends up messing up your hormones. Sending lots of luck for 2 weeks time.

@LittleDoveLove - i think it depends on your clinic but mine wanted a full cycle between my two fresh cycles. I can imagine it is similar for a FET. So you have your period after your fresh (if it doesn't work) and then a whole cycle and start again on your next period. I think some may suggest even longer. I guess it also depends on whether you go with a natural or medicated FET. Also- fresh cycle medication can affect your next few cycles so you may find that you go from being regular to a bit out of whack.

Oh @Lauralozzle - what a massive pain in the behind! Nothing ever goes smoothly in the world of IVF. I'm so sorry the down reg didn't work. Hopefully this next attempt will do the job. I can imagine some of us will still be going come Feb so we should be able to support eachother still.

Got my home Thyroid test from Medichecks but with the public hol and weekend coming up I've decided to wait and do it Tuesday. Don't want to risk any issues with it being processed.
I had my nurse consult today where I expressed my worry about my thyroid and she agreed to have one of the doctors call me. I really hope I get a decent Dr. Last call I had with them I felt like they had no clue. Not ideal.

Hope everyone is doing well xx

@Lauralozzle what is a down regulation scan? This is all so new to me I don't understand a lot of the terminology. Is that the 8-10 day scan?