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? :-)

Thank you for all that information @Bellwells that’s helped so much.
we are also at a private clinic as NHS patients so definitely don’t want to risk losing any funding.

i appreciate everyone’s protocol is different but as yet I don’t know what to expect until
i speak to a nurse. How long will I be on norethisterone for would you think? And when would stoma start after that? Complete
novice here!

That’s interesting that your clinic didn’t tell you either! I’ve seen nothing on any forms/information packs we have, nor have the nurses/clinic manager mentioned this to me either. Seems like a vital bit of information to know!

@whomoon So this is my clinics plan of action (bearing in mind I’m doing genetic testing so I’ll be doing a frozen embryo transfer).
I will be on Provera for a few extra day due to my husbands work trip.
Maybe try emailing or calling your clinic and ask what they use for stims, or see if there is a Facebook group for your clinic (some of the ladies at my clinic made a Facebook group so that we could all have a chin wag and for a safe space).

I felt like you in my first cycle I felt like I had to go and find out a lot of information for myself if it wasn’t for the fact that I found a Facebook group for my clinic I would have felt completely blindsided.

@Bellwells thank you for sharing, that gives a really good indication of what I can expect. I assume they will aim for a fresh transfer and fingers crossed some for the freezer.
I am not sure what knowing about the type of stims can do for me at this stage? Do different stims do different things? I assume they choose and I have to go along with everything, especially with it being my first round?

I will head over to FB and see what support groups are there, great tip thanks!

I presume that the injections all do similar things as they are all used to grow follicles, the type of injections used it probably down to the clinic’s preference on brands (this is only an educated guess).

@whomoon sorry forgot to tag you in the above

@Bellwells that does make sense. Having all the knowledge I can can only be a good thing.
good luck in your cycle, keeping my fingers crossed!

Hi @whomoon I’m 5 days into taking norethisterone, feeling ok so far but I think this is the easy bit compared to what’s to come.

I am taking norethisterone for 12 days and then I’ve been told to stop them which will cause a bleed, during this bleed I go in for a baseline scan and for the nurses to show me how to administer my injections. If scan looks ok, my injections start (this should be around the 16th Jan). Egg collection is provisionally booked for week of the 30th Jan.

I imagine you will have a similar process to me if you are also going to be taking norethisterone.

Happy Friday lovelies. I hope you're all doing well?

I had my baseline scan today and have been given the go-ahead to start my meds for my FET on day 1 of my next cycle which is looking to be around the 15th Jan. The good news is that the fertility doc agreed to prescribe me thyroxine. I went in there ready for a fight but he was super chilled and said it was fine. I found guidance from the British Thyroid foundation that anyone trying to get pregnant should aim for a TSH of 0.4-2.5 prior to getting pregnant. They only prescribed me 4 weeks which is a bit of a pain as I'll have to shell out for another prescription mid cycle but hopefully won't be an issue.
I have also learnt a valuable lesson today to always insist on being given a prescription for any pharmacy and to not allow them to send it to the Hospital Pharmacy. OMG what a palaver. Waiting outside in a line just to put my prescription in to then have to wait to pick it up. Took bloody ages. Not ideal when trying to get things done on your lucnh break without telling work you are doing IVF. At least it is a Friday and I was working from home.

Hope you're all feeling good and have a nice weekend xx

Hi everyone happy new year and hope you are all doing ok in your individual treatments. I am currently worried as my period to start my FET still has not started. It’s been now 60 days since my last period, I have a history of PCOS however it’s been a long time where I have gone a month without a period. Do you think I should contact the clinic? I just need my period so I can start my norethisterone on day 14

@NP2023 so frustrating for you, AF never plays ball when you need it to. I don't see any harm in contacting your clinic, they might be able to give you something to induce a bleed so you can then start your norethisterone?

@Jane1284 glad your baseline scan went well and you got the thyroid meds without a fight!

AF turned up for me overnight, and after several attempts and then an hour on hold, I got through to my clinic to book my baseline scan for Monday at 13:30. Currently in agony and bleeding really heavily - I usually take mefenamic acid and tranxeamic acid to help reduce both, but don't want to take anything this cycle if I can avoid it. Will curl up on the sofa with a hot water bottle and blanket, and an alcohol free g&t once the online shopping has arrived!

Have a good weekend everyone 😊

@Fourfrosties yes will contact them tomorrow. Thank you

I would definitely reach out to the hospital as I was in a similar position due to having irregular periods. The team had just scheduled a date for me to start taking the medication that would trigger a bleed at which stage I had gone in for my baseline scan. Best of luck!

@NP2023 was meant to tag you 🙈

Hi Everyone, new to this thread hope you don't mind me jumping in
I've got 6 FETs lined up, doing blood tests on Monday for tsh, fsh, stds etc.
My 1st round is due to start in Feb.
My meds are:
Yasmin
Prostap
Progynova
Cyclogest

Is anyone else on the same meds as me? Or same timeline?

I am reading through the messages, good luck everyone 🍼🤞👼

Hi all,

I'm due to start the pill on Thursday with meds starting next week. We had a FET in November and MC early December. Nothing left in the freezer so starting again. Feeling a little anxious about it but staying hopeful.
I feel like I've forgotten everything from a fresh cycle and I think probably trying to forget a little of how badly the hormones impacted me too!

Hi can I join? I’ve started my first ivf cycle this month! Very keen to get get into a group like this as I find I’m still learning about everything and ind it a bit confusing. I did my first injection today - it didn’t hurt and it’s making me think - is something wrong? But the needle was in fully and I think it went okay. Xx

@NP2023 Call the clinic as they will have the best advice.
When I'm late I would either exercise or do the baby dance with my OH 😁never fails for me, It would show up on the spot lol

@West8690 Sorry about your MC 💔 but at least you know you can get pregnant. How many frosties did you hv in total? hugs xx

@JenM83beth The needles didn't really hurt for me either but I had lots of bruises. was it on your tummy? Some people hv it on their upper thighs and that really hurts! What meds are you on? xx

@NaomiNatNat im on Gonal F and I inject it into my tummy. What meds are you on? And do you find that you get any side effects from the drugs? Xx

@JenM83beth i didn’t find the injections painful. They got a bit more painful as I went along - nurse said that’s normal as the hormones actually make you more sensitive to pain. Then when I added the fyremadel that hurt more and would feel like a bee sting for an hour after. It’s def not a problem if you’re not feeling it yet. Hopefully the whole thing will be painless!

As I’m waiting for my period to start (hopefully Friday) I’m getting nervous that first scans will show an issue and will have to cancel. Now wishing I’d gone for medicated rather than natural so we have a bit more control.

also do any FET veterans know what the rules are in the run up to transfer re exercise, massage, sauna, sex etc? I stopped everything for the ivf (was so hormonal wasn’t up to much) but guessing there’s no need to behave as if pregnant or be too cautious until the embryo is on board? Not going to bother with acupuncture again but I find a deep tissue massage much more relaxing so wondering if safe to so ahead of transfer.

@JenM83beth For my fresh cycles I did buserilin and ovaleap shots. Had no side effects but I did have some ovary pain for 2nd cycle.
For FET I'm on Yasmin and Prostap to start with then Progynova.
Haven't done the research to find out what these are yet! 😅
What protocol are you on? nhs funded or private?

@NaomiNatNat so I’m going private. Wanted to do nhs but is there not a long wait list for that?

@JenM83beth I'm private as well (bye bye savings) Nhs in my area doesn't do my age, I'm 37 xx

@NaomiNatNat i know!! My savings have also taken a hit - but it’s worth it. Xx