IVF February 2023

[HJen22]

Haven't seen a thread for February cycles so if anyone is waiting to start in the next few weeks and fancies some cycle buddies ❤️

Little about me, 34yo TCC #1. Low AFC/AMH. After two disastrous NHS cycles (NE Scotland) which resulted in no transfer, we went private and are away to start our second mild IVF cycle at Create in Manchester x

Summerishere83 iv attached a link for an interesting podcast about optimizing fertility , which covers nutrition too ( don't know why it's soo long sorry! )

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@Summerishere83 no I haven’t because by the time I listened I’d almost completely treatment! But mentally I think it’s given me good advice for carrying a baby and generally giving my body the nutrients it needs, so beyond just egg & sperm quality I still think it will help my process I just don’t have a before/after comparison to actually know! That’s what sold me, the couple podcast saw a positive improvement and their logic all makes such sense.

ive also heard that organic products have higher nutrient quality because they’ve had to fight to survive with no chemical help, so you get better nutrients per gram than non organic so I’m totally converted now!!

@Purplemichelle thank you, I'm trying. They are available but I feel like talking about it is just too much.
How are you doing?
@Brit22 you absolutely have the right to change clinics as they should be listening to you! If they are using the same rinse and repeat protocol without valuing your opinion it's completely wrong! I had a friend in a similar position who moved clinics after 3 rounds, the new clinic very much had the attitude 'there's nothing to lose by listening and trying something new' and she ended up with triplets! Go with your gut.
@Summerishere83 I don't think reducing food is the best way to go, your body is already under extensive stress and you need to fuel it as best you can. Also fasting is really not recommended for women as it can completely mess with your hormones. My acupuncturist has always told me to have plenty of omegas (oily fish, flax and chia seeds, eggs), red meat a few times a week and the unit recommended to try whole milk once a day. There's nothing to explain why it helps but they find women who do it tend to find more success - I did a bit of research in to it and I think it's something to do with the hormones in the milk. Whole milk they leave the hormones in, semi skimmed they take them all out, add the male hormones back and 50% of the female hormones and skimmed they strip them all out and only return the male hormones! Plus obviously the extra milky fats and nutrients 😊

@West8690 totally get this, you know what’s right for you. I hope you get some downtime in the next few days, even just sitting still and deep breathing can help. I’m good thanks, day 9 of the TWW, OTD is Tuesday. Feeling crampy (not as much now). Xxx

@Carly05

Similar ish situation...My first cycle i was 32/33 with low AMH and partner had MFI...did menopur...they increased my dose mid cycle as poor responder. Ended up with 2 mature eggs and 1 fertilised...BFN.

Now 3-4 years later new partner. They didn't retake my AMH but was put on overleap...I feel like I had 2 follicles which grew really well if not a bit too big and too that were tailing behind and 2-3 very small ones. Collection resulted in 2 eggs and again 1 fertilised which was transferred on day 2.
So not a great deal of difference I don't feel for myself personally but feel like overleap is the newer drug as when I said what I was on last time they were like ah that would of been a few years ago!

So currently 5dp2dt and sitting here feeling a little crampy.
Any stories or advice?

Many thanks @Carly05 will look this up!
Thank you for the word of warning @West8690 I wouldn't do anything dramatic as this is not a time to experiment but I'm looking for something that sounds right to me. I believe in the benefits of intermittent fasting but will see.

@Carly05 Hi, I had on gonal f on my last round. I am doing mild ivf. We had 8 follicles of a good size. They got 8 eggs, all mature, 4 fertilised and we end up with 3 embryos. We did a freeze all cycle so haven’t had a transfer yet. The injection itself wasn’t too painful. X

Hey ladies

Thank you for all of your kind welcomes ❤️

I had egg collection yesterday and they got 38 eggs, however I got a call this morning to say that only 8 had fertilised. Feeling a bit deflated. Our plan is to pgt-a test too so I'm worried that we will end up with nothing from this cycle. I started out with a lot of follicles so knew that I would have a big yield, but wasn't expecting such a crap drop off to fertilisation. Have any of you experienced similar? I keep telling myself that worst case scenario is that we get nothing/no euploids and then have to do another egg collection which isn't terrible I suppose.

Any wise words would be really appreciated x

@browneyedgirl626 wow that’s so many eggs! How’s your body feeling? I had 14 and mild OHSS which was horrible… wouldn’t wish that upon anyone!

Anyway of my 14, 9 fertilised normally, I actually got 8 blastocysts on day 5! One transferred and I was positive on day 14, and the rest in the freezer so honestly it’s all about the quality. I was expecting a big drop off and to get only 3 maybe on day 5 so I couldn’t believe it when nearly all of them made it.
so keep positive and absolutely don’t stress, it will be what it is and worrying won’t improve anything. Sending you positive vibes! xx

@browneyedgirl626 how are you feeling? That’s a lot of follicles - hope you haven’t been too uncomfortable. My advice would be to remember its quality not quantity and 8 fertilised eggs is a great starting point for some embryos to develop over the next few days! Wishing you lots of luck x

@JustBePositive thank you so much for your reply ❤️ it gives me hope. Am I right in thinking you've tested positive?

@LF82 thank you ❤️ I totally agree it's quality over quantity. It's my first ever cycle so I did expect it to be a bit of trial and error to begin with. Are you waiting for your next transfer then? Do you know when it will be?

I actually feel fine today weirdly 🥴 I don't have much pain, I'm bloated but not uncomfortably so, and no bleeding. I think because my last injections were Wednesday night and my trigger was Buserelin, my eggs probably stopped growing as much and calmed down a bit from then.

Yesterday was tough after EC though as my blood pressure dropped whilst I was still in the hospital bed and ended up being put on a drip to get my fluids up. Then I threw up after the uber home, I put it down to the anaesthetic and low blood pressure more than anything else. Sounds very silly to say but the worst thing for me in this process has been having a cannula, it was in my arm for 10 hours yesterday and made me feel sick whenever I felt or looked at it 😂

@browneyedgirl626 that sounds like a stressful day yesterday but glad you are feeling better today! A nurse at my clinic said to drink lots of water in the days after egg collection to help reduce possibility of ohss. I am hoping to start my next round at the end of the month but it’s another freeze all cycle - the protocol I am on is 3 rounds of EC with a transfer at the end of the 3rd hopefully x

Hi @Boofimus how are you doing?

Still feeling pretty scrunchy. Sore boobs and emotional which makes me fear AF is on the way. 6 more days to wait...

So that's another day without AF :) hang in there!! 🤞🤞

Hi I hope you don’t mind me joining the chat. We had a 3 day transfer 9 days ago, and I’ve experienced spotting today so I’m not as positive. It’s our second round of IVF with ICSI. But we found out 7 days ago that our clinic has been suspended by HEFA. They have had concerns with the clinic since the summer and it hadn’t improved so they suspended them in February. They are now also showing as birth rates below the national average (which wasn’t the case when we first started treatment with them last year). So two days after the transfer we receive an email advising of their suspension. Considering it’s an already worrying time, this didn’t help things! Wish we had known the concerns when we first went to them so we were informed and could have gone somewhere else

@browneyedgirl626 yes! I got a positive and definitely feeling pregnant so long may it continue 🤞🏽Next scan in 3 weeks time will be an important one so still trying to not get too excited or carried away

@JustBePositive 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 for you!

@Oasis12 Oh crap, that's awful news about your clinic, is it in the UK? What will you do? X

TTCRose, LF82 thankyou for telling me about your experiences with the medications... It's really helpful in working out what I should do xx

@Carly05 no problem - hope it helps a little x

Le sigh. Had awful dreams last night about AF coming so ended up just getting up and doing a test. I'm not supposed to test until Friday and I didn't even have any early check ones in the house, but I figured with AF officially due tomorrow there was a chance it would work and so many people on here tested early. Anyway, BFN. Which could mean it hasn't worked or could just mean I'm an idiot for testing four days early. So now I'm sad and irritated at myself for giving myself even more stress. 🙃

@Boofimus I know how you feel.
OTD is Saturday for me and I'm holding off testing but feeling so hopeless. My last 2 rounds I spotted but nothing yet one week in but cramping, sore boobs and feeling sickly (all also side effects of lubion). Just feeling so low.
Sending lots of love your way xxx

@Boofimus So sorry to hear this, I feel your sadness, mine was a BFN as well, AF already making an appearance. Onto round 4, not sure how much more mental stress my mind can take :( x

@SH998 I’m so sorry to hear this. Please take some time to recover from this. I do hope you have emotional support.

@Boofimus please don’t despair until OTD, done take a little longer to implant.

@West8690 hang in there. You’re not out yet