March IVF round

[CDiamond]

Anyone here about to start a cycle in March?

I am about to start my first IVF cycle tomorrow; short protocol.

@CDiamond I have my appointment to hopefully start stims on 16th March.
Currently on my period after a prostap injection just over a week ago for down regulation.

Is this your first cycle?

Oops just re-read and seen this is your first cycle.

Just starting my 2nd one. 1st cycle was unsuccessful in November. I'm ok long protocol.

@nizo1245 sorry to hear re your first round but wish you the very best for your second. Yes 1st cycle for me; just got the go ahead today to start injections from tonight; antagonist (which is same as short protocol right?). We have male factor infertility which we only found out about recently; its has been a flurry of appointments, tests, etc since.

A scan today showed 8 follicles, so I guess I could get say 4 - 8 eggs? Dont know. Nervous.

@CDiamond thanks, I've got a good feeling about this cycle. Not sure why, but hoping the positivity helps!

We have male factor issues too. On the day of my last egg collection dh's sperm had lots of antisperm antibodies which was a bit devastating as the 'test' sample he gave a few weeks before had been mostly ok. It seems to be a total gamble on the day in terms of sperm quality but he's trying to get as much exercise as he can and eat well etc.

At my first scan last time they could only see about 5 follicles but I ended up with more as they started growing and got 7 eggs, so you might get more than 4.

@CDiamond can I join? I start my second freeze all round at the end of March hopefully. We are doing mild ivf.

8 follicles is great by the way! It’s important remember it’s quality not quantity - my clinic keep saying that to me

i found being on a thread with people going though similar things really helpful last time round

@LF82 absolutely! Its reassuring to have the support of others going through the same thing.

What is a freeze all round?

@CDiamond thank you!

’freeze all’ basically they will freeze any embryos we get this round with the hope of doing a transfer next time round. I am doing Mild IVF and my consultant suggested they get best results for ladies similar to me this way- I am having 3 rounds in total where each time they freeze any viable embryos we get and we do a transfer at the end of the 3rd go.

First round was in Jan/feb & we got 3 embryos… got my fingers crossed for something similar this time but who knows.

How are you feeling about your first cycle? I found it was really hard to know what to expect

Ah I see, so you will have a whole stash of embryos (by doing just collection rounds) and then you will move into FET rounds (or fingers crossed, just the one FET round!)?

I am nervous, not so much about the injections, collection precedure, etc but about the uncertainity of how many eggs, how many embryos, will DH have good sperm on the day (as he has oligoasthenoteratozoospermia), will the transferred embryo stick, if it doesn't what will we do next, etc - all that anxiety, perhaps same as everyone else?

I had my first GONAD injection ast night; it was simple and can't complain but is it odd - I felt nauseous about 15 mins later for an hour or so and went to bed (was started feeing very tired). Was I imagining it?

@CDiamond yep that’s the plan, fingers crossed!

ivf is all so much anxiety and what if isn’t it. I tried to really concentrate on one thing at a time and not think about the thing after that until the first thing was done. It’s so hard. Just try & be kind to yourself and take it a day at a time x

Hi all,

Id like to follow along if that’s ok?

I start Norethisterone early next week and then stims at the end of the month.

@CDiamond feel exactly the same as you.

I think I can handle the poking / prodding / needles because I know it has to be done but I am terrified of how it could go wrong at so many points along the way , which is utterly pointless worrying about because how I respond to stims and how many eggs we get/ fertilise is beyond my control.

I am a bit of a super organised/ planning every detail / outcome type of person which has its pros and cons but it makes stuff like this a literal nightmare for me where there is so much unknown!

@LF82 gives good advice. Trying to just deal with the one appointment/ thing at a time instead of the entire thing is a good way to try and manage the anxiety.

@Loulou2202 welcome! Hope you are doing ok

@Loulou2202 welcome indeed. Thank you for the words of encouragement. I am going ok; GONAD injections and Menopur from today as well. Follicles lookes ok in scan today; 3 of the 8 are responding well and the rest are still small which was worrying. They said not to worry and its early days, but cant help but worry. Is this normal?

@CDiamond was it your first scan? On my first one I had 3 responding well and the rest were smaller but they caught up as the days went by! I would try & relax and listen to the clinic when they say don’t worry. Hard I know! X

@LF82 thank you so much. Yes it was my first scan after starting injections. They said the same; that the other ones will likely catch up. Starting Fyremadel from tonight as well (so 3 injections from today) and next scan on Monday morning. Its just a few days but feels like forever; if i feel like that now, i can only imagine how hard the TWW after a transfer would be like. Phew....

@CDiamond it’s such a waiting game ivf isn’t! Best advice I had my last round was to just concentrate on one day at a time & try not to think about what’s next until it’s time for it x

Hi All. Hope you dont mind me jumping on the tread. I started stims last night after a complete messed up period, that never really showed properly. I had my first FET in November that failed and having 2nd egg collection this month. I have 2 frozen, but due to my age I pushed for another collection.

I had a complete melt down yesterday, went for a scan as I hadn't bleed after stopping Provera and they told me the cycle was canx. Then later in the evening they called and said collection was going ahead. The stress Drs cause is unbelievable.

I suffer from PCOS so overstimulate. Hoping as stims started a lot later, I wont overstimulate as much, but I already have 17 one side and 20 on the other :(

Hi all
I started stims yesterday for our second try to have our first baby 🤞
@SadieBarts I am an over-stimulater too. They said I don't have official PCOS as bloods normal but ovaries have a polycystic pattern. My first cycle in Jan I over responded so much I had 40 follicles and they had to cancel before egg collection. Trying again now with a different drug and lower dose. Just praying it doesn't happen again as it was sooo painful.

@Jupiteer Sorry ro hear they cancelled it I thought they still would have. When I had my first collection in July 2020, the follicle count went to over 80, I stopped listening as it was a crazy amount. I had 34 collected in the end. Luckily I only suffered midly from OHSS, I did everything in my power to avoid it getting worse.

Yes it is confusing as after the cancellation I found others who had more follicles and went ahead as well. However when I went back for the post cancellation appt the Dr said it was my oestridiol coupled with the follicles that was the problem, it was over 25 thousand which indicates severe OHSS if we had went ahead. But some clinics don't even test for this.... Who knows.
Any tips for avoiding OHSS if I get to transfer?

@Jupiteer I made sure I drank a minimum 2.5 litres of water a day, along with coconut water (this is a natural electrolyte) after collection. Eat more salty foods, higher sodium levels will help. I was in quick a bit of pain for a couple days and felt sick, the nurse said as long as I wasn't sick or short of breathe, I would be fine. After 4 days I was completely fine.

How is the cycle going, everyone?

I have been told egg collection on Tuesday (albeit I am going to try and ring them tomorrow to see if they would advice/be ok with moving to Wednesday). Follicles have been growing in all the scans - 2/3 big, 2/3 medium and 2/3 that didn't respond. A bit nervous as I feel once the eggs are out, the anxiety will begin.

Is there any risk in moving collection by one day? I will continue to take fyremadel till trigger shot 36 hrs prior.

I’m about to start my 4-th cycle of IVF, my last one was in February and they let you wait for one more cycle before doing another one.
I am not feeling very hopeful unfortunately because my last cycles were very poor. My embryos don’t grow. I’m 41
Is there anyone else with similar experience?

@LF82 @Loulou2202 @nizo1245 @Dianaau

Do any of you know how bad it is to have taken the trigger injection 45 mins late? I am scared to ring the clinic and tell them in case they say they will have to cancel the whole cycle. They were very insistent on it being take at the exact time they stated; does 45 mins make a difference?

@CDiamond I'd let them know in case they need to tweak your procedure time. I'm not sure how much room there is for movement, but they time it quite precisely to have your eggs mature when they collect them so 45 mins might mean your eggs aren't quite ready.

@nizo1245 thank you; i have requested a call back from the clinic.