Wish you’d known or prep tips for ivf!

[BiscuitLover3678]

Will be starting ivf soon for secondary infertility. At the moment feel excited that we’re finally going ahead with it. I know we have a long road ahead.

What do you wish you’d known or feel could have helped you when prepping? Tia :)

bump

Hi @BiscuitLover3678
I’ve just came out of my first IVF/ICSI round -MFI in our case….
The 2 things that took me by surprise that I wish I’d been more prepared for was having the first ‘baseline’ internal scan when you’re day 2 or 3 of your period (my lovely nurse accidentally splattered blood over the wall behind her when she took the probe out which was great 🙃)
And also being told I would have to put progesterone tablets up my bum twice a day for 10 weeks was a piece of information I wasn’t expecting 🤭

I also wish I’d been prepared mentally for nobody around me knowing what to say…. Their useful comments of ‘stay positive and it will happen’ or ‘stop panicking and just enjoy it’ really grated on me when I was full of hormones and things had started to go pear shaped. So in hindsight I wish I’d taken the advice of not telling many people what we were doing as then it is less people to tell if things don’t work first time.

Everything crossed for your journey and when things get hard just keep reminding yourself of the end goal and that it is only a couple of weeks of feeling like you’re going crazy 😜

To be prepared that for many (me included), it will take multiple rounds of ivf. I hadn't budgeted or emotionally prepared for this.

Thank you so much - this is helpful

Welcome to the IVF club OP!
Be prepred to costs adding up and timelines to stretch way beyond what you might have initially expected. At every turn there might be something new cropping up or another hiccup around something you didn’t even know existed befofe that point.
I wish you not, but you may end up feeling frustrated at times as when you think you finally have got to the next step there may be another curveball.
Make space for yourself around times when you may be waiting for results or updates and have people you trust you can talk to and who will listen without judgement.
Take care and hope it’s a smooth ride for you all the way x

Wishing you all the best. Echo what everyone else has said. Try and take each day at a time and be kind to yourself. I also recommend purchasing an ice pack to use before the injections - definitely has helped me x

Another helpful tip! Thank you all

I can imagine this is the case, thank you

what kind of things did you do around those times?

I can definitely relate to the baseline internal scan on CD2/3 since I just had this on Friday. It was when she asked me to remove my bottom half and if I was allergic to latex that realisation quickly set in. I quickly informed her I was on my period and wearing a tampon and she said "well you best go to the bathroom and take it out then" 😬 she told me afterwards that all scans will be internal until I'm 8 weeks pregnant. I assumed since I was on my period the scan would be external so finding out in that moment and being unprepared was a tiny bit distressing 😅

What a good idea for a thread @BiscuitLover3678 I am also due to start IVF soon and finding these tips very useful

When do you start? I’m actually excited atm. Feel like I want to be really healthy though. Anyone got any good recipe ideas? How much caffeine do you have if any?
Im trying to stick to nice teas so any tips would be good.

I'm on day 5 of stims and had my first scan today, I think my advice so far would be:

1. Give yourself LOADS of time to do the consent forms they take forever, and be prepared for some tricky conversations
2. I've found the waiting to start more emotional than anything - now we are in the midst of it I am in "action" mode so it is easier to be pragmatic. So maybe find something to distract yourself! In a wonderful case of the stars aligning we already had a holiday booked the week before we started our stims and it was absolutely brilliant because it totally distracted me!
3. Try and find a local clinic- ours is 1 hour each way and it makes visits that much more difficult to arrange with all the added travel time
4. Don't spend too much time on Dr Google - every person is different so it doesn't matter what you find it almost certainly won't apply to you anyway!
5. Remember your partner may handle things differently and that is ok. My reaction to things like this is to get prepared, read, read, read and swot up as much as I can, but his is not and it drove me crazy and made me think he wasn't interested. Now it has started he is doing my injections every day for me, fully leaning in to the whole regime, came to my scan and held my hand, booked me a massage for the weekend etc etc. He's a doer, not a thinker, and that's fine and I needed to give my head a wobble to be honest!
6. I would overcompensate for everything. Cost - we rounded everything up to the worst case scenario and we've actually come in under "budget" - but rather than way round than the other! Same for the time it will take to get started, time at appointments etc If they give you two potential dates assumes it will be the later one so that you get a nice surprise if it happens to be the earlier one!
7. Don't start your Stims at the crack of sparrows fart, because then you have to carry on doing them then (or in my house we do, as my DH insists we do it at the same time every morning!) - I've been awake very early the last few days 😂
8. Just one caffeinated drink a day is harder than no booze! I can recommend PG Tips decaf though, you hardly notice the difference 😊

I’m starting with the meds in about 2 weeks time (or that’s the plan) first time everything - When do you start @BiscuitLover3678 ?

I was getting very stressed out by it all, the fears and the waiting and trying not to drink or eat anything bad at the grimmest time of year 😬, so I booked in to try apucuncture. And I got to say, I do feel more relaxed about it all now! So maybe look into that if it’s getting on top of you?

@Sd183 I'm on day 6 of stims (Gonal F) and had my first scan today too!! Not a lot going on on the left side but got two follicles coming along nicely on the right 🤞🏼gotta keep stimming until Sunday and then got another scan Monday with the aim to do IUI on Tuesday or Wednesday 😬 it's been such a long time coming but now it's actually here I'm like 🤯 fortunately like you we've got a prebooked holiday. Ours is during TWW so this is going to help me to stop wanting to test every waking hour. My clinic is a 45 min drive each way so can relate to the back and forth for appointments especially now they're so frequent! I know the probability of success on the first IUI so I'm keeping myself realistic but hopefully luck is on our side for us both! I had my first appointment on Valentine's Day, got my stims on st Patrick's day for luck and started my stims on Mother's Day so it just feels like the stars are aligning ✨😂🤞🏼

@BiscuitLover3678 I start down reg on April 3rd so under two weeks now! This is my first cycle trying for first cycle. When do you start?

Trying for first baby*

@Unicornsparklez wow we’re very similar! I’m just one day behind you! I have my next scan Monday and depending on how that looks egg retrieval is either wed or Fri. Love all your special dates lining up too I think that’s a good sign!!

@Sd183 we both have a scan Monday then! 🤞🏼 I'm just guessing that Tuesday or Wednesday will be the day for us but in actuality I have no idea. Will see what they say on Monday and keep stimming til then! The irony of being told my infertility is stress related and trying to relax over this whole period 😂😅

@lemons44 Have you started stims yet? We don't do down reg where I am so aiming to start stims around 6 April, I don't know if that lines up with you?

@Unicornsparklez Oh I know, if one more person tells me to relax and "go with the flow" I'm going to flip a table I swear 😂Do let me know how your scan goes Monday 😊

Good luck everyone! Hopefully I’ll be joint you all soon eek! Start in about 3 weeks or whenever Af shows up.

Had my scan this morning. I only have one good follicle today which is frustrating but not impossible. Measuring 19mm so I have 1 extra dose of Gonal F this morning and a trigger shot tonight then we go back Wednesday for insemination 😬🤞🏼

@Sd183 I hope your appointment goes well ✨

@Triselly I start down reg on 3rd April and then stims on 21st April for a provisional egg collection of 3rd May.

Is anybody else doing long protocol with down regulation?

@Unicornsparklez that’s exciting! How are you feeling? Not enough growth for me so no EC on Wednesday just another scan which is a bit disappointing. Sitting at 13/11 follicles though.

Good luck today @Unicornsparklez !