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 :)

@Sd183 thank you! Hope you get better news at your next scan. Are they doing it today? I've been testing ovulation and testing out my trigger so I know it's in there.. it's up to the universe now 😆🤞🏼✨

@Unicornsparklez just had it now- 50/50 on whether they want me to trigger tonight or rescan on Friday. Seems I have lazy follicles which are in no rush to get bigger! Waiting on the consultant to make a decision this afternoon so we’ll see how it goes! Have you been in yet?

@Sd183 yes we are back home now. It wasn't the best outcome but we went ahead with an IUI anyway. When they did analysis on my fiancé his checks were all good. Today his count was 12m and post wash it was only 1.9mil. They like to see at least 5mil post wash. He had to produce on site so they said it could be nerves or any other number of factors. We had a choice of if to proceed today or not but I felt like it was worth a try else I've gone through all these injections this cycle for nothing. I have to return for a blood test next weds to see if I ovulated or not and he needs to produce another sample for a 'test wash' they said if they see similar results on the test we should abandon IUIs entirely and move to IVF as the only option.

@Unicornsparklez sorry to hear that! Remember the old saying "it only takes one", but I wholeheartedly understand how despondent you must be feeling. I just got the call to say no EC on Friday, rescan with EC Monday, so I can join you in feeling a bit low today. Not to mention we have run out of drugs, so have to buy more. The bill is wracking up at this point. I'm tired of injections, covered in bruises and just want to move to the next phase! Sending lots of selfcare vibes your way!

Hi!
It's a real eye opener and I really don't think clinics explain much to you and you tend to find out as you go along which isn't ideal. I'm currently on round 4 of FET batch cycling and I wish I'd know back at the start what I know now:

1. Check your meds agianst your treatment plan! Twice now mine have arrived wrong and I've ou found out on the day I was starting!
2. Push for appointments in advance and don't take no for an answer! I've had 2 rounds delayed now because of not being able to get an appointment in time even though I'm a private patient paying an eye watering amount of money. This has pissed me off the most I think!
3. Be prepared for a minimum of 3 rounds regardless of how good your chances/AMH/sperm quality is.
4. You'll get your foof out for everyone and his dog to see millions of times.
5. Be prepared to feel let down by your ovaries not producing enough eggs.
6. Just because your retrieved eggs, doesn't mean to say they'll be mature enough to fertilise (I genuinely didn't know this at the start!)
7. Even if your eggs are fertilsed and progressing , no uk clinic will let them go beyond 6days and will bin them regardless of how much you beg (this really affected me when my day 6 almost at blastocyst was chucked! My argument was that if I had it implanted at day 3 nobody would be any the wiser but clinic said no.....
8. They will probably find problems you never knew you had or will have budgeted for. I will need a polyp removed at a cost of around £5k before the clinic will even consider an ET
9. Pretty much every clinic seems to have grumpy, lacking empathy nurses......

10. Don't tell anyone you're going through this unless you really have to as you'll end up wanting to punch everyone when they constantly ask if you're pregnant yet (I'm not even fucking close....), they never understand the complexity of IVF, tell you not to worry and relax, it only takes one egg, you can always adopt or use donor eggs etc.......

Thanks @Sheepsheeps that's helpful - I didn't know that about the 6 days.

Thank you so much for this. Honestly it’s so helpful. They really don’t tell you how long it might take and omg ok yes I will check the meds now! I’m sorry it sounds like you’ve had quite a mixed experience. I wish you so much luck for the future xxxx

Also @Sheepsheeps why don’t they keep them past six days? That’s so frustrating!!!

Apparently anything they've transferred past 6 days doesn't take so they won't do it. I've checked with a few other clinics and they've said the same thing. Madness considering they'll let you transfer at 3 day embryo!
This is why we're not PGT-A testing. We'll only bank a few embryos by the end of my treatment and I'd rather risk implanting them and giving it a go than having the lab destroy all our eggs that have taken us over a year of blood sweat and tears to create and we have absolutely no say in the matter. In the US they allow you to transfer aneuploid eggs and some result in a normal pregnancy.

Any one still active here. Would love to hear a follow up form you two ladies.
Hope all went well following your transfers.

I'm just starting treatment at the end of the month and a transfer date January and this post caught my eye.

my first transfer went really well (lucky me!) and I’m due a baby very soon!

Happy to answer anything

@BiscuitLover3678 omg congratulations im also hoping to start my cycle in January. It would have been this month but because I'd recently been to gp about low moods they contacted gp need a review etc so most likely next year now. Any tips? What sort of a diet did you follow? Supplements? Long/short protocol? What did you do at EC and days leading up/after? What did you do at ET? Etc. Any information really.

Best of luck to you! January isn’t far away at all. I’m sorry about your mood, I agree it’ll be good to have more in place for this as ivf can really take it’s toll mentally. Easier said than done I know as often the infertility contributes to the mood issues anyway. But being as strong as you can will help. You will get there.

I decided to do acupuncture and started it a bit before ivf (so you could start now). I have no idea if it actually did anything, but it really helped me to have that dedicated time to just focus on me and potential baby. The therapist was also great to talk to about diet and things regarding fertility anyway. I would come away feeling more positive and make healthy choices. I massively cut down on caffeine and actually gave it up completely when doing my cycle. Upped my protein (as a vegetarian this meant protein powder in yoghurt and anything else that could help increase it). Lots of fresh veggies and generally just tried to be really healthy. Didn’t drive myself crazy though, had the odd bit of chocolate and tried to keep happy and calm. Also took pregnacare tablets.

It was short protocol I think. My main thing was to be really kind to myself and take lots of rest and drink lots of water. I made sure I wasn’t doing too many things and we actually cancelled a trip to be at home and rest (I found myself exhausted after egg collection and egg transfer so slept a lot). The dates when things happen can also change a lot so I had a clear calendar. Lots of comfy clothes in case you feel sore and bloated. Maybe treat yourself to a new book or something and see the process as you taking control and something to be excited about even if it doesn’t ‘work’. Again I know that’s easier said than done. I didn’t actually feel too unwell which was really lucky, but I was emotionally drained.
I told a few people as wanted the support and it was all I could think about! But not everyone as I also didn’t want all the questions.

Egg collection felt like a big deal and it is when you think of what is happening, but you basically fall asleep (or forget, I don’t know!) so it was fine. Egg transfer was a bit more intense. Again just planning in lots of rest and tlc.

@BiscuitLover3678

Congratulations!

Thank you , you have covered so much and more.

I have been trying for over 3 years and been waiting patiently with the NHS for one and a half of those. Baring in mind i was placed at the top of the list due to my age. I dont think anything prepares you for the wait and tireless appointments.

But any ho , i am here now and start a one off injection on the 24th. I watched the advised videos and dont recall me having to have this injection. I thought the appointment was for me to be shown how to do the daily injections 🙄Great start to the treatment when i dont know what im doing 😜

@Sherr33 We must be around the same time in progress. They have given a transfer date for 8-9th January. New year .. New addition 🙌

(IVF for low sperm count, I have one 17 year old)

@NovA08 I havent been give a concrete start date. I havent even got my medication or anything as of yet. But I don't think il have to wait too long as all the paperwork etc has all be done.

@BiscuitLover3678 thank you so much. I really need to stop shopping to make myself feel good and actually purchase things that will be comfortable 😌

Jumping on here for advice because it's been great so far! Filled out my consent forms this morning and my first appointment with the clinic is beginning of December so will be starting in the new year! 😊

also congrats @BiscuitLover3678 lovely news 💕

Hi all, tentatively saying i’m a success story after my second round of IVF. Im currently 14 weeks pregnant.
highly recommend buying some little ice packs to use with the injections. I found them really helpful, especially with the lubion. Just apply for 30 seconds before injecting. Sending you all lots of luck and love xx

Couldn't agree with this more! @BiscuitLover3678 I'm sure we were in another group together? I'm 32 weeks pregnant xx

My tips -

Time off after transfer more than any other time
Egg collection was painless
Don't get too bogged down with numbers of follicles and eggs retrieved. I had a friend who had 20'eggs collected and none made it to day 5. I had five collected and four made it.
Be kind to yourself but also realistic. For many of us it takes more than one round.
Do not rest early during the 2ww. I did three. I didn't rest during any of them and it kept me hopeful. Others say they wanted to cushion the blow but then I watched them fall apart in so many threads on here, trying to test out the trigger and then getting wrong results because it was too early xx

*test!!!!!

Ooof the lubion. I was on it for 12 weeks 😕

One more. Ask for a progesterone test on transfer day to check your levels x

Completely agree with @CR7 re testing early. I really do think it’s better to hold out and know that when it’s OTD, that’s the result.