IVF April 2023

[charja100]

Hi all,

I'm about to start my first IVF ICSI cycle. I expect to start my stims next week and all being well will have a fresh transfer in April.

Looking for buddies to come on this journey with me.

Thanks @charja100 and @Jx3303. Often feeling i wish i was with a different clinic and also always worried about the choices ive made.

Sorry to hear about your losses @VioletCookie. Ive also had 3 losses from 3 natural pregnancies so this is my first round of ivf and i opted to go straight in for pgta testing but i dont even know how I will react as its my first time. I might not even get any to test. It been so hard to decide on everything.

@Flowerlover010 it's really hard not to look back and wish things had been done differently, but hindsight is a wonderful thing, and we really don't know if they would have changed things at all! Remind me which clinic you're with again? It's never too late to live clinic if you really truly feel they aren't a match.

*To move clinic - fat sausage fingers

@Jx3303 I get that and I'm so sorry, you must have felt so deflated. How are you now? What stage are you currently at? I'm OK thank you, so bloated from the OHSS so really glad we're not having a fresh transfer! I've been feeling quite sick 🙈

@Flowerlover010 I'm sorry to hear of your losses also, it's horrid isn't it. Everything crossed for you moving forward 🤞🏼 I'm also really nervous about the PGT-A testing, especailly as the results take so long! There's so much waiting around with IVF 😅 how are you today?

Hope you're all having lovely weekends xxx

@VioletCookie thank you! Just another hurdle but I am so glad that our second attempt at cycle 2 went good! Just look us a little longer to get there! I'm doing good - trying very hard not to symptom spot! This week has went fast, I'm enjoying being PUPO and would rather it wasn't going so fast!! How are you feeling? Today is day3 update isn't it? Sending all the luck xx

@Carly05 how are you doing?

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend ❤️

@Jx3303 oh bless you, symptom spotting can't be helped though can it! I'm terrible at diagnosing everything via Google and end up driving my partner crazy 🤣 when is OTD? I'm OK thanks, I'm struggling with how long we have to wait until we have another transfer. Feels like literally everyone is pregnant and some people are on their second in the time we've been trying 🙈 day 3 call went OK I think, although I'm a bit confused... we've been given grades for the embryos and they are either 1,2 or 3. Majority are grade 2. Do grade 2 have a chance of making it to blastocyst? Google is conflicting 😅 xx

@VioletCookie I know, I'm normally a huge googler but I'm really trying my very best to stay off or I know I'll panic myself! I'm sorry - I know how hard the waiting is 😞 IVF is just a whole lot of waiting times isn't it! Which I found super hard! Same, babies and pregnant people everywhere - I had a double whammy on Friday, one friend sent photos and news of her newborn and another called me to tell me she was pregnant. I'd have rather not had the face to face call but that's how she was choosing to tell people (and I can partly understand as she lives in Spain) so that's up to her. Happy for her x

I'm not too clued up on the gradings and stages to be honest, it confused me when I asked the embryologist. However I remember they specifically told me the grades on day3 my first cycle, one grade 1 was frozen then, there was also a 8 cell grade 2 and 7 cell grade 1 on day 3, and both made it to blastocyst stage on day 5. So from my results, yes the grade 2 made blastocyst xx

hi Jx3303 I'm ok thanks . Also doing lots of symptom spotting 😬 can't help it !! Had some cramping fluttering feelings in my tummy this morn... But I remember that feeling with the gonal f stims too so don't think it means anything! Have u had this feeling?? Dreading the test on Friday .... Just expecting the worst!
Hi VioletCookie ! We had a grade 2 day 3 embryo... Embryologist told us no real difference between outcomes with grade 1 and 2 at this stage... And ours made it to blastocyst 😃 xxx
Flowerlover010 wishing u lots of luck with Ur first cycle. Your right...there are soo many choices and decisions along the way...it's hard to know which are the right ones. But don't beat yourself up about it you will find your way. It seems IVF is all about navigating different paths until you find the one that works for you ❤️ xxx

@Carly05 yeah I'm had some feelings in my tummy but I'm trying hard to just not overthink anything. Although I feel like this week is going to be much more of a struggle! I did a TWW yoga workout earlier which sort of helped calm my mind! Trying to stay hopeful 🫶🏻 xxx

Hi Jx3303 . Ooh can u send me the tww yoga link pls? Could do with some gentle stress relief exercise tonight! Someone on the other thread also suggested a meditation app... But can't remember who it was? Was it you Violetcookie?is it Ur 5 day phonecall Tommorrow? How u feeling? X

I'm Starting to feel more anxious this week dreading the thought of having to go through it all again! Have u had any spotting Jx3303? .

How is everyone else feeling this week?

@Carly05 of course, this is the one I did and just says to be at least 3 days after transfer hope that works 🤞🏻

Oh yeah the mindful ivf app! I had that before and it was good but it's not free anymore. I did however find some nice meditations on Spotify if you search Valerie Morris. I've done a couple and they are nice and soothing.

Same, anxious and I'm really tired today. I don't often get back to sleep after my 6am pessary so that's probably why! I've had no spotting at all, at least not that I know of, I've been avoiding looking too much at loo roll still! Have you had any? Xx

Oh I think my link then chopped the rest of my message 😂 I was saying it just says to be 3 days after transfer. I enjoyed it!

Wonder if it was the mindful ivf app? I had that in the past but it's not free anymore. If you search Valerie Morris on Spotify she has some good meditations that I have done.

Same, anxious and so tired today. I don't often get back to sleep after getting up at 6am to do my pessary so that's likely why! No spotting for me as far as I've seen - you? Xx

JX3303 Ah that's great thanks 👍. No spotting for me either... kinda wanted some after reading about possible spotting with implantation. But apparently is only 1 in 4 anyway. Yes I'm feeling exhausted too just had a 30 min walk after work and feel like iv run a marathon!! . Keep waking early too around 6- 6:30 am even on days off. Oh Ur good getting up early to do Ur pessary iv just been doing it when I get up and then again 3 pm and 10 ish ... Wasn't told any diff from clinic. Do you go in Friday for Ur bloods ? X

Thanks for the reassurance @Jx3303 @Carly05 been googling so much I'm driving myself a bit potty 😅 they didn't give us gradings on the last cycle until we got to day 5, so it's felt like a load of new information to learn! I'm feeling nervous for tomorrow's call, both updates so far have been positive and we're so used to getting good news then having it taken away with something bad! Someone told me that day 3-5 development was down to sperm quality, no idea if that's true but I'm already annoyed with my partner for no reason at all (whoops 😅🤣) Did anyone else get bad OHSS after egg collection? I've been really poorly ever since and have gained about 5/6lbs almost overnight! We have a black tie event on Weds for work and I look 3 months pregnant in my dress 😫 I'm going to treat myself to a glass of prosecco though, the first in 5 months!

@Carly05 if it helps in all 3 pregnancies I've never had implantation bleeding! I've had different symptoms each time but never any blood. Are you being good and waiting until Friday to find out? @Jx3303 How are you getting on? Well done for the yoga session, I'm so ungraceful I'd get stuck with my legs behind my head or something 🤣

Xxx

Hi VioletCookie, sounds like some good positive feedback so far for you 🤞 hoping that continues to Tommorrow and you get some beautiful blastos 😃. Sorry to hear you have been so poorly since EC. Have things settled? I haven't suffered OHSS , I have low AMH/follicle count so unlikely wud effect me much.
Yes I'm being good untill Friday ... I don't really want to test as I'm sure it will be bad news and I really don't want the heartache.😔. But if I expect the worst and by some pure miracle it's +ve then it will be amazing !!! Thanks for the feedback on the bleeding , feel happier about that now. Iv been as bad as you on Dr Google 😬 iv gotta stop it's stresses me out more!! Good luck for tomorrow, let us know how u get on xx

Day 5 call and I can't help but feel awful 😔 I know I should be SO grateful as we have 4 blastos (one good quality, the rest poor) but I'm terrified at the HUGE drop off rate from day 3, which is just shy of 80%. I feel like an arse for talking about this when there's people that have low AMH and we're blessed to have 4 blasto, but I've been reading that this can be down to high sperm fragmentation, which Create have never discussed with us so I had no idea we could have tested for it! Considering we've had 3 IVF miscarriages and we're sending these blastos for PGT-A, I'm now terrified they'll all be abnormal, because why would we keep miscarrying them?! I'm grumpy and deflated because I think there's an issue and we're going to lose them all 😔 sorry to be so negative and ungrateful x

Hi all,

I had my egg collection last Wednesday, implantation yesterday and am now in the tww -- so, hope it's okay to jump in!

Because I think the numbers help people:

I am 35 with an AMH of 6, previous round of IVF was a poor responder and got two eggs, one fertilised, one blast, chemical.

This time: 4 eggs, 4 fertilised, 3 blasts (4aa, 4aa, 5aa).

The best one is in so now we wait! Absolutely over the moon to have one in and two spares. I never thought that was possible with the sort of numbers I've been expecting and indeed getting.

Hi all
Can I join :)
I had FET yesterday it was our only frozen embryo after a very poor egg collection for no apparent reason!
I'm only day 1 into 2ww and already driving myself crazy with the infamous symptom spotting!
I've had very distinct cramping and low back pain since about 3hours post embryo transfer and crazy mood swings which is probably stress related!
I'm doing a non medicated regime with the frozen embryo as with the fresh embryo transfer I found I was really sensitive to the progesterone and they think my lining may have been too thick! My clinic don't routinely check your lining though so it's all guesswork really!
OTD is 28th March 2023
Good luck everyone!

@VioletCookie I'm sorry you've had a disappointing call response today. I completely understand how you feel. I have my day 5 call tomorrow. And scheduled fresh transfer, and I'm really nervous. We had 13 mature good eggs and only 5 fertilised via ICSI (we're male factor). That's a 40% conversion rate and the clinic said ICSI would give us 70/80% chance of fertilisation: I'm so nervous they'll call me tomorrow and there won't be anything to transfer! Poor fertilisation rates and failure at day 3 I also read were due to sperm, I'm already angry at hubby, and no reason to be yet. I think it's normal emotions especially with all the hormones.

Try to stay positive. You only need 1 good Blasto and remember there's so many people who get pregnant from low grade blastos. It's not what they look like that matters, it's their chromosome cell make up after all! Stay positive for your PGT-A

@girljulian welcome to the thread and baby dust on your TWW. I have fresh embryo transfer tomorrow. My AMH was 8, 14 eggs collected, 13 mature, 5 fertilised on day 1, day 5 call tomorrow and fresh transfer scheduled for the afternoon. We're male factor.

Welcome @MRSLMF baby dust to you too!

@Bims2019 how are you getting on?

@charja100 that's really kind of you to say, thank you. We were so shocked to have 18 embryos on day 3 (compared to 7 last time) that I had to keep pinching myself. To have lost 14 between day 3&5 is such a high rate compared to what we've been told to expect! So we've convinced ourselves the quality or sperm fragmentation is to blame. Looking at our track record I don't hold much hope for the PGT-A, as its quality over qty. But I also know we're so blessed to have embryos to test, each journey is different I guess.

Sorry to hear you've been struggling the past few days, it's a totally valid response to feel angry towards the whole situation you're having to navigate through! Its already high pressure and you've got so many extra hormones pumped into you. What time are you expecting the call tomorrow and what time will you have the transfer, will it all be morning? Please let us know how you get on, I'll be thinking of you xx

@VioletCookie how long does the PGT test take for the results and do you mind me asking roughly how much that was?
We are going to do this if we need to do another egg collection.
We had a 5AB transferred as a fresh (didn't work) and this frozen one is a 4CD but the clinic have said that those gradings actually mean very little and recommended genetic testing if we do another cycle (fingers crossed this one is sticky and we don't have to consider it) but it's good to be prepared really!
Fingers crossed you get a good result and a lovely sticky embryo very soon 😀

Hi @MRSLMF
We have transfered a 4BB, 4BC and 4CB. All have resulted in BFP but all have been lost before 6 weeks, which is why we're opting for the PGT-A. We're with Create and they seem to have a very long lead time! They said today they hope to send the samples off next week (not sure what the delay is) then 5 weeks on average from there. Someone else told us 8 weeks! But we know we need this. It's £1,350 for the first embryo and £350 for each extra. It's expensive but hopefully it will be cheaper in the long run rather than paying for all the transfers! We were told the same, that they grade by the outside appearance but can't grade by the inside quality unless a biopsy is taken. I've spoken to a fair few people that have had babies from C's and D's, including a colleague! Wishing you success with your wonderful 4CD 🥰🙏🏼 xx