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.

@charja100 i decided to do the rectal progesterone- and it’s going fine, better than I thought
i have my first embryo transfer tomorrow 😬
I have a fullness in my lower stomach like I do before a period, I hope that’s normal!

BFN for me today on OTD. In case it helps anyone, I had basically every symptom in the book: sore boobs, changes to nipple colour, cramps, frequent urination including getting up at night which I never normally do. So I think for next time I really need to remind myself that any and all of these symptoms can come from just the progesterone and they tell you nothing!

@Ksangha good luck with your embryo transfer today!

@girljulian I'm so sorry it wasn't good news. It's such a hard journey. I also had all the symptoms and tested faint positive and then had a chemical. It's so hard not to symptom spot but they say every person and every pregnancy is different. Here if you need to talk

Thanks @charja100. What did the nurse say about you getting your period, out of interest? I was so surprised to hear that happened!

I had a chemical pregnancy last time which was gutting.

Part of me thinks oh, bugger it, I can't be bothered to go through this stress again and implant the other two, but I will just take a break, go on my summer holiday and then try the next one after that. I reckon if I've implanted four in total and none of them have taken, I'll be satisfied that it's not meant to be.

@girljulian so so sorry it hasnt worked for you this time. Is there any tests the clinic could do before trying again? It might be worth asking. Your comment is helpful to me since i get bad pms symptoms so to know that i could get them for transfers helps me not get my hopes up too much so thank you for that.

So the nurses haven't said anything. Im waiting for a meeting with our consultant, the earliest was Tuesday 9th May so I won't really no more until then rally so I've been focusing on life and work and other stuff to distract myself from the not knowing.

I'm pretty sure it was a chemical actually, and that my period came as way of my body terminating the chemical. Because id had a faint positive on a FRER.

It's such a hard journey. I'm only one transfer implanted, and I know we've likely got a long road ahead of us. I'm so sorry that you had a chemical and that this one hasn't worked. Take the break and space you need to heal and build your strength and when you're ready, you can go again. Do you have more frozen or will it be a fresh round for you?

@April623 i understand how you feel. I was testing from 4dp5dt, I would try not to test though if you can (much easier said than done I know!) the reason I say this is that I found out we'd had a chemical because I caught it on a FRER 5dp5dt and I almost wish I hadn't because it's so disappointing when it doesn't stick. If you really can't wait to OTD they say 9dp5dt is pretty reliable.

Have you tested the last couple of days?

@Flowerlover010 So I have to wait for my consultation with the dr on 9th. I'll know more then. I'm not sure on timings as will be my first FET, but I was curious too and research suggests 6-8 weeks. Seems forever 😔

Glad jabs are going okay. You do you and if ice helps then fab! I ended up with a couple of bruises but not too many thankfully. I personally found that if you take your time and count to 10 slowly when you do everything you bruise less.

I am so glad I'm not the only one who has stabbed their finger! I did it too 🤣 and I bent a needle... I'm sure there's lots of others like us 😜 x

@charja100 id be interested to know what they say in how long you have to wait to start another transfer and what drugs etc. Keep me posted. 9th must seem like ages away to you though! Everything is always a wait isnt it!

@charja100 I have a negative test at 9dp5dt and all the period pains so I think it's over for me too. I had a faint line up until 7dp5dt so think it was probably a chemical. Although I will never know for sure. I wasn't expecting success on my first ever transfer (although you hope) but I'm mostly upset that we have no embryos to go back to as we only had one viable from 11 eggs collected. Not great odds so feeling pretty pessimistic at the mo 😕 Hope you're doing ok x

I have two frozen. If those ones don't take, I'm not going to do another round.

Morning ladies
Sorry for continuing my absence, I'm finding the mental side of waiting for PGT-A very difficult so have thrown myself into work and am exhausted whenever I get home! How's everyone getting on? I've been reading through updates and I'm so sorry for the BFNs and chemicals 😔 I hope you've all got nice plans for the weekend and can have a bit of you time? I'm having my hair done so looking forward to the pamper... much overdue and needed! Sending love and hugs to you all ❤️ xxx

@VioletCookie how long have you had/got to wait to hear? Must be agonising x

@Flowerlover010 it's been 2 weeks, if they're back in time then another 3 weeks to go. But someone else said it could be a minimum of 8 weeks to get a result 🙈 how are you? X

@VioletCookie 8 weeks jeeeesus! My clinic has told me 2 weeks! Im bit sceptical now about what ive been told!

@Flowerlover010 I know right! They said the usual wait time is 4-5 weeks then a consultation to discuss results. Another nurse said 3 weeks and one said minimum 8. So I'm going to start pestering them at 3 🤣 I think Create are a bit out of the ordinary tho as they don't test them straight away, apparently they have loads to get through so it kind of joins a queue! Someone from another clinic had theirs in 1 week x

@Ksangha how are you getting on? 1 week down 1 week to go isnt it?

@Flowerlover010 its going ok I think, not done this before so not sure what to expect!
I'm Trying to keep my mind occupied, and not to test before the day they gave me - but it’s so hard
not really had any symptoms - which im
mot sure is a good thing 😬🤷🏻‍♀️

@Ksangha sounds like you are doing all the right things. Theres not a lot of point to testing early just makes it more stressful even though it could be tempting and the wait is agonising! Some women really dont get any pregnancy symptoms so that doesnt really give you any clue either! Just keep busy as u can. Fingers crossed for u!

How are you getting on following the past few weeks @charja100 @Carly05 @magh333 @MRSLMF ? Been thinking of you all and know it hasn't been easy xx

Hi everyone.

@VioletCookie thanks for checking in. Coming out the other side now. Sorry you're having such a long wait. I feel like all IVF is, is waiting sometimes. I hope you had a wonderful hair appointment and lovely weekend and it's helped to distract a little.

So I took some time off work and went away to have a hit of a break... still off today and back into work tomorrow.

It has done my mental health wonders to set itch off from this journey for a week or so as I have been a bit all over the place and could feel myself starting to spiral. After years of managing episodes I could feel one brewing and just knew I needed to get my head straight.

Consultation with the medical director was today. She thinks we had a chemical. It's the only thing that she felt could cause such early bleeding.

We discussed options to improved DH spent and he's going to have a couple of tests. She did flag a 38% fertilisation rate as quite low. We want to make sure we're ready for what's next if we need to do another cycle of egg collection.

We do still have 2 very good embryos in the freezer, and we're going to progress with a FET.

So now next step is I need to decide the route. I need to pick if I'm going to go through the route with buserelin and do down regulation or not and just progress with oestrogen on CD2. Does anyone have any experience of either or even both routes and any advice on the pros and cons of the two options?

I think having a new plan is staring to give me some new hope again.

@April623 I'm so sorry this happened to your. How are you? Have you spoken to the clinic about next steps? Did they talk to you about your conversion rates? Did they give an advice on what they'd do differently? Maybe some of the things I discussed today were similar or could provide insight. Happy to talk through if that could be helpful.

@girljulian we also have two. Have you made any plans for what's next?

@Ksangha hoping for a positive outcome for you. Remind us when test day is?

Hi @charja100 I'm glad you're feeling a little better. I know what you mean about having a plan. I'm feeling very up and down at the moment for obvious reasons but part of it is also being in limbo unsure what to do next.

It's great that your DH can have some more tests and also that you have a couple more embryos to transfer before having to go back to egg collection. Do you know how quickly you can move to the next transfer?

I was planning to ask everyone for some advice so your message was well timed, as I'm feeling very unsure about my clinic. I don't have anything to compare my experience to but can't help feel they've been a bit lacking and think I would have felt the same even if successful. I haven't heard from them at all since they emailed me to confirm that a negative at 11dpt is accurate and I could stop the medication. I called today and they said there's no follow up as standard unless I want one (of course I do??) and I have managed to set up a phone call with my consultant, earliest they could do is 16th May 😒

The information we've had throughout has been very limited, even the initial tests. I see people talking about their numbers but we have no clue only that they were all "normal". Nobody talked through my treatment plan or prescription with me so not sure if it was specific to me or a bit of a standard starting point. I have a lot of questions!

I filled out a constant form today for them to send me my full notes so I can properly review everything. I know my fertilization rate was 64% (11 eggs collected and 7 fertilised) so I think that's pretty good for my age (40) but worried that we only had one embryo from that. If it's down to egg quality I don't suppose there's much they can do.

Is anyone taking supplements or on a special diet for improving egg quality?

I guess the (ONLY) plus side of having no frozen embryos is that we are free to start again elsewhere if we so wish. My clinic's success rate for my age group isn't great really. Looking at options but will see what they say when we speak next week.

Going on a work trip for a couple of days so looking forward to a change of scenery.

@April623 hi. I feel your pain i do honestly. It doesnt help an already stressful situation made worse by bad service. I have also had some issues with mine and ended up in tears several times, mainly down to poor communication. I also noticed 2 mistakes on my treatment plan, it just doesnt instill any confidence in you whatsoever. I also know a few others who have issues with theirs too, so im not sure if there is anywhere really good! Maybe do some research into reviews if you really want to change. What i hate is i dont have a lot of choice where i live (only 1 clinic) and would have to make 2 hr trips on expensive trains to london if i wanted change.
In terms of supplements I take pregnacare conception max and extra folate. Im also trying to eat a lot of greens, like literally getting sick of them, as i got told i have low folic acid intake, nuts seeds and fruit too.

@charja100 I’m so glad you had a rest and are feeling better! I agree having a plan makes you feel so much more on track.

I don’t know whether I’m going to try either of the two remaining. I’ve convinced myself that I can only produce superficially perfect embryos which are all actually abnormal, and that I’d just get two more failures. I don’t know also whether my upset is because I want a baby that much, or because I just am not used to failing at anything? I hate failing! Why am I failing at this?

@Flowerlover010 I'm in a similar boat, all the clinics near me seem similar in terms of success rates and reviews so I think we will either stay where we are or do something completely different. Looking at a clinic in London and considering Europe. Will see how I feel after my consultation.

@girljulian I know exactly what you mean. I'm used to finding solutions to my problems and I am struggling with the helplessness of this situation!! Hoping to feel more in control once we have a plan in place for next steps. Are you able to get your embryos tested? I don't know much about it.