IVF/ICSI/FET May 2023

[Sj2505]

Hi, I don't think there's a thread for May, not that I could find anyway.

I've just started Norethisterone to bring on AF ready for my FET. I had my ICSI cycle in Feb but was high risk for OHSS, so after retrieving 24 eggs, this clinic decided to freeze all.
Luckily, because I ended up very unwell with OHSS for around 6 weeks and ended up in hospital for a little while!

But I've recovered and soooo ready for my embabies! We're aiming for transfer week commencing 22nd May unless AF comes earlier than planned then it might be the week before. It's likely as I'm on CD46 with all the signs of imminent AF 🤞🏼

If anyone else is cycling in May please feel free to share the journey ✨

Day 4 of injection today!
still coping with headaches, for now the only symptom, but we keep going! :)
have a great day all!

@Sunflower360 Wow that must have been a fab surprise of four when you were expecting one! I hope they all take :D

Thanks @TheBirdintheCave 😊 Will see what happens next, but I'm not building my hopes up at all as it's only the first cycle and all data gathering really

Got the call, out of 4, 2 were mature. Unfortunately they got to the first stage of fertilisation but not the next stage. Upon reflection they said they would advise ICSI next time... so game over for now but it is all learning and data. Onto the next cycle, hopefully in August if not sooner. It was still more eggs than we expected so onwards and upwards.

@Sunflower360 Oh I'm so sorry :( Fingers crossed for August!

@Marisadea glad it's going well for you and you're powering through 💪🏼✨

@Sunflower360 sorry to hear that! As you say, it's a learning curve and it's great that they have a new plan going forward already.
Do you have any male factor that could have altered fertilisation rate?

My scan went well. Lining needed to be above 8mm and it was 13.6mm! So I'm doing the trigger tomorrow evening and transfer next Friday ☺️✨

@Sj2505 That's so exciting :D

Thank you. @Sj2505 morphology was low, but the numbers, volume, and motility were really good. The embryologist explained it could be that poor sperm tried to fertilise the eggs, hence their advice for ICSI next time round. Would have been useful if they had done ICSI this time round, I mentioned it a few times, but they said because the numbers and motility were fine, they do not usually use ICSI on the first attempt.... suppose they need to see failed fertilisation to try it 🙄

@FlapJackered hope the increased dosage is doing the trick. Fingers crossed for your next scan.
@Sunflower360 Im sorry to hear your news this morning. So disappointing, I have been there. Im glad you are seeing the positives out of the cycle however, even though it is very hard to. You had more eggs than expected and hopefully ICSI will be your answer next time. They also know now also that they missed some follicles higher up when monitoring so hopefully they might be able to see them next time. x
@Quickdraw23 I have been like that for the last 2-3 weeks. Part of it is just the whole process is so consuming. I had a lot of side effects from the stimulation, mainly severe joint pain, so found it hard to concentrate. the down regulation puts you into a "menopausal state" which does include all sorts of weird symptoms including "brain fog". I took time off work for this cycle.
@Sj2505 good luck with your trigger injection tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for the good luck wishes. My 4 mature eggs still hanging on. Day 3 embryo update: 3x 8cell embryos which is good. 1x 6 cell embryo. I felt relief for about 2 mins, then back to worrying again. I think tomorrow and Saturday are the crucial days, when they will hopefully develop into 4 blastocysts. I know there is always a drop out from today. Aiming transfer on Saturday. Another anxious nights sleep tonight. Praying for 3rd time lucky this time. x

Thanks @kingster1 we will be going private now (this one was our 1 x NHS cycle). Create is our first choice but if you have any advice that would be really appreciated. Do you mind me asking what you're circumstances were as they sound quite similar from a past message? Sorry if you have already said. I'm 37 so conscious I want to bank what I can if we get embryos and then do transfers at a later date

@Sunflower360 I'm aged 33. Diagnosed with endometriosis, covered my right ovary. Had deposits removed successfully but I think the blood restriction has caused damage to my right ovary.
cycle one with Nurture Fertility - Long protocol. got 6 eggs (all from left ovary), 4 mature, 3 fertilised via ICSI. Only one made it to blastocyst. Was a poor quality but still transferred. Got a positive pregnancy test (my first every of trying for 4+ years), but then miscarried at 5 weeks. Likely due to poor quality embryo.
cycle 2 - in Czech republic. we decided to go here as they seem to be more advanced, prices much more reasonable. ICSI is standard here. Also, we were recommended that we needed the sperm sorting, which they dont do in UK. Husband's motility and morphology are down. Did a short protocol as I had awful side effects from down regulation, but was a poor result. Only 2x immature eggs.
Cycle 3 - same clinic in czech republic. Long protocol so had the awful down regulation. First time, all my follicles grew evenly. No response from right ovary. But got 7 eggs from left ovary, 4 mature. the 4 eggs fertilised and so far aiming for a transfer on Saturday.
Highly recommend Czech republic. I have had really good care. English is brilliant. They are so used to having patients from abroad.
I started off with Medistella, run by two women who coordinate between clinics in europe and people who want to travel abroad for IVF. They offer one off skype consultations for an hour, where they go through process of IVF abroad and help you decide on clinics which best suit your needs. They helped us decide that we wanted a smaller clinic as get a more individualised and personable approach. They narrowed it down to 2 clinics for us. We had a skype consultation with both and choose IVF clinic in Olomouc as we really liked the head consultant and director Dr Machac. He is my doctor. Also, you are assigned a coordinator in every clinic in Czech, Im sure the european clinics also the same. Mine is fantastic, quick to respond to my emails and my millions of questions!

Thanks @kingster1 that is really helpful. We were considering Create for the next rounds, but could consider abroad in the future if they do not work 🙂

Happy Friday all! Day 5th of stims, feeling weepy today. Still coping with headaches and I am a little confused/forgetful. Yesterday I also had some calves cramps when I was in bed. Tomorrow I will start the antagonist med, waiting for the follicoles scan on Tuesday. I wish you all a lovely day!

@Marisadea Oh I remember the forgetfulness that was no fun. Hope the jabs aren't too painful for you!

Does anyone know what size the follicles should be at egg collection?
Just had my scan and on day 14 of stims and still not ready. Most are between 6-9mm and a few are 11-12mm and a few below. 😬 So on 225 dose until Monday then another scan to reassess.

@FlapJackered I think at least 3 follicles need to be 18mm, that's what my doctor said. Hopefully you'll get there soon.

@FlapJackered I've documented everything along the way 🫣 so here was mine after 7 days of stims. So it doesn't sound like the increased dose will give yours the boost they need, so fingers crossed for Monday.
I ended up needing a few extra days (was expected to be ready for EC by Friday, but it was on the Monday instead), but I was already on 225 and Meriofert, so they didn't increase my meds.
The extra days worked well for me.

@Sunflower360 that's such a shame they didn't just do ICSI this time!
Are you hoping to move onto the next round quite quickly, or will you be having a breather?

@kingster1 that's great news!! My son was a 8-cell day 3 transfer, so it's great to hear you have 3 at this stage!
Will you hear anything today or will they just call you in the morning?

@Marisadea happy Friday! Hope the side effects don't get any worse for you. We muddle on through don't we!

Same ole for me! Trigger tonight though. It's not nearly as exciting as the original trigger as this one comes with a week long wait 😬 but I start all new weird and wonderful meds on Sunday, so atleast that'll change things up for me haha.

@Infertilitylife how are things going with you? Hope you're doing ok.

@Sj2505 So exciting! I can't wait for my FET :)

@TheBirdintheCave it's amazing to get to this point after everything we go through and after I was so unwell, I'm so grateful and finally starting to feel like it was all worth it.
To be honest it's also completely flown by. I don't know where the times gone.
How are you feeling? Recovering well?

Hi @Sj2505 yep bit annoyed about the ICSI point as I mentioned it a few times, but they were adamant they would assess on the day if it was needed. Thing is my OH's numbers and motility are great, but we can't be sure if an abnormal sperm went in (he has low morphology) or whether it was just bad luck with the eggs on the day as I only had 2 mature (with my low AMH/AFC that was expected). There were 2 immature eggs too, but on my monitoring scans, they struggled to access one of my ovaries, so they completely missed them, I went from being told they were collecting 1 egg to ending up with 4. I'm not sure what can be done about getting better monitoring for that high ovary as I'm conscious that is what egg collection is usually based on... if they struggle to view it, how can they decide whether any stims adjustments are needed or decide EC date effectively? Suppose maybe they would try harder to put the wanda probe in to view it now they know that ovary sits high and eggs could be in it?

Either way, ICSI has been recommended next time. That was my 1 x funded NHS cycle, so I will be going private now. We have a review with the Embryologist next week there, so any advice or questions to ask ref failed fertilisation would be really appreciated, or if anyone has experience of this happening to them, it would be good to hear advice 🙂

We are considering Create. They have said they need me to have a withdrawal bleed, then to wait until my next period after that to have the scans/investigations, after which they could start treatment that next cycle (they want to do their investigation scan once the previous cycles hormones are gone so they are starting from a clean slate).

So, looking at early August... I am considering back to back egg collections of natural modified, perhaps 3 or 6, but I will see what they suggest. Would rather do it that way to see what we have by the end of it with my low AFC/AMH and then take it from there.

@FlapJackered at least 50% of your follicles should be between 16-18mm before trigger. In my last cycle I had one that was 20mm and x4 that were 12-14mm the day before I was instructed to trigger. It was waaaay to soon of course and only got one mature egg.

@Sj2505 All is ok here. Currently 4 weeks 6 days so still very early but we have a scan booked for just over 6 weeks to check everything.

Good luck with your trigger :)

@Sj2505 I feel totally normal now so managed to avoid OHSS altogether :) AF started yesterday so a whole week early than I was anticipating which means, hopefully, that it's saved me a week somewhere down the line.