IVF/ICSI June 2023

[countrypunk]

Hello, I'm starting a June thread for IVFers - I couldn't see one on the board. Please join!

I'm 39 and this will be our second round. The first round in November resulted in 2 blastocysts from 10 eggs. First transfer failed, got pregnant from the second transfer but miscarried at 9.5 weeks at the beginning of April.

Now raring to go again!

Hi @countrypunk Ill join you if you don’t mind 😊
We are in a similarish position. Nov IVF was unfortunately cancelled, went again in Jan but unfortunately had a chemical pregnancy and only one embryo from 12 viable years eggs so we have to go again. I’m not sure if I’ll be starting stim in May or June depending on my bleed.
Are you doing the same/similar protocol to the first one?

Hello @FrostedFlake!

We're at a new clinic for this round and the doctor seems to think I responded really well for age/AMH/stims last time. My AMH was 7.1 in August last year and I was on 225 stims. So she's repeated the AMH test and then will decide on protocol, but likely to be higher than last time. I'm worried I blasted my follicles the first time and now there's nothing left

I'm sorry about your chemical. It's so cruel.

What kind of protocol will you be doing?

@countrypunk We’ve also gone with a new clinic this time and I’m in a similar place, they are just upping the dosage a little to see if they can get a few more eggs and hopefully on the back of it we will get some more blastocysts, but I’m hoping we get at least one as that’s what we got last time. I wasn’t as stressed about getting some embryos as I am this time around as I didn’t think out fertilisation would be as low (around 33%) so we are doing a few things differently like oocyte activation which is new to me.
The new clinic are also offering PGTA testing and I’m tempted to do it if we have more than one embryo but at the same time it’s like 2k more expensive and it all adds up so not sure what to do in relation to it.

Do you know yet when you are getting your bloods and the ultrasound?

How are you feeling about going into it again? Im a little excited as it’s been a few months of waiting around to get going again.

Hi, I’m looking to start our next cycle in June/July - It depends if my thyroid level has improved though.

I was in the Jan thread for our last cycle which failed.

DH has since had more tests, oxidative sperm stress test that came back positive so he’s had to take proxeed for 3 months before we start again.

We’ll be using AOA and zymot chip this cycle, with ICSI again. Hopefully it will improve our fertilisation rate.

I had my thyroid levels retested, had an increased dose but TSH is still above 2.5 (6.1 last month), so I’m waiting for an appointment with GP to see if I can increase my dose again.

Fingers crossed I’ll be able to start June though! Change from long protocol to short protocol, hopefully I’ll be able to start taking norethisterone in June in prep for short cycle!

I recognise both your names from previous threads. It’s sad that we’re still here.

Hi all, I will also be doing IVF in June. This will be my first time and I am quite scared about how I will react to the medicines and injections. How was it for you in the previous rounds?

Hi all im 37 first round of ivf for me. Had 3 miscarriages from natural pregancies so we are going for icsi too and also PGTA testing due to my history. Start stims 20th may just hope we get enough to test since never done it before not sure how i will react.

@FrostedFlake I had bloods and an ultrasound this week. The scan left me feeling a bit glum - doc could only see 1 follicle on my right ovary and 5 on my left. But she also said not to worry because it can vary from day to day, and also my womb was obstructing the view of things a bit. Lining seems fine after the miscarriage which is the main thing just now. I'm just trying to prepare myself that we may not get as many eggs this time. I know every cycle is different.

PGT-A is a difficult choice isn't it. If we were lucky enough to get lots of embryos I think we'd do it, but I can't see that happening.

I feel quite excited too 🙂 And apprehensive. I know it's more likely not to work than work.

Have you had your initial scan and bloods yet?

@Lauralozzle Hello Laura 👋🏼 Hope you're OK. Yes, it's shit that we're all back here! At least we have each other. I hope you're thyroid behaves itself so you can start as soon as you want to.

@LucyFab Welcome. It's nerve racking isn't it - we understand. I think everyone responds differently to the drugs, but personally I found the downregging the worst part. My partner would agree! Your oestrogen is suppressed which affected me quite a lot - mood swings and tiredness and the like. But as soon as I started on the stims I felt a lot better, so it was only a week or two of feeling shitty.

Just make sure you and the people who love you are extra specially kind to you during the cycle. You'll get through it.

I don't particularly like needles but I found the injecting part fine!

Oops cross posted with @Flowerlover010
Welcome to you too! I'm so sorry about your miscarriages. I can only imagine how hard that's been.

@countrypunk thank you sorry i meant to say sorry about yours too that must of been so hard after going through the ivf too to get there. Are you able to start straight away? I was told after 2 of mine not to start trying again for 2 full months

@countrypunk Thank you very much, good advice - unfortunately I have a very long hours job and I am hoping they will approve my full medical leave for at least few weeks before the egg retrieval. Now I am counting down days and cross my fingers for all of us!!

@LucyFab The injections were not so bad. I was a little sore in the end, but that’s because I ended up down regging for about six weeks before I even started stims, so I was at a point where I was just bruised. I found using an ice cube to numb the area helped.

@Flowerlover010 Sorry to hear about your miscarriages. That’s hard.

@countrypunk Yes, it’s shit that we’re all still here but you’re right, at least we have each other. I’m sorry about your miscarriage. Hopefully my thyroid starts behaving properly soon, I’ll be a bit behind you all but I’ll be cheering along!

Hi all. I'm due to start down regulating on Sunday for egg collection in June. I have a 7 yr old, conceived naturally and this is my first time doing IVF. Fingers crossed for us all!

Hi All, hope it is ok for me to join. I am 37, with low AMH and am embarking on my 1st cycle of IVF. Had the scan and I start stims this evening for short protocol (high does of 300 IU).

From the first scan there are currently 4 follicles initially visible....so it's looking low, I did expect that though with my AMH level (was 6 pmol end of last year but I think it is lower as my AFC is slightly less too since the investigations). I'm not expecting much from this cycle as it's the first one but will see how it goes. Any advice or experiences would be really appreciated.

I am taking supplements too such as a high dose of CoQ10 (600mg), vit D and Pregnacare.

@Flowerlover010 It was pretty rubbish. I thought I'd never cope with that happening but actually I did. So as difficult as it was it showed me I can cope with difficult things. And I had excellent care from the NHS.

I got my dates a bit wrong in my earlier post - it's been about 7 weeks now since the miscarriage so I'll be starting the next IVF probably 3 months on from it.

@LucyFab Is it the kind of job where you have to be at your place of work? I wfh mostly which is amazing when going through something like this. If you can't do that then medical leave seems like a good shout!

@Lauralozzle Sending love to you.

@b0zza1 Hello and welcome! Hope your first injection went OK this morning.

Welcome too @Sunflower360 I always think it's good to have lower expectations. Hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I'm a bit confused about the different ways of measuring AMH but mine was 7.1 and I got 10 eggs from the first round. It often seems a bit random though.

Hope everyone's doing exactly what they want to do over the long weekend 🙂

@countrypunk oh thats ok then 3 months is defo enough time for your body to recover. I know what u mean though if someone told me that id get through 3 miscarriages with how they went aswell id never believed them. Same as if they told me id be injecting myself but here we are, super women!

@Flowerlover010 Exactly! Superwomen is what we are ♥️

@countrypunk ah good that you work from home!! How was working and taking medicines in the first round? We’re you very tired? I hope they will just approve sick leave - I don’t want to have the stress of work on top of all of this!

@LucyFab It was fine! I wasn't really tired, but I had major mood swings. Like PMT on steroids. But only for the time I was downregging - as soon as I started on the stims I felt much better. Basically they stop your body from producing sex hormones so you're bound to feel fairly shitty. I know some women get hot flushes and headaches but I didn't. I was just furious and sad (and not all the time - in waves).

I hope they approve your sick leave too 🙂

When it comes to sick leave it might also be good to consider that if you so get pregnant they will want you going in every few days (in the morning) for bloods just to make sure it’s all progressing as is.

Unfortunately for my last round I was in there every two to three days for 3 weeks which can be very exhausting on top of everything else. But everyone’s circumstances and journey are sooo different!

@Lauralozzle Great to hear you are also doing AOA! I had asked our clinic about the zymot chip but unfortunately they don’t do it as I wanted to go with it too!
My husband has poor morphology so I’m hoping they can pick the most normal and healthy looking swimmers 😁 but it didn’t really work out too well for us the last time and I’m hoping that AOA helps.

When do you think you will find out about your thyroid levels and if they are back on track so you can get started?

@FrostedFlake Oh! We’re AOA buddies 😎

Thyroid wise, I have a GP appointment Monday next week. I’m going to use a medichecks advanced thyroid test at the end of the month, if my levels are good, I’ll order medication to start for my next cycle. I’m pinning pretty much everything on this self increased thyroid dose.

If GP ups my meds, I won’t have another blood test until 8 weeks after on NHS hence the medichecks one. I don’t want to have to keep waiting around!

My clinic didn't do pregnancy bloods! I just had to do a home pregnancy test and then I didn't see them until my 7 week scan. Looooong 3 weeks.

What's AOA and zymot chip? I asked my doctor about a fragmentation test for DP's sperm and she said it wasn't worth it but now I can't remember why. Maybe something about how the results can differ so much and so they don't really tell you much?

Thanks all for your inputs! I have been told Kings Fertility only request a home pregnancy test and then the scan but will keep in mind possible blood tests appointments. I suffer from chronic migraines so I am really hoping I will feel fine during injections. My sick leave got approved by the firm btw! So happy not to have to think about work on top of all of this!

@countrypunk I was also told the fragmentation test is not worth it, it is very expensive and results are not very helpful. They told me in our case it was just better to try IvF and see the results. I think with ICSI they also need to test the sperm before trying to fertilise so maybe they have some sort of results from that as well..

@countrypunk @LucyFab thats odd youve both heard that about the dna fragmentation. My husband got told to do this test and has done 2 now, both showing his sperm slightly damaged. I dont know whether we were offered this due to having had 3 miscarriages and just trying everything to find out why. Apparantly damaged sperm can be a cause for miscarriage. So they told us to go straight to ICSI on our first ivf round so they can pick and inject the best sperm

Hi all,

im hoping to be a June IVF buddy to you all!

im starting Estrogen priming on 21st May and Stims on 1st June.

we are going down the IVF route as my partner discovered he had azoospermia (zero sperm) last august, after a year of trying to conceive. We recently had a surgical sperm retrieval and found 9 vials of sperm and after test thawing one, we now have 8 on ice.

all of my test results have been pretty standard so far so my biggest fear is now discovering a problem on my end. The other worry I have is that testicular extracted sperm might have a crappy fertilisation rate. When I had a recent Hycosy, around ovulation time, they could see 12 follicles on each side but I have no information about whether they were mature or what my lining was etc. I have been so focused on the male factor element, I feel very clueless on the female side. But im excited to start stims in June. I fear for my mood swings but im happy to finally be able to take control in a sense and stop the endless waiting!

how is everyone feeling? I’m currently having a glass of wine and trying not to feel guilty about it!