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!

Hey @ttcsolomumtobe , best tip I got from earlier in this thread and it’s to use an ice pack for a few mins on the area you’ll be jabbed. I don’t feel 90% of the injections although lubrion takes an age to dispense! No perfumes on egg retrieval day or transfer day. I’ve also stuck with big floaty dresses this entire period because bloating is very REAL! I was even asked if I was pregnant one week in… 😠

Thank you so much @Keepingeverythingxxx . I’m definitely in a state of disbelief especially after all this time & until we see them on a scan I don’t think I will believe it! Lines this morning were the same as last night so felt a bit nervy and retested this eve & they’re now darker. I also have a positive on a digital. My DP wants to stop testing now and just wait until OTD. I’m going to attempt it!

@countrypunk , I’ve just told my mum. Felt like the right thing to do but all very calm and she knows not to start dancing around just yet.

@FiddleLeaf I've been eating so much, it's like just looking pregnant is going to be enough. I might be paying through the nose and not actually be pregnant, but I darned might as well look as if I am 😂

I hear you - the bloating is real! Have been doing lubion in stomach this time and swell up so much as a result. I look how I looked when I was four months pregnant last time (also lost a baby, so I hear you ladies on the strength it takes to do this.)

@ttcsolomumtobe my tips are comfy loose clothing throughout, ice packs before and after any jabs that hurt, gentle daily walks whilst you can and removing as much stress from your life as possible. no make up, deodorants etc any time you’re doing anything with egg collection or transfers. We made a call to make no big decisions during treatment and also let those closest to us know we needed calm and why we couldn’t commit to things/make plans and that helped us. Basically simplify things as much as you can. Celebrate any and all positives and little wins along the way. And line up some good box sets! Good luck, you’ve got this 🤗

Such a good point @Summer223! I didn’t commit to anything during the peak of treatment, scans etc. Being an introvert, it really helped.

@b0zza1 Same! I’ve got a proper rounded belly and have since the trigger shot.

Thanks @FiddleLeaf & @Summer223 for the tips. I got some of those gel eye patches for in the fridge and freezer to try help with injections and I was wondering about the bloating, think I will dig out some nice floaty dresses and try avoid the leggings and trackies as just eat so bad when in casual clothes, I know that may sound strange. Can anyone tell me the early scan is usually at week 6 right? Is that 6 weeks from period date or ovulation? Sorry I know this probably seems like something I should know but haven't really looked into the pregnancy side of things.

Just caught up on the more recent messages

@Summer223 mer223 congrats on the transfer, do you think you will hold out till OTD?

@FiddleLeaf leLeaf congrats on your positive and I like how you've just accepted you will test each day, everyone is different and some feel so bad for doing it but I think it's important not to add that extra layer of a not so nice feeling. My clinic advise to test 16 days after transfer but I will likely test a little before then.

@countrypunk trypunk I think from last messages it sounds like you have held out on the testing, hope you are feeling
okay with it

@IVFGotThis05 good luck, hope the 2 week wait is kind

16 days after transfer 😯😯😯 that's so long, my clinic makes us test at home 9 days post transfer!

Hello @ttcsolomumtobe 👋🏼 Do you mean the early pregnancy scan? My clinic do it at 7 weeks, which would be about 5 weeks on from egg collection/ovulation.

I actually know what you mean about casual clothes making you eat worse. I'm the same!

My OTD is tomorrow 😬😬😬

I didn't really change anything products-wise but I don't use a lot of beauty products anyway - I don't wear perfume or nail polish or stuff like that. I didn't wear any make up to the egg collection or transfer appointments.

@b0zza1 Hello, how are you doing? What stage are you at now?

@FiddleLeaf Bet she's dancing around inside 💃🏽

@countrypunk yea that's it, sorry can't seem to find my words today. Thank you for explaining, just curious that if all went to plan (dare I say that 😂) that it may fall when I was away but I'm sure they would just do it a few days later.

I've joined the July group as just waiting for period to arrive but been trying to keep up with this chat too, good luck for tomorrow 🤞

@IVFGotThis05 yea I know, seems a bit extreme. on the July group someone said it had been mentioned in another forum and then thinking was that if people didn't test till that point then any early loses wouldn't be reported. I certainly don't want an early loss but also would rather know as it may be something fixable for a future cycle. Think I'm just guna see how long it takes for the trigger to be out of my system, give it 24 hours and then test on the following morning.

I've never seen a positive pregnancy test myself and don't know how I would feel seeing it testing out the trigger if the line didn't reappear after.

I probably don't sound hopefully but I truly am, just think it's equally important for my Mental health to be practical too x

Hi @countrypunk It's been a while! I'm doing ok, not amazing not terrible. Thank you for asking. I've been very pleased to be reading along every day, although I have not been a big poster. (I'll recap as it was quite a while that I messaged - I'm 45yrs old, have a 6 year old conceived naturally).

I haven't been posting regular updates as I find I have been having big ups and downs and I know that is part of it, but I have not wanted to be having these big reactions 😂 I do a little mindfulness and so I observe myself not wanting it and try to let it all just be there. The ups and downs, the big reactions to the ups and downs, and my unwillingness to have these big reactions, and then me at the end watching it all! When I share it with friends, family, or here, those ups and downs feel amplified.... But I just wanted to say how much I appreciate hearing about everyone's elses journeys and I really feel like you're all walking beside me. I was planning on posting a summary when I had got further a long, but actually I feel like doing it now.

Round 1 which finished in June and was my first experience of IVF

• 9 eggs collected, 7 mature, 6 fertilised and all 6 were frozen at day 3 in order to batch

Round 2 which has just finished

• 9 eggs collected, 8 mature and all 8 fertilised, 6 made it to day 3.

The 6 from round 1 were defrosted and from all 12 we got 2 blastocysts yesterday at day 5 and a further 2 today at day 6. So we have 4 blasts and they have been biopsied and we'll hear back from the pgta test in 1-2 weeks how many are chromosomally normal. And this is my big worry. Cos at my age LESS than 1 in 5 is normal. I knew the stats before I went in, but hoped that I would be different. Upto day 3 we had incredible numbers and the consultant said that I had the ovarian reserve of a 35 yr old and so I felt so relieved that I wasn't wasting all this money on my ego to have my own genes, rather than using a donor egg. And of course it could still work out. The embryologist said that the statistics were so variable from individual to individual they were almost useless, which I found comforting. However, again at my age!, it's typical for there to be a 30% success rate to blast stage and so having started so well, it now feels like I'm exactly 'average'. I don't think it was about expectations, I think it was about hopes, hopes that I would be different. And I still might be, but statistically there is a very real chance that they may all be abnormal or just 1 is good and then of course we get into the transfer and miscarriage times.... And it's not just 1 in 5 that is good, it is LESS than 1 in 5! I'll keep going and I can see both the negatives and the positives of the situation, I just feel like I have come down with a bump. But that is at it is!

@b0zza1 I just wanted to respond to your comment about when things "feel amplified" when it comes to talking to people about it.

When I did my 3 IUIs my friends got involved in looking through donors, talking through all my feelings about clinic when things went wrong, the excitement of the flashy LH face on the Clearblue right through to the lows of when AF arrived and the negative pregnancy tests and although it was nice to feel like I had support I realised telling a few people the same information and then dealing with their feelings / thoughts on something they don't have much knowledge on was actually more damaging.

Decided this time round to only tell one friend, mainly as I will need to her to pick me up from egg collection. The rest I just plan to tell them I'm a little busy and may do short notice catch ups if I feel up to it. This page has been helpful to hear other people's experience. The journalling is a great idea too.

I hope the next couple of weeks don't feel too hard waiting on your updates, fingers crossed for you

@b0zza1 The mindfulness you're doing sounds like such a good thing. I find these threads really helpful too. Everyone understands completely. If you haven't been through it, you don't know.

Four blastocysts is fantastic! I'm worried about abnormality too. We haven't done testing, we're just transferring and hoping for the best. I've been back and forth on it so much. I'm really scared of having another miscarriage. But I need to try and not get ahead of myself!

I know what you mean about hopes. I had very high hopes for my first round too - maybe I'll exceed all expectations! (I didn't.)

I find one of the most difficult things about IVF is that you have no control. It's completely out of your hands and so unpredictable.

I wish you the very very best with your embryos. Let us know how you get on.

Hi @b0zza1, hold onto the positive thought it just takes one- and you are starting with a good no of blasts. We have done rounds where we started with ten eggs and ended with one, so there are lots of ups and along the way- just remember all it takes is one and keep plodding through the stages! We too have done testing each round and even when that’s meant an unsuccessful round I’ve tried to take comfort it hasn’t meant another miscarriage that could have been avoided.

my two best mates know what we are doing / I speak to about things simply so I have someone to rant at when the drugs get too much- and they are really good at not asking questions, just listening. Immediate family know we are doing ivf but we have told them we will tell them if we have something to share , so we don’t get badgered for updates. Find it takes all of your energy just to navigate the treatment let alone feeling you have to answer other people’s questions!

@countrypunk i hear
you -
round one I was like ‘well we can transfer
two then be done with treatment in one go’. Now I understand how hard it is to get
to one viable embroyo!!

Morning all. I had a positive test this morning. Very happy but also apprehensive and trying not to get too excited yet as I miscarried the last transfer.

Sending masses of luck to everyone in the TWW or waiting for news.

A cautious congratulations 😊 I’m seeing it as we’re not out for now rather than we’re 100% preggo until we have our scan. It’s sad ivf & previous experiences take this excitement for us but all worth it if we get the right outcome 💐

@FiddleLeaf Exactly that. Thank you x

@countrypunk congratulations on your test result, understandable why you feel that way, I hope for are doing nice things to look after you and hope the scans come quickly for reassurance.

@ttcsolomumtobe Thank you ☺️ Yes, got to think of lots of distractions over the next few weeks! I'm quite crampy but I know that's normal in early pregnancy.

Congratulations @countrypunk! So pleased for you. Did you get to know your blood levels?

I totally understand about being cautious but just enjoy this moment of getting over this next hurdle xx

@Keepingeverythingxxx Thank you. I can't believe we've been this lucky, but at the same time my mind keeps going to bad places.

No, my clinic don't do bloods. My scan is booked for 4 August. Feels a very long time away yet...

Good luck for Thursday. I'll be thinking of you. Xx

Thanks @countrypunk… your scan is booked in on my birthday! I’ll be sending you positive birthday vibes on the day! 🎉

When I found out that we had miscarried last year it was actually on my 40th birthday. I went in for my scan expecting to be able to surprise our nearest and dearest with some exciting news but was left utterly shocked and heartbroken. So I literally cancelled my birthday. This past year I’ve been telling everyone I’m still 39 so I’ll be celebrating my 40th this year instead! 😊 xx

@Keepingeverythingxxx That made me cry! (Blame the hormones.) Thank you for sending good birthday juju my way!

I'm so sorry you went through that last year, and on your birthday. It's so shocking isn't it. I have absolutely everything crossed that this year's birthday is the total opposite - full of baby joy! 💜

Morning all!

After doing a pregnancy test at 9dp5dt and getting a BFN I did a clear blue digi this morning at 10dp5dt and got a BFP 1-2 weeks pregnant!!

Cried some happy tears this morning! I'm absolute shock as thought I was out this month.

Had my beta yesterday so will be interesting what the numbers are!

@Gryffindoratheart Oh my god, that's a 2-day rollercoaster! Congratulations ❤️
Best of luck with your beta.