IVF/ICSI/FET - June 23

[Lyrabee]

Hi!

I'm going to be starting my medications ready for a FET in June. Anybody else in the same boat or starting their cycles?

I've done one round of ICSI and had a fresh transfer in March that wasn't successful but we got 5 frozen day 5 blastocysts from it. Happy to answer any questions for anyone starting their journeys :)

@HopefulHead aaah I'm sorry lovely :( I assume they will do a review with you?
With my EC they got 11 eggs, only 9 were mature enough to use though so maybe it was that?
7 of mine fertilised and 6 made it to day 5. Its such a lottery! I've read about people getting 20 odd eggs but only 1 making it to day 5

Hope you can get a plan in place and be a bit more settled about it. I'm definitely considering another collection. I have my review on Friday so need to ask what they think I should do

@Lyrabee Yeah we get a review but it said we’ll get an appointment by post writhing 6-8 weeks 🙈 at least that gives us time to come to terms with it and hopefully go there with a clear head! I did email the clinic to ask about my EC but they just said to discuss it at my review so guess I’ll have to wait 😏

Do you still have a few in the freezer then? It’s really hard to decide what to do isn’t it, I hate that it’s such a fast ticking clock for us women 😞

@HopefulHead we've got 4 left in the freezer. Yeah im feeling the pinch with if these don't work.
I'm definitely gonna ask to transfer 2 next

@Lyrabee Eill your clinic do a double transfer then? I know mine only do double if you’re over 42 or had multiple failed transfers,
Hopefully you’re will let you 🤞🏼
4 is a good number to still have in the freezer but I know what you mean, you start panicking over them not working and being a year older for next EC 😭

@HopefulHead exactly! Mine is the same for doubles but I figure its worth asking the question. We've paid up front and it includes up to 3 ECs but I really don't want to need them and all I can think is if we want a second (if the first works obv) my eggs won't be as good

@Lyrabee They are just really tough decisions aren’t they 😭
In my head I thought I’d have to make the difficult decision of what to do with my 2 remaining embryos after the first 2 worked and I had to happy healthy babies 🙈 now I’m total opposite and worrying what I’ll do if none of them work!
Really hard not having control and knowing for certain what the outcome will be isn’t it!

It's such a minefield! Hopefully the clinics review and advise and I'm really hoping next ones work because we need a break!

@Lyrabee Ill be keeping everything crossed for you!

Definitely there with you both @Lyrabee @HopefulHead so difficult! My clinic didn’t give me a choice and just said try again but with medicated FET. I think if it doesn’t work again, I will push for another EC. It’s so painful to think I hoped for two children and now just praying that we get one!
when is your clinic appointment @Lyrabee? hope they are helpful xx

@KG1244 I think my clinic will likely say to do medicated next time for me too, which I really wanted to avoid 😬

Have you got a multi round package or would you have to pay?

@HopefulHead we can be in together 😂 I’m still on NHS at the moment

@KG1244 Ahh ok do you get more than one round in your area then?
Our nhs finding finished with our transfer so I presume they will let us choose our next steps a bit more as whatever we do from here we’ll have to pay for now 😬

@HopefulHead so since Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) changed to become Integrated Care Boards, we now get 3 fresh cycles. It was previously 1 fresh cycle under CCG so worth double check. It’s mad how the whole thing around funding is an absolute postcode lottery.

@KG1244 Ahh that’s really good that you get 3 😃
We definitely only get one, I had to dispute it to get our fet funded as we didn’t get a fresh transfer but they said funded finished after 1 EC & fresh transfer 🙈
But it is what it is 🤷🏼‍♀️ it does seem crazy how different areas are different but there’s not much about ivf that makes sense anyway 😆

@HopefulHead it’s absolute madness. Do you think you will stay with your current clinic or move?

@KG1244 Im really not keen on our clinic any more if I’m honest, there are a few of the nurses that are amazing, and so kind, but a lot of them are just quite rude and unhelpful and we have had a few things mess up from them which hasn’t been great, but as DH had to have surgery to have his sperm removed it means we have that stored there as well as our embryos, so we’d have to arrange getting them all transferred and I’m just not sure I could deal with the stress of it to be honest 😅
Plus, there’s no guarantee another clinic would be any better and this one is much cheaper than private as it’s an nhs clinic…
So probably not 😂😂

@KG1244 my review is on Friday afternoon so I'll know my options then. My next period is due on 3rd August so I'll need them to turn around a protocol and medication quite fast which they might push back on but I know its doable.

Hi all, hope you're doing well.

Good to see new joiners to the group :-)

@HopefulHead ahh sorry you're not keen on your clinic now lovely, I do hear you though - it would be such a hassle to move over to a new one.

@Lyrabee am hoping they'll give you a quick turnaround, definitely worth pushing them a bit! Sometimes these clinics let red tape and admin delay things, it's quite annoying.

@KG1244 I think you described this whole process as a lottery shit show - how right you are!!!

Following my positive pregnancy result (confirmed by blood test) on the 11th, I have had my HCG level tested every 2 days. It has been increasing normally except today's level compared to Monday's has not increased by a "normal" amount. Am now having to go in again tomorrow for a repeat blood test and they have put me on a steroid called Prednisolone to see if I'm having an immune reaction that might be preventing my HCG from rising.

There's always something around the corner in this IVF process, it's quite disheartening and so incredibly heart breaking when things take a turn.

@pixiemum2 ! Oh no hopefully that's getting sorted! What's a normal amount? Is it normal to get it tested every 2 days? Do you do that at home?

They do like to delay things bit I know they can do next day delivery and if its the same pills as before I have some left over to start me off!

That's good @Lyrabee at least you won't be slowed down waiting for meds to arrive!

So the normal guidance is that it should double every 2-3 days. My clinic is quite full on with early pregnancy monitoring so they tested my HCG last week Tue (pregnancy test), then Wed, Fri, this Mon and today. They then compare how the levels are rising between tests. On Monday it was 461 and today it was 621, so while it has increased it's not double (or near double) hence the concern.

@pixiemum2 aaaah okay, it's still going up though so fingers crossed! I'm sure everything is fine but not ideal to give you something else to worry about!

I’m sorry to hear things haven’t been straight forward @pixiemum2 Keep us posted. It sounds like the clinic are doing all the right things. Good that your levels are still going up so fingers crossed for you.

How did your appointment go? @Lyrabee

@KG1244 they actually rearranged it so it's now on Monday. Because what I really needed was another wait lol.

How you doing @pixiemum2 ?

Ahhh annoying that they moved it @Lyrabee but not long now til Monday!

Thank you @KG1244 yes the clinic are doing everything they can to support the pregnancy.

I had a blood test every day since Wed, including today. Levels are going up but still very slow. The clinic have put me on a steroid and they gave me an intralipid IV infusion yesterday. Level went from 764 yesterday to 860 today but clearly no where near doubling so it's still a bit of a wait and see game.

@pixiemum2 that's a lot of testing! I'm glad they're very on it for you though and hopefully the medication helps! I've got everything crossed!