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 :)

@KG1244 It is hard isn’t it.
Sometimes I look around and I feel happy thinking ‘I can’t wait until it’s me taking little ones to family parties’ and other times I look around and think ‘I resent you all for having screaming pooping bundles of joy when I haven’t got one’

So no advice from me really… just letting you know you aren’t on your own!

I’ve just found out my sister is pregnant…. I’ve always been fine with having friends become pregnant and love my sisters children that she already had so much and feel blessed to have such a close bond with them…. But I’m really struggling with this one….. it was planned and I feel pretty hurt that she couldn’t have waited until after we had our treatment you know? Like let us have a chance to have our moment… now I feel like if it works for us it’s overshadowed because she got in there a couple of months early and if it doesn’t work for us I’m going to find it absolutely heart breaking watching her go through her pregnancy and give birth the same time frame as I should have been.
Then I feel awful for feeling like I wish she wasn’t pregnant 😞 I know I can’t expect her to put her life on hold for me but I do feel hurt she couldn’t have waited a few months.
Doesnt help that I’m due on my period so I’ve been been crying about it constantly for the last 2 days 😭

@HopefulHead I'm feeling a but nervous but also excited. I'm taking aaaaall the vitamins and drinking lots of water. Trying not to get annoyed with work.

@KG1244 you're definitely not alone and neither are you @HopefulHead it's tough to separate your feelings out but they're all valid feelings so don't feel guilty about them. Me and my husband have a rule where we can be snarky and jealous about other people's pregnancies but only to each other and then we try to move past it. It's so hard, mentally not to be questioning constantly and putting yourself down about it.
I swear so many people have announced pregnancies in the last few weeks. I found it especially hard with the people due in November as that would have been our due date if round 1 had of been successful. I dread any messages that are pictures being sent or asking to meet up cause I just expect more announcements.

But when it happens, your pregnancy will be that much more special to you and everyone will be so happy for you! Just look at them as case studies of what to do in your own pregnancy 🤣

@Lyrabee I bet it is such a mix of emotions isn’t it! But hopefully you’ll just feel relief and excitement when you have your little
embryo on board 🥰 and you can celebrate officially being PUPO 🥳
Thanks for that, it’s nice to know I’m not alone with feeling shitty towards pregnant people then guilty for feeling shitty about them 🙈
And luckily there’s no one else in DHs family that will be likely to have a baby soon so at least we’ll get spoilt rotten by his side if I have to share being pregnant with my sister on my side 😂

Thanks both. @HopefulHead @Lyrabee it’s so painful and I really resent that ivf has made other aspects of my life challenging. Sending love to you both xxx

@KG1244 I think that’s hit the nail on the head. I remember the previous times my sister got pregnant and I was over the moon and so excited for her - but I wasn’t in a position where I was trying for a baby then, whereas now I am I just really resent her being able to get pregnant so easily when she decides she wants another baby… whereas I have had to go through all of this to try and get just one, it all seems very unfair and I do hate how IVF has made me change the way I see things.
Guess people who haven’t been through it just can’t understand it can they 🤷🏼‍♀️
Sending lots of love right back to you ❤️

@HopefulHead oh completely. I’ve got a friend who is pregnant at the moment and I haven’t seen her in ages because I find it just too hard and upsetting and whilst I am thrilled for her, it’s incredibly painful for me. I just hope in a couple of years time, this will all be a distant memory. ❤️

@KG1244 I think that’s what keeps us going isn’t it, that this super difficult time won’t last forever and hopefully it will all be worth it ❤️

@KG1244 it is so hard. You've just got to do what's right for you and never feel sorry for the way you feel. I defo use my husband and his family to vent to - I know they'll never judge me & it's a totally safe space.

I was due to start my period today to then get my baseline scan booked in, but nothing!! Started a bit of spotting this afternoon so think it'll arrive tomorrow morning. The one time I actually want my period to come so I can hopefully start stims that are eagerly awaiting in my fridge haha.

@Lebe14 I was the same, due on Monday but it didn’t come until today! So first scan booked for next Friday 😬
Ill keep everything crossed AF arrives tomorrow for you 🤞🏼

@HopefulHead completely. Yay for first scan for you. ❤️

@Lebe14 omg. I was nearly 4 weeks late. My EC hormones completely messed me up. I wouldn’t worry though if you’re already spotting. I’m sure it will turn up properly in a day or two.

Thanks for the advice ❤️I still find it hard to get my head around how isolating infertility is. It’s just the worst club to be in but these groups make it so much easier. I don’t know how I would have coped without it.

@Lebe14 mine was late too! It doesn't help when you're thinking about it and wondering if your worrying is delaying it 🤣

There are so many emotions to deal with in this process, natural and medicated hormones are all over the place!

Thanks for all your responses 🧡 It arrived today 🙌🏻🙌🏻 so I'm booked in for my baseline scan tomorrow.

Really hope everything looks normal and I assume if so, I'll be starting stims tomorrow night?!? Eek. X

@Lebe14 Exciting 😁😁 let us know how your scan goes 😘

@Lebe14 yey! Let us know how you get on!

Thanks @HopefulHead and @Lyrabee.

Scan went well and I'm all set to start bemfola tonight - eeek. I had 4 follicles on each ovary - total 8. I have low ovarian reserve so to be expected 😊

I then start Fyremadel on Tuesday morning and going for another scan Wednesday.

All very real - hope my first bemfola goes okay tonight! X

@Lebe14 amazing news! Good luck tonight! I disnt have either of those injections but assume because your reserve is low, they're probably stronger than what mine were.
I'm sure they will be absolutely fine though, give yourself time around it to prepare them and relax. I'm not sure on the conditions but with mine, it helped to take then out the fridge 10 mins before hand so they weren't as cold!

@Lebe14 So exciting!! 🥳
Is this your first round? (Sorry if you’ve said before 🙈)
Are you doing the injections yourself?
And 8 follicles isn’t bad at all! That’s 8 potential eggs 😃😃

Thanks both!

@Lyrabee yes the bemfola is in the fridge so I've read to take it out 5-10 mins beforehand. They look straight forward (I don't have to do any measuring luckily, it's a pen) but it's not knowing whether my mind will let me hand inject me haha. Defo going to do as you suggested though - take my time on the first one and try to relax and be chilled about it.

@HopefulHead yes first cycle, so everything is so new to me and scary....! I'm going to do the injections myself. If for any reason I can't then my husband will defo be able to do, but I would rather do them myself if I can. In my first scan I had 4 follicles on one ovary and 7 on the other, so I little bit disheartened that I've only got 8 in total this time around but that's life. I'm also not expecting too much from this cycle to be fair - I'm treating it as a test run. The consultant suggested a multi cycle package for us due to my low reserve so I think she feels the same and is apprehensive about how I'll respond to the bemfola. It's all trial and error at this stage I think 😊

Appreciate your support and encouragement xx

@Lebe14 Oooh you’re much braver than me! I had to get DH to do all of mine, I was adamant I was going to do at least one myself before we finished but I just couldn’t do it 🫣 most of the time I couldn’t even watch him do them! Lol

We did stims and EC in March so it’s all still quite fresh in my memory so any questions / concerns I’d be happy to answer in regards to my experience :)

Do you have a package of 3 cycles then? Hopefully you will get some from this one but like you say, even if not it will be for them to learn from and trial and error for the next rounds 🤗

@HopefulHead that's the plan and feeling brave but you never know when we get to it - I might chicken out 😂😂

Yeah we've got the multi cycle which is 3 ECs and unlimited transfers over a year. You have to transfer all embryos before moving to another EC but given I don't have many eggs, it feels like the best option. Compared to paying for 1, we will pay more if successful first go. But having 2 cycles or more makes it even and then cheaper. If we're lucky enough for the first cycle to work we won't care at all that we've paid more.

Thanks for the offer of advice and questions - really helps to know I can ask anything (even silly questions) without judgement! X

@Lebe14 Let us know how you get on tonight then 🫣🤭

Yeah I think that’s a really good idea to be honest, if the first round didn’t work it means you haven’t got the stress of trying to fund another cycle whilst trying to deal with the upset & dissapointment of it not working, and like you say, if it does work first time
you won’t care about the money will you 🤗

No problem, I know I found these threads really helpful when I did my round, cause every tiny feeling makes you have questions that you don’t always want to ask the clinic cause they feel silly 🙈

@Lebe14 good luck! I found the pen one that I had was really easy because the needle was tiny, I didn't even feel it. We had a pen one and a mix one. The mix one stung a little bit.

That's a good package you've got, who is it with? We've paid up front 3 rounds over 3 years (not including meds) and if not successful we get our money back. But same if it had of worked first time it would have worked out more expensive but you really don't mind.

Thank you @HopefulHead planning to do the first one around 8:30. Will let you know how it goes!

@Lyrabee I'm with LWC. Saw mixed reviews online (to be fair, it's like that with every clinic) but they have a local satellite to where I live so had an initial MOT and liked the staff and feeling of it. Yours sounds like a great package too - especially all money back if no success! Is that through access? What clinic are you at? There are so many options of packages it's a bit overwhelming but the multi cycle seemed straight forward. There's a 'one off' cost for up to 3 EC and unlimited transfers and then the additional costs per cycle. I bought my meds with a prescription which they advised me to do as they said it's cheaper than getting through them - so they were really open about that. Xx

@Lebe14 thinking of you and sending lots of love and un-stingy thoughts to you 🤭