FET/IVF/ICSI July 2023

[Olivia199]

Hello!

Just wanted to start a thread and see if anyone was going ahead with a transfer in July.

I've just had my nurse consult and hoping to have my second FET in July (my first was successful in Jan 2021 and I had my wonderful DD).

The first time around I was of course beyond nervous, excited, terrified it wouldn't work etc. This time it feels like that's doubled! I'm a private patient so I've saved everything for this but should it fail, it'll be a long long time before I could afford to try again.

To add some nerves, I'd need to be cycle day one no later than the 6th July to go ahead, as my clinic is moving locations. I'm currently due on the 5th...! So every chance it's moved to a Sept cycle.

Would be nice to have some company!

:)

Hi lovely! @Olivia199

I joined the June thread but I’m wondering if I’d be more suited in this one due to timing etc. I’m doing my first cycle, started the injections yesterday and planning a fresh transfer beginning of July if all goes to plan.

We also have a DD from ivf we did with my partners egg (same sex couple) born December 2021. We were very lucky our first transfer was successful!

Like you we are private and have a whole lot riding on this financially. We might be able to afford to do FETs at a push if we get any from this cycle to freeze.. But if not it’ll be a while before we can manage to do another egg collection so keeping everything crossed.

wishing you luck! :)

Hello! Oh how exciting. How are you feeling?
Oh our firsts aren't dissimilar in age, mine was a Sept 21 babe.
It was incredible to be so lucky first time but feel like it's made me more anxious that the odds of that happening again for me are quite low. Equally recognise that the "odds" are the same.
It's terrifying having so much riding on it. I did egg sharing IVF and have a few embabies in the freezer which is nice to know long term.
I'm a solo mum by choice hence the treatment and just the thought of more months and months of saving if this doesn't work. All my eggs in this one basket so to speak!

I think I might be best suited to this thread! I was also on the June one, but transfer will likely be end of July now.

Its nice to hear previous success stories :) good luck to both you @Olivia199 and @Raleighx for this coming cycle.

We’re also private. Had our NHS round in January which failed and we had nothing to freeze. We have fertilisation issues and I only have one ovary that responds.

I’m currently waiting for AF to start (due any time now) so that I can call the clinic to find out when to start taking norethisterone and how long to take it for.

We’re trying different things this cycle, so I’m hopeful we’ll have better results and hopefully have something to freeze!

Hi, we’re going for our first ivf/ICSI in July too. My day one of cycle is 6th July so super close to you!

We’re private too, we’ve done the access fertility 2 round 50% refund. Got everything crossed we get something from this :)

Hello and welcome!! 😀

Wishing you both the very best with this cycle too. Hopefully all those new tricks work this month!

My fresh round ended as a freeze all due to OHSS risk but ICSI was used and worked well for me.

I've just paid for my meds and I'm feeling very excited.

@Olivia199 I think getting/paying for the meds makes it feel like the cycle is about to start. It is exciting! My meds arrived last week and im just waiting for AF to show up as soon so that I can start!

We did ICSI last time. This time, to help with fertilisation we’re using AOA and Zymot chip sperm selection with ICSI.

@Bristol1988 We have a multi package, no refund element though as our last round wasn’t very good so we weren’t eligible. We have two founds though and unlimited FETS which is why I hope we get at least a few to freeze this time!

@Olivia199 feeling excited and apprehensive! exactly. I feel we were extremely lucky with our success last time so a bit more guarded this time. That's amazing you're a solo mum by choice. I have great admiration for women who choose to do it themselves as it can't be easy. Hopefully you have lots of support around you!

I have always felt I will really struggle to get pregnant even though I have never tried to conceive. I don't know why but I have felt it since my late teens. I have had irregular periods in the past though but all tests came back fine so far luckily. I keep seeing to DP I'm sure this cycle is going to fail and I'll end up with embryos and she keeps telling me not to be so negative. I know she's right and I really need to get myself into a more positive headspace. I don't know if any of you believe in the law of attraction but a little bit of positivity surely can't do any harm. I think with me I always expect the worst to try and avoid the disappointment hitting harder if that makes sense? When we fell pregnant with DD I was reading stories of MMC all of the time so try and prepare myself for awful news at the scan. I know that sounds strange but if I mentally prepare myself for worst case scenario, anything better is a bonus!

@Bristol1988 welcome and good luck :)

@Lauralozzle thank you! best of luck with your cycle this time round. it's good that you have some new things to try - hoping it brings you success. I think you were one of the old threads I was lurking!

I've actually been going back and reading all of the old monthly threads on an evening as I love following them through and seeing the outcomes... albeit it's not nice to see the negative outcomes. I find that once you start IVF it occupies your mind a lot of the time. This forum has been great as I've learned a LOT already.

@Raleighx I’ve been in the conception and infertility forums for a while now! I’m not surprised you might have spotted my name in older threads! 😂

I definitely know where you’re coming from, sort of preparing yourself for the worse. Our last cycle, I only had two fertilised eggs in the running. We only had 33% eggs fertilised with ICSI, so I was fully expecting both eggs to not reach day 5! I literally had a bottle of fizzero on the table in case we could transfer, and a bottle of the proper stuff next to it and brought goats cheese and pate and tasty bread in case we didn’t have anything to transfer! The thought was, well, I’m going to effing eat anything and everything if not. Wanted to enjoy both outcomes, best I could.

I’ll probably do the same again this time round! only this time I’ll do it for OTD too. Had a bit too much riding on one very poor quality embryo last time!

I think AF is thinking about arriving so hopefully it’ll be here in the morning and I can call the clinic to find out when to start taking norethisterone.

@RRaleighx - I feel exactly the same. Almost like I don't dare believe it, especially when financially I've only got the one shot for a while. Thank you! I do have some lovely support and honestly adore our life. It's just wonderful and although there are hard days, I'm sure that's true across the board and they're trumped by the good days!
It doesn't sound strange at all, I totally understand exactly what you mean. I'm similar in a lot of respects but also can't help but dream and believe it's going to work. Only to catch myself and remind myself that it's definitely not a given.
I tested from day 3 post transfer last time as if it was going to be a BFN I needed to lose a little hope each day rather than building up and crashing after. I had some horrendous bleeding and right sided pain last time which led to a trip to A&E assuming ectopic or miscarriage. Thankfully all was fine but I'm not sure I relaxed until my third trimester!
It's such a whirlwind isn't it. I also think it doesn't help that just by doing IVF, you learn EVERYTHING there is to know about all the exact things that have to work in the exact way for it to work and it just feels impossible.
It honestly baffles me that some people just have a bit of hanky panky and boom. Baby.

That sounds like a really positive way of doing things. I may even follow suit with it! I've got absolutely everything crossed for you this round and hope to see your BFP in the coming weeks! Hope AF makes her tinely appearance!

@Olivia199 Thank you 😊

CD1 today. I called the clinic this morning and a nurse called me back. I take norethisterone on CD18 for 10 days. I should expect a bleed after within 2-5 days. Then stims starts!

Im glad I have a plan now. I’ve felt pretty good today. Plan on going for a walk in the morning. Trying to stay as positive as possible.

@Lauralozzle - How exciting! I know the feeling. The day I started my stims felt like I'd hid a huge milestone, purely because I had a plan and dates booked in.
Obviously that cycle I was 5 days late which is unheard of for me. Clearly my womb was rebelling! Got everything crossed for you!

@Lauralozzle yay glad you have a plan! Also I absolutely love that idea.. I had my big last hurrah the beginning of the week. We were on a mini break and I had my Camembert, meats and a cheeky glass of fizz. We’ve already said if we do a couple of tries and it’s a negative we’re going to book another holiday towards the end of the year.

Last time when trying for our daughter we did 6 failed IUIs before moving to ivf. It took a year and a half of our lives and we completely put everything on hold and missed out on doing so much thinking ‘but we might be pregnant’ this time we’ve vowed to try and be more relaxed about it all (easier said than done!) but we don’t want to end up in that situation again where we don’t do anything else.

@Olivia199 oh bless you! That must have been so scary with the bleeding. I know some people like to test early but I think after transfer I’m going to try my best to hold out to OTD. I like the idea of being in my whole PUPO bubble.. even if that might be burst with a negative test at the end of it! Crazy how we all think differently haha.

I definitely know what you mean about not being able to relax though. We had 2 chemicals while doing iui and the test lines were darker than the control so i know all too well a positive test does not mean you’re taking a baby home at the end of it. I don’t think I would be able to relax until the 12 week scan... maybe a little after the 7 week but not completely. I think being part of the fertility community you read constantly about all of the things that can go wrong so your anxiety is worse than most !

I requested my blood results from the clinic as I didn’t get any details other than everything looks satisfactory. I’ve noticed that my TSH is 3.1.. everywhere I read says below 2.5 is optimum for conceiving but the clinic don’t seem concerned as long as it’s below 4.5? Anyone know anymore about this? Worrying about it now even though I wouldn’t know if I hadn’t asked 😅

@Raleighx - It was absolutely awful. I was so sure that was the end and could have kissed the consultant who scanned me at midnight to try and make sure. I never got a 'dye stealer' test either, despite all my numbers via bloods being very high. So that played on my mind. I had a weird mass attached to the embryo up until the 12 week scan and with the bleeding and this, they suggested modified bed rest. Which of course included a house move and a fall down the stairs the day before my 12 week scan! They sent the pictures up to London but no one could really identify what this 'mass' was and it went away on its own.

So by the time I got to 16 weeks I'd thrown all thoughts of keeping any surprises out the window and went for a scan to see what I was having. Wanted to know who was causing me all this trouble!!

I definitely struggled to relax. I would feel better after each scan, but then went back to feeling very worried about it all right up until I felt her wiggling away. Which gave me huge reassurance!

I'm sorry about your chemicals. It's all so up and down isn't it. The total all encompassing emotions at every turn!

Can definitely see the side of the PUPO bubble!

Sorry, I'm very little help on the TSH aspect, though wonder if it's because medicating that lower would be very difficult without sending it too low, being that it is within the 'normal'?
I'm not sure what mine was!

@Raleighx So, I have an under active thyroid.

I’d double check with your clinic. Mine were happy to proceed before with it being 2.78 but then it shot up. My clinic are happy under 3 but my GP is trying to get it below 3. Mine has fluctuated a lot. From 9.8, 4.6, 6.4, 2.78, 7.6, 6.1. Last test I did private was 3.7. I have another blood test end of this month and I’m going to increase my dose once I’ve had that one. By the time I’m on stims I’ll have had another increase for a couple of weeks so should be down before transfer.

I’m currently taking 75mg of levothyroxine. I’d check again and then maybe mention to your GP. Everything I’ve read, even British thyroid says 2.5 or below for TTC. Maybe ask for another blood test to be sure.

Hello! I came on here looking for a July thread. I'm due to phone at the end of this week to book in, which will then mean I will start stims mid July. This will be our sibling round and our third cycle. Our first cycle in May 2021 resulted in a chemical pregnancy with none to freeze, but when we went again in August 2021 we ended up with our boy, but again none to freeze. So we go again with a full fresh cycle and an eye watering amount of money paid out.

@itsmschanandlerbong - Hello and welcome! I'm sorry to hear about your chemical and have everything crossed for this round.
It's just a crazy amount of money isn't it? My clinic put all the prices up at some point between having my daughter and now. It's hard to comprehend some of the cash spent!

Hey everyone 👋

hope it’s okay to join? I had a freeze all cycle in May due to OHSS but I’m hopefully be transferring a frozen embryo end of July (if my cycle behaves!) thought I’d join some others who might be similar timings as it’s nice to have a wee crew! How is everyone getting along? I’m so impatient for this transfer 🙈 can’t wait!

@Ellenn - Hey! And of course! It's lovely to have a few of us along the same journey. You're in the same position I was in before having my daughter. Ended up with a freeze all and then somewhat patiently awaited my FET..!

I'm having my medications delivered tomorrow!! I'm very excited. Also terrified. Also almost sure that my period will thwart me, I'll be too lage and end up delaying until Sept after 'meeting' you lovely lot.

@Olivia199 yes I’m also excited! We are actually going to do a natural cycle this time, which I’m looking forward to as not many appointments and not much medication to take!

i swear your period just likes to trick you cause it’s the one time you want it to arrive 🤣

Hi all! Would love to join as well if that’s ok. I also had a freeze all cycle due to OHSS risk in April/May and have been impatiently waiting for the next step. Transfer is likely to be at the end of July. My cycle is already misbehaving, was seven days late this month 🤦‍♀️ I’m so ready to get going and think I’m driving my husband a little mad 😂

@Ellenn - Ooh exciting for the natural cycle! Yeah the womb knows, it absolutely plays with us! I was running up and down the stairs trying to get it to kick start last time as I was so late! This time I was 6 days early which is what put me in good timing to have treatment before the clinic closes to move locations. So I'm not sure I trust it.

@Labradoodlepup - Of course!!
How are you feeling now? I was absolutely gutted when they said I'd have to freeze all due to the OHSS risk. But it was the best thing that could have happened. I felt so much more ready and less beaten when it came to the FET for my daughter.
Hopefully your cycle is kinder to you and all goes well for end of July. I think, if mine behaves, transfer should be either 25th or 27th July. Last day they're transferring before the clinic shuts is 28th. So it's a tight one! I'm exactly the same - driving myself mad with it. Just keen to get cracking!

I remember last time I was beside myself right up until I started meds and then had that relief of 'right. I'm on the go now'.
Though my clinic said they'd only call me if the embryo hadn't defrosted well. They were defrosting my 5AA hatching blast and I got a call as I rounded the corner to the clinic car park. Obviously burst into tears the second I saw the caller ID. Only to find out they were just calling me to say it'd gone great and my little embryo was growing again already.

@itsmschanandlerbong Hello 👋 Good luck with your upcoming cycle. I agree, the costs are staggering!

@Ellenn Hello 👋 Good luck with your FET.

@Olivia199 Oh meds day! That’s exciting. Mine are all sat in a box, and in the fridge, waiting to be used!!

@Labradoodlepup Hello 👋 good luck with your FET too.

Nothing going on here. I’m just waiting until the 27th before I can start norethisterone. This month is going to drag, I think!

@Lauralozzle - It does feel very exciting that they're arriving. Even though they're not to be used any time soon. But it means I'm all set and done and just have to wait for AF. Which definitely seems to make it all feel real again.

I'm with you on the dragging. It'll be somewhere around the 27th that I start praying for AF to just be on time. Long month ahead and, I'm sure, an even longer TWW.