FET/IVF July 2023 - Thread 2

[Olivia199]

Right. Sorry I've I missed any of you....!

@10degreessunny
@loulamay
@Lauralozzle
@ASGIRC
@TTCbabyno2in2022
@orchid29
@ttcsolomumtobe
@Walker12
@Bristol1988
@SH998
@Ivfround1
@wtawtaw
@IVFfirsttimer91

@Olivia199 with one of my early pregnancies I got hit with an awful flu bug not long after finding out - your immune system drops I believe, so you may be more susceptible you poor love! Do you have family nearby who can help with your little one? Don't feel bad about the screen times - needs must in these situations!

Oooh, I knew I felt rough. I've just checked and have a fever. Now off to stress about a fever this early in pregnancy!

@loulamay it should be same day! The lab works 24h!
I don't think you were around for the debacle that was the day of my last scan and hormone bloods... Was waiting until 11.30pm for the bloods results, to find out whether I had to take a trigger or not... And I did, so I had to rush out to a nearby pharmacy, which closed at midnight, and had ovitrelle!!

So should get them at some point in the afternoon or evening.

I just hope it's a clear result. I was a bit disheartened with today's test, as it didn't seem particularly stronger than yesterday's..

@ASGIRC yikes!!!! thank god for European opening hours 😂(you're the one in Portugal aren't you?!)

Also not sure what dpt you are now but after day 8 I stopped testing every day and just did every other day because a) it was too stressful and b) hcg only rises every 48 hours. I'm sure it's all fine!

@loulamay haha yes, I am the one in Portugal!!
I'd spent a good portion of that afternoon tracking down pharmacies that had ovitrelle and were open late! Fortunately there was one not far from me (next to work, but obviously I wasn't working!!)

I am 8dpt today.
And I know what you mean... The jump from 6dpt to 7dpt was IMMENSE! But todays... I guess maybe it is a bit darker, but not massively.

I might not test tomorrow before the beta, since I'm gonna have that one anyway, and then just carry on testing every other day, to make sure the line darkens.

@loulamay - Oh bless you, thank you. I think it's a survive the day kinda deal. I've had the chesty cough for a while now but felt well. Today I do not and with the fever I think it's time to get a GP appointment. Normally yes, but sadly they're all out today so it's a grin and bare it type day!

@Olivia199 that is definitely not ideal! Definitely do not feel guilty about screen times!
And yes, do call the docs. Even 111,if you can't get your GP.

You e had quite the last few weeks!
Hope you feel better soon!!

@ASGIRC - Thank you. Waiting on a callback from the GP now. Thankfully mine are amazing. They have triage morning and afternoon and you just book yourself on. I've had quite a lot of issues this year with chest infections - and one admission to hospital with pneumonia. But this has been there ages so I just assumed it was a stubborn virus. Evidently today it decided to turn!

Tomorrow is going to suuuuuck. But last day of the horrendous working.

@Olivia199 thank F for that!!! No one needs 2h of horrendous commuting!!!
And then you can relax a bit more!
I'm sure that virus isn't shifting cause you haven't stopped between the LO being ill, you being ill, work being non stop... You body just hasn't had a chance!!!

Great that you have a good GP! I had one of those when I lived in Oval! When I moved to Tooting it all went to shit 😂😂

@ASGIRC - That's very true, it's been one hell of a month, that's for sure!!
Mine are amazing, I cannot fault them!

I decided to do a test despite having had well over 2 litres to drink, having pee that looks fairly diluted AND using a less sensitive 25miu test.

Seems to be looking pretty good...

Because I'm nosy but also because any distraction is helping me at the moment, I am so interested to hear about the process and choice of donor embryos and sperm. You can absolutely tell me to mind my own business! But what information can you find out? Do they give you the choice to match things to yourself like eye/hair/skin colour? And what happens about the anonymity of the donors in the future?

Like I said - hugely personal question so please don't answer unless you are comfortable xx

Bad news here, my hcg came back at 21900 which is less than half of what they expected it to be based on my previous hcg results. I have to go in tomorrow for an early scan. I feel sick with worry now.

@IVFfirsttimer91 - Oh I am so so sorry for this worry, that's still a crazily high result though. Hopefully the scan will show all is well!!

@loulamay - Absolutely happy to tell you about the sperm side of things, I've also donated eggs so that's an added level in terms of what happens when they turn 18 and donor siblings etc. Will go through it all once I'm back from the docs!

I hope so. I’m so worried. I might be sick.

@Fluxie sorry to hear your day was rough yesterday, put glad your wallet got returned. Re the 2WW I'm still going to work where I can, luckily WFH and will be put on none phone activities so I can answer calls from clinic between EC and transfer. Regarding exercise I did plan to carry on swimming up until EC but reading my documents last night from the clinic it says to avoid due to risk of infection before hand and even the light classes as my gyms are intense with stomach crunches or high knees etc so made the decision this morning to put my membership on hold. Will try do some gentler experiences as home, avoiding anything with stomach twists or crunches and just get out walking. From the social side I have really limited who knows about my IVF round (had 3 failed IUIs where friends were very much in the loop but it just got massively overwhelming answering their questions and taking on their views too). I will still try see friends but not so easy as it needs to be planned in due to sheduales and IVF just doesn't work in that way ha, also wouldn't like to be asked outright how it was going and feel I had to lie or cover up. Also one of my friends has a 7 week old that was unplanned and even though she knows what I'm going through everytime I've seen her she's not been positive about her baby, been hard but managed to deep breath and remain polite but not sure I will be able to the more hormones and appointments I have so aiming to see her early next week and not again til after OTD. I dont do well with sitting still and resting, makes my head more busy but trying to find ways to be okay with it as I don't wanna suddenly feel like I've hit a brick wall half way through this process and struggle with recover from egg collection or not feel in a good mindframe to deal with the numbers on transfer day.

@ASGIRC it's interesting isn't it how we all just want that pregnancy test line but then when people get there it seems like a whole lot of other concerns and being on a fertility forum we do unfortunately read more about losses etc. I think I would keep it to myself for as long as possible. Hope OTD and bloods go well tomorrow

@IVFfirsttimer91 sorry to hear the numbers weren't as expected. Hope you get som reassurance from a can

@IVFfirsttimer91 I'm so sorry you're feeling so anxious. What time are they seeing you tomorrow?

That seems like a super high hcg number though. I thought after a certain point the hcg started to plateau as well. I have everything crossed for you - I think a scan will show you much more than the numbers will.

Deep breaths.

Thanks everyone. @loulamay my scan is at 8.40 tomorrow morning. I’m hoping that the bean is in there and we will see it tomorrow and it’s ok. Been told that it might be too early to see a heartbeat as I’ll only be 6wks 2 days. But I just want to know that everything is ok. I’m having a cry in the toilets at work.

How many weeks are you @IVFfirsttimer91? Those numbers seem around right for 7-8 weeks?

@IVFfirsttimer91 oh no, sorry to hear you're upset with what they have told you. Like people have said, it's still really high! Are you still spotting?

@loulamay I used a donor for my IUI and for IVF that just starting.

My IUI was a donor from an American site and I got to see pics of him as a kid and adult and various stages in between info about his interests, his and his full family medical history and also they did interviews for the clinic about why they donate and other really random but interesting questions. You could filter the site by health issues too so I went for none with genetic issues and who had the suitable sperm type for IUI. There was about 10 options then, and the one I went with stood out as he mirrors by looks/weight but taller than me and he seemed a nice guy from the profile. Took me about 3 months to pick and get the sperm to the UK ready to start. Me and my friends even had a sperm picking party 😂 you would normally pay extra for all the details info but my clinic gave me the password to get the access for free and it was defo fun looking.

My IVF donor I know very little about 😂 but what I do I'm happy with, fair-tan skin (I'm as pale as can be!) Dark hair, medium build and taller than me. Honestly cannot remember eye colour but hoping my bright blue eyes will override his ha.

Donors in the UK are very limited.My clinic had about 4 donors (3 imported from other country banks), 1 not suitable for IVF, 2 of a background I didn't want (hope this comes across right but I didn't feel it would be right to pick a donor who had a heritage/cultural rich background that I couldn't give my child the full knowledge of and to me it's important my child looks like me and my friendship circle so they don't feel like the odd one out) so it really only left one option. I could have gone to another clinic and imported but I didn't want that long searching again, plus limited options available in comparison to last year when I did IUI. I was also super keen to get moving on my next cycle so time was pressed, how it turned out I didn't go ahead in June as booked a last minute trip away and then my period arrived a few days early so would have had to travel with the meds, and didn't fancy that seeing as never injected before and it was the middle of the heatwaves here.
Had I known that the timing for June wouldn't have worked out I probably would have looked around more, but also after such a stressful time with IUI and some horrific mental health months that followed I wanted to try and keep this cycle as chill as possible.

@Olivia199 im 6weeks and 2 days

@wtawtaw no the spotting has stopped fortunately

Ok that's good, that's a positive. Really hope your scan goes well tomorrow big hugs 💖