Thanks @ThesisthenaViva and @tippycanoe !
Very sorry to hear your first round was unsuccessful @tippycanoe ... ours was too so i can totally empathise. We were unexplained, and very fortunate that our second round worked and gave us our son, so that will also affect how I feel about Barts (super grateful despite the issues) and maybe why I feel so differently about the first and second rounds.
I'll start by echoing what @tippycanoe said: communication is lacking, and you have to self advocate, definitely. The people are all individually lovely, but the admin process is tough to navigate. I've often got conflicting info for diff people about waiting times, next steps, etc. which really stresses me out.
First time round I just went along with it, didn't really know what to expect and didn't ask the questions. There were a few things which I found especially hard... I felt very much like a number, and rushed through the system. I went into embryo transfer alone (and clinic was eerily empty on a Sunday) and got the bad news that none of our 7 good quality Day 3 embryos made it to blast. I was devastated, didn't know what that meant, came out of it a big mess. I found it very lonely going from constant appointments to the 2ww where you just go home with a pregnancy test and are told to call back with the result (I expect this is standard though).It was hard to get a follow-up appointment and we were told we had to wait 4 months, which really doesn't give you any closure or help you prep for the next cycle (in fact we decided to skip it so we could start a new cycle earlier).
Second time round, we did things a bit differently. I asked for a copy of my notes before we went into the cycle. I gave all this feedback to the doctor first time I went in. I asked every question that came to mind, and pushed for the time to discuss, as much as I could. I arranged to have a call with the embryologist the morning of embryo transfer, with my partner, so if there was bad news we would hear it together and think of what to do. We discussed 'Plan B' with the embryologist on Day 3 so we felt more prepared. I booked a counselling session for the tww. I also downloaded the Mindful IVF app so that helped me be a bit calmer, and coincidentally met someone through here who happened to start and go through her cycle at exactly the same time (first appt same day, EC same day, ET same day, we're now friends IRL!), so all that makes a difference too.
I can't compare with any other clinic but overall we're happy enough with Barts to be back there for our FET, although I'm already struggling with unclear info about waiting times and next steps, and unable to get our hands on new consent forms...
Very best of luck to both of you! And apologies for the super long message, but I hope it's helpful in some way xxx