FET/IVF/ICSI - October 2033

[Lauralozzle]

Anyone due to start cycle/have transfer in October jump on board!

Little history:

TTC our first. Trying for 4 years. Officially unexplained but I only have one ovary that responds/works. Fertilisation issues. Positive Sperm Oxidative Stress Test (likely DNA Frag). So it’s really a bit of a mix.

Dec 22/Jan 23 - First ICSI cycle. 8 eggs, 6 mature, 2 fertilised. One poor blast to transfer. Nothing to freeze. BFN.

July 23 - Second ICSI cycle. Using AOA & ZyMot chip. 8 eggs, 8 mature, 4 fertilised. One fresh to transfer and 2 to freeze. BFN.

Oct 23 - First FET scheduled.

Currently waiting for my period to start so that FET cycle can start. Should start beginning of Oct, so FET likely towards end of the month.

@IVFDublin I’ve only told my best friend and it has been nice to have someone to talk to about it other than my husband. But we’re going for dinner with her and her husband this weekend and she suggested inviting another couple (also very good friends) and I panicked, just don’t want to be around anyone else right now. I have a wedding next week and I’m dreading having to pretend to be normal all day.

@4thcyclelucky thanks for sharing that Reddit thread, it’s an interesting read. Can’t get FRERs in Ireland unfortunately so I won’t be able to test the theory. I’m sure it’s frustrating that it’s taking longer to get to egg collection than you expected but trust the doctor, that’s all you can do.

@marshk those are great numbers 🤞

@NewBee21 try not to be disheartened, as @IVFKinster they could all turn into the best grade embryos.

Hey @Millie89xx
I came on period on Monday also, and i had scan on Tuesday. Got another scan next Wednesday. Baseline scan showed no cysts or fibroids. And I had 12 follicles visible. 6 in each ovary. I felt quite good about this as I think it's a good starting number prior to stims. So we are now on meriofert twice a day and buseralin once a day. Love how in sync ours is going!! Feel excited now 🥰🥰🥰 good luck lovely

@Kitt86 Ooooooh how exciting ! How did you feel the injection ? I done mine myself and it wasn’t atall what I expected . Have you noticed them yet ? I presume you don’t get any side effects until a few days in

@NewBee21 i totally get how you feel.

first round: 8 eggs, 6 mature, 2 fertilised (1 usable blast)

second round: 8 eggs, 8 mature, 4 fertilised and 3 usable blasts.

we don’t have great fertilisation rates, always lower than expected but we got 3 tries this last round. All is not lost. You might end up with 4 top quality blasts.

For those of you ladies who have done day 3 transfer. Are they able to tell on day 1 which embryos are likely to develop into blasts or not this early ? I'm having a day 3 and I'm kinda confused why they confirmed the transfer this early since we only found how many fertilsed this morning so they are day 1. Does it mean they are guessing they are very low quality already? I thought they would assess that on day 3. Can't get much info from my clinic .

@KosmicK it could be down to the number of fertilised eggs you have? If not many they could be just preparing you that a 3 day transfer is likely.

@Millie89xx oh I absolutely can't do them myself!! I'm not needle phobic at all but I really can't do it for some reason. But actually it helps my boyfriend feel really involved and like he has a role and responsibility and I think it weirdly brings us closer throughout all this madness. No side effects just yet, I don't remember if I had any last time as it was like a year ago. I am ridiculously hungry tho. Just trying to eat enough protein and take all my vitamins. 🤞🤞

Hi @KosmicK
To be honest I don't really know however I'm also down for having a day 3 transfer - mine is tomorrow. The embryologist did say they are prepping me for a day 3 however if they check them tomorrow morning and they think they/ or one are progressing well they may opt to let them run to day 5.
I don't really know if they can grade them on day 1. Maybe it's possible but from what I've read grading is usually done day 3 -5 depending on how many cells they have. I could be totally wrong. This is my first cycle so I've no experience with it but it seems they are getting me ready for transfer on day 3 but its not set in stone. It can possibly change. I think alot can change during this crucial time and it may be the same for you. They are maybe just giving you enough notice

I'm assuming breast pain is a normal side effect of progesterone supplementation?

@MoonlightDreamer Yes, breast pain (heaviness/fullness/just generally sore and uncomfortable) and progesterone go hand in hand for me.

I have taken my first Clomid so officially in the stims stage now.

Thanks for the good wishes, all went well with my egg collection this morning. I was quite anxious at the thought of possibly being aware during it, but the last time I remember is them telling me the sedative had started and I just had a nice nap and came round to them telling me they had got 19 eggs and I told the recovery nurse I felt as relaxed as if I'd just had a nice massage 🤣🙈 have been sleeping most of the day on the sofa since and eating salty food and drinking Lucozade sport in the hopes of warding off OHSS as I have been sore and very swollen all day. Hoping for good news tomorrow from the embryologist re fertilisation and then they'll be off to the freezer til January.

@MoonlightDreamer good luck with transfer day tomorrow, if it goes ahead

@Lauralozzle so sorry you're finding it so tough. As others have said, getting the emotions out rather than holding them in is probably best for your body right now, so be kind to yourself. If you're having to take some leave from work, at least you have some more time for looking after yourself 💐

@NewBee21 sorry your numbers weren't as high as would be hoped, but these things do seem so variable. Keeping everything crossed that the 4 you have grow beautifully for you

@marshk fingers crossed your 9 grow beautifully too

@4thcyclelucky the waiting must take its toll, hope you are good for collection soon

Glad to know a lot of us are in the same boat re sex. Even when we were doing ovulation induction, being told we had to use condoms most of the time, and then being given timings to have sex, was quite off-putting!

@SunsetsAndSandwiches sounds like similar ish timing to me, had my eggs collected Tuesday, still feeling super bloated but no other OHSS symptoms so hoping it eases soon.

Been advised frozen transfer so will wait a couple of cycles and go from there.

To anyone else who follicles didn't grow as quickly expected - we needed extended meds (18 days total) but ended up with 20 eggs 13 matured and 11 fertilised. I was worried as scans were looking great before hand. Will see how they are tomorrow and see how many able to freeze.

Hope everyone is feeling ok after collections/ transfers.

I hope everyone is doing ok!

@IVFKinster I am feeling ok, only a bit of bloating but nothing too uncomfortable. They didn’t say anything about how many they think will make it to day 5 and I didn’t ask either. I was so upset by the number that couldn’t even think about anything else 😔 I hope you are doing well x

@4thcyclelucky @GabbyGal thank you for your kind words 🥰

@SunsetsAndSandwiches I am happy that your egg collection went fine, you’ve got very good number of eggs so hopefully will get plenty good quality embryos 🤞

@marshk how are you feeling? I am also booked for FET on Monday. Will you have a day 3 update as well?

@Lauralozzle thank you so much for sharing this, it makes me feel better, but to be honest I am preparing for the worst. Just don’t want to get my hopes high again.
I hope everything goes well for you x

Because it’s my first cycle I find it hard to understand how things are supposed to be. I am having NHS funding so sometimes question if the clinic is doing everything they can? They say they provide the same treatment for all patients but I am not sure.

If anyone did it via NHS and then privately, did you see any difference?

@NewBee21 try not to worry. I know its easier said than done. It's hard not to feel disappointed. We got 3 embryos that fertilised and I'm just praying they are developing normally

Thank you! I am trying my best x When are you going to have an update on your embryos? I hope everything will be ok for you 🥰

@NewBee21 I get the news tomorrow if we're doing a day 3 transfer tomorrow afternoon if they look good enough to try run to day 5 .
I'll probably not sleep tonight

@zoo18 Thanks for sharing experience on follicles not growing quick enough. This is my 4th cycle and day 12 and they have upped my gonal-f to 275 yesterday and given me some pills to prevent OHSS. Did you do estradiol priming at the start? I didn’t have this issue in my last 3 cycles.

@NewBee21 My first cycle was under the NHS. I never saw a doctor face to face, she advised ICSI via Zoom but they didn’t do that which really upset me because they got 16 eggs, 14 mature and only 4 fertilised. Also it was a lot more drugs (long protocol). The private clinic will tell you NHS aims for quantity. The transfer for more pleasant though and it implanted (but lost at week 5).

@4thcyclelucky this was my 1st cycle, they expected my to respond well quite quickly due to PCOS/ higher AMH, but wasn't the case. We didn't do estradiol priming.

For anyone else who had recent egg retrieval how long did the bloating last? Im still quite uncomfortable with bloating but no other symptoms.

@NewBee21 My first round was NHS. I think the problem is with NHS ‘first round’ is that they don’t know how you’ll respond.

First round I had a very basic protocol- long protocol, quite high stims, but my AMH is low side of normal, I was ready too early (only 9 days of stims). Egg size was uneven and then we had the terrible ICSI fertilisation which they didn’t expect. It’s no surprise it didn’t work but I think the protocol would have been the same if we were private from the start.

We had nothing to freeze, so went private. Stayed with same clinic, based on the first round they switched everything up a bit. Short protocol, started on lower dose, completely different drugs, duel trigger. Then we added AOA based on previous fertilisation issues. Zymot because we had an sos sperm test that came back positive.

After second failed transfer looked at progesterone which is why I’m now on a ton of the stuff!

If this next transfer fails we’ll start looking at blood clotting and ERA/EMMA/ALICE

I’m happy with our clinic. I don’t think the fact our first round was NHS made a difference.I just wish we had more than one round for NHS because the first round is a bit of a trial round.

Realised that turned into a bit of an essay.

@zoo18 I was at high ohss risk due to pcos ans amh 62. I was put on lowest dose meds and they expected me to respond really well but that wasn't the case at all. I got 7 eggs in the end up with only 4 being mature. I had lots of follicles at the start but they just didn't develop.
I had my retrieval on Tuesday and to be absolutely honest I'm still very very bloated and sore. Take it easy day by day

Hi everyone, hope you're all doing well.

I'm struggling to keep up with the thread!

I'm on day 5 of stims. Just been for a scan and bloods. I mentioned to the nurse that I've got some discomfort on my left side but as I'm only on day 5, I imagine it's nothing. Well she scanned me and said I've got 17 mature follicles all fairly big 🤨 hence the discomfort and that I could be looking at egg collection in 5 days time... Got to start taking Fyremadel today to prevent ovulation too. I'm working out of the country for the weekend and the thought of this discomfort and 3 injections a day has got me wanting to call in sick 🤣

Good morning ladies. How are you all feeling today ?
I'm currently pacing around waiting to hear an update on my embabies.
I haven't been able to get embryologist to pick up the phone which is driving me mental but I can see on my online calender they've removed my day 3 transfer and have rescheduled it for Sunday. I'm assuming that means one must be suitable to try and run on to blast. Now I'm extremely nervous .I've read between day 3 and 5 has the biggest drop in embryos so needless to say I'll be extremely nervous for the next 48hrs

Morning everyone,

Good news from the embryologist today - of the 19 collected, 18 were mature and 10 fertilised. They are off to the freezer. This was within the parameters we'd been told to expect, so really happy with the result. We just need to decide whether to thaw all 10 or try 5 at first. Need to discuss the pros and cons with the doctor when the time comes. Still very bloated but glad I have today off and the rest of the weekend to rest.

@MoonlightDreamer really hope you get to speak to the embryologist soon to put your mind at rest. Hopefully it's a good sign that you're looking at a day 5 transfer.

@Babyplease23 17 follicles sounds like great news! Are you expecting to do a fresh or frozen transfer? Hope you can take some time to rest while working away. My bloating started at day 5 but didn't really worsen until day 9 when I started getting twinges and very bloated (day before egg collection day). Hopefully yours follows a slow progression in terms of symptoms too!

@zoo18 ooh hopefully we'll both be back here in the New Year reporting on successful thaws and transfers 🤞🤞 your fertilisation rate sounds fab!

@NewBee21 I can sympathise with worrying about whether NHS are giving the most tailored care. As others have said, you do have to factor in that your first cycle can be a bit of trial and error, but I think when you've already been through the long NHS waiting times you just don't have the patience for that anymore. Keeping everything crossed that you get to your Monday transfer and have a great outcome.

Hope everyone else is feeling okay and that those in the TWW are managing not to climb the walls with impatience!

Similar situations then with high risk of OHSS, and low meds.

I have my retrieval Tuesday too and still feel Pretty rubbish, although guessing all the stress/ meds/ procedures- think I'm being a bit impatient with wanting to feel back on form

Hope your feeling ok

This IVF is a complicated process and so unpredictable, it's helpful to have these forums to share experiences