FET February 2024

[kirstysmbc]

Hi, just thought I'd see if there was anyone else doing a FET cycle in February that is looking for a cycle buddy?

I'm due to start meds at the end of this month, hopefully with transfer mid Feb. This will be my first donor embryo cycle after final attempts with my own eggs failed last year.

@seekingbabyk thank you so much for sharing that with me. We have been on supplements and I have cut out alcohol while TTC (DH has limited his intake but finds it hard to cut out completely- frustrating for me but I understand its a big part of his social life!) I hadn't thought about cleaning products and pans etc, although am vaguely aware of the general health issues they are linked to...perhaps time to order the book and make some changes for us. Really appreciate your honesty and I do understand it is hard to change things, especially things like stressful work, and so many other people have these factors and fall pregnant so easily so it's a tough pill to swallow!

@seekingbabyk I also read "It starts with the egg" a while back and I took COQ10 and all kinds of supplements for more than 3 months before my egg retrieval. It was definitely an interesting read.

They only managed to collect 3 eggs (they had seen about 6-7 follicles in a scan though) and that was a bit of a shock (I honestly think they didn't allow enough stim time for me).

But 2 of the eggs were mature and both fertilised. Looks like they were decent quality because one of them resulted in my son and the other one got to a 5 day blast for the freezer (which was transferred on Saturday).

I'll never know whether following the tips from that book made a difference, but it didn't hurt to try just in case 😀👌

@IWouldRatherBeOnHoliday you can probably find most of the information online too, I listened to the audiobook in the car. Couldn't help but feel like how can drug addicts get pregnant and I'm feeling bad for lighting a scented candle indoors 🙈

@beibikeiks I was taking just COQ10 for the second round and then our consultant suggested DHEA for round 3 where we didn't get anything. DHEA really affected my cycles making them shorter and more painful so not taken it since - maybe it was that which caused the poor result? Awww that's lovely you got your son. Fingers crossed your frostie sticks now too 🤞🏻

@seekingbabyk Oh that sounds awful
I didn't take DHEA, so I don't have experience with that

I did not feel the need to follow the book to the T. I just took the things I thought were most relevant to me.

I had already done a lot of research myself and then read the book. I'll never know what helped, but I did at least get high quality eggs 😊

@beibikeiks yes and that's amazing because it means less collections etc. it'll be interesting to see if this transfer fails what difference the changes have made. I went in so naively with the first round not researching at all and expected us to have enough frozen for as many children as we wanted 😬🙈

@seekingbabyk it's definitely a classic case of life just not being fair!

@beibikeiks well done for being so prepared and sounds like you took a really sensible approach to it, which I think is probably the right way forward - you can't eliminate every toxin imaginable but cutting out the easy and obvious ones is a good start.

Hope everyone still waiting for transfer is feeling okay and making good progress, and hope everyone in the 2WW is managing to stay distracted!

@seekingbabyk Oh yeah, I was also a bit naive in that sense too. I thought everyone just got quite a lot of eggs and a lot in the freezer as well.

It wasn't until I started reading threads on apps like this that I realised how common it is to get nothing out of a round of IVF 😩

If this transfer does work, I'm glad I don't have loads in the freezer that need to be terminated as we are not having more children (and you can't donate embryos in Iceland unfortunately).

But if this doesn't work, I'm obviously very stressed about going through this again (if we decide to) and not getting any viable eggs since I got so few the last time 😩😩

@IWouldRatherBeOnHoliday
Totally, it's just not realistic (for me at least) to eliminate all toxins etc.

It did make me think a lot though and I try to not drink out of reusable plastic cups that go into a dishwasher for example (not for fertility reasons, just in general) It's just creepy thinking about all that stuff in your body 😅

@beibikeiks @IWouldRatherBeOnHoliday it's a real eye opener actually and has changed our lives 100% in terms of what we consume. Things like microwaving in plaster pots, non stick pans, etc. don't think we would go back to that now. My cleanser and moisturiser I would keep as it is now and water bottles too. But yes we can't be perfect. I definitely have struggled more with the lower carb diet part but small changes all really help!

I thought I’d be way more cool this time around but nope, just as fricking hard this waiting game - maybe because it’s my last embryo/chance. convinced myself today (day 4dp5dt) that it has not worked. After my progesterone was classed as low on transfer day (20), I was given lubion on top of x3 cycolgest pessaries since and had bloods yesterday (think they could see my panic) and progesterone was 120 so sufficient and been told to carry on as I am. Should it be this high? Who knows if it was already too late. Didn’t have a chance to ask questions as my boss was next to me! I had some symptoms last successful round and I realise all pregnancies are different but I just have the feeling in my gut. The torture!

@seekingbabyk i always come back to that point about crack heads, druggies etc. who manage to reproduce too. Makes me feel less guilty that I could have maybe done more 🥴

really hope everyone is ok. You’re all absolute warriors.

Hey @MrsWindrush & @Skylab24 how are you doing?
You guys are a couple of days ahead of me and I'm itching to test, but I know I shouldn't 🙈🙈 This wait goes so slowly 😂

I'm finding my treatment plan confusing. How long after your lining is judged thick enough is the transfer, usually? Feeling a bit dense!

@beibikeiks the wait is so horrid! I buckled and did a FRER test this morning. It was very firmly negative. Trying to keep some hope as it's only 6dp5dt, but with my son I got a faint positive at 7dp5dt so I guess I was thinking there might be a sign if it had worked? Haven't told my husband as we had agreed to not test until Friday (8dp5dt) so going to try to put it out of my mind until then but if it's negative at that point I guess it's a no from me...
@Skylab24 how are you finding it? Have you managed to refrain from early testing?

@muddlingthrou I've just had my lining scan. Lining was 10.7 which they are happy with. Transfer booked for Valentine's Day. Starting cyclogest this Friday. Does that help? My clinic wanted a minimum 8mm lining

@muddlingthrou My clinic is the same as @seekingbabyk They want a lining over 8mm and transfer is usually one week later, after 5 full days of progesterone.

@seekingbabyk, @kirstysmbc - thank you, that is helpful! And are you transferring 5 day embryos?

@muddlingthrou yes two day 5 embryos being transferred 🥰

@muddlingthrou Yes, all my transfers have been day 5 blastocysts

@seekingbabyk aww a Valentines Day transfer is lovely! Your lining sounds great.

@MrsWindrush I'm sorry the test didn't give you good news this morning. I really hope there's just not enough HCG in there, keeping fingers crossed for you on Friday

@IWouldRatherBeOnHoliday yes I thought that too actually it's pretty cute! Not the having me on a bed with my legs in the air my husband was hoping for mind you 😉

Awww @MrsWindrush I'm sorry too but it's so early! I don't think you're out yet just keep yourself busy and try to hold out to test again 🤞🏻

🤣🤣🤣 @seekingbabyk

Well that's given me the laugh I needed today! Between the pessaries and the TWW advice, I'm not sure any of us on this thread will be having a particularly exciting Valentines Day in that department 🫢

@MrsWindrush Oh, that's what I'm afraid of if I test soon. Because it's definitely still early and it's common to get a negative which turns into positive later on.
I really hope that's the case for you and that there just isn't a high enough concentration of HCG yet
♥️🤞♥️

This is definitely one of the worst parts of this process, this wait and then continuing on with normal life and trying not think about this 😅🙈😩

How are you doing @IWouldRatherBeOnHoliday ?
Are you itching to test like me 🙈?

Thanks guys. I'm really trying to have hope but feel sorta resigned. I actually don't know what happens if a FET cycle fails. Could my period just start in the next few days or would that not happen until I stopped taking the cyclogest pessaries and the estradiol tablets?

(Going to keep taking meds until OTD on Monday but keen to not have a totally unprepared surprise period whilst out and about)

@beibikeiks I am actually okay with not testing at the moment. The little grain of hope is keeping me going whilst I process the loss of our other embryos and I don't want to add to my sadness just yet. DH and I made a pact I would not test until 11dpt before we even started the FET cycle so I think that helped get it into my head that there was going to be a long wait. Sorry you're find it tough to wait though! Are you going to test early?

I keep trying to do my best to put it out of my head but I do have the odd strange sensations in my lower stomach. I know everything that can be a symptom at this stage can also be a side effect of the drugs though, so pointless wondering what it is 🙈