IVF/ICSI April 2024

[Vian67]

Hopefully find others in a similar boat 🙏

Just made my ‘Day One’ call to the clinic this week to set the ball rolling this will be my second cycle, first one failed on 12th Feb 2024.

Bit of background to how we got here, I have had 4 ectopics since Nov 2020 2 resulting in emergency surgery and losing both my tubes. No reason why our first cycle failed, we will be doing IVF/ICSI this time round.

Anyone joining me in the April emotional rollercoaster? X

I think this sounds promising. Wishing you all the luck and success

I took my period today after down reg,2 days later than itxwas due and omg the pain 😬 never har Cramps like it and I get bad periods. Anyone else have this?

Thank you. If I had these results 5 years ago I'd be thrilled, the thing that's worrying me is my age, but all I can do is wait and see.

Hope all your preparations are going well. I loved Grace and Frankie too. Was trying to think of something else similar. I binged The Dropout while I was on stims. Not a comedy but very engrossing so it took my mind of things!

Thank you! You've given me a bit of hope. If I can get to 4 it gives me the statistical probability of one euploid embryo. It actually feels wrong talking about my potential children as statistics like this. Does anyone else feel like this or am I just overly sentimental? I'm not usually sentimental at all but this is such a strange process!

I asked if they could make any predictions about the remaining 6 but they said no, it was just a case of wait and see. For some reason the lab seem reluctant to give information. Whenever they call they just want to give me the number, nothing else, and seem vaguely annoyed when I ask for more details.

I can see you have frozen yours. Have you PGT-A tested them, or is it because you are banking?

I actually know 2 people personally who are 42 and 43 and both pregnant right now,the 43 year old was on her last ivf try and is now due in June which is lovely.

I always think you regret the things you didn't do,so hopefully this is your time too.

I might look for the dropout too. I did start rewatchint derry girls last night,but would love something I have never seen before too.

@Natty2 egg collection booked for Monday, best scenario we are looking at are 3 eggs.

So I just had a quick chat with the nurse over phone after they decided how to proceed with my meds today and tomorrow. At my scan this morning it showed that the 3 possible good follicles are already at a good size for collection, so when I questioned her about continuing on max. stims for 2 more days (tonight and tomorrow just before trigger) she said that it is likely that consultant will not want to do the max dosage these next few days because that might tip the follicles above the 25mm line which would then possibly make over mature (not good to freeze) eggs.

So when they called me just now to go over timings, much to my surprise the consultant reviewed as if I should continue on max stim dosage today and tomorrow, totally not preoccupied with the possibility of over maturation. When I questioned the nurse I was speaking to about that possibility, I REEEEALLY had to advocate for her to reach out to consultant to get me an explanation for me on the topic. She gets back to me and says, “consultant understands your concern and is happy if you don’t want to do stims tonight and tomorrow and just trigger tomorrow since your follicle are at good size” 🤡
Honestly, it is laughable…but they really don’t make us feel too confident on the process, do they?!?

anyways, I’ve informed them that I am happy to do stims tonight but tomorrow I will just trigger as I don’t want to take the risk of too much growth till Monday. At this point keeping all my fingers and hope that 3 excellent eggies will be collected and frozen on Monday.

ps: I’ve heard that acupuncture does wonderful things, wish I wasn’t as nervous as I am around needles, it has gotten better and I’ve done 90% of my shots this cycle, but I’m still a bit anxious about it. I might include in my next protocol massages, I do love them…not sure if there are any restrictions on types of massage allowed during treatment but I may set aside a nice budget next time just to include activities that make me happy. This entire process is inevitably too stressful/tense and I feel like I could pair up the process with more enjoyable activities to, at the very least, take off the edge of whatever results I may get.

@KoraliaValentine really hope you get some good news tomorrow 🤞 and completely feel the same about always having to think about statistics!

Unfortunately both rounds I've had have ended up in freeze all cycles. first was high progesterone and when we only managed one embryo we made the decision to future proof and better our chances by doing another round
This time I was at high risk of OHSS so couldn't do a fresh transfer 😔 Really can't wait until we can!

Oh gosh that's not helpful of the consultant! What size are the follicles now?
Sounds like you are doing what's best for you and fingers crossed for 3 great quality mature eggs on Monday!

@ViVRe hi, I've read all your messages and just wanted to say hope you're doing ok, fingers crossed for Monday. I think it's so weird that they put the decision back in your court and the consultant didn't seem that helpful or reassuring?!

@KoraliaValentine good luck on hearing about your numbers! Keeping my fingers crossed for good news for you!

@ViVRe that’s really odd! It’s so hard having to just trust that they know what they are doing. Good luck for tomorrow! What times the EC?

@ViVRe and @KoraliaValentine good luck for tomorrow!

@HopefulllHolly @Natty2 @2tuxedocats I ended up with 6 blasts! The ones that went to day 6 were lower graded than the day 5 ones. The laboratory person (embryologist?) who called me said that grading was irrelevant to PGT-A results, but my doctor seemed to suggest there was a correlation so I'm confused. But I've now been told that I won't get the results until the 24th or 25th, which feels like an eternity! The clinic have told me that 29% of blasts at my age are euploid, which gives me the statistical probability of having one to transfer, but I have no way of knowing what my egg quality is like in relation to my age. However I have decided if I do get one euploid, I am going to do another retrieval straight away. I said I'd only have one shot with my own eggs, but as this round has gone so much better than anyone expected (so far!) if I can produce a euploid I will have another go. Mustn't get ahead of myself though!

@Natty2 any idea when you'll be able to do a transfer?

@Hopingtobe4 thanks for the stories. It always helps to keep my hopes up to hear about ladies my age who have beaten the odds. My husband loves Derry Girls and is always telling me I need to watch it. I should give it a try. Sol from Grace and Frankie is in The Dropout actually, so there's a link, even if they are very different shows.

@ViVRe sorry you've had such confusing messages/instructions from your clinic. But good luck for tomorrow and keeping everything crossed for you! 🤞

@KoraliaValentine great news about your blasts! Fingers crossed for the testing, keep us posted!
Our clinic is making us wait 3 bleeds before FET, withdrawal bleed has arrived, 2 more to go 😫

@Lucylaughing hope the transfer goes well today and you end up with some frosties too!

@ViVRe hope EC goes well today!

@Natty2 hi, it wasn't good unfortunately. From the 8 good ones on day 3 we didn't have anything suitable for freezing and the blasts we do have are low quality. They transferred two because otherwise they will be wasted but think our chances are very slim. Expecting a call tomorrow about the remaining ones just in case but expecting they will all be discarded.

Disappointed. Just have to move on now. I think they all felt sorry for us tbh. It was pretty obvious they assumed it won't work.

How are you?

Hi, hope you don’t mind me joining. Hope everyone is doing ok on their journey and trying to be as positive as possible!

Im 3 days into Stims due for egg retrieval 19th this is my first round of ivf on nhs. It’s been such an overwhelming experience.

Background on us, my partner has azoospermia so he’s having to have an operation to see if they are able to retrieve sperm surgically he’s having this on the 18th April. Doctors can’t find any reason for this so it came as a big shock to us and so unexpected. We found out a couple of years ago and now we are finally here doing our first round. All tests have came back ok with myslef but I’m finding it hard to not put pressure on myself for my body to work on the right way so my partner has a change to have a baby. He is only able to have this operation once and if they find sperm they won’t be able to freeze it alone it will need to be used with one of my eggs so feel pressure for it to work. If all else fails we have donor sperm on back up just incase as this would be the route we would have to go down if the operation doesn’t go to plan.

Got next scan on Monday to see if everything is ok.
At my down reg scan they said my lining or womb was thin and ovaries were how they should be. The consultant got called in to check my womb as they said there was a large blood vessel on my uterus which panicked me but she said it was fine.. has anyone else had this? It was the last thing I expected her to say.

Cant wait to keep up with everyone’s journey x

@Lucylaughing I'm so sorry to hear this, IVF is such a physically and mentally draining process.
I know you said they were low grade but I'm keeping my hope that one of those has worked for you 🌟
Look after yourself and keep us posted on how you get on

Hi @Lp96 good luck with your cycle! I think there are some ladies on here who will be on similar timeframes as you. I was abit in between March/ start of April and ended up on a freeze all so only dipping in and out of this group now.

I've not heard about large blood vessel in uterus but if they're not worried about it you should be ok! Good luck 🤞

@Natty2 thank you. I think the good news from EC and on Saturday has made today harder. I've been thinking about it all day and just feel exhausted, think an early night will be the best thing. Hope you're ok x

@Lucylaughing understand completely, it's such a rollercoaster
Our clinic suggested taking up the free counselling they offer (3 per cycle), could be worth looking into. Have a good rest 💛

Hi 👋 I am similar to yourself,day 2 of Stims and atm my egg collection is 19th. I have my first scan to check progress this Friday.

I understand your pressure,really hope that it all workd out for you both.

How you finding stimming? What are tou taken?

Sending you lots of hugs @Lucylaughing im sorry it’s not worked out the way you hoped. You’re still in the running though, so even if you can’t stay hopeful I’ll keep my positive thoughts going for you. 😘 Be kind to yourself and let yourself recover.

@KoraliaValentine Good news on your numbers! Oh yeah I know what you mean, every day drags in IVF! Fingers crossed it goes quickly and the results are positive! It’s good you have a back up plan too.

Im itching to get started but im stuck in doom mode of worrying about the worst scenarios this week.

Welcome @Lp96 hope it all goes well! How are you finding the stims? I start mine just as you have collection. 😊

@HopefulllHolly thank you, all positive thoughts much appreciated. I'm going to try and look after myself the next few days anyway, then after my testing day me and my husband will have to chat about next steps.

Hello 👋🏻

New to this forum and our journey of IVF

Supposed to start my injections on Wednesday.
high risk of OHSS. Had 78 follicles on my assessment scan so pretty nervous about that.
planned a freeze all cycle.

Have many of you taken norethisterone? I did, to stimulate a bleed but on day 3 of my break and nothing so far. Getting a bit worried

Really glad to have found this forum as a place to get advice and support from others.

Just catching up on everyone else’s, but baby dust to all

I hope today went well!

I replied to your other thread but I’ll mention here as I’d like to join this chat - I have my first EC on Wednesday morning and I will be triggering shortly. So anxious about the whole thing now. I’m also just freezing eggs rather than embryos.

What clinic are you with @ViVRe ? Your consultant / nurse don’t sound particularly helpful!