IVF/ICSI May or late April

[AnnieStar12]

Is anyone else gearing up to do IVF/ICSI in May?

My meds have arrived and I start my down regs next week to start a long protocol ICSI cycle, my egg collection will then be mid-May.

Had my first ICSI cycle in Feb which resulted in only 1 embryo which was transferred on day 5, but BFN. I found the support group on here super helpful with my last cycle, so wondering if anyone else is in a similar position?

@Ashleighlouise

Hi @SS2022 I'm sorry I can't offer any advice I know it's a shock to find out to have such low amh! I found out mine was 0.40 ng/mL when I was only 30! This was a year ago so I don't want to retest incase I get bad news, it's great you still have 2 follicles it's still possible to collect 2 eggs in the future if needed! I've read acupuncture can help grow follicles too! But stay positive you still have 1 little embryo growing atm right? It could just be the one that will be your baby soon ✨️

Thank you!!! I will try this!

Welcome @Ginie2024 hope your first cycle is going well! Where are you in your cycle? I don't have any experiences with back to back retrievals but someone may have in this group! It's my first round too so I am still getting clued up on everything 😂😂

We have a beautiful little embryo onboard! 🥹🥹

Will definitely be trying the yoga tomorrow!

Weeee @HopefulllHolly, hope they are settling in well!! Congrats on getting to this stage!

im going to give that ivf yoga a go for sure. I’ve hardly moved since retrieval so really in the mood to! Also massively reduced steps during stims, I usually do about 8.5k but I did about 4.5k a day.

@Ashleighlouise was it you who said you still managed to get 10k steps in during stims? That’s great if so!!

what has everyone else’s approach to steps / exercise been during stims? I’m guessing it’s good for you to get the blood moving!

Welcome @Ginie2024 ! Hope you get the info you’re looking for.

@SS2022 i take amh with a pinch of salt… I’ve had several tests over the past five years and they’ve always been different! Different labs use different ranges too so they are not very comparable. I was told a few years ago that my fertility was ‘going off a cliff’ due a decline in the numbers, then a year ago it was higher and I was told it ‘wasn’t even looking at the cliff’. So… I would go with AFC over AMH any day!

Hi @Cloclo93,
thank you. Did you find out why it had dropped for you. Mine is age and stress related I think!
i will just try one more time and then I am done as it has messed me up completely. I don’t feel myself anymore.

Congratulations on to those who had the transfers! And the good news having little embryos made 🥰 we should be seen some bfps soon on the tread!

Girls I have a question on collection days, my clinic only does EC on Wednesday to Friday but today AF arrived so my natural ovulation date would be day 14 which would fall on the 20th of this month a Monday, so I'm guessing my clinic will push my ovulation over 2 days over to fit on the Wednesday which would be cycle day 16 for me then, is this normal procedure for most clinics to change your natural ovulation day? TIA 😊

@CreamLampshade oh really! I have never heard that. May be I should test again!
I need to get a basal scan booked again to look at AFC.

@CreamLampshade i definitely tried to during stims, but between work and my daughter/just life in general it was quite hard I definitely didn't manage it every single day but I tried to get at least 8k+! I think it's good getting the blood flowing 🙌🏻 but I'm the same, since EC yesterday I haven't moved 😂 think we are going to go on a walk now though!

No @SS2022 I don't really, the only factor I could possibly think of was I had breast implants for 3 years which I then removed that could of possibly affected my fertility levels I don't know 😕

You can still produce eggs so I wouldn't be given up yet if I was you! ❤️

@Cloclo93 I am so sorry. I strongly feel women and men should be more informed about all this as part of college curriculum so that they can take informed decisions as all this can be life changing. I didn’t have a clue that IVf can be massively difficult.

I am trying to be positive but it’s a bit hard.
where are you with your journey now?

Thanks! Did EC yesterday, I am part of the 3 eggs club :) and low AMH (1.8)
With a long history of miscarriages and no kid so far, I am absolutely terrified of the transfer so I am still unsure whether I should collect as many PGTA embryos as possible or just do this one cycle and try for a transfer...One thing I would strongly recommend to all of you is acupuncture. It has helped me so much with blood flow and relaxing

I guess it depends on the clinic you're in, is that NHS or private? My clinic adapts to the women's cycles so they do ECs every day, even on Sunday if this is what is required (they try to avoid it but sometimes it's just not possible)

No not NHS I'm private here in Ireland, it's very inconvenient especially when your paying 5k a cycle you would imagine EC would be at least 5 days a week! 😪 kind of annoyed because I read ivf works best when it's in your natural ovulation time

Oh definitely! Especially in fertility I've read men's fertility has declined by half in the last 50 years not sure about women's but that rate is scary!
My AF just arrived so I'll be starting my second ivf cycle on Friday this time ICSI, hopefully EC on the 22nd 😁 when will your transfer be?

@Cloclo93 my clinic only does EC on Mon, Wed or Fri which I also find a bit annoying as it means I have to work to their schedule rather doing the optimal timing for me. But I guess it's okay as the stims and triggers ultimately control everything and even if a clinic was open every day they'd still need to manage scheduling of other patients etc so there will always have to be some flexibility I guess.

Sorry @Cloclo93 my clinic also just go with your cycle! Might be worth asking them how they do it!

Welcome to the exclusive 3 egg club @Ginie2024 ☺️ nice to have a new member! Sorry to hear about your miscarriages, so awful for you. I’ve never had one (which is scary to me because we’ve not used protection in 7 years and I know when I ovulate so it should have happened, but our issues explain that now!). Congrats on the egg collection too! I personally didn’t see the point in PGTA testing, and neither did my consultant given we knew I wouldn’t get many embryos anyway. It made me nervous they’d discard a mosaic one that could correct itself once they know. So I’d rather just keep going. If I got lots of embryos then it would make sense (especially financially and because I’m getting old now!) to have them tested. So I’m probably too biased to give you advice on it! I guess it’s a personal choice really.

Don’t give up @SS2022 unless your gut says it’s time. Could it be your AMH dropped due to IVF? I think that’s quite common because of the drugs. Might be something to ask consultants about (they may not know though in fairness!)

@Ginie2024 I'm sorry to hear about your miscarriages 😢 i do already have a daughter who was conceived naturally but last year i had an ectopic pregnancy that ruptured so that tube was removed and then i had a HyCosy and that showed my left tube was also blocked. So needed IVF if we did want other children.

That's great congratulations on your 3 eggs!!! Seems to be the lucky number in this group 🤗🥚✨ Positive vibes they keep growing and developing! I also had my AC yesterday as well, how are you feeling today?

@HopefulllHolly thank you for your kind words. I don’t want to give up at this stage. I will keep doing what I can xx. I am feeling a lot better now :)

Sticky vibes to everyone resting post transfer

phew a few calls made and I’m ok to continue provera

my smear is due in June but they said it’s upto me if I want to proceed without it . Don’t think I’ll have 4 days bleed free to get it done but I’ve got it booked provisionally

all the gym and rest hopefully next weeks weigh in .. hopefully no gaining and can start stims after provera

Just to say I would be careful that you don’t have any enlargement of your ovaries before trying this - there are lots of twists! They don’t recommend yoga during ivf for this reason. I just did little bits of it but most of it didn’t feel right for my enlarged right ovary!

@Ashleighlouise gosh that sounds painful, am sorry to hear it, fingers crossed you will get your 2nd little one very soon ❤️
Feeling good today, just dreading the wait until Saturday to know whether they have grown enough...how are you doing? How soon after EC did you guys start exercising again?

@HopefulllHolly thanks for sharing, PGTA is somehow a topic that divides lots of people: NHS doctors have sworn I would waste my time and money with it while private clinics confirmed this was the best way to reduce the risk of miscarriage (my previous m/cs were all due to chromosomes abnormalities, which is exactly what PGTA test for) and mentally I will not be able to go through another one so even if I end up with only 1 embryo, I'll need it to be tested. Fingers crossed your little embryo grows well and quickly, when is your transfer?

@Cloclo93 maybe best to check with your clinic but tbh they moved my EC date a few times and changed my meds too because they wanted to give more time to the tiny follicles so I think you still have some flexibility on the day this is done