IVF/ICSI February 2025 🌟 ❤️

[ivfjourneyandme]

Hi ladies,

Starting early with this thread in hope some are on a similar time frame!

36yo, been trying to conceive for 2yrs. Severe MFI as well as AFC of 3 and AMH of 1.9pmol/l

First IVF cycle with ICSI ended with a total failed fertilisation - 4 eggs collected, all mature but no fertilisation.

We have now switched to long cycle and added in DHEA, COQ10, melatonin, vitamin D, omega 3 alongside our fertility vitamins.

I should start my period end of Jan; and then start down-regulating February with transfer hopefully late February if I’ve worked it out right!

Anyone else on this mental torture of a ride?

Me neither but still got cramps, headache, sore boobs, mood swings the lot! Literally been so angry at everyone and everything all day lol 😂 said to my husband it’s like I’m having a period just without the 🩸 lol

I don’t think they sedate for embryo transfers, it’s a bit like a smear test from what I’ve been told and shouldn’t be too bad!

Hope everyone’s doing okay with whatever stages you’re all currently on 💛

@ivfjourneyandme I hope that your period shows pronto!

Especially that I've just you in waiting for one 😉 Took the last Norethisterone pill today, need to bleed before the Prostap injection. Anytime before Wednesday will be fine... but of course I've already started worrying that it will be late.

Bear with me as I find yet another way to be fretful and obsessive in this process 🤣

@ivfjourneyandme fingers crossed your period shows up soon! My period was also late this month so I understand the frustration!

@captainsmal OMG same, I am just angry at everyone, I go in full rage mode for the smallest inconvenience.

@spttc I think it’s normal not to feel anything at day 2! There is no sedation for the transfer, but it’s not painful at all. In my clinic they show you the embryo on a screen, and then you can see on the ultrasound machine when they insert it (but TBH I didn’t see anything).

@Happibara “another way to be fretful and obsessive in this process” omg that’s me 😂
@YellowTack literally don’t even know why, I don’t usually get bad pms at all! I think it’s just making me angry waiting for the stupid period lol 😂

Morning ladies.

AF has arrived today. So now I wait until CD21 when I then begin down regulation.

My anxiety is through the roof knowing that if we have TFF again, it’s game over for us.

@ivfjourneyandme wishing you so much luck with this cycle! You got this!

@captainsmal thank you ❤️

@ivfjourneyandme great news that your period finally arrived! Wishing you the best of luck with this cycle, just take it one day at a time 🤞💛

@ivfjourneyandme woo great news on AF arriving! Sending you lots of positive vibes for this cycle 🤞🏻

@ivfjourneyandme that's great, the wait is finally over!

It's understandable you're anxious, but you'll keep going! And the cycle is different than the previous one, you have every right to expect a better outcome!

@ivfjourneyandme best of luck 🤞

Day 3 stims here. Almost messed up the dose earlier but didn't thank god 😅 feeling normal, good etc

@spttc on my last cycle I stabbed my self and realised I hadn’t wound up the carriage. Fail!

@ivfjourneyandme glad AF is here, I found outcomes did improve each cycle as they have your previous results to guide them.

Hello Ladies, how are you all doing?

@spttc so far so good, I hope you continue to be well 💖 When are your scans scheduled?l

I've just finished on Friday and today I realised it has one significant side effect: seems like I've gained approx. 6lbs while on it. Has anybody experienced anything similar? And if yes, was this extra weight easy to shift?

Seems a bit extreme, I've only taken it for 10 days! I've made no other lifestyle changes, and I don't think I've eaten more than I would normally, my appetite felt normal and I ate / avoided the same foods as in the last 3 months preparing for IVF.

I do realise it's really not much of a concern, although I struggled with disordered eating in the past, and even now the subject of body weight and shape is not the easiest. I was prepared for body changes as a result of the cycle. Just expected this to happen when stimming, and not expected it before 😅

@Happibara I don’t have any experience or advice to give but I can definitely sympathise, this is a worry of mine too as I am a recovered anorexic so I know how it feels having the concern of medication causing weight gain. I’ve actually gained over a stone the last year just from stress eating I think and it was a total shock finding out (I dont keep scales in my house for obvious reasons so I didn’t know until the bmi checks during my appointment!) I think the best thing I’ve tried to tell myself so far is that ivf is a big toll on the body and we need to be kind to ourselves and gentle with ourselves during this time, I know it’s hard sometimes but it’s a lot to put your body through and I’m just trying to think about why I’m doing it and hopefully the outcome of a baby at the end is all worth it! 🤞🏻 I also have to keep reminding myself that eating healthy is going to help my outcome and obviously if it all works I’ll be eating to help grow a healthy child/pregnancy too!

Update on me: still no AF but had brown spotting since yesterday now so hoping it’ll come tomorrow or the next day! I hope it’s not a weird cycle where I just spot the whole time and don’t actually have a proper bleed cos I’m getting so impatient to get started now 😭 I think if I keep spotting and haven’t started by Tuesday I’ll message the clinic and ask if I can just count this as a period cos it basically feels like one! Just no proper flow yet 🙄

Hello! Keen to join this thread for some support along this journey! I’m also waiting for my period to start stims, I’m due on Thursday so a few days to go.

@captainsmal is a light ‘spotty’ period common for you? I always get a lot of brown spotting before and after my period and sometimes it’s hard to know when it’s actually started to flow properly. Last month it barely got going at all it was so light. I’m worried that’s going to happen again this month.

we are 36 and 43 and having our first round of mild IVF through KINDIVF which is low dose short protocol. We have a 3 year old who was easily conceived naturally so secondary infertility has thrown us a bit. Feeling the pressure as this is probably going to be our only go before we call it quits due to DH’s age…

not really sure what to expect but mostly worrying about managing all the appointments around work and childcare at the moment. I already have 2 evening events I can’t get out of for work during stims so going to have to do my injections late if they need to be at the same time every day

@LuckyFlash welcome! My period due Wendsday so will hopefully all being well start stimming on Thursday too, so very similar timings!
@captainsmal hope your period comes soon. I'm also hoping mine behaves this week 😬
@Happibara I gained weight during each ivf round I did and it is stressful but like you said better not to focus to much on that aspect as there's not much you can do about it without jeopardising the sucsess of the outcome by dieting etc. Did you breastfeed your first child? I found I lost all the weight I gained during IVF when I breastfed, I wish Id known that would happen at the time of IVF as it would have saved me some stress! At least I know for this time round!

@LuckyFlash its not common but every now and then I do have a weird one 😅 tbh, I was misdiagnosed with pcos as a teenager and until we started ivf I thought I had that despite 90% regular periods, hormones being fine and no other symptoms (like excess hair or weight gain or anything) because they’d told me I had! When actually it was probably just normal teenage puberty hormones causing me to be so erratic when I was younger 🙄 my cycles didn’t properly sort themselves out until my mid 20s but now they say that I’m perfectly fine/fertile etc so it’s been a shock for me tbh as I always assumed that I was the cause of the infertility 🤷🏼‍♀️
@Cherryblossom90 I’m pretty sure I will be full flow by tomorrow morning, I’ve now progressed to a pale pink light flow and cramps have started BAD so that usually means I’ll wake up tomorrow with a proper flow 😅 it’s still two days earlier than the clinic have predicted for the cycle and timings they gave me so I may need to change my dates with work and also my medication delivery- currently got it due on 10/2 to start suppressing 13th but I’m guessing it’ll now be two days sooner than that!

For those who had norethisterone as a suppressant first, was it fairly quick for the period to come when stopping it? They’ve got me down to stop the tablets and bleed within 3 days so I’m hoping the next period isn’t going to mess me about quite so much as it’s been medically induced so to speak! 😅

Day 4 stims done ✅ it's funny I always assumed the injections were really big/painful because I guess I saw people saying it online but they're no bother and take about 10 seconds! 😅 can't even feel anything.

Monitoring scan scheduled for this Friday & then egg retrieval on Feb 5th all going well. It's all going so fast. I feel like I should be doing something 😅😂 I guess the meds will do their thing (hopefully).

Hope everyone doing well. Honestly @Happibara don't even think about the scale. Hopefully you'll be gaining more than 6lbs in the near future when you're pregnant🤰🏻

Hi @LuckyFlash, welcome! Have you discussed the stims handling with your team? I'm in a similar position, anticipating I'll have to travel and spend at least 1 night away when stimming, so I was anxious about it when I learned meds needed refrigeration.
But I've been able to discuss it and it turns out no need to worry: mine can be outside the fridge, it's just not recommended to put them back in if they've been removed for more than 20 minutes. So I plan to just take the doses I'll need out and take them with me travelling... and if I have to have injections in the evening I'll just find some privacy, even it it's a toilet!

@captainsmal thank you for sharing your experience, it's good to be open about all aspects of our journey! Hope your period comes on fully soon (how odd to be wishing anybody that in a TTC context!)

@spttc Thanks, your comment genuinely made me laugh! I hope so too... and I'll wish the same for you!

@Cherryblossom90 That's a thought! I did breastfeed and it definitely made me lose weight. It's great that for you it was enough to shift the IVF+pregnancy gain. So there's that to look forward to 🤞 And you're absolutely right, I won't be doing any changes to my diet or activity now. If anything, I'm actually trying to carve space to rest more, if I find I need to when going through the cycle.

I loved how you all instantly made me re-focus on hope and anticipation in this process, thank you 💖

I hope everyone has had a good weekend, both with wherever you're are in your IVF journey and just in general!

Day 6 of down regulation injections done. Generally feeling OK, I've had a couple of hot flush moments (including waking at 4am in a sweat which was unpleasant!) but nothing too bad so far.

Good to hear everyone’s feeling good and getting on well with their stims etc!
Well I went cinema and by the time I got out of the film I’d come on properly so that’ll be me contacting the clinic in the morning to notify them! I think it’s the first time in my whole 33 years I’ve actually been glad to get a period even if I am now cramping like mad 😂
Good luck everyone having scans etc this week 🤞🏻 can’t wait for that to be me next month, is it weird I’m actually even looking forward to injections 🤣 but then I do have a lot of tattoos so I’ve never been squeamish on that side of it, I think I’m more concerned about the tablets giving me mood swings tbh lol

Good to hear everyone is progressing with AF starting, down-regulation or stims.

I had my first monitoring scan this morning after 7 days of stims. They counted 8 follicles but 3 of them are very small (like 4-5 mm) so most likely 5 of them should big enough to be collected. That’s similar to my previous cycles and consistent with my low AMH.
I am still on track to trigger on Wednesday, and EC on Friday. I just hope the 5 growing follicles will have enough time to get bigger because I have 2 that are only measuring 12mm!

@YellowTack that's exciting! Do you know what your usual number of follicles is without stims? Do stims increase the number total or is it same number but just more matured?

@YellowTack that's great. Fingers crossed they'll just keep growing 💗

I remember you insisted on having an earlier scan; do you feel having today's made a difference, either as an opportunity to adjust treatment plan, or to help you manage the emotional side of things?

My clinic offers the 1st scan after 5 days of storms, but as it's flare protocol, that follows after letting ovaries do their thing first, so perhaps equivalent of day 7-8 of a standard cycle?

I worry that's actually late for a scan and I'm considering asking for an earlier one following your example!