First time ivf for another baby

[Timetotryagain]

Hello

I am due to start ivf for a 2nd baby, my first was conceived (naturally) after many years ttc and now we are going down the ivf route for number 2. Is anyone else in this position?

Hi @Timetotryagain, I guess I'm in the same boat!

Conceived naturally without much stress when trying for baby #1 in 2021; had absolutely no issues during pregnancy, so we hoped for repeat success with #2... and now we're taking the IVF route. Unexplained secondary infertility, other than our age (I've just turned 41) there were no problems on any of the tests, so that was rather unexpected.

I'm still reeling from the disappointment a bit, but we're committed and trying to stay hopeful.

I'm trying to see IVF as a way of condensing several months' worth of TTC into one cycle, which helps me focus on the positives and not dwell on the failure of TTC naturally.

I'm on flare protocol, will begin Norethisterone next week, with egg retrieval penciled in for second week in February.

What was your experience taking this route? And how are you feeling now that it's due to begin?

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, I hope the process is easy and above all, successful! Best of luck 🤞

@Happibara its a strange experience isnt it going for fertility treatment for number 2!

Best of luck for you as well 🤞🤞

We will be starting the cycle in March/ April so still learning all the lingo and all thats involved and its a bit daunting!

Are you feeling apprehensive about all of the meds and everything? I am a bit like how am i going to fit in all the appointments around my little one as they are at childcare a few days a week but i know some weeks i could be at the clinic a few times a week on the days that they are home with my usually

But overall i am hopeful for the next step and eager to get started now 🤞🤞

I'd say don't worry about the learning curve, it seemed really overwhelming but as we moved closer to the start line the team at the clinic really explained everything in greater and greater detail.

I think they're really invested in making sure we understand all of it,and then there is plenty of things you can do to track everything (timings, meds, appointments etc)

I feel strangely relaxed about the stims and medical procedures, just trying to think "whatever will be, will be"... after all it's just a few weeks in total, even if we're uncomfortable we'll manage!

Childcare though, that's another story.

We don't have much support network where we live as we moved recently. Lack of childcare options already cost us 1 appointment, which caused a full month and change of delay 😱 (Baby #1 was ill, couldn't be at nursery, clinic needed us both at the appointment, and would not allow us to bring the child with us).

I'm absolutely terrified that something similar will happen on the day of egg retrieval or transfer, and also already struggling to make arrangements for these dates. It all depends what time they schedule us in, and we have no control over it.

For now it seems we'll have to find a friend to mind Baby on the day of egg retrieval, in the time before nursery opens, as apparently we both are likely to be required to show up at 7am, and it's over an hour's drive! Of course, there's no chance of them accommodating the child at the clinic even if one of us would mind him at all times.

Sorry for the rant, I guess it stresses me more than I realised 😄

We'll muddle through it, I'm sure.

Are you doing anything to prepare for your cycle? You still have a decent amount of time to supplement / make lifestyle improvements; any New year resolutions? 😉

I'm supplementing like crazy and I think I'll ask the GP for TSH tests, read that levels while TTC should be quite low and my results from clinic were in the upper normal range Anything to improve our chances! 🤞

Hi similar to @Happibara we conceived #1 no problem. Then accidentally got pregnant (we were about to start trying again) within an ectopic, I lost my tube and 18m later still TTC.
We had one round before Xmas, got 2 embryos, transferred them both, BFN.
Starting our next round asap looking like March.

I honestly didn't find the process too bad, just the 5 days between collection and transfer was stressful. Oh and the afternoon after egg collection I was sore. But injections were fine.

@Confusedddddddd thats good to hear that you didnt find the process too bad! How long was the stim process for you? I am abit nervous about the injections but i did have to have anti blood clot injections for 2 weeks after i gave birth which i got my OH to do and i didnt find them too bsd but i used to work myself up about them haha!

@Happibara thats so frustrating that childcare issues have already meant delays for you :( i am gonna have to ask my clinic about whether if necessary we could bring our little one if they couldnt be at childcare etc!

I have just started taking prenatal vitamins, is therw anything else i should be doing? I am already fairly fit from chasing the toddler around haha but i could definitely do with eating better haha!

@Timetotryagain sorry for the late reply...
Downregulation was about 3-4 weeks before egg collection and stims was about 10 days. So during stims I had 2 injections.

I also had to do the blood thinning injections, but I found the IVF ones much easier, the needles are really tiny and I injected into my belly which wasn't as painful as my thigh.

Hi @Timetotryagain @Happibara @Confusedddddddd also in a v similar position!
We had a LB 30months ago- we had hoped to have a second relatively close together but 19months on haven’t had a hint of pregnancy- we know now my AMH is low but no other known issues. We are on round 3 of IVF with create- we haven’t yet done a transfer, but have three embryos in the freezer and will hopefully do a fresh transfer this cycle.
It’s a journey we never imagined being on, but have found that time has really helped with processing and accepting the situation.
completley agree with @Confusedddddddd that the waiting post egg collection is almost the hardest part of the cycle, and i am sure the TWW will be tricky to navigate this cycle if we get to a transfer.
@Happibara can sympathise with the child care challenges, our clinic have been good with putting egg collections later in the morning so we have time to get our son into nursery but it is a challenge at time, feels at times another layer onto the already busy work/life/toddler admin challenges!
Im also taking many supplements, doing accupuncture, trying to eat well 80% of the time (realised that 100% just doesn’t work for me as I lose focus quicker)
good luck to you all! Hope 2025 is full of positive news!

Hey just found your thread, I'm in the same boat!!
Tried for 2 years with my daughter and just as got put on the IVF waiting list I fell pregnant naturally.
Have been trying for 2 years for baby number 2 and officially going down the IVF route. We have had consent appointment and just waiting for our schedule now to officially start medication.

I'm 29 but I was conceived through IVF, so Ive had the tests and all come back fine for me and my husband so we have unexplained infertility.

Here if you need anyone to speak to on this journey :)

Hi, hope it's OK for me to jump onto this thread.

We're in the same position - me (38) and hubby (38) struggled to conceive our first but happened to fall pregnant after 3 years just as we were about to start IVF. We've been trying now for 3 years for no. 2, I had a MC 2 years ago but nothing since. Finally went for testing last June and it turns out husband has severe MFI (extremely low sperm count, 99% immobile, only 0.4% normal morphology so bad on all counts) and were advised ICSI would be the only way forward. I'm slightly ahead as did the stims over Christmas and had my EC last week however I developed OHSS so the clinic advised us to switch to a freeze all and now we can't have FET for at least 2 months 😑

Wishing everybody on here all the luck in the world ❤️

Hello @Stillwinston , @CharlFF @ZCarver!

It's really good to find other couples in similar circumstances ❤️

I know that medically it's not unheard of to be grappling with secondary infertility, but in our circles we seem to be really unique: either people just welcome siblings without any problems, or struggle to conceive in the first place.

So actually I hesitate to share with either group: first doesn't get there might be an issue and just offers "advice" on what else we could try, and I feel guilty complaining to couples trying for their first. It is nice to have found this thread!

Update from us, started taking my Norethisterone yesterday, scheduled to continue until next Friday. Then bleed, then start the stims (I'm on a flare protocol). Don't feel any different yet, but I feel like we're finally moving after all this waiting 🤞

Best of luck to all of you!

@Happibara I completely agree it’s Harding post on some groups as like you say when people are trying for there first.

we’re still waiting our schedule. I had a letter through today was so excited when saw the envelope opened it and it was just the invoice from the admin fee we paid was so gutted 😂

glad you feel ok at the moment. I don’t know what protocol I’m on yet so just a waiting game. Think I’ll ring them next week see if there’s an update lol.

Sorry ladies i havent replied in ages! We are at the very very start of it all but got another amh test tomorrow and then meeting with the medical team to discuss what protocol i will be on etc

We have to both sign things so i have to wait in the carpark with our little one and then when i am done with the blood test, my OH goes in because they said due to the nature of the clinic no children allowed which i can totally understand! We dont have a support system near us so bit worried about any appointments where we both have to be there together.

From everyones experience are there appointments where you absolutely both have to be there?

@ZCarver we are waiting for our schedule too 💙

@Happibara have you started the stims yet and have you had a baseline scan?

@Stillwinston what was ohss like? Thats a shame you have to wait 2 months but hopefully gets your body in the best position for it 💕

@CharlFF are you doing a fresh cycle currently then?

@Confusedddddddd have they let you know when you will be starting your next cycle?

Hi All- it’s so nice reading over stories- it’s easy to feel a bit alone in with secondary infertility! Good luck to those of you waiting for your cycles- do you know when roughly?
@Happibara i think your doing a slightly different protocol than me- have you started stims yet?! Hope it’s all going well!
we are having egg Collection tomorrow, I don’t have a great load of follicles so feeling a bit nervous about the outcome of tomorrow but reminding myself it just takes one egg! Xx

@Timetotryagain sorry I meant to add- I have found that the only appointment we need to go together too is the egg collection if your partner is doing a fresh sample, so we’ve had to make sure he’s either in nursery early enough or make sure we have child care organised, luckily all have fallen mid week so far. All other appointments I generally just go alone to remove any stress of juggling two agendas and childcare!

@CharlFF good luck with egg collection today!!!!! Let us know how it goes xx

@CharlFF good luck today! The sedation was amazing, possibly the best sleep I've ever had 😂

@Timetotryagain luckily the ohss has been pretty mild as I was prescribed some meds to combat it straight after EC. I did have a few days where I was in agony and couldn't stand up completely straight but I just rested and hydrated tonnes and now my breakthrough bleed has started I feel so much better.

Also, just to second what @CharlFF said, OH only needed to be present on EC day and then they obviously want you both there for transfer day, other than that it's fine to go to the appointments by yourself.

@Happibara hope you're finding the meds/stims OK so far, I found that I was super uncomfortable by the end but it wasn't too bad overall. Make sure you look after yourself and take it easy over the next couple of weeks, the process is draining both emotionally and physically ❤️

@CharlFF Good luck today with the egg collection! Looking forward to hearing good news from you!

I'm on something called flare protocol; the clinic team explained that it aims to get my ovaries to produce some hormones before moving on to stims.

I'm still in early days of it, taking Norethisterone until Friday, then I'm supposed to bleed and take a single shot of prostap on the 29th January. After that it's stims & scans until ready for egg collection; I think that will be around 10th February 🤞

@Stillwinston thank you so much, I'm doing fine so far. I'm just SO impatient to get on with this process!!!

Perhaps it's the Norethisterone making me more emotional? I swing between "let's it just happen asap, I want to know where we stand!" and "Oh no, what if it will all be for nothing" 😅 Being this moody is odd for me, as usually I have no noticeable PMS symptoms.

Thanks all! Yes agree @Stillwinston theres something almost nice about the sedation- today was my third egg collection and minus the anxiety of waiting to hear on numbers afterwards there’s something quite nice about the process which sounds a bit weird- maybe it’s the ability to fully switch off (I’ve found accupuncture has given me a similar off switch!)
egg collection was ok- we got two eggs from my 3 main follicles- it seems I only really produce 2 or 3 each cycle so now the waiting game commences of hoping we have something to transfer later this week! (For anyone who hasn’t been through a cycle yet for me personally the waiting post egg collection is 1000% the worst part- I didn’t expect each day/update from the embryologist to be so anxiety inducing- not sure my low egg numbers help!)
@Happibara I am too much moodier during stims, and not someone usually who suffers with PMS- the lack of control is hard plus a whole load of extra hormones swimming around your body! Try and take each day as it comes, keep busy! X

Thank you for sharing. May I please ask a question?

Do you plan to do genetic tests on the embryos? Do they plan to transfer day 3 or 5 embryos?

Thank you and good luck with the procedure. I hope you have something nice planned to make the waiting seem more pleasant.

May I join your group as well please? I had my daughter 11 years ago, now I am 41 and we have been trying to get pregnant from the summer, because of my age we decided to do IVF as a shortcut, we want to get the embryos genetically tested too to minimise the risk of any abnormalities due to my age.

We are doing the cycle abroad because it's so much cheaper than in London.

We are flying out at the end of February, will need to complete some tests before starting the medication and hopefully have egg collection mid March.

I'm still trying to work out all the processes, it is complicated. Makes it a lot harder to time everything with flights and periods (which can be 26 day or 30 days).

My husband and I had to do an insane number of different blood tests before we are even allowed to start with the treatment.

Would you mind sharing what sort of blood test you all had to do before the process?

Good luck to everyone 💗

Hi everyone please can I join? I conceived no 1 v easily aged 36. Now I am 39 (husband 43) and we've been trying for no 2 for almost a year... I had an early MC followed immediately by a MMC at 8 weeks last summer which needed surgery etc. And nothing month on month since...

Starting to consider our options. NHS blood tests and semen analysis have all come back normal (my husband's sperm actually scored super highly on all measures, which of course he's delighted with!).

Just not sure whether to keep trying or bite the bullet with IVF as it's not cheap!

@ALM2207 @Whisper99 yes ofcourse welcome!

@Whisper99 where are you looking to do it abroad?

@ALM2207 yeah its worth going to a consultation with a clinic to see what the process would be

@CharlFF glad EC went okay 💜 have they updated you yet?

@CharlFF that's excellent news from your EC, quality over quantity! I hope you're holding up through the wait and progress updates. Keep faith!

@Whisper99 I'm very impressed you're going abroad! We've looked at the options and were absolutely shocked by the price differences.... but in the end concluded it would not work out, with the work and childcare commitments - too much juggling and uncertainty with period dates etc!
To answer your question, the blood work needed by our clinic was minimal: Just AMH & scan for me before first consultation, and semen quality for OH.
Then at planning appointment Hep B & C, HIV for both, and Chlamydia for me.
I've also needed to give them my TSH results, rubella immunity proof, and smear test results from GP. And that's it. total of 2 blood samples taken from me, and 1 + semen from OH.
Is it very different to what you've been required to provide?

@ALM2207 I'm sorry your journey is so difficult. It's hard to decide as there are no guarantees on the outcome no matter what you choose. It's worth going for an initial consultation to explore your options, but be prepared that a private clinic will likely offer IVF and not much in terms of other treatments/investigations.
Because of that, if you are not terribly pressed for time it's also worth considering what the NHS can offer you: with a child you won't qualify for IVF, but they may look at your miscarriage causes, or reasons it may be hard to conceive. I've actually had a HyCoSy before turning to IVF, the doctor said that any abdominal surgery may cause fallopian tubes patency issues; maybe that's something you could have checked? Sorry for a long message, bottom line is, explore your options 😊 Best of luck!

Hi All, sorry for the silence- I find the week post egg collection perhaps the hardest part of IVF, especially with low egg numbers, but we ended up with a top quality embryo being transferred yesterday (the other was a 1PN and we just found out it didn’t make the quality to be frozen) so now in the 2WW with a blood test booked for 4th Feb! Feeling delighted to get here and keeping the hope that everything is developing!
@Whisper99 in answer to your question we did a day 5 transfer, untested, I’m 35 so they haven’t recommended PGTA testing but will see how we get on with this transfer. We had the option of a day 3, but I’d rather know an embryo had the ability to make a blastocyst on day 5!
where are you going @Whisper99 ? I think we had similar bloods/tests to @Happibara .
@ALM2207 agree with what @Happibara said- id explore your NHS options but also speak to one or two IVF clinics around you. We started the process about a year ago to understand our options, exhausted all the bloods we could have on the NHS then picked an IVF clinic and had the initial tests with them, we then decided to continue to TTC naturally until September but I always knew we could switch to IVF whenever we felt the time was right (though I never really felt there was a right time, just that we had given it a year and I didn’t really want to see mere time pass without feeling like we were being proactive!)
@Happibara how are you doing? I think you start stims this week?
hope everyone is doing well! X

@CharlFF Yay, you're officially PUPO! I hope you'll have a peaceful TWW. Any plans for treats / distractions? And what's your plan for testing, will you wait untill the blood test, or try a cheeky test at home earlier?

Thank you for asking, I'm finished with the Norethisterone and waiting to bleed (and of course anxious it will be late). I will take prostap on Wednesday to shut my ovaries down and then Ovaleap stims from Friday 🤞

Very excited now! On the downside, the Norethisterone did make me gain over 6lbs in the 10 days I was taking it, didn't expect that 🤣