IVF / ICSI AUGUST 2025

[VioIetMoon]

I thought I would create an August support thread for anyone that may need it ❤

@BellaTink647 good luck for you collection tomorrow! I was very swollen and waddling going into mine, mine was a sedation and they said some people are awake and some aren’t so I think it depends, I was absolutely gone as soon as they gave it me so I don’t remember a thing between them putting oxygen in my nose and waking up in recovery😂 I was also very surprised by them asking if I wanted painkillers up the bum, that had to be a no from me😂

Overall it was actually quite a pleasant experience, nurses were fantastic, had the best sleep I’d had in weeks and got hot chocolate and biscuits when I woke up 10/10😂x

Thanks @waitingforday6
It's 09:45am so appreciate it could be later! Hope they've got soke good biscuits on offer hahaa.

@Chlo1995 here's hoping for an experience like yours! Sounds almost like a treat hehehe.
I am feeling more swollen as the afternoon has gone on today!

@Chlo1995 I really laughed at your review! I also quite enjoyed the sedation and am looking forward to it again, weird as that sounds! I don’t remember feeling drowsy when I woke up so it was just like having a lovely nap without the groggy feeling after! I can’t remember having biscuits though…feeling hard done by 😂

@BellaTink647 hope you get a good one too! There was some discomfort and a bit of bleeding afterwards but that’s to be expected really!

@YourTipsyDog honestly it was one of the best sleeps I’d ever had, I felt so alive afterwards, I had been put to sleep once before so I was devastated when they told me I may not actually sleep, I was looking forward to a good nap😂 I did have the same lady do my transfer that did my collection and she was telling me that she’s done a collection a couple of ladies after me and the woman talked the whole way through, I was like yeah I don’t remember a thing that happened😂x

Hope it went well @BellaTink647 and you are recovering with snacks!
How are you feeling @VioIetMoon?

All went fine for my EC today. Had a lovely nap and dont remember anything from after they said they were doing the sedation to waking up in a little room with tea and biscuits! Very odd experience to have no recollection of it 😆 and so far feeling fine, just very sleepy.

They collected 10 eggs which we're pleased with. But they have said my progesterone is a bit higher than they'd like for a fresh transfer so we have to decide whether to take that risk or do a freeze all. Will initially wait and see how many we get fertilised!

@BellaTink647 Well done glad it went well and 10 is amazing! I hope you can sleep it all off and have a nice weekend. Fingers crossed for the wait and lots of blasts!

@Waitingforday6 I spoke with clinic and they told me it's rare but it can happen. As its not a result of ivf treatment itself such as transfer , I have to go to my GP to confirm it , which is 2 weeks away. I'm not sure they'll he able to tell me anything more than a test will to be honest. I guess all I can do is wait until I can get booked in for a scan for confirmation. In the meantime I'm going to avoid Dr Google. Hcg producing cysts and cancers aren't what anyone wants to read and just further adds to my anxiety. It's the likelihood that just baffles me. I struggle to accept it

@BellaTink647 well done on your EC.
I had the same issue, my progesterone was apparently very high . It jumped from 1.5 to 15 in 48 hours . Are they prepping you with progesterone anyway? We were advised that if we got good grade embryos to freeze them but they continued to prep me for a fresh anyway in the event that they were low quality then rather than dispose they would offer me a fresh

Definitively stay off Dr Google @VioIetMoon! I don't blame you for not believing it until you have a scan (I so so hope this is it for you!!!). I am no expert but if anyone had an hcg producing cyst or cancer God forbid I can't imagine it fitting neatly into the 1-2 weeks box it would likely be off the charts right?

Interesting. Mine is only 6.3 at the moment but they said anything about about 4 is a bit too high. Yep they are prepping me with progesterone anyway so will see what happens with potential embryos over the next few days.

@Waitingforday6 Google can definitely be your own worst enemy at times.
Please do keep in touch. I'd love to hear updates from you.

@BellaTink647 it's alot of think about isn't it.
We only had the 2 so didn't want to risk them so froze them both in the end. We were contemplating another fresh round or FET in a month or so but now I've had this positive pregnancy test . If we have by some miracle conceived naturally after retrieval then it certainly didn't hinder implantation either .
I think if I was faced with the decision again , if we had more than two I think I'd transfer one fresh and freeze the others

We got 9 fertilised eggs from the 10 collected on Friday so really pleased about that. We've made the decision to freeze all to give ourselves the best chance due to my heightened progesterone. Really difficult decision and feeling very disheartened knowing we could have had a transfer this week. But we felt we'd rather go into the transfer knowing we've given ourselves the best chance for success.

Well done @BellaTink647 that's an amazing ratio of eggs to fertilised and a great number! I can imagine feeling deflated. We weren't able to do a fresh transfer either but we were told before starting it was likely a freeze all due to my higher AMH level so were mentally prepared. But even then there was the small part of me that hoped maybe it would still be possible. But I think you made the right decision. Every embryo is so precious and you want to give it the best possible chance! Has your clinic said whether you can start after the withdrawal bleed or whether to wait for the next real period?

@VioIetMoon I will definitely keep you updated 🙂 keep us posted too I am sure everyone on here is keeping their fingers super duper crossed!!

Thank you. Yeh I think I feel more disappointed because my clinic didn't make it clear in advance that the blood test on trigger day could have this impact, so getting so close to a potential transfer day to have the plan changed is hard. But I do feel we have made the right decision and feeling very grateful for the amount of fertilised eggs.
Clinic have said we have to wait for withdrawal bleed and then first proper period before trying again so hoping my body gets back to its regular rhythm ASAP!

@BellaTink647 I completely understand how fustrating it is. We had mentally prepared ourselves for a fresh, we didn't expect to have to freeze them and we were left without any advice about what a freeze all entails / risks ect. Nothing was ever discussed because it was such a last minute change of plan.
I did come across a study regarding the high progesterone success rates and the statistics of the groups were like 50 something % of the group without raised progesterone had successful implantation whereas it was 40 something % with higher progesterone levels, so lower but not zero either

Fingers crossed @BellaTink647 that your withdrawal bleed and subsequent period arrive ASAP. I am still waiting for my first real period after the withdrawal bleed. I am a week late based on my usual cycle but I could tell I ovulated later than normal but didn't do the OPK tests because I just can't face peeing on sticks in any way, shape or form anymore 😂 I am glad that my clinic offer a blood test and now have a UK satellite clinic because I can't bear a home pregnancy test (and yes of course I took one when my period was late but I just hate the BFNs!!!)
It looks like it's finally starting now so just hoping I get back into my regular pattern after this period so I can plan ahead for when a transfer might be. Because of the delay to my period we are looking at late November (October clashes with a holiday that we booked to have something to look forward to to get us through IVF but because the IVF dates changed a few times we ended up not being able to do a transfer beforehand) and we are going away to see family abroad in December before Christmas so we are likely pushing it to January because we just don't want to ruin Christmas. It's something we have always enjoyed so much even during this whole infertility journey. And I'm not talking about wanting to drink Baileys 🤣 I'd love a transfer ASAP but I just have visions of a negative test crushing us during our favourite time of year and infertility already takes so much from you. But we'll see if my period is much later it might work out in early November.
How are you feeling @VioIetMoon? When I saw you updated your thread I crossed my fingers 😄

@Waitingforday6 still none the wiser.
I'm still testing positive. There's not much progression on the lines but I'm trying hard not to go down that rabbit hole of obsessively testing . I spoke with my gp this afternoon and she isn't familiar with how the ivf process works but given that I've had a postive test after trying for so long she's going to book me in for urgent bloods . Hopefully that might provide me with a bit more clarity. I don't think they could see much on a scan before 7

Sorry stupid question, but what's a withdrawal bleed and how is that different from a period? I had a bleed 6 days after my egg collection, lasted 4 days and it looked a lot like my period (but about 10 days too early) - is the expectation that I am going to get a period after that as well?

@zirafica it's basically a fake period. Withdrawal bleed is just a term for a bleed after using synthetic hormones. It's your bodies response after stopping the synthetic hormones that cause an induced bleed whereas a normal period is caused by your natural progesterone dropping at the end of your cycle . Does that make sense?

@waitingforday6 can totally understand you wanting to park it until after Christmas if it doesn't happen before then, so that can be a time to relax and enjoy as you usually do.
Hope your regular cycle is starting to settle in!

So if my withdrawal bleed comes in about a week as expected, is it expected that the real period would then be a month after that? Or real period should comes as it usually would, which could be 1 week after withdrawal?

Thank you!! I have the same question as BellaTink! Is my next period expected to come then as it usually would (so in like 10 days), or would it be 31 days (as that’s the duration of my cycle) from the withdrawal bleed? Or at the normal time it usually would just next month? lol sorry very confused!

Fingers crossed @VioIetMoon!!
@BellaTink647 thank you!!
@zirafica I was expecting the usual cycle once I had the withdrawal bleed, so 31 days later if that's your usual pattern, but in my case it hasn't happened so good question, would be good to hear what happened to others. I assumed maybe it took my body a little longer to clear the hormones and restart ovulation?