IVF march 2026

[sunflower1906]

Is anyone planning a fresh cycle in March? It would be lovely to have some cycle buddies to share all the highs and lows of this whole process as we have been pretty private and not told any friends or family. I have been down regulating most of February and finally got the green light to start stims on the 28th with egg retrieval provisionally booked for Friday 13th March. Thankfully I’m not superstitious 😂😂 then planning for a fresh transfer if all goes to plan and we have an embryo 🤞🏼🤞🏼

Yeah I agree. It wasn’t our plan that’s for sure. Our main issue was that they told us the investigation into the donor could take up to 12 months to complete and then at the end of them 13 months it may have been that the embryos needed disposing off and starting again. Myself and my partner are 39 this year and we paid for 2 collections this round so if we waited it could have been that we waited 12 months and then have to start all over again but be closer to 40 so the clinic gave us the option of having our second collection while it was investigated. It just happened to be that in the day I was meant to have had that transfer a baby was born with serious health conditions so they had to “take it off the shelf” effectively.

We opted for the new donor and it just so happened that a few days after collection the other results came back (after only 5 months) that the donor genes were clear. It yeah. It was certainly a tough decision but ultimately age was not on our side :)

This is wonderful news, congratulations on your BFP. I imagine your next few weeks will be your hardest wait yet for the scan but just keep calm and enjoy the feeling and look after yourself! Really rooting for you!!!!

@wishinghard2 Oh don’t get me wrong you were put in a really hard position. I’ve heard of that happening before on a thread I was on previously and it’s really difficult call to make as you’re in limbo and I totally understand going for a new donor. Hopefully things will work out for your family in 1 way or another as you’ve been through the wringer for sure

@lhun3 congratulations on your bfp. What great news!!! Does your clinic do beta bloods or is it now waiting for a scan?

@wishinghard2 thank you for sharing ur blast date with previous collections I guess bigger numbers don’t always mean better results so I’m going to remain hopeful for now. It sounds like you have had such a tough time with all the donor issues I never realised it was so complex and that could happen but I’m happy for u that’s u don’t have to destroy those 3 embryos and you will at least have the choice on whether u use them or not . I hope u get good news today on yr 9 fertilised and transfer goes smoothly 🤞🏼

@CrumbleCake98 hope yr monitoring scan goes well today and those stragglers have caught up for you 🤞🏼🤞🏼

@2mumlife my clinic don’t do a day 3 update unfortunately so will find out on the morning of transfer if there actually is anything to transfer 🙈 the clinic seemed positive though, said they would expect around 50% to become a blast so I like those odds!

@lhun3 wonderful news I’m so happy for you hope you are doing ok and looking after yourself. I think that’s the first BFP on this thread too so I hope more of us will be joining you soon 🤞🏼🤞🏼

@Miraclemuma03 hope you are doing ok on the stims, when do u have yr first monitoring scan?

no update from me really just waiting on weds and trying to get on with life and not dwell on all the what ifs xx

It’s waiting for the scan but I have called my GP to see if they can do any bloods for me 👌

@sunflower1906 hopefully you’re managing to keep yourself busy - not too much longer now till Wednesday!

Scan today went ok they saw about 35 follicles total - with 27 follicles on my right ovary (explains the bloating!) but a very wide range of sizes between 5ish and 20ish mm. In total only 2 were at the right size for egg collections so they’re leaving me 2 more days (on a low dose due to high estrogen levels) in the hope that some more catch up. Expecting to trigger on Wednesday for egg collection on Friday. 🤞

Hi all just catching up on all the news here on the thread, whilst led on the sofa recovering from egg retrieval today. Sorry to hear for some this hasn’t been the cycle that you hoped for. It’s incredibly difficult. 💕

I’m in a bit of pain, for those who have already been through it - does it ease off a bit on day 2?

Quickly learning with this journey that hope is a bit of a double edged sword. You need it to get through each (of the many) steps but it’s totally out of your control, and hope can get you in the feels big time xx

@CrumbleCake98 thank you, I know only 2 more sleeps 🤣🤣 nervously counting down and praying we have something to transfer 🙏🏼🙏🏼 I got my provisional transfer time so will be weds afternoon all being well. Wow! So many follicles! I can only imagine how uncomfortable you are! I was so uncomfortable and they only counted 11/12 total. Bet it’s starting to feel all the more real now! Hoping for lots of lovely eggies for you 🥚🥚🥚

@Greentiles67 welcome to the thread, hope you got a good amount of eggs collected? Are you planning a fresh transfer? I had mine on Friday and I would say that today I’ve felt my most comfortable, so less bloating and discomfort. I had lots of cramping the day of and day after so would highly recommend a hot water bottle as that helped me a lot and resting where possible. I’m usually quite active so felt incredibly guilty just sitting about but keep telling myself my body has really been through it so trying to be kinder to myself and I have a walk planned for tomorrow if the weather holds out 🤞🏼🤞🏼

hope everyone else is doing ok xx

Thats a lot of follicles, can definitely underatand the bloating and maybe feeling uncomfortable. Hopefully a good amout of eggs come out of your collection.

I think also think the more eggs retrieved the more healing time you need. By day 3 you should be feeling a lot more better and more comfortable. Dont be afraid to take some panadole to take the edge off .

Thank you @sunflower1906i was a bit naive about the recovery from retrieval. Changed plans, and now I’m going to take a few days for rest and recuperation. It sounds like we are on a similar timeline as I’m booked in Saturday for a fresh transfer. Good luck for Wednesday xx

@Miraclemuma03thank you. I have my painkillers and I can tell when I am due more. Hope your stims going well. How many cycles have you done?

Happy news @lhun3hope you’re well xx

Does anyone have anything they do before and after transfer?
I had cut my caffeine but now stopping completely, and trying to increase my water intake

This time around I have cut caffeine. I don't drink anyway. I haven't been to the gym but made sure I went outside for fresh air. Took four days off work (day of and three after) but I have a physical job so constantly on my feet otherwise.

Mostly I just took it really easy, slept a lot, drank a lot of water and got fresh air and gentle walk for blood flow to uterus.

I'm now 6dp5dt, cautiously happy but terrified after multiple losses. But this shows I have at least implanted. If I have a transfer again in future I'll do exactly the same things.

I have done the opposite of what I wanted to do! I haven’t rested much, I have cut out caffeine, alcohol and normal pregnancy things but I was advised to keep active (avoid the gym and HIIT) but to walk and keep blood flowing to help implantation

I tested on the weekend to BFP 🤯 can’t believe it as I haven’t had any symptoms!

Congratulations @MocktailMe that’s lovely news. How you feeling?

I don’t need a big excuse to skip this gym LOL but I’m definitely swerving it for a while and I’ll stick to walks. I have been invited to a 40th on Saturday night, and I can already imagine the eyes on me if I don’t have a Prosecco in hand.

Watching every minor thing and wondering if it’s a sign, but this just shows you never know…
I didn’t know with my first and did everything you shouldn’t as I just didn’t think it had happened that month 😱

Oh this is a great line for 6dp5dt I’m so happy for you! Cautious congratulations and I hope your little one is making itself comfortable in there and things progress as they should 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

@Greentiles67 il be doing pretty much the same as others said, planning a few nice walks weather permitting instead of my usual exercise, focusing on drinking plenty of water and making sure I include plenty of protein in each meal. Probably going to give the McDonald’s fries a miss this time as after 3 failed FETs I’m so done with this one and clearly didn’t work 🤣🤣 sorry McDonald’s it’s a NO from me 🤣🤣 but il prob end up panicking and getting them anyway 🤣🤣

Exactly that @Greentiles67!!! I have been living a pregnancy friendly lifestyle for a while now due to IVF so I just assumed it hadn’t worked as no spotting, bleeding or symptoms at all 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thanks @sunflower1906 and @Miraclemuma03. Still doesn’t feel real somehow - feels surreal that we’re even having to do IVF. Naively thought being (relatively) young and healthy we wouldn’t be here. I know I’ve not even got to the worst bit of the waiting but it’s already driving me a bit loopy. Trying to balance keeping hopeful with being realistic given IVF statistics.

@MocktailMe oh look at that wonderful 2nd line!! Such a positive start - congratulations and wishing with everything that it keeps progressing for you. How are you feeling?

Thank you so much. I feel much the way I have before when in the early stages - tired and sick, more so than previous pregnancies I think maybe because of the drugs? And anxious!

I felt the same way about IVF - but starting and doing it was actually better than the waiting and planning. Once we got going it felt good to be doing something in a way.

@MocktailMe congratulations, what wonderful positive news. I can’t help but feel so happy when I see someone get that second line.

@sunflower1906 I will be thinking of you tomorrow. Wishing you a nice blast for transfer!

@Greentiles67 how are you feeling now? I think the first 2 days after collection were quite uncomfortable for me but things started to settle and by day 4 I was fine. I was told to take paracetamol to take the edge of it on the first 24 hours.

I had my transfer yesterday which went relatively well. A 4AB was transfered and we had 3 for the freezer and 1 more made it to freeze on day 6 which myself and partner are ecstatic about as this is our 5th collection between us and we never got any Frosties on the first 3 collections so it’s nice to know we can have another go if we need it. I was very cranky yesterday but the process wasn’t as straight forward as they would have liked. They had to change the catheter 3 times and she said my uterus was curled up like a peanut 🤣 combined with a wonky cervix but we got there in the end!

I’m a bit late to this party but have my egg collection on Thursday morning so took my trigger shots this evening. My follicle count was better than expected but hard to know how many will be mature eggs on collection and then the real nervousness starts, this is my fourth full cycle and I have one living child. I had a second trimester loss last year that was completely destroying. First cycle got one embryo but it didn’t implant. Second cycle the one embryo failed to thaw. Third cycle got two embryos, one is my amazing toddler and the other was my angel in heaven. I’m 41 now so praying and praying that we’ll get some embryos. At the moment it’s looking like a fresh transfer but all my previous cycles have been frozen as I’ve had OHSS so I won’t be surprised if it’s the same this time. I’m feeling quite bloated and uncomfortable and so tired.

Trying for another one and this is my third cycle.
Are you feeling any better?