May IVF - anyone else having their first or another round this month?

[overwork]

Hello! I’ve been following these boards for a couple of months, having initially said I’d not put myself through IVF (as the odds are pretty low at my age), I’ve somehow found myself starting my first cycle this month. I’m 42 so not expecting miracles. If we are successful, this would be our second baby.

Hi,
i’m due to start my first cycle around the 18th of this month.
we’re trying for first baby and I’m 34, we’re doing a Kind Ivf (lighter protocol) cycle and I’m a combination of excited and terrified! Sending you lots of luck
xx

Thankyou @Percy15, good luck to you too! I’ll be starting a couple of days ahead of you I think, cycle should start about the 15th. I’m not excited exactly, but I do feel quite relaxed in that whatever happens is down to someone else and not me! If I actually manage to get one embryo or more, I’ll be having PGT-A and so will freeze them. Are you hoping for a fresh transfer?

First time IVF/ICSI! Doing IVF due to partner having vasectomy in past relationship.
Start my stimulation drugs 8th May. Egg collection hopefully 20th May a fresh transfer 25th May!

Oh brilliant, you’ll have to let us know what it’s like then as you start first!

Absolutely, will keep you all posted! Wishing you lots of luck. Is this your first ever go?
Im so scared to be excited as these forums make you realise how difficult it is!

Lots of luck to you too @LFlynn91Yes first go and not expecting miracles but slightly hopeful at the same time!

Thank you xx yes excitement probably isn’t quite right, but yeah feeling that something different and hopefully positive is happening is helpful. Yeah we’re going to do icsi (slightly low morphology) and hopefully a fresh transfer all being well.

I’ve had one ectopic pregnancy (and lost a tube as a result) but otherwise tests etc have all been normal so hoping we can have at least one to transfer and one to freeze (the lower dose stims were doing don’t usually get you too many)

Well hopefully lower numbers means the best quality then!

Hi all,

I'm also due to start my first cycle this month.
I have been on HGH injections for about 5 weeks and start Buserelin tomorrow, so I think that makes me a downregulation long protocol, although I'm new to the terms.
Stims should start 13/14th-ish.
I think I'm just ready to get going now, it's been a long process to get here.
Good Luck xxx

Good luck!

Thank you xx

Hi @TheNavyFatball! Honestly I don’t know what much of your post means but I think I’ll be just behind you starting stims! Good luck too

I'm not sure I do either! Just very much trusting the process and trying to keep my mind occupied this week.

Well that sounds like a great plan. Funny how quickly all this terminology will become second nature to us.
Has anyone read that many people put on weight during the process? I can’t put on any more weight, TTC has left me in a bad way already!

First injection just done!!

Hello ladies! Wishing you ladies all the best. @overwork thank you for setting up this thread 💕.

I’m going to start the medication for a fully medicated frozen embryo transfer whenever my period starts (which hopefully should appear around 15-18th). We are trying for our first baby and I’m 36.

IVF due to endometriosis. I did an egg collection in November, shortly after endo surgery in October (mine was also on my ovaries so they do a collection on your next cycle just in case you get a drop off in ovarian function from the surgery). The plan was to wait for the post surgery healing and then do an embryo transfer in February. I was told to wait for a transfer rather than try to conceive naturally after surgery due to a clotting issue making me more prone to early miscarriage (it impacts implantation and placentation) which they are going to manage with clexane and aspirin from the point of transfer.

Had a real shock at the initial baseline scan in February to see I was accidentally pregnant (my period had started on time and then I’d just continued bleeding which I thought was the oestrogen medication for the transfer). I miscarried which was horrible from the hormone crash / emotions but wasn’t unexpected from what I was told and the bleeding. And while upsetting it hopefully shows my surgery worked, I’d had no pregnancy at all before when TTC. Easier to say that now the hormone storm is over!

I’m hoping to get a bit further down the road this time (!) and I’m definitely not pregnant going in! Quite keen to get started now.

@overwork I think it really varies person to person on the weight gain. I did but I had to take steroids too for endometriosis before the surgery and as part of my egg collection protocol too. I’ve had some friends who gained a kilo or 2, some more and others who didn’t gain at all. Mine has all come off too now (and I gained 11kg in 10 weeks from September to November which is higher than anyone I know!). What goes on can always come off and be kind to yourself, honestly try not to worry about right now 💕💕💕

Sounds like you’ve already been on a huge journey! I’m wishing you lots of success as you continue xx

@LFlynn91 thank you 💕. Wishing you all the best too and hope the injections aren’t proving too rough

Ah well done @LFlynn91, hope it wasn’t too bad. Did the clinic give you an indication of dates for egg collection? The consultant told me it would be 2 weeks max, but the nurse we spoke to last week said some people go over that. We’ve booked an holiday in early June so I’m wondering whether to delay for a cycle. Though having finally decided to go down this route I’m ready to get started!
And hello @SlightlyTerrifiedButPolite, what a story and I’m sorry you have been through so much to get to this point. Hopefully this next step is the turning point for you, I wish you all the luck

Thank you so much @overworkI hope this goes well for you too 💕. My egg collection was exactly 14 days after my cycle started by the way (as in 14 days after my period started vs 14 days after taking the medication) in case that helps xx

Ah see that would work fine and that was what I had in mind when I booked the holiday. But the nurse (she wasn’t particularly friendly actually) kept reiterating that because they don’t scan on weekends, and my period is due exactly the same time as yours weirdly, I wouldn’t be able to start injections Saturday or Sunday. If I start Monday and it’s over 2 weeks, that s definitely pushing it. I feel a bit silly booking it now, but also I just didn’t know!

@overworkdon’t feel silly it’s really hard to know and having things like holidays to look forward to and keeping real life going as much as possible through the process is so important. Is the holiday cancellable? Could you wait until your period starts (just to make sure it starts on time) and then make a call on whether to cancel or not? And how long are you going for? Just wondering if you could keep the booking but go a day or two late, say if it’s for a week or so. Or save it for another time.

Sorry about the unfriendly nurse. There are three at my clinic who mean well but their manner is just a bit off! One speaks a million miles an hour like a robot repeating the same sentence and no thought of the emotional context and it makes you feel overwhelmed, one creates unnecessary confusion that just adds to the stress and the other just says really clumsy things. My friend went to the same clinic as me, she went back for her second round of egg freezing and the nurse looked at her first results which weren’t great and said “oh dear what happened there?!”. I knew exactly which nurse it was! The one who causes confusion was really nice about the miscarriage so she’s redeemed herself in my eyes a bit!

Haha do you know what I think it was mainly the accent, she had a really drawling American accent and it just made her sound bored. I might have been a bit hard on her! It sounds like you and your friend are keeping yourselves sane and bonding over the bedside manner anyway!
We’re not telling family and we’re going to stay with them so cancelling it might be best, if I start my period late. I think I’ll wait and see what happens next week! I usually get cramps a few days before so I’ll probably have a good idea whether or not the timings are going to work by Wednesday I think

Hi everyone! I'm due to start my third EC cycle towards the end of the month, depending on when my period arrives. Just waiting to get my medication delivery date which will most likely be confirmed Monday.

Thank you! The injection was absolutely fine, nothing to be worried about. My protocol is planned for a scan on the 18th and then all being well egg collection on the 20th and a fresh transfer on the 25th.
So hard isn’t it. IVF is all so consuming but it’s nice to remember to do the normal things like date night or go on holiday xx