42 and starting IVF treatment tomorrow - would love some company for the journey ☺️

[Sheffters]

Hi ladies, so, as the title reads, I start the injections tomorrow evening. I have an appointment with my clinic (Care) tomorrow morning for the baseline scan and to get the treatment plan. Meds have arrived so we are ready to go! My AMH is 8.3 with follicle count of 14.

I had my son via IVF 11 years ago and was very lucky that it worked first time and on the NHS. This time it's private and costing a fortune. This is the only shot we have at this so we are feeling the pressure for sure.

I fell pregnant last month naturally (first time ever due to PCOS) but that ended in a chemical at 5 weeks. We are opting for PGTA testing and keeping everything crossed for a euploid.

Is anyone else starting this journey?

She did her usual trick of flashing the screen at me so quickly I could barely count them (plus in my head I wasn’t starting the morning injections till about Sunday so her telling me I might need to do two today was a surprise!). I think there were maybe 8 which might grow enough, and another 5 or so lagging behind but they’re currently tiny. So quite similar to last time! Oh dear, just what you need! Is it a relief to know that you’re good to go again atleast?

@overwork Oh that's a shame they rush you through it! At my clinic they show me on the screen and count them with me. They then show me the graph at the end which shows them all plotted, and let me take a picture haha. I find it reassuring to have more info but it doesn't necessarily stop any anxieties. Hope they continue to grow for you for the next scan!
Yeah it's good to know everything is going to plan. Start stims on Sunday and just want it done with now to be honest! The uncertainty of planning anything has been tricky as our first round got brought forward by a day and there's a potential for that to happen again this time.

Yes I find that bit so hard, I was expecting EC to be next weekend as that would be the same timings as my last round, but I was really surprised she suggested Weds was possible. I’ve a presentation at work on Thurs so I’d like to be there for that. My boss is well aware of what’s going on and would definitely cover me, but I thought that was safe. I feel like I’m messing them around and they’ve been so supportive. Never mind. It’s just another thing to add to all the parts that are shit of having to get pregnant this way isn’t it!

@overwork there are many shit parts to this you're right! But hopefully some good parts to come 💖
Must have been a shock with such an earlier collection than planned but it's great your boss is being supportive. There's nothing we can do to be honest and it's out of our hands so just have to go with it.
I've also struggled with not telling anyone that we're doing another round. No family know but I've told a couple of friends now and it actually felt good saying it out loud.
Let us know how it's looking for you at your next scan!

Haha I’ve just met my best friend for drinks, injected in the loos and had plain tonic on my rounds (did have a gin on her rounds, far from ideal but when I think how I was behaving when I accidentally conceived naturally two drinks isn’t the worst!) I know it would make life easier but I’ll still with my internet pals for now! @Magix86

Anyone using the Ovaleap pen? I’m having difficult make sure the dose is actually going in

@IndigoBluey I used ovaleap for my first round but that was back in 2024 so my memory isn't great. I do remember it being quite straight forward tho, what's worrying you about the dose? Can you see on the cartridge how much is in there? It should show the right amount having gone down after you inject if that makes sense?

I'm on gonal-f, just done my first one. Here we go again!

Thanks @Magix86 so the instructions for loading the cartilage depends on the dose. For the 900 iu it says to retract the twister and for the 300 iu cartilage it says to extend the twister. I have managed fine with the 300 cartilage but when loading the 900 cartilage I can’t get any out of it and the dose within the cartilage isn’t reducing after injection. I’m worried now as think this is 2 missed doses. I’m going to call the nurse in the morning. I’ve reread the booklet and watched the you tubes for how to load the 900 but nothing seems to work! How are you getting on with your changed meds?

Sorry cartridge not cartilage!

@IndigoBluey ahh yes I do remember that from last time! I think I tried to follow the instructions but I'm not sure the retraction thing worked for me either - I do remember just putting the cartridge in anyway and not worrying about the retraction thing. I really hope your clinic can help you this morning, it's stressful enough as it is without worrying about missed doses! Let us know what they say.

I'm feeling good. Gonal-f seems a lot more straight forward to administer so that helps. Our second round using gonal-f gave really similar results to our first round of ovaleap. Just hoping for a couple more good quality embryos this time 🤞🏻

Hi all, have been watching this thread in the background and wishing everyone well!

We have been processing our donor egg journey and it seems it's going to be a long wait ne to find a match unfortunately. We have had our initial meeting with the donor egg team at Care Fertility and they explained the process. They do have donors ready but they aren't suitable for us as we are white British and this is apparently a very common category. It has given us time to look into the different finance options and this time we will hopefully got through Access Fertility. Such a palava.

I am someone who likes to have things immediately and if anything in this process, it has taught me patience! 🤣

Sending you all lots of luck of best wishes x

@Sheffters good to hear from you! Great to see you're moving on with next steps. Although I'm sorry it seems like a long wait for you. Have you looked into other places for donor eggs? It's a bit different for us as we used donor sperm but we had the option of using a donor from our clinic's own bank or seeking a donor elsewhere. We chose from our clinic in the end but there were still so many things we needed to consider! The donor conception network can be a really helpful source of info.

I follow a woman on Instagram who is using a clinic in Prague as they have donor eggs available pretty much immediately it seems. I have no idea on why that is or what the clinic is like but just throwing it out there that there are other options if the wait proves to be too long for you.

My collection will be on Thursday, I have to do my trigger shot at 1am annoyingly. No more Meriofert either as my biggest follicles are big (too big I think but not much I can do about that now. If unsuccessful again I will query the decision not to trigger last night!). Have 9 follicles but expecting the 2 big ones might be over mature so maybe expect about 6? We shall see!

Oh, and partner has very strict instructions to ejaculate exactly 24 hours before EC as his swimmers were a bit dozy last time, which made me laugh

How are you feeling so far @Magix86?

@overwork 2 more days for you! You got this. Is Thursday the initial date you were expecting, or did they go a day longer? I've also had the worry previously about follicles getting too big but have always been reassured by the clinic. Did they say how big they were? But definitely a question to ask. 1am trigger doesn't sound fun tho!

I'm doing ok thank you. 3rd injection due shortly. A little bit worried that I'm not at my best for this round - not getting much sleep, my diet has been poor and quite stressed most days! My little one is now on the move and is wanting to be so independent it's really exhausting trying to look after him all day 😅

24mm which Dr Google says is the upper limit!
I’ve found this round harder. Possibly because I had hope last time, this time I don’t really!
It’s so hard isn’t it. Please don’t be down on yourself though. Women get pregnant in alsorts of imperfect conditions, I’m pretty sure that you not getting your 5 a day won’t be the reason this round works or doesn’t.

@overwork I'm sorry it's been tough for you too this round! Wishing you all the best for tomorrow, will be thinking of you. I looked back and my biggest follicle was also 24mm last time. Hopefully you'll get a lovely bunch of eggs collected.

@overwork best of luck tomorrow!! I can’t believe your retrieval is already here. I’m salty you’re feeling less hopeful but you’re still in the process and I think sometimes it held to reminder that even having the courage to out ourselves through this process says a lot about your determination.

@Magix86 don’t be too hard on yourself it sounds like you’ve got lots going on and still managing to keep up.

@Sheffters wishing you the best and that the right donor comes up for you. If you do want to consider international options happy to share what I’ve learned.

Thanks all! And thanks for putting my mind at rest @Magix86regarding follicle sizes.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Currently enjoying being waited on, I am shattered but I think that’s mainly having to stay up late to do the trigger injection!
@PearOpalsalty? Do you have your first scan soon?

@overwork 😂😂 jeez I should really do a better job of spell checking my posts - I feel like I need to come with a warning “this user is known for nonsensical word usage”. I meant sorry you’re feeling that way and know I’m even more sorry that I wrote that.

i had my viability scan and everything looks good so far- we were actually measuring a little ahead I think DH and I are still a bit in shook and hesitant to share because it just feels like we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop but trying to stay positive and grateful

Oh I’m so pleased to hear, huge congratulations to you both! Ah yeah it must be a hard balance between excitement and not wanted to get ahead of yourselves but with every week that goes by you are getting closer to that point!
I thought it was funny, I assumed salty might be a colloquialism!
So I had 9 follicles and they got 9 eggs. Expecting reasonable results tomorrow after what happened in the first round, it’s not until after day 3 it all starts going wrong for us. They don’t usually give day 3 updates at this clinic but I asked if I could be given an idea on day 3 or 4 of what to expect, seeing as I’m hoping for a fresh transfer on day 5

@PearOpal congratulations on the scan! That's such good news 🥰 I'm really happy for you.

@overwork 9 eggs is a great start! Well done. Hope you're able to rest this evening. I'm with you on the drop off after day 3 unfortunately but keeping everything crossed for you that this is the round for you.

I have my first scan tomorrow after 5 days of stims so we'll see what's happening then

Oh great, I hope there’s a load of juicy ones growing for you!