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?

@Magix86 I also have my first scan tomorrow after 5 days of stims. Hope yours goes well. I’m a little apprehensive because my follicles didn’t grow much at all on my last cycle but hoping to see some growth tomorrow with an increased dose.

@overwork that’s a good amount of eggs and fingers crossed for the next few days

@IndigoBluey good luck for your scan! Did the clinic get back to you about the ovaleap pen not working?

I have 19 follicles already 🙈 16 are between 9mm and 13mm so doing pretty well, and 3 small ones. This is the most we've had after 5 days on both our last rounds! Feeling anxious we won't be able to progress with a fresh transfer, which the doctor said was unlikely if we had 20 follicles on trigger day. I feel like my only hope is that they trigger me early after our next scan which is in 3 days time. Last time we had a second scan after only 2 days and the growth hadn't been enough to trigger but by the time of our 3rd scan another 3 days later they had all shot up significantly.
How's the recovery after egg collection @overwork?
@IndigoBluey hope your scan went well!

@Magix86. That some good news on follicle count! Hope your next scan goes well. I did have some better news this time around in that follicles have grown much better than last cycle so I left feeling relieved, surprised and in a really good mood whilst reminding myself not to get too far ahead….

@Magix86 oh and on the Ovaleap pen yes all going well now, it’s so easy once figured out the right way to
do it!

Thanks @IndigoBluey ! Glad you got the ovaleap pen sorted and also great news on your scan! Can imagine that must be reassuring for you. We have our next scan tomorrow so will see what happens. I'm hoping my follicles have grown enough to be almost ready to trigger but not so much that we have more than 20 😐 it's so hard not to get ahead of yourself in all this. It's great to feel hopeful and optimistic but I also need to remind myself to stay realistic

@Magix86 it’s certainly a mind game. If I can get to the right size and number of follicles then it will be my first egg collection. I guess I’ll find out this week after scan 2 and I think I’ll need a 3rd scan. Have you had many symptoms during stims? Mine seem less this time around even though it’s a higher dose. Hope tomorrow goes well for you

Thinking of you today @overwork for your update and @Magix86 for your monitoring!

Ah Thankyou @PearOpal. Just had my scan and all the fluid has cleared so we are good to go for a fresh transfer tomorrow! Need to have a think about what we’re going to do if there’s more than one PGT-A wise (though tbh getting ahead of myself here because last round there wasn’t one, let alone any leftovers!). Best of luck @Magix86I hope that you have no more than 19 in there!

Great news @overwork !! So glad the fluid cleared up and you can go for a fresh transfer. Sending lots of love for those embryos for tomorrow.

Thank you @PearOpal 😊

@IndigoBluey so I haven't really had many symptoms but a bit of cramping here and there and just a bit uncomfortable. I've read that lots of protein, electrolytes and coconut water help so going to focus on that. Hope all goes well for your second scan - when is it?

Just had my second scan....27 follicles 🫠🫠 I have no idea where they've all come from!!
The good thing is that only 18 are measuring 10mm and above so they are happy to go with the ovitrelle trigger and still aim for a fresh transfer, although they will see what it looks like on the day of my collection and may change to a freeze all if there's fluid, or wait until day of transfer and see how I'm feeling symptom wise which is fair enough.

They are triggering me and doing egg collection a day early in the hope that the big ones don't get too big but the small ones still have a chance of getting big enough 😬

Such a balancing act isn’t it. The timing of the scan I had today I think is more commonly done for OHSS as they were discussing the size of my ovaries / measuring fluid in my pelvis and checking if I was having breathing problems. It was all interesting to see but I had to request that they went back to the lining and give that a thorough check over instead please!

27 is extraordinary! You’re an egg machine!

@overwork I hope your transfer went well today
@Magix86 glad you got news for fresh transfer

my egg collection is scheduled for Thursday. I was surprised as thought probably Friday or Monday and I didn’t get to collection phase last time so feeling relieved but also apprehensive. At least it’s in the morning so will be able to rest afterwards

@overwork an egg machine haha! I still have so many doubts about the next few steps and won't fully feel relieved until we get the day 5 update. Just focusing on one step at a time for now.
That does sound like a lot of ohss questions but at least they've given everything a good check! Wishing you all the best for tomorrow, will be thinking of you

@IndigoBluey Ooh we'll be egg collection buddies, I'm also having mine on Thursday morning! Definitely plan to rest afterwards, I was in quite a bit of pain this last round and just wanted to lay in bed for a few hours.

@Magix86 glad you’ve gotten along to collection phase too. My scan earlier was a bit blurry so I really thought I’d have to go back for a third scan on Wednesday but they managed to spot the larger follicles it just took a bit more time. I’ve been feeling more bloated and twinges the last couple of days so the follicles had a jump in growth spurt. I don’t think I could handle many more days of stims. How are you feeling about your collection and in general?

Just in clinic now waiting for my bladder to top up a bit more. Feels very full to me. Hoping I don’t pee on the doctor. Going to have a 4AB put in. We don’t have any back ups at the minute but she did say she’s hoping to have two more by the end of the day, and a possible third tomorrow, which is vastly improved news to what we expected (especially after last time). I assume your trigger shots are tonight @IndigoBluey and @Magix86? Best of luck!

That's amazing @overwork !! A 4AB is excellent. How are you feeling? To have a potential 3 more is great too. What do you think made a difference this time?

Yep trigger tonight! I feel good about things, just want it over with now and to see what we have lol

Well, my partner took his instructions very seriously, he stopped the saunas, drank more water and, er, ejaculated more regularly (she said they seemed a bit old and sluggish last time). I’m convinced that the HGH can only have helped too and it’s not hugely expensive considering the cost of IVF in general. And then of course we had PICSI instead of IVF. Trying to have low expectations after everything that has happened so far, but it’s great to have got to this stage.

@overworkthat’s great news I hope you got on ok

yep trigger later tonight. Feeling a bit nervous but otherwise pretty calm about it. Same @Magix86 just want to get in there on Thursday and out!

I’m always super thirsty in the morning, the not eating doesn’t bother me first thing but think even little sips of water are ok up to 2 hours before appointment

@IndigoBluey I understand the nerves but you'll be fine! You got this!
And yep my clinic said I'm fine to have water up until 2 hours before so I'll have a small amount when I wake up but that will be it. Making sure I have a good dinner tomorrow eve haha
@overwork that all sounds great. You're now in the 2ww! 😃

Thank you, kind of looking forward to the cuppa and snack afterwards! Good reminder, nice excuse to make something nice and a good portion tomorrow for dinner

Yeah not being able to drink nor wear deodorant and traveling by tube, and both my collections were on heatwave days, I was a right picture! And now I have white gunk in my bits that doesn’t seem to clean (from the progesterone), I’m shattered and I’m pretty sure I’m getting thrush. It’s just not nice this business is it?? What’s a reasonable day to test do we think? I can’t bear to be squinting at tests but obviously there’s only so long one can last out!

@overwork are you taking cyclogest progesterone? I took mine rectally because I'd read a lot of people talking about the mess! You don't get any mess that way so may be worth trying. None of this is particularly glamorous is it!
I also tested really early because I wanted to test out my trigger. I had positives from day 6 onwards. Generally I think you'd only start getting faint positives from day 5 but I'd say maybe day 8 or 9 if you want to be more sure and not have the what ifs, squinting, analysing etc? Obviously everyone is different so just do what you feel works for you

So excited for everyone’s progress!!! Fingers crossed for positive retrievals, triggers and tests 🤗.

@overwork im still on the pessaries and is in fact an absolute mess. I have literal dreams of when I can finally stop them. I haven’t been brave enough to try rectally but definitely could be worth it! Id say see how you feel but like @Magix86 said generally anything before 8 days might not be the most clear positives. But I’m weak and caved at day 5