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?

Thanks @overwork and yes I’ve done the same with the googling! Will actually be happy to be at work tomorrow and be busy!

@Wiennetta - having to wait for information after having daily scans, blood tests, getting feedback, being able to ask questions and so on is the WORST. Suddenly it's all quiet and you just have to wait. I'm so glad your procedure went well though and that you're feeling ok! I was a bit surprised at how awful I felt, it took me a week to feel normal again.

My period came two days early (not the day of the terrible cramps, weirdly) and I don't have my prescription yet so definitely not able to go back until November for next EC. Maybe good to relax for a bit and have a break from it.

At least a week to go till I get the PGT-A results and find out if my existing embryo is useable, but still every time I get a WhatsApp message I think it's the clinic and my stomach drops. Has anyone got results sooner than two weeks??

I got mine at 2 weeks and 2 days @poppymango, I know that’s not what you wanted to hear

Ah it's ok, I'm trying to stay positive and proactive in the mean time. I'm over halfway through the wait time now.

I emailed the clinic this morning to ask about things like sperm DNA fragmentation testing and PICSI. We've only had basic semen analysis and I don't want to wait for a poor result, failed transfer, or miscarriage before doing further investigation - I'd really like to know that we're going into it armed with as much information as possible right from the beginning (without falling down a rabbit hole of testing possibilities!)

Thanks @poppymango you’re right, it’s so quiet. I think in the stims process I had something to focus on and now it just seems so hard waiting. We did get a day 3 update which was at least something but in my head it doesn’t give me much reassurance or tell me anything really.

Hope you’re not waiting too long on your results. And fingers crossed your clinic comes back with some useful responses to your questions. It’s very frustrating not knowing what might or might not be the issue, it feels like a bit of a black box doesn’t it.

Update: both embryos were abnormal. Sort of what I expected.

@SweetPea1984 That really sucks, I'm sorry. It's frustrating IVF is so expensive as given the average euploid rate it is more likely to take a few rounds to get lucky than one.

@SweetPea1984 oh I'm so sorry! Nothing really that can be said so just sending you a big hug! It really does suck. Are you having follow up with your clinic to discuss?

Thank you both… it’s just one of those things isn’t it. Currently sitting with the news and digesting it. Then I think we’re seriously considering an early strategic pivot to DE. 🤷‍♀️

Oh @SweetPea1984I’m sorry.

Oh gosh @SweetPea1984 I'm so sorry, that sucks. Please don't be too discouraged, you're only just starting and these things take time xx

I’m sorry to hear that @SweetPea1984. I hope you’re ok. Sending you a hug while you think about next steps.

How’s everyone doing? I’m now in the wait for PGTA results. The lab said I should receive them by end of October (3 weeks).

The last few days have been really stressful - I know and expected attrition but it’s really hard to see the numbers drop isn’t it. Every stage just starts to feel less and less hopeful. Obviously I am happy to have blastocysts to test though. Fingers crossed for the PGTA now and either way knowing will be a good thing for me as I think not knowing and the uncertainty is the hardest bit.

Hope everyone else is doing ok xx

@Wiennettathe wait was like some sort of torture! I’m so sorry. You will get there. Deep breathes and keep putting one foot in front of the other. You’ve got this!

Thanks @SweetPea1984. Luckily we have a weekend away next week that we booked ages ago so something to look forward to and trying to keep myself busy otherwise!

@Wiennetta well done for getting this far! The drop off in numbers was one of the hardest things for me, even when you know to expect it! Do you want to share your numbers here? You might not want to and that's ok. Really hope the wait goes quickly for you and so nice to have a weekend away to take your mind off things. I hope you have a lovely time

Thanks @Magix86, can’t wait to have a bit of a break and distraction from this! How are you doing, you have your FET soon don’t you? Hope you’re ok!

So here’s my numbers:

Follicles aspirated: 19
Eggs retrieved: 18
Mature: 16
Fertilised: 11 plus 2 the clinic noted as ‘unclear’
Blasts: 6 but only 4 suitable for biopsy and freezing on days 5/6

The clinic uses a single A-F grading and will only biopsy A-C grades. We got 3 A grades and 1 C plus 2 Ds (so the D grades were not frozen).

All the blasts came from the 11 confirmed fertilised at day 1, so I’m assuming the 2 unclear didn’t normally fertilise although the clinic did note that all 13 did show signs of division.

I feel like I had a really good response to stims to get 16 mature eggs so was happy with that. But I think the fertilisation rate and blast rate were ok but not amazing. Wondering if there’s anything else we could do to optimise that if we do a second cycle. We already used ICSI as DH’s sperm concentration on the day was lower than the sample used for assessments. We think because he had a shorter abstinence period (for the assessments they said 5-7 days and then recommended 2 days for the actual treatment).

One euploid would be a very meaningful outcome for us. We only want one child.

But I should add. We feel very grateful we have blasts to test and feeling lucky to get this far really.

Thanks @Wiennetta I'm doing ok! Just taking the meds atm so it seems very easy compared to stims. I have a scan next week to check my lining and then if all good my transfer a week later 🤞🏻

I feel like you have good numbers there! Like you say, great number of mature eggs. I believe they say to expect 70- 80% to fertilise? And perhaps to end up with 30% making it to blast? I could be a bit wrong on the actual numbers 🙈 someone on here shared it I think a bit earlier in the chat. But essentially you did make 6 blastocysts out of 11 (possibly 13?) fertilised so that's around 50% which is good. It's just the clinic's grading system that meant 2 of them weren't good enough to freeze. I hope you get good news for the 4 you've sent off. They also seem great grades to have 3 A's 😊Keeping everything crossed for you!

Ah that’s so exciting @Magix86 - only a couple of weeks! Just think, in a month you could be pregnant! Is this a medicated cycle for you?

You’re totally right about the numbers, and the embryologist said the same thing- essentially ‘normal’ attrition. I know we tend to convert less blasts as we get older too. It’s so brutal though! We are just keeping our fingers crossed for PGTA. Otherwise we have another round as we bought a two-cycle package with Access so can move straight onto another retrieval.

Thanks @Wiennetta yes, a medicated cycle. I'm hopeful but also a bit concerned it's not going to work - the embryo we're using is from our first round. We only got 2 embryos that time and one is our son. So it's making me think the likelihood of having both of those embryos being normal is low?
It's great you have another round with your package if you need it. We've also got one more FET included in ours now

Hello everyone, I have been catching up on the recent updates.

@SweetPea1984 that must have been tough news to hear. I’m sorry but good that you are considering switch to DE at this stage

@Wiennetta I remember the waiting game, feels a while ago now but was only middle of August. I think your results are due end of the month

@overwork how are you feeling?

@Magix86 it seems we are at the same stage. I had my first scan yesterday for the FET stage. I’m natural but with some meds? Which are being delivered on Monday. My lining was not as the needed thickness yesterday and to be honest I hadn’t expected it to be and I already had another scan booked in for Monday too. I suppose I’m now wondering what happens if the lining isn’t thick enough on Monday, guess they will just continue to scan through the week to see. How are your meds?

@IndigoBluey great to hear you're moving on with your FET too! The meds for me are OK atm but I increase the dose again on Monday so we shall see. I'm drinking a combination of beetroot juice and pomegranate juice every day atm as I've read it helps to thicken your lining! I hope yours does thicken by your next scan 🤞🏻

@Magix86 I hope you get on ok with the increased dose. Is your scan this week? I had scan 2 today, lining is fine but just need the follicle a few more mm. Kind of what I was expecting, I seem to trickle behind the curve with the scans but I know it’s all down to cycle and trying to let body do its thing so it is what it is. I’m back later this week. I’m finding it a little tricky with other life plans and not being able to commit to plans that friends and family want to organise. Especially as we are in the run down to November and December! I seemed to be able to take the physical effects of this journey but have found myself withdrawing a bit from normal life just so as to avoid clashes between social plans and appointments / collection / planned FET. How are you finding this stage?

@IndigoBluey I'm feeling exactly the same! It's so hard trying to organise things when it's all so uncertain. I guess for me doing a medicated FET it's helped ease the uncertainty around the scan and transfer dates as they aren't likely to change now. But it's the what ifs after the treatment for me now and putting everything on hold until the outcome. Trying to book a holiday and days out and meet ups with family and friends but not knowing whether this FET will work or if we'll need to time things around the next transfer etc. I also booked the day off for my scan but let it slip to my manager about the travel time to my appointment and I'm pretty sure she's twigged that we're going again 😖 I really wanted to keep it to myself this time!
My scan is on Thursday. When is yours? I'm sorry you seem to need a bit longer but if that's just how your body works like you say then I'm sure it will all work out OK!