Forum home Getting pregnant IVF & assisted conceptions

Starting IVF in May - looking for a buddy

Hi Ladies,
I'm starting IVF in May and I was wondering if anyone's due to start around the same time. Would be lovey to have a buddy to share the journey x

Replies

  • @Emma575 hey, congrats on getting your date for ivf. Did it take long to get the app? I am just waiting for my initial consultation so don’t think we will be buddies but would be lovely to hear about your journey! X  
  • Congratulations, I've got my 1st consultation with the IVF clinic after waiting for nearly 2 years so hopefully it won't take much longer, hopefully I'll be starting treatment around may too😁
  • @Gem1981 did you have to wait for ivf for 2 years or is it that you tried for a certain length before being referred for ivf and the whole process took 2 years?
  • Hi ladies

    i am currently going through nhs assisted ivf and had my egg collection yesterday , please ask away if you need any info or if you would like me to share my story with you :)

    Patricia xx
  • @Emma575 Hi,
    I am also starting IVF in May as well. My situation is a bit different because I live abroad so we are doing it in a private clinic.
    No waiting list, everything was decided so quickly. 
    Due to elevated FSH (10), E2 and LH levels and AMH at the low limit (2.1), I am unsure what my chances really are...My partner has very low morphology so we're doing ICSI as well.
    I feel like everything is going so fast, a few days ago before these tests I was still feeling confident, like we still had time and good chances to get pregnant naturally, as I am just 35 (even though we have been ttc for 15 months)... These results have been a shock. And now we have to rush into IVF as I apparently already have a low ovarian reserve and might not answer well to treatment... 
    How are you feeling about all of this? Do you feel supported by your doctor and reassured about the chances? I am struggling to process all of this, I am totally overwhelmed, anxious and emotional while my partner remains calm and hopeful. I need to reverse these feelings into positivity and be more stable emotionally, right now I just don't know how to. 

    I would love to have a buddy through this journey :smile: 

  • Loretta my AMH came back as low. 4.2  eight months ago. My partners sperm very low so ICSI was recommended. I'm 41. We finally had the money to do the ICSI this march so I had to have my AMH redone and the shocking thing was it actually improved and came back as 7 !!! Anyhow they can work with 0.5 so dont stress. I was on the strongest meds ( its actually not that bad just set alarms and u easily adjust to injecting yourself) and I had my egg retrieval friday. 6 mature eggs and 5 fertilised. I got my results today ( well yesterday as its gine midnight now)  and 3 have made it to blastocysts of great quality and 1 is exceeding the others so I'm having the PGT done ( I had a downs pregnancy 2 years ago)  so I now have a 2 week wait on those results and my 3 blastocysts have just been biopsied and frozen. So even when u think this and that is low, trust your body and nature because I never expected 4 out of my 6 collected eggs to fertilise at all let alone male it as far as they have x have faith . Now I wish this coronavirus wud piss off so I can get  a damn transfer date lol 
  • 5 not 4 I mean x
  • Hi Susie! Thank you for your message. Support is well needed during this crazy time. 
    That's amazing to get 3 blasts out of 6 eggs collected! I really hope you get your FET soon. I can't imagine how the wait must feel. But 3 is a great number!! All you can do is take care of yourself to be in the best shape for your transfer :smile: About your AMH, are your results in ng/ml or pmol/l? Mine are in ng/ml, and if I research online 2.1 ng/ml seems decent for my age but my doctor says it's at the low cut off still. It's difficult to know what to believe! And anyway, my FSH, LH and E2 are quite bad so I can't really omit that. I think I am just trying to get some hope in these damn numbers.
    Your story definitely gives me hope! Some women get 20 eggs and nothing at the end, some get a few and all become embryos... Every story is different so I will try to keep that in mind to not drive myself crazy waiting for these follicles to grow. I might have a chance to do my ivf cycle in April instead of May. Fingers crossed! They're talking about giving me Menopur 250. I don't really fear needles, I just worry to blow it somehow. I have been on so many supplements for about 18 months trying to eat healthy but I still feel guilty when I eat a chocolate or a pizza sometimes...On top of that, I had to stop acupuncture after only a month and a half because of covid19, which sucks because I think it was really helping. I just keep doing yoga to relax.
    How did you manage the stress of this process? I am usually so impatient during the 2ww, especially the last one but this seems like a never ending wait. Waiting for follicles to grow, waiting for retrieval, waiting for eggs to fertilize and develop, waiting for transfer, waiting for implantation, pregnancy test... Just typing this makes me anxious!!!! 
  • Hya Lorette, I handled the stress better tha  I thought I would do. I thought all the hormones might make me crazy but to be fair I didn't feel much different except I was always so tired and gassy lol. 
    My AMH was pmos xx now my medication was 0.5ml of the bucellarin which was every day up until trigger injection. Once I had my first period around day 10 of my buscellarin I was to introduce my Gonal f 3 days later. That was 450iu for 7 days then on day 8 the dosage dropped to 375iu and I introduced a 3rd injection of Menopur which was 75iu. This continued along with scans every other day to monitor the growth of my follicles. They were growing really well. I only needed one extra day of menopur and then they gave me the time and day for trigger x yeah I was so pleased I had 3 that blastocyst of very good quality. Now it's a waiting game to see what the genetics results come back with xxx honestly hun eat the chocolate dont feel bad. I always eat healthy but I still eat the choc and crisps and I love my black coffee. I think your body adjusts to it And if u take it all away it almost goes into shock. That's why when (I'm hoping) I become pregnant I wont change that because my body doesnt need the added stress of a changed routine plus I dobt put anything damaging in my body. Its damaging to my ass and thighs LOL plus us women we need chocolate hahaha xx have they told u what meds u will be on? I was shocked when the giant box arrived at my door lol xxxz
  • This was me chikking on egg collection day. They Sedated me but I went under. I was out like a light LOL 
  • Thanks for reassuring me about the chocolate! I just have to relax and accept that I am not in control of everything. I have always been stressed about fertility, even before trying I had a feeling it wasn't going to work out easily. Now the tests on both sides confirm it... My sister had unexplained infertility, all her tests came back good. But she has several missed IUI, one miscarriage and two failed IVF cycles. At the end, they gave up. I just don't feel like harassing her with questions considering it's been a difficult experience for her. 
    Having IVF abroad (Thailand) has pros and cons. Pros: a lot cheaper. A lot. No waiting as it's private. Cons: Doctors with not a great level of English and surely less information than if I would do it in my country. But this is where we've been living for 5 years, and anyway we're stuck here for who knows how long. The clinic looks very serious and has good reputation so I'll have to just trust them. I have been told Menopur 250, then blood test two days later to adjust  medication if needed. Then a few days later they say they would add another medication. I will pick up the medication at the clinic myself in a cooler box the day of the first injection, so they can show me how to do. 
    The clinic said that they are remaining open but I am worried this might change. We are only starting the social distancing here and the government said that if they notice people don't follow it, we'll have a curfew and more restrictions. 
    I will remember to bring socks for egg retrieval, even though it's now 38 degrees outside, they like to put air con blasting everywhere. You look very cozy in the picture! How long is the egg retrieval procedure? Was it painful for you? 

  • U can ask me anything hun as we are in the same boat, xxx I've heard that higher doses of menopur can reduce egg quality so it may be worth just asking them about using the gonal f stimulant and introduce the 75iu of the menopur? I'm no doctor but if u show them my doses and see if that's viable for you? My situation is very low AMH at 7 pmol, naturally I only had a total of 7 follicles and my partner has very low count so ICSI was needed .  I'm also 41 I have a unicornate uterus and born with 1 fallopian tube but strangely 2 working ovaries. I have a son I conceived naturally 13 years ago ( different dad) and a medical miscarriage 2 years ago that was a downs syndrome pregnancy. Conceived naturally dispite very low sperm count. 
    Ok so my medication was 0.5ml of buseralin starting on day 21 ( this injection will continue to trigger day) 
    Then once I had my first period,I started 450iu of Gonal F for 7 days. Them on day 8 I reduced Gonal F to 375iu and introduced a 3rd injection of menopur 75iu and did this till the eggs were ready (approx 6 days in total of the menopur)  then my trigger was gonasi which was a 10,000 dosage xxxthey come in vials of 5000. I was to mix ONE of the water into a vial of the powder then syringe it out and mix the solution into the 2nd powder vial and mix it ( discard the spare water from other pack as it's not needed) then u have your 10'000 mix in the syringe.  This trigger is to go onto the stomach  ( not the thighs like all the others) and they should give u a set time to do it. U must do it on this time so allow a good 10 mins prior to sort out the mixture and prep syringe xxxx
  • My egg retrieval took around half hour. I was sore for 2-3 days but plenty of rest and chocolate will sort u put exits so exciting but also nervous. After having a downs pregnancy I am so nervous about my 3 precious embryos coming back ok. All I need is just for 1 to be genetically ok x
  • I am sorry to hear about your Down syndrome miscarriage :( Big thoughts for your 3 embryos! Yes, all you need is 1.
    I don't think my clinic does genetic testing. It's a great thing to increase your chances of success. The clinic gave me a long list of protocols but only Menopur is ticked on it, maybe the doctor will add more drugs when I start the cycle. I have read different things about Menopur. Some doctors actually believe that Menopur helps with egg quality in older women or poor responders, which is likely to be my case considering my high FSH. It seems that less eggs are produced compared with a combination of drugs, but the quality is better which improves chances of having viable embryos at the end. This is all so new to me and confusing! I will ask more information about this when time comes. It's so interesting all the things I am learning about my body and IVF though. 
    I was so devastated at first but now I am focusing on this chance of finally getting pregnant and becoming more positive, actually excited and impatient. The quarantine makes time move even slower! 
  • Yeah he will definitely start u on a brucerallin as it's to down regulate. So basically shut down your ovaries so they can take control of your cycle. CARE used a brand called suprecur for me xxx it's all so daunting at first but once u start u soon get the hang of it and it becomes a part of every day life xxx
  • Hi ladies, thanks for your messages. Sorry for the delay in posting. Been distracted with the madness of Coronavirus! Crazy days! Our first consultation is the end of April but I wondering whether it will still go ahead due to coronavirus. Have any of you had treatment put on hold or is it still going ahead? X
  • Hi Emma, crazy times indeed! My situation is a little special as I am abroad, but I have been told that I could start already in April. The clinic was supposed to close for the Thai New Year celebrations but these have been postponed to later this year. But now I am getting worried that the covid situation worsens and they end up deciding to put IVF cycles on hold. Things can change pretty quickly here, but I assume that once I start the stims they won't really be able to stop the cycle right? Fingers crossed! My period should come in the next couple days and I have been told to go to the clinic on Day 2 after giving them a call on Day 1. I can't believe this is happening so fast. There's only 30 cases of covid in my city and it's not growing too much, so I am staying positive that starting IVF at this time isn't a terrible decision if I remain super careful. 
  • Congratulations!! This is very important time to give yourself the best possible chance for positive outcome. This can be done by nourishing and caring for your body. you need to Prepare Your Body for IVF. follow these tips.

    Take your vitamins
    Eat fertility-enhancing foods
    Improve sleep
    Reduce stress
    Use breathing exercises

  • Emma575 said:
    Hi ladies, thanks for your messages. Sorry for the delay in posting. Been distracted with the madness of Coronavirus! Crazy days! Our first consultation is the end of April but I wondering whether it will still go ahead due to coronavirus. Have any of you had treatment put on hold or is it still going ahead? X
    My frozen transfer has been put on hold. Who are u with?I had egg collection 2 weeks ago today and PGT done on 3 5 days later x
Sign In or Register to comment.