# Anyone else starting #1 Ivf in April ?



## mummyoneday

Hi, I'm new to all this really . Due to start Ivf first cycle in April and would love to speak with others going through the same thing. Been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster already :'( Hopefully the only way is up from here. !!! 

Me : Endometriosis / swelling in right tube

Husband : Fine and has strong sperm


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## Autumn Girl

Hi mummyoneday, I'm hoping to have my 1st (and hopefully last) IVF in April, I am due to start my down reg injections on Monday 24th march and I am so impatient to get going! What about you? x


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## mummyoneday

Autumn girl hello  !!! I was supposed to also start down reg on the 24th but I have been messed around so much ! My treatment appts will be made this Friday so I will know more then  Where are you from ? xx


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## Autumn Girl

Iit can be very frustrating! I'm guessing you are having it done on the nhs? I'm in Lincoln but having our IVF in Nottingham (nurture). It took us what felt like ages to finally get referred for IVF, Lincoln hosp kept referring us from one consultant to another, each one doing different tests and telling us different things, every time it seemed to be another 3 month wait till the next appt. 
nurture couldn't be more different, I guess cos they do a lot of private treatment (although I might be wrong about that) they have been really good about fitting our appointments in ASAP, we are moving overseas in a couple of months (hubby has already gone actually) so it is going to be tight fitting it all in. I am trying my best not to stress but I am worried that if anything takes longer than anticipated I'm gonna have to fly home for treatment!! 

Good luck for Friday, hope you get some definite answers xx


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## mummyoneday

Ohh dear there is nothing worse !! Well hopefully you'll have everything in order before you have to go !! Ohh my fingers and toes are crossed for you ! Is it ICSI your having ? x x


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## mummyoneday

Yes our treatment is NHS funded as it's they're fault we require fertility treatment in the first place . What about you ? x


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## Autumn Girl

Their fault? What did they do? We are nhs funded too thankfully, we can have 2 cycles plus frozen cycles if we have any frosties.
Just had all my meds delivered this morning!! Scary amount of stuff lol... Seems more real now but my kitchen looks like a crack den with the amount if needles I've got!
I hope you get to start on Monday too, it would be great to have a "cycle buddy".

Have you tried anything else? We could have had IUI but they felt it didn't have much more chance of success than doing it the old fashioned way, so because of that (and our time constraints!) we are going straight for IVF, probably with ICSI but they will decide when the assess hubby's sample on the day.

Fingers crossed for both of us!! xx


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## Autumn Girl

https://i61.tinypic.com/334ssvk.jpg


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## mummyoneday

Lol ohhh dear that is a lot off stufff !!!!! They left me with a leaking apendicitis ... it then burst and i had stage 1 septasemia ... mas appendicitis and nearly died . Ohhh i hope we can be going through it together  !!! Are you on metformin ? x x


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## Autumn Girl

Oh god how awful! Let's hope things only get better from here on in 
No, not on anything at the min (other than folic acid & normal multivits), got buserelin for my down regs, gonal F stims then pregnyl 36hrs before ER. Then lots of pessaries! What about you? Xx


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## g_and_t

Hi ladies... Hope you don't mind me jumping in.. I'm ever so slightly in front of you but as you are both in the UK as well I thought we'd have more in common. 

I'm currently on day 6 of injections and due to have my ER on weds next week. I've been sniffing suprecur up til now and am on 300mg of menopur every day now until ER. 

I'm 37 and db is 43. I have no known problems and db has a slight motility issue but not too bad. We have been ttc for 3.5 years and have had 2 failed rounds of iui before this. This is our first ivf. I've never had a BFP. 

We were moved from iui to ivf because they did an fsh blood test and I had gone up to 10. They said this means my ovarian reserves are going down so iui would not be feasible. I would have like to exhaust the remaining funding we had left for iui but I guess if one ivf works then it's better than 2 or 3 more failed iuis... 

I have since had an Amh test done in South Africa when I was there for our holidays and it's 2.7 which is apparently normal/good. This has helped put my mind at ease a bit as it's a more accurate indication of ovarian reserves. Nhs don't do Amh blood tests unless you pay for it! 

So today 6 days in I am feeling a bit twingey around my ovaries... Getting little shooting pains which I hope means they're developing nice juicy follies. I am off for a scan this morning to check all is going ok. Other than that I'm tired a lot and getting some headaches but think that's from the spray... Also makes me feel sick when it runs down the back of my throat... Aaaaaah the joys hey! Haha... 

Let's hope April is a good month for all if us!!! 

Keep me posted!! 
T xx


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## mummyoneday

I will be on metformin then my injections not sure of names etc as im not 100% up to date on the drugs etc . !!! Are you getting started today then ? Goood luck  x x x


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## mummyoneday

g_and_t welcome  !!!! Is it icsi your having ? good kuck  Hopefully we all get sticky eggs !!!! x x x x


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## Autumn Girl

Hi g&t! I don't mind you joining in, I had posted in other threads but the other ladies were mostly in America where the protocols can be a bit different, so it's nice to hear from other uk ladies 
I had wondered about the amh, all the us ladies seem to talk about it but I've never heard of it, if it's not available on the nhs then that will be why! Keep us updated on your progress! Xx


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## Autumn Girl

Mummyoneday no I'm still starting Monday, just had them delivered today as I've a day off today. I wasn't sure of all the names either till they all turned up lol. Xx


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## g_and_t

Hiya...
We were told that dependant on db's sample on the day they would decide whether to do icsi or not. In South Africa apparently they always do icsi no matter what. I think there's a higher success rate. Funny how everyone has a diff protocol and opinion. I have friends here and in sa that have such conflicting courses of treatment it boggles! 

You can get Amh done here if u pay 60 or 80 quid I think but they weren't forth coming with that option. It was only by chance they mentioned it to me when I had the fsh test and asked about it's accuracy.... and she said oh you can have amh done if you pay. But since having it done in South Africa they asked for the results here cos she said it would help them accurately decide what dosage injections to prescribe me! Well if that's an accurate indicator for your meds dosage then why aren't they telling everyone to get it done?! 
I know the nhs can be a great service but man things like that frustrate me! 

Anyway today's scan didn't show much... She said it's still early days so I go back on Friday again for another scan. Fingers crossed all develops smoothly... Xxx


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## mummyoneday

Lol Autumn girl we will get there haha .. 

G n t : I know what you mean . NHS are a nightmare. Unfortunately I work for them lol . Hopefully all goes smoothly I'm not up to date on all the abbreviations lol x x :hugs:


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## Autumn Girl

There are a lot of different treatment options, I thought all IVF was the same till I started reading these boards!
We have been offered some optional extras such as time-lapse embryo monitoring and endo-scratch which cost extra but we've decided to just go with the bog-standard this time around, if it doesn't work I might consider the extras next time.
Whereabouts in the uk are you both?
Hope your scan shows good stuff tomorrow g&t, and that your consultation gives you a definite timescale for the next steps mummyoneday xx


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## g_and_t

Hi
We are near Epsom in Surrey... 
I haven't heard of those other options... We were never given any option just told what was happening and when. I really wish I had the funds to go private it would make the whole process a little more about the individual instead of trying push loads of different people into the same boxes! But I appreciate they are very limited and am just grateful I get this opportunity because I know some aren't so lucky! 

I'm feeling quite crampy again today... Really tender around my ovaries... And I could sleep for England!! So tired! 

This really has been an eye opener the whole process... Every day I learn something new and I still feel like such a beginner! Haha... Let's hope it's over for all of us after this one go... 

Xxx


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## Autumn Girl

I was tempted by the endoscratch, its where they take a biopsy of the womb lining and supposedly it encourages it to thicken up which helps implantation (I'm not totally sure of the science) Its not proven, but i could possibly have had it for free as my clinic is doing a trial of it to see if it actually works. I was keen to sign up to the trial even though there was a 50% chance i would have been in the control group, but it meant extra visits to the clinic and I was struggling enough getting time off work for all the other appointments!

Do you work g&t? How have you been with the tiredness & cramps? Has it stopped you doing your normal day-to-day stuff?

I had a practice this evening with one of the needles I'll be using for my downreg drugs next week, I've never injected myself and I was worried I wouldn't be able to do it but it was easy, I barely felt a thing! I suppose actually injecting the drug might be a bit more uncomfortable though... guess ill find out on monday.


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## g_and_t

Wow that sounds interesting but I know what u mean about getting the time off work. I do work and already have been lying to them saying I've got a gynaecological issue that I'm having tests for! I don't want to tell them and all the scans and visits tend to be on the mornings. I start work at 7.30 and clinic only opens at 8.30 so I either have to go in very late or if they can only see me at like 10 then I have to go to work leave and come back! 

So far the cramping has been manageable. It's just sharp twinges like the ones I usually get around ovulation time just a bit sharper and more often. As for the tiredness well what can u do about that at work? I just mske sure I come home and chill as much as possible after work. 

The injections are becoming a pain... I was given one of those pen things so don't need to inject myself. I just mix the powders with the solution in the syringe then put the full syringe and needle into the spring loaded pen and press the button. It sometimes stings a bit but the fluid itself doesn't burn or sting as it goes in. U don't feel anything after the prick... But I have bruised slightly at each needle site so I'm alternating legs and I now look like a junkie :) 

Intrigued to see what tomorrow's scan shows up... Hope I'm progressing!!! I need lots of follies!! 

Good luck for Monday! I'm sure it will all go fine... 

Xxx


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## Autumn Girl

How did your scan go g&t? Hope they saw loads of nice big follies this time!

Mummyoneday, did you get some straight answers at your consultation today?

Lol at looking like a junky! Bet it turns really hot in April and I won't be able to get in a bikini cos I'll be black & blue bruises all over!
Good to hear the cramps & tiredness aren't too severe, luckily I can take it easy in April anyway as I finish work at the end of march, although I am supposed to be packing our house up ready for an overseas move in May!!

Fx'd for us all xx


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## g_and_t

Hi Autumn girl...
It went ok... not as good as I'd hoped... she said I have about 5 potential follies... most on my right side. She can't guarantee they will all produce eggs tho. When I went for my down regulation scan she counted 11 potential follicles 6 on one side and 5 on the other so I'm a bit disappointed that only5 seem to be doing anything... she said a few more may catch up over the weekend but I'm not going to get my hopes up. She also can't conclusively say whether I'll be ready for egg retrieve on weds so I have to go for another scan on Monday. 
I have also finally had my first emotional melt down.... started with someone not letting me in front of them in traffic today and then the person behind me getting annoyed and flashing me the finger on the way past.... so broke down in the car and then been watching sport relief on telly tonight.... been in bits!!! Lol.... feeling tired and fed up but tomorrow is Saturday so I can have a little lie in :)

Where are u moving to? That sounds stressful changing countries... I hope it goes well for you. Are u currently in Lincoln? I'm going up there on Sat 5th April for my best friends baby shower. I'll prob stay the weekend to catch up with her. Do you start injecting on Monday? 

T xxx


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## Autumn Girl

Aww shame about the low numbers T, I'm sure you are disappointed but don't stress to much, there's still time for the others to catch up, hope you have a nice relaxing weekend and Mondays scan is more promising. 

Moving to Denmark for hubby's work, talk about bad timing! He's already gone so will have to fly back to do his bit, but the clinic were really good about getting all our initial tests & consultations squeezed in before he went. He's even given a frozen sample incase of any disaster where he can't get home at the right time lol. 
I'm trying not to think too much about it at the minute, cos if I do all the what ifs start to crowd my brain and make me anxious. I'm just taking it week by week, focussing on little goals, like starting down regs on Monday, finish work the following Monday, then spending a week with family... beyond that I just can't picture yet, cos then I'll be starting stims and I'm just hoping everything goes smoothly!

Yes we are in Lincoln, nice city, not too big (I like big cities but just for visiting & shopping, not for living!) have you been before? Hope you have a nice time at your friends baby shower, do you find that everyone around you seems to pop babies out no problem? My two younger brothers have had 5 kids between them (well their wives have!) in the time that we have been ttc our 1st. Does your friend know you are trying/having IVF?

All the best, hope you're enjoying your lie in, I have to wait till tomorrow for one, working today boo  xxx


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## g_and_t

Wow Denmark! That's really exciting! It's hard enough moving to a country that speaks English! Do you know how long you'll be there for or is it indefinite? 

It must be tough doing all this without your hubby but perhaps it's better in one sense cos if u do get moody u can't take it out on him :) 
What are u taking to down reg? Are u taking suprecur? 

I haven't told my friend yet about the ivf... she knew about the iui and all the hassles before but I've just been on holiday and kinda told everyone nothing had happened since Xmas and that I'd prob only see the Dr when I get back from holiday. I was getting to the point where I was getting annoyed with everyone asking "so when's the next appointment and now what happens next?? How does it all work'" so I've told only a few people now.... mainly my friends overseas who I only talk to on whatsapp... easier to ignore the annoying questions! But saying that seeing her face to face might be harder to avoid talking about it. 
Everyone around me does seem to be popping babies out I guess it's our current age group... seems crazy! My only brother has had 4! His eldest turned 7 this week. And my best friend has had 2 in the time we've been ttc. The friend I'm seeing in Lincoln has 2 from a previous marriage and I didn't think she'd have any more so when she told me she was pregnant I was shocked! I really am the last one of everyone I know... so hopefully this is it!! 

Only advice I can give is take each day as it comes. I tried to think about the what ifs as well and every day can throw diff curve balls. So take each step as it comes. Start down regs and then just wait for the next apt. We'll get there together :) shout if you need anything xxxxx


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## Autumn Girl

Thanks g&T, yeah it's our first time living overseas so it's scary but exciting! It's a raf posting so 3 years.
Because he's raf I'm used to him being away but it is strange to be going through something like this on my own, he will be glad to be away if I turn all hormonal and moody though!!

I'm on buserelin for down reg, looking forward to getting started tomorrow (never thought I would look forward to injecting myself daily... hey-ho, needs must!)

I have told a few friends about my IVF and kind of wish I hadn't, cos I know they'll be asking how it's all going and I think that will make it so much harder if it is unsuccessful. I know some people are quite open about it all, an old friend has had 2 unsuccessful cycles which I know all about cos she posts it all on Facebook, no way could I do that! I've not even told my mum yet but probably will when I go home next week cos I'll have all my drug paraphernalia with me so she'll probably see it lol.

Hope your scan goes ok tomorrow 
Xxxx


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## g_and_t

Hiya... Today went well!! I have 5 on my right side and 2 on my left. They are all above the cut off for a good size. There were a few other smaller ones which may or may not reach the right size by weds but we r booked in for weds egg retrieve. I'm now very nervous and super excited. Just want to get it done to see how many embies we get! So that all happens weds and by Thursday the lab apparently will call and tell me how progress is coming on! I can't believe it's happening now. 

Have you done your buserelin yet? I was give a nasal spray for that which in some respects is much easier but it tastes crap! Three times a day and it runs down the back of the throat which makes me feel sick. But luckily today is the last day of that! Tomorrow I have one free day of no meds at all then weds after egg retrieve I start with the lovely pessarys.... Oh the joys just keep rolling in hahaha!! 

Let me know how you get on with your first jab! It is exciting and I also used to look forward to my jabs. Odd as it seems! Made me feel like I was in control of something! 

Good luck!! Xxx


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## Autumn Girl

Fab! At least they are progressing  so excited for you for Wednesday... Not long now!! Wish I was at that stage lol
Will start my buserelin this evening, they did give me the option of the nasal sprays but I didn't fancy having to do it 3x a day and thought I would probably forget when I was at work!
Enjoy your drug free day, not looking forward to the pessaries myself, think that's worse than injections!! Good luck  xx

Mummyoneday any news about when you are starting?? Xx


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## Autumn Girl

Well my first injection went fine, no pain just a tiny bit of irritation afterwards. I'm actually looking forward to the next one but guess the novelty will soon wear off! 
Hope you are well g&t, have you got some time off work after your ER/during your tww? Xx


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## g_and_t

Hi..
I'm glad ur first jab went well. It is exciting but I don't think the novelty wears off... I had 2 rounds of iui before this which involved jabs every other day and I still get a little excited doing it. Is the irritation normal? Does the buserelin sting at all? 

I'm excited about tomo now... Just got into bed... Not looking forward to nil by mouth tho... At least I'm first in so will be there for 8.30. I only have tomo off then Monday in case I have to go for transfer on Monday... She said it will either be Saturday or Monday... :) 

I'll let you know how it goes tomo... Xxx


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## Autumn Girl

Oh I'm excited for you! Hope they get lots of good eggs  I'll have my fingers crossed for you in the morning xx

2nd injection was ok, someone on another site recommended ice on the area before and heat afterwards and that seemed to help, barely a tingle and it was gone quite quickly. No stinginess or anything.

I wonder what happened to mummyoneday , if you are reading please let us know how you are xx

Anyway night night g&t, look forward to an update tomorrow xxx


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## g_and_t

Hi ladies... I'm out and all went well... Just waiting to find out how many eggs they got... Feel a bit sore and slightly nauseas but otherwise ok. 
It was quite straight forward... They saw me to the ward did the usual questions etc and then got changed... The anaesthetist came and saw me and inserted the cannula. I then had to have a wee and off we went. They told me it's more sedation than anesthetic and that I might be aware of them moving my legs and talking to me but that I won't notice anything else. I was worried about that but I swear I was fast asleep! She gave me paracetamol before starting then an oxygen mask and then she joked and said here comes the gin and tonic... Don't know what drug that was but I didn't notice anything. Then the anaesthetic which made my face tingle but I was gone soon after that. Then I woke up! They took me back to the ward and db was waiting for me... :) they showed us the test tubes with all the fluid in them I can't remember how many there were but looked like a few... Then he left to transport them to the lab. Not sure how it works up there but the lab where they fertlise the eggs is across town here so db had to take them in a special box. I'll wait to hear from him when he's finished there to see how many eggs we got. 
Then tomo they will call to tell us how many embryos we have... 
Feeling tired and a bit nauseas now but not as bad as I thought... Wish I could have more of that anaesthetic tho haha it was nice! 
Wish he'd call now I'm getting impatient lol... Will keep you posted xxx

Ps. Mummyoneday hope you're ok xxx


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## Autumn Girl

Glad it's all over & went ok, hope you got lots of eggs & they all fertilise! Take it easy today, I'll check in later to see what your numbers were, always waiting for something in IVF, aren't we?  xxx


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## g_and_t

I tell you!!!! :) this process really does test the patience levels... 

I'll touch base later... Xxx


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## g_and_t

Absolutely stunned! I got 16!!!!! Am so over the moon... I really thought id be lucky if I got 5... So I'm thrilled! I can't guarantee they'll all develop but at least with these numbers the odds are better hey? 
Db's sample was also good so they aren't going to icsi... They're leaving them to do their thing until Friday morning and then well see when transfer will be. 

Been feeling achey all day so just been chilling on the couch with DVDs. Have to face the pessarys later oh joy! 

Xxx


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## Autumn Girl

Wow 16 that's amazing!!! So pleased for you :-D I would be thrilled with 16, fx'd lots of them fertilise! Must be a relief to know you have so many, I think I'll be gutted if I only get a few, at least you have a good chance of getting a really great embie from all of those. Let's hope the little swimmers do their best ;-)

Hope you had a nice relaxing evening and the pessary wasn't too gross lol xxx


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## g_and_t

Hi...how's your jabs going?
I had another nice surprise from the clinic today... apparently 6 have already fertilized so I'm booked in for transfer on Saturday at 12. It's all become a little surreal now... I keep thinking of the new life that's already started.... growing in a little dish somewhere in London... and that this might be it.... this is where it all starts! It's a cool thought... :)
As for me... I'm feeling a bit rough... didn't think I'd still be feeling sore but my tummy is bloated and feels bruised. I feel like I have terrible trapped wind all the time it's not even my ovaries that much... more my abs. So I went to work today and left early... been resting all day. Can't say I feel better but I'm sure it will pass... I read on some other forums it s common. Bloating, wind, constipation, period like cramps.... so I'll grin and bear it. Hope I feel better by Sat for transfer... 
How's things with u?


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## Autumn Girl

That's great news g&t, will they update you again today on how those 6 and the rest are doing?
How are you feeling today, are you going back to work? I've read about bloating & constipation too, the things we put ourselves through eh?... and hubby moans about having to produce the odd jizz sample lol

ET tomorrow! Yay! Bet it still feels a bit surreal. Are you still taking Monday off work? I think you should so you can relax and be pampered  

Afm feeling like crap today. Had one glass of red wine last night, but was in bed by 10:30 which is early by my standards, sore throat & headache this morning though, feel like I drank the whole bottle! Not sure if it's anything to do with the meds or not, just glad it's Friday 

Anyway best of luck for you tomorrow, do you know if you will be transferring one or two? Can't remember if you said. I'll be thinking of you xxx


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## g_and_t

Hiya... How are you feeling? I hope the sore throat etc hasn't developed into anything nasty... That's the last thing you need!! 

My transfer was post poned til tomorrow now... Apparently my 6 little embies were doing so well they couldn't decide which one was the best of the lot so they decided to wait til they are day 5 blastocysts to see who's the fore runner and use that one. So I'm going in at 2 pm tomorrow. I'm not sure what to do about work cod ideally I would've wanted 2 days after transfer to rest and relax but I only booked Monday off and it would mean asking for more time off tomorrow at short notice. Part of me thinks tough.... This is more important but then I don't want to let work down cos we already short staffed etc... So I'm not sure.... I might go in tomo morning for the half day and then amend my leave and say it's something to do with workmen at the house... :) 
Other than that I still feel rubbish lol... My tummy is very tender still.. When I heard my apt had been cancelled yest I went to one of my gym classes and I stood there hardly doing anything... I didn't realise how tender it still was and then I didn't want to do any more damage so just stepped in time to the music haha... They must've thought I was mad! But it was nice to get out and see my friends. 
Anyway how's jabs going? When's your down reg scan to start stims? 
T xxx


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## Autumn Girl

That's great that they are all doing so well! You should definitely book Tuesday off at least, I know it's hard to let them down when they are short staffed but if you go in and then get a bfn in a couple of weeks you may start thinking "if only I hadn't gone straight back to work", whereas in a couple of weeks they will all have forgotten about what a busy day it was without you! 

Good for you attempting the gym! I'm already using this as an excuse to take it easy lol 

I'm ok, I'm a dab hand at the injections now, and feeling better than I did the other day but still have a sore throat, which is annoying, but hopefully it will have cleared by the time I start stimming. Going for my scan next Monday morning, 7:30am which means leaving home at 6:30! So much for getting plenty of sleep lol

Anyway hope your transfer goes well tomorrow and maybe we will both be getting our first Mother's Day cards next year :-D xxx


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## Mas1118

I am starting my first IVF - I go for my baseline tomorrow morning!! Started Lupron last week. I am very very nervous and just hoping this will be it, it has been such a long journey already....


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## Autumn Girl

Hi Mas! Nice to have someone else join us! I think it's good talking to others who are going through similar things. 
Is Lupron your down-reg drug? I'm very new to all of this, not had any treatments before this as I seem to be ok but hubby's motility is pretty poor so it was advised to go straight for IVF rather than doing IUI etc. I've got my baseline scan Monday 7th so you'll be just a week ahead of me 

Good luck with your scan tomorrow! x


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## Mas1118

Yes - Lupron is to quiet my ovaries. Im hoping things look good tomorrow. Im having some side effects from it, a bit emotional, and really sore breasts, very light period. I just hope this all works. Good luck with your baseline scan next week:)


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## Autumn Girl

Yeah I've had the sore breasts, and headaches but not too emotional yet thankfully! Xx


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## Flannelsheets

OMG the migraines! I usually get them with some regularity, but they've def. been worse on the Lupron. I'm going for our beginning-the-meds eval on Tues., and will start injections on Fri if everything looks good. I don't know about you ladies, but I can't WAIT for another trans-vag ultrasound. .... :/


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## Mas1118

I hear you! I had so many wands up my hoohoo over the years I couldn't count if I tried!! Oh well - all for the greater good. I can't wait to hear that Im going to start stimming tomorrow!! Just want to get going - hope there are no hold ups. Have a good night ladies:)


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## Autumn Girl

Morning ladies, hope your scan goes well today Mas, and keeping fx for your et g&t... Hope you got sorted with work!
Hello flannelsheets, it is strange how normal it becomes to have random people sticking things "up there" lol

Xxx


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## smurfy

Autumn Girl said:


> https://i61.tinypic.com/334ssvk.jpg


Wow that is alot of drugs, just joining this thread. we are starting IVF in April too, what day are you starting the down regulation? i have heard approx day 21 depending on your cycle? and also how often will you be monitiored during that phase ? thanks


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## smurfy

Autumn Girl said:


> I was tempted by the endoscratch, its where they take a biopsy of the womb lining and supposedly it encourages it to thicken up which helps implantation (I'm not totally sure of the science) Its not proven, but i could possibly have had it for free as my clinic is doing a trial of it to see if it actually works. I was keen to sign up to the trial even though there was a 50% chance i would have been in the control group, but it meant extra visits to the clinic and I was struggling enough getting time off work for all the other appointments!
> 
> Do you work g&t? How have you been with the tiredness & cramps? Has it stopped you doing your normal day-to-day stuff?
> 
> I had a practice this evening with one of the needles I'll be using for my downreg drugs next week, I've never injected myself and I was worried I wouldn't be able to do it but it was easy, I barely felt a thing! I suppose actually injecting the drug might be a bit more uncomfortable though... guess ill find out on monday.

Endoscratch - i have heard of and my accuputure lady recommends it and if your private only costs approx £100 so small money in the scheme of things, but see what your saying even though free you would have extra appointments which is stressful.

What day did you start the down reg? and is it one injection per day? i think you will have started by now thanks and good luck


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## g_and_t

Hi Autumn... hello new ladies... welcome. 
I had Embie transfer today... from the 6 fertilised we got one good grade day 5 blastocyst. The other 5 aren't quite there yet so are being left another day to see if they develop enough to be frozen.
The procedure was quick and pinched a bit when they put the catheter in but otherwise was ok... then we got up and left. 
I have to test in 11 days and in the mean time no strenuous exercise, high protein low carb diet... no hot baths or swimming in public pools... no heavy lifting... no raw or part cooked foods... etc etc.... Oh and the wonderful pessaries! As if dildo cam wasnt bad enough... twice a day either in the front or the back... how lovely! :)
I've taken 2 days off work to chill at home. Time to hopefully not symptom spot! 

Hope your scans and meds go well! Keep me posted xxxx


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## Autumn Girl

Hey T! Congrats on your transfer :-D keeping my fingers crossed for you, glad you have a couple of days off to relax and look after yourself. It'll be nice if you get some frosties too! 
Hope you can keep distracted for your tww, at least you've got your friends baby shower to look forward to  xxx

Hi Smurfy, I started DR on day 21 of my cycle, I'm on the Long Protocol so I'll DR for 2-3 weeks, (one injection per day, or some people have a nasal spray they use 3 times a day) I'm on day 8 today, I'll have a scan next week to see if it's worked. If my ovaries have shut down and my lining is thin I will start stims for a couple of weeks then hopefully if all goes well I'll be having egg collection followed by embie transfer by the end of April! When is your consultation to discuss your treatment plan? Good luck! X

Mas how did your scan go today? Have you got a date for starting stims yet?


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## Mas1118

Awesome news about the ET G&T - :dust:

I had my scan and BW - alls well. I start stims tonight and go back friday morning for another round. My clinic only does FET - they have better success rates that way. They say that your body has a chance to recover from all the hormones and they are able to create a better environment on a new cycle. So my FET won't be until May sometime at the earliest. I hate waiting but then after the ER I can just relax until I get my period.


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## Autumn Girl

Congrats Mas, one step closer anyway! I have read that about FET being easier in the body, it's not something that was mentioned to us, don't think it's the norm here in the uk. It must be frustrating to have more waiting but if it helps your chances then what's another few weeks in the grand scheme of things  what stims are you using? X


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## Mas1118

I am on Lupron .05ml every morning and 300 gonalF and 75 repronex every night until trigger. 



Autumn Girl said:


> Congrats Mas, one step closer anyway! I have read that about FET being easier in the body, it's not something that was mentioned to us, don't think it's the norm here in the uk. It must be frustrating to have more waiting but if it helps your chances then what's another few weeks in the grand scheme of things  what stims are you using? X


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## Mas1118

I am using Circle and Bloom IVF mind/body meditation - it really helps me relax and de-stress at night and get restful sleep! It helps me shut off and with all the hormones and added worry I am finding it really helps.


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## Autumn Girl

Thanks Mas, I've just googled them and downloaded their free relaxation mp3, I'll give it a go! 
How are the stims going? I'm gonna be using gonalF too. When's your next scan?

Flannelsheets how did your eval go? All set to get started?

G&T hope you are keeping busy over your tww and not symptom spotting too much! x

I'm on day 10 of DR today, still waiting for AF to start. Not many symptoms really, just achey boobs which I always get before my period anyway. The headaches aren't as bad now as I am getting better at drinking lots of water. No real mood swings or hot flushes but the clinic did say I may not get those. I think I would feel a bit better if I did though, at least I would know the drugs are actually doing something! :-D

Off to visit family in Ireland for a few days, first time I've flown with a bag full of needles so hoping there are no dramas at the airport, I do have a letter from my clinic so should be ok.

All the best to each of us & anyone else reading xxx


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## Mas1118

Have fun visiting family autumn:) 
I go back to clinic Friday morning, hoping I have lots of eggies on the grow!


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## Flannelsheets

Eval looked good. Ovaries are good & "quiet," they said. Will start Menopur and Gonal-F on Friday.
For those of you doing stims already, how are your side effects?


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## smurfy

Autumn Girl said:


> Hey T! Congrats on your transfer :-D keeping my fingers crossed for you, glad you have a couple of days off to relax and look after yourself. It'll be nice if you get some frosties too!
> Hope you can keep distracted for your tww, at least you've got your friends baby shower to look forward to  xxx
> 
> Hi Smurfy, I started DR on day 21 of my cycle, I'm on the Long Protocol so I'll DR for 2-3 weeks, (one injection per day, or some people have a nasal spray they use 3 times a day) I'm on day 8 today, I'll have a scan next week to see if it's worked. If my ovaries have shut down and my lining is thin I will start stims for a couple of weeks then hopefully if all goes well I'll be having egg collection followed by embie transfer by the end of April! When is your consultation to discuss your treatment plan? Good luck! X
> 
> Hi there, yes that sounds similar to the plan I will be on, they will start the shut down process on day 21and they mentioned approx 14 day for this process and then a scan would be needed. They said from day 1 of the cycle in which you start it will be 7 weeks from start to finish, where in fact3 of the weeks is waiting to start the down reg. we go back in 2 weeks were the plan will be drawn up so will start whilst on holiday.
> 
> Btw as you stated as you have a letter it is fine to travel with the equipment in your hand luggage I will be doing the same.
> 
> Good luck and keep us posted


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## g_and_t

Hi ladies...

So I am currently 3dp5dt and already getting frustrated!! No matter how much you tell yourself you won't symptom spot you just can't help it. 
I'm not sure whether its progesterone side effects as I've never taken that. But my bbs have been sore since before transfer so I can't rely on that.. I've had a bit of cramping and funny tummy twinges mainly. I also noticed the smallest bit of spotting... so small I wasn't even sure if it was a bit of fluff or something... it may have been a spot left over from transfer of fiddling around in there. It's too soon for implantation isn't it and there would be more if any at all surely? 
Then on 2nd day I had a very odd thing happen. I started getting pain in my right boob which just got worse and worse. I had to get up and go take my bra off and my nipple was white! Like all the blood had drained out. It was burning and throbbing and I was getting quite worried. It then chgd colour to dark red/bluey tinged and was def completely diff to the left one. It hurt like hell. Then 15 mins later it had stopped. I looked it up and apparently it's called a vasospasm and is common with breast feeding moms. Something to do with constricting blood vessels. Ow! I couldn't find anywhere that said it's a sign of pregnancy so let's call that a fluke occurrence!!! I also found myself incredibly tired yest. I went to shops and after an hour I had to stop and go home. I ate lunch and then had nap! I NEVER sleep during the day, ever! Again this could just be a result of the last few days activities. 

I'm trying really hard not to read into any of this... I've had many preg symptoms in the past in my tww so unless I vomit or faint lol I'm not getting my hopes up. 
I am talking to my tummy just in case and getting DB to as well. Eating fruit and veg and drinking loads of water etc... they say day 3-5 post transfer is most important. Only 1 week til test date.... if I hold out! 

Enjoy your break Autumn... hopefully AF arrives soon so you can get cracking! 

Good luck for your scan Mas... grow eggies grow! 

Flannel I didn't notice any side effects on stims! I was expecting worst but I've only really noticed myself getting really moody now post transfer... prob a combination of coming off the other meds and onto the progesterone... poor body must be in shock... properly snapped at db twice now... 

Bear with me if I get annoying lol... maybe the drive to Lincoln this weekend is just what I need! 

Chat soon girls xxx


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## g_and_t

Oh p.s. we got one grade BB frosty as back up... :) in case we decide on baby number 2 one day.... lol... so glad we didn't lose all of them... xxx


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## Autumn Girl

Hey g&T been thinkin about you! It must be so hard not to read into every little twinge but I am quietly confident for you  (I guess you are too if you are thinking of the frostie as baby number 2 lol!!) I really hope you get your bfp, do you think you will wait till your otd (was it the 11th you said?) or will you test early?
Hope you have a lovely weekend x

Mas good luck for your next scan tomorrow & flannelsheets hope your first day of stims goes well!

Afm, made it to Ireland, they never even looked at my meds or letter in the airport, just said it was fine when I told them about it and waved me through  AF arrived (on the flight, great timing as always) so hoping my lining is nice and thin for my scan on Monday so I can start stims ASAP 

Best wishes ladies xxx


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## Mas1118

I didn't learn too much at my appt. Only had a few follicles but they said its early so not to worry. I go back Monday.


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## Mas1118

The clinic called me later in the day and my RE has said for me to stop lupron - it is suppressing me too much. Im glad - thats the shot that makes me feel so crappy! So I still have to take 300 gonalF and 75 repronex and I go back Monday - Please cross your fingers that my ovaries wake up and make some good follies!!!


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## g_and_t

That's good news mas... All the scans and the waiting is such a killer... And getting your hopes up each time... So fingers crossed Monday brings some better news. Did they say how big the dominant follies were? I used to get really annoyed cos the one nurse wouldn't tell me any measurements and the other would tell me everything. It's nice to know I think... 

Autumn I hope you are having a great time with your family? When do u get back? I bet you can't wait for your scan!! Is it tomo as well? 

I'm still in Lincoln with my friend... Her baby shower yesterday was lovely... She got some great gifts but it was a tiring day for me because db and I drove up in the morning then had the party then sat up with family catching up etc. I wanted to cry from exhaustion by the end of the day. 
I don't have any real symptoms but moody!!!! I had a real melt down on Friday.. Had a small argument with db on Thursday night so woke up in a bad mood on Friday and was tired. We drive to work together and he hadn't really even said anything to me but I just burst out crying! I started feeling like it hadn't worked and I guess the row hadn't helped so I just sat there sobbing trying not to crash the car. And I've been really irritable and snappy with him. Wicked bitch of the west!! Poor guy! 

I do kinda feel like not much is going on... Had a bit of a stabby pain in my right ovary area yest but that's it over the last 2 days. I really can't wait for Friday.... D day.... Get it over with one way or another! If it's bfn then at least I can go back to gym and burn off my anger! 

Let me know what happens tomo!! Xxx


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## Autumn Girl

Hey Mas, it's good that you can cut out one of the shots, at least you'll feel a little less like a pincushion! I'm sure you'll have plenty more follies by tomorrow and it's quality not quantity that matters anyway 

Hiya g&t, glad you've had a nice time at your friends, do you drive back home today? 
I'm sure it's perfectly normal to be snappy & moody, even if it wasn't for the amount of hormones we are pumping into our bodies, the stress and anxiety would make anyone an evil bitch lol. Hope your db is being supportive. My hubby won't be with me for most of it so I think he could be the lucky one... Poor doggies will have to deal with my moods lol! Hope the rest of your week goes quickly for you. I know I don't need to say it but symptoms or lack of them really means nothing, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for you for Friday. Have you planned anything nice for next weekend to either celebrate or otherwise? 

I've had a lovely time at home catching up with family, although because both my brothers and all my cousins (who are all younger than me) seem to be having babies left right & centre at the minute I have of course had the "you'll be next/are you having any/suits you (while holding a baby)" comments from various people. I still find it hard to know what to say, mostly I just laugh and make a joke about no night feeds or smelly nappies but it's still annoying.
I'm flying back this afternoon then I've got my DR scan tomorrow morning so hoping I can start the next stage soon 

Love & best wishes to all xxx


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## Mas1118

Im hoping things are good for tomorrow. I feel bloated an have been having some pain in my ovaries so I am hoping that means they are filling up!

g and t - sorry your moody - I'm sure we all will be by that point! Stay positive and just think that they put in an embryo so you are pregnant until proven otherwise! I am hoping you are that way for the next 39-40 weeks or in around there!

Autumn - glad you had a good visit! I don't like the baby comments either although most people know what we are going through - it has been going on soooo long for us that I am pretty open about it. I hope your appt goes well and that you can get this cycle on the go!!

talk to you all soon!


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## g_and_t

Autumn Girl said:


> Hey Mas, it's good that you can cut out one of the shots, at least you'll feel a little less like a pincushion! I'm sure you'll have plenty more follies by tomorrow and it's quality not quantity that matters anyway
> 
> Hiya g&t, glad you've had a nice time at your friends, do you drive back home today?
> I'm sure it's perfectly normal to be snappy & moody, even if it wasn't for the amount of hormones we are pumping into our bodies, the stress and anxiety would make anyone an evil bitch lol. Hope your db is being supportive. My hubby won't be with me for most of it so I think he could be the lucky one... Poor doggies will have to deal with my moods lol! Hope the rest of your week goes quickly for you. I know I don't need to say it but symptoms or lack of them really means nothing, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for you for Friday. Have you planned anything nice for next weekend to either celebrate or otherwise?
> 
> I've had a lovely time at home catching up with family, although because both my brothers and all my cousins (who are all younger than me) seem to be having babies left right & centre at the minute I have of course had the "you'll be next/are you having any/suits you (while holding a baby)" comments from various people. I still find it hard to know what to say, mostly I just laugh and make a joke about no night feeds or smelly nappies but it's still annoying.
> I'm flying back this afternoon then I've got my DR scan tomorrow morning so hoping I can start the next stage soon
> 
> Love & best wishes to all xxx

Hi... I'm glad u had a nice time but I know what u mean about the questions... my std answer is usually "oh please we can hardly look after ourselves never mind a baby!!! Hahaha......"
I really am the last person out of everyone I know that's not had a baby now! So it gets annoying... 

We are back home now... I had a terrible journey... upset tummy... not sure if it's the suppositories or something I ate... had to stop three times on the way haha and had terrible cramps... I then thought oh no maybe it's af on her way!! Every pain now is going to worry me. Db has been amazing... so patient and supportive. I've even caught him getting gooey over baby clothes my friend got at the baby shower yesterday! He's a gem. 

Good luck both of you tomo!! Praying for big juicy follies mas and a nice inactive scan for you Autumn! Let's hope stims can now begin! 

Keep me posted... sleep tight xxx


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## Flannelsheets

Good luck tomorrow, Mas & Autumn! I'm somewhere betw. you two. On my 3rd night of menopur & gonal-f tonight, and going for a scan tomorrow. Last mon., my ovaries were sleeping. As you say, let's hope they've woken up! Very curious to see what the magic vag wand reveals tomorrow a.m. :)


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## g_and_t

Good luck with your scan flannel!! 

Hopefully dildo cam brings good news for everyone today!! 

Keep us posted!! 

Afm I'm on knickerwatch.... Convinced af is gonna turn up!! 

Chat soon xxx


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## Flannelsheets

Hahaha .. dildo cam!! This will be a busy week for dildo cam for many of us. I'm probably going in every other day. This morning it revealed 21 potential follicles, but they're still fairly small, so there's no way to tell if they'll all develop. This is only day 4 of stims. Gradually getting the party started, though!


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## Autumn Girl

Hi flannelsheets, 21 sounds like a good number, I hope they all develop well. Do you go back Wednesday now then? 

G&T hope you are feeling better today, are you at work all this week? I'm off work for the foreseeable future while we move and I had thought that was great but now I think I might go crazy during the tww with no work to distract me! Gonna have to plan lots of fun things instead  I hate knicker watch, been doing it every month for the past 2.5 years even though I try not to :-/ I've still got my fingers crossed for you xx

Mas hope your scan goes well today, hoping for loads of good eggs 

My baseline scan went well, lining is thin, ovaries quiet and she counted about 10 follies on one and 11 on the other so I am pleased with that and hope they all develop healthy eggs. I have been given the go ahead to start stims, but my clinic always starts them on a Thursday (not sure why) so another few days till I get to do the double jabs (oh joy lol). I'm happy that my body is doing as it is supposed to so far though, hope it continues to play ball throughout the rest of the process!

All the best ladies, catch up again soon xxx


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## Mas1118

Hi ladies! Sounds like everyone has loads going on! I also hate knicker watching - although I have never heard it called that - I love it!!! My nan was very British and knickers was a word she used frequently, lol! I hope you get a sticky one and that you get the all clear on your knickers for quite sometime!!

Autumn and flannel - your scans sound great!! Hope you get them all on the grow and get loads at retrieval!

Afm- scan was ok. E2 is rising nicely - 597. And I have 3 measurable and they are hoping to see more pop up on Friday at next scan. I have to stick to same dosage of meds. They are going for the slow grow - to keep me from getting OHSS - which I had in October during a medicated cycle for iui, I ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. Anyway my re says for me it's quality or quantity. I'm hoping this works. Trying not to stress.... It's hard.


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## g_and_t

I'm glad to hear everyone is progressing in one way or another.... I've been thinking about all of you today... I think we must've all become a lot more patient than we give ourselves credit for!! I think we all deserve medals haha... This has been a 3.5 year journey for us and I feel like I live my life in 2 week instalments! Cycle starts then wait 2 weeks to ov... Dtd and then 2 weeks til af arrives.... And repeat... So at least this ivf process adds a bit of variety!! Hah.. 

I'm starting to think I should do a test a few days early.... I am really scared I'll be disappointed tho... I don't know what's the earliest u can test with a day 5 blastocyst transfer? They said 11 days after transfer... But is there a chance it can show before? 
Hmmmm... I only have one test in the house so as long as I don't buy any more I will prob wait... So hard!!!


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## Autumn Girl

hey Mas, it's good that your RE is being cautious considering your previous OHSS, and it only takes one good one to get your BFP :) better for slow & steady growth than risking hospitalisation again! Doesn't make the waiting any easier though :wacko:

G&T i know what you mean about the 2 week instalments, even when we haven't been actively trying it's still at the back of your mind what part of your cycle you're at, it's hard not to think about it.

Not sure how early a BFP can show up, I think EC day is the same as ovulation day, and I think I've heard you can get a positive 9 days later so I guess you could possibly get one as early as 4 days after a 5dt, but don't quote me on that! (Also I've read the trigger shot will cause a positive and it can take a while to get out of your system, so if you test too early it could affect things)
I'm not sure what I would do, I have rubbish willpower so I know I'll probably test early, but the sensible part of me says wait till OTD. If it is BFP you will be happy whether you test early or wait, but if you test early and it is bfn you will torture yourself wondering if it is really negative or if it is just too early to show up. I just don't know though. I think it would be best to have no tests in the house. I have a few but they are about a year out of date so not sure I would even trust whatever they say lol!! Try to keep busy, only 4 more sleeps till OTD anyway :flower:


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## g_and_t

I did it.... My first ever BFP... I'm a bit stunned! I don't know what to think or do haha... I'm scared it's all going to backfire somehow... I'm going to buy more tests today and keep testing but I'll contact the clinic anyway to let them know and see what they say... Gobsmacked is the only word I can think of right now!


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## Autumn Girl

Omg congrats g&t!!! So pleased for you! Yay! Xxxx


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## Mas1118

Woohoo!!!! That's awesome g&t!!!! I'm soooo excited for you:) keep us posted!!

I know exactly what you girls mean about living your life for years always knowing where you are in your cycle etc.... I feel like my whole life is one big wait - wait for AF then wait for AF to stop, wait to "O" wait for the temp rise - wait for a line to show up after numerous peeing on sticks, wait for the temp drop, dread the temp drop, wait for AF again and so on.... I'll be glad when I don't do this anymore. 

I went to acupuncture yesterday with a traditional Chinese practitioner. He says I have damp in my spleen which gives me slow blood, slow digestion and a cold uterus. He says he will treat the cause and up my chances. I'm very excited about him!! I felt great when I left:) going to see him Wednesday again and I hope for my appt Thursday I have a huge improvement!

Xoxo!!


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## Flannelsheets

Ditto x1000 about the "life is one big wait" thing...
And OMG congrats G&T!!!!


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## Autumn Girl

So has it sunk in yet G&T? What did the clinic say? And your DB... bet he is excited too :happydance:


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## g_and_t

Hi ladies
I'm still in shock... I can't actually believe it. It doesn't feel like it's happening to me...
I bought more tests and did another one this afternoon... Still BFP! Lol... 
I was going to wait til Friday to surprise db with a baby gro or something... But I lasted about 10 mins and told him before work... He's over the moon! 
But enough about me! Please keep posting your news... Hopefully the baby dust will bless all of us!! 
Thanks for all your kind words... You've been amazing!! Carry on being strong and awesome... We'll all get there!! 
Big love and hugs to all... 
T xxx


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## Mas1118

I'm hoping this thread will lucky for us girls!! Maybe we will all end up being bump buddies:)


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## Autumn Girl

I hope this is a lucky thread too Mas, I daren't even think as far as test day yet, I don't want to get my hopes up too much then be disappointed. Wish I could just be put to sleep after ET and wake up on testing day cos I think the tww will be agony. I would so love to see my first "real life" BFP. I also think it would be nice to have sex at some stage without thinking about whether it could result in BFP. Since we got married it feels like that's all we've been focused on and it definitely takes some of the fun & spontaneity out of it, as much as we try not to let it.
Hope your Chinese practitioner makes a difference for you Mas.

Flannelsheets hope your follies are all developing well too :)

G&T have you done another test today?! :p does your clinic do a blood test to confirm pregnancy? Mine don't, just a 6 week scan 

AFM Day 17 of DR today, had a stinking HA & felt really tired yesterday, can't wait to get started on stims tomorrow


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## Mas1118

What stims will you be taking autumn? What dose? 
G&t - what day past transfer are you? 
Any news on follies flannel?
I go tomorrow to see how things are looking. Not many symptoms other than bloating and wicked pressure headaches! I feel dehydrated too so I'm trying to drink lots. I go back and forth from being positive and hopeful to worrying I won't get anything to freeze:( we have been tying so long that to actually have a positive outcome to all this seems very far fetched to me. We had our son almost 11 yrs ago after only trying for 6 cycles(funny how you think in terms of cycles). We were over the moon when he was born but we were young and my OH wasn't very helpful or supportive and he went out and partied etc..... (Drugs were involved)Anyway our whole relationship fell apart and he essentially ruined those precious baby years for me. Don't get me wrong - I cherish every memory of Jacob as a baby and thoroughly enjoyed seeing him grow, we tried to have another while he was still a baby but things were going south and we ended up splitting - for two years I raised our son and worked, tried to give him a normal life - hating the fact that my home was broken. While his dad continued on a downward spiral. OH got very ill and almost died. I took our son to see him everyday. None of his party buddies visited. We ended up back together - near death made him realize how stupid he had been. We refell in love, got back together and started trying again and tried and tried for a sibling for our boy. No luck. We got married a year ago and said - if no baby by the new year we will do IVF. And here we are, I really didn't think we needed to go this far. Sorry for the long sad story... It's also a good happy one too - we are very happy, are blessed with our son, have 3 dogs and 3 cats and very close loving family. We have always wanted more children and it is hard to go through this as you all know. I'm really hoping this ivf is all us ladies need to make our dreams complete. Thank for listening.


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## Flannelsheets

I'm really hoping the same, Mas!! That's quite a story! It's such a tight-rope to walk betw. feeling hopeful & relaxed vs. realistic & knowing that the odds aren't 100%... And the same kind of tight-rope betw. being happy for what you do have and recognizing that it's not everything you wanted...

My scan was good -- they're developing. 6-7 of them are around 9-11 units big, the rest a bit smaller. (What unit of measurement they use, I can't even remember.) Will go back to the dildo-cam on Fri. Onwards & upwards!


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## Autumn Girl

hey Mas, it's strange how things turn out sometimes, sad that your OH was too immature to appreciate what he had when you had your son and that it took a near death experience to force him to wise up, but I am happy that you are all on the right track again. Hope you get your BFP so he has the chance to prove he can be a good dad!

Flannelsheets glad everything is developing nicely, have you got an estimated date for EC yet?

I'm gonna be on 225units of gonalF, it's in a pre-filled pen that you just twist to the right dose then push it in, so looks easy enough to do. Still have to continue with the buserelin as well. 

all the best to you ladies :) xxx


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## JCM

Hello! I will be starting IVF this month using ICSI. I am so nervous! I'm trying to read everything on this forum to teach myself more. I'm currently focused on what these meds will do to me and how much egg retrieval will hurt. So far I haven't seen any of you ladies complain much about this stuff. : ) The internet is scary and I've been obsessing over the last 2 days. I am going to order my meds today or tomorrow. So expensive! Lupron is one of the meds and I hear that one is no fun. I have been giving myself heparin shots for the last month so I am ok with needles. Just nervous on the side effects!


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## g_and_t

Good news flannel... I'm not sure what 9-11 is in terms of measurement... they measured mine in mm and I think as soon as they start getting a few above 17mm then you're ready! When I was told I was ready I only had 7 above 17mm... 5 on right 2 on left... but I went home and triggered and 2 days later when I had retrieval they got 16 eggs! I don't know how we went from 7 to 16 but didn't complain. So fingers crossed Friday dildo cam will show you're almost ready!!

Almost there Autumn!!! I bet you'll feel better when you're doing something and you can start scans and see ur follies growing! I know what u mean about getting your hopes up... even tho I have a bfp I've been so used to the continual let downs I don't think I will believe af isn't coming until I see that first scan. I'm scared and anxious all the time! Keep checking my knickers in case it's over :(

Mas thanks for sharing... u really have had a roller coaster but such a lovely ending... sometimes these things are sent to test us! Fingers crossed well all be blessed on this lucky thread! Stay positive!! 

Welcome jcm... I can honestly say I didn't suffer much... down regs and stims we're tedious but I didn't notice much except the bad taste of the nasal spray (buserelin) which made me feel a little sick at times. Egg retrieval hurt more after than I expected but wasnt unbearable. Just make sure u have paracetamol in good supply as they told me that's all I could have.I was ok when I came round.. bit tender but excited really to know what they got. It was later that day and the next few days I felt very bloated and like I had trapped wind I couldn't get out. The anaesthetic causes constipation as well but a handful of tinned prunes sorted that out! Haha. The progesterone pessarys aren't nice and that was the first time I had proper symptoms. Grumpy, snappy, sore boobs, twinges in tummy... Moody!!! Not great with the waiting!!!! But it was short lived thank goodness. If u need to know anything else please shout... 

Afm I did test again last night and again this morning... still there! I still can't quite believe it... it's odd! Clinic said to stop the pessarys and have booked my first scan for 7 May. No blood tests or anything til then. After that the clinic releases me to my gp for the rest... 

Hope all goes well tomo Autumn and with Friday's dildo cam flannel... what's ur next step mas?

Love to all xxx


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## Mas1118

Welcome JCM! I started with lupron and found it to be the worst one - headaches and not great sleeps etc... I wasn't on it long though because it was over suppressing me. Try to be relaxed and not look at too much info on the internet - I know its hard but there is solo much info that can either give you hope, confuse you or scare the poop out of you!!
Glad to hear you have lots of follies flannel!
Autumn - I am on the gonalF pen too but I take 300ui each night plus 75ui repronex. 
g&t - still such awesome news!! Very excited for you:)
I go tomorrow for another scan - I have had 2 acupuncture treatments since the last time so I am really hoping things have improved.
Thank you ladies for the support - My story did end up being a happy one and my DH treats me wonderful now and is an excellent Father, he and our son are very close - he is also very very supportive even when I am cranky and weepy and frustrated and negative - not sure how many men would be quite so good about the whole infertility journey when it has been so long and emotional and expensive. He did grow up a lot and yes it is too bad it ever happened and that it almost ended in his death but he turned around quick especially when he realized he actually might have a chance to get his family back! We both feel that the time when our son was a baby should have been more enjoyable and not so stressful - I spent a lot of time worrying but I know this time will be cherished even more - especially that we get to share it with our son, he can't wait to have a sibling!


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## Autumn Girl

Morning ladies, hope you are all well :)

Welcome Jen! It is a scary time and the internet can be a great source of information & support but as Mas said, sometimes you can cause yourself unnecessary worry reading about symptoms & side effects you may or may not experience. I was on a different DR drug (buserelin) and was warned it can basically give symptoms the sane as the menopause, but all I've experienced really is a few headaches (not debilitating, but unusual for me as I'm not normally prone to them). I've been a little more tired than usual and perhaps a bit absent minded too, but nothing too severe. Can't help with the rest of the process yet as I am only due to start stims today. Whereabouts in the world are you? When are you due to start Lupron? Fingers crossed for you :)

G&T hope you can relax and enjoy being preggers but I am sure you will be a little anxious till you've had your scan... More waiting lol... you'll be an expert at it by now! I know if I get bfp I will be just waiting for something to go wrong though, so used to disappointment now! I envy people who get pregnant naturally by accident and don't even realise till they are 2-3 months in. 
Strange how every clinic has their own ways of doing things, my protocol days if I get bfp I have to continue pessaries till 7weeks after transfer! :o

Not much to report here, just waiting to start my gonalF this evening :)


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## Flannelsheets

Welcome, JCM. I'm in the middle of my stims. (Gonal-f & menopur in the p.m.; just started Ganirelix this morning) I'm prone to migraines, and definitely had an uncharacteristic one yesterday. :( Otherwise, no side effects. This is day 7 of stims. The nurse warned me that I might start to feel bloated soon, and I have felt twinges town there from time to time, but nothing terrible.

G&T, that's fascinating about your retrieval. I wondered what happened to the other ones that they first saw on the day 4 scan. First there were 21, and now we're down to 7? But there must be many more developing. So, hopefully I'll have something similar to you at retrieval.

No scheduled day yet for the retrieval -- probably somewhere early-mid week next week. Hopefully not Tues. as it's my busiest day at work, but you know, given our luck, PROBABLY TUESDAY... ;


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## Mas1118

Hi Ladies, How is every one doing?
Autumn how did you your first injections go? What is your dosage?
Flannel - when is your next scan?
How are you doing JCM?
g&t - hope you are feeling good - get lots of rest!!

afm - had my scan today cd13 - day 11 of stims. so I now have 5 measurable follicles (better than 3) one is mature but the others aren't yet. The technician said I have lots of smaller ones too - not measured though. My E2 went from 597 to over 2300, they said that is very good. I have to stick with the same meds over the next few days and I go back Sunday. I kinda figure egg retrieval will be Tues or Wed. I was feeling pretty lousy after the scan - 5 just seems so low, but my bw looks good and the clinic seems really happy with everything so I am going to try to be positive and just enjoy the weekend. The weather here is getting nicer so we are going to clean up our yard and get our patio furniture out as spring is finally here!! We had a long rough winter!


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## Autumn Girl

Hiya Ladies :) Hope you are all well.

G&T, still enjoying your BFP? Bet you still can't believe it :cloud9:

Mas, hey at least they are progressing, better to have a few good quality ones than loads of rubbish ones. And there's still time for a few more to pop up before EC :flower: Get out and enjoy the sunshine, that always lifts my mood. I'm glad I'm going through this in the spring rather than the winter, think it would be so much harder while coping with the winter blues too (and I bet our winter is nothing compared to yours!)

Flannelsheets you can guarantee EC will be Tuesday if thats your busiest day lol! But hey, stuff work, this is way more important :tease:

AFM finally started stims! Did my first GonalF this evening (225iu), as well as my buserelin, couldn't decide if it would be best to stab myself twice in the same place or spread the pricks around :haha: went for one in the thigh & one in the belly in the end. Was pretty easy, think the mood swings have started already though, was skyping DH and he really wound me up by saying he is going to the bar tomorrow night, I said something about not getting drunk and he kind of fobbed me off, really wound me up, probably more so cos I couldn't throw something at him or storm off which is what I normally would do when I'm annoyed, so had to make do with hanging up on him and sending a snarky text. Arguements just arent the same when they're in different countries #-o
It's all ok now though, I know I was over-reacting a bit, and he knows it's just the drugs (probably!!) :p
Roll on next Tuesday for my first stims scan! Nervous about how my follies will react to the drugs, it's all so unknown when its your first time! ???

catch up again soon, good luck to us all xxx


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## g_and_t

Ahh mas don't feel down! I felt like that and they do tend to get a little extra boost towards the end! And even when you have that last scan when they say you're ready you will have 48 til EC so there's still plenty of time to grow!! Enjoy the weekend!! :)

Well done autumn... This is where it starts getting fun... I looked like a junkie in the end... Some days I think I just hit the wrong spot and bruised a bit... It must be very hard being alone... I'm sure your hubby forgives you! Doing this even with db here has been hard at times so chin up! At least you have us... :) 

I'm good... It really doesn't feel real as I have no symptoms. They say morning sickness usually only starts in about 2 weeks time and that's when u start feeling preg. Right now I'm in a bubble. Excited but not being able to talk about it. Waiting for something but not sure what? Scan? I guess so... I tested again with one of those cheap little dip sticks tonight and it's still vivid so I guess that's good. Going to break the news to my mom on Saturday. Can't wait... My dad lives in South Africa so will have to make that call one of these days too. He's over in July so will be lovely to see him then. 
Nite all xxx


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## Mas1118

Good night ladies:) I am feeling better now - My numbers are good and I think a few more will pop up! I am looking forward to next week.

Stay strong!!


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## Mas1118

I am very bloated now!! And my ovaries feel tender - I think I'm in for an uncomfortable weekend! I am think my retrieval will be tues or wed of next week.


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## Flannelsheets

Good going, Mas! I, too, think a few more will pop up. Probably many more. It seems like those little follicles grow faster the closer it is to trigger day.
Even betw. wed. and today I had many more pop up. 6-7 on Wed., and now 14, all betw. 10 and 13 mm. So, we'll likely trigger early next week and have egg retrieval on Wed., Th., or Fri. 
At this point, I'm just hoping we at least get some good frosties out of this cycle. Obv. that's not the MOST one could hope for, but I'm trying to keep my hopes in check...
Autumn, sigh.. I totally feel you. I've had so many arguments like that in the last few days... It's hard for me to know whether it's the hormones or just the stress of the whole thing. It's clearly difficult for partners to know how much we're really doing to make this thing work. Even though my husband is fantastic & supportive most of the time, I still feel pretty often like I'm making this baby myself. It's all in the little things: *I* know when all the appointments are, *I* know how much meds to use, *I* have read the books, *I* know what all the blood tests are for .... Maybe that's the unfortunate result of the process?


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## Autumn Girl

Hey ladies :)

Oh Mas & flannel you could be having EC on the same day! Not long to wait now. And I am sure there are more follies developing Mas, especially if you are feeling more bloated! I am keeping my fingers crossed that you both get some good embies :)

G&T it will be nice when you are able to tell people, I think that night make it more "real". I suppose it is hard not to feel you are still waiting for something, we have all been so used to waiting over the years that it is just our default setting now lol!

Afm having a nice day, lovely & sunny here so been in the garden mostly. Hubby had a bunch of flowers delivered to me to apologise for being an arse yesterday (although I think he thinks that means he gets to stay out drinking tonight... He blimmin well better not!!) 
flannelsheets you are right, it is generally the women who have to arrange everything and do all the hard work, but hey that's life isn't it?! 

JCM how are you doing? 
Anyone else reading this? Please join in... I don't wanna be the last to test!! :o 

Chat soon xxx


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## Mas1118

Glad your hubby sent you some lovely flowers!! Men can be so insensitive sometimes and as much as they can be supportive - they don't really get it and how heart breaking these TTC troubles can be - they get disappointed too but its not in the same way. and I hear you both on the fact that we do most of the work - appt.'s, arrangements, dildo cams going in and out all the time, meds, periods!! blah!! we got the short end of the stick for sure - except that we get to carry the baby:) So in the end it will be all worth it!!!!

Im excited for all of us! and Autumn - I will prob be the last to test because my RE only does FET, so that won't be until mid - May if all goes according to plan:) My son was born in May so its a lucky month for us;)


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## Autumn Girl

Oh yes, you did say you would be having FET Mas, sorry I forgot! May will be your lucky month again, I can feel it :) xx

Don't get me wrong, hubby is supportive and says all the right things, and I know he wishes he could be here rather than stuck in another country... but I sometimes feel like he thinks his part in all this begins and ends with doing his bit in a pot in the day of EC. If it was the other way round and I was told that my sperm were not the best I would be researching anything I could do to improve it (in fact I have, but hubby doesn't want to hear it, he will only do as the hospital have told him, and all they said was to take zinc & selenium. He has that in a multivit which he takes daily. They didn't explicitly tell us no alcohol or cut down on caffeine or anything, so I think he sees that as meaning he should continue as normal) 

Sigh... I feel like I've turned into a right nag since starting all this, I just want to do whatever it takes to get that bfp!! 

Hugs to everyone xxx


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## Flannelsheets

Back from another visit to the RE for bloodwork & US. Dildo cam says things look good. We'll likely trigger Mon. with retrieval on Wed. (Not tues. Yay!) It's amazing how quickly those little follies are developing now!

Mas, are you set for Wed. as well?


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## Flannelsheets

good luck everyone!


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## Mas1118

I go for the dildo cam and bw tomorrow morning, so I think I will know a lot more then. One thing - the last couple of days, my boobs are killing me!! So very sore, I of course asked "Dr Google" and it is common at the end of stims as estrogen gets higher. I am thinking I will have to really watch for OHSS again after the retrieval. I have a feeling my counts will be 5 or 6000+ again.

I hope you are all having a great weekend!!


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## Mas1118

So - I now have 11!! and they had to start me on a low dose of cetrotide 0.25mg to prevent premature O. Im thinking my retrieval will be Thurs. I go back Tuesday morning and hopefully my eggs have grown enough to get the go ahead to trigger that day! Im glad that my ovaries are finally cooperating!! 

How is everyone else? Everyone feeling good I hope:)


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## Autumn Girl

Hi guys, Mas good that there are more now, hope you don't get ohss, I don't know a lot about it but it doesn't sound nice! Hope you get to trigger on tues! 

Flannel good luck today if you are triggering :) 

G&T did you tell your mum the good news? Bet she's over the moon! Xx

I'm on day 5 of stims, other than tiredness no real side effects, I have my first stims scan tomorrow morning (tues) so keeping fingers crossed my follies are developing. Hubby has booked flights home for the weekend, and is taking a week off work so hope my EC goes ahead next week! It seems a bit unreal at the minute! 

Best of luck everyone xxx


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## g_and_t

Hi ladies!! 

Great news about your hubby coming home autumn! Will be nice to spend Easter weekend together! And if all goes well with your scans he'll be here for EC!! Yay! I know what you mean about the men not putting as much energy into trying harder!! I felt like a terrible nag all the time. I just changed our home coffee to decaf so he didn't have a choice but then I'd see him at work drinking loads of the stuff despite me reminding him to please rather drink water during the day! He doesn't drink during the week but then fri and sat he'd have a few beers and sometimes way more than was necessary and if course the argument ensues when you try say that's enough! There's no reasoning with a drunk man! I kept thinking that we had tried absolutely everything else.... What if that ONE thing preventing us getting BFP was the effect the alcohol was having? And I couldn't understand why he wasn't prepared to at least TRY stop just for 3 months. He kep saying there was nothing to prove that it has an adverse effect.... Not in moderation. Sigh.... Anyway we got there with the help of science haha.... 

So it's an exciting week for everyone!! Let us know if you trigger today flannel.... And I hope you get a good response mas... Keep the updates coming!!! 

Afm... I told my mom on Saturday... We bought a baby gro that says I love grandma this much on it and I did another clearblue test and put them in a box.... When she opened it all she could say was No!!!! No!!!!! How??? When???? Haha it was very sweet.... She was shaking for ages.... Bless her. Then I called my dad in South Africa yesterday and he was just whooping for about 5 mins! My brother had 4 kids but my parents know how long I've waited for this ( there's only me and my brother ) so they are very pleased. 

I just hope this little blob sticks.... I'm still convinced something is going to go wrong.. Sad that we are ingrained to feel that way now hey? Other than that some achey bbs and a bit of faint nausea but nothing else... Doing ok so far! 

Chat soon lovely ladies xxx


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## Mas1118

Things sound great g&t! Glad you gave out the happy news, try not to worry - enjoy being preggers!!
Good luck at your scan tomorrow autumn:)


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## Flannelsheets

Wow, G&T, that's such a sweet way to tell your mom! :)

Looks like I'm triggering tonight. I had 7-8 follicles betw. 18-20 mm this morning -- and surely more at the ER. So, it's time to RELEASE THE KRAKKEN! ER on Wed. Boy will I be happy to be done with these shots. Betw. them and all the bloodwork, I feel like a real pin cushion. Obv. you guys understand!


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## JCM

Autumn Girl said:


> Morning ladies, hope you are all well :)
> 
> Welcome Jen! It is a scary time and the internet can be a great source of information & support but as Mas said, sometimes you can cause yourself unnecessary worry reading about symptoms & side effects you may or may not experience. I was on a different DR drug (buserelin) and was warned it can basically give symptoms the sane as the menopause, but all I've experienced really is a few headaches (not debilitating, but unusual for me as I'm not normally prone to them). I've been a little more tired than usual and perhaps a bit absent minded too, but nothing too severe. Can't help with the rest of the process yet as I am only due to start stims today. Whereabouts in the world are you? When are you due to start Lupron? Fingers crossed for you :)
> 
> G&T hope you can relax and enjoy being preggers but I am sure you will be a little anxious till you've had your scan... More waiting lol... you'll be an expert at it by now! I know if I get bfp I will be just waiting for something to go wrong though, so used to disappointment now! I envy people who get pregnant naturally by accident and don't even realise till they are 2-3 months in.
> Strange how every clinic has their own ways of doing things, my protocol days if I get bfp I have to continue pessaries till 7weeks after transfer! :o
> 
> Not much to report here, just waiting to start my gonalF this evening :)


I need to back away from the internet...haha! I am located in arizona. My doctor mentioned starting birth control pills and then moving onto lupron right after. I'm still a little confused. So many meds. We are waiting 30 days in hopes that my husbands sperm (total motile) bumps up a little. He is on meds for all of that and his last analysis is just under the border for iui so we may try that first to see if we have any luck. Of course that all depend on his next analysis in 3 weeks. Sooooo I'll wait. Not like I've been waiting long enough or anything! : ) patience is not my best virtue. How are the Stims going for you? I take heparin shots now and they burn a little but I seem to be getting used to it. Hopefully by the time iui or ivf rolls around I'll be ready!


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## Mas1118

Wow trigger already!! Awesom flannel:) I won't be far behind you!!

I tell you - I am sooooo freaking bloated! I look 4 months pregnant today:( and I'm uncomfortable, my pants feel tight on my tummy! Arrghhh! I can't wait for this to be done!!!

Good luck to tomorrow - hope you get a lot:)


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## Flannelsheets

Yea, I was surprised to be triggering tonight.
And, about the bloating -- Uuh. I'm right there with you. I worked from home today and worked mostly on the couch... Am in bed now.
Hang in there!


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## JCM

I'm a little nervous to waste time with iui...I'm seeing a lot of women with no luck there. Wondering if I should just go straight forward with ivf or give iui a shot? Aren't the odds pretty much the same as doing it "the old fashioned way"? I'm so impatient that I don't want to waste another month but I'd love a less invasive way of course and the less expensive approach. We are responsible for paying for everything over here with no insurance help at all. What a mess! I'm so excited to hear about everyone's egg retrieval! At this rate I will be the last of us to get my BFP so I'm liking going through the motions with you all so I'm prepared!!!


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## Mas1118

JCM - We pay out of pocket as well, with some of the meds covered through my husbands insurance. IVF is soooo expensive but we spent about ten thousand before IVF on other treatments such as IUI, meds, supplements, tons of gas for traveling etc.... and I wish we had of went straight to IVF. It may have brought us earlier success when I was 3 or 4 years younger and cost us less. I just didn't think I needed to do IVF and I was scared of more appointments and the invasive treatment. And now here we are - almost to egg retrieval! It hasn't been that bad really - not much different from IUI or medicated cycle.
Good luck with whatever you decide:) 
:hugs: and :dust: to us all!!


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## Flannelsheets

Yea, we had 3 IUI's, too. My husband was pretty frustrated about it. He felt like it was a waste of time. I had more faith in the dr. In the end, maybe it was a waste of time. I don't know. Our fertility is unexplained and I'm young(-ISH), so I appreciate that our dr. wanted to at least try to spare us the trouble of IVF. I myself feel like I learned a lot from doing the IUI's, such that IVF didn't (at least so far) seem so bad. It only took us about 3 months to try 3 IUI's, so it wasn't a great loss of time. And the dr. learned how I'd respond to meds, so my IVF stimulation has gone really smoothly as a result. 
Just some thoughts -- no conclusions. It's not really a straightforward science, obviously...


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## g_and_t

Knowing what I know now I would've gone straight to ivf.... They said the percentage chance was lower with iui... But I wanted to go the less invasive route in case it did work..... Both cycles failed and now that I have my BFP I wish I'd gone straight to ivf! But I don't know at the time..... And if you feel better trying one first then go for it.... It is a good way to break you into the stims and all that so that's one good thing...


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## Autumn Girl

hi guys

JCM we have gone straight for IVF even though we could have had 3 cycles of IUI on the NHS. Consultant felt our chances with IUI weren't very high due to poor sperm motility & morphology, so we didn't want to waste time. Stims are going fine for me, on day 6 now and only had one day where it stung a bit doing the injection. After 2 weeks of down-reg injections I'm pretty used to it now though!

Flannelsheets how did your trigger go? hope you are relaxing before your big day! Good luck :dust:

Mas I guess it will soon be your turn too! Hope you aren't feeling too uncomfortable with all that bloating :wacko:

G&T sounds like your hubby is exactly the same as mine! I'm trying not to naag but it's so hard, like you say, I don't want to be thinking what if or if only... it obviously didn't affect your outcome though so that gives me some hope!
What a lovely way to break the news to your mum! Bet they are overjoyed for you. Now you just enjoy your pregnancy, there is no reason why anything should go wrong! :flower::happydance:

AFM, on day 6 of stims and had scan & bloods this morning. Nurse counted 3 follies on right ovary & 7 on left. I wasn't surprised there were more on the left as I had a bit of a pain & acheyness on my left side when I woke up. I hope a few more appear on the right though. there were around 10 on each ovary at my baseline scan.
Biggest follies are only 1.4, that sounds very small to me? But they aren't changing my dose so must be ok. I've to go back on Friday for another scan, hope they have a growth spurt, I really want to have EC next week sometime!

best wishes & lots of luck everyone xxx


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## Mas1118

I had 13 or 14 today - 6 are mature with the others not far behind. Waiting to hear if I will trigger tonight or tomorrow night. 
I do agree about the iui's being a good indication of how you respond to meds. Even one iui could give an indication. They knew that I needed high doses already for ivf - I'm on stim day 16 if I inject tonight:( crazy !!!!!!

Autumn - those are great numbers and good sizes - you'll be triggering in no time:)
Take care ladies!! :hugs: all around


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## Mas1118

Hi Girls:) Hope you are all well!!

Flannel - are you getting excited!! FXed for your EC tomorrow :dust:

I spoke to the nurse and she confirmed - 14 follicles, my E2 was just over 8000! So I am triggering at 930 tonight for EC on Thursday morning:) Finally!! We are very very excited!!


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## JCM

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I think we will do one iui. I like the idea of testing the meds first. My period is just ending this week so this will be my last cycle without any fertility drugs. I'm excited now! Maybe my husbands sperm will decide to be the right amount of motile this cycle...after over a year wouldn't that be awesome?! I won't hold my breath....good luck to those of you triggering for egg retrieval. I will keep you in my prayers!


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## Autumn Girl

Yay Mas! Congrats, those numbers sound great :) good luck with the trigger (or hope it went well if you've already done it, I don't know what day it is with you let alone what time lol!) enjoy your injection free day xx

Flannel, not long now for you I guess! Keeping my fingers crossed for you :)


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## g_and_t

Good luck flannel..... Thinking of you!!! Let us know how many little eggies you harvested!! How appropriate considering it's Easter!! Ha ha.... 

And by tomorrow your little embryos will hopefully be fertilised and on their way!!! Very exciting!!! 

Keep us posted.... Also remember paracetamol! It helps with the cramps after...

Xxx


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## Flannelsheets

Thanks so much, G&T! 
ER went well. Somehow I had ...(drumroll)... 24 eggs! Totally crazy. I had no idea there were that many in there. I thought there would be ~15. Hopefully some will fertilize. Since we're doing ICSI, I'm sure some of them will. With any luck, we'll have some embryos to freeze. Very curious to hear what they say tomorrow about fertilization (so far).
And you were totally right about tylenol. Made all the difference. Turned out I couldn't keep any food down when we got home, so I drank a bit of gatorade and took 2 tylenol. After about 4 hours of sleep I felt a lot better.
Thanks for the support! I'll keep you posted.


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## Mas1118

Thats excellent! Woohoo for your ovaries!! They were working double time:) Hoping you hear that a lot of them fertilized!!
I go tomorrow - will keep you all posted.....

Take care :)


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## JCM

I'm so glad you're feeling good! How exciting! Can't wait to hear how fertilizing goes! When will you have your transfer? 5 days?

Good luck tomorrow, Mas! Get a good nights sleep!


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## Autumn Girl

Morning ladies :)

Fabulous result flannelsheets! Even if only 50% fertilise that will still be an amazing number! Can't wait to hear how they get on. Are you having all ICSI or a mixture of that & IVF?

Good luck to you Mas, I know you may not have the same numbers as flannel (not many ladies do!) but I'm sure they will get plenty of great eggs for you!

I'm on day 8 of stims now, and definitely feeling my ovaries more now. Not painful or uncomfortable, just aware of them. I'm bloating too, I look about 4 months pregnant at times! I'm sure friends who know we are ttc are looking at me and thinking it's worked! I hope it does or they'll just think I was fat lol!
Next scan tomorrow morning, can't wait (it's sad that we look forward to these things now!) I hope my follies have grown and I would love it if they see a few more than last time :)

Best of luck to us all xxx


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## Flannelsheets

So, we got the call from the doc this morning. 23 out of 24 were mature, and 17 fertilized. I'm really glad we did the ICSI (for all of them) -- apparently there was some problem with sperm-binding. Our RE does a process called PICSI, where they test the binding of the spermies to certain proteins in order to pick the right ones. It seems like it helped, and we likely wouldn't have as many embryos without it. Money well spent...

I'm oddly relieved to hear there was a problem -- our problems have been unexplained so far. This is the first time in WHOLE fertility journey that there's been any possible explanation to why things haven't been working. It's been a very frustrating mystery until this point.

Hopefully that's the only bump in the road. It's not that big of a bump, obv., with 17 embryos!

Good luck, Mas!! Let us know how you're doing. I'm feeling much recovered today. DH is totally obsessed with me eating enough protein and drinking enough fluids... Made me scarf some eggs & yogurt this morning. I assume it's helping, though, because I feel almost back to normal today.


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## Mas1118

Hello ladies! Those are awesome results of your fertilization:) we are doing icsi too - turns out hubby has a big low mobility and morphology. And we got "16 eggs!!!" Very happy!! The RE was so brisk about it thT I cried through the whole thing:( it was a bit humiliating but I was so anxious and stressed!!! I sobbed like a baby:( I feel better now and not even too uncomfortable yet.

Take care and I will let you know the fertilization rate:)


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## Autumn Girl

Great news for both if you today! 17 fertilised is amazing flannel, I look forward to hearing how they get on!

And 16 eggs is great Mas, compared to how many they could see at your earlier scans, hope you get good news in the morning about how many have fertilised :)
We'll be having ICSI too as hubby has low motility & morphology.

Not much to report here, day 8 of stims, feeling a bit more bloated, scan in the morning so off to bed now. Hoping my little follies have grown since Tuesday!

Best wishes to you all xx


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## JCM

What great news! Flannel, mine does PICSI too. Hubby will have another sperm analysis on the 1st and if we are still below the total motile number cut off, I start ivf meds on the 9th. If his sperm came up, we try one iui and then move to ivf if it doesn't take. I'm so impatient for the next 2 weeks!!! Luckily, I have this thread to distract me!


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## Flannelsheets

Mas, sorry you got so upset. Do you mean that you were awake for the retrieval??
16 eggs is fantastic! And also, no matter the #, all it takes is 1 good one, right? Let's hope we both have that one good one!


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## Autumn Girl

Hi ladies:flower:

Had my second stims scan (day 9) everything is progressing well. :) 8 follies on left and 4 on right, ranging from 8-17mm. Endometrium is 6.1 so all heading in the right direction. Have to continue with the gonalF & buserelin and go back Monday morning, hoping for retreival Wed or Thurs! Hubby is home tomorrow for a week so looks like everything is going to plan so far, please let it continue!!

Hope you are all well, how are all the embies doing?


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## Mas1118

Yes I was awake for the retrieval, and they barely gave me anything for pain. His first comment when he came in to the OR was - you don't have that many so maybe I won't hook the IV up and use the drugs. It made me feel terrible to hear he thought I didn't have many!! The whole experience was awful. Once he started and it was pretty painful but also very stressful - I started crying and he started asking me - almost yelling "why are you crying?!" And the more he asked me why I was crying and why I was upset the more I sobbed! My heart rate was going crazy - he finally stopped and got the IV going. It was just not nice all around. I got 16 eggs though so that's good. I'm just very impatiently waiting to hear how many fertilized. I'm getting more anxious by the minute!! So very worried - I hate the waiting:(


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## Mas1118

Autumn - great numbers on your scan though! Sounds like things are progressing very nicely:)


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## Flannelsheets

WTF???!!! That's awful, Mas!! I had such pain afterwards that I can't IMAGINE being awake during the thing. What a shitty shitty individual that doctor is.

And try not to be worried. At this point, the embryos just need to do their thing. It's not in our hands anymore. The most we can do is create a nice place for them to decide to live. (That's what I try to tell myself, at least...!)

My nurse just called, and 12 of my 17 embryos are looking perfect. 5 are kinda funky. We'll get another call tomorrow, and I'm sure there will be more attrition at that point, but it definitely looks like we'll do a 5-day transfer on Monday.


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## Mas1118

G&t and flannel-How long after egg collection did you hear how many fertilized? I'm very impatient!!


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## Autumn Girl

Mas that is terrible about the doctor! Hope you don't have him ever again, in fact I would specifically request no to! When you said before that you cried throughout I was a bit confused as I assumed everyone was at the least sedated for EC, and for him to say you didn't have many - you had 16, thats loads! No wonder you were crying :nope: Fingers crossed they are all doing well xx

Flannel good to hear that so many of your embies are going strong, not long now till ET day! Do you know how many you are having put back? I'm only allowed 1 (due to my age and NHS protocols) You might get some to freeze too :)


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## Mas1118

OMG! That was the longest wait ever!! So they emailed me finally!! It went to my junk mail an hour ago!!!! Anyway - 16 retrieved, 13 mature and 12 fertilized!! So relieved! 

And bloated, lol!


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## Autumn Girl

Fantastic! :happydance: Hope they all do really well for you! x


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## Mas1118

It's been so quiet here. Hope everyone is well. 
G&t - how are you feeling?
Flannel - the waiting is hard! Any more news on your Petri babies?
Autumn - only a few more days til collection:)
Jcm - how is the cycle going?

Afm - I'm still bloated, painfully so. I gotta get gator aid and soup! Just taking it easy at my family cottage - spending time with my parents, siblings/nephews and of course hubby and DS for Easter:) 
Take care!!!!


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## Autumn Girl

Hi Mas, hope the bloating dies down soon. What is it in gator aid that helps? I've heard it mentioned a lot but I don't think we have it here in the uk.
I'm feeling quite bloated too, I barely got into any of my jeans any more. Have you had an update on your 12 embies today? If all goes to plan when do you think you will be having your FET? Xx


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## Flannelsheets

Hey ladies -- make sure to eat loads of protein, too. Gatorade has electolytes that help hydrate. It's a sports drink. There must be some equivalent in the UK. Coconut water would work, too (though that's constipating, so one has to be careful...) Anyway, my husband has been stuffing me full of protein, and I think it has helped. I feel almost back to normal.
No word yet on our petri family. We call them our legion. :) We'll hopefully get an update soon & a time for ET on Mon.
It's hard to have realistic hopes given such good news... The chances are still 50/50 that this will work. I have to remind my parents & 2 friends about that. One of them said, "Well, you're bloated now, but that's just practice for when you're pregnant!" And I have to remind her that I'd still rather not think about pregnancy as a "when," but as an IF.


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## Mas1118

I know what you mean flannel - but it is hard to not think about being pregnant, especially when you feel pregnant!! My boobs hurt and are hard and veiny! And I look about 3-4 months at least - crazy! Everyone in my family keeps talking about when I'm pregnant too;) we keep saying to my parents - the 12 potential grand kids.... Lol!! 

What meds are you taking? I'm taking progesterone suppositories 3xdaily, plus 3 prometrium pills at night, plus prednisone - 2 pills 1x a day, low dose ASA once per day and I have my last doxycycline pill this morning. And I also take thyroxin .1mg every morning!! Wow what a load of meds!! And I start estrace tomorrow:dohh: they are making me take all the meds just in case they do a 5 day transfer Tuesday! If they end up freezing them - I will stop all the meds, wait for my period then start the meds again!!


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## JCM

Great numbers Mas!!!! I would have been screaming if I were you during that collection! My goodness you are tougher than I am! So flannel transfers Monday and Mas Tuesday! How exciting! 
I didn't realize how bloated those meds make you ...3-4 months huh? I'd better buy lots of yoga pants! : )
I'm fertile this week but there's no way I'll get pregnant with all of the sperm issues sooooo I'm trying to have a month with no baby making stress. YEAH RIGHT! Dh has sperm analysis on the 1st. I will for sure know that day what the plan is. So, I wait. But by then, I could witness a couple BFPs in here and that's exciting! Hope you are all having a lovely Easter Sunday. I prayed for all of my ttc buddies extra hard today at church. I hope we get some good news this month/cycle!


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## g_and_t

Hi ladies
Sorry I've been so quiet.. I don't know if I mentioned before but the day before ER my landlord have us notice that he wanted his house and told us we had til 10 June to move out! So in between all this we have had to house hunt and try find something suitable. Very annoying and bad timing!! So much for remaining stress free in this process! Anyway we found something on Saturday and have just been finalising details all weekend. 

So much exciting news!! Flannel you're an egg monster!! Wow great numbers and very promising!!! Will they also do single transfer if there is one good grade and freeze the rest or are they doing 2? How are you feeling now? I was bloated for about a week after ER then a few days after ET too... The drugs and all that don't help! 

Mas great news for you too! I had 16 retrieved and only 6 fertilised but 1 made it to day 5 which was transferred back and 1 made it to day 6 which was frozen... The rest didn't do so well so it's looking good for you! 

Autumn it's looking good for you too! Your numbers are good already and after you trigger more will shoot up so I have a great feeling for you too... This is our lucky thread remember!! :) 

Jcm I hope your cycle speeds along so you can get the show on the road too! :) 

Afm... I'm doing well I think.... I'm at that awkward stage now where i don't really have any symptoms so I have to keep asking myself if I imagined it all. It's strange... Yes my boobs hurt a bit and I get the odd twinge in my tummy but that's it and I have to keep reminding myself that it can't just go away... I've done 7 tests over the last week or so snd all came back strong positives so the only way I'd not be preg now was if af arrived.... Lol.... Odd that I have to keep reasoning with myself like that but I still don't believe it's real! 
We told the family yesterday over Easter lunch and they are all thrilled! I'm the youngest of 4 cousins and my brother has 4 youngish kids and my 2 older cousins have 2 teenage kids each so I'm really the last in the family and at 38 this year I think they were getting worried... The rest of the day was so lovely... Everyone in such good moods and excited! :) now we just wait for the scan on 7 may!!! Can't wait!!!! 

Mas and flannel let us know how transfer goes!! 

Chat soon xxxxx


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## Mas1118

I haven't heard any updates on my dozen since so I am tempted call them and ask how many are left but they said no news is good news so I think I'll just wait. Not sure I want to know how much it went down anyway at this point. I just want to hear that I have good quality blasts that froze !!! I will know either way tomorrow I think.

Hang in there jcm - your cycle will come soon:)

Hi g&t!! Glad you are feeling good!! I'm also 38. Sorry to hear you had to househunt during this stressful time!! Glad you did find a place - maybe it's a sign for new beginnings - new home as a new mommy and daddy:)


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## Mas1118

Flannel- how many are you transferring? I'm going to transfer 2:)


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## Autumn Girl

Hi ladies, 
Hope all the embies are doing well :) good luck for your transfer flannel!
Mas how exciting that you could be transferring this week too!

G&t nice to hear from you, I think if I get a bfp I will be testing every day just to check lol. Hope your new home has a nice room for a nursery :)

Jcm the bloating is a nuisance, I don't feel comfortable in any of my jeans now! Hope the wait goes quickly for you :)

Afm day 12 stims scan this morning, I now have 14 follies, 3 above 20mm and another 7 above 15 so I'm triggering tonight for EC Wednesday morning at 9:30am! Excited and nervous!

Best of luck for us all! Xx


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## Flannelsheets

Just got back from transfer! They did one. Doc. didn't call until this a.m. to tell us how many. They said because I'm young (-ish..) and we have many good ones to freeze AND because this is our 1st try, that one was recommended. We'll know how many they froze on Wed. It'll be 5-10. We feel very very lucky about that. On the way out of the room, we heard a doctor calling a patient whose process had failed -- the eggs had problems and the sperm couldn't get in to fertilize the good ones. It sounded soo so sad. I'm glad no one here is going through anything like that.

Mas, I totally know what you mean about sore boobs! My husband even noticed that they look larger. (I don't know why I said "even" there... ;)

I'm taking endometrin (progesterone) 3x a day and estrace. Have been since the ER. Nothing else -- just prenatals. There are so many different protocols!

Good luck tomorrow, Mas! Soon, we'll be slogging through the TWW together...


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## Mas1118

Flannel - So now your officially PUPO!!


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## Flannelsheets

You know, I never thought about it that way, but now I will. Thanks!! Those little mind games make all the difference. :)


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## Mas1118

I should hear today how many made it to day 5. I'm very nervous. I would hope if things weren't going well, they would have let me know, right??? I can't even think right now I'm so worried!!!!


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## Flannelsheets

I didn't hear much the morning of my transfer. The dr. called to tell me how many they'd be transferring. I bet you'll hear more at the transfer itself.

Forgot to mention -- at the end of our transfer, our embryologist handed us a little fancy cardstock card with a picture of our embryo and a little bit of text (that I couldn't bring myself to read). It seemed kind of bizarre. I guess some people like that kind of thing?? I don't want to look at it until after I know whether this was successful or not...


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## Mas1118

Yeah - I would have a hard time reading it too. I couldn't even call the clinic about the status of my growing embryos cause I was worried about not having many left! They did finally contact me and we have 7 blasts good enough to freeze! They are frozen now - 2 grade A and 5 grade B. She said there are still a few more that are growing and they will update me on their status tomorrow but that she doesn't hold out hope for them as they weren't doing as well. I am so so so relieved!!!!
Take care ladies;)


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## Mas1118

Good luck with egg retrieval Autumn!!


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## Flannelsheets

Mas, that's such a great number of frosties!! Isn't it great thinking about never having to do the stimming and egg retrieval ever again?
When's your blood test? Mine's not until May 5. I feel like I'm in a time warp. A very slooooow one..


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## Mas1118

How did today go autumn??
Hope everyone is well:)
I just heard that we have two more frosties - grade B for a total of 9!!!


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## Mas1118

We aren't doing transfer until next month - FET. I go for a biopsy tomorrow. I'm going to get them to check out my bloating too - worried a bit about OHSS. It's not going away:(


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## Autumn Girl

Mas 9 frosties is fantastic! Congratulations :) hope the bloating doesn't turn out to be ohss. What is the biopsy for? Is it the endo-scratch? 

Flannel how is the tww treating you? May 5th sounds a long way away but it's not really. Have you any distractions planned? Will you test at home or just go for the blood test?

Afm Got 12 eggs! 

As for the procedure I didn't feel a thing. I went through and they double checked my details while the anaesthetist inserted the cannula, which I barely felt, next thing I knew I woke up back in recovery, just feeling a bit woozy, and mild cramps. They brought me some tea & bikkies (I scoffed about half a dozen of them!) 

Then the embryologist came to speak to us. Told us they got 12 eggs which was good, and they will be doing ICSI as sperm motility was only about 12%. They will phone tomorrow morning to let us know how many fertilise! 

I'm a bit sore now but nothing terrible. Been taking it easy all afternoon & looking forward to an evening on the sofa with dh pampering me :)

Autumn xx


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## Flannelsheets

That's great, Autumn! Yes, get in that pampering while you can! 
I'm still waiting to find out how many they've frozen for us. Someone was supposed to call today...
Didn't realize you weren't doing a transfer right away, Mas. I hope you get your bloating sorted! That really stinks! Seems like OHSS is really unpredictable and can hit anyone at any point before or after ET. Good idea to get it checked out. :(
As for me, yea, I'm trying to take each day as it comes. Hoping to do some (light) work on the garden this weekend to distract myself. Thank goodness it's so beautiful outside these days! 
I'm going to try to hold out to mid-week next week to test...


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## Flannz94

Hey ladies, sorry to drop in on your thread, but I am also doing my very first IVF cycle! I'm 24 and my partner is 25, I'm perfectly fine but unfortunately he has low motility, low count and low morphology and our dr told us not to bother with iui as it would just be a waste of money. 

I started my meds on the 12/4 I started gonal-f 100units and I started orgalutran for 4 nights on the 18/4. I had my u/s on the 22/4 and they counted 18 follicles! So I done my pregnyl trigger on the 22/4 and I'm on my way to me EC right now!! I'm pretty nervous about the whole anaesthetic thing tho lol I'm praying this works!! We'll also be using ICSI! 

It gives me hope reading all your ladies stories! Congratulations autumn!! I'm sure all of you are on your way to bfp's!


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## Flannelsheets

Welcome Flannz! I hope the retrieval went well!! Let us know how it turns out!!
We did ICSI, too, and I'm glad we did -- turned out sperm had some issues "binding" to the eggs. Guess that didn't turn up in a standard SA.
I'm just truckin along.. trying not to read too much into symptoms. The question of the day is: implantation cramps or just gas? ;) Sigh...


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## Mas1118

Great News Autumn!! Keep us updated:) and yes I think it must be the scratch biopsy. My RE has a bit different protocol. Uses predisone for immune issues and does the biopsy a week after egg collection - but he has very high success rates so I just follow along:)

Welcome Flannz :wave: just take it a day at a time....and you'll be going for egg collection before you know it!!

On our way to BFP's for us all!!


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## Flannz94

Thanks guys! We managed to get 7 really good eggs so we'll wait until tomorrow to see how many fertilised and find out when the transfer will be! I'm a bit bummed that I only got 7 since there was so many at the u/s the other day, but the embryologist said that sometimes the trigger can absorb the ones that were to small. So hopefully my lucky little blob will make it!!!


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## Autumn Girl

Welcome flannz! 7 is sill a good amount, I'm sure your lucky one is amongst them! How are you feeling after EC? I'm still quite sore.

Afm, just got the call! Of my 12 eggs 10 were mature and 8 have fertilised :) We are hoping for a 5 day transfer on Monday 28th! My clinic won't contact me again till Saturday afternoon (it's Thursday morning here now) so gonna try to relax & forget about it all for a few days. Might even have a glass of wine tonight as I have all weekend to get it out of my system again!

Hope you are all ok xx


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## Mas1118

Excellent news autumn and flannz! Just get lots of rest and drink lots!! My bloating has finally went down:) I almost look back to normal! It's been a week today from collection and yesterday was when I started to feel relief. Let us know when you get updates on the eggs/embryos!!!


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## Mas1118

Flannel - I hope it's implantation and not just gas, lol!!
I'm going for my biopsy today and then it's just wait for my period - which can't come soon enough!!!!!!


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## Flannz94

Autumn girl - I actually feel really good, I've had no pain since it was done! I woke up feeling great! 
Wow 8 fertilised is really good! 
That's it! Just relax before the inevitable stress of the 2WW starts haha :)


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## Flannelsheets

Autumn -- that's great! So, we're exactly a week off. (My transfer was this past mon.) I say hit the wine! FX that you get at least one awesome blast. 
Glad your recovery has been so smooth, Flannz. I'm sure you're waiting by the phone today...
As am I, actually -- our clinic still hasn't told me how many they froze. If I don't get a call this afternoon, I'll call them to check.
Not feeling any symptoms yet today. 3dp5dt and counting...


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## Flannelsheets

Just got some amazing news from the clinic. They were able to freeze TEN blasts! I couldn't believe it. Almost cried in my office when I heard the message. What a relief. When I didn't hear from them I started to wonder...
Hope all is well with everyone else!


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## Mas1118

Amazing news Flannel:)


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## Flannz94

Flannelsheets said:


> Autumn -- that's great! So, we're exactly a week off. (My transfer was this past mon.) I say hit the wine! FX that you get at least one awesome blast.
> Glad your recovery has been so smooth, Flannz. I'm sure you're waiting by the phone today...
> As am I, actually -- our clinic still hasn't told me how many they froze. If I don't get a call this afternoon, I'll call them to check.
> Not feeling any symptoms yet today. 3dp5dt and counting...

Thanks Flannel, I've been feeling great. The dr rang me 7 were collected, 6 were mature and 5 have fertilised beautifully :) doing a day 5 transfer on Tuesday but he's going to ring me on Sunday with an update :) it's all so exciting! When can you do a hpt??


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## Flannelsheets

DH & I were just talking about that. I'm inclined to do one this weekend, but he's afraid of the possibility that it would be positive and then negative at the blood test. (He doesn't know the word "chemical," but that's what he means.) I think he thinks that would destroy me. And he might be right. So we compromised: I'll do one after 14dpo (9dp5dt) -- later next week -- unless, of course, my body makes it clear in one way or another before then (severe nausea or AF), which I doubt. So... 6 more days...


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## Flannz94

Flannelsheets said:


> DH & I were just talking about that. I'm inclined to do one this weekend, but he's afraid of the possibility that it would be positive and then negative at the blood test. (He doesn't know the word "chemical," but that's what he means.) I think he thinks that would destroy me. And he might be right. So we compromised: I'll do one after 14dpo (9dp5dt) -- later next week -- unless, of course, my body makes it clear in one way or another before then (severe nausea or AF), which I doubt. So... 6 more days...

That's true, I'm sure it'll come fast enough for you. Just relax and take it as it comes :) when's your blood test scheduled for?


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## JCM

Great news for everyone! Autumn, when is your transfer? By the time I start I will have to start a new thread! Haha...7 more days and I will decide iui or ivf depending on sperm analysis! I can't stand this waiting! Especially when all of these exciting egg collections are happening! Mas, you will do a transfer next cycle??


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## g_and_t

Hi ladies!!!!! Sorry I've been so quiet! Wow so much has happened!!! 

I've been reading all your news and am so excited for all of you! Autumn not long now til transfer and flannel I know only too well about that wait... We tested 8dp5dt and it was a clear positive! I think you'll know when the time is right! I just told myself that if it was neg I would just wait the extra few days and try again! They had told me to test 11 days after transfer but I couldn't wait... I didn't tell db so there was no pressure.., just woke up that morning and thought that I hadn't peed all night so had a nice full bladder and what the hell. It was worth it :) 

Mas I'm so pleased about your frosties as well... That's great news! 

Welcome flanz.... This is going to be our lucky thread!!! :) 

Afm - I'm currently 6w2d if the internet is anything to go by and in the throes of packing house up! Part of the reason why I've not been online... Work has been manic too which doesn't help and in the evenings I am so whacked out I can't think straight! I never expected this tiredness to be so intense!!! I've read about it and thought how bad can it be? Hah! I seem to be avoiding sickness for now thank goodness.. A few waves but nothing hectic. Other than that I'm fine! Very impatient for my first scan on 7 may... I think this wait is prob the worst of the lot.... It's taking FOREVER!!! Lol

Next week is another exciting week for everyone!! Keep us all posted!! 

Chat soon
T xxx


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## Flannelsheets

Ugh! I don't envy you, G&T! Packing house is no fun. At least it's not a million degrees outside right now, which is always when I seem to choose to move.... 7 of May for your first scan does feel like a long way off!

My bloodwork isn't until the 5th! I guess they always do it 14 days after transfer. 

Thanks so much for the "you'll know when to test" advice. It's good to be reminded that one doesn't have to be militant about this either way. And I'm sure DH would be happy with a BFP even if it came a little early. ;) We'll see how I feel. In previous tww's, my strategy to avoid testing was to pee as quickly as possible in the morning. Then I didn't have fmu and couldn't test the rest of the day. So far so good on that, today, 4dp5dt....

Don't worry, JCM.... We'll all still be here in a few weeks. If this round doesn't work, I'll be doing a FET asap.


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## Mas1118

Hello Ladies:)
Being tired is a good sign that all is well g&t - means your body is working to grow the little one! Take is as easy as you can during the move - make DH do most of the work, lol;) 
Flannel - it will be hard for all of us to be strong about poas once the time comes - stay strong and if you can't - then just poas already, lol!!
Hi JCM - where are you in your cycle?
Autumn and Flannz - not long before transfer for you both, super exciting!!!!
afm - I am just waiting for my period. My acupuncturist said my blood was fast today - so my period is close. I figure transfer will be about mid May?? depends on when I ovulate - I am usually cd 14-16 for O. They will put two back in about 5 days after O. I had a headache last night and a sore lower back today, both sign of af for me. Have a great night!! I am going to have a much needed as well deserved glass of wine or two:haha:


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## KimJ530

Hi Ladies! 
I guess I'll start with a little background. I am from Spring, TX outside of Houston. My DH and I have been TTC out first for about 4-5 years. We haven't tried to many things except the old school method and a few rounds of Clomid. Dh has poor quality sperm which is our main factor so IVF with ICSI was the go to option. We put it off for a few years because of money (our insurance doesn't cover anything having to do with IVF). This year we ended up getting a grant to help pay for our IVF so we went for it!

I am I guess about half way through with the stimming cycle. But I have tried to avoid the internet as much as possible, since I tend to stress out by reading and googling everything. However it got the best of me this time. LOL anyway I am on day 9 of stimming. I am currently taking 300 IU of Gonal F and 300 IU of Menopur. Also on this past Thursday they had me start .25 mg of Cetrocide. Overall the injections havent been too bad. My doctor had me do them in my arm since I guess they were absorbing well in my stomach. So they say I had a bit of a slow start. I went in for my BW and Ultrasound yesterday and they said I looked good everythings growing. I think they said the follicles were like 12-13. Hopefully by Monday when I go back I will be done.

I haven't had any major side effects. A head ache here and there and some bloating. Feeling very fat! Also, I did start having back pain late yesterday. I'm not sure if it is connected or not but I wish it would go away.

Hopefully, I will find out more Monday!! Good Luck to everyone!!


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## Autumn Girl

Hi Ladies :) Sorry I've not been posting much recently, DH was home all week so was spending quality time with him (in between arguements cos the stims & stress were making me a moody cow!:wacko:) He's gone back to Denmark today so I am back on here to try to keep myself occupied! :D

*Mas* hope AF shows up soon so you can get going again! Mid May will soon come around, will you have to take any medication for your FET or do they just put the frosties in at the right time? (I don't know much about FET sorry)

*JCM *your time will come soon too, although it seems we are always waiting for something in this IVF lark! 

*Flannel *10 frosties thats amazing!:wohoo: And not long now till you can POAS! I'll probably test early but am also scared of a negative... My clinic doesn't do a blood test though so I'll have to do it sometime... :-k Nice that we are exactly a week apart, I'll be noting down your symptoms and waiting for them myself lol
*
Flannz *sounds like your embies are doing well! Fx'd for 5 day transfer on tuesday :)

*G&T* glad you are still doing well, I know how tiring it is packing for a move but it must be much harder when preggers! Hope may 7th comes quickly for you :hugs2:

*Kim* welcome! Good luck for your scan on Monday, it won't be long till EC now I'm sure. I'm trying to avoid googling things too much but find sites like this really good as it is nice to chat to others who are going through the same thing as you :)

AFM had an update on our embies from the clinic this afternoon, 7 of the 8 that fertilised are looking on target at 7-8 cells, 1 is lagging behind a little with 3-4 cells but overall we're really pleased. We are booked in for day 5 transfer on Monday at 11am! I can't wait :D 
I've started the cyclogest pessaries yesterday... gross lol 
Feeling much better now too, I was very sore after EC for a couple of days, today I feel almost back to normal thankfully :happydance:


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## Flannelsheets

Autumn - that's awesome! You'll definitely get some frosties out of this round! When will your doc tell you how many they'll transfer? Day of?

The pessaries are SO gross. So leaky! I'll be happy when they're done.

Thanks for the little running happy man. We couldn't be happier with how this cycle turned out. -- WELL, we COULD. ;) But won't know about that for another little while. 5dp5dt and counting...

Welcome, Kim! Good luck with all the scans. If they're up to 12-13, it shouldn't be too long now.


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## Autumn Girl

Flannel because mine's funded by the nhs and I am classed as young with good chance of conceiving I am only allowed one, I think if there were only a couple and they were poor quality they might allow two but they've said all along it will be one. 

If I get bfp I'm to continue with the pessaries till I'm 7 weeks gone! Is that the same for others?

Not long now till you can test then I'm sure I'll be able to do lots of happy running men lol :D


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## g_and_t

I was told to stop pessarys as soon as I told the clinic about the bfp. She said they had done what they needed to so it was ok stop. But I know some other people carry on for a while. I was more than happy to stop... bloody awful things. Autumn I don't know which end you've been using them in but they told me after transfer to go the back way... it's not great getting them in but u don't get the mess after lol.... nice!!! Haha....

Another exciting week! I can't wait to hear everyone's updates... 

Lotsa love 
T xxx


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## Autumn Girl

G&T they told me to use the front! I'll not care how long I have to use them for if I get a bfp!! (Remind me of that in a few weeks if I am lucky enough to still be needing them as I'm sure I'll be sick of them by then!)

Well I'm in for transfer in 3 hours so better get my lazy arse out of bed, excited to find out how our embies are doing!

Hope everyone else is surviving all their waiting, waiting, waiting for things to happen! Xx


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## dovkav123

I want to share my success. We got BFP this cycle.
I did many different things this time IVF and my embryo quality was not better. It is always A or B. This one was B.
I hope this list will be helpfull.

1. No castor oil packs this cycle
2. we did assisted embryo hatching
3. we BD'ed before ET and after ET (w/o orgasm)
4. I walked slowly but long after ET, staying active always, no bed rest
5. aspirin 100mg enteric coated started after ER, quit a day for ET(procedure could cause bleeding) and now I am taking it every evening with food and water
6. I ate lots of fish. I am taking 3g fish oil a day
7. 1000mg green tea extract with vitC after ET till BFP. (reduces inflammation responce)
8. Black carraway oil 20 drops a day. now I slow down to 3 drops
9. spoonfull avocado oil 
10. pinapple and pinapple core after ET till BFP
11 increased vit D from 2000iu to 3000iu a day
12. iron 100mg a day, quit after BFP
13. Green chlorella increased from 1 pill to 3 pills a day
14. Probiotics one pill a day from ET til BFP
15 Buckthorn and lemon juice
16. dandelion salat
17. alfa alfa and sweet peas sprouts
18. layed down 30min after ET
19. eating dried plums and abricots
20. ginger root tea, clove, and cinammon
21. water soaked walnuts and brasil nuts
22. I have used organic menstrual pads for 2 months.
23. banana a day(aspirin can thin my intestines and banana thickens them)
24. spicy foods, hot peppers in 2ww

I did a lot. I'll never know what helped us this time 

I wish you all the best luck during egg retrievals, Embryo transfers and 2ww!


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## Mas1118

Welcome Kim!! 
Good luck today at transfer autumn!! 
Glad to see all the updates ladies:) looking to see some BFPs soon!!
I got my period! Yay:) on to FET in about 20 days! Woohoo!!


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## Flannelsheets

Yay, Mas! Only little while longer now.
Autumn, good luck today!!! It makes sense that they're only doing 1. Those were the same reasons they only did 1 for me. And my clinic's stats are such that it's not any more successful with 2 -- it's just that there's a much higher instance of twins. Once I saw that, I was totally fine with a single blast transfer.

Somehow I've made it to 7dp5dt. The weekend was pretty awful -- got a migraine on Sat. a.m. that I still have. I'm a migraine sufferer in general, so it was no surprise, but still, definitely not welcome. As usual, Tylenol did very little for it. Blunted the edges for a few hours before it came back again... So far so good this morning, but I won't be surprised if it comes back later. These things usually take a few days to work themselves out. Obv., I can't take my usual migraine meds... Hopefully this is a sign of SOMEthing??


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## Mas1118

Flannel, I hope your head feels better soon - I also hope it's a good sign, like your blood flow is needed elsewhere!!


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## Autumn Girl

hi ladies,
transfer went smoothly today, I now have one good quality grade B blast on board. none of the others made it to blast so no frosties, but maybe I was greedy to want any, after all, I'll only need this one, right? :D
OTD 10th May - feels like a lifetime away!

Flannel yeah my clinic showed me those stats too so made sense. good for you making it to 7dpt, are you still going to test at 9dpt? hope the migraine is a good sign!

Mas great news that you are getting started so soon, I thought there would have been more of a delay for FET, you won't be that much behind us! 

Flannz any news on your embies? Good luck for transfer tomorrow.

Kim how did your scan go today?

xxx


----------



## JCM

Welcome Kim!
Mas, I'm cd16 today so I'll get my period next week. Probably Monday. We get DH sperm results on Friday so we will have a for sure plan by this weekend! Glad you started your period so soon! Just think, after my news this weekend you will be done with your period and gearing up for transfer! 
Autumn, glad your transfer went smooth. Wait wait wait! Haha! 
Flannel, you will be testing this week then correct? I'm excited for some good news all over our board! : )


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## Flannelsheets

Yes! You'll only need this one, Autumn!! :)

I'm going to hold off testing until at least Wed. or Th. Th. was my grandma's birthday, so maybe I'll do it then. :)

Headache is back... time for a nap.

I just watched this video from a fertility clinic on egg retrieval, embryo culturing and ICSI. Really fascinating to see what the eggs look like when they're extracted, and how the little blobs are stored. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcJWPWb2uBs


----------



## Flannelsheets

Blarg. Migraine turned up the volume in the middle of the night, so I tested. I figured if I'm going to endure this pain, I'd like to know if it's for a real/potential person or not.. BFN at 8dp5dt. I don't know what the chances are for it to still be positive at this point, but we're not feeling great about it. I took my migraine drugs because I was feeling so bad. They're a class C drug. So, not ideal, but the tww plus a 4-day eye-stabbing is more torture than I could handle. Oh well...

Obv. still have to wait for the blood test on Mon.


----------



## JCM

Ugh I would have tested too. It's still early. I was just reading about negaTive test results and a couple days later a bfp. Don't get discouraged. There is still plenty of time!


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## Autumn Girl

Hi flannel, it's still early, good chance that a positive wouldn't be detected yet*, hard to resist trying though isn't it? Still feeling positive for you xx

*According to this link 
www.nyufertilitycenter.org/ivf/embryo_transfer


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## KimJ530

Sorry it took so long to reply. Yesterday I was pretty much dead. Went to bed pretty much as soon as I got home. The appointment went well. They had me come back today to do another scan. They let me know that I get to do my trigger tonight!! Yay I am so excited. I will go in for ER on Thursday. One thing that stinks or well two kind of is...1. I have to do my trigger at 11:30 tonight. That is so stinking late. I'm already tired, but oh well I guess I got to do what I got to do. 2. They told me my Dr. will be out of town for the ET. I am a little nervous about this, but the good thing is the team at my clinic is full of good Dr. So I have read. I'm just hoping for tons of good follicles on Thursday and for them to fertilize well. 

If all goes well I hope to put two in. Crazy as it sound I have been preaying for twins. I figure one stop shop lol. However, I will take whatever I am blessed with.

Good luck to everyone!


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## Mas1118

I'm sorry flannel:( it might be early though, I would test again in another 2-3 days. I hope you feel better:hugs:

Good luck for retrieval Kim:)


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## Flannelsheets

Thanks for the link, Autumn. :) It's my only reason for hope at this point.

Good luck, Kim! I had a different doc. do my ER, too. It's such a simple procedure for them, and one that they do all the time. I'm sure you'll be in good hands.


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## Flannelsheets

Good news -- I called our nurse about my migraines (which continue..), and she moved my test date up from the 5th to the 2nd. So, I'm only two days away from a blood test! What a relief! Just goes to show -- call the doctor if something is happening that hurts a lot...

How's everyone else doing?


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## JCM

Great news flannel! While you're having your blood test, I'll be starting ivf or iui! This has been a really long wait!


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## g_and_t

Hi ladies 
Just stopping in briefly.... Flannel you're not out til af arrives!!!! So keep positive... All those happy vibes will pay off! Will be thinking of you on Friday... 

Autumn sorry about the frosties but as you say u prob won't need them ;)

I'm still hanging in here for my scan... It's been the longest wait of the entire 3.5 years!! Until I see that heartbeat I still keep thinking something is going to go wrong... Glad I have packing to distract me. 

Anyway keep smiling ladies and chat soon
T XX


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## Autumn Girl

Hi ladies hope you are all ok :)

Flannel great news you got your blood test brought forward, better to know one way or the other rather than waiting in limbo. I hope your last test was just too early, good luck xx

Flannz hope your transfer went ok & you have joined me now on the tww!

Kim how was the trigger? Did you manage to stay awake?! Enjoy your drug free day and good luck for retrieval xx

Jcm not long now till you get some answers :)

Mas, g&t, hope you are both keeping yourselves busy waiting for your next steps! Xx

Afm 3dp5dt and not feeling much yet. My (.)(.) are swollen but they were like that since before et. I'm getting a few twinges like before af starts, mainly when I am in bed. During the day I don't feel much happening but I know it is still too early. Still another 12 days till my otd, I will probably crack and test early though! I have zero willpower lol


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## Flannelsheets

I had the exact same symptoms, Autumn. It must be the hormones or the trigger that makes things sore, because I definitely had that even before the transfer, too, along with the slight cramping. I can only assume that comes from the bit of fluid/air that gets in the uterus when they do the transfer.

Hang in there, everyone! I have confidence that things will work out for all of us in the next few months. (That's me trying to view this as a multi-month process rather than a one-shot deal -- partially in preparation for an expected bfn tomorrow...)

xo


----------



## g_and_t

Hey guys... 
I had all the same symptoms... Cramps and sharp twinges... Achey (.)(.) since before EC which I think starts from the meds... And the bloating had been a non stop battle since I started meds.. 
I'm going to be thinking of you tomo flannel... 

Autumn not long now...!! Hang in there xx 

Sending positive vibes to all! 

Big hugs xx


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## Autumn Girl

Flannel I hope you get good news tomorrow but I like your thinking that this is all just part of a possibly longer process, so a BFN is not the end, just a set back.

Thank you for the positive vibes G&T, I need all I can get as I'm finding it hard to muster them up myself!

not much else happening here, went shopping this morning and thought I may have overdone it pushing a heavy trolly around so taken it easy all afternoon. Mum is coming to stay tomorrow till sunday to help distract me :)

hope everyone else is ok xx


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## KimJ530

Hi Ladies!! Today was retrieval day!!! It went well I suppose I was just ready to get it over with since the doctor said it would help with the back pain. Which sucked by the way. Anyway they told me they got 12, however I was out of it so I'm not sure if that meant 12 follicles (maybe or maybe not with eggs) or if I for sure got 12 eggs. I was still a little woozy. They will call me tomorrow to let me know how many fertilize. Fingers crossed it&#8217;s all 12!!!! Other than that I feel ok kind of crampy from time to time but no pain.


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## JCM

Hi! We are ok to do iui! Our sperm practically doubled this month! Well, not my sperm but I feel like it's mine. Lol we are going to start with iui first! Fingers crossed it's all we need!


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## Mas1118

good luck with the iii JCM!!

Kim - how did retrieval go? Did you get any word from your clinic yet?

Flannel - any news?

Autumn - hang in there and get rest when you can - hoping to hear you got your BFP soon:)

Hi g&t:) Not long now until your scan!!

afm- cd6. Going back to check my lining on Tuesday:) I am thinking transfer will be May15-17th about.


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## Flannelsheets

Hey ladies -- as I expected, blood test was a bfn. Spent about half an hour in tears, then did some gardening, and am now trying to look forward to our meeting with the doc on Mon. Apparently we'll probably be able to go right in to an FET cycle, so hopefully we'll have more luck with one of the frosties. Mostly right now we're just trying to continue our lives and not feel sad and sorry for ourselves all the time...


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## g_and_t

Aw my Hun... Sorry to hear that! I've been thinking of you since yesterday! 

Good that you can go straight onto the frosties as I my clinic told me I'd be skipping cycles between each treatment. I know it's heart breaking but you're right in getting in with things.... I uses to have a big fat cry after every bfn and be down for the rest of that day then brush myself off and throw all my energy into being positive about the next step, whatever that was....

Keep focussed and stay strong!! We are all here for you! 

T xxxx


----------



## JCM

Aww flannel I'm bummed for you! So you will do another transfer? Does that require more shots for you this cycle?


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## Autumn Girl

Flannelsheets I'm so sorry to hear that :( Even though you suspected as much I am sure you are still gutted. It is good that you have the frosties though and will be able to go straight into a FET cycle, I hope it is your lucky one!

Kim congrats on retrieval, hope your eggs have fertilised nicely for you, do you know when ET is yet?

Mas wow that's only 2 weeks away, not long really! 

Jcm great news on sperm results, good luck for your IUI! :)

Afm I'm not feeling positive. I've got no symptoms now, the little twinges I was getting on 1,2&3dpt have stopped and my bbs aren't even as tender, usually when I wake in the night they are aching, but this morning they feel back to normal. I've been testing out my trigger, faint positive on day before et, 3dp5dt and 5dp5dt, definite negative this morning (6dp5dt). My otd is Saturday and I was thinking of testing early but I don't think I will now. I'm not even convinced I will make it to otd before af arrives. Sorry for the negativity but I just feel like I am out. Not even got any frosties :(


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## Flannelsheets

:( That sucks, Autumn. I think you can't count yourself out yet at 6dp. My understanding is all those early symptoms are from all the crazy drugs, esp. the trigger shot (which is why the symptoms eased up as you tested out the trigger). So, no symptoms doesn't necessarily mean no hope.

That said, I know exactly how you're feeling. After my bfn on 8dp, I had no desire to test again until the blood test. You just have to hang in there a bit longer. Even though it seems indefinite..

What's your next step if this doesn't work?


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## Autumn Girl

Yeah that makes sense about no trigger= no symptoms. I've been reading some stories about girls with no symptoms getting bfp so I am not quite as miserable as I was this morning. We are lucky enough to get one more free go on the nhs so I would do another cycle, it will just be more of a pain in the bum as I am moving to Denmark in 2 weeks so it will mean a lot more travelling for appointments! Trying not to think to much about that yet!

Hope you are feeling ok flannel? Xxx


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## Flannelsheets

Thanks for your thoughts. G&T is absolutely right -- I'll feel better when we have a plan for the next cycle. Thankfully, my RE's office was able to schedule us for tomorrow, so we'll figure it all out soon. In the meantime, I'm gardening and trying to stay active. I only get sad when I sit for too long... Since it seems I've now read the whole internet, I learned somewhere that the average # of cycles that people do is 1.5. I don't know if that includes FET's or not, but in any case, it's a good reminder to keep on truckin...


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## Autumn Girl

That's great that they can see you so soon, it will definitely help to know the next steps and when they will happen, it will give you something to focus on again. I know what you mean about reading the whole internet. I don't know what I used to do online before IVF, now all I google is treatments & symptoms, looking for ones that match mine and with a bfp! 1.5 goes isn't bad though, I'm sure your next one will be the one for you xx


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## Flannelsheets

Hey ladies -- just met with our doc. He says he's really hopeful about our "long-term" chances, since we had such a high fertilization rate (10 frozen embryos from 23 eggs). Our success depends on the embryos themselves at this point, and any other tests we could do (viability of uterine lining and some other things that I didn't quite catch) are so expensive and diagnose things so rare that they're not worth doing yet. 

So, we'll go ahead with FET. Starting bcp tomorrow, and will start the FET drugs in about 2 weeks. The FET itself will be late May/early June.

Keepin on truckin'... What else can you do? :shrug:


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## Autumn Girl

At least you don't have very long to wait to try again. You are lucky you have so many frosties. Will they defrost them all or do they just do a few and keep the rest as a back up? I am feeling positive for your FET :)

I've been feeling like af is on her way all day but strangely I have preferred that to feeling nothing as I know af pains can be a positive sign! Itching to test again but trying to hold off a couple more days xx


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## g_and_t

Hi ladies!

Sorry you are feeling down autumn... It's really normal to feel like that tho! We go through such a roller coaster and it's hard when u read all these things online of girls who can smell things and taste metal and feel pinches and have boobs shouting at them from day 1 post transfer! It's all dependant on the person and it's us ltttc ladies that suffer the most cos we are so used to failure. But no symptoms accompanied by af pains can all be good BFP signs!!! I also know that this 'could' mean bfn as well but u have to try stay positive! Your not out til the red lady sings!! 

I had many cycles where I was convinced I was nauseas, etc etc and got my usual af... So when I got my BFP I still was convinced I was out. I had some achey boobs but I'd had that before and meant nothing. That was it! I had the bloating but I pinned that down to drugs... 

So ur due to test end of this week? Not long now... Chin up huni xxx 

Flannel... All good news from ur dr visit... You're lucky you can go straight into it and before you know it you'll be there!!! Can't wait to hear how you get on. I have a friend who told me that she believes one in three has to work... So you have a good stash of frosties! Stay positive and you'll get there xxx 

Hope everyone else is getting on ok! 

My scan is on weds.... Very anxious but trying not to worry! I've read too many horror stories myself.... Empty sacks no heartbeat etc... It's hard not to get excited but I'm very cautious.... These last few weeks have draaaaagged!!! 

Chat soon xxx


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## Autumn Girl

Good luck for tomorrow g&t! I hope it all goes well and you get your first proper look at your baby!! :happydance:

Af cramps have settled down now, had them all day yesterday! Was sure I was going to wake up to af but so far nothing :) managed to resist poas today but very tempted to test tomorrow as that is 14dpo!


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## g_and_t

You had a day 5 blast transferred hey? What day was that? 

I tested 8 days after day 5 transfer.. I'm praying for you that you get your BFP!!! 

T xxx


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## Autumn Girl

I'm 8dp5dt g&t and I cracked & tested this afternoon... Faint bfp!!! At first I thought it was neg as it took a while to show up, literally couldn't stop shaking for ages when the line appeared!! The test did expire a year ago so I'm not sure whether to trust it, just been to boots and got a couple more, so I'm waiting to build up enough wee to test again!


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## Flannelsheets

Awesome, Autumn! You can trust it! Or take another. :) I think false positives are waaay less common than false negatives.

Yay!!!


----------



## g_and_t

Omg autumn!!!!!! Hooray! I had a feeling as I felt exactly the same as you!!! Hee hee I just got goose bumps!!! So happy!!! It's a crazy feeling! I know what you mean about thinking it's bfn and then you look again and your heart starts pounding!!! Haha yay! Are you telling hubby yet?


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## g_and_t

I think flannel is right... Not often you get a false positive... I panicked and thought maybe the trigger drugs were still in my system but enough time has passed now so I'm sure this is it for you! Have u come down from your buzz yet?? Hee hee... Did you do another test yet?


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## JCM

Hooray Autumn!!! Great news! Excited for you!


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## Autumn Girl

Thanks everyone!
Yes I tested again and got another faint positive! Pics below I hope :)

G&T I keep wondering if it is the trigger but I tested Saturday & Sunday & the lines were pretty much non-existent at that stage so I don't think it can be. I'm still not quite sure it has sunk in though! Not told hubby yet as want to make sure I haven't dreamt it first, so will test again tomorrow. I'm trying to think up a good way of telling him :)


https://i61.tinypic.com/2e4yjqw.jpg
https://i59.tinypic.com/358e60y.jpg


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## Mas1118

Hello Ladies,
Flannel - I am very sorry this cycle didn't work:hugs: but I am glad to hear that you can jump right back into a FET and with 10 fro sties:) I think you chances of success are very very good!!

Hi g&t - glad to hear your scan is tomorrow and you get to see your little one soon:)

Autumn - Absolutely AWESOME News!!!!! Those are great lines:) Yay!!!!

afm - had my cd10 scan today and my estrogen is very low (still side effects from the lupron - hate that stuff) and my lining was only 3mm:( but they started me on estrogen patches tonight and I go back next Tuesday for scan and blood work - so my transfer may be a bit delayed but that's ok - as long as they get my insides in optimum shape!! Im still doing the acupuncture as well so that should help too.

take care ladies!! :dust:


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## Autumn Girl

Good luck today G&T xxx

Mas at least it is only a little delay and as you say, it will give your body the best chance to get ready for your little embie :)


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## JCM

So I've been waiting for CD1 for my baseline ultra sound...I'm two days late now so I had to cancel the one I set up previously. My cycles are usually 23 days on average. The last one was 24 and before that was 21, 23,22...
I swore I was getting AF yesterday morning. Usually I wake up, have a stomach cramp, have a bowel movement, and it's there. Nothing! So I took some Advil. The cramps got a little better but I could feel them throughout the day. I felt so seasick yesterday and it only went away when I ate something. 
Then this morning I woke up, no cramps at all. Had a bm. Have the sick feeling and nothing. 
Autumn, is this what you felt like when you thought it was AF? Did it just go away and you got your BFP? I don't want to get my hopes up but of course if it happened this month before I had to start meds and appts I'd be thrilled! Or I'd just like to get to cd1 so I CAN start all of the stuff. Help!


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## Autumn Girl

Hi Jen, yeah I felt like that, as if af was about to start any minute, then the next day it seemed to settle down to just little twinges in & around the ovaries. It would be amazing if you got a natural bfp! I don't want to get your hopes up too much though, I have done that myself plenty of times in the past and been disappointed at the bfn. Do you think you will do a test? If nothing else, doing a test often brings on af for me! :wacko: 
Xxx


----------



## JCM

I was thinking I'd wait til Friday. By then I will be about 5-7 days late if I add up all of my cycle days and take the average. I figure I will either be pregnant (yay!) or get my period so I can have my baseline scan (yay!) so I thought win win either way. I don't feel like AF is coming at all now. Just feel kind of bloated and a little sick. Like an empty feeling in my stomach? I did actually sleep a ton the last 4 days. Sunday my husband was worried because I slept til 11am after waking up to pee at 7 and then I was back to sleep at 6pm. My back was super sore that day like I had pulled a couple of muscles so I figured I was just gonna take it easy and watch tv in bed. Now I feel fine! So strange. Also, usually I have lots of cm the whole time after O to AF and I have had almost nothing for the last 5 days. I hope this is it! I've never really had a tease for AF and then totally gone with no bleeding!


----------



## Mas1118

Sounds like good symptoms jcm!! FXed for you:)


----------



## g_and_t

Hi ladies.. So yesterday was scan day.... And I'm happy to say there's a little jelly bean thudding happily away in there :) 

I can't tell you what a relief it was... I had been reading stories of ladies who went for scans and the nurse not turning the screen around and telling them to contact their dr only to find out they were about to miscarry. And when I went in they did say they would 'get their bearings' and then show us their findings... And I swear I held my breath for a full min!! I was shaking! And then she reached for the monitor and my heart leapt into action!! Haha. I just started laughing... There it was with it's little heart flickering away :) its measurements were in line with how far I am so that was good and my due date is 22 December :) 
Now I've just got to look after this little monkey to get past 12 weeks! 

How many more tests have you done autumn?? :) :) :) 
Xxxx


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## Autumn Girl

That's fantastic news G&T! What a lovely Christmas you are going to have! Are your scans being done by your clinic or are you being seen by the normal antenatal team now? Not sure how it will work for me, I'll be in Denmark by the time I'm due for my first scan. I'm like you, I read about people finding out at their scan that they have miscarried and really pray I don't have to go through that. I thought the tww was hard but I can see now that I am going to be worrying for weeks between scans! I wonder do people who got pregnant the natural way worry as much as us?

Ive done 5 tests now since tuesday lol! I've kept them in my bedside drawer and I keep taking them out to look at them... sad or what! I've got one left in the house now which I'll save for tomorrow morning, although I was tempted to use it this evening just to check again... I'd been getting twinges for the past few days and they stopped for a few hours today which worried me! :wacko:
I've ordered a load more off amazon and was hoping they would turn up today but no luck, hopefully tomorrow, I've ordered a couple of the digital ones cos thats what I want to use to show hubby... I think the word pregnant will have more impact than 2 lines! 

He has no idea I've been testing early bless him, I don't think it's even crossed his mind that I would, he says his way of dealing with the wait is to just not think about it till otd, easy for him to say, huh??!! I don't think he realises that it's literally the only thing I think about, every day!

Hope everyone else is doing ok? JCM good luck for tomorrow if you decide to test! xxx


----------



## g_and_t

I saw my clinic yest and they called it a 'viability' scan... I think it's just to cross the t's for them... Another success story to add to their book :) but they've discharged me from there now and asked me to contact my gp. They have me some paperwork to hand to them so perhaps ur clinic can do the same? Have you told them? Thru might squeeze a scan in before you go or give you some referral papers for when u get to Denmark? 

The wait for that scan is by far the worst of the lot! You have nothing to distract you. Esp if u don't feel sick or anything... You just have to plod thru each day just making sure you're eating well etc... At least when you're in treatment u have meds etc to give u something to think about. It's the toughest time I've had to endure.. So good luck! At least you have the move to distract you but make sure you don't overdo it. I'm also moving on 20th so I've been instructed to slow down!! 

I did one test every day for a week then stopped as I figured if it was going to end af would show up and until then I'd assume I was preg! Lol... I do have my collection on my side table which I was going to attach to this so you could have a laugh but I don't know how to attach pics on here! 

I can't wait to hear how your hubby reacts... He's going to be thrilled xxx


----------



## Autumn Girl

I've not told the clinic yet. otd is saturday and they said to test again 2 days later to confirm the result so was gonna call monday, might phone tomorrow though incase they want to send me anything. I leave in just over a week so I think that would be too soon for a scan, I would only be about 5 weeks, it's usually done at 7weeks isn't it?

We'll be moving about the same time! I leave uk on 18th, arrive copenhagen on 19th, all our stuff arrives on the 20th! Will definitely be ordering people around rather than lifting boxes myself... I'm so tired at the minute! Not been sleeping well at all.


----------



## JCM

How exciting!!! The wait to see the scan would kill me! I'd take a test weekly just for fun to see it say pregnant! Haha! My hubby is a surgeon and he actually recently bought an ultra sound machine to have in his office....I will be taking full advantage of that! I'm actually surprised I haven't tried to check my own follicles yet. I'm still waiting for AF. Sigh. Last night I thought I felt it coming and when I wiped it was tan cm. So I figured she's on her way. Woke up this am and nothing now. I do have cramps though. Mostly in my upper stomach and back. Weird. I called RE and said maybe I'm spotting? She said nope. No baseline scan until it's really here...bummer. Maybe it will come on Sunday and I can get in Monday. I'm still gonna test with FMU tomorrow juuuuust in case. I have my step kids this weekend so I will be busy with gymnastics, basketball and pretty much whatever the 4 year old has planned for me. Usually it's following me around and asking 10 million questions! She likes to talk about the baby in my tummy. Haha she's been waiting a very long "9 months" 

I'm excited for you to tell your husband. How do they not think about testing every day??!! Mine always gets technical when I talk about peeing on sticks..."well Jen, HCG doubles everyday so testing early is a waste..." Yeah yeah I know!


----------



## g_and_t

Oh I'd be on that ultrasound machine every day!!!!! I could've stared at that screen all day yesterday watching the little flicker!! Good luck with the test in the morning!! :) 

Autumn I know what U mean about not sleeping! The body can be cruel... I'm exhausted during the day and then at night I pass out but as soon as I'm up for that first wee 3 hours later that's it I'm wide awake! Vicious circle cos I then wake up tired... But both you and I have had a lot on our plates despite the stress of the treatment so we r probably thinking about a million things too.. Try take naps when you can and make sure you're eating and drinking well... I found a nice mug of ovaltine helps sometimes :) oh and I meant to say earlier not to worry about the cramps... They go on for a bit... Mine have eased off now I just get the odd twinge but figure that's baby snuggling into it's place in there...


----------



## JCM

AF is here! Baseline scan tomorrow!!


----------



## g_and_t

Aw booo about af Jen but yay about scan!!! Keep is posted!! 

Xxx


----------



## Autumn Girl

Hey JCM, glad AF finally turned up, shame it wasn't a surprise natural BFP for you but at least you can get on with things now! Hope your scan goes ok :flower:

G&T I have a doze on the sofa most afternoons as I am just so tired by then. Hope once I get settled into the new place my sleeping improves. Are you moving far? Hubby was so shocked by the news this morning! think it will take a day or two for it to sink in lol! I did a clearblue digital which said pregnant 2-3 weeks and a FRER which came up really quickly with a nice line, darker than the control & much darker than thee ones I did earlier in the week so I'm keeping fingers crossed that all is going as it should be :)

Mas & Flannelsheets hope everything is ok with you both :hugs:


----------



## Mas1118

Just waiting still. Going for my scan on Tuesday. I'm on the estrogen patches and the side effects aren't great. Moody, emotional, gassy, crampy, bloated, and super tired! I just want this show on the road! Tomorrow is Mother's Day here though - so I will have an excellent day with my son, hubby and family all around!
I hope you all have a good weekend:)


----------



## Flannelsheets

Hey Mas - when's your FET? Mine's scheduled for June 9. Sucky that the meds are affecting you that way. I'll be on estrogen (and eventually progesterone) shots for mine. They said it would be more of a breeze than all the IVF drugs, but I guess you never know!


----------



## Mas1118

Im still not sure exactly when - Im thinking this weekend. I go for another u/s and b/w Tuesday - if my lining is good, then I will probably start the progesterone and go for transfer 5 days later - which is Sunday May 18th. It will be around there I think. I didn't feel too bad today. Tired and only one headache, lol, but all in all it was a good day;) and your right Flannel FET is nothing compared to an IVF cycle!

Take care Ladies! Talk to you all soon:wave:


----------



## Autumn Girl

Hope you had a lovely Mother's Day Mas, and that next year you'll be getting an extra card! Fingers crossed you scan goes well tomorrow, transfer next week would be great :)

Not long for you either flannel, was it Mother's Day where you are too? It's in march here in the uk, so I was right in the middle of down-regging at the time. Hope if everything goes to plan I get to enjoy my first one next year!

Jen how did your scan go? 

Good luck ladies, I'll be checking in on you to see how everything is going! :)


----------



## JCM

Hi ladies!
Hope you all had a good weekend! 
So it looks like I'll be obsessing over Flannel and Mas this cycle. It will be a nice change from so many injections and no stress over egg retrieval for you two! 
As for me...my baseline scan was just like I thought it would be. Gross and uncomfortable. A few cysts on my left ovary so this month I will start birth control to calm all of that down in my body! I have an ultra sound on the 27th to check it out again and if all is "quiet in there" I will get my period and start clomid on day 5! So that's in exactly one month. Which puts me at insemination June 20th or so. I really hope this works. The doctor was so impressed with DHs sperm increase. He has been working his hardest to get it up. It's amazing what increasing his testosterone levels did. Clomid plus lifting heavy weights and taking a million vitamins quadrupled his count! Motility and all! DH is actually a couple million away from normal sperm count to getting me pregnant naturally! He bought me some new workout clothes at Lululemon yesterday (my fav!) so I will be using this next month or so to start back up with barre classes. I'm more motivated than ever to tighten up before I get knocked up! Lol
I think I want to do iui twice. It just seems like a good idea to me right now. My doctor seems to think we are good candidates for it and if it doesn't work after two tries I will move right along to ivf.


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## Mas1118

Great news jcm!! Fxed for you:) I really hope the IUI works!


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## Mas1118

I think my transfer will be next Thursday. I go back sat morning - so I'll know for sure then.


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## Mas1118

I think they are cancelling my cycle:( my RE isn't happy with how it's going.


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## Flannelsheets

Seriously?? That sucks! What a let-down. What's the problem? The lining? Does your RE have ideas about what to change next time? Thank goodness there's always a "next time" in this business...

I'm really sorry to hear it, Mas.


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## Mas1118

It was cancelled. I had some fluid in my uterus. He said it was prob caused by the estrogen patches. He wants to see if next month I make a better lining on my own without help. So another go at a natural FET. Just waiting again for my period.


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## Flannelsheets

Blarg. So much waiting. That really stinks. Obviously it's better to wait than waste a frosty on a cycle that won't work.. But I wish for you that this cycle had been the one! :(


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## g_and_t

Sorry to hear that mas! Fingers crossed next cycle works out perfectly for you... Will be sending posi vibes out to you! 

Hope everyone else is doing ok! Watching and waiting for some more good news!! 

T xxx


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## Mas1118

Hello Ladies. I got my period - YAY!! again, lol. Hoping this cycle works out the way it is supposed to - if so Transfer will be around the 20th of June:)

How is everyone else keeping? Ok I hope.


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## smurfy

Hi All

I hope your well. I have been on Buselin for the down regulation phase for just 2 weeks, still no period i do feel like i have PMT though, going off for scan today but was hoping i would have had a period so i can start stimulation phase, did this happen to anyone else? can they give you anything else to force period to start as i assume you cant start stim until then? thanks


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## Blythe

Hi smurfy. I failed to dr with my IVF cycle. Unfortunately for me I had developed a cyst pumping out e2 so they sent me home and upped my dose of buserulin and I was called back one week later. Still no bleed and cyst still going strong so cycle called off. I tried most things to bring on a bleed but none worked. 

However the nurse did tell me that you don't have to have a bleed so you may be told today your lining is thin enough to proceed. Good luck :flower:


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## smurfy

Blythe said:


> Hi smurfy. I failed to dr with my IVF cycle. Unfortunately for me I had developed a cyst pumping out e2 so they sent me home and upped my dose of buserulin and I was called back one week later. Still no bleed and cyst still going strong so cycle called off. I tried most things to bring on a bleed but none worked.
> 
> However the nurse did tell me that you don't have to have a bleed so you may be told today your lining is thin enough to proceed. Good luck :flower:

It is a pain when you get your head around approx timings only to fall at the first hurdle. They send me home for one week on the same dosage, what dosage did they increase you too? So what is the next steps for you?


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## Blythe

Smurfy I went from 50 to 100 but I just kept producing loads of ewcm and feeling anything but switched off iykwim. Very very frustrating. I tried acupunture, string parsley tea and mega doses of vit c to bring on period to no avail. 

Good news is most women do bleed but just need a few extra days and if you had had a cyst they would have told you. You are right though as it is completely frustrating. I had spent literally hours staring at my calendar working out timings but it all went out of the window. It's do hard to let go and stop trying to control stuff but you just have to give yourself over to the process. I hope AF turns up soon and that this cycle is wonderful for you :flower:


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## smurfy

Blythe said:


> Smurfy I went from 50 to 100 but I just kept producing loads of ewcm and feeling anything but switched off iykwim. Very very frustrating. I tried acupunture, string parsley tea and mega doses of vit c to bring on period to no avail.
> 
> Good news is most women do bleed but just need a few extra days and if you had had a cyst they would have told you. You are right though as it is completely frustrating. I had spent literally hours staring at my calendar working out timings but it all went out of the window. It's do hard to let go and stop trying to control stuff but you just have to give yourself over to the process. I hope AF turns up soon and that this cycle is wonderful for you :flower:

They said i have one tiny cyst which look to be from ovualition, but we will see. I had my acuputure last night which i think has helped as starting to get brown spotting this morning defo feel like it is starting. agree you just have to go with it, first lesson learnt. I hope the process kicks off for you again soon take care


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## Autumn Girl

Hi ladies, sorry I've not been on here in ages, how is everyone doing? Flannel sheets & Mas, are your fet cycles well underway by now?

I've tried to stay off forums to preserve my sanity, not that it's working! Can't remember what point I was at when I last posted but I'm now 9wks5days pregnant, my symptoms are few and far between which makes me nervous. I've not had a scan yet as I moved to Denmark a week after my otd and my gp here doesn't believe in doing early scans :/ My scan is 2 weeks today, just trying to pass the time & keep my mind off it till then!

Good luck to everyone else, hope you all get your bfp xx


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## smurfy

Hi there

Hope your all well, I wanted to know if any of you had any experience of foliciles and growth/sizes. I had my first scan on Monday after 6 days of stim, there was about 13 and they range between 8-10mm in size. This morning I went back and have approx. 15/16 of them ranging from 9-15 so they are growing. I have my next scan on Friday. Does the size grow more quickly in the later stages? They have said I would need to have 2/3 at size 17mm on Friday for egg retrieval on Monday, they would give me more stimulation on Friday.

Thanks


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## Mas1118

Sounds good smurfy! I think you'll get a pretty good number of eggs retrieved with those numbers!

I finally had my egg transfer today!! 2 great grade A blasts are now inside and hopefully getting easy to implant!!
Autumn and gt - what did you ladies do during the tww? Take it really say or just somewhat easy? My RE said to stake the next few days off work and relax. No lifting , heavy activity or stress. Today so far I have been laying in the recliner catching up on game of thrones but I think I will go out walking tomorrow and spend sometime out side. Im worried about doing too much or too little!! Let the worry begin I guess, lol


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## Flannelsheets

Mas! Finally! Fantastic! I had my FET transfer 9 days ago. Still haven't tested. Too scared of another bfn, though I don't have any reason to suspect that this cycle didn't work. Blood test on Mon.

FX for you!


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## smurfy

good luck both, take it easy relax and just look after yourself take care x


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## Autumn Girl

Hey smurfy, those sizes sound fine, the trigger shot will give them an extra boost at the end. I had 10 follies between 6-13mm on day 6 of stims, 12 between 8-17 on day 9 and 14 between 8-22 on day 12. They were able to get 12 eggs and 10 were mature. Only 1 made it to blast unfortunately but that was all I needed :)

Flannel well done you for the willpower! Do you intend doing a hpt or just waiting for your bloods? I've got my fingers crossed for you this time. How have you found the tww?

Mas congratulations! Pupo at last! I took it fairly easy during my tww but didn't confine myself to bed or the sofa. I drove straight home after the transfer then went to a friends for a cuppa& a chat, went home & made myself some dinner, so didn't really rest much. Next day I was taking down curtains & packing for my move, day or two later I was doing a big shop and thought I had overdone it as I got a really bad pain pushing the trolley around, but I wondered later if it could have been implantation. Then my mum came to stay for the weekend so I finally took it easy for a few days! 
I think it helped to get out & about, the first week went quite quickly as I was keeping myself busy, just do what feels right to you. And good luck! Can't wait to hear how you get on :)


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## Flannelsheets

OMG ladies, I just tested at 10dp5dt and got a BFP! First one in my whole life!!

(On the topic of what to do after transfer, I didn't do much differently. I went about life as usual, except I didn't do any jogging.)


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## smurfy

Flannelsheets said:


> OMG ladies, I just tested at 10dp5dt and got a BFP! First one in my whole life!!
> 
> (On the topic of what to do after transfer, I didn't do much differently. I went about life as usual, except I didn't do any jogging.)

congratulations you must feel amasing - great news. was your partner with you when you tested?


look after yourself take care xx


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## Flannelsheets

I *would* be feeling amazing if I didn't have a splitting migraine. Boo. I tested at 3 a.m. because I was at my wit's end with pain. I woke DH up, and he was in disbelief.

I called the nurse in the morning, and she told me it was ok in extenuating circumstances to take vicodin. I'm hoping that takes care of it so that I can get around to feeling excited! ;)


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## Mas1118

awesome news Flannel!! Finally:) Sorry about the migraine though - drink lots as it could be the baby stealing all your bloodflow, lol!


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## Mas1118

I had some crampiness/achiness inside early this morning and a dizzy spell mid morning today so I am hoping things are happening!!


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## Flannelsheets

Yes, that is an excellent sign!
Good advice about the water. Esp. in this weather (90 degrees today) it's probably not possible to have too much of it...


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## JCM

Hey Mas and Flannel! 
I've been so focused on this iui and I wanted to check in! Hi Autumn! Glad you are all doing well!!! CONGRATS FLANNEL! Awesome news! I was actually thinking about you yesterday, Mas and when your transfer would happen. Glad to see you're in the tww! 
As for me...I had to delay the iui due to some cysts that wouldn't shrink. I've been on birth control for the last 45 days...ugh! Talk about a giant moody witch! I've been so cranky. Lol but tomorrow is my last pill and I start my clomid next week! Yay! I sure hope I'm right behind you ladies!


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## Autumn Girl

Fantastic news flannel! :happydance: I bet you are over the moon! That first bfp is amazing isn't it? Hope your migraine eases off.

Jcm that is a long time on bcp! Glad you have finally reached the end of it and can get going with the fun & games now :haha: good luck with your iui 

I had the odd dizzy spell too Mas (still do) so hoping that is a good sign for you! The cramping/aching seems to be pretty common for everyone whatever the result, but at least you know it is not down to the egg collection/swollen ovaries etc so hopefully it is your embies snuggling in!


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## Mas1118

Thanks ladies!
jcm - almost here:) the waiting is so hard, I hope you don't have much longer to wait until you get your bfp!
I feel ok today - constipated tho and a bloated, a bit crampy and heavy feeling down there. I am still taking it easy. Gonna maybe do some light gardening today. Only 2days in! 7 more to go:)


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## smurfy

Hi all, just going in for egg collection on Monday so will have the HCG shot soon. Did anyone else take Cabergoline from the HCG to minimise OHSS ? Do they work, I have heard taking them before any symptoms will minimise the effects if I do get it. Thanks for your advice x


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## Mas1118

How did you egg collection go smurfy?

I tested today and got a very faint BFP!!!


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## JCM

Yayyyyyy! How exciting! Congrats to you!


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## smurfy

Mas1118 said:


> How did you egg collection go smurfy?
> 
> I tested today and got a very faint BFP!!!

Congratulations you must be so pleased, make sure you relax and take care of your self 

i ended up with 28 eggs of which 22 were mature, when i went friday everything had jumped up, i only had 7 above the 16-18mm size so FS wanted to increase chances of getting more it too maturity. 18 fertilised and currently on day 2 we have 16 between 2to5 cells, 1 at 6 cells and last one at 7 cells. 

I have been given tablets from the HCG just incase of OHSS, so far i have not had any issues, so will keep taking the tablets until egg transfer. I have a scan today and friday to check all ok, so hopefully have transfer on saturday, if any signs of OHSS we will freeze what we can 

take care


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## Autumn Girl

That's fabulous Mas! Hope that bfp is getting darker for you :)

Wow Smurfy, great number of eggs & 18 fertilised is really promising! How are you feeling now? Hope the ohss stays at bay & you get to transfer soon :)


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## smurfy

Had my scan on Wednesday and they said I have OHSS, was told to go away and rest and carry on taking the tablets. I don't feel that bad managing to sleep, eat etc my stomach has also gone down since we'd. So going back today for review. Currently I am scheduled in for transfer tomorrow at the moment I think it is 50 50 if it goes ahead. 

As I am feeling better I hope the OHSS continues to reduce by tomorrow, at the same time I don't want transfer to happen and then get worse.


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