Any Aussie ladies starting IVF?

[Miss Redknob]

I can totally understand your hesitation. My last cycle has me so worried about this cycle, and I a terrified about not getting anything again We did a freeze all cycle and our total cost was just under $15k and we worked out we were around $11k out of pocket. IVFA charge a flat rate for PGD $3845 but Genea charge per embryo and I think it is about $750.

I know we are hanging for the cruise

 

[Maddy40]

Wish....by now you must be a mummy again. So thrilled for you. And Yo (aka Miss Sudocream) is a stunner. You will definately have your hands full

MissRed...how has Lincoln liked his first week at childcare? Have you started your new job? EPU and a cruise too? Wowsers you've got a lot going on!

Kirst...27 weeks already, are you organised

Eveclo...Dr Matthias gets a good rap over on the Bubhub discussion boards, quite a few people on there see him

Lirpa...scans are exciting, aren't they? Where in the US are you moving to? Will you have good insurance for the birth, it can be so expensive there


AFM Leo turned 1 on the 19th. He's an almost-walking, gibberish-talking whirlwind and I just love love love him to bits. He starts childcare 2 days per week in February just for the socialisation - several of his little friends from Mum's group are going to the same centre. We are moving overseas in July so I'm starting to get organised, do training courses etc. Life is busy!

 

[aleja]

Hi ladies long time no chat!! I hope everyone is well. Marlon is now 19 months and a handful!!! The kid doesn't stop.

Wish congrats on your new little girl... You must be so tired but happy right now!

Maddy did you have a party for Leo?? Where are you moving?

Ms Red we might be cycling together again as I'm planning on starting a new cycle in March .

EvClo I agree that dr Matthias is the best immune specialist. I have 2 friends who had babies with his help after many years of failed cycles.

Kirst when is your Bub due?

Hello to everyone else xxxx

 

[Miss Redknob]

Hi Aleja :wave:

I started injections last night ready for EPU on the 6th March. When are you starting? xx

 

[Lirpa11]

Good luck miss Red!

And hi Aleja!

I am good. We had our 12 week scan ontuesday and all is looking well. It's still hard to believe as no bump, haven't had any morning sickness, and the only way you'd know a baby is in there is by the growth of my boobs! And the scans of course lol

Just arrived in usa last night, ready to start our new adventure! Snowing here and I already miss the hot Perth weather

 

[aleja]

Hi Ms Red! I'm waiting for AF to arrive so probably beginning of March will start injections. My FS is trying me with Menopur instead of elonva due to crap eggs. I'm so nervous about the whole thing not feeling too hopeful.
I can't believe your Epu is coming up so soon. What meds are you on?

Lirpa I must have missed your pregnancy announcement! Congrats on reaching second trimester. Where in USA are you living ?

 

[Kirs_t]

Aleja- so good to hear from you! Good luck for this cycle. A change in meds sounds good and will hopefully give a great result! Looking forward to hearing how you go xxx

Miss red- good luck to you too! Wow epu is close. How are you feeling? Everything crossed for you too!

All good here- 34 weeks now so getting close! Bit nervous about two so close together, but very excited too

 

[eveclo]

Hi ladies long time no chat!! I hope everyone is well. Marlon is now 19 months and a handful!!! The kid doesn't stop.

Wish congrats on your new little girl... You must be so tired but happy right now!

Maddy did you have a party for Leo?? Where are you moving?

Ms Red we might be cycling together again as I'm planning on starting a new cycle in March .

EvClo I agree that dr Matthias is the best immune specialist. I have 2 friends who had babies with his help after many years of failed cycles.

Kirst when is your Bub due?

Hello to everyone else xxxx

That is so good to hear Aleja Hoping to make that appointment soon I have been a bit slack (i also think i am a little bit scared to venture into that territory again!).

Hi Aleja :wave:

I started injections last night ready for EPU on the 6th March. When are you starting? xx

Eeep Red! So exciting. How are you feeling so far? That has come up so quick. Take care of yourself. xx

 

[eveclo]

Not long until your EPU red! Hope you aren't too uncomfortable. How are your follicles looking? xx

 

[Miss Redknob]

Hi Girls :wave:

Wow Lirpa 12 weeks already that is amazing xx

Good Luck Aleja xx

Wow Kirst 34 weeks, not long to go now xx

Well EPU is set for Friday. I have 16 follies on my right and 7 on the left feeling very sore and uncomfortable.

 

[eveclo]

Hi Girls :wave:

Wow Lirpa 12 weeks already that is amazing xx

Good Luck Aleja xx

Wow Kirst 34 weeks, not long to go now xx

Well EPU is set for Friday. I have 16 follies on my right and 7 on the left feeling very sore and uncomfortable.

Ahh good luck, can't wait to hear how it all goes! All the best Red and fam!

 

[eveclo]

Hope your EPU went well Red. Been thinking of you, hoping you had a great fert rate!

 

[eveclo]

Woop I realise that this thread has been all me for the past few weeks but eh! I emailed my papers off to Dr Mathias (Reproductive Immunologist) on the weekend and the Receptionist has said that I will have a phone consult over the next few weeks. Looking forward to seeing where to go from here.

Hope all is well in everyones world! xx

 

[Kirs_t]

Evclo- that's great news. How are you feeling about it all?

Red and aleja- how are your cycles going?

 

[eveclo]

Evclo- that's great news. How are you feeling about it all?

Red and aleja- how are your cycles going?

Feeling a little bit anxious to get the process started again, I really liked not worrying about things for a while. Also, I have gained a bit of weight from my last cycle, and I am struggling to lose it. I'm eating the same / better than I always have but it seems like the Prednisolone has screwed with my metabolism or something annoying! Anyway, Hopefully it's worth it

How are you going Kirst? Not long for you now and you'll have another little bubba! SO exciting. All the best with the birth and lead up to.

 

[wantingbubba7]

Hi ladies, do you mind if I join this thread? I am from brisbane
Ive just failed my 2nd IUI and will be doing a third now, while we are waiting (feels like all I do) we are will have an appt with my doc to start ICSI straight away if the 3rd fails as well. Im trying to mentally prepare for everything.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated and what are some things I can expect ?
Nice to have an Aussie thread!

 

[eveclo]

Hi ladies, do you mind if I join this thread? I am from brisbane
Ive just failed my 2nd IUI and will be doing a third now, while we are waiting (feels like all I do) we are will have an appt with my doc to start ICSI straight away if the 3rd fails as well. Im trying to mentally prepare for everything.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated and what are some things I can expect ?
Nice to have an Aussie thread!

Welcome!!

Sorry to hear about your failed IUI cycles, it's so disappointing and frustrating when you aren't able to pinpoint the issue behind not being able to conceive! You have come to the right place this is a great thread with heaps of helpful ladies!

I used to live in Brisbane and did 2 fresh cycles there and also 2 frozen embryo transfers (I was with QFG). I am yet to fall pregnant but we originally had Male factor infertility.

Our first appointment with our Doctor we basically just had tests done to check our levels (although having done IUI i'm sure you have already done these) and then they will give you an appointment with a fertility nurse that will teach you how to inject yourself with the medication and make sure you understand the procedure. You will then start jabbing FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) on roughly CD2 or CD3 depending and this is what will stimulate your ovaries to grow. My very first cycle (that ended up being cancelled) I was on 100iu Gonal F, and then my second attempt at a first complete d cycle they bumped me up to 150iu Gonal F. I believe this is the standard starting dosage.

You will then have about 2 or 3 ultrasounds in this time to check your follicle growth. Then about 6 or 7 days into injections you will be put onto a blocker injection which stops you from prematurely ovulating and then after about 12 days of injecting you will take a 'trigger' injection which will help your follicles to mature and then hopefully have eggs in them. Then you will have your egg pick up under general or local (i did general all 3 times I have done an EPU). Your eggs will then be fertilised either by IVF or ICSI and grown to day 3 or day 5 (blastocyst) stage where they will then be transferred or frozen

I hope that's not too much random scattered information, it really is quite a easy process in the way of support and attention from medical staff you generally have quite a lot therefore you feel more 'in control'. I hope you have great success with your next IUI but if not, don't be scared of IVF it is a fantastic tool and it really isn't as bad as I thought it would be before I started. Good Luck on your journey

 

[wantingbubba7]

I really appreciate all of your feedback evelco you have made me honestly feel 100% more at ease.
Ive had a bit of a read through this thread and im really sorry for your heartache. I hope all your effort and hard work pays off for you. It is such a heart wrenching journey.
I'm also using QFG so far they have been very helpful. Did you like them? I have had all of my preliminary checks so I should be good to go with ICSI pretty quick if my last IUI doesnt work.
So glad QFG use general for egg pick up I do not want to be awake haha
do you mind if I ask what your out of pocket costs were after medicare?

 

[eveclo]

I really appreciate all of your feedback evelco you have made me honestly feel 100% more at ease.
Ive had a bit of a read through this thread and im really sorry for your heartache. I hope all your effort and hard work pays off for you. It is such a heart wrenching journey.
I'm also using QFG so far they have been very helpful. Did you like them? I have had all of my preliminary checks so I should be good to go with ICSI pretty quick if my last IUI doesnt work.
So glad QFG use general for egg pick up I do not want to be awake haha
do you mind if I ask what your out of pocket costs were after medicare?

No problem at all! I relied 100% on the internet when I was going through it and was feeling so daunted by the whole journey. The needles don't hurt (the Gonal F ones anyway), and the Orgalutran (blocker needles) are a bit more thick but if you are relaxed about it you will be fine. I used to hate needles but now don't even blink an eyelid!

I did like QFG, i thought they were quite good and their embryologists very helpful. I would ring every day to check on my embryos and they would always make time to explain every detail to me which I found very helpful.

If I am remembering correctly, we paid an upfront cheque of aboutt $8200 for an ICSI cycle, and then received about $5000 back into our bank from Medicare a few days later. So roughly $3200 for the cycle, and then on top of that we paid $800 for the Doctor, and then about $800 for the hospital fees and then $400 for the anaesthetic. I didn't have private health cover at the time but now I do, which covers the hospital fees. So i would set aside about $4500 just to be safe, but things might have changed since I have been there. But you are in good hands.

What doctor are you seeing? I went to Melissa Luckensmeyer who was lovely. I really liked her but unfortunately we did not have success but i am sure if we were to have stayed there (we moved interstate due to work) we might have eventually. Warren DeAmbrosis is meant to be the best and I was contemplating getting a second opinion with him. If i had my time over again I probably would have gone straight to him (with all of the research I have done - there's a whole thread about him if you search his name hehe) only because we have proven to be such a difficult case, although I am sure you will be fine. IVF works for a majority of people and it is really just the most amazing thing in the modern world!

xx

 

[wantingbubba7]

Thats how I am at the moment just so daunted I never thought we'd be here I guess not many do. So I really appreciate your help.
Wow the price is up there isnt it, least medicare help
Melissa is my dr as well.. small world. I really like her she is very easy to talk to etc.
I have read sooooo much about warren as well haha meant to be a huge waiting list for him.