IVF support group?

[soldn]

Hi Liquorice and Sapphire,

Thanks very much for your advice re husbands and managing expectations, I'll take that on board when I start my new cycle in a few weeks time. I am on progesterone tablets at the moment and they are making me feel bloated so I'll try eating a ton of protein in the next few days!

I have a low AMH (0.7), which might indicate a very low ovarian reserve. I had my first cycle in Europe in June and they only collected 4 eggs, 3 fertilised - two were put back in and last one's quality was not good enough to be frozen...My doctor back home recommended Doctor Ng at the private branch of Queen Mary's, do you know anything about him? He seems very nice and my doctor was very positive about him but I can't find much information on the forum.

Sapphire, hope you get out of bed very soon, well done on staying put for so long! It will all be worth it in the end.

Liquorice, am keeping my fingers crossed, keep us posted. Hope the egg retrieval went as best as possible.

 

[Sapphire40]

I haven't heard of Dr Ng - my GP recommended Dr Doo and I have two friends who have used Dr Ho (1 for IVF the other for IUI). But if you are comfortable with him, then go with him, you can always change docs if you need to.

What tablets are you on? I had a bad reaction to clomid so my doc put me on injectables straight away (very bloated and terrible ovulation pain). I had the puregon pen and then gonal F. Puregon didn't agree with me either (when I ovulated I bloated so badly - hyper stimulated - that I looked about 6 months pregnant!) but gonal F seemed to work, I ended up on maximum doses because I was so slow to respond. I didn't get so bloated during the IVF (still bloated but less so than the other drugs) but I think whatever you take causes bloating and my doc said it would continue through into pregnancy.

I am getting really bad cabin fever now - there are only so many repeated of CSI, NCIS etc one can watch! I feel a lot better but I think that's because I am coming to the end of my first trimester after which apparently you get more energy and less nausea! I don't think I will feel really comfortable with it all until my next check up which is next week when I will hit 13 weeks. It coincides with my 40th so hopefully I will be allowed up and out! It will have been the longest and hardest 7 weeks of my life, I don't do inactivity well normally (I was very fit until i started my IvF cycle) so I think my husband is surprised I am still sane!

Liquorice - good luck with the next few days, the hospital are very good at keeping you updated on the progress of your blastocysts, fingers crossed for you.

 

[Liquorice]

Hi Sapphire, thanks for your posts - very interesting and useful for me.
So you didn't take a month out then because of OHSS, and went straight ahead with a fresh transfer, right (just making sure I understood your post properly)?

I have been reading a lot about the body perhaps being more receptive to an embryo transfer if you wait a while after the egg retrieval. Dr Doo was also saying that some research seems to be suggesting that too; that in some cases the body may even reject the embryos if they are transferred too close to the trauma of egg retrieval. My little boy was the result of an FET as none of the fresh transfers I did ever worked, so I guess my concern is opposite to what yours was. I'm worried about doing a fresh transfer. But I guess many fresh transfers work too and there is a lot of risk in freezing and thawing - out of around 14 embryos across 2 IVF cycles I did, 4 failed in fresh transfers, and of the remaining 10, I lost 6 in the thawing process...

My embryos seem to be doing well though, so fingers crossed! I have 6 very good quality embryos (out of 12) so they are confident that I will be able to have a blastocyst transfer on Saturday.

Hope you are allowed off bed rest and out again soon. Must be driving you nuts.

By the way, did you have to do progesterone shots with Dr Doo after the ET? I'm fine with subcutaneous shots but the progesterone ones are intra-muscular, and I have to do one a day for a couple of weeks. The first intra-muscular one I did was the ovulation trigger and it was awful. In the belly, once the needle punctures the skin it slides in dead easy, but in the bottom/hip you have to really shove it in. I struggled with it. Also, will Dr Doo allow a blood test after 9 or 10 days or does he insist you wait out the whole 2WW for a pregnancy test?

Soldn - I haven't heard of Dr Ng either. Dr Ho is supposed to be good, though I have no experience of him. Dr Lo is quite good, I had my first son with him through IVF. Dr Doo is a lot more expensive than Dr Lo (for consultations etc., though he claims he is about the same for an IVF cycle...I'll find out once its all done), but I have to say his clinic does seem a lot more thorough, and I've been very impressed with them so far. There's also a western guy at the Prince of Wales who is supposed to be good, but I can't remember his name.

 

[Sapphire40]

HI Liquorice,

In answer to your questions, I didn't take a month out and did the embryo transfer straight away (after 5 days). I had some OHSS but it wasn't enough to prevent embryo transfer (all those eggs I ate!). I have complete faith in Dr Doo, so just ask his advice and he will tell you what he thinks is best. With me, he wanted to try the embryo transfer straight away. I had both take but one died later. Thrilled for your blastocysts are progressing nicely, its such a nerve wracking time.

I have been doing both progesterone shots (am on 100ml a day although you will start on 50ml) and the utrogestan pessaries (2 x twice daily). The progesterone shots are painful after a while and I now have to really grit my teeth. I have hard lumps where I inject and bruising (and I don't bruise easily). Because the shots are oil based you have to massage them (something I wasn't good at) but even injecting alternate days doesn't ease the discomfort, and it can become quite painful. I forced myself to do it as the alternative was to go to Dr Doo's every day for the jab which isn't possible. I was also on pregnyl after I lost no 2 to prevent miscarriage which is easier but still intramscular, and neither of the injections slide in or inject easily. For this one, either get your hubby to do it (mine would have fainted, I tried to make him watch one day and he got really squeamish) or just grit your teeth and think about the good it is doing for you! There is no way around it, although if you can get to the clinic every day for an injection that might make it easier if you find it difficult to do yourself.

I think I did a pregnancy blood test 10 days after - basically when I was 4 weeks pregnant. I did the embryo transfer on a monday and then I did the blood test the following friday, or it could have been the wednesday. Basically you do it quite soon after, again a nerve wracking period to wait.

On another note, I am very new to all this baby stuff and as soon as I was pregnant they asked me which hospital. I said Matilda but they said I needed a couple more choices in case I couldn't get in. Also apparently Matilda won't take you until 9weeks and a scan, that said, Dr Doo is resident there so he gets some priority. If they ask you for a hospital, don't feel pressured into booking something so early. I went for Adventist as an alternative as you can register straight away, but suddenly they wanted a deposit, so I opted to wait for Matilda, had confirmation the other day I am in. Due mid march.

I haven't had experience of any other doctors but I feel in very safe hands with Dr Doo - and even though sometimes you have to wait for an hour plus to see him, I don't mind that. I would definitely use him again.

Also, before I forget, all the progesterone will make you even more nauseous than normal apparently, and if you have twins (if both embryos take) than that will make it twice as bad. In the early stages with both, I was crippled with 24 hours nausea, it was completely debilitating and as soon as I lost no 2 things got much better. I am/was an endurance athlete (although don't look anything like it now!) and I can honestly say from an endurance perspective, getting and staying pregnant is harder than any ironman training I have ever done!

Fingers crossed for you for the next couple of days.

 

[Liquorice]

Thanks Sapphire. I'm horrified that you are still doing the progesterone shots! I thought that would end once a pregnancy was confirmed. Still trying to work out how to do mine. So I had two embryos transferred today. To be honest, I'd be over the moon if both took but I know they don't encourage that so Dr Doo put in one good quality and one not so good quality. Now I just have to grit my teeth through the progesterone shots and keep my fingers crossed.

Anyway I'm very impressed with Dr Doo and his clinic. They seem so much better than the experiences I have had before with other clinics. Think I mentioned before that at first I was kind of horrified at the cost, but now I can see the value. I ended up with 7 blastocysts. 2 put in today, 3 frozen and another 2 they are going to continue to culture for some reason or another. Seemed to get many more eggs with Dr Doo and much better quality embryos than I have the other two times I have done it.

Must be very difficult for you on bed rest if you were a super fit before. I am bad enough not exercising during the 2WW... Last time I did because my other doctor thought it was fine, but Dr Doo says no. I've got permission to hike with my dogs after a couple of weeks but the nurse has said if I get pregnant no running for 3 months. I'm sure you'll get fit again in no time once you've had your baby. Last time I started running again after 3 months (the recommended minimum) and really hit it hard as I'd put on loads of weight - actually AFTER I had the baby, not before. I got fit really quickly, but the problem was I'd had to have a cesarean and my core still wasn't strong enough so I buggered my knees up. So if you end up in a similar situation, do watch that. The temptation is huge to get straight back into it, but you need to go in gently...

Thanks for the hospitals tip.

 

[Sapphire40]

That's fantastic news! Fingers crossed both or at least one embryo take - suggest you take things easy for the next few weeks until things stabilise. Did he tell you to take the next few days off? I was still doing 3 hr hikes in the heat up the peak up to week 6 so wether than contributed at all to my current situation I don't know, I tried to pretend all was normal and could still do normal things but the reality is you can't. I did have bed rest though straight after the embryo transfer for 3 days then went back to work.

I'm hoping to get back into some form of fitness even if it is just walking and pre- natal Pilates.

Anyway, good luck, fingers are crossed for you!

 

[michelle8]

I'm devastated bleeding after 6 day embryo transfer

I'm so scared, after started spotting and then worsen heavy bleeding, after 6 days embryo transfer. Ive been in tears for days and my blood test is tomorrow. Any one with same experience and had positive result? I really pray it be positive
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[Liquorice]

Hi Michelle, is it bleeding like your period - if started 6 days past transfer then you must have been bleeding for 3 or 4 days now...?

Did you call your doctor? What did they say?