IVF journey about to begin...

[Mel_B1981]

Hi all,

Not sure if there is a thread or anything set up anywhere...but is there somewhere I can view advise and tips from people who have gone through IVF?

Thanks!

[Now we're 3]

There are probably plenty of threads that you can read and I am sure others who we were on here during their experience will be able to provide you with the links. Just wanted to wish you the best of luck. Have been down that road and only found BB once pregnant. Its been a great place to get support and advice to help you through the journey you're about to embark on. Looking forward to hearing your good news. If I can give any help or support from my experience just give me a shout. Best of luck Xx

[Mel_B1981]

Thanks!

[entreat]

Hi Mel (and welcome to the forum!)

Like you, my DH had a vasectomy (thanks for that, Ex wife!) & we had ICSI to make our son. He's 14 months next week! How time flies. We're talking about making baby 2.0 soon, too. But I have the weaning hoop to jump through first.

I was pretty naive when it came to starting our treatment. I had assumed because we had no other fertility issues, we'd get pg on the first transfer. Nope. I set myself up for a huge fall on that one, didn't i?? Jack was our third & lucky-last embryo. The second of our frozen ones. Like an old popsicle left over from last summer (hence the nick name, Poppy, in utero).

I found writing a journal helped with the many thoughts I had, and just couldn't say to anyone. There are things, fears, hopes, etc, we can't say to anyone, even our partners. I always like to look like I have everything in hand, and verbally telling someone I'm falling apart on the insides... well, it just wasn't an option. So I wrote a journal to Jack. Initially, it was to 'Emby', then to 'Frosty', then 'Poppy', and when he was born, 'Jack'. I think one day it will be a beautiful story of how loved & wanted he is.

I wish you the best of luck. I'm not here all that often anymore, but you can PM me, or find me on facebook.
Be kind to yourself!
Jenn

[Mel_B1981]

Hi Jenn!

Hehe - I can't blame the ex-wife for hubby's vasectomy. He's the one the made the decision to do it. He's told me he felt like he was being used by her for his sperm. She popped 4 kids out in 4 years...and hubby said that at 25, 4 kids is enough. So he had the vasectomy....and their marriage went downhill from that very moment and they split up approx 12 months later. When I first met him I didn't care that he'd had the vasectomy. My mother was not a phyiscal abuser, but she abused my brother and I mentally, and when I met hubby I had made the decision I never wanted kids cause I didn't want to run the risk of doing to my kids what my mother did to me.........very quickly changed my mind though when we went to Sydney on holiday and I saw my hubby with his kids.

I don't know that I would neccessarily call myself naive, but I'm HOPEFUL that we'll fall pregnant first time.
Hubby is VERY fertile when he had the vascetomy (they had him re-do the sperm count 3 times before the vasectomy cause they thought it was wrong somehow!) and to my knowledge there's no problems my side.

Maybe hopeful is the wrong word....I'm crossing everything it is possible to cross that it happens first time. It's taken us many years to get to this point. I don't think our bank balance could cope with repeated re-tries, and we aren't getting any younger.

I have never written a diary or journel...might need to look into this one though cause I hadn't even considered the thoughts/feelings you can't say aloud.

[entreat]

True! I can't blame her. And I don't. As expensive & invasive as it is, I wouldn't change what we have because... well I love what we have! He had the vas because they decided they never wanted kids & she was having health issues from the pill. Two years later she decided she *might* want kids, just not with him.

He initially said he didn't want kids, but he changed his mind, thankfully!

[00Blah00]

Hiya, we started our IVF process in March this year. We're both 29. He's healthy, I'm not (my luck). I have Endometriosis and the last time it was looked at was 3 yrs ago.
IVF isn't easy and it's expensive, I've heard a lot of wonderful wonderful stories but mine personally has just been one "hurdle" after another.

Happy to talk to you about it more in depth if you would like to hear.

I guess the one positive out of my experience is that after a lot of poking, prodding and "hurdles", we have 9 embryo's waiting to be transferred - just nowhere to transfer
them to at this point!

I hope it goes well for you and you don't have any probs
TC xx

[Mel_B1981]

My hubby did the same - said he didn't want more....now he seems to want to go through the IVF process more than I do!!!! LOL

[Mel_B1981]

Good luck! March is officially when our journey started - we saw the IVF specialist then and got bloodwork done etc. But haven't had the money to go the next step until now....

Hiya, we started our IVF process in March this year. We're both 29. He's healthy, I'm not (my luck). I have Endometriosis and the last time it was looked at was 3 yrs ago.
IVF isn't easy and it's expensive, I've heard a lot of wonderful wonderful stories but mine personally has just been one "hurdle" after another.

Happy to talk to you about it more in depth if you would like to hear.

I guess the one positive out of my experience is that after a lot of poking, prodding and "hurdles", we have 9 embryo's waiting to be transferred - just nowhere to transfer
them to at this point!

I hope it goes well for you and you don't have any probs
TC xx

[onthefly]

Hi and welcome to BellyBelly
You can chat with others on similar journies in our LT TTC & Assisted Conception chatter thread.
Good luck!

[entreat]

NINE EMBRYOS!!! WOW! Blah - that's HUGE!! I got three on our first round. How many eggs did they get at EPU? The got 11 from me, 7 were mature enough to use, 6 fertilised, 3 made it to blastocyst stage. But only one Jack. Basically, I followed the statistics all the way through. They're pretty much the numbers they expect to succeed.

I hated the fresh transfer - I felt so knocked around from surgery & hormone treatments. I asked the Dr that next time, we'd like to have frozen only (and take a couple of months off after EPU) & he said that was just fine! YAY! I have to wean Jack before we go at it again... he's such a boob boy that I have no idea when that will be. Hopefull in a couple of months.

[~TT40~]

Hi!
My DH and I are doing ICSI/IVF because he had a vasectomy (which is another ex partner saga..) we attempted a reversal but didn't work. we are about to start our 2nd cycle 1st one (3 t/f didn't work.)

Come and join us in the LTTTC/assisted conception thread. heaps of women there going trhough the same thing and we are full of love and support for our fellow sisters riding the rolling coaster.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

[Mel_B1981]

Are you talking about the private forum? If so, I need 50 posts before I can apply to become a member in there....
....if not - not sure what post you mean??

...Come and join us in the LTTTC/assisted conception thread. heaps of women there going trhough the same thing and we are full of love and support for our fellow sisters riding the rolling coaster...

ETA: Found the LTTTC/Assisted Conception Thread! LOL

[00Blah00]

Jenn - yep 9 embys. They took 21 eggs and let me tell you as good as that sounds, it caused severe ovarian hyperstimulation. I was terribly sick and scared and I looked like I was 5 months preggers.

The drugs set my heart off too, I have Atrial Fibrilation (irregular heartbeat) and the drugs just made it beat like a jack-hammer. When it gets like that I have to be jump
started but thankfully it settled on it's own this time.

Back to the embys, they say if you have more than 10 collected it puts you at higher risk of ovarian hyperstimulation which of course me being me and the crummy luck
I have - I ended up with!

Waiting on an appointment date for a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy to "clean" me out so they can do the transfer (finally). I wish they had've told me back in March that if you have Endometriosis you're at risk of a "mis-shaped" uterus which means means I have to have another laparoscopy plus a hysteroscopy to "clean" me out otherwise if I get
preggers I have 100% chance of m/c. GRRRR - they tell me this 2 weeks before the transfer was supposed to be!!!!

I'm so glad you have Jack, it's nice to see that after all of the crap we go through that it actually works! xx

[Mel_B1981]

Lordy! 21 eggs!!!!

I hope I don't do that - they told me when they did the internal ultrasound they could see 11 follicles on each ovary!
I know my Dad's family is quiet fertile (they must be since most females have between 7 - 15 children!!!) and I've been told I look exactly like my Dad's sister....just hoping at this stage that the baby making part of my genetic makeup takes after her also!

[00Blah00]

7-15 children? I thought that only happened back in my parents days haha!

The thing is, it's kind of a double-edged sword. You want as many eggs as you can generate but at the same time there's the risk of OHS. After the collection, just make sure
you drink lot's and lot's of water - and I mean like 3ltrs a day or more if your body can take it. I started off drinking 2 to 2.5 ltrs in the first 2 days but after that i just couldn't drink anymore than 1 to 1.5 lts. My stomach was that full that I just couldn't fit in another sip as I felt like I was going to throw up. I think it's because my body wasn't used to so much water I only used to drink like half a litre a day prior to starting treatment.

Everyone's different though hun, some people get sick and some people feel no different. It's the luck of the draw and drinking PLENTY of water afterwards.

Hey some goods news about the collection - I didn't even use a single pain killer!

[Mel_B1981]

LOL I would have thought so too....but even the family I have married into is large. My BIL has just 2 years ago had his 5th child, and if hubby and I achieve our goal of 2, hubby will then have 6 children.

My Dad's the eldest of 11 and most of his sisters have 5 - 9 children. Dad is the only one in the family (except for his brother who died too young to father any children) who has less than 4 children (being me and my brother).

I can deal with the water feedback though - I already drink about 1-2 litres a day so a little more should be easy enough

[jacklicky]

Rislani, My DH also had a vasectomy after he had 2 kids with an ex-partner (she had 3 others before that) and he decided they couldnt afford anymore.

When we got together he knew I wanted children and under went a reversal which was initally successful and we have a gorgeous DD. When she was 1 I got AF back and we started trying for another bubs but had no luck....decided to get ourselves checked out after six mths (due to my age and the fact we got preg 1st mth after vas-reversal) only to find out DH had developed scar tissue....We had the option of another reversal or IVF. The FS convinced us IVF was our best chance......We have now done two full stim cycles (14 eggs 6 fert and 13 eggs 6 fert - no OHSS on either stim) and got 3 BFP's resulting in 1 MC at 9wks and 2 chemical pregancies.

My family are all super fertile as is DH's....so this whole journey has really knocked us for a six.

We have 2 embies left from the last Stim cycle that we will be transfering in the next few weeks.....but if that doesnt work I am seriously considering getting DH to have a reversal again.....I just think it we can get the sperm where it needs to be we will be ok.....but its so hard to know where to put your money....my FS is still confident we will get preg...but I just dont know how long I want to wait to achieve that dream!