I'm new and am actually starting ICSI in Sydney in couple of weeks time.
Quite overwhelmed with it all at the moment, had our meeting with our nurse today to run through the cycle and the injections I'll be on. To be honest the main concern I have is the egg retrieval and am considering going under a general (had bad experience with my hy-co-sy ultrasound, was really faint and found really painful after). How have you guys found it?
A fellow newby here (in fact, this is my 1st post, although I've been lurking for a few weeks). I'm just starting my first ICSI cycle, after never using any fertility treatment before, so I'm in a similar boat to you. Anyway, I just did my first ever Puregon shot this morning. I'm happy to report that it wasn't bad at all. I'm not great with needles and I couldn't even feel the shot as it was sitting in my belly. Now it's been an hour, and I feel a slight twingeing at the injection site (not painful at all), and that's about it. So hopefully that will take away a little of the trepidation for you. I start Orgalutran the day after tomorrow (slightly bigger needle), so I'll re-post and let you know if I found the Orgalutran just as easy.
My biggest fear is that I just found out 2 days ago that I have low AMH (6.9), so now I'm concerned about whether I'll even respond to the shots at all. Before I got the results, my doctor had told me to start off with 225 units of Puregon, but, in light of the results, he bumped me up to 275. (I should mention that I turned 38 2 months ago and have never been pregnant. Before getting this result I had thought that the reason we hadn't been getting pregnant was DH's poor morphology (1-3%).) I was pretty relaxed until I got my AMH result back, but now I'm feeling pretty stressed. I won't get to talk to the doctor about it until I go in for my scan next Wednesday. Oh well . . .
Now I'm also wondering if I might have mistakenly given myself a larger dose of the shot than I was supposed to, but that's for another thread.
Good luck to you and to everyone else who's cycling this month!
I have just begun my first IVF cycle too. I started my injections on Thursday. I don't know about everyone else but I am over analysing my body to try and pick up any changes from the drugs! So far I have had a bit of abdominal cramping and feeling of nausea right after the injection and in the morning.
My biggest fear is the egg collection - I think I have read too much about how it can be painful. Some other members may be able to shed some light on this or give some advise!
As we live in the country trying to juggle work schedules and egg collection schedules makes life a bit more difficult but we are looking forward to our first try.
This is my first time using a forum. It would be great to hear how others are going and how they are feeling.
hi babydownunder,
it is all very overwhelming and extremly strange when u do your first cycle! i have done 1 cancelled cycle and 1 stimulated (icsi) cycle. unfortunatly my embryo transfer was unsuccessful and we had 0 frozen embryos so im about to start another stimulated cycle.
i was VERY concerned about egg pick up as well but i have to say i was pleasntly surprised with the whole procedure.
i know everyone is different though.
i considered a GA but my doctor uses sedation and has an anesthetist there who can "knock u out" if need be! i found i was sleepy during part of the pick up . my husband tells me i was awake for most and chatting however i dont have a memory of the event ( thanks to midazolam a drug they use). i was a little sore after the fact but it has definatly taken the fear factor out of it for me an im much more relaxed going into this next cycle.
i hope this helps u
Like many of you, my biggest concern was EPU. My clinic routinely uses GA during EPU, and I've always been nervous of GA's (irrational fear of never waking up...). I asked about having EPU without a GA, but was told that they do all their EPU with it, so I went along with it. This cycle (I'm on day 4) I'm going to ask again if there is any chance at all of not having a GA for EPU. I wasn't happy with the outcome last time. It was a bit of an unusual situation though. I was in quite a bit of pain a couple of days after the procedure (more than I thought I should be) so called my nurse who assured me that it was normal, so I just dealt with the pain for the next week or so until it went away. Two and a half weeks after the procedure I discovered that I had stitches inside my vagina that I had not been made aware of. I freaked out! It was after hours on a friday night and I couldn't contact anyone until the next day. Even when I finally spoke to a nurse the next day, she had no idea why I might have stitches and had to ask a more senior nurse. It turns out that occasionally if there is some excess bleeding they will put in a stitch. They were disgusted that I was not told after the EPU, and even more amazed that I wasn't even given any after-care instructions. Turns out it was just a really bad situation that almost never happens. BUT, it makes me even more scared about going under a GA this time around. I'm also still skeptical about what happened because there was not just one, but three stitches! It's now been about 6-7 weeks and there is still one that hasn't dislodged and come out...
Hmm, gosh, I'm really not making you feel better about things am I? In regards to the pain of the EPU, I think I had a bit extra from the stitches, but even with all that considered, it wasn't excruciating pain. I'm not able to take pain killers and I was still able to move around ok, and even carry my baby who was 9-10 months old at the time. Just take it easy for a couple of days afterwards and you'll be fine The needles aren't exactly fun, but it's the mental part of things that's the worst. The actual needle really doesn't hurt (a mosquito bite ) but it's the mental aspect that makes it hard to stick that silly little needle into your own skin. When I did my first needle I sat there going "ok, one... two... three..." and then not moving the needle any closer to my skin, LOL! Took me about 5 countdowns to finally do it. I've heard some people say it's easier to push it in really fast, but I still do it moderately slowly because it seems less 'stabby', hehe.
Good luck with everything! I hope you can tell us some wonderful news soon!
Firstly I just want to wish you all the best luck on your cycles!!
It can be a very scary time BUT I promise the outcome is very well worth it
The EPU was my bigest fear as well so you are not alone My first cycle I had light sedation and really can't remember much of it. My second cycle had nothing and was wide awake for the procedure.
There is some discomfort after the EPU, but nothing like what I expected and really just took it easy for the following couple of days. Nothing like a cozzy bed, panadol and a few trashy mags...LOL!!
Sorry, I have not been on here for couple of weeks.
Quick update for you.
Had 10 days of Puregon (125) and 7 days of Orgalutran. Took the trigger the next day and went in for EPU yesterday. Was told there was only about 4 eggs they were aiming for based on ultrasounds however ended up getting 8 eggs which was great I thought (was under a general so didn't feel a thing and had no pain at all after). Received phonecall this morning to say out of the 8 eggs, only 6 were suitable and overnight only 2fertilised. I am trying to be positive yet at the same time don't want to get my hopes up.
It's a waiting game now until saturday morning, feeling very anxious.
How are you girls doing, would love to hear what's been happening in last two weeks. Hopefully we will have some good news to share over coming weeks
Hey there Babydownunder -
Just to let you know that after my EPU, of my 6 eggs, only 2 fertilized -- despite using ICSI -- so I was feeling pretty down, too. But the 2 that fertilized both became perfect embryos with no fragmentation. They transferred one 13 days ago and grew the second out to blast then froze it. I'll see in 3 days if the one they transferred has become a BFP. But my point is that great things can happen even with only 2 fertilized eggies. The way I see it, the other ones probably would not have turned into good embies even if they had fertilized, whereas the ones that did fertilize were clearly the best. I hope your 2 embies have been going well. Please jump back on and let us know how they did when you have a chance.
KitKat72 - It's great to see you have 2 Grade 1 embryos. I hope your blood test gives the BFP. good luck for Saturday.
babydownunder - I hope it's worked out for you, thinking of you
Lise - thanks for sending your positive words our way.
AFM - I will have last Gonal-F (follicle stimulating) injection maybe tomorrow or Wednesday and EPU on Thursday or Friday.
Have 3 really good follicles on the right and 2 more that may be big enough by EPU as well.
Timeforafamily - best of luck for your EPU this week!!
Puffsgirl - welcome and good luck. We have male factor issues, too, and luckily ICSI has held out promise for us (see above re: our 2 great embies thanks to ICSI). And yes, my DH doesn't like discussing this stuff too much, so this forum is a godsend.
Hi all, just jumping in as newbie here... My partner had zero sperm I mean not one little swimmer, but after we asked for a biopsy we now have 9 straws frozen of nice swimmers.. Anyone who has male factor please look deeper into it as we suprised the doctors as well as ourselves... Hormone levels in the blood is an early indicator to proceed onto a little op to get those good spermies out... I am waiting to start injections on the 26th May and am on DHEA as well as accupuncture and elevit multi vitamins. I donated eggs many years ago and they all died before they attempted an icsi rescue... So am very worried this time around may not work for me due to frozen sperm,, plus my age and egg quality....
thanks for reading,,, only have 39 more posts before i can chat live with someone in a similiar boat as myself...
Hi Ladies,
I just saw this thread and it reminded me of a similar thread that I was in a year ago.
We went through 2 ICSI cycles - the first one we ended up with 3 embyos and one made it to blastocyst but resulted in a BFN. Second cycle we had 2 embryos and had ET on day 2 as they didn't think they would make it to day 5. Result =BFN.
However, my remaining embryo made it to Day 6, so the next month we did an FET and it resulted in a BFP!
The funny thing is, I did everything right for the first 2 cycles after googling tips etc.. But after my FET I just carried on as normal. I had actually given up hope and wasn't even going to bother doing it, but luckily I listened to my FS.
The TWW is really hard, but the 40 WW is the hardest!
Good luck everyone. You never know what will happen when you least expect it.
Ps. Sorry for crashing the thread!
Last edited by onthefly; May 15th, 2010 at 09:56 AM.
I think you've just confirmed what I believe deep down- that if it's going to happen it will. I can't help taking little precautions (they tend to give me some small feeling of control in a situation I have very little to no control over) but ultimately I think it's up to the embryo.
Congratulations on your little girl!
Nat82, that's a really good point. I certainly agree that at the end of the day the most important factors (ie, is it a strong, sticky embie?) are really out of your control. My view was simply that, like Maggie, I wanted to feel like I was doing something in a process where so much is, indeed, out of your hands. I can totally see why you would get jaded, however, after doing several cycles. I have no doubt that if I had a couple of BFNs from my first few cycles, I probably would have responded exactly like you -- saying I'm not going to make that much effort anymore. In fact, that's how I felt when I was TTC naturally. In the beginning I would try to be good during the TWW (although not at all to the same extent as when doing IVF), but after the first few times that didn't work, I pretty much said, "Screw this. I'm not going to keep living like a monk when it's clearly useless." For years, I drank what I want, didn't bother with preg supplements, etc., because I had decided that there was no point since I had no hope of getting pregnant anyway. Of course, when I finally started IVF I learned that there really HAD been no point to being the good girl acting like I was pregnant all the time (like they say you should do when TTC) since w/DH's 1% morphology there really was no hope of conceiving without ICSI. So I can't say I regret being blase. I personally finally felt motivated to be "good" and make an effort to change my behavior again only when we started IVF since I finally felt like we actually had a chance. God only knows whether that improved mental state made some difference. Obviously your history shows that it's meaningless in some cases. I think the bottom line is that all you can do is what you feel mentally strong and motivated enough to do. For what it's worth, my FS and clinic, while supportive of complementary therapies, etc., gave me the impression that they didn't really care if you did anything special during the TWW other than avoiding getting overheated and making sure that you drank extra water. That tells me that they don't think the sorts of things that I listed above make much difference. Otherwise, they would be more insistent that you do them.
Congrats on finally getting a baby in your arms, Nat82. And Maggie, I really hope that, whatever factors end up being the cause, this FET sticks for you. (((Hugs)))
PS. Maggie, I totally was an acupuncture skeptic before I went, but I could *feel* stuff happening when I went for my first treatment, and you feel so totally relaxed by the time each session is over, so I definitely recommend it. For what it's worth, when my SIL tried it when she was TTC, she got totally antsy lying there for 1/2 an hour and decided not to go back, so it's certainly not for everyone. But I'd definitely give it a try if you have the time!
Last edited by KitKat72; May 15th, 2010 at 10:38 AM.
Hi all,
KitKat72 - congrats
Puffgirl11 - welcome, July seems a long time, but it will come around soon enough, just concentrate on looking after you
babydownunder - fingers crossed for you, I don't know what helps during the TWW. maybe distractions, but in the end they seem all so superficial... remember we are allowed to have our negative moments too
Nat82 - I so relate to you just having a break from it all, being so thoughtful about food choices, exerecise and everything
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Just starting ICSI
Just starting too!
) but it's the mental aspect that makes it hard to stick that silly little needle into your own skin. When I did my first needle I sat there going "ok, one... two... three..." and then not moving the needle any closer to my skin, LOL! Took me about 5 countdowns to finally do it. I've heard some people say it's easier to push it in really fast, but I still do it moderately slowly because it seems less 'stabby', hehe.
My first cycle I had light sedation and really can't remember much of it. My second cycle had nothing and was wide awake for the procedure.
good luck for Saturday.
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