Sydney IVF

Hi guys,

I just had my very first IVF cycle at Sydney IVF (but failed, AF turned up a week before b/t :doh: )and wondering who have had any experience with this clinic and with any success stories. I know their fee is a lot higher than IVF Australia...

I am with Dr. Mark Livingstone...

Any help would be much appreciated.

We'll be having our first appointment with SIVF very soon, I have heard great things though....

Hi,

I am wanting to try IVF myself, after having tried naturally for 3 yrs i am considering IVF.

Can you please tell me how it was when you were on the hormones injection.. and also how was the feeling like when you were under general to take the eggs out. Was it painful? did you have to go through a lot of emotions...

Relly love to hear from you.
Neet - Melb.

Thanks Sarah, glad to hear some great things said about SIVF...good luck with you appointment...

Hi neet, I guess the experience really vary from person to person...for me, I don't have any side effect at all on Puregon and I had a sedation and local when I did my EPU. this also varies depends on which clinic you go to...I know IVF Aust normally put you under general when they do EPU ...but again, for me the pain from EPU is very manageable and I was up and back to normal pretty much the next day...so I guess physically I had a smooth ride...

I don't think drugs affect me emotionally that much, but just in general, IVF is a rollercoaster and it seems to me that every step is a little milestone and you have to reach the step 1 in order to get to the next step...so it is a bit consistent worrying and anticipating ...

Good luck with your journey and hope its a short one...;)

Hi BeiBei, we have used SIVF twice with fantastic results - we fell pregnant with twins on 1st cycle and fell pregnant with singleton on 2nd (frozen) cycle. We now have 4 year old twin girls and a 2 year old girl. We were more than happy with SIVF and would not recommend going anywhere else! It was worth every cent and we would not trade it for anything. We had Dr Livingstone for our second cycle. He was really lovely. Also we found the clinic nurses were really helpful and understanding, which is exactly what you need when you're going through IVF.

I know i sound like i am doing an advertisement for them, but we really could not have asked for a better result which i do contribute alot of that to SIVF.

Hope this helps you just a little bit on your journey...

Pheonix

Hi Pheonix,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience...how wonderful you had such great results out of it, you must be so happy!!!

It was my chinese herbalist strongly recommended SIVF and Dr. Livingstone, I did have very positive experience with both him and the nurses in my first cycle...nothing to compliant about...I guess its just the failed cycle made me wondering a bit...just need a bit reassurance...and that's exactly what I am getting from you, really appreciated Pheonix...hope soon I will be following your suit...:D

You're welcome!

Everyone has 'stuff' to go through when they do IVF (in our case we had ICSI) so i don't want to sound like it was a walk in the park. It wasn't! It's really hard both emotionally and physically as you know but when you hold that baby (or babies!) in your arms for the first time in an instant every month you were disappointed, any procedures, tests, needles, crazy hormones and invasion of privacy is forgotten.

I truly wish you every success in your following cycle and hope your little miracle is waiting for you just around the corner.

On a separate issue - is your chinese herbalist located in Surry Hills?

Pheonix

Hi DH and I used SIVF city clinic unfortunatley we weren't succesful, due to an underlying undiagnosed condition. However if needed I would use them again, if we were still living in Sydney, however we arn't, but I can recommend them. The nurses there were really nice, especially Kay, although I am unsure if she is still there. The Dr we used was also my usual Gynae.. Dr David Shelley Jones, he is lovely and he also practices as an ob and delivers out of the Mater in North Sydney. I have heard very good things about Dr Mark Livingstone and also Dr Bowmen. Dr Michael Cooper also works for them and he specialises in girls with endo having IVF, also a lovely man.

Best of luck

Leis xx

Pheonix, a big YES, I am sure we are talking about the same person ...Lily Liu..I have been lazy recently and haven't seen her for a while...but we certainly get along like house on fire, we are from the same city back in China...:) Are you a regular? Do you think it helped you to some extent?

Hi Leis, thanks for the information. I've never had a Gyne and sometimes wondering how can I find a reputable ob once I get pregnant? (talking about getting ahead of myself), well, now I know...I am really liking this conversation "gossiping" our FS, you just learn so much more... have read some of your posts and knowing you are recently back to cycling again, all the best of luck!

Yes Lily Liu! I have been recommended to go and see her by a few friends and my GP due to some hormone issues i am having at the moment. How have you found her? Has she helped with you? I have heard she is very good!

Pheonix

She is very passionate and caring about all her patients and her energy is contigerous...I think she is very good at what she does, especially in infertility area...she helped so many people and if you haven't seen her before, you'd better book in early...she usually has a very long waiting list....

I firstly discovered her from an editor of the magazine (I work in media) as they are writing an editorial about her, have been seeing her for about 6 months until I moved to another area and the travel is not very practical for me, I am thinking lately if I should go back to her...

Good luck and let me know how you go...

Hi BeiBie,
I have been with Sydney Ivf satelite team out of Coffs Harbour for 3yrs now. I find them fantastic, whilst the scientists travel up from syd my doctor is in coffs, and Dr Lok from Sydney IVF makes all the big decisions for me - my FS here does the egg pick up and transfer and is quiet honest about the fact that whilst he is a FS he is not in Dr Lok's expertise - I have been pregnant twice now but unfortunately lost them but just about to go for my 7th try this time using donor sperm(brother inlaws) hopefully this will do the trick if my eggies aren't too old yet. Good luck.

Thanks Lissie, I am so sorry for your loss, that must be heart-broken:hugs: ...I send lots of baby dust and sticky vibes :stickyvibesboy:to you in this upcoming cycle and hope your dream will be fulfilled.

My FET will be in late May and it will be my 2nd attemp after a failed fresh cycle, I feel a lot more confident about it now after all the positive feedback from the girls here...not that I have anything to complain about in the first place anyway....:)

i am seeing SIVF in wollongong doing OI at the monet.

I find them brilliant, and i toowouldnt change clinics.

Hi Everyone

H & I have been trying for 15 months. Had blood tests, ultrasounds and laparoscopy etc etc.. H has also been tested twice. We are perfectly normal and apparently my anatomy 'is excellent'. But none of this seems to make any difference. I am with Dr David Shelley Jones and I am glad to hear that at least one other here has been with him.
I saw him this afternoon ... basically its time to think IVF - he has given me some stuff to read.
Finger's crossed that something will work soon. :-)

Hi Belle33,

Just keep a positive outlook about IVF and it will work out. I am an IVF cleint at SIVH also and seeing Dr Bowman. I am due to start my next cycle very soon.

My story goes like this. I have done IVF a few times now...
First one was cancelled, due to low number of follicles.
Second one, the eggs were very slow in growing so I had 2 transferred on the transfer day, but none of the eggs took.
Third one, the eggs were slow growing, but not as slow as the second time, and there was only one egg for transfer. This one egg did attach but it ended up in a miscarriage.
I haven't had any eggs from the last few cycles to freeze as yet.
I am being positive that the fourth time, it will get better, every cycle of mine, it has got better and better. Just got to keep thinking postive..
Please don't let me story put you off...
I have a couple of girlfriends, who went to SIVF and fell pregnant first go, so you never know.
Speak to you soon.
Take care.

Hi Max

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I have made an appointment with my Dr, time to get the ball rolling on IVF. I have also started taking herbs and will be having acupuncture soon. Although I did hear about a Acupuncturist in Macquarie St, Sydney (will be getting his details soon) apparently he is supposed to be good. I think acupuncture is wonderful but like anything you can't guarantee that it would work.

Good luck to you, I hope that you have many eggs for try no. 4!!!

Do you mind telling me the process for egg collection??

Thanks

Hi Belle333,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

Egg Collection:
Sydney IVF do the egg collection under local anaesthetic. The thing I find which hurt the most was the local anaesthetic needle, which goes in your viens on the top of your hand. But besides that, not much pain. The scientist will come and talk first to you before the pickup to go through, how many eggs if successful you would choose to transfer, and then the nurse would give you the local anaesthetic and they take you to the operating theatre. Your partner is always allowed to be in the operating theatre with you.

The first time I had to do this, I was so embarassed as my doctor is a male and you have to sit on this chair laid back and spread your legs, and there were also nurses in the room as well as the scientist, but you get used to it after a while. So don't worry...they do this everyday. The doctor would then give you an anaesthetic needle on both sides of your ovary using a long needle. It doesn't hurt that much...and trust me, I am a chicken when it comes to needles. I even use a cream called Emla when I had to do my daily injections throughout my cycle. And then the doctor would show you on the ultrasound monitor how many follicles he is picking up. This process with me usually finished in about 30 minutes. Then you get wheeled to your room and the nurses monitor you and let the drugs wear down a bit before they allow you to go home.

I hope this information helps.

Just think positive and it will happen.

xx

hello,
is it right that you have seen dr. livingstone? we are thinking about our first IVF with SydIVF and have an appointment with him. What has your experience with him been? We also wonder why his initial consult fee (340$) is almost double of what the other FS at Syd IVF charge, any idea? Is he 'more' qualified of specialized?
Thank you heaps

Cheers Beav

Hi Beav, yes, I am with Dr. Livingstone. He was initially recommended to me from my aucupunturist.

I have been with for 2 stim IVF cycle now and about to start the 3rd. I found him a very down-to-earth person and easy to talk to and we have kind of built a bit of rapport now. He is extremely professional and always patient to answer any questions you have. Antoher good thing I found is that after the 1st consultation that you don't really need to see him again (like paying), it is very much communicated by phone after each cycle or discussing next step etc. He is very good of following up with phone calls.

With my 2 cycles so far, I got pregnant on the 1st FET but unfortunately I had a missed m/c at 8 weeks, he did D&C for me as well. I completely trust his judgement and wouldn't go anywhere else.

But remember this is just my personal opinion and experience, I think the importance thing to choose FS is what you feel comfortable and whether you have any chemistry with him...you need to trust him and have confidence in him so you can work as a team.

Good luck with everything and I hope this cycle is IT! :D

Sorry forgot to mention about the fee...I can't remember exactly what we paid, but definitely not $340, it was around $200 mark. He is specialized in immunological testing area as far as I know...

Thank you for your detailed and quick answer, and yes, I completely agree that the chemistry has to be right - we saw one SydFS and it didn't 'klick', so we are kind of thinking whether Dr. Livingstone is the one for us. A few people have mentioned him here, always positive as far as I saw, even though, in some cases, it did not lead to pregnancy (very sorry to read about your m/c :cry: ) What is D&C - Im still learning here ...
yes, the fee with him surprised me compared to other doctors.
O I forgot to ask, how has your experience with him been towards the woman's age and chances with IVF? we know the facts (we are both in our early 40s) but then it's also about how a FS approaches this topic.
thanks again and all the best for 'IT'!
cheers
Beav

D&C means dilatation and curettage ...

With regards to the age issue, I guess we haven't had any specific discussion on that yet so far, I was 36 when I started IVF last year, but I know he will take age into consideration as general practice when he determined the doze of drugs for stimulation as older women tend to be hyperstimulate.

Maybe worth to raise this when your having the consulation with him to see his approach.