Gotta try

[20percent]

Hi Ladies,

I was advised to drop in on the long term section as you all may have more experience with the issues I am facing than the members in the TTC section.

I'm 38 and single (mostly due to my own awful taste in men) and am about to begin treatment with donor sperm.

My initial test results have come back pretty dire 😔 I have a very large haemorrhagic cyst on my right ovary which has caused that one to become twice its normal size, I had only 2 visible Antral follicles and my AMH came back the next day as 0.6! 😱 So, it's now or never!

I am booked in for 1round of IUI which will be unmedicated and is my choice (my gut told me I was running short on time to have a baby, it wasn't wrong! Now it also tells me to give IUI a go, who am I to ignore it!). I am then down for 3rounds of Natural mild IVF.

I've been given a 2% chance of success with IUI and a 20% chance with IVF....and I am genuinely feeling quite positive about it all, I'm not quite sure why! Are there any ladies out there who have any success stories with these kinds of odds? If so I would love to hear them.☺️

Good luck to everyone trying! ☺️

 

[phonixgirl]

Hi hun

I did reply to your other thread but wanted to welcome you over this side.

Unfortunately I can't bring you any success stories but I have seen ladies with low AMH get a BFP so it can happen! As for the cyst... can they remove it or are they just leaving it to its own devices?

I had natural IUI and it is very easy though obviously didn't work for me. My IVF was low medication but I was on HRT as my cycles are a bit short.

Tinselcat is in a similar position to you re the men and she is currently considering whether to go down the route of donor sperm (she's just had IVF to freeze her eggs).

Good luck! Xx

 

[tinselcat]

Hi hun

If you're looking for inspiration then check out this (fairly recent) thread: http://www.pregnancyforum.co.uk/fertility-issues/485493-anyone-same-position.html

I am also 38 and single (and have sadly ended up in one too many abusive relationships), and 2 days ago finished a round of egg freezing. That's basically the same procedure as IVF but without injecting any sperm into it at the end. My AMH is about 9.3 (which the nurse described as "the low side of normal" for fertility). In my egg collection cycle they could see about 9 follicles (and 2 cysts appeared during this cycle - there weren't any the month before), they collected 6 eggs of which only 3 were mature enough to freeze.

Previously I have had 3 rounds of IVF with ICSI during which time they collected over 20 eggs and only 1 embryo was ever described as "perfect" - fortunately that cycle worked and I now have a 19 month old son.

I believe AMH is a hormone that is emitted by your follicles or similar which indicates what your ovarian reserve is (i.e. how many eggs you have left). A low number isn't great but it just means that your egg supply is running down quickly rather than not having any eggs left at all.

Can I ask, what is natural, mild IVF? And do you know how long you will have to leave it between IVF cycles?

I was expecting to leave about 3 months after egg collection before stimulating again - my plan for next time is to go with donor sperm and IVF/ICSI to create embryos. But I haven't decided whether to freeze or do a fresh cycle - the embryologist indicated that fresh gives better results. (The idea of being a single mummy to two very young children is a massive decision - one child is already very hard work, physically.)

 

[20percent]

Hi again Phoenixgirl and thank you for the welcome! 😊

No decisions have been made regarding what to do with the cyst as yet. It's a bit of a pig because it appears to be cutting off the blood supply to any of the ovary that is behind it. It is going to become a major problem if that continues but they want to leave it 2months to see if it just releases by itself or if it will need intervention. I am desperately hoping it will just naturally sort itself because I really can't afford to loose the eggs in there by losing that ovary! 😳

I've received another email from the clinic today and it looks as though I am going to be having clomid with the IUI which I am happy to go along with, but I want to speak to the doc first as I have been keeping an eye on my ovulations since I decided I was going to go down this route a while back now and I have been ovulating every month so I'm wondering if nature might know best....I imagine he will tell me to shut up and listen to him since he has spent around 15yrs of his life studying medicine and specialising in fertility whilst I have done around 6months of reading random articles on the Internet! 🙄 They must get properly sick of listening to women's intuition! 😳

Wishing u all the luck in the world too! 😊

Hi tinselcat,

Congratulations (slightly belatedly) on having ur boy! 😃

I know ur pain re men! 🙄 There must still be some decent ones out there! 😊

I was originally planning to do one cycle of IVF to freeze some eggs and then get on with the IVF with the donor sperm. That's not going to happen now and I shall be going straight into the full 3cycles of IVF with one transfer after that and just hoping there is a spare egg left over to freeze.

Natural mild IVF is the same as normal IVF but with far fewer drugs. I will still be injecting twice a day but with very much lower doses than most clinics prescribe. The theory behind it is that ur body will always naturally choose the best possible egg available for each ovulation, so rather than hyper stimulating ur ovaries and forcing them to just shove out whatever they can, u will hopefully just get one or two eggs a go but they will be of a good usable quality. I hope that makes sense!

As for how long between cycles the doc said I can just whack them out every month for 3months if I want to (which might be different if u r on the more normal doses of follicle stimulating drugs) but it will depend how sore I get after each go as to what I do. I get 6months to complete the 3egg collections and one transfer.

It sounds like u have plenty of eggs left in there so that's all good! 😊 On the upside too for you, you shouldn't need ICSI with donor sperm as long as u choose a donor who is motility 10 or higher, their swimmers r pretty keen to find the egg all by themselves in the dish it would seem 🏊🏊

I don't know which is better when it comes to fresh or frozen embryos. The clinic im using will freeze any of mine they get as a matter of course cause they only do the transfer after all the egg collecting is done. They also offer IVM so I will fork out for that once if it's required and see if it does what it says on the tin! As to when to go for it, defo a massive decision! Ull do what's right for u and I wish u so much luck with whatever u choose to do 😊

Well I think I've jabbered away more than long enough for one post!! 😳 I'm off to read ur recommended thread! 😊
Xx

 

[tinselcat]

Hi 20percent

If you check back in I'd love to hear how you get on with everything.

I'm now planning to do a fresh embryo cycle with donor sperm later this year and currently considering IUI as well.

xx

 

[maybe baby]

Hello Hun,

I can't comment on IVF but I have a lot of respect for the consultant who diagnosed and operated on the septum and adesions in my uterus that was causing my miscarriages.

I was mentioning him to another member and I found this article about women like yourselves who go down the donor route.

One of the mums and daughters goes to my daughters playgroup. I haven't seen her since seeing the article but I will certaintly have a chat to her next week.

Here's the article.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...ss-single-mothers-say-fathers-thing-past.html

Good luck with your journey.

Take a look at my thread in Am I pregnant? I've been up to a little experiment that may interest you!!

I've been researching iui this cycle and also ici you may find ici worth a try with fresh sperm as washed sperm used in iui only lives 24 hours vs 3-5 days for fresh sperm. The window with iui needs to be spot on where there is more of a chance if you don't get it spot on for ov day.

Can you not take clomid because of the cyst?

Xx

 

[20percent]

Hi ladies 😊

Sorry I haven't been back for a while, I must admit I had no idea how much of ur life gets taken over by appointments and tests when you start a process like this!

I don't have a lot to report as yet Tinselcat, I have turned out to be CMV negative (I don't know if this is a normal test for people doing babies the more traditional way so.....it's a herpes strain that 70% of the population either have sitting dormant or are carriers of) which is a right pain (never imagined I'd b hoping to come back positive for any kind of herpes!!!! &#128527 Cause it cuts my donor options down by 70%. 🙄 Good news is though that I have found a donor who fits my basic criteria and am all set to go! 😊 Just waiting for AF to put in an appearance, should b next week some time, and then I book in for my initial scan at day 7/8 and start peeing on sticks until I ovulate! This is the IUI cycle so it's only a 2% chance of success but I'm still both excited and terrified in equal measures! 😬😀😬 I'm not looking forward to that Tww!! 😬
How are you getting on?

Hi Maybe! By ur a one aren't u! 😊 Enjoyed ur thread in am I pregnant, Amazing effort for number 3....I have got literally everything crossed for u that u get ur BFP this month! 😊😊

I'm not on clomid this cycle although I have to admit I haven't pushed for the info as to why. I think they r really using this one IUI as a test cycle so they can see how my cycle runs etc as I tend to ovulate later (usually day 21).

Thanks for the link to the article! 😊 I never really know if it's just in my mind or if these articles really do slant slightly towards trying to make women choosing the donor route all either a little potty or undateable or selfish! 😏 I have to admit I have been pleasantly surprised by the reactions of the people I have told my plans to, only my close friends and immediate family, but no one has really raised an eye brow. They all just say they think I'd b a good mum and that I should go for it (this could b because they have all known my boyfriends over the years!! &#128521. It's been really nice to have that support 😊

Would be great to hear how ur friend has got along with it all if u do get a chance to speak to her 😊

Take care ladies, I'd best go attack the house! Hasn't been cleaned for two weeks due to losing my days off to baby stuff! 😊 Sending out lots of BFP vibes to everyone!! 😊

 

[phonixgirl]

I'm really excited for you! Great to hear you've found a suitable donor. Hope AF shows up soon so you can get started. I'll be keeping everything crossed! Xx

 

[20percent]

Thank U luvvie! ��

I'll try to b a bit better at updating on here! ��

Tinselcat...sorry, I meant to say earlier.....Financially I would definitely say giving one shot of IUI is worth a go if u can especially as (if I remember correctly) ur fertility is good! It's a £1600 gamble but if it pays off it will save me £10,000! �� It's not nice having to think money when it comes to something as precious as a baby, but I can't help living in the real world!

Thanks again and keep me posted when u start trying ��
Xx

 

[tinselcat]

Hi 20percent,

thanks for your update it's really helpful to know what you're doing as I feel like I'm following shortly behind in your footsteps! I didn't realise that you get tested for CMV for example (although I had seen this acronym on some of the donor websites)

I have an appointment with the clinic next week where I will hopefully find out a lot more info about the process I only just did a round of follicle stimulation so I imagine it will be a couple of months before I can get around to doing anything again.

You sound a busy lady but would love to hear how you are getting on at each stage! And good luck with everything! xxx

 

[20percent]

Eek! I hope all goes well at the clinic! So exciting! ☺️ Let me know how u get on ☺️

Yep, plenty of blood tests required.....my gp was great though and did all of them barring my blood group at the surgery. ☺️

I don't know how long u have to wait between stimulated cycles......I do know u should prepare urself for the compulsory fertility counselling session! That's an hour of ur life u won't get back! 😉

 

[20percent]

AF has arrived....first scan booked in for the 15th.....it's very hard not to get excited!!!

 

[tinselcat]

ooh! good luck 20%!!!

 

[tinselcat]

Hey there, turns out my odds are 21% for conception and 12% for live birth too, based on How many eggs they collected last time (just 3)

If it had been 6-10 then the odds rise to 40% conception and 31% live birth

The doctor recommended against iui for me and straight to normal ivf (not icsi)

She said the cmv test didn't really matter and was an outdated test from a theoretical concern from the old days

I am waiting now for the implications counseling, but they only have one Counsellor who I have to use and she is on long term sick leave, so not great to hear! I am hoping for a cancellation to get there earlier

Xx

 

[20percent]

Oh, that's frustrating for u luvvie! 😕 Fingers crossed they get another counsellor in to cover their poorly one quickly!

I'm interested in the CMV thing....they told me it was a requirement of the HFEA to only match negatives with other negatives! 🤔 I shall definitely be asking on Friday!

Sorry to hear ur numbers are a bit rubbish too! On the upside though, a healthy woman with normal fertility on has a 27% chance of pregnancy each month.....so really, our odds are not that much worse! 😊

My doc recommended straight to IVF too....this IUI is just me trying my luck! 😳

Back to the clinic for first scan to see how the antral follicles are doing on Friday for me! Fingers crossed the Vit D and Q10 have been working their magic! 😊

 

[tinselcat]

On the cmv thing, the doctor explained that there was a theoretical concern that a cmv positive donor could infect a cmv negative recipient and give her the cmv strain, but this had never been proven and also if you did get cmv, it's like a mild flu-like virus so no biggie anyway

Not sure on what the hfea rules are but I thought this was interesting anyway

Good luck for your first scan! Xxx

 

[20percent]

Yeah, it is interesting and certainly makes sense to me as I think there is only around a 1 in 300,000 chance that the CMV would have any effect on a baby (I might have plucked completely the wrong figure out of the air there, I'm a bit pooped today....but it was a very very small number)! 😊 Thanks for the information, I will defo double check. Xx

 

[20percent]

Scan results were good (I think). Feeling really positive!! 😃 Gonna b quite a crash if this doesn't work I think 😕

Two eggs growing....one each side. Both a little on the small side for day 10 at 7mm but it was expected cause I have a tendency to ovulate late (day 21). Another scan on Tuesday and a shot of HCG if I haven't ovulated by then.

Any news about the counsellor or an appointment yet for u tinselcat?

 

[snowbee]

Great news about your scan. My follicles also grew slowly on my clomid cycles (I also ovulate later on), so they did initially say it may not be working but they caught up eventually so hopefully yours will too. Good luck!

 

[phonixgirl]

That's great. I really hope it works! Xx