IVF/ICSI Support Group

Hi ladies,

Just wanted to share my 1st IVF journey with Dr Stephen Chew from NUH. Went for my first beta today and it was a BFP at 508 (12dp5dt). My next appointment with him will be my 6th week scan and hopefully I can hear a healthy heartbeat. Spreading baby dust to all ladies who are trying and I urge you not to give up!!!! Stay positive. :):):)

A little background: I'm 33 and DH is 36. Both of us started trying since 2008 and have gone through countless tests with no issues. I do however have a 3cm cyst in my ovary. I had a failed IUI back in 2009. In 2011, I approached Dr Chew to enquire about IVF but figured I wasn't quite ready to take the disappointment if it fails so we held off again. In 2012, I went for a laproscopy with Dr Chan Kong Hon from Gleneagles to remove my cyst. We tried again to conceive naturally after that but still nothing. That was when I decided to revisit Dr Chew.

Embbies: 14 eggs were retrieved, 7 matured, 7 fertilised. By day 3, doc froze 3 "good" embryos. The remaining 4 were cultured further to blastocysts. On day 5 of ET, 2 were below average, 2 were satisfactory. Doc transferred 1 satisfactory into me on ET.

During the course of jabs, I was on a gluten free, dairy free diet. That means no white rice, no potatoes, no milk, yoghurt, cheese, etc. I am able to have brown rice, wholemeal bread with low GI, lots of vegetables and both red and white meat for protein, baby oat. Fruit wise, I had raspberries, blueberries, strawberries which I have been eating all along anyways. I also snack occasionally with corn chips dipped in avocado.

Since the IVF journey started, I have also been feeling bloated everyday and I feel so gassy. I belch and fart like a man....:eek:


congrats bindimum! do u bed rest during ur 2ww? any special food u ate? wats ur lining when u last scan b4 et?
 


@babydusty no I didn't. I try to walk as much as I could to get rid of the gas and drink plenty of water. No special food too except for the above gluten free, dairy free diet. No tcm, no acc too as I don't really believe in those. My dad has always been talking tcm and now that he's old, he has this condition whereby his blood is thick and his liver enzymes are too high which caused his kidneys and liver to overwork. Doc says its due to chinese medicine.

My lining since the first scan was 6, 8, 10, 11. The nurse asked if I ate avocado and I said yes. Not sure if its a coincidence to the thick lining but avocados are superfood anyways! :)
 
I should add that I started with 300iu of Gonal F but my eggs were not reacting and they were all still very small by day 5 scan so doc changed to menopur max dosage of 450iu and saizen (growth hormones) every other day. By the next scan, they were finally around 10mm or so. 3 days before et, doc reduced the dosage to 300 and 225 and 225. During et, eggs were all around 20ish
 
Faithfullyyours, hope everything is ok. I have a weird theory. Maybe both eggies implanted but 1 could be chemical pregnancy so the body is weeding off the weaker one. Your hcg is quite high so maybe there is 1 more still hanging in there. I dunno if there is actually such thing.

Don't let your thoughts go crazy. Continue to pray. I will continue to pray for u too. Hope kkh can help you something quick quick. If not, run back to the private gynae for help.
 
Hope 2014, I did short cycle last year and long cycle 1 month ago. No mood swings. But bloating started earlier for long cycle and was more intense. Bloat until skin very taut and painful when breathing. But I have history of getting mild ohss and bad bloating.
 
faithfullyours hope your hcg is still rising despite bleeding. hope its like what circle mention, 1 is implanted the other trying to clear itself. but did you have any injections before blood test to show rising hcg? heard that if you get support injections esp pregnyl your BT will be affected. the high hcg is due to pregnyl jab thats why if you want to monitor through hcg the support jabs might cause a false reading.
 
Thanks circle circle.. I am trying to get my expectation right as my cycle will start next month. I have been thinking whether to eliminate my coffee intake.. I have reduced from 3 cups to 1 cup a day.. and taking in more protein now...
 
Hi hope2014, I did start immunocal earlier this time. It is a whey protein supplement. One packet equals to 1.5 egg white. But I really couldn't bring myself to eat any more egg white.

I am not coffee or tea drinker. But I love coke. Did stop drinking esp when protocol started. Before that, it was 1-2 cans per week.
 
circlecircle thanks for the cooling list. Where do you get the tummy warmer at Daiso. I mean do the packet indicate its tummy warmer?Where do you buy the whey protein supplement?

If you are not a coffee drinker, then what you drink every morning. Sorry for all the long questions. I drink coffee once a day every morning. Does that mean i have to cut that down also?
 
@babydusty no I didn't. I try to walk as much as I could to get rid of the gas and drink plenty of water. No special food too except for the above gluten free, dairy free diet. No tcm, no acc too as I don't really believe in those. My dad has always been talking tcm and now that he's old, he has this condition whereby his blood is thick and his liver enzymes are too high which caused his kidneys and liver to overwork. Doc says its due to chinese medicine.

My lining since the first scan was 6, 8, 10, 11. The nurse asked if I ate avocado and I said yes. Not sure if its a coincidence to the thick lining but avocados are superfood anyways! :)

great advice for the avocado! read that online but not many practice tht.
 
circlecircle thanks for the cooling list. Where do you get the tummy warmer at Daiso. I mean do the packet indicate its tummy warmer?Where do you buy the whey protein supplement?

If you are not a coffee drinker, then what you drink every morning. Sorry for all the long questions. I drink coffee once a day every morning. Does that mean i have to cut that down also?
Petite lady, you can go to the travel section at daiso to get it. It usually says belly warmer.

I got the whey supplement at OG. Think it is $106 for 30 packets. The taste not that fantastic but better than egg whites. I dunno why, since started ivf, I think hard boiled eggs smell weird. Hahaha.

Hmmmm, me just not coffee or tea drinker. Used to drink teh-o but managed to kick that habit about 5 years back. Didn't like being reliant on a drink then can feel alert. Seems psychological. I just start the day by drinking water.

I think preggie lady can drink coffee but not too much. Cos it is so hard to bfp, some may err on the side of caution and totally give up coffee all together. I have preggie colleagues who drink decaffeinated coffee just to get the kick.
 
@Hope42014 i was on long protocol, actually no mood swings for me. i guess the emotional and feelings doesnt come from the jabs. more on own stress. with all the daily jabs and worries on whether after all this will i get a bfp thats causing our mood change. and plus if the hubbs doesnt seems to ask or care or see it during those days when you jab every morning you might even feel more lonely like why isit you going through all this alone when having a bb is a couple thing. hopefully with long protocol you are able to yield more eggs during retrieval.
 
There is this new ivf drug known as Elonva that you jab once again and the effect lasts for 5 days (instead of jabbing Gonal F daily) and if required there will be a top up of puregon injections after 5 days. It is a more aggressive protocol which allows more quality eggs to grow.
I used it in my last protocol as my AMH is not ideal. For those using a Dr in pte practice you might want to check if thus protocol is suitable. Takes away some stress of many daily jabs and scans in the 1st week.
 
There is this new ivf drug known as Elonva that you jab once again and the effect lasts for 5 days (instead of jabbing Gonal F daily) and if required there will be a top up of puregon injections after 5 days. It is a more aggressive protocol which allows more quality eggs to grow.
I used it in my last protocol as my AMH is not ideal. For those using a Dr in pte practice you might want to check if thus protocol is suitable. Takes away some stress of many daily jabs and scans in the 1st week.
@joie thanks for this message i was trying to go through your posts but sooo many ;) can you please briefly tell me
your age - your conditions (amh levels) how many trials before success and which protocole/doctors? and how many eggs/embryos/transfer d3 ord5?

thanks a lot!!!!
 
@Hope42014 I was on long protocol. No mood wing but major bloating. Gotta keep drinking water to pee it out

I stopped drinking coffee and all caffeine drinks since my journey started. I will squeeze half a lemon with hot water and drink it first thing in the morning before having bf. Occasionally I will drink milo but its like once every 2-3 weeks.

@babydusty yea! I've always loved avocados anyways so eating them was not a problem for me. For breakfast, I will mix it into my baby oats together with other fruit. For snack, I used it as a dip. Yummy!

@circlecircle you don't have to keep eating egg whites. You can also find protein in meat. That will give you alot more variety. :)

@gigi31 hello!! Whats amh? Doc gave me saizen because the quantity of eggs were there but the sizes were too small. On day 5 scan, i had about 10 eggs but the follicles only measured 6 to 7mm so doc needs to make them grow turbo speed! Perhaps my body needs time to be awaken because after that, he adjusted the dosage down. He said my body reacts 3 days late. Hah
 
tu5usaru.jpg

It looks like this with various pastel colours.
 
hi all,
i had 3 rounds of SO-IUI last year but all BFN. So im scheduled to start my IVF this weekend. i 'm so nervous now. doc told me to stop all chinese herb including bak kut teh since last month. I drink chicken essence once a week and take supplement Blackmores Conceivewell Gold everyday. what else should i do to prepare myself for the IVF? I cant sleep well due to the stress :(
 
Jocelyn, don't stress. Eat more protein, eggs. Think of ivf as higher chance, since there is definitely embryos placed in your womb. Takes out a lot of the uncertainty. They just need to stick to u.

Don't be stressed else eggs may not grow well. Just go about your normal days. Do what u want eg meet friends, shopping etc before u rest during 2ww.
 
@bindimum congrates! Take care and eat well.
Update : Today went for my 1st scan. To my surprise is a twin pregnancy. Babies are growing well and I can see their heartbeats. Will see Dr S 3 weeks later. I pray for all the sisters here to persevere on. Be positive and jia you. Everyone in the 2ww will have BFP.
Hope to hear more good news in the coming weeks and months. God bless.
 
@jocelynlimse, you are not alone. Im starting my ivf end of this month and im worried till my gastric comes again.

I dont have the courage to go thru again cos im worried about all the side effects but then i have no choice. I have to try again.
 
@denmeg such a nice news. congrats on seeing your twins on u/s tdy. at which week today were you at when you can see the heartbeat? so you saw one gestational sac inside 2 bb or two separate gestational sac? understand that if its 1 sac two bb thats identical twins, ivf chances of non identical is there as usually patients transfer 2 embryos.
 
Circles, i reseached and found out decaf coffee also has caffeine, but very little. So i totally avoided it that time.. already so hard to BFP so i was very cautious.

congrats denmeg!
 
@bindimum congrates! Take care and eat well.
Update : Today went for my 1st scan. To my surprise is a twin pregnancy. Babies are growing well and I can see their heartbeats. Will see Dr S 3 weeks later. I pray for all the sisters here to persevere on. Be positive and jia you. Everyone in the 2ww will have BFP.
Hope to hear more good news in the coming weeks and months. God bless.
Wah twims.. What was your hcg level when you did your bt?
 
Iwantahealthybaby,
Whoa... why ask question like that..hehe
As long as the baby /ies are healthy with a good heartbeat, that is more than enough to be happy about.

Your turn is coming soon. Maybe you could expect twins too :)
 
@miracle_baby, of course of course be it identical or non identical they are still our bb. As long healthy everything is ok. I ask cause I curious what is the chances of split embryos for ivf patients. And just thinking whether the number of sac affect the hcg level. No worries doesn't mean anything. Still happy it's a good news for denmeg. I am still very worried about my hcg level back then. Can only wait till scan. Hope can have a positive results. Doesn't ask for much. Singleton or twins I just want a healthy pregnancy :)

Rest well denmeg
 
@bindimum congrates! Take care and eat well.
Update : Today went for my 1st scan. To my surprise is a twin pregnancy. Babies are growing well and I can see their heartbeats. Will see Dr S 3 weeks later. I pray for all the sisters here to persevere on. Be positive and jia you. Everyone in the 2ww will have BFP.
Hope to hear more good news in the coming weeks and months. God bless.
Congratulations! How many week pregnant?
 
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Hugs.... U experience same like me. Totally same, beta went up but nothing seen. Suspect ectopic but no pain and scan also doesnt seem suspicious. After two weeks, den see sac. Suspect of another embryo did implant but very slow so doctor said dont hope too much. So each week i come scan and never want to select the option to end it. So i just wait and scan each week. But sadly, one day i had the worst cramp and the sac did come out on its own. Went to A&E, scan nothing found. Den i move on....

@babydusty, I had bloody discharges and lumps as big as my fist coming out the whole of Sunday and lasts till Monday evening. It was alot. Had to sit at the toilet bowl as lumps after lumps kept coming out. My tummy just shrunk! Went to kph o&g, scan and took beta hcg and left. No pain. Part of me is glad as i need not terminate it or go for surgery. As i already have appt on Tues (today) for another scan and beta, i went looking for closure.

Nothing seen again, as expected. But beta for Sun doubled and another beta today shows its doubling too. Abt 18k. I stopped all support for more than a week now. Doc gave me the option to terminate it via med. Hubby wants me to wait.

I am at loss here.
 
martinieliz, hv you even consider going to pte gynea for second opinion?
By right should be able to see sac w fetal pole by 6weeks. Heartbeats can be seen as early as 5weeks. I saw mine at 5w5d. Some can see hb at 7-8wks.

@bbjourney, I trust Dr Lau. But i still feel bubbles in my tummy. Hubby wants to go for 2nd opinion. I don't.
 
@bindimum congrates! Take care and eat well.
Update : Today went for my 1st scan. To my surprise is a twin pregnancy. Babies are growing well and I can see their heartbeats. Will see Dr S 3 weeks later. I pray for all the sisters here to persevere on. Be positive and jia you. Everyone in the 2ww will have BFP.
Hope to hear more good news in the coming weeks and months. God bless.

Congrats!! Twins!!!!!!!! :p
 
@ faithfullyyours, hope all is ok with you. Will continue to pray for you. Keep your spirits up and don't let this get you down. Jia you jia you!
 


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