First appointment for IVF next month

[lau_har1]

I am a new user to this.. I am 28 years old and my partner is 30 years old. We have been going through fertility for just over a year now. I was put on Clomid last May fell pregnant in July 2016 but had a mc in September 2016. I then had two more cycles of Clomid and fell pregnant in January this year, but again had a mc in March. We had several tests and everything came back good (for both myself and my partner). We are now waiting for our first IVF consultation which is beginning of next month. Can anyone just give me a rough idea of what will be discussed in the first meeting? I've been told it will be about an hour and a half and I get shown how to inject myself. Thank you x

[emu2016]

Welcome Lau_har1! I hope your journey goes smoothly and you get a great success.

Have you had all your blood tests etc? Just wondering if you know if you'll get your drugs at this appointment... I think the most important thing to know is that every hospital runs it differently. So I didn't get any injection tips until the actual day I started injecting but I know some get it sooner.

I guess there'll be a lot of form filling and consent at this appointment! Ours was well over an hour too. We got to understand the protocol I'd be on and ask lots of questions.

Not sure that helps but you could ring the hospital and ask what to expect in advance x

[lau_har1 in reply to emu2016]

Hi emu2016, thank you for your kind wishes!! No I haven't had any blood tests as of yet.. I have lots of questions so will ask them all in our first appointment. Exciting but scary times! How long have you been ttc?

[emu2016 in reply to lau_har1]

Oooo well you might get blood tests at this appointment then!

TTC for about 8 years. But was shoved from pillar to post for about 2-3 years and then finally in 2015 was referred to fertility clinic where we discovered I had real problems with my egg quality/quantity. My first ivf cycle failed and I've just had my first positive test result following egg donor ivf. Currently waiting for my 7 week scan xx

[lau_har1 in reply to emu2016]

Oh wow HUGE congratulations for you!! Such an amazing feeling when you see that positive test for the first time 😁 I hope you don't mind me asking, but was you advised to lose weight? I was told I needed to lose weight when I first went to my fertility clinic, but then fell pregnant twice (and mc twice) within 9 months. They seem to always say losing weight will help, but can't help but think so many of my friends have fallen pregnant and had healthy babies and they're much bigger than me! X

[emu2016 in reply to lau_har1]

I'd already lost a lot of weight. In the days I was messed around I was told it was my weight that was effecting my progesterone levels. I lost 4.5 stone but it made no difference - however I feel loads better for it! And I do know that bmi needs to be a certain number for ivf xx

[lau_har1 in reply to emu2016]

Well done for losing that much!! I was about 13st 7lbs when I first fell pregnant and probably only a couple of lbs less the second time. I had to get down to 12st 6lbs to be able to get on the ivf list, which I did. Still for myself I would like to lose about another 2 stone. X

[emu2016 in reply to lau_har1]

12 stone 6? Wow! How tall are you? x

[lau_har1 in reply to emu2016]

I'm 5ft 4 and they told me to get my BMI to just below 30, so I needed to be 12st 6lbs then obviously anything below that is a bonus.. how much do you weigh if you don't mind me asking? X

[emu2016 in reply to lau_har1]

I was 12st 11lbs - 13st for my ivf. But I'm 5ft 7ins so my BMI will be slightly different to yours at 30 xx

[E_05]

Welcome to this amazing group! So sorry for your losses, know each clinic is different but at my first appointment it was lots of form filling with my consultant and asking questions. I then had an appointment with my IVF nurse who went through the protocol, ordered my drugs and showed me how to inject. Both appointments were about an hour long x

[lau_har1 in reply to E_05]

I assume then that our first appointment will be all the form side and questions x

[E_05 in reply to lau_har1]

Yeah for me it felt quite daunting when I first went through it but as the appointment went on it became clearer. Have you had your blood tests and everything? X

[lau_har1 in reply to E_05]

No not yet so am assuming that may be in the first appointment.. do you know if partners need to take medication or do they only produce a 'sample'? X

[E_05 in reply to lau_har1]

My husband only had to give his sample of the day on egg collection but did start taking wellman supplements when we knew we were starting IVF. Has your partner already had his sperm tested? X

[lau_har1 in reply to E_05]

We're already taking the pregnacare his & her tablets, so hopefully that's ok. He had to have his sperm tested a few months ago for our fertility clinic and it came back above average (which obviously made him happy!), but I imagine they will want him to do a more recent one possibly x

[E_05 in reply to lau_har1]

Yeah that sounds fine, if it's quite recently he might not have to but they'll be able to explain everything when you see them. My husband had to have some blood tests to but other than that they don't have to do much in terms of medication. Partners do have to be at the long appointments though well at my clinic they do x

[Aleelilook]

Hi lau_har1, so sorry to hear about your miscarriages, it is such a heartbreaking thing to go through. Like someone said earlier all clinics are different, at my first appointment at my clinic the consultant spoke about the fact we had unexplained fertility problems (great!) and that we would do the short protocol, and could start on my next cycle, which was two weeks after that appointment!! So we were shown the injections etc. And that was that! So it can be really quick so be prepared! Good luck!! Xxx

[Hidden]

I'm not sure you'll be taught to inject on your first appointment. My first appointment was going through my blood tests, fsh, amh and progesterone and sperm tests. My second was the long one of an hour and a half like you which was talking through the whole procedure, going through all the consent forms - there are loads! We then had to go and both have hiv, hep a and b blood tests. Once these came back I had another appointment where provisional dates were booked for scans and I picked up all my drugs. I will be shown how to inject on my first baseline scan in two and a half weeks. Obviously every clinic/ hospital is different and I don't know what tests you already have done already. There was only a week between each appointment so it sounds like lots of appointments but it moved quickly x

[lau_har1 in reply to Hidden]

Ok sounds great. I take it partners attend every appointment as well? X

[Hidden in reply to lau_har1]

Check with your clinic but my partner had to attend the first one for the consent forms and blood tests and then only has to attend egg collection now. He doesn't need to go to all the scans. He is coming with me for the first one to learn how to inject as a back up. He doesn't even have to attend when the embryos are put back as there's no sedation involved but obviously he wouldn't miss that for the world as I'm sure no partner would x

[lau_har1 in reply to Hidden]

Gosh the things us women go through and all men have to do is produce a sperm sample lol. I was feeling very anxious and a bit emotional about the whole ivf situation, but after joining this forum it makes me feel a lot more at ease and makes me realise just how many women struggle to conceive and I'm not the only one.. always seems that people I know fall pregnant just by looking at each other! X

[Hidden in reply to lau_har1]

I think it's perfectly natural to feel anxious and emotional. I go from very excited to nervous and worried. I've had a bit of a down day today for no reason. There a lot of people going through the same but we're all different too. I try to focus on the positive posts on here. There are some real success stories against the odds x

[lau_har1 in reply to Hidden]

It's such a rollercoaster of emotions. I just keep remembering what my mum told me when I had my miscarriages 'when it happens, everything about your journey and holding your baby for the first time will be even more special and amazing'. Everyone I suppose faces difficult times in their lives, but hopefully for us all it'll be worth it in the end. X

[Hidden in reply to lau_har1]

What a lovely thing for your mum to say. So sorry for your miscarriages. I had one at ten weeks. It's really hard isn't it. Grieving over the loss of what should have been xx