How I got my BFP

[Cook7786]

Hi ladies, and gents.

I thought I would just write a little post about what I felt helped me get to my BFP. I am currently 17 weeks +4 carrying a little fella. I know how incredibly lucky I am, and I just want people to believe/know that IVF can work.

The whole IVF journey, from first consultation to our first egg collection took a lot longer than usual - 10 months. In that first month I really cut down on Caffeine and my sugar intake, began eating salmon a few times a week, lots of veg daily and made sure I was eating breakfast (weetabix and a banana).

Three months prior to egg collection, I joined the gym and went 3/4 times a week doing cardio on the cycling machine, runner and step machine, swimming and relaxing in the steam room. I quit the gym as soon as I had egg retrieval I didn't lose much weight but i got so so much fitter.

Vitamins wise, I took Ubiqionol (cant spell it still!) 100mg for three months and pregnacare pre conception for about 8 months.

I didn't quit drinking - but I only drank on special occasions, there were a fair amount of those in the summer; I thought it was important to also ensure I was enjoying myself and not be too strict on myself. I did, however not drink a drop, including caffeine at this point, from injections on wards. Not missing it yet

I slept on my left side after transfer as I heard this helps with implantation.

I carried on with work as normal throughout scans, took 2 days off for egg retrieval and just the one day off for transfer. Mentally, for me, I had to keep myself busy but there were times that I thought I should be slowing down. Catch 22.

Another thing I was quite particular about was doing my injections at exactly the same time everyday, give or take 10/15 mins sometimes.

I think that's about it.

Anyone else have any tips they did that they think helped towards their BFP? I found reading other peoples tips really useful at the time.

Just always remember - high hopes, low expectations.

Good Luck to everyone on here, it's bloody tough!

C x

[ttcemmie]

Thanks for this positivity and advice, lovely! What is this "Ubiqionol" I keep hearing about? I'm not pregnant, but I also agree that eating healthier has been super important - for my mind as well as my body. Breakfast has become necessary! I would rather be 5 mins late for work and have breakfast. Hope to join you on the pregnancy journey soon. xx

[Hartley1 in reply to ttcemmie]

CoQ10 in its active form....ubiquinol...also helps prevent miscarriages...(and improves egg quality as purple mentioned but also beneficial for sperm quality)...btw congrats Cook....not long to go...lovely post...

[ttcemmie in reply to Hartley1]

Thanks.

[Purplewitch18 in reply to ttcemmie]

It increases egg quality, its not cheap but it really is worth taking x

[Birdboy1 in reply to Hartley1]

Hi, could I ask where you got yours from and also what is the required dose? Thank so much xx

[Hartley1 in reply to Birdboy1]

Hello sure...initially pharma nord but then switched to health thru nutrition 100mg capsules....x120 caps...on Amazon...I took this as did a friend...both got pregnant...it's good and reasonably priced...I took 200mg twice a day and hubby took 200mg once daily.

[Birdboy1 in reply to Hartley1]

Thank you so much. Did you then get pregnant naturally? We have a baby through icsi and we conceived naturally last month but I miscarried so wanted to give anything a try as you never know ! Thanks again xx

[Hartley1 in reply to Birdboy1]

Im soo sorry for your loss...thats so difficult...

That's the best way have your time out and when ready try again...I had close to two yrs off before this 4th round...nope we had IMSI as male infertility factor, it looks at sperm in greater detail compared to ICSI. Plus i had high nk cells. This time I took time off work for 2 to 3 months, and used that time to de stress n focus on me.... I took vits a c e selenium zinc, 5000iu vit d, ubiquinol 200mg am and pm, pregnacare all recommendations from it starts with the egg by Rebecca Fett, there were more supplements recommended but I stuck to these...dhea, myo-inositol and plenty more...look into it...Any way also did acupuncture weekly, joined the gym for yoga three times a week, hired a weekly pt, my skin was awful so i also had 12 weekly facials to treat myself...drank a lot more water to be ready for transfer...close to 2 to 3 litres a day...took a while to get there but there's a drink water reminder app that really helped me. Also due to my nk cells I had to have intralipids infusion after egg collection. Hubby was referred to Jonathan Ramsay a urologist who recommended he lost weight and hubby did this...he lost 2.5 stone through lipotrim...this improved his quality massively. He was found to have a varicocele... but luckily no further treatment needed...future plan was to go directly into testicles for sperm as best quality there...Hubby also took 200mg ubiquinol in the morning and 1 male pregnacare. Hope this all helps...

I wish you loads of luck...if there's anything else I can do to help pls let me know xxx

[Birdboy1 in reply to Hartley1]

Thank you so much, that’s all so helpful. I did take dhea on our second go and that proved successful. Thanks again I really appreciate your help xxxx

[Hartley1 in reply to Birdboy1]

Anytime...xx Good luck

[Michael30]

What a lovely message to read with so much helpful advice and positivity! Thank you so much, I really enjoyed reading it xxx

[Littlepeax]

Really good points! Thanks so much for the info ♥️💫 and huge congratulations to you!! X

[Hidden]

Thank you so much my lovely xxx really lifts the spirits ❤️😘❤️😘 so happy for you xxx

[Liana1989]

From my experience I think the best advice I could give anyone going through IVF is try not to obsess(even though it’s better said than done 😂) about everything you put in to your body..... I went through IVF in 2018, got 27 eggs, first transfer was successful and I now have a nearly 9 month old baby boy- I controlled most things that I ate, worried about chemicals, caffeine, alcohol, make up, even the air that I breathed!🤨🤨after transfer I didn’t move for a few days too.... Obviously I was really grateful that it worked first time and thought it probably worked due to all the juices, nuts, green stuff I ate etc as I had no faith in my body. Anyways 2 months after having my son I start back at the gym, start taking preworkout(loads of caffeine) my sleep is obviously rubbish from having a 2 month old- so coffee is keeping me function, diet isn’t great, I’m not taking any vitamins and I miss my period, pregnancy test comes out positive, and now I’m 21 weeks pregnant with another boy(bare in mind we had had a missed misscarriage, ectopic tried for nearly 3 years, having sex daily or even more, husband has a really high sperm count, with no positive tests) So I truly believe looking back that if the embryo is good enough it will implant, don’t drive yourselves crazy your doctors will advise you if you need to do anything in particular to make your cycle successful. Your body can do it!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[Hartley1]

Thanks for your tips...i didnt know about sleeping on your left being better...thanks for sharing...xx

[Leesara]

Congratulations on your news

[Keepingfaith85]

I got my first ever BFP today 😁 other than cutting out caffeine and alcohol obviously I didn't change anything diet wise, just ate healthy(ish). This was my third transfer and I didn't bother with the pineapple this time 😂 I listened to the ivf mindfulness app for the first time so obviously would recommend that and anything else that makes you feel relaxed and happy. Oh and don't worry if you get period type pains during 2ww... I had them and went on to get BFP xxx

[Tiddly1984]

Congratulations and lovely if you to think of others...x

[Purplewitch18]

Congratulations on your little one xx

[AshScot03]

Such a lovely, positive post to read, and I noticed your due date is the end of this month- good luck 👶 🍼!! X

[Ivfgotadream]

I’m currently 6 weeks pregnant from either 1 or 2 blastocysts transferred from a natural modified IVF cycle in January - I drank and ate rubbish and did all the “wrong” things leading up to egg collection.

I can honestly say for me the only thing which made a difference to egg/blastocyst quality was changing my protocol to natural modified - supplements, healthy lifestyle, exercise, losing weight, no stress living made ZERO difference to me!

[TexasRose210]

I pretty much did the Same exact thing. I did acupuncture, yoga and meditation. I stopped drinking completely. I was very nervous and felt stressed during the TWW. However I did get a BFP my first round of FET. Tomorrow I go for my first scan. I agree with staying consistent for the best results. I just wanted to feel like if my transfer didn't work then I knew in my heart I gave 110% and did everything recommended. The only thing I would change is feeling stressed during my TWW. Congratulations. I hoping for a strong heartbeat tomorrow

[franathy]

Completely agree with Ivfgotadream my first transfer I tried so hard and put so much pressure on myself to do everything perfectly, and got a BFN. Second transfer - feeling really pessimistic so pretty much did whatever I wanted to make myself feel better, ate whatever I wanted - junk food, the lot: got a BFP and now 34 weeks pregnant. I think it's very easy to attribute successful IVF to something that YOU did right (and conversely to blame yourself when it doesn't work) but I honestly believe it's mostly down to luck - you get lucky with a nice healthy embryo and it will implant and develop no matter what. If it doesn't then it really isn't your fault so don't feel like you haven't done everything 'right' or beat yourself up about it. X