ICSI - advice needed please

[nicole652]

This is my first time posting on here and I would really appreciate advice from those with experience of icsi.

My OH is older than me and had a vasectomy over 12 years ago. Given his age, and the reduced likelihood of a successful reversal we plan to go down the icsi route.

I’m 29 with no know fertility or health issues so we are hopeful that icsi will be successful.

I’m keen to hear your experiences and what you would have wished others had told you before you started the process e.g. the steps in the process, any vitamins etc to take beforehand, how to handle the injections etc.

I also know that cost varies but if you paid privately how much did each round cost inclusive of all treatment and sperm retrieval. We will be paying privately as we will not qualify for nhs treatment which is fine by us, we just want to know how much to put into our baby fund (I’d like to have enough for more than one round just in case!)

Anything you guys can share or advise will be really appreciated! Only my OH and I know about our plans as we cannot deal with the constant questions and additional pressure from everyone else, albeit well intentioned. So, you guys are all I have at this stage!

[Rach1234566]

Hi me and my husband had icsi due to low sperm count and I have a blocked tube. Cost wise I can’t really help as we had a free nhs round. Advise wise on vitamins just take a conception vitamin with folic acid. I also took coq10 and my husband took wellman male supplements, 1000mg of vitamin C and ate well.

He also stopped drinking a few months before, but because our round was just after Xmas we allowed a night of drinking over Xmas because we also wanted to enjoy ourselves!. Didn’t make a difference as our first round worked. Don’t put too much pressure on yourselves. I was lucky in that my round went quite smoothly and I had 13 eggs collected which was more than expected for me, i was left with one top grade embryo and I am currently 15 weeks pregnant from that transfer. I am also 29, try to relax and I am an excessive worried and was really nervous about ivf but to be honest it wasn’t as bad at all as I expected. It was emotionally harder waiting to hear how many embryos we had left and the two week wait. Also have a back up plan, say to yourselves if this round doesn’t work we can go again. We actually saved money for that reason. So we could have another round. It does work first go though! Not always but I’m proof it does, I didn’t ever expect it to. Good luck and relax as much as you can X and one more thing don’t forget yourselves as a couple ivf can be hard on a marriage so set aside time for the two of you together without talking about babies or treatment! X

[Rach1234566 in reply to Rach1234566]

Oh and the injections are the easy part! Was for me anyway honestly don’t fear them x

[F_J_762301]

Hi nicole, me and my partner had icsi as part of our 2nd round, due to 1st IVF resulting in no fertilisation. We took wellman/wellwoman supplements, folic acid for me, selenium for him, ate well and stopped drinking for around 6-8 weeks before , except same as previous poster we had 1 night out around a month before (before i started injections or anything) as its important to relax and not think about it all the time as it can be mentally exhausting!

Again, as rach said above i found the injections fine, and not too painful or anything. Go easy on yourself , take some time off work etc if you need to. Try not to put too much pressure on yourself, i felt very bloated on my 2nd round towards the end of injections as i had to have an extra few days worth of meds to mature the follicles ready for egg collection, so i was glad to finish work a few days early to try and relax a little, it can be quite an emotional time! I found meditation helped me relax and get to sleep when my mind was running away with itself.

Also, try not to hold yourself to a timeline of expectations, for example i had to have a 'freeze all' cycle with no fresh embryo transfer due to collecting 21 eggs i was at risk of OHSS. I was a bit gutted at the time but it was the right thing for my health and the health of any future possible pregnancy. I ended up waiting 4 months for my cycles to get back to normal and everything to settle down to have a FET. Dont want to be doom and gloom but just be prepared things dont always go exactly to plan! Wishing you lots of luck with everything xx

[Faith-Hope]

Great news about considering ICSI. As it’s our first child and first round of IVF ICSI, I too had all the concerns and questions you mentioned before our FET. We went privately at a top Harley St clinic and it was around 9k.

Before your transfer:

As I’m sure you’re already doing, ensure you are now on a pregnancy supplement like pregnacare or Seven Seas pregnancy plus which ensures you get folic acid and all you need. I use seven seas as told by friends that it doesn’t give morning sickness, whereas pregnacare does apparently, so I’m sticking to seven seas!

Eat lots of fruit & veg - spinach, carrots etc, salmon, fish, eggs cooked right through ( no shark, sushi or raw adventurous fish) chicken, some beef if a meat eater, lentils, wholemeal seeded bread, fruits, oats porridge, homemade healthy soups to prepare your uterus for your ET and implantation. Importantly to ensure oxygen and blood constantly flows through and flushes your body and your uterus, drink the recommended 2-3 litres of water a day to keep things healthy. I saw a huge difference when I did this and will ensure that throughout my pregnancy too.

On the day your doctor may advise you have a full bladder which is best so they can have a clear view of your uterus. I will say my FET procedure went so smoothly and fast that I kept asking ‘ have you done everything’, are you sure.

The two week wait was awful, wish I could say different as I kept worrying about what I was eating, every small twinge, no pregnancy symptoms on most days, and google researching does not help if you overdo it! I had to stop as was stressing out.

If I can advise - just eat completely healthily, no excessive over seasoning of foods, cut out tumeric and cumin completely as can be harmful in large quantities, drink LOTS of water,no tea coffee, delicious smoothies, I had a slice of lemon or fresh ginger in hot water, rest a lot BUT also gently exercise for at least 30 mins a day to get your blood moving and oxygen flowing through, I felt the difference when I did and then Let God do His perfect work!

On the day, remember to film it, or take a photo of the ET process, it is quite amazing. If they don’t allow to video, they will give you a photo scan too.

After the ET, I ate the same as above, I did read that have one slice of pineapple core a day helps with implantation during the two week wait. So I did this but can’t say whether that’s what made it work for me. However, we are so ecstatic to get our BFP 12 days after and after our 5 week scan, it’s confirmed that I was already 6 weeks pregnant which was a shock! Still a long way to go for you though with the 7 week and 12 week scans to come to rule things out.

I’m now 6 months pregnant and it really has flown like a breeze. It’s been a perfect pregnancy, no issues whatsoever, no morning sickness, pain, bleeding etc, just a little pain on my rib cage where the bump is growing and putting a strain on, but it’s manageable. Also, bloating and fatigue in the first 12 weeks was awful and the worst part only.

I would advise anyone to go straight to the NHS website instead as it’s brilliant, professional step by step pregnancy advice. These our just my pointers, do hope it’s helped and I’m hoping yours will be a wonderful success too. 🙏🏽

[Hidden]

Hi how exited you going to start treatment! I think much is said by the ladies here but wanted to add that i also didnt mind the injections.

I think emotionally the first few were a bit tough as im a emotional person anyway deep down. But i was also very very exited to be able to do my treatment after 3 years of ttc. No results for me yet but soo looking forward to start again. If i can do it you can do it too x

[nicole652]

Thank you to you all for replying!

It’s nice to get some real life experiences of what to expect when the time comes.

We’re looking at starting the process early next year given the current lockdown and us both being keyworkers working lots of overtime to add to our baby fund.

I’m sure when the time comes, that I’ll be much more active on this forum for support and advice.

Having children isn’t the be all and end all for us as my partner has two girls of his own who I am really close with but in a perfect world we do want a child of our own. I’m also hopeful that my age and health will work in our favour.

I wish you all the best of luck with conceiving and/or with your pregnancies and thank you again for being so lovely!

[LunaLovegood11 in reply to nicole652]

Just before starting I found the BFN (big fat negative) podcast which was a massive help for info and facts.

I took folic acid in the form of ‘trying to conceive’ vitamins and got some CoQ10 (only cheap ones from amazon). My partner took Proxeed sachets to build up sperm quality.

I still had a drink and enjoyed myself up until starting the jabs. They’re not so bad, very tiny really. I was terrified of needles but after a few I felt like an expert and it cured me of my fear!

The process isn’t too bad, it’s tougher mentally than physically I found as it takes over a bit.

Hmm costings... We went through a company called Access Fertility (got a leaflet from our clinic). They do a refund deal so if it doesn’t work you can get different refunds. I felt committing to 3 rounds was expensive but also took the financial pressure off if it didn’t work first go. It’s worth checking out their website, they’ll let you know what options are available to you once they have your results from the clinic.

Keep talking to each other through it and remember to have fun together too through it all x