Starting again, any advice?

[Carrotts9]

Hi ladies,

After a miscarriage from FET we are thinking of getting the ball rolling again for a new cycle, we have no Frosties left now. In our first round we stupidly thought that it was a given we would be successful and didn’t really do anything different with our lifestyle.

Does anyone have any advice for starting again? improving egg quality is top of my priority! Any supplement brands that you would recommend? I had 21 eggs last round but only two made it, I desperately want more to give us the best chance. Looking to start again April time so we can get healthier and have 12 weeks of supplements etc in.

Hubbies sperm count is low, after a vasectomy years ago so also want to improve that.

I tried acupuncture on my last round but stopped after a few sessions as it brought on a bit of anxiety, if I can overcome that I would like to start again too.

Any other recommendations for me?

Thank you Xxx

[XOXO13]

Hey, so sorry to read of your miscarriage 💔 - I had one earlier this year followed by a failed IVF cycle and know how tough it is. Sending you big hugs.

My husband has poor sperm morphology and for that he takes proxeed alongside a daily vitamin called FertilitySmart. I also took FertilitySmart vitamins twice daily for a couple of months before our first IVF cycle.

In addition to the above, we both tried reflexology weekly for twelve weeks. I’m about to start acupuncture as well (next Thursday)...

FertilitySmart had good reviews and is to improve egg quality and sperm count, motility and morphology (it claims). We read It Starts With The Egg for further guidance.

We don’t drink (or if my husband does it’s one or two glasses once in a blue moon), we eat a healthy diet consisting of lots of dark leafy greens, fish and healthy fats. I introduced ginger and grapefruit into our diet daily, mainly for digestion as I get an irritable tummy sometimes.

My husband cut back on his heavy intense daily exercise routine as that’s not great when you have poor morphology - need to keep cool vs overheating! And I did the same, we focused more on body strength and relaxing the mind through pilates and yoga (though can’t say I’m great with the yoga).

I can’t say if any of the above worked in any way other than they made us feel like we were taking back some control that we otherwise felt/feel we have lost in this TTC rollercoaster of a journey.

I did get good grade embryos (7 eggs, 7 fertilised and 6 made it to blastocysts) but my doctor said that’s likely down to my age (recently 30) and whilst I didn’t have success first time, I hope that I have success soon (my FET is in January) 🤞🏻

In reality, I think I do far too much which in itself can be added unnecessary stress (like being afraid to have too many baths, have a drink, eat too much naughty food etc). This time I’ve stopped FertilitySmart and just prescribed thyroxine and Pregnacare supplement (as it has most of what you need in there I believe).

I think so long as you have a balance diet and stay relaxed as much as possible, you can’t go wrong.

Wishing you loads of luck and baby dust 🤞🏻✨ xx

[Carrotts9 in reply to XOXO13]

Thank you for your reply, sorry I haven’t replied sooner, I haven’t received any notifications. I’m really sorry to hear of your miscarriage earlier this year, it’s awful 😞 💔

Thanks for your advise, I have just ordered it starts with the egg.

Definitely going to have a look into reflexology near us, and I want to start acupuncture again.

Wishing you all the luck for your transfer in Jan, just out of interest, will you transfer 1 or 2 embryos? will keep an eye out for updates ❤️ xx

[XOXO13 in reply to Carrotts9]

We actually asked to transfer two embryos but our consultant strongly advised against us doing so for various reasons. One being my age, second my weight (I’m slim framed, wouldn’t say I’m too skinny) and she said that I’d be at a higher risk of premature birth which can lead to all sorts of risks i’d want to avoid where possible and finally the typical risks of carrying twins.

If I knew everything would be okay, I’d push to have two embryos put back in but right now I’m putting all of my faith and trust into our consultant and taking her lead.

Let me know how you get on with things ❤️ Xx

[Londongirl84]

Hi Carrotts, sorry to hear it didn’t work out on your first round and your miscarriage. Fingers crossed this round will be the one for you. 🤞🏼 I’m currently on my first IVF cycle and I’m about to transfer on Tuesday. They say you need to top up on protein. I had organic bone broth every morning from start of stims. I just drank a cup every morning like tea. I also had kefir protein (it’s like a yogurt) and I mixed this with protein powder from the organic protein company. I tried to have this everyday. Along with salmon, sardines, avocado, lots of greens.. I also saw a lady called Melanie Brown who is a nutritionist. She gives you a list of things to take. You only need to really see her once, so it’s worth spending the money if you can. She also told us about the nut study for men with low sperm count or for those who want to improve. It is 10g almonds, 10g hazelnut, 20g walnuts and 3 Brazil nuts everyday! My husband doesn’t have low sperm but even the doctors did comment on how better it was after he did this for a few weeks. In terms of vitamins... I personally take omega 3, zita west pregnancy plan, Ubiquinol coQ10, vit c, 1000iu vit d, optibac and I took melatonin (from a company called euro vital) from start of stims to egg collection. You can only buy it from the US. You take it before bed and it just helps you sleep. Eggs are working hard when you are sleeping.

My doctor thought I was only going to get 6-8 eggs as I had two clusters growing. I ended up with 14 eggs, 13 fertilised and I found out today (day 3) that 12 are top quality. Not sure if any of the above helped with that but I thought I would share what we did. Of course anything can change from now until egg transfer but so far, so good. Good luck with everything!!! I have my fingers crossed for you. X

[Carrotts9 in reply to Londongirl84]

Thank you so much for your advice ❤️Omg congrats, that’s an amazing amount! Fingers crossed things stay that way for you!

I had heard about bone broth, did you make it yourself or buy? I will def check that out.

Will def look at adding the nuts to my hubbies diet every day, at the end of the day it can’t do any harm can it.

Will take a look at some of the supplements you have mentioned, I have read a bit about coQ10 so will def be purchasing those. And will look up the nutritionist too 😘

All the best for your transfer, are you having one in the next day or two? Xx

[Londongirl84 in reply to Carrotts9]

Hiya! Sorry just seen your reply! So I buy my bone broth from a company called borough bone broth. They are also on Ocado. I usually buy direct. It come frozen and you just unfreeze when you want it.

I’ve had my transfer yesterday and it went well! They only transferred 1 but I have 6 frozen, so I’m over the moon!

Wish you all the luck! Hope it goes well! Xxxx

[Ivfgotadream]

Sorry your round wasn’t successful

For me the only way I improved egg quality was to change drug protocol completely and focus on much fewer eggs x

[April26]

Hey! Sorry to hear about your miscarriage. I’m glad to read this as I also am due to start again after a failed transfer following short protocol a few weeks back! I have low AMH so I knew my egg numbers were going to be down but from last cycle I believe my quality is down too! 8 collected, 6 fertilised, 3 day transfer of embryo and none good enough to freeze 😢 so we go back to the beginning! I’ve read so much stuff online but wanted to ask my consultants advice! He said they can’t recommend anything other than a general healthy lifestyle so I’ve actually decided not too add to the stress and look into it too much but I guess we are all different! I had acupuncture last cycle so ive actually decided not to bother this time! Who knows? I have my fingerscrossed! Sending you lots of luck too!

Mishlade your website has helped me so much, I read it all the time and i like how real it all is so!! My type of reading so thankyou for that!!