1st Fertility appointment MFI IVF

Hi Everyone, I hope you are all keeping ok.

Myself and my partner had our first fertility appointment yesterday.

We have been told that my partner needs another sprem test done (he is taking wellman to try and help improve this, as the nurse advised) and I need to have my ammunity for Rubella checked. I will possibly will need to have my tubes checked but the nurse said that if my partners sperm sample is low again then they might not bother checking my tubes 🤔

We have been told that we qualify for 1 round of IVF in our area (I thought it was 2 ☹️). There is roughly a 6 month wait which isnt bad as I have seen that done of you have had to wait a lot longer ☹️

Its just a waiting game now (8-10 weeks for next appointment) while we have our tests and wait for the test results to come back.

I feel really worried about everything and cant stop thinking it might not happen for us 😭

Any advice or positive stories would be greatly appreciated 💜💙❤️

[Jane8412]

Hi Amy-LouI just wanted to say I am sorry. I know how upsetting it is to be told you need IVF and the overwhelming worry that it won't work for you. Such a shock and hard to process. A positive point to make is that generally male factor can be easier to treat than some female issues and if your results were fine then hopefully you should respond well to IVF when it comes to that. They can always do ICSI if his sample doesn't improve but if he has only just started taking vitamins you should hopefully see an improvement.

I got a diagnosis of low AMH/AFC last year. I think my tubes may be blocked too (due to pelvic infection in youth) and I was given the option to have a hycosy to check but they said if they were blocked I would end up needing IVF anyway. So due to my low AMH and time not being on my side they recommended going straight to IVF. Since you have to wait for your partners sperm sample anyway could they potentially put you on the waitlist for a hycosy? Or is the wait for that even longer?

Good luck xx

[Hidden in reply to Jane8412]

Hi Jane,

Thanks so much for replying to me.

Yes, hopefully it will be easier. I have known that we would possibly need icsi for a while but I just hoped that some miracle would happen and we wouldnt need it. The infomation of only 1 round upset me slightly too.

Sorry to hear that, hopefully they arent blocked though. Are you going straight for IVF rather than having the hycosy?

The nurse did advise that they might want to do a laparoscopy as I also had a major opperation 23 years ago (I was 5) and there may be scar tissue blocking my tubes. She said that the wait for that is really long as they are struggling with xrays due to covid. Once we have my partners results for this 2nd sperm analysis the dr will be in touch to adivse if they will go straight to IVF or if I will have my tubes checked. (Sorry if i have gone around the houses with this, i am rubbish at explaining). Xx

[Jane8412 in reply to Hidden]

That makes sense with the laparoscopy. Frustrating about the wait time though. Blocked tubes can cause issues if they fill with fluid as they can affect implantation. I asked about this but I was told that they can see these (Hydrosalpinx ) on the scans you get before starting treatment.I understand how stressful only one round can be. One thing to remember is that one NHS round should include transfers of all the frozen embryos you get too. So if your follicle count and AMH is good and they get a decent number of eggs from you they should be able to freeze some blastocycst and the transfer of these (FETs) will be included on the NHS. The rules vary depending on your CCG so you will need to ask your clinic what they count as one round.

We had our one and only NHS IVF round in December. Due to my low AFC we got 4 eggs of which 2 made it to day 5 blasts. One was transferred but didn't stick. We can still transfer the frozen blast on the NHS however we have decided to go private and bank some embryos due to my age and low AMH.

I hope your wait isn't too long! xx

[Hidden in reply to Jane8412]

Waiting is frustrating but I am a very here and now kind of person so I just need to calm down 🤣 Thank you, thats really good to know, I will be sure to ask them about that on our next appointment. I would be happy if we got to have FET on the nhs if the 1st cycle didnt work.

I really hope going private works out for you. Its a good idea to get some embryos banked, I would never have thought of that.

Thank you, I hope not either 🤞 take care xx

[Jane8412 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you xx

[Rain415]

Hi Amy Lou

Sorry you are dealing with all of this it becomes a bit of a mine field! From my own experience my partners count and morphology came back low the gp said if it came back low again then they wouldnt do tests on me. Test came back low again. However the fertility clinic did want the tests on me so I had a uterus scan and tube test before they referred us for ivf. Both of which were fine, even though more of a wait I was happy to have the tests done piece of mind for when we are still trying naturally. Our gp recommended wellman and unfortunately they did not improve anything in the 6 months to a year taking them. Our ferility consultant recommend procieve max or proxeed - more expensive than wellman but his count more than doubled in 6 months. Obviously everyone is different and dont want you to against their advice but might be something to ask about. 6 month waitbisbgood. Wish you all the best and if you have any questions just drop me a message i🙂 x

[Hidden in reply to Rain415]

Hi Rain415,

Thanks for replying 😊 it certainly is a mine field isnt it! I have learned so much from this group though and feel that a lot of the informstion has helped me so far and am sure it will help me going forward too.

I suppose its better to have the tests isnt it. My gp has been very thorough and I have had a scan and different tests too which gladly, all came back clear.

I have just bought 3 boxes for each of us too 🙈 I'm not sure what impact these will have either way if he has the test in the next couple of weeks - hopefully lots... We shall see. The nurse did advise my partner to stop drinking protein shakes as the whey protein can damage sperm production. Thats excellent that your partners count doubled using proxeed. I would be happy to buy those once I have spoken with the hospital (if wellman doesnt help). He could be taking them for 6 months before a transfer so maybe that could help, who knows.

I hope I didnt sound selfish when I said about being dissapointed about a 6 month wait. I know this is a much better waiting time than others have unfortunately had to endure.

I will message you if there any further questions. Xx

[Rain415 in reply to Hidden]

Dont worry you did not sound selfish! The waiting times with all of this including the testing, the sperm analysis etc. Can be a nightmare! From our first fertility tests it took about 17 months to get referred for ivf. X

[LizzieBW]

Hi Amy-Lou,

Glad to read you had your appointment as planned. Gosh, it's such a rough journey the whole way through with infertility isn't it. I'm sorry you are left feeling a little deflated and it's only natural.

Set-backs are so incredibly sh*tty. From my experience I've learnt to take as much time as I need to process the new news/change of tactic, whether that's having some alone time and feeling sad or whether that's blocking everything fertility-related out for a short time.

When I'm ready, I then create the new plan out in my own mind, or on paper because I'm an obsessive list-maker! the things I can do and focus on all the positives.

Take good care for now & when you're ready - you have 1 amazing full cycle funded to work towards 🥰 xx

[Hidden]

Hi Lizzie, hope you're well?!

I am so sorry that you had another transfer cancelled 💔 Covid has got a lot to answer for!

I think I set my expectations so high that I am always deflated with the outcome, I should try to learn from it. I tend to feel a bit rubbish that day and then the next day wake up feeling much more positive thinking it is what it is... It will happen one day.

You have a good way of dealing with things! I am a bit of a list maker too, I had a list ready for my appointment 🤣

Thank you, I will do. I am trying to eat healthy then I can feel happier in myself, if that makes sense?! I do, I feel like I came across a bit selfish saying "only 1 nhs cycle" I think as I was expecting either 2 or 3 it caught me off guard but I am very thankful that we have the nhs in the first place. Xx