Hope when you feel hopeless

[haylady]

I just wanted to share my story in case it offers some hope to others on their journey, as other people’s stories often gave me hope on mine. I have just had a healthy 12 week pregnancy scan after my 3rd round of IVF was dramatically more successful in every way than my previous two. My first round I got 6 eggs, 5 fertilised, all failed to develop so no transfer. My second round I got 6 eggs, 4 fertilised and I transferred one day 3 embryo which failed. Here are the things I did differently the third time round, where I got 14 eggs, 10 fertilised, 1 day 5 blast (which has now resulted in pregnancy) and 2 day 6 blasts which are on ice:

• I didn’t drink any alcohol for a few months prior to starting the round

• I switched to decaf drinks and increased my water intake

• I ate whole grains such as buckwheat, quinoa, brown rice, brown pasta as well as lots of green veg, oily fish, dairy and eggs

• I took pro-biotic yoghurt drinks

• I took CoQ10, vitamin D and methylfolate as opposed to regular folic acid

• I switched to a glass water bottle, stopped heating food in plastic containers and tried to swap many household products for organic/natural ones (even my deodorant)

• I went to weekly acupuncture sessions

• I listened to podcasts and really did my homework with things like supplements, nutrition etc

On top of this my husband also took Wellman conception vitamins, tried to improve his diet and reduced his caffeine and alcohol intake.

I should say, while we were classed as unexplained sub-fertile, I had been told I had scarring on my tubes which was likely the cause for our struggles.

I took a lot of inspiration from the book ‘It Starts With The Egg’. I know it’s not for everyone and it’s to be taken with a pinch of salt, but for me I was able to cherry-pick the bits I felt resonated with me and it felt good to proactively be making changes to feel like I was doing what I could to try to improve my outcomes. I can’t be sure if any of this was the cause of the greatly increased success, whether it was one thing, a combination of things, or if it was purely just good luck. All I know is it helped me a lot to feel like I was trying all I could at a time when I felt so completely hopeless.

This is not a magic solution and everyone’s situation is so different but I think it’s so important to have hope, whatever route you end up going down. I really hope this helps even just one of you out there and I’m more than happy to be contacted by anyone who wants to ask me anything.

Wishing everyone good luck on their journeys. Stay strong xx

[Purpledoggy]

Agree with this 100%. Feeling powerless is about the worst part of infertility and feeling like you’re doing something is important, I think. I did pretty much the same as you and although I can never prove it I think it helped me. All we can do here is offer suggestions and hope it helps even one person. Hope all works out for you xx

[haylady in reply to Purpledoggy]

Thanks so much. Best wishes to you 🥰

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi haylady. Just wanted to wish you well with the rest of your pregnancy and suggest you might like to move over to the Pregnancy Support forum now, where you will meet lots of your "old friends". Diane

[haylady in reply to DianeArnold]

Thanks, Diane - I’ll do that.

[Ruby1980]

Congratulations! You deserve every happiness enjoy every minute and I wish you a happy and healthy pregnancy