looking for some advice/positive experiences

[Doodlebug23]

After 3 failed transfers. 1 fresh and 2 frozen, I am waiting for my period to come before starting a fresh cycle with new double donors. My tests all show no reason it’s not worked so far and I am only, as before going to be on cyclogest and Progynova.

Just doing some research as I am super determined that this time I am going to do every damn thing possible to give this my best shot! Now I know some things are old wives tales, and it’s down to luck in part, but I want to know there’s absolutely nothing more I could have done.

lubion - is it normal I’m not being prescribed this as many people seem to be?

McDonalds fries - I’m giving this a shot regardless cause it’s a valid excuse to eat Maccies 😂

Pineapple - going to ask my clinic if they have an opinion either way but worth a shot?

I’ve read turtles, pineapple and yellow are symbols of infidelity journey/fertility. So I’m now on the lookout for socks and clothes 😂 Also Winnie the Pooh (Disney fan) with his hunnie pot for “sticky” 🙈

Brazil nuts? Apparently 6 per day?

Beetroot juice helps the lining?! Again will check with my clinic

x

[Skittles11]

Hey Hope you're doing okay

Have you ever had your progesterone tested just before transfer or on the day of transfer as this could help determine whether you need to add in additional progesterone such as lubion

Also have you ever started to bleed ot spot before test day as this is another reason why additional progesterone may be given xx

[Doodlebug23 in reply to Skittles11]

Hi, I have my positive pants on today! Not sure how long it will last! Always had blood test day before transfer and never needed it. Just saw some people given it right at the start. With my first 2 transfers I did bleed before the test which is how I knew it hadn’t worked. 3rd time I didn’t. My lifestyle is definitely more healthy since the first 2 transfers so maybe that’s a factor. It’s so hard trying not to read into every sign and symptom x

[Boo718]

hello

Good luck to you 😘 we did double donor. We decided to pgta test them. I’m not sure if u could do this. I also had the era emma and Alice tests before transferring.

I was on lubion my progesterone was checked and came back low. The cycle that worked for us i didn’t eat any of the above mentioned. Infact I pretty much ate whatever I fancied as the previous times I had eaten all the recommendations and it made no difference. I really hope this works for you. Xxx

[Doodlebug23 in reply to Boo718]

Thanks for the reply. Nice to hear from someone else with double donor. And on your BFP ☺️☺️

My clinic haven’t offered any of these but I will ask. Did your results mean you changed anything? My progesterone has always come back ok so guess that’s why I’ve not been given it.

I haven’t eaten the usual “banned” stuff previously but I did pretty much eat what I wanted.

do you mind me asking how many times it took you to get your BFP? X

[Boo718 in reply to Doodlebug23]

No problem at all ask away.

We had 2 negatives, 2 chemicals then our positive. 4 out of the 5 transfers were donor. They said that I wouldn’t need an era test as we had had implantation(the chemicals) but we chose to have one anyway and it came back saying I needed to transfer on day 6 instead of day 5 so that’s what we changed on the last attempt. They also said we wouldn’t need pgta because it’s donor but we told them to go ahead anyway. On one of our double donor rounds 3 out of 4 embryos were abnormal but great quality the one normal one wasn’t good quality. I’m so glad we did it or we would have wasted more time and money transferring embryos that weren’t going to work xxx

[Doodlebug23 in reply to Boo718]

I’m definitely going to be asking my clinic more questions! I have always just taken what they recommend. With the exception that I am pushing for double transfer for next FET if the fresh doesn’t work. They have always said single only but after 3 failed they said they would consider it but not with fresh.

They haven’t ever mentioned testing either. I get as many transfers as there are embryos on my plan but the cost of drugs and travel is obviously money I could do without wasting!

So they transferred the poorer quality at a different time and BFP??!! Congratulations by the way! X

[Boo718 in reply to Doodlebug23]

Nope that round was ditched because the quality was too poor so we started again and pgta the next batch we got 2 that time that was a negative and a chemical . Then we did it again got another 2 pgta tested, one was a chemical then a positive. I honestly thought moving to donor was a sure thing but it still took us 4 transfers. It’s so worth it though. Xxx we did pretty much every test we could do. The Alice era and Emma were really good tests checking for bacteria and infection in the womb and optimal transfer times xxx

[Doodlebug23 in reply to Boo718]

Me too! I was so positive about going for donor thinking it would just work! Maybe not first. But now I’m 3 BFN I’m starting to lose confidence.. x

[Lolalules]

hi have you been taking supplements? That’s what we changed for our positive round. And i did the Brazil nuts too 😊

[Doodlebug23 in reply to Lolalules]

I’ve only been taking a pregnancy supplement. Can I ask what you took? I’ll try anything! X

[Lolalules in reply to Doodlebug23]

I took ubiquinol and proceive and my partner took proxeed xx

[RACMumm]

Have you had nk cells levels tested? I also did double donor & had 4 transfers and the 4th was natural rather than medicated and I had an early loss. I checked my nk levels & for endometritis with a uterine biopsy. The endometritis was clear but my nk levels raised so I had intralipids, clexane & prednisone steroids added and I'm now 26 weeks. The natural / modified natural was definitely the key for me to better pinpoint transfer timing & the clexane, intralipids & steroids sorted the killer cells.

[Doodlebug23 in reply to RACMumm]

Tbh I don’t know! I’ve just gone with anything the clinic have suggested/done. But I am going to ask now. My next will be medicated as syncing with donor for fresh transfer. I tried natural/modified on my second but I found the cost of extra scans and stress of finding somewhere to do them so close restrictive. Saying that if it works then it’s obviously worth it!!! X

[RACMumm in reply to Doodlebug23]

I think people definitely suit different protocols and for me, modified natural was the most successful. I had zero hint of a positive on medicated cycles even though I appeared to respond perfectly. I think it's worth checking nk cells as healthy looking embryos keep failing to implant. I had tested embryos transferred each time so they knew the embryos were healthy so there was definitely something else going on. I also used vagibal probiotics as soon as I stopped bleeding in my transfer cycle I think for 5 days. Wishing you all the luck 🙏😊

[Doodlebug23 in reply to RACMumm]

Ohh I’m going to ask about the prebiotics too! Thankyou! X

[Wishinandahopin]

hello, if you are already using donor and it’s not working I would definitely start looking deeper in terms of testing etc. I would say you should def be taking Lubion on top of the pessaries if you bled early the first two times that normally means your progesterone was low. It can’t harm to take extra progesterone and normally helps.

I would also look at maybe looking into the EMM and ALICE tests in case there is some issue with the uterine microbiome. And have you had a hysteroscopy before? This is really useful as can see if there is anything that may be making it hard for embryos to implant.

Also getting some recurrent implantation failure tests to test for immunological issues and potentially seeing a reproductive immunologist could be helpful too. As you may need additional meds for the transfer etc.

I wouldn’t really suggest all these extra things early on but if you’ve had 3 failed transfers with donors then it’s probably worth it.

We had two failed transfers with PGT tested embryos and then did all these tests and changed a lot of stuff due to the results and then next round a year later it worked with a worse quality embryo.

wishing you all the best! We’ve done ivf for 3 years and I’m finally 16 weeks pregnant so it does all feel worth it but I’m so glad we did all the testing before we had more failures.

[Doodlebug23 in reply to Wishinandahopin]

My poor PA at the clinic will have a long e-Mail tomorrow with lots of questions 🙈

I’ve never really asked too much but now I have lots and lots of questions!

I didn’t bleed 3rd time and the only difference was I made sure I lay down for 15 mins after each pessary, not sure if that made a difference.

I think my clinic want too see if a new donor makes a difference, as the 3 failed were from the same one.

My programme says completes in 18 months which is June next year, but they can extend it.

I had endo cells zapped before NHS round in 2017 but clinic now haven’t mentioned any issues. I had really really heavy periods before I started with this clinic and I was concerned it was back, but they seem back to normal now.

I’ve read lots about embryo quality and it’s made me not really too concerned as it seems like as long as they are normal they have as much chance as each other! The other tests you mentioned I am definitely going to ask about. I’m not sure where I stand with costs as I’m on a refund guarantee programme so not sure what they will do as included as it’s in their interests to get it to work or I get £17k back!

Congrats on your pregnancy. Hope it’s all going well. How exciting!!!!! X

[paintthesky]

Hi! It took until my 4th transfer (3 fresh and 1 frozen) … the successful pregnancy I had extra progesterone and clexane injections.

Good luck (& always get the McDonald’s chips!)

[Doodlebug23 in reply to paintthesky]

Thankyou!! And congratulations! Chips are a must 😂 x

[HopeNotTooLate46]

Sorry excuse my ignorance.... what's the MacDonald chips all about?

[Doodlebug23 in reply to HopeNotTooLate46]

Bit of an old wives tale I think. Eat McDonalds fries after transfer. To do with the salt maybe. But I’ll try anything!!