Anyone in West sussex going through or been through ICSI IVF

[saffy1505]

Hi I'm Dawn and My husband Peter and I are about to embark on the ICSI IVF journey through our local hospital. We are going through the Harley Medical Centre also, I think for the main treatment. Can anyone tell me if they've gone through this plan of action through St Richard's also?
We're both 25 and our infertility was thought originally to be due to cysts and hormone problems with me, but over time and a lot of weight loss I'm now fertile, however my husband has very poor quality and quantity of sperm.
So ICSI IVF is the way to go, so we're on the waiting list for later this year, and March/April has been given as the time we're going to go through it all.
Unsure what to expect though, we've had the consultations, the blood tests, so what's next?

I'd love to hear from anyone that has gone through it regardless whether your local or not who may be able to give me any details?

Thanks for reading
xxxx

[RosiePosie]

Hi Dawn, I just completed IVF with ICSI. As far as the protocol it is different for everyone. I was on a lot of meds, my body didn't respond as well as the RE hoped. But I am a lot older than you, 35. Expect to be at the RE's office approx. every other day for bloodwork and ultrasound. We had to take an injection class the needles weren't so bad. I did the stim injections myself on my thighs I did get a lot of bruising, but I am an easy bruiser. DH had to do the progesterone and HCG shots. They are intramuscular shots in your backside (FUN stuff but not too bad). The ER wasn't bad I was under and it took only about 15-20 mins. You are on bed rest all day. I was crampy and full of air it seemed. It went away after a few days. The ET is very easy. In my RE office my DH was allowed to be in room so that was so nice he thought it was amazing. My RE prescribed 2 days of bed rest for that. That was a little hard because I had to lay on my left side or my stomach the entire time because my uterus is tilted to the front left. As far as ICSI goes DH had to provide a back-up sample to be frozen in case the sample the day of ET wasn't good enough. Unfortunately i got a BFN this time. I am trying to stay positive. I joined this forum a few weeks ago anfd found that there are a lot of smart ladies here and I learned a lot from them. So just read as much of the threads as you can. Good luck with your cycle! I will check up on you.

[saffy1505]

I'm in shock our appointment is in less than 2 weeks!!!
i have no idea what to expect and i'm full of so many different emotions
i cried as soon as the lady hung up the phone
i'm so excited!!!

[wishfull27]

Hi Saffy - ooo 2w eeks till your appointment how exciting - I think the IVF procedure in UK is quite different from USA and does not involve as many trips to the clinic.

After initial consult and if there is no waiting list they will wait for your next period then you will satrt down regulation grugs which shuts your system down - some clinics use injections to do this and some you sniff - I have had injections on both previous cycles - this usually lasts about 3/4 weeks during which you will bleed again and have a scan on day 21 to check that no cycsts and all ok - they will also do bloods that day - then if all levels ok you will start with stimulation drugs - typically for 7-10 days depending on your repsonse - you will be scanned after 7 days and then monitored - once you have enough follicles at correct sizes - they like them to be above 18mm then you will take a trigger shot in the evening and then Egg retieval will be 36 hours later. they then do the fertilisation - we too had ICSI and then you have to wait till next day to see how many fetilised and then wether they will do 3 or 5 day transfer - I am sure NHS only do 3 day transfers. you then join the draded 2 week wait to see if it has worked - from starting down regulation drugs to test date is around 8 weeks.

If you have any other questions please just ask or PM me!

Good luck xx