Fertility clinic advice - Care or Nurture?

LilElvis

That's good news! The scan will likely be a transvaginal ultrasound - you might have had these already. They will just want to check the womb, it's lining and look at the ovaries to get an idea as to how many egg follicles there are at the surface. If they haven't done so already they will want to run tests on your husband's sperm as theirs are usually more comprehensive than the NHS ones. Hope it all goes well for you.

AlwaysWorking

Hi, I just wanted to add that there is a FB group called 'IVF Support UK' (the picture is of a unicorn). They have 6,400 members so there's sure to be lots of help and advice if you need it going forward! Good luck.

PrettyKittyKat

LilElvis wrote: »

That's good news! The scan will likely be a transvaginal ultrasound - you might have had these already. They will just want to check the womb, it's lining and look at the ovaries to get an idea as to how many egg follicles there are at the surface. If they haven't done so already they will want to run tests on your husband's sperm as theirs are usually more comprehensive than the NHS ones. Hope it all goes well for you.

Yes that is the scan I will be having .

I thought they would want to do a sperm test for my husband too, but when we mentioned this in our informal show rounds they didn't seem bothered and said the NHS results would be fine. I am half expecting the consultant to recommend it though, as if he has no sperm at all then what treatment we have will be different!

Thank you for you posts, it is so kind of you to take the time to

PrettyKittyKat

AlwaysWorking wrote: »

Hi, I just wanted to add that there is a FB group called 'IVF Support UK' (the picture is of a unicorn). They have 6,400 members so there's sure to be lots of help and advice if you need it going forward! Good luck.

Ah that sounds lovely! I am a little shy of joining a facebook group as it isn't common knowledge we are going for IVF and facebook will show things like that to random people! Plus of course it is possible someone I know (possibly distantly) is in the group! Thank you for letting me know about it though, maybe when we are further along in the journey I may feel brave enough to join!

Mardle

PrettyKittyKat wrote: »

That's amazing mardle! I commented to my OH how we are lucky we have the option of IVF as when we were born this wasn't something that would have been available to our parents. Sadly with our age and that the low sperm count is due to partial failure of the testicles (which I presume will develop to complete failure!) time isn't on our side! But it only takes one good swimmer

I have booked my scan and the consultation appointment now so just need to count down until hopefully we have some information and options!

PKK I don't think I would have opted for IVF if it had been available to us.

We wanted a family so we applied to adopt but by the time we had a home visit from the social workers we had 2 foster daughters. I'd seen an advert for a private foster for the girls then aged 3 & 5 and they came to live with us. At first their mother visited regularly, took them out & paid us. Then one weekend she just didn't turn up - she'd vanished. Social Services took on responsibility for their care and they stayed with us. It was at this point we had the home visit and were turned down for adoption because they felt we would have the girls permanently. About a year later their mother reappeared. She'd sorted her life out and the girls went back to live with her.

We continued as foster parents taking short term foster children. In 1975 when I became pregnant our 'family' consisted of a 17 year old girl, brothers aged 12 & 14 and a 20 month old girl. Maybe all the teenage hormones helped

PrettyKittyKat

wow what a journey to parenthood you had Mardle! You are an amazing person to help so many children.

I've had my scan and the doctor said everything looked good and healthy, so she is not worried about the results of the blood test. We have our consultation next week so will find out our options (and the prices!) then!

PrettyKittyKat

Hey all, we have our consultation on Tuesday.

I just wondered if there are any questions you would recommend that I ask during this?
We are told we will be given our test results and told which treatment/drugs they would recommend and the costs.

LilElvis

Good luck for Tuesday!

Make sure you get a quote for the drug prices - the clinic will likely give you the prices for one that does a home delivery service, though I can't remember the name at the moment. As it will be a private prescription you can shop around - it's the stimulating drugs such as menopur and gonalF which are the seriously expensive ones as they can be a couple of hundred per vial. If they recommend "add on" treatments such as endometrial scratches, embryoscope, embryo glue etc then ask them to explain why they think they are appropriate, how much they increase success rates and any trials which back up these claims. Some clinics are pushing these additional items with very little scientific basis but at a huge financial cost to the patient.

Make such you take pen and paper with you to write everything down - there's a lot to take in! When you're arranging for the injection teaching session try to make sure your partner can attend - it's often easier If they do the injections, especially at first.

If you're looking for support then this forum may be good to have a look at https://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php

Hope it goes well for you!

PrettyKittyKat

Thank you LilElvis. I will write those questions down. We are going on holiday to a zika country in August so looking so start treatment after this once we have got the zika all clear, but I will make a note of what you said re the injections appointment for when the time comes!

LilElvis

PrettyKittyKat wrote: »

Thank you LilElvis. I will write those questions down. We are going on holiday to a zika country in August so looking so start treatment after this once we have got the zika all clear, but I will make a note of what you said re the injections appointment for when the time comes!

I cycled only a month or so after 3 weeks in South Africa, and I haven't taken anti-malarials for the last fifteen or so trips to Africa. If you are going to take anti-malarial pills then get your doctor to prescribe Malerone - you will have to pay privately but you take it for only a few days before travel and about a week after. Some pills have to be taken for weeks after return and can hide malaria symptoms. Key to not getting bitten is to put on mossie cream before dusk, plug in the mossie room plug things at the same time and always sleep with the overhead fan on If there is one. I've not had a bite in years by doing this - six months plus of staying in malarial areas.

Hope you get positive news tomorrow!