# Hopefully starting ICSI 2014



## Lea84 (Nov 14, 2013)

3 weeks ago myself and my husband learnt that after what seems like an endless list of tests and tick boxes we have been refereed to receive IVF ICSI treatment at BCRM (Bristol) due to male infertility factors. Wow. There it is......all in one hard hitting sentence. You feel like its not real, that you are now different and why? I was over whelmed with emotion :-( My husband has been amazing and just keeps saying how lucky we are that there is a way.

After many tears and getting my head around the journey ahead we are in such a good place and i am actually so excited to start this process! Our journey to finally having our very own miracle. I am 29 years old fit and healthy and my husband is 32 fit, healthy with the only factor being a  low sperm motility and morphology %. We have been told that our age and health should go in our favour?.... our first consultation is on 17th Dec - 2 days after our first wedding anniversary. Hope thats a good sign. 
As i am sure with everyone who is about to embark on this journey i am scared, excited, relieved in a way there is an answer and very anxious of what i am about to put my body through - but i will never lose sight of why we are doing this.

Currently my sister is expecting twin boys which actually has not been hard to watch as some may think, i know from reading TTC forums and blogs that some women struggle around other pregnant women. I have been so lucky to go through this journey with my sister - i support her and she supports me on our two different paths. I am so excited to be an aunty and one day hope my sister will also be excited to be an aunt too. Life works in mysterious ways and i believe everything happens for reasons all you can do is laugh sometimes....... Looking for any advice, or friends that are sharing this experience   xxx


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## Wraakgodin (Jun 17, 2006)

to FF, LJL84!!! Have a good look round the site, post in whatever section you want and make yourself at home. There are so many sections here with a huge amount of information, so whatever you are going through there will be someone here to help you.

Sounds like both you and your husband have such a positive outlook on treatment, I hope it works out for you!

Here are a few links that I think might help you, either now or in the future.

ICSI chat ~ CLICK HERE

Male factors ~ CLICK HERE

Keep a diary of your treatment (or read the experiences of others) ~ CLICK HERE

Cycle Buddies (undergoing treatment at the same time) - CLICK HERE

Questions for your first cycle consultation ~ (use the ones that apply) CLICK HERE

South West ~ CLICK HERE

What Every New Member Needs To Know (includes a list of common abbreviations) ~   CLICK HERE

Chat Zone section which will give you info on upcoming chats in the chat room: CLICK HERE

Please feel free to ask more questions here, or on any other part of the site, there will be wonderful helpful people there to give you lots of support, information and cyber hugs if you need it.

Good luck!              

Sue


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## Lea84 (Nov 14, 2013)

Hi Sue,

Thank you so much for all those links and your kind words. This site is so useful its amazing to feel you arent alone  

Leanne x


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## Dory10 (Aug 6, 2013)

Hi Leanne

Your situation sounds very similar to mine and my husbands - just that we're a tad older - me 33, him 34.  We've just been through our first ICSI cycle.  It felt like we'd been waiting for ages, having endless tests through our GP and hospital before finally getting our fertility clinic appointment through!  Our initial appointment which was for an internal scan for me and then we had our joint appointment in July, where the consultant explained that we'd be put on long protocol ICSI and went through all the different drugs, scans etc.  

I then started injecting at the end of August so it all seemed to move so quickly from initial appointment to treatment.  Before starting the clinic wanted OH to freeze some sperm in case he didn't produce on EC day.  Had a bit of a set back when we went to freeze the first time as no sperm present but went back 2 weeks later and there was some - we think this was due to him taking pain killers for a rib injury so he was then banned from any painkillers from then on until after egg collection!

Wishing you lots of luck on your ICSI journey, stay positive, stay fit and healthy, take one day at a time. AFM I'm now 9 weeks pregnant.

Dory xxx


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## Lea84 (Nov 14, 2013)

Hi Dory,

Thank you for your reply  wow sounds like we are in a similar situation and what an amazing journey you are on! Which hospital are you having treatment at? Congratulations on your news xx
I am hoping we can start the drugs in January, we were referred to a fertility part of the hospital after initial GP tests back in June. At the hospital its sort of like Bristol interim reproductive unit i had a couple of internal scans, additional blood tests, my husband had a further detailed SA and the last test i underwent was a HSG Xray. Our doctor was fantastic as he said he wanted to make sure he had ticked all the boxes with tests the final referral would require - which in October is when we found out i was ok and it seems the only issue was MF - now we await our ICSI consultation. I am quite nervous about the injections, how did you find them? and how was egg collection and transfer for you? Hope you dont mind the questions i am so excited to be able to share these stories.

Leanne xx


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## Dory10 (Aug 6, 2013)

Thank you Leanne - ask away, I certainly did and still am!

I was at Care in Nottingham.  For me I found that I just needed to take one step at a time and just concentrate on the stage of treatment I was going through at that particular time.  Can't say I loved the injections but just kept reminding myself why I was doing it and made sure I wasn't too tired as that's when I seemed to struggle with them.

I was sedated for my egg collection so was completely unaware of what was happening and didn't feel at all groggy when I came round.  I felt a bit crampy for a couple of days but nothing a few paracetamol couldn't handle and I had 2 days off work, 1 for the EC day and a day to recover.  I had a 5 day transfer which meant I'd settled down from the EC .  The ET was fine, I was awake and my hubby came in with me, It was a bit like having a smear test but with a full bladder as they use ultrasound to see inside.  We saw the little embryo going in - fascinating!  It was a bit uncomfy but mainly because I was dying for a wee!

Dory xxx


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