# Have I missed it? totally gutted.



## borderbound (Jun 30, 2012)

I had my follicle tracking scan on CD10 (Friday) and my follicles were too small (I was on clomid 100mg). 12, 8, 8, 4. We assumed that that was because my cycle is usually 30 days long so it makes sense that it's CD14 onwards that I should mature on etc. I booked in to have another scan on Tuesday morning (CD14) - if they were ok, I'd fly off to Denmark the next day. I've been doing everything I can to ensure good egg health, vitamins, diet, not had coffee, tea, diet coke etc in over a month, more red meat, no low fat, lots of water. I've also done this privately so it's cost a fortune in scans so far. 

Then this morning (sunday) I just had a weird feeling that I was going to ovulate soon. (As in, sooner than wednesday) I did an OPK at 12pm and I had a faint (but not that faint) line  

My scans not till Tuesday, and I'd be flying out Wed morning for insemination at about 11-12am. Is there any chance for me?

I've never had a faint line before, it's always been completely clear. 

The idea that my first IUI will be cancelled when I've already spent so much money and of course, hope, in it - is so upsetting. 

What do you ladies think? Have I got a chance?


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## borderbound (Jun 30, 2012)

Repeated test few hours later, line getting stronger - pretty much a complete positive now. Am going to cancel my appt on Tuesday and save some money for next month. Truly and utterly gutted.


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## lucylou2012 (Jul 14, 2012)

hi Borderbound. I can relate to your situation as I fly from Canada to London for each DIUI and need to plan to the best of my ability to be in London for ovulation.  It is tricky....and costly.  I do wish you the best of luck.  I am sure you already thought of this but, is it possible for you to have a scan tomorrow (Monday) and if all is good to fly immediately to Denmark? I have found my clinic in London to be quite flexible in meeting my needs. I hope yours is the same. Good Luck.


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## borderbound (Jun 30, 2012)

Hi there LucyLou - goodness, all the from Canada! Well that puts my London and Denmark mission to shame. 

I've had a really tough time trying to understand my OPK. My decision is that I have no idea whether it's a positive or negative. I took the first one at 12pm, it was negative. But I just had a niggle that it was going to happen. Probably just paranoia and obsession entwined! So I tested again at 2pm, - that's when I think I got a positive. There was one very thin piece of the darker colour - far thinner than the reference. 

I googled and google and googled and drove my DP totally insane asking her to look at my test results and what did she think and what does this mean and maybe she should do a test to see what negative looks like - ha, yup, driving her insane!

In the end, I've decided that I'm 80% sure it's negative. 

So, I'm going to call the doctors office tomorrow morning, see what they think, and ask them if they think I should move the appointment forward. I'm hoping I don't, because my follicles are still a bit behind.

So, I'm hoping for another day. Fingers crossed for what they say tomorrow. 

Does anyone else know if a thin line (dark one) is a positive?


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## borderbound (Jun 30, 2012)

I did three tests today. 

First at 12pm: faint line. Which I get from reading everyone elses comments that that's not a positive. 
Then at 6pm I did it again- and I got a darker, thinner line. 
But then at 8pm I tested again and got another faint line. 

How is it possible that my surge (which never really got to a thick line) only lasted two hours?

Someone help please


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## incywincy (Nov 13, 2011)

I had a similar panic last month!  I don't use clomid or scans, rely solely on the OPKs.  On the Friday I got a nearly dark enough line, then Saturday was light again.  On the Sunday it was light but I had definite ovulation pain, a temp drop and was CERTAIN I was due to ovulate.  I panicked, phoned my Copenhagen surgery.  The doctor said I should either go straight over or get a scan in the UK.  Well, I thought if I wait to get a private scan here, I might get a flight a day too late (only one flight a day to CPN for me) so I just threw everything in a suitcase, hurtled down the motorway, accidently parked in short stay car park, got to the plane just on time! I tested while on the plane and got a strong positive OPK.

I got scanned the next day for free in the Copenhagen clinic and I had indeed ovulated, and they IUIed me then.  

I know our situation re. opks is slightly different, but I completely understand the panic.  When you don't live an hour or two's drive from your clinic it's even harder to gauge.

I'm hoping it's easier this month, though ovulation seems to be coming much later this time.  I keep worrying that I've missed it too, but keep trying to remind myself that I had a late ovulation a couple of months ago and it might just be that.

Did you get a scan today?  I hope you have caught it in time.  The thing is as well, playing it last min like this really hikes the price of flights up!

If you don't ovulate for another few days, we might be in Copenhagen at the same time!  I am definitely not flying out tomorrow, I think it will be sometime between Weds and Sat now.


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## borderbound (Jun 30, 2012)

I called my doc this morning and he said that he would be very suprised if I had my surge already as my follicles were still small on Friday - so you know, I listened and was ok with a scan tomorrow and flight as soon as I needed it. (He's thinking wednesday)

But, this afternoon I've realised that I've completely ried up, any CM is completely gone and that does make me think that I've just ovulated. Damn. Will go to the scan tomorrow to see. At the end of the day, I'd prefer to pay for the scan then to pay for the flight and insemination and donor sperm for nothing. Feeling gutted - this was our first one. 

Well, maybe see you there! Fingers crossed to both of you.


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## incywincy (Nov 13, 2011)

If you don't mind me asking, how much are you paying for private scans?  I only ask because if my next 2 IUIs don't work, I'm moving on to medicated and will need regular scanning.

If it's any help, last month my CM dried up then came back 2 days later.  I hope the scan shows the follicles still growing in there and you can go ahead on Wednesday like planned.


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## borderbound (Jun 30, 2012)

That's actually really good to know. It's amazing how obsessed and paranoid I am about bodily functions now!

My scans are £150 each. (but you also need a 10 minute £250 consultation - gr)  You should only need one scan (especially if you know your cycle) it's just to check that your follicles are good enough. 

For instance - on Friday I got them measured, and they were indeed pants. So if I had not known that, and got my positive OPK, I would have flown to DK and got my IUI regardless - I just know it's not worth the money as my eggs wouldn't have managed to grow enough by this morning. 

Friday was CD10 to me - we were hoping that clomid would have worked and I would have got the trigger and flown out on Sunday. I only need another scan because they're pants.  (I'm 26, that's just not fair  )

Here you go: www.ellisdownes.com

/links


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## Pyra (Apr 1, 2012)

In case you are using Clear Blue Fertility Monitor, or an OPK which measures both LH and estrogen levels, you can get 'false positives' on Clomid...

Incywincy, you could also check with the London Ultrasound Centre (if that's where you are). I think they accept self-referrals for scans, so you may not need to get a consultation on top, unless you want to.


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## borderbound (Jun 30, 2012)

Thanks Pyra, 

I'm not using clearblue, but that's good to know. I did read that you should only take an OPK 3 days after clomid cycle finishes - it's been double that, so who knows. If it is still in my system that can only mean my follicles are growing nicely! Fingers crossed.


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## incywincy (Nov 13, 2011)

Thanks both of you for the links, though I am Manchester based.

That's a lot of money for scans though!  A couple of them and it woudl probably be just as cheap to do it all in this country!

Borderbound, if your clinic is anything like mine, they wouldn't IUI you without scanning you first.  They should give you a scan to check before they inseminate.  At the worst, you would have flown out early and had to stay there a few days until you were ready to ovulate.  How that works out for you regarding work and hotel costs I don't know.

My clinic charges £250 per insemination (incl. sperm) and that includes pre ovulation monitoring scans if you need them, but I don't fly out in time for them due to needing time off work and the fact that my ovualtion varies between day 13 and 19.  I might have to consider it when moving onto medicated as I think the prices of scans in this country are a rip off.

Don't be too down on yourself about the eggs not being ready on Friday, CD10 is quite early in your cycle, they need a little time to grow.  Hopefully you'll get there tomorrow and find some nice juicy ripe ones waiting!


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## borderbound (Jun 30, 2012)

£250 INCLUDING sperm!

That is bloody amazing. Jeez have I missed a trick. I had to pay £50 for consultation on phone, £155 for storage (we used a donor but from Cyros) and each IUI is £350. I dont think that does include a scan but you can get those for another £150 I think. 

The equiviliant in London is £1,000+ for each sperm sample and £400 per IUI plus HFEA fees and storage and paperwork and delivery of sperm to UK. 

Basically we just found a really good donor who has all of my partners features, and I know it's vain, but that's important to us. He's also MOT 30 unwashed and IUI ready. That's important to us too - but he was expensive though! £450 including delivery - that's for one shot. We just wanted the best chance. I only got one sample.  

I've had 3 scans and one consultation in London. Plus Clomid and my really strict vitamin and fertility diet that I'm doing.

I did find a place that did IUI for £160 (not including sperm) but when there are others down the road so much more expensive I just had to wonder why they were so cheap in comparison. 

Well now i feel a bit dumb.   It's part of the reason I so wanted it to just go right - it's so expensive. We can't afford this each month - hell we can't afford it this month. 

Hmm. Well, if this time doesn't go through I may just ask you for those details. It's cheaper to go to your clinic and just wait for OPK then doing it through my clinic. 

Oh well. Can't get stressed about that today, eggs to grow!

By the way did they also tell you you had to be HIV tested? I had to get it done here because they'd register me and stupidly told my GP and family planning that it was for fertility treatment - and because it wasn't on the NHS I had to go private for that too! Which I thought was really outrageous considering I'd go NHS if I was allowed it.


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## Pyra (Apr 1, 2012)

Did your GP refuse? 
I got my IUI done privately in London, and the clinic asked us for a bunch of tests - HIV, Hepatitis, Chlamydia, Rubella immunity etc. screening. I got all of these done via my GP - wasn't a problem. I also get my blood hormone levels tested regularly via my GP. The way I think the GP looks at it is if I were to get fertility tx done via NHS it would cost them a hell of a lot more!


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## Monkey07 (Jul 8, 2012)

borderbound said:


> By the way did they also tell you you had to be HIV tested? I had to get it done here because they'd register me and stupidly told my GP and family planning that it was for fertility treatment - and because it wasn't on the NHS I had to go private for that too! Which I thought was really outrageous considering I'd go NHS if I was allowed it.


We are just starting out, my local GP has had me tested for HIV, chlamydia, rubella, hep b&c (all as requested by clinic) and even said "I'm gonna get a full blood count check as well" x


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## borderbound (Jun 30, 2012)

My GP did indeed refuse without paperwork from the NHS to show that I was doing it in on the NHS. 
I did tell them that surely my going privately was SAVING them money. 

Really angry now.  It literally cost me thousands to get the bloodwork done and I had to get it in stages over 6 months because of the financial burden. 

Anyway. Did an OPK this morning - it's gone back to light, which I think means that my surge is over. So Im now going for a scan for £150 for no reason. But it's in one hour - so I better get on, if I cancel now I'll get charged anyway. 

Feeling massively deflated and ****** off this morning.


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## incywincy (Nov 13, 2011)

I got my tests done by going to the sexual health clinic.  I asked for the extra HepB one so they charged me £50, but cheaper than my local private clinics.  They were rather bemused by it so I don't think they get many people coming in for that sort of thing.  I got rubella immunity done at the GPs, but I can't remember if I told them it was for general TTC or fertility treatment.  I think I said I might have missed my rubella as a kid and needed to check my immunity (which could have been true, I missed so many immunisations as a teenager, rubella was one of the few I got!).  I got chlamydia and gonorrhea done with my smear test.  

My clinic is Copenhagen Fertility Center.  There's a pinned thread on it in the Scandinavian section of International.  It's long but has some useful info in.  I keep meaning to post my experiences in there for reference, I'll try to do that soon.  Bear in mind, the cost is for anonymous, unselected sperm.  I only got to say what eye colour, hair colour, height and weight then they picked one that matched for me.  I wasn't too worried about the exact match because my step-kids don't look like me, so we're already a mismatched family! However, you can bring your own sperm, but it will alter the cost.  I don't think massively though.

The initial consultation can be done over the telephone and they don't charge for it.  I've pestered them with emails and they always respond quickly and politely.  They are open Sundays and will try to fit your appt around your flights if they can.

I can't remember precisely what their success rates are but I remember looking them up and being happy enough with them.

If you can get the time off work and ovulate fairly regularly, it might be worth considering just going out a couple of days before ovulation and staying somewhere cheap.  Though that's not easily done in Copenhagen!  I ended up in the Generator hostel for my second night last time, and will be heading back there if DP isn't with me (she won't 'slum' it in a hostel!) as it was nice.  Even with hotel rooms, the price might be offset by the amount you're paying in scans in this country.

Good luck with the scan!  Let us know how you got on.


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## borderbound (Jun 30, 2012)

Ha yes my DPs the same. 

Well... I didn't ovulate, so my opk is now totally unreliable. 

But, in four days, my biggest follicle which was 12mm on Friday, CD10, is now 13.5 on CD14. Which is so depressing. 

So, cancelled iui for first month  

Next month I'm now taking 150mg of clomid which I'm not keen n as on 100 I got the worst migraines and had such a gag reflex on those pills. 

I only really spent £300 more by moving it as apart from scans everything's in waiting. 

Still. I'm so depressed thinking that I can't grow eggs on my own. Not great for 26. Feeling low.


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## Pyra (Apr 1, 2012)

Really sorry to hear this hon  
perhaps you will ovulate later in the cycle, if your follicles grow further? for next month - perhaps you can consider injectables? Not all women respond well to Clomid I believe. You may need more scans for an injectables cycle though.

I hope you get your BFP soon and won't need more blood tests. But in case you do need more, you really must question your GP about his not referring you for tests. Might make sense to call/email your PCT directly in case he is still not willing. Most FFers seem to be able to get the basic blood work done on the NHS.

xx


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## borderbound (Jun 30, 2012)

Thanks Prya. The whole thing exhausted me so much that I've taken the morning off and not left my bed. 

I'm going to try and focus on some of the more positives, in four days my lining had gone from 5.1 to 9.8, I really think that's to do with my vits. 

My doctor did say that some women can get pregnant from a 14mm, but because I'm flying out its not worth trying. 

I have to admit, I've had an especially stressful month. Family problems. Work problems. Money problems (all fertility related) my mums birthday is tomorrow , she died 15 months ago, it's still fresh, I did wonder if IUI on her birthday was special or sad. So maybe this month has to be about stopping stressing all the time.  

I'll keep testing myself with the OPK. If it doesn't come positive by next week I'll ask my doc if it's worth scanning again. 

I love this forum I do need the support. Xx


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## BECKY7 (Feb 2, 2011)

Hey ladies  go and get CBM  so much easier and cheaper and I got mine from eBay for £35 with 20 stick  and every month I have my 1st peak on CD 10 and 2nd peak on CD11 as my cycle is 26  so once you got high you know you will get your 1st peak sooner  so it is worth having CBM. As for scan in my local it £110 but I rather pay another 1 night of hotel in reprofit of £25  for free scan instead of paying scan in uk (rip off).
Good luck.
Becky7 xx


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## Helena123 (Jun 11, 2011)

www.thisismy.co.uk do the follicle tracking.  It is £120 per scan - no extra fees on top, BUT - if you need scans on more than one day then it is £120 PER SCAN, PER DAY.  It's really easy to get short notice appointments with them and I've used them for blood tests, pelvic scans.

They have test centres in Manchester, Leeds, Hull and Sheffield.  Branches in Glasgow and London are set to open before the end of 2012.

/links


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## incywincy (Nov 13, 2011)

Borderbound, how come it is cancelled?  Don't you just keep scanning to see if they've grown bigger?  Forgive my ignorance, I just assumed that's how it worked.


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## borderbound (Jun 30, 2012)

Do you know, I don't really know. I guess it's that I just had one egg and it was growing at a total snail pace and probably wouldn't grow to a good size for ovulation. 

Having said that, don't you need to be 20mm for natural ovulation? Who knows. How dumb of me for not asking. I just assumed he felt that my egg wouldn't grow in time. 

Hm. Maybe a call tomorrow!


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## incywincy (Nov 13, 2011)

I don't know what size  it should be for natural ovulation.  But I think a phone call would be a good idea.  The more information you have the more you'll understand the process and any further decisions, such as if they decide to change your treatment in the future.  They should have explained it to you at the time, but doctors often seem to forget to explain things properly.


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## Helena123 (Jun 11, 2011)

I haven't had follicle tracking, but when I went for a pelvic scan on day 10 they made a point of measuring my follicle and it was 18mm x 14mm x 15mm.  Volume 2cm squared!  The nurse said that I was just about ready to ovulate, presumably based on size - my cycles lengths are approximately 25/26 days.

Give your doctor a call - you're certainly not dumb for not asking.  They should at the very least give you basic information otherwise you're only going to worry yourself, plus what's the point of doing tests if they don't interprit them for you?  I have a clinic that I use in Leeds for basic tests  and another one that I use in Manchester.  Leeds don't explain the results of anything, but it's a GP that I see in Manchester and she is brilliant at explaining what the Leeds tests actually reveal.

I think it was a good think for your tracking not to continue.  Personally, I would not want to make a wasted journey abroad when there was a decreased chance of success.  Fingers crossed next month will be better for you  

I know what you mean about gag reflex from taking pills as mine is pretty bad.  I used to crumble paracetamoles into dust to get them down, whereas now I just quarter them and slip them into a piece of banana that's small enough not to have to chew.

x


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## borderbound (Jun 30, 2012)

Well. The answer is just what Helena said. No point continuing expensive tracking on an egg that isn't growing consistently - it means we'll have to do a few more scans that cost money and only for one egg, and it's always better to have two, which is what he wants for next time. 

Basically he was trying to save me money. Nice bloke. 

I'm thrilled that I didn't have it actually, I went on a 3 day binge from Wednesday, I even had the things that I'm supposed to stay away from. I suddenly felt freezing and starving. Strangely, as of yesterday afternoon I have had a horrible throat infection and can't eat a thing (horray)

So, back on my vits and fertility diet for me. With a little less stress this month I hope!

BB


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## incywincy (Nov 13, 2011)

Yes, i suppose that makes sense, since the tracking costs a lot.

Not quite the same but after my BFN last month I went on a bit of a binge too!  Prawn sandwiches, stilton, a couple of drinks (only a couple, my tolerance was shocking) and even a couple of ****.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself for a couple of days and then got back on the wagon.  

I hope the second cycle works out better for you.  I think sometimes it just takes a while to get to know your cycle patterns.


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## borderbound (Jun 30, 2012)

Ha, you've just listed my favourite foods. 

I'd actually heard that full fat cheeses are good for you, and while prawns can not good while pregnant cause they may be undercooked, they're fine for conception. Or is that wrong? 

I think a binge is needed in between cycles to keep us sane! I had chinese food, lasagna, goats cheese tart and steak with chips yesterday - major overload. 

Good luck for Aug 3! I have everything crossed for you!  Will hopefully be back on this thread in August with at least a proper egg size. So not looking forward to 150mg of Clomid. Eek.


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## incywincy (Nov 13, 2011)

I think full fat ones are, but blue ones aren't.  I haven't been totally good leading up to this month's ovulation, eaten a bit more junk food than the last few months, more biscuits.  But I was on a diet since February, so I think I relaxed a bit too much!  I'm hoping that my relaxation will help this month.  

Yeah, I think a blow out is good mentally!

Good luck for you too - have a look to see what you can eat to help those follicles along.  Lots of protein is good apparently.  I've eaten so much chicken over the last few months, as I don't eat much red meat.  I read something about turkey being good.  And apples, tomatoes, broccoli.  I don't know why, I just researched and made a list of foods months ago but forgot to write the reasoning next to them.


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