Causes & Treatment

Rebecca’s IVF Struggle with PCOS and Endometriosis

Eloise Edington | 1 Feb 2021

A lovely reader of Fertility Help Hub, Rebecca, has kindly shared her story. We are all about community and know from our readers just how much hearing about people’s experiences can be as helpful as hearing from fertility specialists. Rebecca shares her IVF Journey with PCOS and Endometriosis, where she discusses what she did to keep busy during the dreaded 2WW (two-week wait).

Words by Rebecca

I got diagnosed with PCOS in 2015, and Endometriosis in 2017. I found myself in the most agonising pain almost every day, bedridden with the most painful menstrual cycles and almost losing hope in my fertility. I then got a transfer letter to see a gynaecologist, to help move things along. I had not been able to fall pregnant naturally, no matter what I tried. We got our appointment at the hospital in 2019 around Christmas, which made me so excited, and I was looking forward to the journey ahead…

Hospital Appointment

My appointment ended up being an extremely draining and disappointing meeting. I was told to lose weight for fertility treatment, more specifically to get my BMI down to 25 for IVF (it was 29.5 at this time). I just burst into tears and felt so deflated to be told that I would need to wait six months before we could move forward again. I spent a good few weeks working out how, and what I could change to get to where I needed to be. I started to research more about nutrition and making sure I was getting exercise daily, not only for weight loss, but to support my mind, body, and soul. The next six months flew past so quickly. I got my fertility clinic referral letter to start our fertility treatment. I was so nervous, hoping I had done enough at changing certain things for our journey ahead. I stepped on the scales – I had done it! I got my BMI down to 25! When the nurse told me, I just felt such a sense of relief, after six months of pure determination, doing everything I could to prep my body for my journey. It had been a success!

IVF 2020

Our first IVF fresh cycle was in September 2020. My IVF medication came through and I had it all prepped and ready to go, even had my lucky IVF socks on of course! I started the injections, but was so surprised, as I honestly thought it was going to be the worst part. In fact, it was a lot easier than I had imagined. You actually get used to them after a while. I found that if you keep in mind what your end goal is, you will get through it. The next couple of weeks went so fast.

Egg Collection – this was quite straight forward. They managed to get six eggs, which I was very pleased with, and three made it to blastocyst. I recovered pretty quickly and was lucky to not suffer with OHSS – a possible complication of IVF.
Transfer Day – we were having a Day-5 grade B blastocyst put in. The transfer went well, I was a little uncomfortable but not in unbearable pain. I knew I was in the best hands and all the embryologists were so lovely and caring. (They loved my “Yay it’s transfer day” socks). They just made me feel so completely relaxed all the way through. Thank you, Oxford Fertility.
The Two Week Wait (2WW) – then you get told to wait two weeks until you test to see if this whole process has worked or not. I can honestly say that this was definitely the worst part of my journey. I kept myself busy and made a list of things I could do in these two weeks.

My List of Things to Get Through the 2WW

Colouring Books
Walks
Meditation
Reading
Netflix (I binged-watched series!)
Calling some IVF sisters
My amazing Frenchie Pablo and his cuddles

Time to Pregnancy Test

The two week wait passed quickly, and then it was test day! No one tells you how nerve-racking this moment is. Those three minutes on that test feel like forever. I just couldn’t look. I was certain I would not see a positive: but then, there they were – those two beautiful lines. I broke down in tears; we had been waiting years to see those two lines.

But then, things took a turn for the worst…

Baby Loss

At seven weeks pregnant I got rushed to hospital with abdominal pains and a lot of bleeding. I was petrified, especially in this pandemic. I had a lot of tests done and was told that I’d had an early miscarriage – that one word you do not want to hear. My heart just sank. I felt like my world had been turned upside down. The next few weeks were a blur. I didn’t know why this had happened. I felt weak and as though I had failed, which lead to my depression. I was angry, felt guilty and couldn’t concentrate on anything. I know some people might think:“Oh, it was an early pregnancy and it ended early”, but the sense of bonding between a mother and her baby is strong. I know I had my partner and family around me, but I just needed to get my strength back to normal, to move forward again.

IVF 2021

So here I am now in 2021 prepping for a frozen transfer with our last two ’embabies’ and I am feeling petrified. My anxiety is through the roof, not knowing what is going to happen; but all I know is that I am doing the best I can to make my body ready for my babies.

Rebecca x