This is my headcanon for the events following Suzerain as the game played out in my (communist) playthrough:
Disclaimer 1: This obviously includes many spoilers from the game.
Disclaimer 2: This story is written with storytelling and lore at the forefront, not necessarily gameplay accuracy.
(Part 2 is on my page if you can't find it elsewhere)
Disclaimer 3: This is only the first chapter (and backstory) of this headcanon story/fanfic/whatever you want to call it. I want to write more, but would like to see what people in the Suzerain community think about the writing so far and if they’d like to see more of it. :)
Background:
Anton Rayne got elected President of Sordland in his first term by promising progress and an end to the recession. In his term, he managed to fulfill these promises and more.
He ended the recession through several economic programs including an infrastructure program that included the building of a highway in Agnland, the distribution of stimulus checks for people in need, an agricultural revitalisation program in the city of Sarna, an economic revitalisation program in the greater region of Bergia, and the establishment of the Fair Trade and Competition Commission.
Rayne had also enacted his foreign policy that prioritised self-determination and non-intervention, which resulted in improved relations with many nations and many new trade deals with Wehlen, Agnolia, and Valgsland. In slight contrast with this policy, however, Rayne entered Sordland into the Contanan Security Pact. While this move alienated Sordland from some western-alligned nations such as Lespia and Arcasia, it increased trade and cooperation with nations of the east and many of the rising powers in Rika and Xina.
Rayne had also enacted gradual reforms of the economic direction of the country by nationalising several large corporations, most notably Gasom and Bergia steel. In order to temporarily appease the oligarchs, Rayne had through his nationalisation of Bergia steel, let Marcel Koronti, one of Sordland’s most powerful oligarchs, increase his power within his circle of oligarchs. He had also, through the extra income the state had earned from nationalisation and trade deals, been able to cut taxes for all, which further appeased the oligarchs. Rayne, as a communist, saw the oligarchs as a threat, however, he saw the sollists, nationalists, and fascists as a bigger threat that required a temporary appeasement of the oligarchs in order to focus on a larger threat within the nation. Towards the end of his term, however, when the old guard had in large part been brought down, Rayne removed the independence of Sordland’s central bank, a body of financial governing that had long been an extension of the power of the Lothenburg Group.
One of Rayne’s big promises of progressive reform included an increase in the healthcare and education budgets. This was also a promise Rayne was able to deliver on, and through the skillful leadership of education minister Ciara Walda and healthcare minister Paskal Beniwoll, the government was able to efficiently use this budget to make many positive changes to the education and healthcare systems in Sordland.
The increased healthcare budget was used to improve the quality of healthcare services provided in the country, especially in rural areas, as well as a complete subsidisation of dental care and prescription medicine for all and the relocation of doctors to rural areas. The Rayne administration also enacted several taxes on consumer products harmful to the health of the people, including a tax on tobacco and alcohol products.
The large educational reform that Rayne embarked on included a large scholarship program for impoverished families, the building of several hundred schools across rural areas of the country, and the relocation of teachers to rural areas. The reform also radically changed the curriculum of Sordish schools, with desollinisation of schools and an implementation of critical pedagogy and a larger focus on science, physical education, and the teaching of subjects unburdened by sollism. Rayne later established rural education institutes across rural areas of Sordland in order to further improve the availability and quality of education in rural Sordland.
The rights of women and minorities also became a critical issue for the Rayne administration. The first lady, Monica Rayne became a large figurehead in the battle against patriarchy and alongside Ciara Walda they established the Commission on the Status of Women and passed the women’s liberation act that included policies that helped victims of domestic violence, abolished the gender pay gap, affirmed equal access to education for all, and enacted maternity leave laws and state-funded daycare. The support of this commission and its policies, along with Rayne’s personal funding of the Sordish League of Women made them a loyal political ally to Rayne and his inner circle.
President Rayne also became known for his pro-Bludish sentiment that led to a political alliance with Mansoun Leke and the declaration of the minority rights act, the establishment of the minority rights commission that would be headed by Leke, and the granting of amnesty to soll-era political prisoners, many of which were Bludish activists.
Rayne’s other progressive reforms included a vast expansion of the sordish welfare program, that came to include the establishment of the Comission of Social Progress and Uplift, the workers rights act that gave better pay and better conditions to workers across Sordland, two new social benefits programs, one for the unemployed and one for impoverished families, as well as a complete subsidy of public transport and a lowering of the retirement age.
As a communist and subscriber to the ideas of Karlos Marcias, Rayne believed that for Sordland to enter a new age of socialism and communism, the power of the existing dictatorship of the bourgeoisie had to be toppled and replaced with a dictatorship of the proletariat. He saw the judiciary and legislature as being tools of the bourgeoisie. However, the presidency, now under a communist president, was Sordland’s chance for the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat. Rayne believed that he had to topple the bourgeois institutions of government, and replace them with new ones that represented the proletariat. During his first term, he started doing this with a very risky play. Namely reforming the constitution to give wide-ranging powers to the presidency while he continued to build a dictatorship of the proletariat.
The constitutional reforms included the replacement of the presidential veto with a pocket veto, removing the supreme court’s power to vote on constitutional amendments, removing the ability for the president to be impeached, decreasing the electoral threshold to 8% thus allowing Rayne’s Bludish and communist allies into the legislature, removing the requirement of reviews of presidential decrees, removing the immunity of judges, and abolishing the honorary position and immunity of Tarquin Soll.
Rayne used his new powers to crush the reactionary forces of Sordland, starting with a complete reshuffling of the supreme court. As an extension of the removal of Tarquin Soll’s immunity, Soll was then put on trial in front of a new supreme court that found him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison. After Soll’s imprisonment the Rayne administration started their de-sollinisation efforts in full. Rayne also established the anti-corruption police that he used to investigate corruption within the old guard.
The ACP found evidence of several sollists collaborating with the Young Sords in order to assassinate communist politician Bernard Circas. The investigation led to the arrest of many sollist politicians, most notably minister of interior Lilias Graff and former members of the supreme court Orso Hawker and Heron Garaci. With the old guard crippled, Rayne took advantage of the situation in order to change the manifesto of the United Sordland Party to move away from sollism and towards socialism.
In order to further consolidate his power, Rayne used his presidential decree powers to purge the general staff and thus remove the military’s power in internal political affairs. In the aftermath of this purge, minister of defence Iosef Lancea was also made commander of the sordish armed forces in place of Valken Kruger. Rayne also established the Sordish Radio and Television Supreme Council that he primarily used to further rein in the propaganda spread by the old guard, liberals and oligarchs. Rayne also started funding the Red Youth, an organisation he had previously been a member of, thus winning him another political ally outside of government.
The rising threat of Rumburg was also handled during Rayne’s first term. Using his diplomatic skill as a former diplomat in the foreign ministry, Rayne de-escalated the conflict and made Rumburg appear as an aggressor on the world stage. Any uncertainty about the threat of invasion was then put to rest when Rayne entered Sordland into a military alliance with Valgsland and later joined the Contanan Security Pact.
But as elections approached instability within the Rayne cabinet appeared. First with a political scandal that led to the arrest of Illana Vance, the Rumburg spy that had posed as President Rayne’s assistant. This scandal also led to Vice President Petr Vectern resigning, retiring from politics, and going to rehab. Lucian Galade was appointed Vice President in his stead. The instability continued however, with the resignation of several ministers including minister of economy Symon Holl due to ideological differences with the President, minister of health Paskal Beniwoll due to concern for the President’s machiavellian tactics, and minister of justice Nia Morgna and minister of education Ciara Walda both due to the President’s constitutional reforms.
This flood of resignations coupled with the arrest of minister of interior Lileas Graf and the retirement of foreign minister Deivid Wisci left a vacuum of power within the administration that Rayne had a clear plan on how to fill after his reelection.
After the election, the results came in with a big change in the political environment of Sordland. The USP came in first with a slight increase in votes since the 1953 election, the NFP came in second, thus becoming the second biggest party in the country, and the PFJP suffered a loss, losing a significant amount of votes to the USP, BFP, WPB, and CPS. The Communist party of Sordland finally made the threshold and due to the popularisation of communism under the Rayne administration they were able to become a legislative power to rival the PFJP. The Workers party of Bludia were unable to make the threshold however, due to the Bludish vote being split between the WPB and the BFP.
As Rayne took to the stage for his victory speech, he reaffirmed his commitment to a turn to the left and to the east and promised further expansion of Sordland’s welfare system and political and social reforms. He declared that this was the start of the Sordish Revolution.
Chapter 1: Inauguration Day
In the aftermath of Rayne’s victory speech and after meeting with the people of Sordland at a USP rally, Anton Rayne entered the black presidential car and was met with a smile through the rear-view mirror and the eternally joyful voice of his driver, Serge, greeting him: “That was a great speech Mr. President, I am glad you got re-elected. Where to now?” Rayne smiled slightly as he always did when hearing the voice of the man who had become one of his closest friends during the last four years. “I am glad to hear that Serge, thank you for all of your support these years, I am really grateful for all your kind words.” Rayne took a slight pause before continuing “We’re off to 137 Wisci Avenue.” “Right away, sir.”
As the two sat in the car in momentary silence, Anton regretted having to leave his wife and daughter at the rally with Lucian. But Monica was strong, he thought to himself. She would be able to handle herself against Lucian if he were to try anything. After another few moments of silence, it was finally broken when Anton realised this wasn’t the same car he had been chauffeured around in earlier in the day. It was similar enough he hadn’t noticed, but it was newer and frankly more comfortable to sit in. “When did you get a new car, Serge?” “Finally noticed it, eh Mr. President?” He continued “But it isn’t my car, it’s yours, you’re the President, I am merely your driver” “The car was a gift. Sent from Chancellor Hegel in Valgsland, as a congratulatory gift for winning the elections. It seems you made quite the impact on him when you visited him in Haelm.” Anton adjusted his posture in his seat and asked Serge what he thought of the Chancellor. “Oh, I don’t follow the politics of other countries that closely sir, but if he made a deal with you he must be a smart man.” Rayne, slightly tired after the rally, simply replied “You’re too kind, Serge” and resorted to staring out the window as the ride continued through the streets of Holsord.
After a while, the two men in the car started to see a gradual decline in the quality of the houses and infrastructure on the streets as they got further from the hill of pride. Once the car rolled onto Wisci Avenue there seemed to be a slight improvement in the quality of the street, however it was still a far cry from the hill of pride. Suddenly the car stopped. “Here we are, sir. 137 Wisci Avenue.” Before Anton could say thank you, Serge was already outside of the car opening the door for his president. Anton stepped out and was then able to thank his driver for the pleasant drive and conversation.
He stepped onto the cracked pavement as Serge got back into the car. Anton instinctively put his hands in his trouser pockets, only to find a packet of cigarettes there. As he took them out of his pocket he was reminded of the time he had caught his son, Franc, smoking, and he further was reminded of the promise he made to Franc to stop smoking. Granted it had become easier to stop after the tobacco tax had been implemented, but it was still a difficult task. Anton promised himself he would call Franc when he got home to see how he was faring in medical school in United Contana. He looked back at Serge and called out his name. “Could you take this and throw it away for me?” Anton threw his last packet of cigarettes to Serge who nodded back at him in acknowledgement. “Thanks, Serge. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Anton said as he walked into the building ahead.
It was a two-story flat-building, more specifically it was the home of Ciara Walda, among other people. As the President walked into the building he was surprised by the interior, which was far more well kept than he expected. As he walked up the stairs however, there was still a quite distinct creak with every step he took. When Anton reached the top he stood directly in front of a door that said “1B Walda Residence”. Rayne knocked on the door and was soon met with a slightly dishevelled former minister of education. Ciara looked her usual self for the most part, aside from looking quite a lot less put together than usual. She was sporting an old bathrobe and slippers, as opposed to her usual political uniform of a pantsuit or dress. “Mr. President?” Ciara blurted out, trying to hide her slight surprise at the situation. “Please Ciara, you don’t work for me anymore, and I know you don’t care for formalities.” Ciara slightly adjusted herself and tried to put on her poker face she had become known for during her time in politics. “Would you care for a drink, Anton?” She didn’t wait for a reply however and simply entered her home, leaving Anton to catch the door and come inside.
“Tea would be nice” Anton replied as he walked into Ciara’s flat. He heard a call from the kitchen “Already started making it.” Anton let out a slight chuckle at Ciara’s unique demeanour as he followed her voice to find his way to the kitchen. The flat was a lot nicer than he expected. Far from luxurious, but it was nicely decorated and brightly lit with large windows, something that was somewhat surprising given that this flat belonged to Ciara Walda of all people.
As Anton found the kitchen, Ciara had already moved into the living room with two cups of tea in her hands. Anton sat down across from her and thanked her for the tea as she sat it down on the coffee table. “I suppose congratulations are in order” she said with a barely detectable sadness in her voice. “I hope congratulations will be in order for you too” Anton said, giving Ciara a slightly puzzled look on her face. Before she could ask what the President meant, he continued “Rejoin my cabinet. I know you miss it.” He paused for a brief moment, “And I need you.” he continued. “You are a talented politician, but you’ve been able to keep your ideals. I need ministers like you. I know you don’t approve of my methods but who will you support if not me? Ricter? Kibener? Leke and Stahler don’t stand much of a chance without my support, so by supporting either of them, you’d be supporting me still. Why not take that opportunity to rejoin the cabinet and make some real change again. Continue the reforms you started with me and Monica.”
Ciara looked down for a few seconds before replying “You know why I left. You know I cannot stand by and support your constitutional reforms, they aren’t democratic and-” Before she could continue, Anton cut her off “What would be democratic then?” He paused before continuing to speak “To give power to an indirectly elected assembly of capitalist leeches and fascists who want to kill half the country and oppress the other? To keep the institutions put in place by a sour old man who wants to stop the world from moving on?” That last comment about Soll made Ciara chuckle slightly. “I’ve never heard you talk about him like that.” Anton replied with a smile “Well, I couldn’t bad-mouth that old fool too much when his lackeys still had such a firm grasp on the country.”
“Listen, I know you might not support my constitutional changes, but-” Before he continued he stopped to rephrase himself “You are familiar with Marcian dialectical materialism I assume?” Ciara looked slightly offended. “Of course I am” “Who do you think you’re talking to?” She said with a slight scoff. “So then you know that class struggle is an antagonistic struggle. You know that capitalists won’t give away the means of production willingly. Oppressors must be taken down by force, not by the systems that gave them power in the first place.” Anton sighed “I know it isn’t ideal, but it isn’t supposed to be. If Karlos Marcias taught us anything, it’s that ideals don’t bring change, material conditions do. Reality does. And reality is messy. Ideals are pure, but as long as they remain that way they are just ideas, they cannot bring real change if they cannot exist within material reality. What does this idealist notion of liberal democracy mean compared to the real material change that comes with socialism?” Ciara sat back on her couch and sighed deeply, looking at Anton the entire time. “I still don’t know, it just doesn’t seem right.” They sat in silence for over a minute before Anton got up and sighed for a final time in defeat. “Thank you for your service to the people of Sordland, we’re going to miss you Ciara. Both me and Monica”. Ciara looked back down at her floor after Anton stopped talking and started walking towards the door.
“Wait” she said as he was on his way out. Anton turned back around. “You stood by me in my educational reforms, you stood by me-” she stopped for a moment “Us, you stood by us as we fought for the rights of our gender.” She looked away out her window for a brief few seconds, “I’m not sure even Leke or Stahler would’ve done that. At least to such an extent. I owe you at least another chance. Both you and Monica” she said with a slight glimmer in her eyes. ”Thank
you Ciara. Really, thank you. Because between Gus, Iosef and Lucian, I could really use an ally in my cabinet” They both smiled at each other as Anton exited the flat. As he started walking down the stairs he heard the door open again. As he looked back Ciara bid him farewell “Good luck, Anton.” “You too, Ciara.”
As Anton walked out of the building he saw Serge leaning on the side of the car. As he noticed Anton he quickly stood upright and opened the backseat door for his President, bowing slightly as he did it. “I got a call while I was waiting for you sir. Your wife and daughter have left the rally along with your cabinet and are on their way to the maroon palace for the celebration dinner.”
While Anton’s first term had been ceremonially opened with a grand ball at the maroon palace, the event had ended catastrophically with the assassination of Bernard Circas, which drew a lot of bad press to the tradition. It had already been criticised before for its over-the-top extravagance, a criticism Anton agreed with. However, the event still occurred during Rayne’s first inauguration as it was still a quite popular affair, particularly with sollists who wanted to honour the traditions of the nation, and with oligarchs who wanted to take the opportunity to cosy up to politicians. But with the assassination, and the loss of power suffered by sollists and oligarchs during the first Rayne administration, it became easier, and frankly more popular, to replace the event with a more modest one. Namely a televised dinner with the President and his cabinet, along with their families.
Due to the wave of resignations at the end of Anton’s first term however, the dinner might come across as a little too modest though. Especially with Lucian who was married to his work, and Iosef who was married to his own idealised version of Sordland. It was unclear if Ciara would attend. She definitely knew about the event, as she was one of the people campaigning for an end to the inaugural ball. She was welcome to attend as she was to rejoin the cabinet, but Anton hadn’t thought to ask her. Especially as she wasn’t fond of any sort of ‘style over substance’ meeting.
Anton was brought out of his deep thoughts as Serge cleared his throat, and he realised he’d stood there for a solid half a minute. He shook his head for a moment and saw a bin in the corner of his eye that he hadn’t noticed stood next to the building he’d walked into. Anton noticed his packet of cigarettes laying there along with another pack that looked just as newly thrown away. He smiled to himself and walked into the car, letting Serge close the door behind him and get back into his own seat in the front.
“You trying to quit as well Serge?” The president’s driver looked shocked for a moment, as Anton realised what that might’ve sounded like. “Cigarettes.” he assured Serge. “Oh! I got a tad confused there for a second Mr. President.” he nervously tapped the steering wheel as he started the car's engine. “Yes! I’ve decided to quit Mr. President. I couldn’t have done it without you though! I saw the press conference you and Mr. Beniwoll did on television before he resigned, warning of the dangers of tobacco.” Anton grinned slightly as he heard Paskal’s name, before Serge continued. “And as I noticed you were throwing away your last pack, I thought I’d do the same. Follow the example of a great leader.”

Just had my laparoscopic tubal ligation on the public health system (free) on Friday afternoon (June 2nd). I'm the youngest patient my surgeon has ever performed it on with no children. I was very lucky to get this with relatively no hassle. Most doctors here would have just said no. I was expecting to have to fight for it, but I happen to have an open minded GP, and was lucky to be referred to an open minded surgeon.
The surgery itself was straight forward. Had to fast from 7 am and surgery at around 2 or 3 pm. Got hooked up to some machines and put under. All painless and chill.
I unfortunately had some bad luck with the gas: I have a history of IBS and SIBO, so I guess I'm extra sensitive to gas in my abdomen. It caused severe pain that took many drugs and a lot of hours to get under control. This dropped my blood pressure, so I had to be under close observation in recovery for a few hours and had to stay in a ward overnight. I was mostly unconscious and the gas pain was gone when I woke up at 3 am needing to pee.
Everything was fine after that, and I was released in the afternoon.
I wasn't given any prescription painkillers or any specific instructions for recovery. Just to come straight back in if I was feeling unwell or if I had more pain at the incisions (2).
I still haven pooped yet, so any advice on that would be appreciated... I can't have a lot of fibre unfortunately, so im just drinking as much water as possible.
Thank you so much to this community for sharing your experiences and asking questions, it helped me so much!

So all this dialogue isn't verbatim, but it's still 90% accurate because this appointment is still fresh in my mind and still makes me bitter-laugh. Sorry if it runs long, but so many little pieces of this story just add to the shit-pile of an interaction so bear with me.
Back in November of 2022 I got my bisalp done* and was officially sterile. So, after a couple of months, I decided on getting my Kyleena IUD removed to take a break from hormones, given it was useless as a BC method now.
I get an appointment on March 21st to get it IUD removed, and away I go.
Day of the appointment, me and my sister get to the hospital, check in and get a little temporary photo taken to put on my file, and then head to the waiting room. After sitting there for a second the nurse calls me into the little hallway/computer area where they weigh you and asks me to clarify some of my paperwork. The conversation goes (roughly) like this...
"So I just needed some clarification. It says here you're getting your implant removed because you got sterilized? So you got your tubes tied?"
"Yes, I got sterilized. But I actually had a bisalpingectomy, both tubes completely removed"
"Ahh, okay. walks over to computer What was that procedure called?"
"Bisalpingectomy"
"And was it for medical reasons?"
"Nope, purely for birth control. Never having kids. That was the only reason I had the IUD so... Here I am"
"Oh, so your boyfriend doesn't want kids either?"
(Ew, Handmaid-y ass question, but let's continue)
"Nope, husband doesn't want any either. I wouldn't be with him if he did."
"Oh... Okay. Well, let me grab another nurse to help correct that procedure on your paperwork. You can head back to the waiting room if you'd like"
I do. I sit. I wait. And then I get called back again by the new nurse. Now the first nurse I spoke to stayed silent (as far as I can remember) so this conversation is entirely between me and the nurse she got to help with the computer. Note: Whenever you see this symbol ^ add awkward laughter in your head.
"Hi, sorry about this, we're just trying to get that procedure put down. What did you say it was?"
"Bisalpingectomy. Double tube removal."
"Really? It says here on the file that you're 21? You got someone to do that for you?"
"Yep. After Dr. K (the IUD doctor) denied me a referral for it a couple years ago, I just went looking for a doctor who would do it despite my age. And, yay, I did! I actually had to find him on a forum for people who don't want kids because we have such a hard time getting doctors to approve us for sterilization"
"Well, I understand why those other doctors denied you, you're very young. Like when I saw your photo and your age I was like 'Noooo, who would do that, she's so young'."
"Whelp, no reason on waiting a decade for something that I know I want now^. That's just pointlessly risking pregnancy, and with all the abortion politics I can't risk not being able to terminate if my birth control fails."
(Insert a VERY visible wince from both the nurses when I mentioned getting an abortion. I said I was never having kids, you'd think they would've filled in those gaps)
"Well, it's just, we have a lot of women come to our hospital and beg for reversal for their tubal ligations because they got married to someone who didn't want kids but now they're gone or divorced and their new husband wants kids... And we can't help them. It happens all time."
"Well, my husband doesn't want kids either, and you wouldn't catch me dead with someone trying to get me pregnant^"
"Yeah, it's just, it's a permanent procedure. So if you change your mind later there's really nothing a doctor can do for you."
"I wouldn't be able to change my mind if a had a baby. Doesn't seem to stop anybody^."
"I'd like to think that's different... Well, you can head back to the waiting room if you'd like and we'll call you when the doctor is ready"
So I head back to the waiting room and proceed to tell my sister all about the bullshit I just experienced. And to add to the bullshit, there was a woman in the waiting room with us who couldn't have been older than 22 and was heavily pregnant with a small baby in a stroller. So much less permanent /s
So we get called into the actual room and when Dr. K walks in his first words besides a basic greeting was "So... you actually got someone to go through with sterilizing you?"
"Yep, it took years of nagging doctor's but finally someone took me seriously^"
"Well, some doctors will just do anything for money."
"Oh, well, he didn't shirk on making sure I knew it was permanent. But once I let him know that's exactly what I signed up for he was great. Didn't give me any grief. It was great." (Can you feel my passive aggressiveness through the phone)
"Like I said, some doctors will do anything for money."
I get the IUD removed quickly, head home, rant with my (also CF) sister the entire time, and vowed to never step foot in Dr. Ks office ever again.
*Shout-out to Dr. Louis Du Treil in NOLA from the childfree Doctor List! He was great! Took ten-seconds to be like "This is permanent, are you sure?" "Yep" "Okay, well let's get started then". Loved him.
Edit* For everyone asking, mainly so that people can avoid him for treatment in the future, the name of the doctor in the story is Dr. Shawn Kleinpeter. He's a gyno based in Womans Hospital in Baton Rouge, LA off of Rue de la Vie drive.
He was (at best) a 3/10 gyno for my IUD related visits in the past. Made several comments referring to my husband's preference for my birth control instead of my own, and even asked my husband what he thought of my request for a referral for sterilization right in front of me without answering my question first. Hope everybody can save some headache and avoid his office in their own medical journeys :)

I'm a woman in my mid 20s and firmly OAD. I currently take BC pills but would eventually like to move to something more permanent like tubal ligation
Has anyone here had luck being approved for the procedure? I know they usually approve women after having multiple kids/multiple C sections but maybe the rules are becoming more lax and it's easier for younger and OAD women to get tubal ligation?
I'm also seeing a man who has a son whos grown up and is older so he also doesn't want more kids and is willing to get snipped, if I show up with a man who approves will that help my chances? The reason I still want tubal ligation despite him willing to get a vasectomy is because I'm still young and theres no guarenteeing my relationship will last forever

Hey all. Does anyone else have experience with super low betas after IVF and it turn out okay?
Transfer was 5/12. 1st B-HCG 5/24 - 10 2nd B-HCG 5/26 - 18 3rd B-HCG 6/2 - 110
I go back on Tuesday, 6/6, for more labs and am requesting an ultrasound to check embryo placement. The clinic is very worried about it being a tubal pregnancy.

Does anyone else find it incredibly annoying we can essentially only get pregnant 12 days a year?! I get its how the body works but it just so annoying, my husband even said the same thing this month right after my FW. I’m 9 DPO my AM tests have all been negative and I’ve given up hope this month, I know I could still get a BFP but my gut says no.
I had a MC on 4/1 (happy April fools day 🙄) and when I went in for a follow-up ultrasound. The tech said I have very “eager ovaries” she even asked if I was on fertility meds. This gave me so much hope we’d get pregnant again right away, but nope. I hate to complain because I know there are couples who have been trying for SOOOO much longer than we have but my therapist also said it’s not fair to me to downplay my feelings either.
Ok I’m done, thanks for listening. Happy Weekend!

I’m so psyched about my experience getting the copper IUD today and I wanted to share it here! This is for anyone who is trying to figure out their long term birth control option after having their OAD child. I’ve seen a lot on this forum about tubal removals and vasectomies so I wanted to share my experience with the copper IUD for anyone considering it. Surgery and vasectomy won’t work for my situation currently and I know there are others in the same boat trying to figure out what to do.
The insertion was today, and I took 2 Aleve and 1 extra strength Tylenol an hour beforehand. I did research before and found that Aleve treats the inflammatory response in the uterus which is what causes the cramping afterwards, and Tylenol helps block the pain receptors which can help with the initial procedure. I was offered a prescription for Valium but decided against taking it because I needed to drive later that day. I also drove to and from the procedure.
The actual procedure included 3 cramps, and each time my provider told me when to breathe which helped a lot. I had my earbuds in and listened to music, which also helped. It wasn’t crazy pain, just a bit uncomfortable. I’ve had worse period cramps. Then it was over! The provider knew I’m OAD, so she congratulated me on 10 future years of no babies 😂
On the way home the more intense cramping started, and I definitely had to lie down for 2 hours with a heating pad and took one more Aleve and Tylenol. After resting, I could get up and start moving around and the cramps were mild by then. It’s about 12 hours post insertion and I feel totally back to normal, and I had minimal bleeding as well! Overall, it’s worth looking into IUDs as an option and taking all those online horror stories with a grain of salt. I’m so glad I took the plunge. Thanks for reading, this forum is my happy place and I wanted to share with you all!

TW: high ER numbers
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I just finished two ER cycles that were *wildly* different. I know after my first cycle was a bust I was searching a lot for stories where the second cycle went much better, so here's one to add to the list. VERY long post ahead, apologies in advance!
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Pertinent info: Age 34F (35 next month), AMH 0.96 + tubal factor. Husband 36M with a normal SA.
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Cycle 1 - late Feb/early March 2023
I had just recovered from losing my remaining tube after my third ectopic in December. I had a large cyst at baseline (35mm) but it was shrinking and not estrogen-producing so we went forward with the cycle (in retrospect this might have been the biggest cause of our issues, but we can't know for sure).
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Protocol: Antagonist protocol with estrogen priming. Omnitrope days 1-10. 300 Gonal F and 225 Menopur increased to 375 and 300 after day 8. Total of 14 days of stims, dual trigger Lupron and 5,000 HCG.
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Stats:

• AFC: 17
• Mature follicles at trigger: 10
• Eggs retrieved: 5
• Eggs fertilized (conventional IVF): 3
• Blasts: 1 day 6 4BB
• PGT-A: 1 aneuploid

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After my retrieval the RE said my eggs were hard to extract and the fluid was yellow and grainy, indicating poor egg quality. I was tempted to quit, but we eventually decided the PGT result was essentially a coin flip at my age and if we could manage to get one embryo again it had a decent chance to come back euploid. So, after a cycle off we dove back in for round 2.
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Cycle 2 - late April/early May 2023
Cyst was gone (drained in previous ER). Removed Omnitrope, replaced Menopur with low dose HCG (both choices made to cut costs). HCG trigger upped to 10,000. Otherwise similar protocol.
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Protocol: Antagonist protocol with estrogen priming. 300 Gonal F and 20 units LDHCG increased to 30 after day 8 (Gonal kept the same). Total of 13 days of stims, dual trigger Lupron and 10,000 HCG.
Stats:

• AFC: 16
• Mature follicles at trigger: 14
• Eggs retrieved: 19
• Eggs fertilized (conventional IVF): 17
• Blasts: 15 (2 day 5, 12 day 6, 1 day 7 - grades ranging from 3BB to 6AA)
• PGT-A: 9 euploid

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Obviously we are thrilled and shocked by our incredible luck this second time around. It's hard to tell which of the differences were the cause. Could be the cyst was a problem, could be I'm someone who doesn't respond well to Omnitrope or to Menopur, could be the higher HCG trigger. Could just be that my body needed a practice round to get its shit together. Could be all of the above. Regardless, we are very happy to be moving on to the transfer phase, and also very aware that there are still no guarantees with any of this.
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If you made it this far thanks for reading - wishing all of you the best of luck wherever you are at in your process!

Currently TTC our last child. 100% sure we do not want more after this one. I have to have a c-section this time so I figured it would be easy enough to get a tubal while they're in there. However, someone recently suggested this might cause me to have hormal problems. Now I'm not sure if I should get it or if hubs needs to get snipped.
Please share your experiences good or bad. If you could go back would you change who had it done?

I have a consult coming up with my dr and want to make sure I ask the best questions. After 2 egg retrievals, I just had my first medicated FET cycle with est** and PIO using a euploid 4BB. It ended in a chemical pregnancy. I have secondary infertility, suspected tubal issue due to a history of previous ectopic pregnancy. Prior to IVF, I had 4 chemical pregnancies, 1 ectopic with tube removal, and a pregnancy of unknown location that ended at 6 weeks. We did IVF because of these losses, the dr said IVF would help avoid anymore losses. So it’s very disheartening to be in the same situation- with another chemical pregnancy. So issues during my FET cycle included a bad reaction to PIO so I switched to endometrin with PIO every 3rd day the day after transfer. My uterus is so tilted that the transfer took 30 minutes as the Dr struggled to get the catheter into the uterus (never happened during my mock transfer). My cycles are a bit irregular and have been more irregular since beginning fertility meds over the past year, but I always ovulate on my own, it just might fall late. I also have a very short luteal phase (7-9 days), so I am unsure if medicated FETs are my only option. My Dr doesn’t believe in ERAs now that their recent study showed no improvement in success by doing ERA. What other questions should I be asking or what other steps should I be suggesting?

Finally got a BFP after about a year of trying hooray! However, we’re not planning to tell anyone until the 12wk scan but my MIL is regularly round and I’m a bit paranoid about accidentally leaving them around. Does anyone have any recommendations for pregnancy vitamins that don’t shout “I’m pregnant”? The ones I currently have have FOR PREGNANCY in huge letters even on the blister packet.
Edit: thanks everyone for the suggestions! Got a few suggestions for ones with less obvious packaging but I think the winning idea is getting one of those daily pull cases! Just ordered one of Amazon - so thanks everyone!

I want to preface this by asking you to forgive me (31m) if I am speaking out of turn, but hear me out.
I have heard numerous stories of women pursuing tubals and hysterectomies for numerous reasons over the years, oftentimes trying several doctors over several years, even decades.
I have to acknowledge my privilege a little here as I didn’t encounter nearly any roadblocks when pursuing my vasectomy. I contacted a local urologist, called and told them what I wanted, and scheduled an appointment. The doctor was really kind and understanding, listened to me, and after a 15 minute conversation, he agreed to go forward with surgery.
“I’ve been hearing these things from a lot of men your age. Some people just don’t want to have kids.”
Yeah, that’s super cool, but I’d argue that MORE women are vocal about this and MORE women are refused service.
So if you’re a woman that has been pursuing a surgical solution to not having children and you have documentable evidence of being refused by multiple providers year after year after year, sue for emotional distress. Sue for lost wages pursuing unsatisfactory medical care. Sue for something. Even if you don’t win, you may encourage other women to do the same.
These institutions need to be shown that their backwards ways of thinking, that women are “designed” to make babies is outdated and cruel. If you have endometriosis, you should get a hysterectomy. Period. Hell, if you just plain don’t want to have children and you’re willing to pay for it, that should be reason enough.
I don’t know, maybe it’s not practical, and again I apologize if I have no grounds to speak from but I just wonder if something like a class action lawsuit or a unified front of several disgruntled women could make some progress happen somewhere.
Thoughts?

I'm back with more questions!
How long did everyone have off from doing strenuous exercise after tubal ligation/bisalp? I do pole dancing and lyra, so just wondering how long I can expect to take off that. I don't want to put myself at any risk of injury but I know most doctors don't really have any idea about how physical these things can be so just wondered if anyone else here had similar hobbies and when they went back/what they did or didn't do.
Thanks ^_^

I (21F, Western NC) really want to get a bi salp or a tubal because I feel disgusted with my body’s capacity to get pregnant. I don’t want something that’s going to wear off after three years or five years or even twenty years and then find out renewing the birth control became illegal while I was content with my temporary measure. And I still don’t know who to trust for information on this. A doctor will tell me sterilization will fuck my hormones and bring on menopause early and cause regular intense pain. Another doctor will tell me something different. People on reddit will tell me nothing bad will happen and I should just do it and worry about it later. I don’t want parts taken out of me or new parts put in, I just want to have been born in a body absent these disgusting capabilities.