IVF Anyone Part 2

[IVFIVF]

IVF Support & Friendship Part Two
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Members:

alo
Age: 30
DH: 32
Married: 10/01
TTC: 2003
DX: balanced translocation chromosomes 1 and 4
4 m/c (3 chemical pgs, and 1 loss at 10 weeks of triplets)
IVF with PGD #1 unsuccessful due to genetically abnormal embryos
IVF with PGD #2 October 2005, unsuccessful

amychris03
Me: Amy, 29
DH: Chris, 35
Married: 6/21/03
DX: PCOS, lack musculature along outside of tubes
Ectopic PG: 9/04
Status: PREGNANT
EDD: 3/26/06

amygrrl
me: amy (35)
dh: dan (33)
TTC since: March 2003
Treatments: 6 failed rounds of Clomid. 1 successful IVF producing Avery Elizabeth born still on June 3, 2005 at 27 weeks from possible cord accident (we love you, baby girl!) along with 3 frozen blasts.
Status: Meeting with Perinatologist to review Avery's case. Undergoing b/w for a variety of clotting disorders. Meeting with Cardiologist to change arythmia med. and praying for a brother or sister for Avery

angelgirl8
me: angelgirl8, 28
dh: also 28
married: 7.6.03
ttc: 1.04
testing: cd3 and 7dpo blood tests fairly normal
5.04: SA normal
9.04: HSG-tubes clear
9.04, 10.04, 11.04: clomid, IUI, trigger, progesterone
12.04: gonal-f 150iu, IUI, trigger, progesterone
3.04: IVF#1 (all but 1 of the 22 fertilized eggs multinucleated and fragmented; transferred 1 4-celled embryo on day 3)
5.04: IVF#2; added metformin: (18 retrieved, 13 fertilized, 4 low quality embryos survived and transferred on day 3)
6.02.05: Pregnant with TWINS!
EDD - 2/8/06

Applebee
Me: Lori Ann (39)
DH: Ted (36)
TTC: Oct 04
DX: Unknown; All tests ok; SA ok
M/C: Jan 1997 @ 7 weeks
Two snowbabies: 6 day blastocysts; over 100 cells each
IVF #1 APRIL 06: BFN, 3dt w/AH, Grade 1 - 8 cell, Grade 1 - 7 cell
IVF #2 JUNE 06

Astro
Me: Astro age 39
DH: DH age 36
TTC since Sept 03
Laporoscopy June 04
Polypectomy October 04
DX: unexplained infertility with a touch of endo and fibroids.
Clomid/IUIs/Progesterone since July 04
Pregnant with Twins
Status; Miscarried at 16 weeks.

AusMarchBride
Me: 39
DH: 42
TTC: Mar 2003
DX: Unexplained IF
IVF#1: Jan 05, unsuccessful
IVF#2: May 05, PREGNANT
BFP: Jun 14, 2005
Sarah born by c-section, 27 Jan 06, 5lbs 2ozs

Bellefior
Age: 37
DH: 36
Married: 5/03
TTC: 5/05
DX: male factor infertility, RE appointment for 1st week in June.

Cath
Me: Catherine, 32
DH: 34
Married: 11/01
TTC: 11/03
Dx: PCOS in July 2004
4 failed IUIs
1 chemical pregnancy a month we were taking a break(10/05)

donm425
me: Donna (35)
DH: Mike (36)
TTC: Nov 04
DX : High FSH (14/20/11.5) and one blocked tube

gator97
Me: 30
DH: 30
Married 11/04
Off BCP 12/04 (started charting 12/04)
8/05 - laparoscopy- endometriosis (stage 3-4)
1/06 - HSG-clear
1/06 - SA normal

Happy1
Me: Nikki, 27 (7/17/78)
DH: Tim, 35 (11/2/69)
Married: 6/08/02
DX: Male factor
Status: Just starting out

islandgirlsj
Me: Lisa (37)
DH: Ken (41)
Married: April 26th, 2003
DX: Tubes tied, had tubal pregnancy which took a tube.
IVF#1: Unsuccessful,6/5/05 - We have 10 frozen embries, so we move onto a FET cycle next.
IVF#2 -FET, 7/25/05 - Unsuccessful 8/3/05
Currently taking a break. May try another FET in the New Year.

Jad
me: 34
DH: 33
married: 9/02
DX: male factor
IVF #1 June/July - Chemical Pregnancy
IVF #2: September/October 2005
Status: PREGNANT with TWINS!!

Jan1902
Me: 35
DX: Tubal adhesions;tubes cauterized 11/04
IVF #1 1/05, #2 3/05 , #3 8/05 Unsuccessful
FET 6/06

jon'sgirl
me: 29
DH: 31
married: 5/02
DX: male factor
IVF: currently doing our first IVF cycle.

Jude
Me: Emma (37)
DH: Richard (40)
TTC: July 2005
DX: Low sperm count following chemo, & PCO.

Kat (FKA MIPG?)
Age: 36
DH: 40
Married: 9/02
TTC: 12/03
DX: unexplained (HSG, SA, bloodwork all fine)
10/04: miscarried at about 6 weeks
11/04 - 3/05: four rounds of Clomid + trigger (and timed BD) -- all unsuccessful
IVF #1: June '05 (transferred two 8-cell, grade 1 embies)
Status: beta was 6/23
PREGNANT with TWINS!
EDD: 3/2/06 - Boy / Girl Twins!

kemorr
Me: 29
DH: 31, 32 in Feb.
Married: January 5th 2002
TTC: September 2004
IF Info: Grade 2 endometriosis, mild male factor, classified as "unexplained"
3 Clomid cycles, 2 with IUI - all BFNs
4 Gonal-F cycles with IUI - all ultimately BFNs
Possible chem pregnancies on 1st and 3rd Gonal-F cycles, may just be booster HCG at 7 DPO - RE doesn't seem sure!
Laparoscopy 10/05 to remove mild endo
Hysteroscopy 10/05 all clear
Starting IVF Feb/Mar 2006
pregnant! BFP - 2/27/06, EDD 11/03/06, singleton

kischer
ME=Kischer (31)
sway=DH (31)
Married- 10/6/01
TTC- 5/02
HSG- tubes clear
SA- normal
Off BCP- of course
M/C's - 7/04 & 12/04 & 12/05
Two ectopic, one 6 weeks
RE - since 9/04-
Clomid - 7 cycles, 2 OBGYN, 7 RE, I think
HCG - 2 cycles
Acupuncture - yes- 4 cycles
back at the RE - 10/05
Letrozol/Femara - 10/05
1st IVF cycle 4/06

KLo
Me: Lois (31)
DH: Kevin (36)
Married: May 11, 2002
TTC: July 2003
BFP: October 25, 2004 (officially)
EDD: July 1, 2005
IF Info: Bilateral distally blocked Tubes
IVF#1 – Transferred two 8-cell Grade A embryos – Successful!!
Pg with twins - one lost at 8wks.
DD: 6/16/05 - Matthew Michael George
TTC #2 with IVF - some time in 2006

la_bride_2004
Me: 32
DH: 37
TTC: 2/04
DX: male factor, high DFI
IVF #1- OHSS/ chem. preg (Dec 04)
IVF #2 - FET - chem preg (June 05
varicocele repair surgery, 8/05, 13 found and repaired
11/05 chem preg., SA results now show normal count
1/05 normal hysteroscopy, no uterine septum
Status: SCSA testing Feb 06, if normal, on to injectibles/IUI


Ladybug777 (formerly Scorpiobride on WC)
Me: Jazmine (27)
Dh: Taft (30)
Married: 6/15/02
TTC: 3/03
DX: Bilateral removal of tubes (8/05); initially dx w/ left hydro but lap showed both tubes dilated; mild male factor
11/04: IUI #1 w/ Clomid- unsuccessful
2/05 & 3/05 : IUI #2 & #3 w/ injectibles- unsuccessful
IVF #1 (1/06): chemical pg
FET #1: April 2006

Lola9404
Me: Lauren (28)
DH: Juan (29)
TTC since September 04
Diagnosis: Severe Male Factor
IVF #1 - Nov 2005, BFN
FET tentatively scheduled for Jan 06

Mooshie
Mooshie
Age: 38
DH: 38
Married: 02/03
TTC: since late 2003
DX: Male Factor
I've never been pregnant before
3 IUIs, 2 with gyno, 1 with RE with 100 mg of Clomid on days 3-7 on the 3rd try
Completed our first and only IVF cycle in March and we're PREGNANT!!
Due: 12/11/06 (my bday)
Gender prediction: girl

mrselle ~
Me: Jo (30)
DH: Ed (35)
TTC: February 2003
5/2004 - Pregnant!!!
6/2004 - Miscarriage at 7w5d
DX - Unexplained
IVF# 1 - Aug. 2005. Transfer cancelled due to OHSS.
FET# 1 - Dec. 2005. PREGNANT
EDD 1 September 2006

paisleydays
Age: 34
DH: 32
Married: July, 2002
TTC: January, 2004
DX: High FSH & Severe Male Factor
Status: IVF/ICSI #1 Jan/Feb 2006

Sandybride
FET - 8/05
Status: 9/2/05 - PREGNANT!

Scooter
Me: 29
DH:32
Married:8/01
m/c 8/02 at 5.5 weeks
TTC: 4/03
Unexplained Infertility, possible immune issues
3 cycles of clomid & progesterone
2 cycles of clomid + IUI
1 cycle of letrozole + IUI
using acupuncture & on Folgard & baby aspirin
status: on 2nd cycle of letrozole + IUI
next cycle: Bravelle + IUI, and then moving to IVF
Status:8/19/05 - Pregnant

[IVFIVF]

Sidsou
Ann - 34
DH - 42
DS - Kyle - 8/31/2004 - IVF success story!
Original DX - male factor infertility
New DX for TTC #2 - male factor and high FSH
Status:TTC #2 with IVF September/October 2005
Status: Oct 05 IVF converted to IUI - unsuccessful

Suzlywoozly
Me: Sue (29)
DH: Jeff (33)
TTC: October 2002
10/02: 1st Lap-Found ovarian cysts and endo
4/04: Started Progesterone supplements and 25 mg clomid
8/04 - 11/04: Clomid and IUI's
01/05: Surgery to remove mass on left ovary. Turned out to be endo which caused left ovary/fallopian tube to adhere to uterus
02/05-04/05: 2 clomid cycles with failed IUIs
06/05: Pregnant on unmedicated cycle and miscarried
8/05 -09/05: IVF #1 BFN
10/05- FET-BFN
12/05- HSG shows tubes opened
04/06- FET cancelled due to fluid in left tube
05/06- Lap to remove both tubes. Both were blcoked, filled with fluid. Tubes and ovaries were stuck to uterus.

Tandis
Me - 29 (30 in July)
DH - 31
Married- 4/26/03
5/04 -TTC
9/04 - HSG: tube clear
2/05 - SA: normal
2/05 - Endometrial biopsy: normal
3/05-9/05 - Saw RE #1
4/05 - SHS #1: normal
5/05 - IUI #1: 50mg Clomid, trigger shot, failed
5/05 - Laparoscopy: removal of scar tissue and freed up tube and ovary
7/05 - IUI #2: 50 mg Clomid, trigger shot, failed
8/05 - IUI #3 :50 mg Clomid, trigger shot, failed
11/05-1/06; 5/06-currently - Acupuncture
4/06 - Seeing RE #2
5/06 - Clomid challenge: scheduled for next cycle
5/06 - SHS #2: scheduled for next cycle
7/06 - IVF#1
Known issues: one fallopian tube, half of one ovary (left side), severe scar tissue

tigerest
Me-29
DH-30
Married 7/6/02
TTC 7/03
1/05 - Laparoscopy and Chromotubation - Endometriosis, both tubes blocked
4/05 - Laparoscopy #2 a success! Both tubes surgically repaired.
12/22/05 - HSG #3 - Both Tubes Still Blocked after surgery and Clear Passage
2/06 - IVF #1 w/ femara, 1 embryo transferred, Chem. PG
3/06 - IVF #2 w/ half dose follistim/menopur, 2 embryos transferred, Chem. PG
3/31/06 - Laparoscopy #3 - Tubes, cyst, Endo Removed
6/06 - FET#1!

[IVFIVF]

TTC/IVF Abbreviations

#dp3dt : Number of days post 3 day tfr - That is the number of days since your egg transfer assuming they did the ET 3 days after the retrieval. So, 18 days past retrieval would be 15 days post 3 day transfer, 15dp3dt
#dp5dt: Number of days post 5 day tfr - That is the number of days since your egg transfer assuming they did the ET 5 days after the retrieval. So, 18 days past retrieval would be 13 days post 5 day transfer, 13dp5dt
2WW: "2 week wait"; the approximate time from transfer to menstruation due date/Pregnancy Testing
AF: "Aunt Flo"; your period; Menstruation
BBs: "boobs"; breasts
BCP: Birth control pills
BD'ing: "baby dancing"; baby-making intercourse
Beta: Blood test performed to confirm pregnancy. This is not just a yes/no test but gives levels of the pregnancy hormone HCG and progesterone to confirm that the pregnancy is viable
BFN: "Big Fat Neutral" or “Big Fat Negative”; Negative pregnancy test.
BFP: "Big Fat Positive"; Positive pregnancy Test
CD: cycle day; a particular day in your menstrual cycle. Example: CD1 is the first day of your period
DH: "dear husband"
DPO: Days Past Ovulation; number of days from your post-ovulatory temperature rise. Example: 1DPO is the day after your ovulation
E2: Estradiol; the level of estrogen. Used to determine the quality & maturity of developing follicles
ER: Egg Retrieval
ET: Egg Transfer
FET: Frozen Egg Transfer; same as ET but the eggs were retrieved and fertilised during a previous cycle and have been frozen for use in a later cycle
FSH: Follicle Stimulating Hormone; a hormone which promotes egg growth. Measuring FSH levels can give an indication of ovarian reserve. FSH in a manmade form (Gonal F and Puregon/Follistim) is also used as the trigger shot to cause the ovaries to produce multiple follicles
HCG: human chorionic gonadotropin; the hormone that is present during pregnancy and what the HPTs and blood test measure to determine if you are pregnant
HPT: home pregnancy test; a urine pregnancy test you can take at home
HSG: Hysterosalpingram; a diagnostic test where dye is injected into the uterus and then is traced through the fallopian tubes to ensure there are no blockages that could stop an egg from getting through
IMHO: "in my humble opinion"
IMO: "in my opinion"
IUI: intra-uterine insemination
IVF: in vitro fertilization
MFI: Male Factor Infertility
OHSS: Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome; a rare and dangerous complication from the body being overstimulated by fertility drugs
PIO: Progesterone in Oil; synthetic progesterone self administered by injection daily after egg retrieval until a positive pregnancy test. Usage can be continued further into the pregnancy if natural progesterone levels are not deemed high enough to support the early pregnancy
PCOS: polycystic ovarian syndrome; a fertility problem
RE: reproductive endocrinologist
SA: semen analysis
Trigger: An injection of HCG given to trigger the ovaries to ovulate and release eggs
U/S: ultrasound


Some Useful & Helpful Information - Links and such

Our First IVF Anyone? thread on CC (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=671&page=1&pp=10)

IVFer's HCG Levels (http://ivfer.com/hcg.htm)
IVF Pregnancy Due Date and Timeline Calculator (http://www.ivf.ca/calcu.htm)
IVFer's Pregnancy Calculator Page (includes embryo measurements, heartrates and fetal weights) (http://www.ivfer.com/pg_calc.htm)

[IVFIVF]

Ladies, we are good to go. Post away :D

Please check your stats above and if anything is wrong or needs updating, please advise in your post.

Thanks

IVFIVF (also known as AusMarchBride/Ann :D )

[Sidsou]

Hi all - just subscribing and a couple of changes to my stats...

Ann - 33
DH - 42
DS - Kyle - 8/31/2004 -IVF success story!
Original DX - male factor infertility
New DX for TTC#2 - male factor and high FSH levels
Status:TTC #2 with IVF September/October 2005
Status: Beginning Stims October?

[CapeCod04]

Hi! Here's my update

CapeCod04
Me: Kate (44)
DH: Aron (35)
TTC since Aug 04
Diagnosis: none really - my fertility problem is old age!
1 unsuccessful IUI
1 whacked out injectible cycle that was supposed to be an IUI
IVF #1 - Sept, 05, Chemical Pregnancy.
Status: started IVF Cycle #2.

[Suzlywoozly]

Just subscribing...

Went in for another sono and E2 at the butt crack of dawn this morning. I'm up to 24 follicles. The largest is at 20 and the smallest is at 11. I go back again tomorrow for another sono and E2. Looks like ER won't be on Monday now. I'm thinking Tuesday.

Thanks again AusMarchBride for taking over :D

[mrselle]

Just checking in.

Ann, thanks for taking over.

[IVFIVF]

Updated to here

[AusMarchBride]

Hi ladies.

No need for thanks, just pop your cheques in the mail ;) Someone may need to take over for me after February though.

Suzly That's some great results from your stims. Well done

All well here, cold and wet though (the weather, not me) which is a nice change. Hope everyone is well and enjoying your weekend.

[Suzlywoozly]

Hi ladies.

No need for thanks, just pop your cheques in the mail.

...and who should we make those payable to? :p

[Suzlywoozly]

Just got the call... Trigger tonight & ER is on Tuesday morning :eek: :eek: :eek: ! I just got really nervous about things. The ultrasound this morning showed more than 24 follicles (there were too many to count).

[AusMarchBride]

...and who should we make those payable to? :p

Good point Suzly , just send cash, it'll be much easier ;)

Suzly Also, fantastic result with your stims. All the best for retrieval, hope they get lots of lovely eggs. Let us know how you go :D

[Suzlywoozly]

Good point Suzly , just send cash, it'll be much easier ;)

I'll get right on it!

Thanks for the good wishes! I feel like I need all I can get right now!

[AusMarchBride]

You'll be fine, really. This is your first ER isn't it?

[Suzlywoozly]

yup - first one! (and hopefully my last :))

[Jad]

suzly - Good luck tomorrow. You'll do great.

As for me, I go in tomorrow AM for my baseline. Between turning 34 and approaching the end of the BCPs, my positive attitude has evaporated. Probably didn't help that I spent the whole damn weekend by myself. :rolleyes: Anyway, now I've got a full four weeks ahead of me where I'll be simultaneously obsessed and filled with dread. Fun!

[Sidsou]

Suzly Good luck!! I was a nervous wreck for my ER (especially since I had never been knocked out before) and for the transfer. Luckily they gave me a little valium to calm me :) It sounds like you have some great follicles there! Fingers and toes crossed for you!

Jad 34 isn't that bad - is it? Actually I'm just a couple weeks behind you in terms of stopping the BCP and turning 34 :) Fingers and Toes crossed for you also!!!!

[Jad]

sidsou - I guess it's not awful. But I feel like I've been running in place for about three years. I just don't feel like I've made any progress toward having the family that I want or the career that I want. Very disheartening. And then I start thinking about how if this cycle doesn't work, I have maybe one more shot (FET) of having a baby before 35. I know that I'm supposedly "young," but if this only gets harder? Well, that doesn't bode well for me.

In other news, I just got an invite for a baby shower that is scheduled for a few days after my beta. I'll be RSVP'ing late to that one -- after I know what the results of the cycle are. 'Cause there's no way in hell I'm going without a real BFP in my pocket. Considering that I was still crying regularly at that point last cycle, I don't think my presence would be terribly welcome. :rolleyes:

[amychris03]

Just checking in! Nothing has changed in my stats! :)

Suzlywoozly
Good Luck tomorrow with your retrieval!

Jad
Good Luck at your baseline tomorrow!

[jon's girl]

Hi every one.

I would like to join your forum. I have never done an online journal before... this is kind of exciting and intimidating at the same time.

This Wednesday is our first appointment with RMA - reproductive medical associates.

We suffer from male infertility issues, and after appointments with OBGYNs and Urologists, we have been told that the only option that will allow us a 50% chance of conceiving is to do IVF.
I am not sure what to ask in the appointment... or what I can expect?

I am nervous .. any words of advise that you can offer about the first visit with my new RE would be GREATLY appreciated.

- D

[AusMarchBride]

jon's girl Welcome and I hope your stay here is a short one. No need to be nervous about your first RE appt, it'll be fine. He/She will probably ask a heap of questions about your "reproductive life", look over any test results you have from your other doctors, probably send you off for more tests.

I think it's extremely important that you feel comfortable with your new doc, and feel able to discuss pretty much anything with them. Your RE has to get pretty intimate (verbally I mean :) ) with you and DH, so it's important you feel comfortable discussing this sort of stuff with them, and definitely that you feel able to ask questions, have him/her go over and re-explain something if you don't quite grasp it first time around.

Regarding what else to expect, it differs between REs and also between patients. Your new RE may want further testing, although I found that my RE was happy to accept the results of tests my gyno had sent me for, but that may differ between REs. Also, I'm in Australia, so our procedures etc may be a little different.

You should come out of the appt with a sort of list of what needs to be done next (e.g. more tests for you-blood, HSG, ultrasounds, more tests for DH, or no further testing necessary, information on which IVF protocol is necessary if they deem that to be the next step), and an indication of when you would start cycling.

You can also ask for stats on their success rates, and also on what sort of chance they give you of conceiving on IVF. I didn't ask any of this, and was quite happy not to know, but I already knew the clinic where I was doing my cycling is one of the world leaders in IVF. Also, I preferred to go in to my cycling not knowing how they rated my chances, because I truly believe every patient is individual and overall success rates don't means so much when people have so many different causes for their infertility.

Anyway, enough chatter from me ;) Good luck on Wednesday, and you may find you want to come back here and ask some questions after your appt. We'll be here waiting.

Also, if you want your stats posted in the front of the thread, if you give me your info in this format,

AusMarchBride
Me: Ann (39)
DH: Michael (41)
TTC: March 2003
DX: Unexplained IF

If it's easier, feel free to email your update at IVFIVF@hotmail.com but just post here to let me know you emailed. I don't check that email very often.

Suzly Good luck for your ER tomorrow, hope it goes beautifully. Make sure you rest when you get home.

Jad Between turning 34 and approaching the end of the BCPs, my positive attitude has evaporated

You're really a young thing, I promise. And remember, although you're coming up to 35, it's not like there's a switch in your body that turns off the day you turn 35. That decrease in fertility is gradual, and has been happening since we were in our 20s. There's no major difference between trying to fall pregnant at 34 and 10 months to 35 and 6 months.

I know it's hard though when life doesn't turn out quite the way you plan. Can you talk to someone about it? Sometimes, just saying things out loud makes them less scary, and an unbiased viewpoint is often a good reality check. Be gentle on yourself also, this IVF is hard and you're right in the middle of a cycle with all the extra stress that adds.

I hope you go to that baby shower with a grin from ear to ear!

Sidsou I was a nervous wreck for my ER (especially since I had never been knocked out before) and for the transfer. Luckily they gave me a little valium to calm me

Wow, I like your doc :D Although at my clinic they didn't offer valium, ( I guess I didn't look nervous enough :rolleyes: ), they do have a nurse whose job is to be with the patient until they go under the anesthetic. My nurse was with me for for an hour or so on the morning of my retrievals, through the anaesthetist interview, talking to the embryologist, the doc who did the surgery, and then the nurse walked me into theatre holding my hand, and was holding my hand while they put me under the anaesthetic. I said to her I was fine, wasn't going to run away or anything, and she just said, "That's my job, to stay with you until you fall asleep". I thought that was lovely, even though I didn't really need her.

And you're a young thing too!!

All well here, have an ultrasound next week which should be fun.

[CapeCod04]

Welcome Jon's girl!

My house is going to look like a pharmacy again tonight! The box of drugs arrived today. I've got some new ones too! I will be adding hcg to the mix. I have enjoyed being shot free these last couple of weeks.

[Jad]

All systems are go! I start jabbing myself on Saturday. And suddenly I'm excited again after feeling all glum for a couple of days. :rolleyes:

suzly - Hope your ER went swimmingly!

amychris - Thanks for the good baseline vibes! Apparently they worked because everything looked good and I don't have to wait for AF this time.

jon's girl - Welcome! We have MFI issues as well. No need to be nervous for the first appt. I think Ann gave you much good info. I'm sure they all work differently, but more than likely they'll just talk. We didn't do anything that required me to be half-naked until our IVF sign-up appointment, which was different than the first consult.

Ann - Sadly, I talk to someone every week, but it hasn't really succeeded in changing the underlying context. Ah, well. But thanks for the encouraging words about the shower. I hope you're right!

cape - So what'd you decide to do about timing? Just stay on the BCPs a little longer?

[jon's girl]

So good to get some info.... I'm glad you guys are so welcoming and so full of information!!

Thanks!

Question: the minute you started the IVF procedure, did it feel like every one else around you was getting pregnant easily? I have just heard from 6 friends/family members that they are pregnant... and have been invited to 3 baby shower-type of events! While I'm of course happy for every one... at the same time, I feel a bit... sad and well, just... URG!

[angelgirl8]

just wanted to stop in and say hi in this brand new thread.

jon's girl...if you have nyc clinic questions, i'd be happy to answer any of them! good luck!

jad...congrats on starting the stabbing. glad you're feeling better emotionally about it.

ann...excellent job with the thread. you might have a future in this.

suzly...how was ER?! hope all went well.

[Sidsou]

Jad Glad you are feeling better! I know exactly what you mean about the "what have I done so far". I get like that every once in awhile too. For me so far - hitting just 29 for some reason was really tough for me due to all of that.

Jon'sGirl Exactly!! I really don't know if it's just us noticing everyone being pregnant more or what. But I swear so many people just said oh I think we'll start trying and the next month I find out they're pregnant. It's so hard not to be jealous. Feel free to ask any questions of us :)

Ann I do love my doctor! I guess I must have looked like the nervous wreck I was :D

[Suzlywoozly]

I'm back..... Everything went really well. 21 eggs retrieved and I just got the call that 16 fertilized :D. I am so happy since the RE told me that he thought he was only doing to be able to retrieve 12. So, we are set for ET on Friday or Sunday.

[jon's girl]

Thanks to every one for being so welcoming.
Today was our first appointment with our RE. We liked him.

He really spent a good amount of time with us going over IVF... and our chance of success (he said 63 - 70%, which was better than the 50% we had heard before) Our RE also told us that varicocile surgery wasn't really worth it for us. Jon's sperm has to get soooo much better, that it can't/won't happen.

He scheduled our cycle with us today... I start the birth control pills in a few days.... then the nurse explained the rest of the process... which sounds .... well... it sounds ... YUCK. (can't think of a more appropriate word.) They give 2 classes: one on injections and one on the whole process - we are signed up for the one on the whole process.

I hope I get through this... I am afraid of needles, blood being drawn, etc...
This is also soo much to handle emotionally.

Anyway... I am glad I have all of you here to guide/support .... but I do hope we are all out of this thread soon !

[AusMarchBride]

jon's girl Glad your appt went well. And don't be too worried about all the stuff ahead of you (classes, injections, pills etc). It all seems a bit daunting when you first hear about it, but just take it one step at a time and it becomes a bit more do-able :D The emotional side is tough, no question, but use this thread as a support. You'll pretty much find that you are not alone in your feelings, everyone else has had the same doubts and fears.

Suzly Great result on retrieval and fantastic fertilisation numbers also :D When do they decide whether your ET is Friday or Sunday?

Sidsou But I swear so many people just said oh I think we'll start trying and the next month I find out they're pregnant. It's so hard not to be jealous

Ohhhh, that's so true

angelgirl ann...excellent job with the thread. you might have a future in this

Cheeky sausage ;) How are you doing?

Jad All systems are go! I start jabbing myself on Saturday. And suddenly I'm excited again after feeling all glum for a couple of days Woohoo. It's incredible how happy the thought of injecting yourself can make you feel :D If anyone had told me that a year ago I'd have said they were nuts!

Capecod When do you start stims? Will you be on a similar schedule to Jad (I think she's earlier than you though) or closer to jon'sgirl?

[CapeCod04]

Jon's Girl - you will get used to the needles - it becomes part of the routine

suzly - wow - great retrieval and fertilization report!

As for me, I start stims this weekend. We pushed things up a week, rather than back a week. I'm doing a lupron microdose flare again, adding high dose hcg to the mix. So, if all goes like last time, I'm looking at my ER on the 30th and the transfer on October 3rd. My DH should be coming home from New Orleans on Saturday - so he won't get to miss the emotional swings at the start of stims! :)

[mrselle]

Welcome jon's girl! Glad you had a good visit with your RE. I was afraid of the needles too, but after the first shot I was fine and you will be too. :)

Suzly, that is a wonderful ER result and an AWESOME fertilization report. I hope that everything continues to go just as well.

CapeCod04, good luck with starting stims this weekend.

~~~

As for me... it’s been three weeks since I was in the hospital for OHSS. Physically, I’m ok, but emotionally I don’t think I’m ok and I think its beginning to affect how I feel physically….if that makes since. AF finally went away, but now I’m feeling some twinges every so often where my ovaries are located and that bothers me. Its not painful, just enough for me to notice and it can be bothersome. I’m very tender on my right side and that bothers me to, because I wonder if some long-term damage has been done. I want to see me my doctor for reassurance, but I’m tired of going to the doctor. Does that make since? Emotionally, I’m sad. Maybe it’s my hormones. I keep reminding myself that I just spent one month on fertility drugs and driving 45 minutes to get ultrasounds and blood work. But then sometimes I think that its not my hormones. I’m definitely feeling down and I don’t know what will make it better. To top it off DH has me charting this month. In the past he has never cared about the whole charting thing, but for whatever reason he wants me to chart this month. I am charting, but the ONLY reason I am doing it is because he agreed to enter the information on FF. It’s CD16 and I fear my ovaries may be broken because I haven’t O’ed yet and there is no sign that I might O anytime soon. Not to mention that if charting actually worked for us I’d be pregnant many times over by now. Did any of you have these feelings (physical or emotional) after an IVF cycle?

[jon's girl]

Hey guys.

You've all been using abbreviations and I can't figure all of them out... any chance you can clue me in to a thorough list somewhere on line ?

Question for those of you who travel for business or are just travelers:

When can you travel and when can't you travel during this process? I have tons of business trips planned for October, but we start the hormone injections in October ... the nurse asked if there were any trips i "had" to take... and I said... i guess not. But, if I don't go, I'll be losing money...
just thought I'd get your input...

[Suzlywoozly]

mrselle, capecod, AusMarchBride- Thank you so much!

We find out tomorrow morning if the ET will be tomorrow at noon or if they will push it to Sunday. I haven't been feeling so good the past few days. I am not in any pain at all, but I am so nausea and can hardly get off the couch or out of bed. I'm not sure if it is from the PIO :confused:

mrselle - I can't really answer your question since this is my first IVF cycle, but I want you to know I am thinking about you. I know you are tired of going to the dr but could you call them and ask about the pain? Lots of {{{{{{HUGS}}}}}} to you!

CapeCod - That's great news things are getting started for you! I'm glad to hear your DH is coming home soon. I hope he has a safe trip home :)

jon's girl - Welcome to the group! I hope your stay is short. I'm not sure there is a list of abbreviations. You can list the ones you don't know and we can tell you what they mean.

[la_bride_2004]

Hi ladies! I have followed you to the new thread and just wanted to say hello.

DH is SLOWLY recovering from the varicocele repair surgery, but we are hopeful it's done some good. Five more months and we will find out.




Astro Just wanted to say I am so sorry for your loss, and I am sending hugs and love your way.

[AusMarchBride]

Jon's girl You've all been using abbreviations and I can't figure all of them out... any chance you can clue me in to a thorough list somewhere on line ?

Fine question. I'm going to see if I can dig up a list of abbreviations and I'll repost it on the first page. I'll let you know when I've done it.

And you asked about travelling while cycling. I would guess it should only be a problem once you have started stims (as they need to monitor you with ultrasounds and bloodwork every 2nd day) and then obviously when you are doing retrieval, transfer and a day or two after that. It's sort of hard to give you exact answers because you may respond to stims very well and therefore your time on stims may be shorter than others, or if you are on the pill first they may decide to keep you on longer depending on your personal response. So my answer is wait and see I guess.

Capecod Woohoo for starting stims on the weekend. And I'm happy your DH is coming home, that's really important that he be around to suffer along with you ;) Sep 30 will be here before you know it.

mrselle I'm sorry you're feeling so blah. This IVF cycling is really tough and plays all sorts of head games. Hang in there and take some time for yourself. I know your DH is trying to help with the charting thing, but maybe straight after your IVF cycle cancellation isn't the best time to be doing it. Maybe you need to try and forget all the TTC stuff for a little while and give yourself some time. I took quite a long break between my 1st and 2nd IVF cycles (due to some overseas travel) and I found it really helped refresh me, let me get past the failed cycle and be ready to go again.

About the charting thing. What I know about charting can be written on the back of a postage stamp, so this may be completely wrong. But I would have thought that the first cycle after being through fertility treatment is not going to be a normal one anyway, the drugs would have completely messed with your body. I wouldn't read too much into it that you haven't ovulated yet. I don't know that even if a person's ovaries were 100% that they would ovulate straight after all the fertility drugs. Obviously there are far more experienced women here and elsewhere on the boards who know everything about charting, maybe it's worth posting a question on the boards about that.

suzly I haven't been feeling so good the past few days. I am not in any pain at all, but I am so nausea and can hardly get off the couch or out of bed

Ohh, you poor thing. Rest up and take it easy .

[la_bride_2004]

Jon's girl

I wanted to say welcome as well, and ask you a few questions because I too did IVF for male factor (I have no known factors.) Has your husband had an SCSA test done? If you haven't, I would HIGHLY recommend getting one done before you move to IVF. (check out www.scsadiagnostics.com )

I wish,wish, wish we had taken this test more seriously. Basically, it measures the genetic damage in the sperm, which is NOT detected from a S.A. Why is genetic damage important? Well, you have extremely high odds of miscarrying if the sperm show genetic damage. We had bad results, and went ahead with IVF anyway (at the recommendation of the RE; the Reproductive Urologist recommended we go for the varicocele repair surgery.) The result? Both times I had biochemical pregnancies and miscarriages. Yup, the test predicted this. I even grew six day blastocysts- genetically damaged sperm CAN fertilize embryos and they can make it to blast. PGD testing will not reveal the damage either.

Totally your call what you want to do, but I WISH I could turn back the hands of time and have us do the varicocele repair surgery first. Oh, and also, our RE said it wasn't worth it either because it looked like there were only 3-4 varicoceles showing on the ultrasound. The RU said it could help. After the two miscarriages, we went ahead and had it done, and guess what? There were extensive veins that didn't show up on the ultrasound!!!

Male IF is one of the most treatable areas of infertility, and the varicocele repair success rates are above 80%, which is much better than IVF.

Food for thought! Like I said, I wish I had known some of this earlier, we would have saved so much money and heartbreak.

[IVFIVF]

jon's girl I've posted a list on the first page of this thread of some standard abbreviations. If there's any others that someone uses (I can't think of any more) that you are unsure about, ask away.

[AusMarchBride]

Coreen Lovely to see you :D And this
DH is SLOWLY recovering from the varicocele repair surgery, but we are hopeful it's done some good. Five more months and we will find out.
is good news. I'm sorry it's a slow recovery and I hope the next 5 mths will go by so fast and that you will get great results from the surgery.

[mrselle]

jon's girl, concerning traveling, DH and I learned the hard way that an IVF cycle can throw you lots of curve balls, so try not to schedule anything that is extremely important.

Suzly, many (((((hugs)))) to you. I felt like crap after my ER too, so I feel your pain. I couldn't tell you if its the PIO shots because I only took it for two days before we cancelled the cycle. I hope you get to feeling better very soon.

la_bride_2004, good to "see" you. :)

AusMarchBride, thank you so much for your feedback. I am with you 100% on charting right after an IVF cycle. Unfortunately, when I started charting 2 1/2 years ago DH didn't understand a thing about it and wasn't interested in it at all. All he wanted to do was BD. He is a very technical person, so he doesn't quite understand that I don't always ovulate on the same cycle day and he doesn't understand the toll these drugs can take on a woman's body. To him it seems logical that my body would go back to "normal" once I stop all the drugs and get AF. He is very sweet, but I gotta say...I think its stupid for me to chart at this stage of the game. It doesn't really make sense to me to go back to charting once you've done IVF. :rolleyes:

~~
Yesterday I decided that my two week long pity party must come to an end. I'm going to start walking in the mornings again, clean out my closet to make room for some new clothes for the Fall/Winter, get a pedicure, and put a smile on my face. :)

[Jad]

Ann - Nice work with the abbreviations. Some additional ones? #dp3dt and #dp5dt? E2? FSH? FET and PIO for sure. That's all I can think of right now.

mrselle - I charted the month after my IVF. My temps were a little wacky, and even though I did O about the same time I normally do, I never got a good solid coverline. And this was all while being seriously depressed. If you're wondering if you're alone, just read back a little in this thread. You're not.

coreen - I hope the surgery did a *lot* of good. Will you check at three months and then again at six or just wait until six?

suzly - Sorry you're not feeling great. The PIO never made me queasy although the stims sure as heck did. In fact, I felt great once ER was over (TMI--a little constipated but otherwise great.) So, if it's really that bad, it can't hurt to mention it to the nurses at your clinic.

jon's girl - IVF will curtail your traveling, no question about it. I've had several trips that I've had to back out on. One to India and one to Brazil (although they both got canceled after I backed out -- don't ask.) You can travel during BCPs (or probably Lupron, but I didn't take that so can't say). Then you'll largely be stuck for about three weeks. You'll have to go into your clinic for a baseline before you start stims. You have another short window between that and when the monitoring starts. Then you go in every other day from day 5 to ER. After ET, you'll be freed up again until the beta/betas.

******************

As for me, I took my last BCP Tuesday night and AF just showed. I'm a little surprised. It usually takes her longer to show after I stop BCP, and I wasn't sure she'd make it before I started the stims tomorrow. But that's fine. No worries. Or at least no worries about AF. I'm back on the ol' emotional rollercoaster. And I feel like the only person left from the old WC thread that hasn't gotten pregnant. :( I know I'm not, but I'm the only one cycling right now and thus the only one posting regularly. <sigh> At least it's Friday!

[mrselle]

And I feel like the only person left from the old WC thread that hasn't gotten pregnant. :( I know I'm not, but I'm the only one cycling right now and thus the only one posting regularly. <sigh> At least it's Friday!

I wasn't a member of the old WC IVF support thread, but I know how you feel. I realized yesterday that some of the ladies that started TTC the same time I started either have TWO kids now or are pregnant with number 2. :eek:

[jon's girl]

LA Bride... that is interesting - no one mentioned this test... and we discussed my concern with this issue at length. I have just put a call into my RE to specifically ask him about this test. Thank you!

[jon's girl]

Mrselle and JAD - I am right there with you... approx 7 friends/family members have gotten pregnant in the time that we have been TTC. Also, I work part time in an OBGYN office... and there some patients walk in not even knowing they are pregnant, and others have only been TTC a few months !!!! It is tough. And all the baby showers, baptisms, etc... blech.

[Astro]

Jad you're not the only one from the old WC thread. I'm here, not officially yet as we're still mourning. I've got a meeting with my RE in October to just talk about our plans. We think we'll try IVF again in November. Hopefully you won't still be here by then (for you). :)

short update on us: Met with my OB earlier this week. The path reports were back on the placentas, and there was no infection. My OB is a bit stumped as to what happened and had a bunch of specialists look at all our ultrasounds, medical reports, etc. Everyone said it looked like a very healthy pregnancy (except we lost the boys at 16 weeks). My OB is now thinking I might have a clotting disorder and is going to check for that in the end of October. I wish they'd hurry up and find out what happened. I hate not knowing.

The boys funeral service was yesterday. It was very short, but exactly what we needed and wanted.

Back to lurking.

[Suzlywoozly]

Embryo transfer is now moved to Sunday :D. The RE called and said ten of them look fabulous and at this point they can't look any better. He thinks we will have plenty to freeze :D. I am feeling a lot better today. I asked the RE about it and he said it's not the PIO, but probably because my ovaries are so big from all the follicles. If it's not better, I need to call them tomorrow.

I am glad now that the ET got moved to Sunday, because I had to run our kitty to the vet this morning. He hasn't been peeing for like three days. I thought maybe they would give him some antibiotics and we'd be out of there. They made me leave him :(. I sobbed hysterically in front of a waiting room full of people. To make matters worse, when I got there, a couple came in with their dog who was dying. The poor lady was sobbing, then I started crying for them. What a cr*ppy thing to have to do when I am full of crazy hormones. The vet must think I am nuts! Hopefully if they can get him to pee by this afternoon I can go pick him up.

mrselle - Pedicures and retail therapy are the cure for anything! I hope things are looking up for you today! :)

Jad- Good luck starting the stims tomorrow.

Hi to Astro & la_bride - It's good to see you two.

Hope everyone else has a great weekend.

[Duncan1]

OK Jad none of this pity party stuff for you - I've been around here a while longer and I still ain't PG. What a great accomplishment huh.

Astro I was so sad and stunned to read about your boys. I am glad that the funeral service was what you and your DH needed and your docs are providing good support. Sounds like you have a very positive attitude and will be back cycling very soon.

Suzly that is great that you are going to a 5dt - all the best on Sunday!

Mrselle hope you are doing ok. It is so hard to feel 'normal' when you are dealing with all this crap. As I have realized, the sun will continue to shine and everyone else will continue about their business, so you just have to do what's best for you and keep on going.

Jon's girl welcome, sounds like you've already gotten lots of wonderful info. from the gang here.

Ann threadmistress extraordinaire, thank you for doing this. I hope to be a better thread member soon. HOw is the nursery decorating going?

ETA hi to labride. And also ETA to send hugs to Queen.

[Jad]

astro - I'm sure the service was beautiful. I hope there are lots of kids on the playground to keep your boys company. ((((hugs)))) (Glad to see you're still lurking. :) )

Jan - It wasn't a pity party, I've just missed you, and I knew you'd come visit me. ;) :D Is the MRI for the potential thyroid issue? When you do the FET will it be with the new doc that you just used or would you look around again?

suzly - Hope your kitty is ok -- I'm glad you got him to the vet. We've been giving one of our girls antibiotics for close to two months now for a kidney infection (she's had two urine samples so far), and since then I've heard tons about cats with similar problems. I had no idea cats have such delicate urinary systems. Good luck on Sunday! You'll do great.

[Duncan1]

Jad - ha! Didn't want you thinking you could take over my spot as queen of jabbing-oneself-with-a-huge-needle-daily-and-getting-nothing-out-of-it. Yes, some of my thyroid and adrenal levels are low so I believe they are hooking me up with a pituitary MRI. Part of me is glad the doc is pursuing this and wants there to be some issue which would explain my lack of success, but the other part just wants to get the show on the road again. And yes, I'll be with the same clinic, as I just did the one cycle with them (1st 2 cycles were in a diff. state). Happy stimming to you.

Also, I meant to say hi to Sidsou before and happy birthday to Kyle!

[la_bride_2004]

Originally Posted by Jad
And I feel like the only person left from the old WC thread that hasn't gotten pregnant. I know I'm not, but I'm the only one cycling right now and thus the only one posting regularly. <sigh> At least it's Friday!



I wasn't a member of the old WC IVF support thread, but I know how you feel. I realized yesterday that some of the ladies that started TTC the same time I started either have TWO kids now or are pregnant with number 2.


LOL I am right there with you ladies, never fear! It'll be more than two years TTC before we can start trying again. Sometimes it really eats at me, sometimes I am ok about it.

[la_bride_2004]

Hi Jan, Suzly, and Astro!!!


I still am cheering you ladies on :)

Mrselle- it took me a while to recover from my pity party, so take your time. All of this is rough stuff.

[la_bride_2004]

Jadcoreen - I hope the surgery did a *lot* of good. Will you check at three months and then again at six or just wait until six?


Yes, we will check at 3 months, but realistically the RU said we shouldn't see improvement until 6 months because there were so many veins! Somehow it seems safer to me to be optimistic on the cautious side, you know? I do have a GF whose husband had the exact same surgery and it took them 6 months too, but she was hoping and praying for good results at 3 months and was crushed when they came back not so good. They even started researching donor sperm. I just don't want to go through that unless we need to! :)

[CapeCod04]

I'm officially a pin cushion again! :) I forgot about the headaches. :(

[AusMarchBride]

Capecod Oh the headaches, you poor thing, they are just horrible. Take care of yourself and I hope they stop soon. But congrats on feeling happy about being a pincushion ;)

Coreen Yes, we will check at 3 months, but realistically the RU said we shouldn't see improvement until 6 months because there were so many veins! Somehow it seems safer to me to be optimistic on the cautious side, you know

Absolutely that seems like the smart thing to do, especially emotionally. You've had so many ups and downs with this, a little more "emotional cruising" for the extra 3 months is a great idea.

Jan1902 I believe they are hooking me up with a pituitary MRI Well that sounds like a barrel of fun, not. I hope that does turn out to be the problem though, it's always better to have a definite reason for what's been happening. It also sounds like it's relatively easily fixed with drugs. Much better than the "we don't know why it didn't work" :rolleyes:

Ann threadmistress extraordinaire, thank you for doing this. I hope to be a better thread member soon. HOw is the nursery decorating going

My pleasure, no need for thanks, just put cash in the mail! You are a good thread member now, this is meant to be here as support when and if we all need it. No need to feel like you HAVE to post to be a good member. Nursery decorating stalled, few other things on our plates but we'll get back to it soon. I also feel a bit silly doing things this early, I hardly look pregnant (just like I've packed on a few kilos) so I feel like an imposter in the baby shops :D

Suzly Hope your transfer went beautifully and you are resting up. I'm sorry about your kitty, hope he is doing better.

Astro The boys funeral service was yesterday. It was very short, but exactly what we needed and wanted. I'm so glad it was what you wanted and needed, that is so very important. You sound like you are doing as well as can be expected at this point. It must be so frustrating not having a reason why you lost the boys, I hope they find something definitive that can be treated easily. Look after yourself and DH.

jonsgirl Oh yes, as soon as you start having problems falling pregnant, everyone else seems to get pregnant by just talking about it :rolleyes:

Jad Congrats for being back on the stims. I wanted to ask if the model in your avatar is representative of you or not? Thanks also for those extra acronyms, I'll update the first page.

mrselle He is a very technical person, so he doesn't quite understand that I don't always ovulate on the same cycle day and he doesn't understand the toll these drugs can take on a woman's body. To him it seems logical that my body would go back to "normal" once I stop all the drugs and get AF

Aha, gotcha. You explained it all with the "technical person" part. If doing the charting makes him happy, keep doing it as long as it doesn't require getting up at 5 in the morning or something ;)

Yesterday I decided that my two week long pity party must come to an end. I'm going to start walking in the mornings again, clean out my closet to make room for some new clothes for the Fall/Winter, get a pedicure, and put a smile on my face Good for you, it's always nice to take some positive steps forward. But it's okay also to have a pity party, you need time to get over disappointments too. Enjoy your pedicure, I'm having one tomorrow and I can't wait :D

BTW, angelgirl where are you, Haven't seen you for a while.

Hi to anyone I've missed, hope you're all doing well. On Thursday I'm off interstate to catch up with some friends so that should be great. DH will come up on the Friday night after work and I'm looking forward to the break. We'll be back on Sun night.

[mrselle]

[QUOTE=AusMarchBride
Aha, gotcha. You explained it all with the "technical person" part. If doing the charting makes him happy, keep doing it as long as it doesn't require getting up at 5 in the morning or something ;)
[/QUOTE]

5am? Are you kidding me? At 5am I'm rolling over to get another good three hours of sleep. :D

[AusMarchBride]

Mrselle 5am? Are you kidding me? At 5am I'm rolling over to get another good three hours of sleep

Hehe, good thinking :D

[Sidsou]

Hi all!!

Jad I so hope you are feeling better now. I realized I may have been a bit too lighthearted in my remark about turning 34 :( I'm so sorry... Glad to hear you are back to stims again!!

Mrselle Rolling over to get 3 hours more of sleep - you lucky ducky!!

CapeCod I forgot about those too! Hope you are feeling better soon.

Suzly Just wanted you to know we are thinking about you and your wonderful little embryos!!

Aus You are doing a wonderful job as threadmistress! Hope you had a great weekend without any m/s. I do remember that awkward time when you just feel fat rather than looking pregnant. It'll pass quickly and soon you'll be woobling along :)

LA I was shocked when you posted how many veins there were! That just sounds like it will make such a substantial difference. Good thinking with the realistic 5 month approach - hopefully you'll have a pleasant surprise at the 3 month checkup.

JonsGirl We also have male factor. Although now I threw in a little FSH problem on my side too :) But with just the male factor, we did end up getting pregnant on my first IVF (we did ICSI) and have a healthy baby boy.

Jan Hi there! Glad to hear you are getting the MRI. I do hope they find something that's nice and easy to fix!! Thanks for the birthday wishes for Kyle.

Astro <<Hugs>> I'm so glad that the funeral service went well. I just pray for you and your DH that the doctors can find some answers for you.

Finding out my protocal today. I was supposed to find out last week, but my nurse said that the doctors were still debating between two different protocal so they wanted to discuss me again at Monday's meeting. Never knew I was so interesting :)

Question... I'm just curious to see if anyone else had/has this too. When I take the pill or any of the fertility drugs, I have the most bizarre dreams. Very vivid - even some violent (I'm always the good guy though fighting the evil doers). I wonder if it's the hormones or if it's just my anxiety coming out in my dreams. I remember going through all of this when I did my previous IVF, but had forgotten until I started the pill a little over a week ago and the goofy dreams started.

[Jad]

sidsou - Well, you know, *I've* always thought you were fascinating. :p No worries on the 34 thing -- I don't even remember you saying anything overly lighthearted. So clearly, no big deal. :D And now that you mention dreams, I hadn't dreamed for close to a year. The dreams started back up around the time my first cycle started. I hadn't thought to connect the two, but I wonder if you're right. Wierd!

Ann - Is my avatar representative? Well, yes and no. Yes, because I really like the color (and actually kind of the clothes, too.) I dyed my hair that color once in college. No, because I think the model looks a little sour in the pic and I don't tend to think of myself that way.

suzly - So how was the transfer? You resting up and giving those embies a nice place to latch on?

capecod - Congrats on starting the shots!

And speaking of shots, I think I forgot how to do them right. Or something. The last two nights I've noticed them more than I remembered. Of course, I remember feeling basically nothing with the sub-Q's last time, so perhaps that's a faulty memory. Either that or my preferred explanation. Which is that I've toned up enough in my belly that there's a little less fat and *that's* why I'm feeling it more. Ahh, I really like that explanation. :p

Anyway, I kind of feel like I'm going through the motions right now. I'm not excited, but I'm not depressed. I'm just kind of numb. Maybe Wednesday's u/s will perk me back up.

[Suzlywoozly]

Transfer went well. We put in two "perfect" blasts. 8 additional blasts went on ice as well as 6 embryos. The RE was very pleased with the entire cycle. I will be very pleased only when it actually works!

When they say "bedrest" for the first two days, does that mean I actually can't go out of the house? I really need to go to the post office today, but am afraid to screw things up. Also, how long after transfer do the blasts implant?

Be back later for replies.

[jon's girl]

Sidsou - so glad to hear IVF worked for you. That is inspirational. I love hearing these stories. How old is your baby boy?

LA Bride - Thank you so much for the information. I did ask my RE and he said that for us, we do not have to do that test ... we are doing some other genetic sperm testing but I am not exactly sure what that is... will get more info on what we are doing in case it can help any one else.

SuzlyWoozly - I will keep my fingers crossed for you. Sounds like good news so far.

Jad - Sounds a bit painful... but I would go with the tight Abs reason - That'll take the edge off a bit.

AusMarchBride - so happy you have a pregnancy ticker. :) It is so nice to see.

As for me - Today was my first "Monitoring" session... they did bloodwork and called me back a few hours later and said I am okay to start the bcp on day 5 of cycle. So... I was happy to get to start. Then, the IVF coordinator emailed me to say she mapped out my schedule for me... and I am going to have to cancel crucial business meetings in Atlanta, Texas, Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles. Urg. I am debating pushing back IVF another month (because I could really really use the $ generated by going to these locations ) ... but then that is one month further away from my goal !!! (and I really want that goal !) and one month of more anticipation of the bloodwork, needles, etc... - the whole process... and I am afraid that the longer I anticipate it, the more scared/anxious I will become. I think I am leaning towards cancelling all business meetings out of New York in the end of October, despite this being peak season... b/c I want to attain our goal and I want to start soon. But ...Urg!!!

[Sidsou]

Suzly Yeah for the Perfect Blasts!! IMO, I always considered the bed rest to be a modified sort of bed rest. No cooking, cleaning, work, etc. But I still got out of bed, showered, threw the ball to the dogs, etc. I would think a quick trip to the post office would be fine. I just wouldn't do a big shopping trip to the mall or grocery store. You can always see if your DH might do it for you too.

Jon's Girl Kyle is just over a year now. He's the sweetest, cutest and smartest little boy around - I'm just a little biased :)

Jad Tight abs? These shots should be a piece of cake for me then :) That's funny about the dreams with you too.

I got my protocal. It's a bit different than last time. I think they changed it due to my "highish" FSH numbers now. I'm on the pill until next Tuesday and then I don't take anything for a few days. I get monitored a week from Sunday and will start stimulants then. No lupron this time, although they said I'll do a different similar drug after starting the stimulants. My ER is either October 12,13 or 14th with the transfer 3 or 5 days afterwards. I'm curious to see if I respond better with this protocal. With my last IVF, although it was successful, my numbers weren't great - 8 eggs retreived, but only 5 mature, and then only 3 fertilized and then only 2 lived to 3 days. But one of those was quite headstrong and determined and I guess that's all it takes!

[kat]

Just driving by to say hello, and to tell everyone that I still lurk here and root (silently, most of the time) for each of you as you go through your cycles. Sending positive vibes the way of this thread!!!

[AusMarchBride]

kat Hope all is going well for you. How are you feeling?

sidsou Nice that you have your protocol. And wow, Oct 13 isn't that far away. It's interesting how different clincis/docs have different ideas. My clinic would be very happy for a response of 8 eggs retrieved, they are very cautious about overstimulation. Although, when I had my retrievals I was extremely disappointed with my ER nos (6 and 2 both with non access to one ovary) and I so wanted to get 15 or so eggs. But as you said, it only takes one.

I do remember that awkward time when you just feel fat rather than looking pregnant. It'll pass quickly and soon you'll be woobling along
I hope so :D

jonsgirl Congrats on getting started, it's always nice to be atually doing something rather than just waiting. Tough call to make for you whether or not to postpone for a month. Whatever you decide, it'll be the best decision so try not to second-guess yourself.

Suzly Congrats, great results and glad to hear all went well with the transfer. Now the waiting, that's the easy part (... ouch, stop throwing things at me ;) ) About the bedrest, I was only instructed to rest for the afternoon of the ER, not even the ET. But I think it boils down to what you would prefer to do, and also, what you feel is better for you. If you feel happier resting for a couple of days, and staying off your feet, then do that.

Jad No, because I think the model looks a little sour in the pic and I don't tend to think of myself that way.

Neither do I, not a bit. And I LOVE your explanation for why the shots hurt more, that's gotta be the reason :D


Hope everyone else is well. Had another big scan today, all looks good. (I'm just pleased the baby was alive, I'd managed to convince myself that because I hadn't felt it yet, it was dead.) Fortunately, I was wrong. The worrying doesn't end :rolleyes:

I'm off interstate tomorrow for four days and won't be posting while I'm away. I hope you all have a good weekend, and take care of yourselves.

[CapeCod04]

Just popping in for a moment because I need a place to whine. Today was my first b/w, u/s after starting stims. I have always worried that I would forget to do my shots on the morning of an appt because my routine is thrown off since I have to leave an hour early. Well - today was the day. I got about 1/3 of the way there and remembered. So I call the RE office - co I go home and take them & be late for appt or come in anyway - they say come in anyway. I'm thinking that they'll give me the shots there, I won't have to drive all the way back home. I go in for the u/s and there's a little fluid still in my uterus - I have continued to spot lightly. Then he says well we won't see you producing follicles. He's right - lots of under 10s. I'm thinking this is not good. RE says it's okay, they prefer you to go slowly. I go back Friday. Hopefully we'll see something then. No mention of my shots other than "you are going to take them, right?" I then am ready to go, remember to give the nurse my consents - hoping she'll say something about the shots - but no - it's "you signed them already. You have to sign them in our presence. When will your husband be in." So - I'm just thrilled. Now I have to drive about 25 miles back home in freakin' rush hour traffic. I cried almost all the way back home. I'm trying to call DH - he's not picking up. When he finally does, he calms me down. Then I get home. Do my shots. While I'm doing them I'm thinking about the HCG which says "low dose" while my protocol says "high dose". I put meds back in the fridge - then start panicking. Did I give myself the HCG and not the lupron? I'm worrying about this all the way back on my drive to work. I finally conclude, based on where things were in the fridge, that I must have done the lupron, because it was in the fridge in front of the gonal and I could not have put the gonal back behind the lupron without having moved it if I did the HCG by mistake, so I must have done the lupron. Can you tell that I am at that stage in the stim cycle where my emotions are really running high? I sure hope it subsides soon. I can't take another morning like this.

[mrselle]

CapeCod04, I just want to give you a big ((((((((((hug))))))))). You sound like me when I'm upset. Its kind of weird that they wouldn't give you the shot while you were there. Seems like they would have a small supply of the drugs in their office at the very least. ((((((hugs))))))

[Jad]

Well, as I feared, this cycle is starting off worse than the last one. My E2 is only 373 and I only have 5 measurable follies (2@11, 5@10). They don't even want to see me again until Saturday. At this point last cycle, I would have been triggering on Saturday. <sigh> I keep trying to tell myself that different isn't necessarily bad (especially considering the last one didn't work), but I still feel resigned to failure again this time and having "worse" response doesn't help.

jon's girl - Sorry you're having to trade-off IVF vs. $$$. It's already such a hard process that to feel like you're giving up even more is tough to take. Sadly, I have no good advice.

sidsou - Sounds pretty similar to the protocol I'm on. I don't know much about the rational behind different protocols, but I think my clinic uses this one for most people. Go figure.

Ann - Congrats on the scan. I'm sure it must be hard to relax. Maybe once you hit full term? A girl can always wish!

[jon's girl]

Thanks every one for your support.
I decided that I could not postpone the cycle. It has taken all my strength just to get here, that I am not sure I have it in me to wait ... sounds silly, I know , because one month is well... just one month - but I can't help it.. that is how I feel... and Jon is making decent money now, so it isn't terrible if I loose a bit of business... (I can't believe, me, the workaholic, is saying that... but .... I guess I really really want to be a mommy, and it is really my priority - sounds good to write that.)

Aus - have a nice time - hope you are going somewhere fun??

Today I started the pill and next week is our IVF class and another appointment for me with my RE. Jon has to do some urologist stuff too next week .... we are moving right along. At least I feel like even though this process is trying and emotional.... I am doing something proactive.

Did any of you guys have an IVF class that was a requirement?

And.. what is with all these consent forms?!?!....

CapeCod -
I am with you - you have to sign it in front of them, and there are like a hundred forms.... so you have to take them home, read them, and then come back and sign them... my RE has me signing 5 forms and then Jon signs one too. Crazy.

Also, do you guys have Journals here? If so, how do you start one - do you do it by starting a "thread"?

[CapeCod04]

Jon'sgirl - we had to go to a class on how to do the shots - that's all.

[kat]

Ann: Do you want the truth, or do you want the answer I give everyone when they ask how I'm feeling? :D Seriously, not too bad -- so much better than a month ago that I''m a bit high on life. Well, except I have a huge work deadline (grading students' work) next week and that is not making me so high on life....

How are YOU feeling? And yes, I want the truth. :D

Jad, you know, you went *really* quickly last time. I know you had excellent results all the way through, but I don't think that sounds bad at all for a first appointment. Did the nurse make you think it was? Sometimes those nurses (Jad and I used the same clinic, for those of you who don't know) are unbelievably insensitive to how the slightest tone of voice can make you feel like the whole thing's gonna fail.....but I'll bet that things are normal as heck.

Aren't you only a few days into the stims? I think I had the same experience you did -- went in early, then didn't come back for several days. Hang in there, cuz I think what you're experiencing NOW is a little more "normal" than the overachiever experience you had last time. :)

CapeCod, hugs to you, too. I think ALL IVF personnel need a refresher course in dealing with patients....or maybe *they* should all have to go through the IVF process in order to be qualified for their jobs. It's such a hugely emotional time and yet so many of them are so blase about it that it makes it even MORE emotional -- they need to remember that stress + hormones makes you very vulnerable and that they should do EVERYTHING to make your life easier!!!

jon's girl: I don't blame you for not postponing the cycle -- I know I couldn't have (even though I probably should've, given that these kids are now due at a terrible time for me, career-wise. I'll probably have to take the whole semester off, which means no $$$$).

And yes, at our clinic we had to take a class (which was mostly about the drug protocol and how to administer shots). We also had to sit down with a psychologist (who is on staff and works almost exclusively with IVF patients) to discuss some of the trickier ethical questions that we might've faced.

*******
Still rooting hard for everyone, from the sidelines!!

[Duncan1]

Jad please don't feel negavtive about this cycle - a slow, steady response is much better than a quick, out-of-control one! How many days did you stim for last time? I have been told 8 is a minimum and a lot of women go as far as 12. Anyway, you definitely don't want to get overstimmed so I think your progress sounds perfect.

Waving hi to everyone else - -
still in a state of thyroid/pituitary issue confusion here and not looking forward to having a brain MRI, but such is life! Speaking of which - kat did your RE ever mention that your thyroid stuff could have contributed to/caused infertility (I think your cause was unknown, right?). Just wondering if dealing with this possible 'sub-clinical hyperthyroidism' really is going to help us get to IVF success one day.

[kat]

Jan,

Speaking of which - kat did your RE ever mention that your thyroid stuff could have contributed to/caused infertility (I think your cause was unknown, right?). Just wondering if dealing with this possible 'sub-clinical hyperthyroidism' really is going to help us get to IVF success one day.

No, they didn't consider it a cause -- I wasn't subclinical (I was clinical :D). Since I was being treated, my thyroid functioning was within the same range as a normal woman's, so it apparently wasn't an issue. My RE told me that if hypothyroidism was contributing to my infertility, it would've shown up as problems with my cycle (and I was about as regular as you could get).

If I remember correctly, there is more of an infertility problem with hyperthyroidism than hypothyroidism, but I'm not sure where I "learned" that or whether I'm remembering it right.

Now, I *do* have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, an extremely common autoimmune disease that causes hypothyroidism. And as you probably know, Hashimoto's antibodies can cause repeat pregnancy loss. And I was very afraid about that....but since I only had one m/c we didn't go down the reproductive immunology route.

Anyway, I hope treating you does the trick!!!! <fingers crossed>

Oh, and you are right that they never figured out what was wrong with us -- my guess is that it's something tubal, because we know from my response to IVF that there's no obvious problem with eggs, sperm, or uterus or my response to stimulation. My RE guessed that it was tubal, too -- according to him, even if the tubes look clear on an HSG, there can still be tons of problems, including cillia problems that would keep the egg from moving well into the uterus.

Of course, we could all be wrong -- and it could be egg, sperm, or uterus problems....but that's why it's just a guess. :)

(Interestingly enough, my endocrinologist told me that there is a link between people who don't have a sense of smell (and I don't) and infertility....but the link is for people who have NEVER had a sense of smell (and I did, until I was about 15). Apparently, the link is a problem with the cillia all over the body, both in the fallopian tubes and in the nasal/sinus passages. I can't blame that, though, since my smell was fine until I was older!)

Good luck with the MRI! I hate those -- staying still for so long really sucks. But I hope they find some easily-treatable news for you!

[CapeCod04]

Quick update today. Went for b/w & u/s. I have one at 11 and the rest under 10 - I think something like 7. The RE (not my Dr, but his partner) wasn't too thrilled. I went back to the old IVF folder and checked what I had posted around this time in the cycle last time. At the same point last cycle, I was about at the same place, so I'm quite hopeful. And if we don't get enough for IVF, he said they'll do an IUI. Now - DH and I are off to the city tonight to celebrate our first anniversary. It's really on Sunday, but he has to work that night, so we're celebrating tonight.

[jon's girl]

Kat - so you know what i was feeling... but i hope that the "no $, loss of business" situation will be worth it, b/c i'll end up pregnant (like you!!!!)

[Suzlywoozly]

Help!! I am totally cramping like AF is going to show! Beta isn't until Tuesday. Is it entirely possible that she could show this early? I am not spotting just tons of clear watery CM. I haven't had any cramping whatsoever since the ER/ET.


Cape- Happy Anniversary! Hope you guys have lots of fun :)

Jon's Girl- We had to sign an a*s load of paperwork and even have it notarized. It was almost like buying a house! We didn't have to do an IVF class, even though it was offered. I think our case nurse knew that I had done my research before and didn't even mention it to me. We were required to do the injections class though.

Hi to everyone else! Have a great weekend :)

[Astro]

Suzlywoozly I'd like to say don't worry, cramping may or may not indicate aunt flow.... but I know you'll worry. Some women experience cramping prior to Aunt Flo, some experience it prior to a positive beta, some don't experience it.... so unfortunately the only way to know what's going on is to wait until the betas. sorry I don't have a definitive answer.

(back to lurking)

[Bella213]

Hi Ladies,

I just wanted to stop by and wish you all Much Success with your journey of becoming mothers. Some of you may know me from the WC and those of you who do, know I totally understand what you are all going through. I have been lurking from time to time to check on you all. I hope and pray that each and everyone one of you is blessed with a child. The whole IVF process can be very stressful but all I can say is that it's worth it. ;) I am glad that one by one, you are beating the odds.

Hugs to you all!

Bella213

[Jude]

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to chatting and to all the abbreviations used! I live in Australia and in July had my first IVF cycle, which wasn't successful in terms of the embryo inplanting. But, we got heaps of embryos, so many in fact that they decided to take them all to day 5 instead of 3, and all but two died (we'll never do day 5 again!). Now we have the last one ready for transfer, but there's a problem... AF has disappeared. Gone. Vamooshed. Has this happened to anyone else? I'm drinking a herbal tea with Chasteberry which I've heard can help restore balance to the menstrual cycle. It hasn't helped yet! I can't believe we can't even start another IVF cycle - how infertile can you get!!! Would love to hear if anyone else had this problem after the cycle involving all the drugs - and whether there are any other remedy ideas.

[Jad]

Seriously, I've forgotten how to give myself shots. How could I have forgotten in three months? Unbelievable. After four days of doing it poorly, I got a couple of good ones in on Wednesday and Thursday. Last night was back to being not so good. And the antagon that I just gave myself? Took me three times. And left a big ol' red welt as it is wont to do.

I'm still worried about my results from this morning, despite valiant efforts on the part of my wonderful thread-mates here. My E2 continues to be a lot lower than last time. Only 1300 after six days of stims as compared to 2500 after five days of stims. Sounds like I may have fewer maturing follies, too. (according to the nurse's message, 1 mature plus 8-10 "on their way" vs. 14 last time) So they're bringing me in tomorrow morning again, which means I'm probably close to triggering. But why would they do that if my E2 is so low? Makes me really worried that we won't be getting many mature eggs this time.

Jude - Was AF regular before your cycle? Or is her disappearance a new phenomenon? Either way, I will say that Ann does a remarkable AF dance that has worked for several of us. And since she's closer to you, maybe it'll be even more potent. ;)

Bella - Thanks. :) Reminders of why I'm doing this are often the only thing that makes it easy to keep going.

suzly - I had some AF type cramping. I agree with astro that it's so hard to read anything into it right now. But I hope your beta arrives as quickly as possible. Waiting is miserable!

cape - Hope you had a great anniversary celebration!

Jan - I know, I know. You and kat are right. I shouldn't worry. I've just heard too many stories of increasingly bad cycles. It's one of the bad things about the internet. It's great for gathering helpful information but it's also great for gathering scare-the-crap-out-of-you information. :rolleyes:

kat - As I mentioned, the nurse I talked to on Wednesday was actually ok. Today's nurse? I'm not so fond of. I really kind of hate the weekend nurses. She never did call me at home, so all I have is a message on my cell phone. On the bright side, this one actually remembered to tell me accurate directions, as opposed to last time. So gold star for her! :rolleyes:

[Jude]

Thanks Jad, yes AF was regular before the first IVF cycle, and my first cycle the following month was a couple of days longer than usual but AF still came. Don't know why she's gone. Am intrigued by what an AF dance is!

[Jad]

Triggering tonight. Today's nurse estimated 10-15 follies, so I guess that's *almost* the same as last time. But E2 is only 1800 -- about 1000 less than last time. So we'll see what we get in terms of egg maturity. Oh, and I have a doc I've never heard of for the retrieval. Another thing to be nervous about. :rolleyes: I really wish I'd actually have *my* RE at some point.

On the bright side, by the time this cycle is over, I'll get rid of that awful "Too Cool to Care" tag line under my name. I'd much rather be "Way Too Cool." :p

[Astro]

Jad Good luck. I'll be thinking of you.

[CapeCod04]

Good Luck Jad!

[kat]

Yay for trigger shots!! Good luck, Jad....DH and I are both rooting hard for the two of you!!!

(I wish I didn't have a grading deadline on Tuesday that I am INCREDIBLY far from meeting (the worst EVER)....cuz if I didn't, I'd try to sort through the mounds of paperwork in my office to see if I could find out my E2 levels from our cycle. Something tells me they were around those numbers, but I'd have to see my notes to confirm. Anyway, who says getting a few less mature eggs is a bad thing? Maybe you'd be catching the mature ones at their peak? I know we were INCREDIBLY disappointed when only a percentage of ours were mature. But how many of the women on this thread (and on the WC's version of it) had less-than-perfect results at some point along the way, and are now either pregnant or taking care of IVF babies? I think one of the downsides of our internet information age is that we get too caught up in the numbers sometimes. You're gonna have a great cycle, I can feel it! :D ).

[CapeCod04]

Did any of you take more than 10 days of stims? I'm progressing very slowly. This morning they said that as long as my estrogen is going up, they are okay with it. The RE thinks I may need 15-18 days! Yikes!

[alo]

Well, I'm back. Been gone for a few months, don't know if you remember me.

Here are my stats again. The only thing that has changed is my age and status line.

alo
Age: 30
DH: 32
Married: 10/01
TTC: 2003
Dx: balanced translocation on chromosomes 1 and 4
4 m/c (3 chemical pgs, and 1 loss at 10 weeks of triplets)
Status: IVF with PGD #2 October 2005; IVF with PGD #1 unsuccessful due to genetically abnormal embryos


We had to wait for a while to try again. So we go for bloodwork and ultrasound next week, and if all is well then we move forward. I'm scared out of my mind that try #2 will fail, and we are left with very few options. I'm trying not to think too hard about it. I'm on a new protocol this time - Ganirelex Acetate. The goal is to produce as many eggs as possible so that we have a chance of increasing our odds with getting a healthy embryo. It's a total crapshoot and I know it, but the doctors are promising me that we won't have the same results as the first time. Whatever.

So here I am. Back again.

[angelgirl8]

just stopping in from lurking...

jad...good luck! i wanted to let you know my E2 numbers from my cycles, just so you're not too worried about yours.

after 6 days of stims on my first cycle, E2 was 1197 and after 7 days on my second cycle they were 831. they were much happier with the second set of numbers.

hope the trigger went well! thinking of you.

suzly...hang in there!

hope everyone is doing well! i'm always reading along.

[amychris03]

Suzlywoozly
Any news yet?

Jad
I know my dr was MUCH happier to see my slow rise in Estrogen vs my
super fast rise the cycle I did injectables so I am thinking good thoughts
for you! Good luck with the trigger!

Capecod
I only took 10 days, but my friend took longer and they pretty
much said the same thing that your dr said...

Alotius
Welcome back! :)

[jon's girl]

Did any one here catch that show inconceivable? thought it was interesting... but then i had scary nightmares at night.... what did you all think of it? My RE was like - don't watch it!!! But, I felt like I had to...

[AusMarchBride]

Driveby from me, I'll be back later on today to do shoutouts.

Just wanted to say to Capecod I had 12 days of stims (and that was at 450iu per day) on my second cycle which worked. As previous posters have said, the docs would rather see a slow (controllable) rise than one which gets too high too quick which they cannot control. Hang in there :D

[Suzlywoozly]

Angel & Amy- :( No news yet... I'll post about it over on LJ when I get a chance tonight. Thanks for thinking about me.

[AusMarchBride]

Suzly Your beta is Tuesday methinks, and it's not quite Tuesday there yet I guess. I have my fingers crossed for you

BTW, I used to be able (I think) to get into your LJ, but not any more. I'm yibada over there. I don't have a journal, am too lazy :) If you want to friend me, up to you.

Capecod I don't have any E2 numbers for comparison, I never asked for them. As long as the docs are ok with how you are responding, that's the important thing.

alo Hi there and welcome back, nice to see you. I'll update your stats in a minute. I hope no 2 is the winner for you.

amychris How you doing (I sound like Joey from Friends :D )

angelgirl How's that fab twinbelly of yours going?

kat But how many of the women on this thread (and on the WC's version of it) had less-than-perfect results at some point along the way, and are now either pregnant or taking care of IVF babies? I think one of the downsides of our internet information age is that we get too caught up in the numbers sometimes

Oh that is so so true, and a good thing to remember. Thanks.

Astro How are you getting along?

Jad Hope your trigger was uneventful and I think you;ve probably had ER by now. Hope they got lots of lovely eggs :D

Jude Welcome. Whereabouts in Australia are you from? Can't give you any advice about AF having gone walkabout, she always arrived for me absolutely on time, but am happy to send you AF vibes from here.

Jan I'm sorry you have to have a brain MRI, sounds yucko.

kat Ann: Do you want the truth, or do you want the answer I give everyone when they ask how I'm feeling?

I want the truth, and I CAN handle it (Jack Nicholson doesn't know what he's talking about ;) )

jon'sgirl I decided that I could not postpone the cycle. It has taken all my strength just to get here, that I am not sure I have it in me to wait ... sounds silly, I know

Not silly at all. The decision you make is the right one for you. You get all the advice you need from everyone here and elsewhere, sift through it and decide what's applicable to you. We're all in our own unique situation and what applies to me won't necessarily be right for you. But the idea is to use this thread as a starting point for info and ideas.

You also asked about starting a journal here, I've not done it but I just read the help threads about it. I think if you go to the main page of CC, go down to the journals section, pick the J's and start a new thread in there. Only proviso is that the journal title must start with "JOURNAL" and then you can put afetr that whatever you want. Example "JOURNAL - Ann's Pitiful Attempt at Helping" . Then a moderator must approve the thread, takes up to 24 hrs.
If you have further probs, PM a moderator over there, I'm sure someone will help you out.

Hi to everyone else. All well here, had a nice break interstate for four days but exhaused myself. Interesting that at 19 weeks, I tire much more easily than in the past. Ultrasound last week confirms all is well with bub. I'm just rolling along, starting finally to look pregnant rather than just like I've stacked on some kilos which is nice :D

And now I will shut the heck up and stop hogging the thread ;)

[IVFIVF]

I've put my threadmistress hat on for a moment :)

Jude and jonsgirl

If you'd like me to put up your stats on the first page, just post on here.

As an example, here's a made up stat:

USERID
Me: Mary (39)
DH: John (41)
TTC: March 2003
DX: Unexplained IF
IVF#1: Jan 05, unsuccessful
IVF#2: Sometime in October 2005

You don't have to include first names if you don't wish to. Also, if you don't want your stats put up there, that's ok, but just let me know so I don't keep asking you :D

[IVFIVF]

alo Your stats are updated :D

[Suzlywoozly]

Ann- Thanks for crossing your fingers for me... I need all I can get right now! I will befriend you over on LJ

[AusMarchBride]

Consider legs, arms, toes and eyes crossed also ;)

[Suzlywoozly]

Don't really know what to say right no except that the beta was negative (1.5) :(

[CapeCod04]

Suzly - I'm so sorry

[kat]

Oh, Suzly....I'm so sorry. Sending huge cyberhugs your way.....

[Astro]

Ann I'm doing ok, thanks for asking. I think often about you and Angelgirl and hope you're doing well. I'm glad you both pop into here and update us every now and then. I just can't go into the February thread.

Angelgirl I hope you're doing well and the ultrasound helped calm your fears.

suzlywoozly sending you hugs, gumbo, and chocolate chip cookies. (for some reason, gumbo = comfort food to me; and chocolate chip cookies make all things a tiny bit better)

[Suzlywoozly]

Thanks guys. I have finally stopped sobbing, but that can change at a moments notice. I just can't figure out where I went wrong or what I did wrong.

I was thinking about cracking open a bottle of wine, but then I realized that it's only 12:30 and DH would flip if he came home to a drunk wife (alcohol & I don't mix very well!).

[~queen~]

Hi ladies!

I just decided to stop by to see the progress on this thread. I'm doing OK. Have good days and bad days. Not decided on what to do next - instead focusing on finding a new job and getting my overall health back on track with no meds being pumped in me :)

Suzly: I'm so sorry to hear about your bfn. There are not always answers to if it doesn't work, but don't blame yourself. Sometime its just God keeping things aligned in the universe (so I tell myself). ((Hugs))

Jad: I hope your ER went really well and you got lots of eggies!

Hello to everyone else as well!

[jon's girl]

IVF IVF - here are my stats:

me: 29
DH: 31
married: 5/02
Dx: male factor
IVF: currently doing our first IVF cycle.

[jon's girl]

AusBride - thank you for your kind words.... still doubting my decision a bit, especially when I am having such bad side effects from the pill that I can't keep my head on straight... but, I know in my heart it is the right choice.

Thanks also for the info on the journal.

[AusMarchBride]

Suzly Ohhh sweetie, I'm so sorry. This IVF stuff just sucks sometimes. But YOU did nothing wrong, absolutely nothing. This cycle just didn't work; you had no control over that. If you were trying to fall pregnant the old fashioned natural way and it didn't work one month, you wouldn't blame yourself. Doing IVF, you have less control over the whole procedure. I'm sending you great big hugs and I hope you had some wine with DH when he got home.

Astro I just can't go into the February thread. I completely understand this. But it's great to "see" you and hear that you're doing ok. For me, comfort food is mashed potatoes, but chocolate runs a close second ;)

queen It's lovely to "see" you too. Ahhhh, the no meds, it's wonderful to take a break from all the drugs. I hope you find a fabulous new job soon.

jonsgirl What side effects are you having from the pill? Maybe someone here can help you out. I find the best thing once I've made a difficult decision (whatever it's about) is to try not to second guess myself and revisit the decision over and over. Make the decision and move on. It's the right decision for you.

I, under my alter ego of IVFIVF, will update your stats in a minute.

And please, call me Ann, it's quicker to type than any derivative of my userid :D That goes for everyone, just call me Ann ( or threadmistress extraordinaire as someone else so kindly but delusionally ;) put it).

[IVFIVF]

updated to here

[Jad]

suzly - I'm so sorry. IVF BFN's are the worst type. I know there's nothing any of us can say except that you're not alone.

alo - Welcome back! I don't know the names of the various protocols, but I hope you get tons of eggs on the new one.

queen - Ah, a new job! That sounds right up my alley. :) And even though there are still bad days, I'm really glad there are some good days, too.

angel - Thanks for the E2 numbers. It's good to know that the nurses weren't just feeding me a line when they said my levels were ok. ;)

amychris - ditto what I said to angel. Always nice to know the office isn't smoking crack. (Well, I suppose they could be smoking the *same* crack as all the other offices. Hmmmm.) :p

capecod - Sorry I don't have any good info about longer stimming. Does your RE seem concerned about it? Any thoughts about why it's taking longer this time? (Although, perhaps it's normal? Sounds like several of us took longer the 2nd cycle.)

astro - Thanks! I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to doing the same for you in a couple of months. :)

kat - a grading deadline on Tuesday that I am INCREDIBLY far from meeting (the worst EVER)
Oh, my. :D (But, I'm *sure* you made it.)

jon's girl - Hang tight. The side effects suck, but you'll make it through! I just keep my mind on the goal and it helps.

ann - Trigger was in fact uneventful. DH hasn't forgotten how to give shots like I did. :rolleyes:

Phew. Did I miss anyone? Hope not!

So. My news. ER was, as you know, yesterday. We got 13 eggs (2 more than last time.) The embryologist decided to try and scare me again, saying only three of the follies were really large. But this time, I've got her number, so I didn't freak. Turns out 11 were mature and 9 fertilized. So I'm at exactly the same point I was last cycle. No more, no less. But I'm ok with that. More would have been nice. But I'm really glad it's not less.

[islandgirlsj]

Just popping my head in.... and wanted to give a heartfelt ((hug)) to Suzly. :(
I am keeping you in my thoughts.

Jad... you did great, and I have my fingers and toes crossed for your transfer, and hope this is your lucky cycle. :o

Sending my love and support to you all, and I hope you preggers are doing great! :p

[kat]

Jad: Yay!! That's a wonderful result. They're going to have to rent extra storage space for all of your frozen embies. :)

Last time, you were nice enough to plan your cycle so that your trigger, ER, ET and beta days were all on the same day of the week as ours were (so it was easy for me to figure out when the next step was, without counting). I guess now you're gonna make me do the math. :D

Seriously, I'm so excited for you. And I will be more than happy to try to keep you occupied during your 2ww....now that my grading is over (for a couple of weeks, at least). Will email you soon re: gettin' togetha.

-K

P.S. I'm so glad you posted an update: P keeps asking me about how your cycle is going and I'm glad I can finally shut him up (well,for two weeks :) ) by telling him the good news.

[CapeCod04]

Jad - great results from the ER! Good luck with the transfer.

Jon's girl - hang in there! I know it's easier said than done.

I'm now on day 11 of stims. I have enough follicles - four - that we can go to an IVF cycle. This morning the RE said that this is the type of response that they expect from a 44 year old - as opposed to my response last cycle which resulted in 15 eggs retrieved.
So it looks like we'll be going ahead with an IVF cycle. My RE prefers that to the IUI even though I don't have a lot of eggs, because I have never gotten pregnant naturally or with insemination. I'm not feeling defeated, but I don't feel terribly optimistic. I know the old "it only takes one" bit - but last time, I only ended up with 4 implanted, none frozen out of 13 fertilized. That's about 1/3 - so if I end up with the same odds, they'll only have one to implant. So - here's hoping the "it only takes one" bit applies to me this time! :)

[Sidsou]

Hi all! Just checking in with everyone.

Suzly <<Hugs>> I'm so sorry.

Jad Great results from your retreival! Sending all sorts of growth vibes out to the little embryos....

Cape Cod We have several examples of the "it only takes one" club out here. We're certainly accepting new members ;) Fingers, toes and everything crossed for you!!

I stopped the pill last night so waiting for AF. Start monitoring and stims on Sunday.

[Jad]

Blech. I'm feeling much worse than I remember after my last ER. I'm still tired and there's a little discomfort and queasiness. And the bloating hasn't gone away yet. I'm vaguely worried about mild OHSS except that my E2 was so much lower this time. Who knows. You'd think I would learn to stop second guessing things. :rolleyes: Anyway, I won't be at a computer until later tomorrow, but I will check back in with news of how the ET goes.

islandgirl - Hi! Please can you take me to Hawaii with you? Please?

CapeCod - That's *great* that there are enough follies to do the retrieval. I'm so very relieved for you! Keeping my fingers crossed for quality over quantity!!

kat - Know what's sad? I think your P is more aware of my cycle than mine is! I think he remembers that we're doing it now, but last week he kept doing the "Oh! Right!" when I mentioned the cycle. :rolleyes: (p.s. Math sucks -- beta on Monday the 10th)

sidsou - Very exciting that you're starting on Sunday! You'll have to give us all the scoop on what it's like to do this once you're already a mom. Hope it's a great cycle!

[Astro]

Ann I'm doing ok, thanks. I'm getting very nervous about starting the process over again. I've been having oodles of nightmares the past week about not being able to carry a baby to term. I just wish the Dr's would hurry up and figure out what happened. So far all they know is the boys were healthy and doing great, I appeared to be doing great (except for the bleeding), everything looked healthy. They're thinking I might have a clotting disorder, but can't check it for another 4 weeks (until my blood gets back to normal).

I'll probably be back next week with some info. I'm meeting with my RE to discuss what our game plan is for next time.

[jon's girl]

hi every one!

Sidsou - good luck with the stims .... let me know how they are.... would really like the feed back. I am rooting for you.

Ann - my side effects are subsiding a bit now and the RE said that it will take several weeks for my body to aclamate to the pill (yasmin) and then as soon as my body gets used to it, i'll be off the pill and on to stims which will have their own set of side effects ... (well, at least he's honest!) I had terrible nauseau and lethargy and now they are subsiding a bit... thank g-d!

Jad & Cape Cod - thanks for the support.

We had our IVF mandatory class the other day (I wanted to write that day but I felt soooo sick) and they taught us about all the stims etc... and the side effects that we will be facing to each one, and the best way to try to help yourself during this time, and they also showed the DHs in the class How to administer the injections... and they talked about the whole procedure .... it was really helpful, and overhwelming at the same time... but at least I feel a bit more "prepared" at least more knowledgeable... it really is so hard to start IVF with out really knowing much about it.

I am a bit scared, of all the medicine, the injections, the side effects, the way I will feel, if it will be successful after all this work... , the anastesia... but I keep hoping for the best, as Jad said, and I know Jon will be very supportive. Though he isn't home all that much during the week, Jon promises to try his best to be home to administer the injections, and if he can't .... we may look into hiring a nurse (RMA has some local nurses that are supposedly relatively inexpensive) since I don't think I will be able to do them myself.

With the amount of injections they told me that I would be on, we are thinking of pulling my old, old college fridge out of my parent's basement to put all the injections in there and label them in tupperware boxes and the antibiotics can go right on top of the fridge. The kitchen fridge just won't fit that and the food and I'm afraid we might mix up the injections....

Anyway, I wish you all a great evening and I'll be back....

[Duncan1]

Wow, lots going on in here.

Suzly I am so sorry this cycle did not work for you. As a vet of 3 supposedly 'perfect' cycles with 5dt's and BFN's, you just have to remember that there was nothing you could have done to change the outcome, just like Ann said (she always says everything in the best way, doesn't she). Are you thinking of cycling again?

Queen glad you are getting some time to be med-free and look after yourself.

Kat thank you for all your thoughts on the thyroid stuff. I hope to find out next week what my deal is. The pituitary MRI was so fun (not). :-)

Jad YAY for great ER results! I hope your transfer kicks some a-- (stupid embryologist, btw!) and the 2ww goes by super fast.

Islandgirl hello!

And hello to you Sidsou, great that they got your protocol sorted out (isn't it neat how our docs 'debate' about us in committee?) and are raring to go.

Astro good to see you, I hope the docs are able to provide you with some answers after the testing in 4 weeks.

CapeCod04 that is great that your follies are cooperating and you can move forward!

Alo hello, hope this protocol does the trick for you.

And Ann how was your trip? When you say you went interstate, what does that mean? Or am I just a moron?!

jon's girl obviously you may not be interested in this advice, but I find that making a bigger deal (i.e. having a nurse come in to do them) about the shots makes it harder and makes IVF take over your life even more than it already does anyway. Maybe after you try it once you will feel more at ease? I was horribly scared to do any injections on my own, but DH was away so much that there was no choice. Now it's second nature. Anyway, I'm not trying to belittle your concerns, it's just my two cents. Which stims will you be on? I think everyone is scared and apprehensive while doing this so you are not alone.

[Suzlywoozly]

Gotta post quickly...
The Re called this morning. Supposedly I had an appt. with him this morning and somebody failed to call me and tell me they set one up. So we did a phone consult. He is puzzled why this cycle didn't work. He thinks it may be progesterone issues since I was spotting early. So the next time I will do the PIO and suppositories 2x per day. He also said we defintely needed to do ICSI and that DH's count was pretty bad.

So next cycle we will start up again to do FET. ET will be sometime in the middle of November. Only problem with that is that the beta will be on or right around Thanksgiving. What a cr*ppy day to get a BFN.

[AusMarchBride]

Suzlywoozly So the next time I will do the PIO and suppositories 2x per day. He also said we defintely needed to do ICSI and that DH's count was pretty bad Sounds like a plan to me. It also sounds like your doc is being proactive and not just saying, oh well, try again.

Only problem with that is that the beta will be on or right around Thanksgiving. What a cr*ppy day to get a BFN. And from the thinking positive, glass half full camp, what a great time to get a BFP :)

Jan1902 just like Ann said (she always says everything in the best way, doesn't she). Aw shucks, that's sweet of you to say so. Maybe the typing thing helps because in real life, I quite often say the wrong thing :rolleyes:

Thanks for asking about my trip. When I said I went interstate, I meant I went from the state I live in to another state. Tricky stuff eh ;) Like going from Illinois to Wisconsin. It was great, caught up with lots of friends up there, ate in some nice restaurants and had a good time.

Sorry to hear your MRI was yucky, but good that it is over and hopefully it'll give you some answers.

jonsgirl I am a bit scared, of all the medicine, the injections, the side effects, the way I will feel, if it will be successful after all this work... , the anastesia This is so so normal. For me, it was the fear of the unknown and once I actually started and got through each step, it got much easier. And seriously, we've all had the fear of doing the injections ourselves. My first one, I stood there for 10 minutes with my brain going "Noooo, you're not going to deliberately stick a needle into your stomach". Then I just realised I was being silly, if a diabetic or whatever can do it daily, why can't I. And after I did the first one, it was fine, and I did the rest of them myself.

A suggestion, get jon to do the first few shots until you get used to them. Then, while he's still around, try to do the next few shots yourself. I promise you'll be able to do them. That way, you don't have to freak yourself out by doing the first one yourself without support and backup. Once you've done them yourself, you'll be fine if jon's not around.

I also second what Jan said, try not to make the IVF stuff a bigger part of your life than it will be. You need to keep some of life to be NOT about IVF while you're cycling otherwise you'll go nuts.

Astro So glad to hear you're doing ok. Hopefully the docs will be able to do some tests and find something definitive. I think it would be very normal to be frightened about starting again, I hope you've got some good support there. I'd also try the TTC after a loss thread here, if you;re ready for it, I imagine all the ladies there have similar feelings and it's always good to know you're not the only one having those feelings.

Jad You'd think I would learn to stop second guessing things Why would you, it's human nature to second guess. We all do it. I hope your ET goes beautifully, and that you are feeling much better and the queasies and bloating and general yuckiness has subsided.

Sidsou Woohoo for starting stims, fantastic news. Here's some "hurry up AF" vibes for you, in case you need them :D

Capecod As sidsou said, there are a few members of the "it only takes one club" and the more the merrier :) Try not to stress too much about the different numbers, although I know that's easier said than done. For my 1st cycle, they got 6 eggs, 3 fert and they implanted 2 with one frozen. BFN. Cycle 2, with much much higher levels of the stimming drugs to get me to produce more eggs as lefty (left ovary) is a SOB and never available at retrieval. Result, 2 eggs retrieved. (When I woke after the anaesthetic and they told me only 2 eggs, I cried, a lot.) I was convinced the cycle was a waste of time. Both fertilised, only 1 kept dividing. They implanted that one, and BFP. Moral of this looooong story, try not to worry too much about the numbers.

When do they do ER?

islandgirl Nice to see you. How are you doing?

Hi to everyone else. It's Friday afternoon, yippee. Busy weekend, going to a friend's child's 3rd birthday on Sunday, having dinner with friends on Saturday, maybe nursery shopping on Sat morning. I'm also doing some minor interior decorating, finally replacing the temporary stick on paper blinds we have in our house after 2 years :eek: So, decisions to be made on fabrics for curtains and blinds also on Sat. Should be fun.

I'm 20 weeks today, so halfway there. Unbelievable, and it's still not real

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

[Jad]

Just a drive-by before ET.

jon's girl - I feel like I scared you with my whining about how my shots hurt more this time around. Honestly? That was mostly me being afraid that this cycle would be worse than the last one. Yeah, they did hurt a little more. But the key word is "little." Because when done right (as the vast majority of mine -- all but maybe 5 -- have been), they don't hurt at all. You don't even feel them. Seriously. As an example of how much they do not hurt. Last night, while DH was giving me the PIO, he was goofing around and after he put the needle in he said something funny that made me laugh. And I could not stop laughing. I was laying there on my stomach on the bed, *shaking* with laughter the entire time he was giving me the shot. And know what? I didn't feel a thing. :p

[CapeCod04]

Welll - no IVF this cycle. RE told me this morning it only looks like 3 follicles will pop, so we are doing an IUI. I'm disappointed and finally feeling negative about this cycle. I just got off the phone with DH. This will be a bit of a scheduling pain as DH works Sunday & Monday night 6 pm to 9 am and we are looking at a possible insemination for Monday & Tuesday morning. RE says they can work with it. He better not change that on me Sunday morning! Anyway, DH and I are already thinking ahead to the next cycle. We definitely want to try IVF again, but we want to take a month off. There may be no scientific basis for it, but the two times I had poor responses, were when I started a new cycle right on the heels of the first one. The other two times, I had at least a month drug free before and responded beautifully - so we want to try that again.

[Sidsou]

CapeCod Sorry to hear that you won't be doing IVF. Fingers crossed for your IUI on the right day!!

Jon's Girl Ditto! Especially the shots that are just right under the skin, you'll be surprised how easy they can be. The first time is hard, but after a few times, you won't really even think about it. Like Ann said, do the first one when he is there - reward yourself with a big hot fudge sundae or something :D I'm always one to do it quick too - just get everything ready and do it. Truly, you really don't even feel them! Even when you get to the PIO shots, those scared me to death at first, but even those I could give to myself.

Jad Thinking of you!!!

Aussie I can't quite call you Ann since my name is Ann, and I feel like I'm writing to myself :) Congrats on reaching 20 weeks!! Wow, I can't believe how far along you are already. Have you felt the baby move or kick yet?? I can't remember when exactly it happens but I think it's around now.

Suzly I totally believe in holidays/birthdays etc being good days to test!! I got my BFP on Christmas Eve. Bliss got hers on Easter. There's been some good karma around holidays! I've actually been secretly hoping mine would be Halloween (although not a big holiday, I was hoping there might be some good karma on it to bring a BFP).

Jan Sorry about the MRI :( Hopefully it was worth it and they'll have some answers for you!

Astro So hoping you get answers soon!!

Hello to anyone I may have missed!!!

Waiting for AF. Kind of strange because the last IVF cycle, AF hit me like a brick house!! I had been on fertility drugs for so long then throughout the year that my body was probably messed up anyways. I've got all sorts of fun weekend plans, so I'm sure she'll make her appearance soon enough :)

[Suzlywoozly]

Sidsou- DH told me the same thing. He thinks T-giving will be lucky for us. Who knows... that time is always so stressful for us. Hope AF shows soon!

Cape- I'm sorry that this won't turn out to be an IVF cycle. I'm crossing my fingers that the IUI does the trick and it works out to happen on the day you want!

Jad- Lots of good luck at the ET :D

jon's girl- Looking back on this past cycle (my first), it really turned out to be not as bad as I expected. I think all the anxiety and being scared is defintely the fear of the unknown and what to expect. Once you get into the routine of the injections, they fly by. The ER was the easiest part of the whole thing! The drugs are fabulous :D What kind of meds are they putting you on?

Hi to Ann, Island & Queen! Hope everything is going well for you three!

[Suzlywoozly]

Forgot to ask... How long after the last PIO does AF show? I had my last one on Monday night and there is still no sign of her. In fact all my cramps I was having last weekend have completely gone away :confused:

[amychris03]

Capecod04
I'm so sorry that the cycle didn't work out the way you wanted it to.
I'll cross my fingers that the IUI does the trick!

Jad
Hope the ET went well!!

jon's girl
My DH is NEVER home because he is in the navy and constantly working,
but he came through like a champ when it came time for injections. He only
missed like two and I was able to go to my RE to get those at the office.
They also said they could write me a script for patient first if needed.

Ann
I know you didn't direct your comment towards me but I friended you
on LJ anyways :) I update their much more often, especially these days since
Im swamped with everything and work and with the move!

Astro
Im glad to hear that you are doing ok. Im sure the whole idea of starting the
process over must be scary at this point. Hopefully when they do the testing they can give you some answers.
---

So, the move! We are officially going to Rhode Island! Chris is up there
this weekend and we think we've found a place! Now we just need to
rent this place out to make sure we can afford it! Things are going well
so far with the baby. Im almost 15 weeks, and no real complaints at this
point other than still being so tired!

Hi to everyone I've missed!

[Jad]

Another quick drive-by because DH wants to go out to dinner to celebrate the transfer. Very sweet.

We transferred two 8-cell grade super-good or whatever. I'll believe the super-good part when I see a + beta. But there we are. We froze 5. One 7-cell, two 9-cells and two 10-cells! They definitely weren't growing at turbo-speed last time, so who knows what that means. And kat, I had your RE, and I mentioned your "they'll need extra storage space" thing. To which he replied that actually they *are* almost out of space. I'm going to start calling you Miss Cleo! ;)

And some hugs to capecod before I go. I'm so sorry they canceled the cycle. I hope you're on the money that a month or two off the drugs will be what you need for another fantastic one. Although, of course, a successful IUI would be even better!

Will be back with more substantial SO's over the weekend. Since now I have nothing to do but wait. :rolleyes:

ETA: I'm officially now "Way too Cool"! Hooray!

[Suzlywoozly]

Yeah Jad- So glad to hear the ET went well!

AmyChris- When are you moving? Isn't Chris going before you?

[amychris03]

Suzlywoozly
Chris's report date is no later than Nov. 7th but he cant leave his current
job here until Nov. 1st, then we still have to have the movers come! We
were thinking he may have to go by himself because we didnt know if we'd
find a rental quickly enough, but we think we found one (See LJ) so I will
go up with him! YAY! :)


ETA: Oops, meant to say that your transfer sounds great, Jad !
I hit send before my mind could catch up!

[CapeCod04]

Amy - where are you now? Are you ready for our winters? I live in NY - but I'm a CT girl from birth - may I offer an advance Welcome to New England? Too bad you'll be getting her a little late to enjoy the fall. Hopefully the winter will wait until you get settled in!

[amychris03]

Capecod04
hehe, Im in Virginia Beach right now and it was still in the 90's last
week but it's now in the seventies. We get school cancelled here if
it snows an inch!! I definitely think it will be a rude awakening, but
I grew up in the mountains of Virginia where it was typically in the
single digits and teens in the winter, so I think it will come back to
me quickly! When does it typically start getting cold/snowy up
there?

[CapeCod04]

Amy - we've had snow as early as the first week of October and as late as the first week of May. If you are going to be near the water, it will be a bit milder. Generally by Thanksgiving, it's cold enough to snow. It doesn't usually get really bitter until after Christmas.

[CapeCod04]

So guess what I'm doing Tuesday! I go in for my egg retrieval. This morning,the RE comes in for my u/s and starts talking about IUI v. IVF. I say "On Friday you said it would be an IUI." He tells me the nurses told him to reconsider, that he was being too strict. So - we get on with the ultrasound and lo and behold - I now have 6 candidate follicles! So - we are going with the IVF. What a rollercoaster this has been!

[angelgirl8]

capecod...great news! so glad you get to go ahead with the retrieval!

[AusMarchBride]

Capecod That's great news about the retrieval going ahead, but major grrrr on the doctor mucking you around like that. 6 follies is good, and I'll repeat the "It only takes one" mantra :D Good luck for ER, hope it goes beautifully for you.

Jad Great news that your ET went so well. Now the easy part, the waiting :rolleyes: Congrats on being "way too cool" also, a big weekend of achievements for you then ;)

amychris Thanks for friending me over at LJ. Hope the housing thing falls into place and the move goes easily. I admire you, I wouldn't want to be moving house at this stage, but I guess it's par for the course when your DH is in the navy.

Suzly Can't help you on the pio question cos I didn't use that. But I'm sending you some "arrive soon AF vibes".

sidsou Aussie I can't quite call you Ann since my name is Ann, and I feel like I'm writing to myself Hehe, I know what yuo mean. That's why I call you sidsou still. I can't believe I'm halfway there either, seems to have gone awfully quickly. I'm now feeling the baby move all the time (which is a relief) and it's all good. Hoping AF arrived for you and didn't mess around with your weekend plans too much.

Hi to everyone else, hope you;re doing ok.

[CapeCod04]

Suzly - on the question re: AF after the end of PIO shots - for me, AF showed up within a week after stopping the shots. The nurse I work with told me it could be 4 to 6 weeks before it came. Hope that helps.

[Sidsou]

Cape - Yeah for the go ahead for the IVF!! We'll all be thinking of you on Tuesday!

AmyChris Ditto on what Cape said about the winters up here. I've been here almost 8 years now and I still can't quite tell you. All I know is that we've had some cold ones the past two years. And although by the water does tend to mean a bit warmer, it also generally means cold wind too. But the spring/summer/falls are gorgeous!

JadCongrats on the good transfer! Sending tons of sticky and growth vibes to the little ones!!

As for me, AF finally came and wasn't half bad. I started the stims last night and gave myself the shots :D I'm so proud of myself. I knew I would have to do them on my own for the next week so I figured I wanted to try it while DH was there. I do have the benefit of a little "extra padding" on my abs that I didn't have before so I think that helped, since I really didn't feel a thing.

[alo]

Just popping back in to let you know we've gotten the green light to start IVF #2. Had my b/w and u/s yesterday, and all looks good.

Now let's just hope I make a ton of eggies and some of them are genetically normal. Or else I may just lose my mind.

Shots start on Wednesday (Oct 5). I am doing the Ganirelix Acetate protocol. So I start with follistim and repronex, and skip the whole lupron thing.

[Jad]

Wow! Lots going on in here all of a sudden.

capecod - Good luck on your retrieval tomorrow! Hope they get lovely eggies out of all of those follicles.

sidsou - Nice work on the shots! Although didn't you do PIO shots by yourself, too? If so, you may have to give me tips.

alo - Glad you got the green light! And that you get to avoid lupron, since it sounds like one of the more evil of the IVF drugs.

suzly - For me, AF showed three or four days after my last PIO shot, but I also had the nurses tell me it could be four weeks or more. But I must say you're lucky to have your RE thinking about why the last cycle didn't work. Mine basically chalked it up to bad luck. :rolleyes:

Ann - A slightly belated congrats at reaching the 20 week mark! How's the belly doing? :D

amychris - Sounds like it's time for you to get packin'!

As for me, just waitin'. DH wants to plan our next vacay and buy tix this week. I just find that I don't want to make any big plans in the middle of a cycle. I'm sure it's the uncertainty. If it doesn't work, the timing he's proposing should be good. If it does work, the trip might be right in the middle of morningsickness, although there's no guarantee that I'd be incapacitated. So I don't know. I'd like to try to hold off the decision, but I suppose I could still feel indecisive even after I have results.

[Suzlywoozly]

Yeah, AF finally arrived on Saturday! I don't think I could be so excited about something so awful. I can't wait to get things rolling again next cycle. I don't think I could have handled waiting any longer than that, especially since the next cycle will be right around the dreaded holidays.

Cape- That is great news! Lots of good luck at the retrieval tomorrow:)

alo- That's great news you've gotten the green light for cycle 2.

Sidsou- You are a brave woman to do the shots yourself! I chickened out everytime.

Sounds like lots of good stuff going around here and that everyone is starting to cycle again. :)

[Jad]

Ow. My butt hurts. DH put lukewarm water in the hot water bottle last night, so I didn't have anything particularly warm for after the PIO. Yes, I suppose I could have gotten up and changed the water myself. But I am Lazy. [/whine]

suzly - Are you taking a month off or cycling again right away or doing an FET?

[Suzlywoozly]

Jad- Aren't the PIOs the worst? I still am sore from them and it's been a week since my last one! Towards the end of the shots, I started using a warm, damp washcloth immediately after the shot. For some reason it helped more than a heating pad or water bottle.

No, I am not cycling this month:(. The RE said my ovaries need a break since they had such a workout last month. When AF shows next time (in about 3 1/2 wks.), we will do a FET. It seems so much easier and faster than a fresh cycle.

[CapeCod04]

Well - they got six eggs. And I didn't say anything embarassing this time. I'm a little sore, but I'll be back to work tomorrow. Transfer on Friday. Has anyone gone in for their transfer alone? DH has to work that day, so I'll be going it alone.

[Jad]

CapeCod - That's great news about the six eggs! Hope the fertilization report today is equally good.

suzly - I know the month off is frustrating. But for me, I was really glad to have had it in retrospect. And with an FET, it'll be here before you know it!

[Jad]

I hate this part. I was fine yesterday. And then this morning I wake up and suddenly I'm all weepy. And then I think that maybe it worked and that's why I'm emotional. And then I tell myself that I'm only going to make it worse if I get my hopes up. And then I get weepy again. <sigh> It makes me tired.

And can I just say? "A Map of the World"? Not the best book to be reading right now. Talk about crying. Anybody have a good light-hearted read to recommend?

[Astro]

Jad sorry to hear you're all weepy. If you like mysteries with a lot of humor and some sarcasm, I suggest any of the Egyptian mysteries by Elizabeth Peters (might have misspelled her first name). They take place in early 1900s Egypt. The main female character is very strong, opinionated, and stubborn. The first sentence of the first book in the series starts out something like...

When I first saw Evelyn, she was walking the streets of Rome. (The critic over my should says I shouldn't say that, but that is precisely what she was doing. She was walking in the streets).

Or something like that. Anyway, quite funny, nothing to heavy or serious, lots of sarcasm, and tons of really great information about 1900's Egypt. The author has really researched that time frame, and it shows.

Anyway, hope you feel better soon.

[angelgirl8]

jad...the weepy stuff was bad for me. i would swing back and forth every few minutes. hang in there!

reading: besides for chick books, which are generally fun to read, i love going back and reading all my david sedaris books (short stories). so funny!

[Sidsou]

Hi all!

Jad - I did do the PIO shots a couple times myself. But strangely, the idea of mixing meds and having so many different meds still in the box made me more nervous than giving myself the shot. The subcutaneous needle looks so tiny too after the PIO needles. I just kept and still keep doublechecking myself to see what I'm doing. As far as the PIO shots, I was very lucky in not having any problems (red marks or swelling - I never bothered with icing before or warming afterwards) until about 3 to 4 weeks of taking them and then I did the same thing as Suzly mentioned I used a warm washcloth afterwards. As for a book to take your mind off of things that's nice light reading - most of the James Patterson books will keep your mind occupied but are a really easy read in case you get distracted.

CapeFingers crossed for some good embryos for Friday!!!! Didn't go alone. Do you have a good friend/family member that could go with you? Even if it just means waiting outside for you and/or talking to you when you rest afterwards (although I fell asleep myself).

SuzlySorry you have to wait, but I guess it does sound like a good thing to give your body a break. Hoping for a speedy 3 1/2 weeks for you!!

As for me, I went in for monitoring yesterday and today. I guess things are going ok. I really have no idea what to expect with the different protocal. With this antagonist protocal (after 4 nights of stimulants), I have 2 decent sized follicles on the left and a med one on the right with a bunch of little ones on both. My lead follicle was 13 so I got the ok to take the antagon med this morning. I'm curious to see what the ultrasound looks like on Saturday (ie what the drug does to me). My left side is a bit achey especially during the ultrasound and I'm quite sleepy (side effect from the stims?). Besides that all is going well :) I must add that this new Follistism pen thing is pretty cool - too bad they couldn't do the others like that too...

[jon's girl]

Amychris: so you know how I feel… I will probably go to RE to do shots if I can’t do them myself…

Sidsou - yea, the Follistism pen seemed pretty neat. Great that so far your worst side effect is sleepiness - so happy to hear it!

Jad -Congrats on the good transfer! what is “way to cool to care?” Recommended readings… where to begin…. I love Jane Green and all her books – they are fun, fluffy and there is always at least one twist in the book, which makes it more interesting. I also just finished the Dog Walker (which was cute), and I loved the Devil Wears Prada (good if you want to know how the real magazine world works since it is based on a true story – is an editorial really an editorial? What are these editors like?, etc…).

[Jad]

Thanks, all, for the book recs. Will go looking for them at the library tomorrow. (It's always good to have a long list to choose from since you never know what you're going to find.)

Feeling better than yesterday emotionally, but kind of crappy -- like I'm getting sick. Runny nose, trouble breathing, tired. Let's just say that I'm looking forward to the weekend!

sidsou - It sounds like your follies are progressing nicely. I think I was on the same basic protocol, and after four days, I had five medium follies (largest was 11, I think?) and a bunch of small ones. So not too different from what you've got going. Hope the monitoring goes well tomorrow!

jon's girl - "Way too Cool to Care" is under my name. It basically means I have over 100 but less than 500 posts.

[Jude]

Hi All,

Just thought I'd pop in and say hi while I'm stressing out in the days before AF is supposed to arrive.

I'm probably one of the few here that actually wants this to happen, but it's so I can have the next ET after a break of a few months. I'm stressed because last month AF just disppeared, never came, don't know why. So I couldn't have the transfer. I'm worried it'll happen again and will blow the chance of another ET, plus will add another worry about why this is suddenly happening.

It's really nice to read all the messages and not feel alone and crazy in the worry about it all. Good luck everyone with where you're at.
Jude.

[CapeCod04]

Jude - I hope AF shows up soon for you!

Jad - I hope that you are feeling better soon and are enjoying your weekend.

Sidsou - I used the gonal-f pen. I wish all the meds came like that! I also wished that on some website there was an explanation of all the protocols, why they are used and what side effects to expect. They had added high dose hcg to mine this time and it made me sleepy - at least that's what I'm blaming.

Astro & Angel - nice to see you!

Okay - I think I'm caught up!

Transfer was yesterday - short version - we transferred 4 embryos (all that fertilized nicely). One 8 cell grade 1, a six cell grade 2 and two 4 cells, grade 1.5 and 2.
Now - ready for a longish story? I was late arriving. I left home only a few minutes after I intended. I stopped at CVS to pick up some water to drink on the ride for my uncomfortably full bladder and some snacks & magazines for the afternoon bed rest. (DH was working so I went alone. I live in a NYC suburb, cycle in CT - but it's normally only about a 20 minute ride - maybe 30 minutes during rush hour. Well - silly me forgot that it was the start of a long weekend! Shortly after I hit the CT border - like 5 minutes into my ride - traffic! I ended up being 20 minutes late - I called on my way (illegally - no headset) they say don't worry. So I get there, the nurse tells me that I look too happy to be uncomfortably full, drink some more. Yeah I was happy - I had been nervous about the whole thing and was relieved to be there! So - good little Catholic girl I am, I drink more. 35 minutes later they still haven't taken me in and I'm in pain! I tell them I have to relieve some. The clerk lets me, but warns they'll probably make me drink more. Boy was she ever wrong. When they took me in about 5 minutes later, I get on the table, RE says "you're too full". I go out, do my thing, get back up on the table. Still too full. I go out, yada yada, go back. Now he thinks I'm good, they are all geared up to go, speculum in, trying to put in the catheter. Guess what! I laughed - couldn't help it. Out I go, back I come. The RE says "did you go" I looked at him and said "No. what do you think!" Silly RE. I think he must have thought I was nuts because each time he told me to go pee some more, I got laughing. Anyway the last time did the trick. It all went very smoothly after that. I had brought some music to listen to - so my little embryos were transferred as I listened to Harry Connick, Jr singing "my baby and me" - totally unplanned - I had the player on random. Who knows - a good omen?

[Sidsou]

CapeHee hee :D Sounds like you have some good ones! That was just the perfect song too - such a good omen!!

JudeDoing a little AF dance for you...

JadHope you have a nice relaxing weekend and are feeling better all around.

As for me, some not so great news...It looks like all I'll have are those two follicles that are on the left. The med sized one looked "two small to measure" this morning, and none of the small ones have grown at all. My doc this morning gave me a little talk that I might be better off doing an IUI. Very disappointing :( It hadn't even occurred to me that I wouldn't respond that well, since I was thinking this different protocal would at least give me as good as a response I had before. My doc said we would talk about it tomorrow morning. He said we could still do IVF, if we wanted, but that the chances are pretty low that it would be successful with only two follicles to work with. Dh and I pretty much decided we'd do an IUI, although after having done 6 before, we're not very optimistic.

[CapeCod04]

Sidsou - how long have you been on stims? I went 14 days. On day 13, they were planning an IUI with only 3 measurable follicles. On day 15, I had 6! Don't count yourself out yet.

[Sidsou]

Thanks CapeCod. I was actually thinking of you when the doc started talking to me. I started the stims on Sunday so I've *only* taken 6 nights of them so far. I am on an antagonist protocal and have a high FSH - not sure if you did too? They called this afternoon and told me to continue on the stims at the same levels and to come in, in the morning. We'll see how things are looking.

[Bella213]

Hey Sidsou :) Wishing all the luck in the world sweetie! I hope this cycle works for you!

Bella213

[Sidsou]

Anna/BellaThanks so much! I've missed you!! I'll private mail you so I don't take up a bunch of room here.


Well, not so good news...I've officially been converted to an IUI. I'm down to only one follicle that is continuing to grow. The other that was a decent size has just stayed at that size, and the others are two small to mention. The "big" one is ready to pop, so we're going with the IUI rather than trying to wait and lose that one. Like I said yesterday, disappointing. I knew with a highish FSH this time things might be a little different but I never imagined that IVF wouldn't even be a possibility for us. The IUI is scheduled for Tuesday. Although I know there is a chance with IUI, our SA in the past for IUIs (6 total) have only once actually been over the # that they prefer. So I'm not too optimistic with one egg and not a lot of sperm.

At this point, we're thinking of trying a final IVF in the spring, but we'll have to think about it more. I hate to be a downer, but we almost feel like we should call it quits now and be content having been blessed with one child through IVF.

[AusMarchBride]

Sidsou I'm sorry about the IVF being converted to IUI. I know you're disheartened, but maybe this is your version of "it only takes one", if you know what I mean. I have my fingers well and truly crossed for you that you get lots, with one particularly determined sperm :D Hang in there.

capecod Congrats on your great transfer, sounds like it went beautifully and I loved the part about the Harry Connick song. That has to be a good omen. When is your beta? I loved my gonal-f pen, it was sooo easy to use.

Jude Hope AF arrives for you very soon. And you are SO not alone and crazy in worrying about IVF, we've all been there done that and/or are doing that.

Jad You hanging in there? Sorry to hear you were feeling a bit down, but you must remember that chocolate ALWAYS helps. And as someone on the old thread/old boards used to say (it may even have been you), chocolate is both dairy and vegetable, so it's got to be good for you :) When is your beta? Have my fingers crossed for you too.

jon'sgirl I really liked the Jane Green books also. I'm a bit of a chicklit fan.

Astro How are you doing?

Suzly Good idea for the FET and to give your body a rest for a month from all the drugs. I found the break between cycles really helpful.

alo Congrats on being back on the rollercoaster. Sounds like you have a different protocol from your first cycle, and that might make all the difference for you.

Hi to everyone, hope all is well with you.

All well here, am getting ready to go away on holidays for 2 weeks. We go on 21 October to New Zealand, and I can't wait. It's a stunning country and am looking forward to being away and being pampered :D

[Jude]

Aus March Bride - thanks for the encouragement. Enjoy your trip. I'm from NZ and just went back there to get married (I live in Aus now). It is beautiful and I'm sure you'll have a great time.

Sidsou - I wish you lots of good luck for things going well. I don't really know any of you guys but your stories always touch me and I know how what a roller coaster this ride can be.

Jad & Capecod- same to you guys, good luck with the wait and I hope everything goes your way this time.

My story is still weird, AF has failed to arrive for the second month in a row but tests seem to indicate all levels are normal and the month is progressing in the usual way - very strange. They think it's still the fallout from the stim cycle in July. I have a blood test in the morning and if it shows everything to be normal I may be able to go ahead with the FET as planned. I'm doing this one taking estradiol - has anyone else done that?

[AusMarchBride]

Jude I'm from NZ and just went back there to get married (I live in Aus now). It is beautiful and I'm sure you'll have a great time.


We're only doing the North Island this trip, we went in August last year and did the South Island, absolutely stunning. I'm sorry AF hasn't arrived for you, she can be a real PITA sometimes, never does what you want her to. Didn't do an estradiol cycle myself and have no idea what that even does, but somebody else here may.

BTW, where are you cycling in Australia. I did mine at Monash in Melbourne.

Also, do you want to give me your stats to put on the first page here. Mine look like this:

AusMarchBride
Me: Ann (39)
DH: Michael (41)
TTC: March 2003
DX: Unexplained IF

If you don't want to put in your names, that's fine.

[Jad]

kat - Don't kill me. It's the nurse's fault, not mine. :D

Beta was this morning. I asked the nurses to call us between 3 and 4 so DH could be conferenced in on the call. Well, she called me at 10:30 saying it was so inconvient for them and could I please try to get DH on the line before 1 so they could give me the results. I told DH that if it was negative I was going to be seriously pissed off.

But it wasn't negative. Hcg is 184! :eek: :eek: I go back in on Wednesday for the repeat. And in the meantime, I'll just sit here in shock.

*************

sidsou - I'm sorry they converted the cycle. And they probably won't even do the next-time-we'll-do-X-differently until the end of the cycle, will they? How frustrating! Does your clinic deal with a lot of higher FSH? If not, someone at my last Resolve meeting was talking about moving to a clinic that does. I can try to get the name if you're ever interested.

cape - Sounds like quite a transfer experience! I mistimed my drinking and *had* to pee about 45 minutes before the appointment time. So then I chugged about a half liter in 30 minutes. :rolleyes:

Ann - Where are you going in NZ? I loved it there. Almost more than Australia. ;) :p

Jude - I hope AF makes her regularly schedule appearance for you!

[islandgirlsj]

Awwww Hun!
I'm so happy for you!! :D :p :D
It is about time some GOOD NEWS came from here.

Sending you a big ::::: HUG :::::
:D

[angelgirl8]

jad...congratulations!! i was so excited to read your post that i reread it 3 times to make sure i was reading it correctly! YAY!!!

sidsou...so sorry you were converted to an IUI. i can't imagine how frustrating that must be.

[Sidsou]

JadYeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy for you! Wishing you big numbers on Wednesday!!! My hospital does deal a bit with high FSHers. The doctor said they have other things to try on me :confused: , but of course, they probably don't want to talk about them right now. Considering it wouldn't be until probably March when we would try again, I almost don't even want to think about it. Melissa mentioned to me some good clinics to check out for high FSHers, but I think we'll probably stick with our hospital if we decide to try again (convenience sake so I wouldn't have to disrupt Kyle's life to much).

Thanks everyone for your thoughts! I'm starting to feel a little bit better. At least my doctor said I could still take the valium :p before the IUI. I kind of asked him sarcastically, but he said as long as I wasn't driving that would be fine to help relax me. DH and I are going to wait a while to decide if we want to give it another try. I think right now we are both a bit emotional about the topic.

Aussie - I'm so jealous of you going to NZ. I've never been down in that part of the woods, but photos I've seen have just been beautiful! This may sound like a stupid question, but how close are Australia and New Zealand really (how long is the plane ride?). To me, on a map it looks so close, but I have no idea of scale in that part of the world.

[Suzlywoozly]

Jad!!!!! Yeah!!! Congratulations!

[amychris03]

YAY Jad!!!!! Congratulations! You just made my day!:D

[kat]

CONGRATULATIONS, JAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You have no idea how freakin' excited I am for you two!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to tell P -- he's napping now (marathon overload) but I know he'll be so happy, too.

I was napping (marathon overload for me, too) and having a really hard time waking up when the alarm went off at 3:00. I snoozed for quite a while, and then I remembered that you were going to get the results at 3:00. *THAT* got me to jump out of bed and run to the computer. Of course, now I see that you learned much earlier......but since you're pregnant, I'll forgive you, just this once. :D

So. Unbelievably. Happy. For. You & P!!!!

[Astro]

Jad CONGRATULATIONS! I am so very happy for you. :)

Ann We're doing ok. Went to our first IVF appointment since the boys were stillborn. We aren't able to start trying yet, the IVF Dr wants us to wait a bit more. She's different than the Dr we first had, he moved to the East Coast. She has different opinions/beliefs than he did, so she wants me to start some new meds. I just want to get back on track, but currently resigned to wait.

[Jude]

Jad - congratulations, gotta love a success story that's brilliant news.

Sidsou - not a silly question, it's about a three and a half hour plane ride between Australia and NZ and they are very different in terms of the terrain. NZ is very green and lush and Australia is much redder and drier and has desert.

Aus March Girl - very excited to meet you - I'm also at Monash IVF (Epworth). My doctor is Lyn Burmeister. I really like them there, everyone I've come across has been so supportive and given me their time even though you know they've got a squillion other people waiting for them. My details are:

Jude
Me: Emma (37)
DH: Richard (40)
TTC: July 2005
DX: Low sperm count following chemo, & PCO.

I'm about 20 minutes away from the phone call to my lovely nurse to find out results of a BT which will determine whether we can go ahead with the FET this month..... (despite the continued absence of AF)....

[AusMarchBride]

Jad CONGRATS, that's fantastic news. How are you feeling? Takes a while to sink in :D

Astro Glad to hear you're doing ok. Sometimes it's hard to get used to a new doctor, but hang in there, you'll be sticking yourself with needles soon enough.

sidsou Enjoy your valium :) Fingers crossed that the IUI does the trick for you.

To answer Jad and sidsou's questions: I'm off to NZ's North Island. We did the South Island last year. We go to Auckland, Rotorua, Lake Taupo, Waitamo Caves, and Bay of Islands. We'e away for about 10 days and I can't wait. Auckland is a little under 4 hrs flying time away, so it's quite a distance.

[AusMarchBride]

Jude I cycled at Monash Clayton. I agree with your thoughts on the staff at Monash, they're fabulous. Always kind and compassionate, haven't got a bad word to say about any of them. My favourite is the nurse who sees you just before you have ET, and then leads you by the hand into the theatre for the transfer. I told her she didn't need to keep holding my hand, I was fine and not nervous at all. Her reasponse, that's why I'm here, to stay with you until you're asleep. I thought that was lovely.

Good luck with your blood results, hope the FET is a goer.

I'll have some fush and chups for you while I'm in New Zulland ;)

And, I'll update your stats now under my alter ego of IVFIVF.

[IVFIVF]

updated to here

[Duncan1]

Jad CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!! so excited for you!!!!!!!!! I KNEW this one would be it. :D :) :D :)

[alo]

I know I haven't been around much to keep you guys updated, but it's just been very confusing on my end of things.

Here's where I'm at now:

On day 6 of stims. My estrogen is too high, my uterine lining is too thin, and I have 20 follicles. Only 8 of those follicles are of a good size though, and that doesn't bode well. Last time I had 11, 7 made it to the genetic testing, and all were abnormal. So I'm not feeling a great sense of hope here. But we're continuing on. My meds get changed just about every day, to try and keep the estrogen in check. And I've been in for b/w and u/s two days in a row now. Hoping I get a reprieve from that tomorrow.

I'm nervous and not at all confident that this will work this time. My doctor reminded me it's all a case of luck, which pisses me off, because I have no control over luck. But the u/s tech keeps telling me the follicles look "fabulous", so at least I have that, right?

[CapeCod04]

Congratulations Jad! :)

[Sidsou]

Alo - Sending thick cushy uterine lining vibes to you (that's the one thing my body does well)!! Fingers crossed for you about the genetic testing.

[donm425]

Hi ladies I was hoping I could join you? I just started my stims on Monday, this is my first IVF cycle

me: Donna (35)
Dh: Mike (36)
TTC: Nov 04
dx : High FSH (14/20/11.5) and one blocked tube

I go to NYU and was able to begin my first IVF cycle on Monday, I"m on Follistim 2x a day. I go back on Friday for b/w and u/s.

JAD - congrats!
Sidsou - I was reading through some of the pages and noticed you mentioned an issue with FSH. I just wanted to let you know that I lowered mine by acupuncture, diet changes (no caffeine /organic dairy & eggs) and B6 and a herbal supplement from acupuncturist. I wasn't allowed to cycle unless I lowered it to under 12.5
to all the ladies I will try to go back and read the pages so I know everyone.

Baby dust to all!

[Sidsou]

Hi Donna! Welcome! That's interesting about the accupuncture and diet changes. I'll have to look into that. It's funny because I had a 15, and then when they retested me cd3 I was 8 and then cd10 (after taking Clomid) I was 11.2. In all honesty they didn't think it would be too much of a factor for me, but obviously it is. I guess, I've never been a great responder, since when I did IVF a few years ago my FSH was reading around 5 or 6, but I still only got 8 eggs (which I would kill for now, but was lower than they expected). Melissa who is around here somewhere, emailed me a great spreadsheet that I found so inspirational. It's about women who have high FSH levels and got pregnant via all sorts of methods. I can forward it to you if you are interested.

[donm425]

Hi Sidsou! Thanks for the welcome! I would love to see that spreadsheet, if you can email it to donm425 at aol dot com that would be great!

I got a lot of my tips/ideas for lowering my FSH from "lurking" on other message boards
http://fertilityretreats.com/

http://www.network54.com/Forum/209394

Good luck to you!

[Jad]

Thank you all so so much. You guys rock. And I'm so happy to be able to bring some good news at last. Heard from the nurse this morning, and today's beta was 488. Apparently the office is a little confused, however. When I showed up, they handed me a number for an u/s, which I had thought wasn't until late next week. And my b/w said to check both HCG *and* E2. It seemed weird, but I just waited until the tech came to get me. After much checking, they concluded that it was a mistake. I like to believe that they were just so used to checking off the monitoring boxes that it was just habit. :p

Donna - Welcome to the thread! And congrats on starting the stims. How much follistim do they have you taking? Hope you've got lots going on by Friday!

alo - So did they make you come back again? And how small are the smaller follies? I only ever have a small number of mature-sized follies, but they always seem to get eggs out of some of the littler ones. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll get just as many as they did last time.

Jude - Any word on the FET? Hope you got the go-ahead.

capecod - How are you doing with the waiting? Distractions are goooood!

Ann - Are you going to hot water beach? We *loved* hot water beach so very much. I suppose it might not be good for preggos. But from our experience, only some areas of the beach are really hot. The rest are more lukewarm. (And can I get your alter ego to update me as pregnant? Thank you, oh, wonderful threadmistress!)

[Suzlywoozly]

Jad- That's great news!!!

[Sidsou]

Donna You've got mail :)

JadThat's a fabulous second beta - way more than doubled!! Hoping your good news is contagious and we start a whole baby boom out here ;)

Aussie - No big deal, but if you are updating any time soon, you can change my age to 34, and I guess add "Oct 05 IVF converted to IUI" or put it instead of whatever I had there for TTC#2. Thanks a bunch!

[amygrrl]

popping in just to say YEAH JAD!!!!!!!!!

[donm425]

Thanks for your mail! Very inspiring!

Jad - Beta sounds fabulous - that's awesome
I'm on 450 of follistim a day, so I do 225 in the am and 225 in the pm -
I hope I get good results on Friday.

Donna

[kat]

Congrats (over here), Jad!

(And LOL at sending you for the stim-phase workup!! Just FYI, your first OB ultrasound won't be in the same place as the stim-phase ultrasounds, and will be done by the RE. (I mean, it's in the same office, but it won't be "in the back," if you know what I mean -- it'll be in one of the "up front" exam rooms). And if it's the same room I had, they have a little screen set up so you can see it, too, even though you're flat on your back).

[Jude]

Hi guys, it's been a couple of days since I checked in, and congrats to you JAD, I'm glad things are still looking so good, you are an inspiration to us all!!

Welcome Donna, I'm pretty new here too, it's a good place to come and meet and find support.

Well believe it or not my AF finally turned up yesterday morning, only about 65 days after the last one!! So I am finally scheduled for an FED, not sure what day but I have an ultrasound booked in for next Friday. It's funny how one worry replaces another, I've finally got AF and now I'm worried what if my one little embie doesn't thaw. If it's not one thing it's another!!!

[Jude]

That was meant to read FET above - fingers not typing well this morning!

[la_bride_2004]

JAD Just popping in to say congratulations!!!!!!!!

[alo]

Doing better today. My 4th straight day starting out with a monitoring appt. though. Not fond of this.

But I am progressing well enough that they say they're moving up my retrieval date. Instead of Monday, we're going in on Sunday. Since the genetic testing has to be done on a certain date, and we have the lab reserved for that specific date, I'm not sure how they're going to be able to change that, but whatever. That's why they get paid the big bucks.

The follicles are coming along. Some are pretty big (I thought I saw one at 19 this morning, and I know they don't want to go beyond that, right?!) but then I still have a number of medium-sized ones that need to progress some more before retrieval. Looks like I'll probably be triggering tomorrow though.

So very nervous about the PGD (the genetic testing). Even if everything looks wonderful, that's no indication as to whether the embryos are normal. Just sucks.

sidsou: Do you do anything specific to ensure you have a cushy lining?

[amychris03]

Alo
Glad to hear that things are moving along, though I know you must be sick of going to the drs!!! Good Luck with the trigger and retrieval! I'll be thinking
about you!

[Sidsou]

AloGood luck with everything!! No advice on the lining - that's one thing my body has always been good at on its own. Fingers and Toes crossed for you!!!

[la_bride_2004]

Alo

The follicles are coming along. Some are pretty big (I thought I saw one at 19 this morning, and I know they don't want to go beyond that, right?!) but then I still have a number of medium-sized ones that need to progress some more before retrieval. Looks like I'll probably be triggering tomorrow though.


I think it depends. I know my 5 largest were above 26mm (yeah, that's an inch!) by the time of ER. Hang in there and I will be thinking good thoughts for you.

[IVFIVF]

Ladies, your wish is my command.

Updated to here

[AusMarchBride]

And now resuming my undercover name :D

Coreen Hi there, how are you? How is DH doing?

Alo Oh all those appts must be driving you nuts. But it's for a good cause. Fingers crossed down here in downunderland that the ER goes beautifully on SUnday. They do the PGD on day 5 right? I may have already left for the wilds of New Zealand by then, but I'll be thinking good thoughts for you. I know the waiting and not knowing part is really tough, hang in there, there's lots of lovely ladies here sending you good wishes.

Jude Congrats on AF arriving, better (very) late than never huh:) There's always something to worry about with this whole IVF thing. It never stops.

Jad Woohoo for your 2nd beta, great numbers. (Funny though about the automatic check for E2 :D ) Do they do more betas or now just schedule you for the 6week ultrasound?

We're not going to hot water beach, when I planned the trip I looked at it but figured the water would be too hot for me being pregnant and all. So we're not going, bummer, cos it sounds great.

And can I get your alter ego to update me as pregnant? Thank you, oh, wonderful threadmistress!) Flattery will get you everywhere :D . It's done.

donm425 Welcome and (I mean this in the nicest possible way), I hope your stay here is a short one. I don't have issues with high FSH so I'm no help at all with that.

sidsou You did your IUI on Tuesday so you're in the 2ww? I think I'll still be away when you get your betas (we come back on Nov 1), but I have fingers, toes and everything else crossed for you.

capecod You're in the 2ww too. Ditto what I said for sidsou, fingers, toes and everything else crossed for you.

Hi to everyone else, hope life is treating you well. I'm getting excited about our trip away, we leave on the 21st. Otherwise, everything is fine here, doing ok and still not quite believing I'm pregnant. Hope reality comes up and smacks me in the face soon or I'll have delivered this baby before my brain has realised I'm pregnant :rolleyes:

[jon's girl]

Jad - CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[kemorr]

Yesterday I met with my RE to discuss having a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy. He basically said, in a nutshell, that we can go straight to IVF and skip the surgeries or perform the surgeries to try to determine why I'm not getting pregnant and to see if there is anything that can be fixed. If there is something that can be fixed, we will try 1-2 more cycles of IUIs with injectibles (I have already done 2). We have been diagnosed with unexplained and I am 29.

My question is - did many of you IVFers have a laparocopy/hysteroscopy or did you just skip this step and go straight to IVF? I'm trying to decide what to do. The "sensible" part of me says to try to get a diagnosis and possibly a fix, the desperate to get pregnant part of me says skip it and proceed directly to IVF.

TIA:p

[donm425]

My question is - did many of you IVFers have a laparocopy/hysteroscopy or did you just skip this step and go straight to IVF? I'm trying to decide what to do. The "sensible" part of me says to try to get a diagnosis and possibly a fix, the desperate to get pregnant part of me says skip it and proceed directly to IVF.

TIA:p
2 out of 3 drs told me to skip the lap because it really wasn't necessary for me (I have a blocked tube) and that I could run the risk of ectopic by clearing out the tube and even with a cleared tube my success rate would be low. I also have FSH issues so that's part of why it wouldn't make a difference. Since I just turned 35 I went straight to IVF. Good luck to you!

[AusMarchBride]

kemorr Hi. I didn't have any surgery (either lap or hysteroscopy), closest thing was an HSG to check my tubes were ok. I didn't do IUIs at all, went straight to IVF. That's mainly because of my age (I was 38 when we saw the RE) and also IVF has a higher success rate and I felt that I didn't have time to waste on IUIs at my age. But that's just personal opinion, I did what I felt was best for ME.

I was also diagnosed with unexplained infertility.

Good luck.

[CapeCod04]

kemorr Is there a possibility that whatever is preventing you from getting pregnant would also prevent an IVF from succeeding? If so, I would say do the surgery. If not, I would not do it.

[Jad]

kemorr - No lap for me, either. Honestly, it wasn't even suggested. Does your RE suspect endo? If so, it might be worth doing. If not? Well, I just can't see doing those surgeries "just to see." Maybe you can get a 2nd opinion?

alo - You enjoying your brief reprieve from all the bloodwork? I can't believe you had to go in four days in a row. Can they stick both arms or do you have one poor vein that's had to suffer it all? Good luck tomorrow at the retrieval!!!

Jude - Glad you're ready for the FET. That's great news! I haven't done one yet, so I don't know the protocol, but I hope that all is well next Friday at your u/s!

[mrselle]

kemorr, I didn't have a lap either. My RE did perform an office hysteroscopy to check my uterus and all was fine. A lap was never suggested because she didn't think they would find much. I was given the option to do IUI or IVF and I went straight to IVF.

[kemorr]

Hi girls, thanks for all your responses. It certainly seems that a lap/hysteroscopy isn't done for most IVFers. I think the reason why my RE recommended it is that I have a strong family history of endo (both aunt and sister were badly affected). Other than spotting at about 12-13 DPO, I show no other signs of endo, but he thinks there is a possibility that I have stage 1 or stage 2 endo. However, he also said that IVF bypasses any problems caused by endo, which is why he isn't telling me I definitely need to do it before IVF.

After long discussions with my DH, we decided to go for the surgery. I guess if the first or second cycles of IVF failed for me, I would always think that maybe things would be different if I had had the surgery. Also, I did read somewhere that the IVF success rates are lower for women with endo, so if I have even mild endo, maybe the surgery can diagnose/treat it and increase my chances at IUIs/IVF.

I'm nervous about it, but here's hoping it works and I get pregnant without having to go to IVF.

Thanks for all your responses!

[CapeCod04]

kemorr - I hope the surgery works for you!

May I say this morning that sometimes I really really hate the PIO shots? Today was one of those days I had to do it myself. It just didn't go too well.

[kat]

kemorr Hi. I didn't have any surgery (either lap or hysteroscopy), closest thing was an HSG to check my tubes were ok. I didn't do IUIs at all, went straight to IVF. That's mainly because of my age (I was 38 when we saw the RE) and also IVF has a higher success rate and I felt that I didn't have time to waste on IUIs at my age. But that's just personal opinion, I did what I felt was best for ME.

I was also diagnosed with unexplained infertility.

Good luck.

Ditto for me. Good luck to you!

CapeCod: May I say this morning that sometimes I really really hate the PIO shots?

I'm sorry it's been one of those bad PIO days!

Ann, Enjoy your trip!!! NZ has been #1 on our list of Places We Want to Go for about 5 years now....we even thought about going there on our honeymoon but it would've been in the 50s, and there we decided that it's bad enough we live in a cold climate - we didn't need to go somewhere for our honeymoon that was colder than home. :) We also tried scheduling a trip there a few years ago in December or January, but all the flights were sold out! So for now I just live vicariously through Jad (and you). :)

[paisleydays]

Hi everyone!

I thought that I would join the thread now that DH and I have been declared "good to go" for an IVF cycle. We have had a roller coaster ride to get here, but I couldn't be more thrilled (or nervous and scared) that we will be starting an IVF cycle. I will start either BCP or an estrogen microflare once AF arrives, then 2 weeks of stims, then egg retrieval in mid/late November. I go in tomorrow for a mock embryo transfer. Anyone have any idea what to expect for that?

Here our are stats:
Age: 34
DH: 32
Married: July, 2002
TTC: January, 2004
DX: High FSH for me, Severe Male Factor for him
Status: IVF/ICSI #1 November, 2005

[CapeCod04]

Paisley - during the mock transfer, they feed a catheter into your uterus just like they will during the real transfer. They want to find out what path to take - can they go straight in, bend a little one way or another - that kind of thing. It is painless - at least mine was. Good luck to you.

[kat]

Paisley: ditto to what CapeCod said. My RE didn't even call it a "mock transfer"; instead, he referred to it as "measuring." In my case, it was a bit of a hassle (because of an angled cervix, getting the right catheter and right angle was tricky) but still not painful. Good luck to you!

[amychris03]

Paisley
They actually did my mock transfer the day of the retrieval while I was still
out of it from the drugs so I have no idea what it involved, but she said
basically that it was to measure how far to go in to get it to the right place!
She said it was a little more challenging for her because of my tilted uterus,
just like Kats dr said...

[Jad]

paisley - Welcome to the thread! You may have already had the mock transfer by now, but just thought I'd weigh in too. I definitely had some cramping. Not as much as the HSG, but it was not comfortable. That made me a little nervous before my actual transfer, but I didn't feel a thing at either of those. So even if it was good, that's great, but if it wasn't, that doesn't necessarily portend pain at the main event.

alo - How was that retrieval yesterday? I've been thinking about you!

kemorr - The endo possitiblity explains it! Good luck with your surgery.

[IVFIVF]

paisleydays Welcome and your stats have been added

[AusMarchBride]

paisleydays Welcome. I haven't done a mock transfer, s no help to you at all. I think all the measuring was done at my 1st ultrasound at the RE.
We have had a roller coaster ride to get here, but I couldn't be more thrilled (or nervous and scared) that we will be starting an IVF cycle. Yep, we've all been there too and it is thrilling and nervewracking and scary at the same time. And those feelings continue throughout the cycle :rolleyes:

alo How did it go? Sending you good thoughts.

Jad How are you doing? Your 1st ultrasound is the end of the week yes? I won't be around, will be in NZ on Friday, but I hope it goes beautifully.

amychris How is the getting ready for the move? Any joy with your house?

kat I just noticed (after how long :rolleyes: ) that you're from Chicago. I stayed there about 10 years ago, at a friend's place out in the suburbs at LaGrange. Lovely city, I really enjoyed Chicago. Nearly moved there for work but it's such a long way from here :D How are those bubs behaving for you?
Ann, Enjoy your trip!!! NZ has been #1 on our list of Places We Want to Go for about 5 years now I don't think you'll be going anytime soon with those bubs to contend with. The flights from Chicago would suck, especially with little kiddies. Thanks, I'm really looking forward to the trip.

capecod Your beta must be soon, Friday maybe? Wishing you a fantastic result. I have my fingers and toes crossed.

kemorr Good luck with the surgery. Have they given you any idea when they'll do it?

mrselle How are you going? Have you scheduled your FET yet, or just hanging for a little while?

Hi to everyone else, I know I've missed people and I'm sorry. Am getting ready for the trip, we leave on Friday. FIL has to go into hospital before we go, and I'm playing chauffur for MIL so she doesn't have the hassle of driving into the city and trying to park her car, so I'm not sure how much I'll be around for the next couple of days. Shall try to post though.

Will be back here on the 1st November, after our holiday. In the meantime, for everyone getting betas and other tests and cycling, I send all the positive vibes I can and I'll be thinking of you. Look forward to seeing some more BFPs when I return :D

[jon's girl]

Hi every one!!

Haven't written in a bit... just thought i would say hi.... things are exciting on this end... we stop the pill today and start the stims on saturday - folistin and repronex.

We are so close to having a real possibility of getting pregnant it is exciting... I am still nervous about the needles and the side effects of the stims, but I am excited !!

[mrselle]

Hi Ladies,

I haven’t updated in a while. I’ve just been sitting back and enjoying life.

I go in for my baseline ultrasound on Nov. 1. Looks like I’ll be doing Lupron, 2 estrogen patches 2x a week and PIO shots 2x a day. I really have no idea what to expect with an FET, but from everything I’ve read it will be much easier than doing a fresh cycle. I’m guessing my transfer will be the week of Thanksgiving.

[Suzlywoozly]

I go in for my baseline ultrasound on Nov. 1. Looks like I’ll be doing Lupron, 2 estrogen patches 2x a week and PIO shots 2x a day. I really have no idea what to expect with an FET, but from everything I’ve read it will be much easier than doing a fresh cycle. I’m guessing my transfer will be the week of Thanksgiving.

Looks like we will be doing our FET's at the same exact time!! I go in for my baseline on Nov. 2 (if AF cooperates this month). I have no idea what to expect with a FET either. Looks like we will find out together:)

[donm425]

Hi ladies -
just wanted to update that my IVF cycle got converted to an IUI, I had my trigger shot this am and go into tomorrow at 11am. It seems I'm a poor responder so I'm pretty upset about this news. I only had one dominant follicle with some smaller ones on my right ovary and none on my left ovary.
I was on 450 follistim and had been on 250 ganirelix before it was converted.

Good luck to all of you, I don't have a chance to go back but I know there was a retrieval this weekend and we have some FETs coming up.

[melissafromnc]

Just wanted to stop by and tell you all I was thinking of you and share a bit of news.

My dh fought hard for infertility coverage at his company. He put together a kind of focus group (including our own amygrrl) a little over a year ago and forced some meeting on HR. He did lots of research and work and guess what? One person really CAN make a difference. They just announced benefits for next year and infertility coverage is being offered for the first time ever. I'm so proud of him. And happy to share with anyone some of the stuff he used to prod the process along.

I've also been researching a new procedure called ivm (in vitro maturation) that some of you might be interested in. It's similar to ivf except you take very few drugs (only one shot of hcg!) and they harvest antral follicles then mature them in the lab. McGill in Montreal is cutting edge when it comes to this procedure. It only costs about 4k (plus travel costs) and is much easier on your body. The best candidates are those with pcos (or just anyone with really good antral counts) but they're seeing some nice results with poor responders. My own theory is that if you have high fsh or are a poor responder your eggs might do better in the lab than with stims.

I'm continuing to lurk (hope that's ok) and wishing you all successes very soon.

Hope it's ok if you'll permit me a few shout-outs:
Wishing great success to capecod[b] in her 2ww

Congrats to [b]jad!!

Hello to Donna and sorry to hear about your canceled cycle. I saw that sidsou had mailed you the high fsh spreadsheet. That was compiled by an old time at the network 54 boards. I still post there some so I'm glad you found that board. I've cycled at both of the meccas (Cooper Center and SIRM) and been dealing with high fsh for a long time. Let me know if you ever have questions.

Fingers and toes also crossed for sidsou!

Big hello to my pal, paisley days. I'm thrilled you joined this thread and can't wait to watch your progress.

Special shoutout to the most fantabulous thread mistress. I thought I couldn't be more jealous of you with your fab kitchen but now NEW ZEALAND? I'm totally green with envy. Hope you have a wonderful trip.

[AusMarchBride]

Melissa Oh it's so nice to see/hear you. And a major congrats to your DH, what a guy. I don't really understand the US medical benefits system, but I do know that it's very difficult to work with and hard to get changes. Sensational effort :D That IVM sounds really interesting, and as you said, a LOT easier on the body and the hip pocket.

I'm SO looking forward to NZ. I'm going to post a link to one place we're staying at. We always have a splurge at a nice hotel for a couple of nights on an overseas trip. We'll be here for 2 nights Splurge lol (http://www.kauricliffs.com/Cottages.html)

donm25 I'm sorry you were converted to an IUI, sometimes with this whole IVF things just don't go to plan. Here's hoping the IUI will do the trick and that the follies you do have will step up to the plate.

Suzly and mrselle That's great that you'll be doing your FETs at the same time. It's always nice to have someone else doing exactly what you are, a good support. I haven't done an FET so not much help here, although the less drugs part has got to be a good thing. And Thanksgiving time for ET for you both, there has to be some sort of symbolism in that :D

jonsgirl Woohoo on starting your stims, it'll all go quite quickly now. Don't worry about the needles, the idea is much worse than the reality. You'll be fine. Hope you have a good response, you'll probably do your ER and ET before I come back. Hope it goes fabulously.

[CapeCod04]

Got the big fat negative today. At least I can drown my sorrows in alcohol. We plan to take a month off and then give it one last try.

[Jad]

Calling all those who've done their own PIO shot....help! I have to do two next week on my own and I'm sooo nervous. Did you do leg? Butt? And where in the leg or butt? Is it so so much worse than the stims? (Please lie and say no. ;) ) Any secret tricks? Am I just a big wimp?

CapeCod - I'm so sorry about the -. I've been thinking about you and keeping my fingers crossed. I hope the month off is just what you need. And I highly recommend a weekend away if you can manage it. That's what DH and I did during our month off and it was the best, most relaxing thing ever. Just what you need during this process.

donna - I'm sorry, too, to hear about the cancelled cycle. I know every cycle is different and every protocol is different, so I hope you find the one that works next time.

melissa - I'm so impressed with your DH. What he did is a great thing and will help so many people during what we all know is a hard hard time of life. You should congratulate him and thank him from all of us, too! :) And very interesting about IVM! Less drugs = good!!

Ann - If I don't post before then, have a great trip!!! We'll miss you!!

jon's girl - Ah, the best part! Rapidly approach the start of a cycle, but not yet sticking yourself. :) Good luck on Saturday - you'll do great!

suzly and mrselle - How exciting that your FETs are so close together and to Thanksgiving! Hoping for great things for both of you!

[Sidsou]

donna - I'm so sorry you got converted too! I didn't mean to start a trend out here. <<<Hugs>>>

MelissaSo happy to see you! That sounds so interesting about the IVM! If you have any info on it, I'd love to see it. I'll try doing some searches on it myself. Great job to your DH!!!

CapeI'm so sorry...

JadI did mine in the bum. I couldn't bring myself to jab myself in my leg. I figured I have a lot more padding back there :) I got everything ready and then sat down (dining room style chair), twisted around and did it slowly in the upper outer area. It really wasn't that bad at all. And funny enough you can't really see where you are poking that much so I didn't really think about how big the needle was. Reward yourself with a big hot fudge sundae or something.

Suzly and mrselle That's great that you'll have each other as FET buddies :) especially since you're both new to it.

AussieHave a fabulous trip and be sure to post some photos when you get back!!

[CapeCod04]

Jad - I did my PIO shots myself half the time. I stood in front of a mirror, twisted around and then plunged it in. For me, the worst part was trying to pull back the plunger and check for blood (sign you are in a vein). I'm not going to lie - the shot itself was not worse, just slower than doing the stims - I did them subq. For me, it was after that was different. My butt would feel like I had pulled a muscle. Very manageable. Oh - and I iced it for 10 min beforehand, heat after and it's the upper, outer quadrant that you do it in.

[jon's girl]

Thanks to every one for their words of support.

Feeling overwhelmed with this today. I stopped the pill last night and all the meds arrived ... so much stuff!!! this feels even more real now that we go in Saturday morning at 7am.

Thank goodness insurance covered all the meds... because it cost just under $100 for all meds - isn't that great!?! With the costs of everything else adding up, that was really nice to know.

How long was every one here on stims before their retrieval? They told me about 9 - 12 days ??

[Suzlywoozly]

Thanks to every one for their words of support.

Thank goodness insurance covered all the meds... because it cost just under $100 for all meds - isn't that great!?! With the costs of everything else adding up, that was really nice to know.

How long was every one here on stims before their retrieval? They told me about 9 - 12 days ??

I am so freakin' jealous... my drugs were $1,800 ;)! I stimmed for 7 days. They told me 9-12 days too, but I responded better than they expected. It will all be over before you know it!! It goes so fast from here!

[mrselle]

jon's girl, I stimmed for 8 days and "coasted" for 5 days due to high estrogen levels. Thats a good deal on your meds. I paid about $360 for my meds. Like [B]Suzlywoozly[B] said, it goes by so fast once you start stimming.

[jon's girl]

wow... 7 days and 8 days ... sounds good to me !
with all the other costs involved, i am so happy you guys are telling me i got a GREAT deal on my meds....

i am hoping it goes really really fast... i am trying to keep busy during hte next week to take my mind off of things... any suggestions of things that helped you guys get through this week?

did any one see the NBC special on frozen eggs tonight? it was so one sided saying that they don't know the effects on the children produced yet... so it is not safe.... i wish they had a doctor speak on the other side of that debate too... urg.

[Suzlywoozly]

i am hoping it goes really really fast... i am trying to keep busy during hte next week to take my mind off of things... any suggestions of things that helped you guys get through this week?


When I started the injections, I tried to take it one day at a time and count down the days to the retrieval (even though I had no idea when that would be). I started to get excited as the days grew closer to the estimated date they gave me.

[Suzlywoozly]

did any one see the NBC special on frozen eggs tonight? it was so one sided saying that they don't know the effects on the children produced yet... so it is not safe.... i wish they had a doctor speak on the other side of that debate too... urg.

I just saw that after I posted to you. I was pretty suprised about how non-chalant that lady was about freezing her "harvested eggs" and that later on it will be "hope in a petri dish":rolleyes:. I am curious to go look at that website extendfertility.com .

[Sidsou]

Jon's Girl - For me the stim part was the easy part since I was always looking forward to the next ultrasound and what it would show. At my hospital, you can see the ultrasound and they explain everything as they go (it's the doctors that do the ultrasounds). I do remember concentrating on Christmas/holiday shopping (my other IVF cycle was before the holidays too) and reading books. I found the hardest part to be after the bed rest when you feel like you aren't really doing anything but waiting. I knitted a lot and read a bunch of books - and easy read books at that, murder mysteries etc nothing emotional or non-fiction.

TVI didn't catch the special :( I do hate it when they have certain types of infertility things on TV and don't really tell the whole story. There are so many misconceptions about IVF and infertility in general and they always seem to promote those. :mad:

[jon's girl]

thanks for the emails. Will keep you all posted on the progress...

as for TV - hopefully everyone in this thread can one day be on a TV News Segment about how wonderful IVF is and how it worked so well for us!!

[mrselle]

jon's girl, I found the stim part to be pretty easy too. To be honest, I had so many things going on at work and at home that I was too busy and too tired to put a lot of focus on the fact that I was giving myself shots.

My meds for the FET cycle are being delivered this morning. Lupron, Estrogen Patches (starts with a "V"), Zithromax, and PIO. Twelve more days 'til my appointment.

[la_bride_2004]

Just dropping off hugs for CapeCod.

Donna and Sidsou- I am thinking good thoughts for you as well.



Sorta Update: I decided to meet with another RE about the arcuate uterus thing, and because I wanted to switch RE's any way. We're meeting with him Nov. 1. The waiting around is starting to get at me. (DH had varicocele repair surgery in August so we have to wait for 6 months to see if it worked.) Oh, in the meantime, since my last chem preg./ m/c after the FET, my cycle is whacked! This one was 46 days with an 11 day LP. Sigh. Let's hope nothing else is happening. DH goes in for his 3 month SA and SCSA in Nov.

[alo]

Quick update on us. Retrieval went well, they were able to get 26 eggs. Unfortunately, only 13 of those turned into embryos. As of Tuesday, we had 12 embryos left. The genetic testing is going on as we speak, and we won't know if we have any genetically normal embryos until tomorrow. Needless to say, we're going out of our minds with worry (last time all the embryos had genetic abnormalities and we didn't get to go to transfer). Everybody please cross your fingers for us. It's going to be a rough night.

[Astro]

alo fingers and toes are crossed over here for you. Thinking of many many wonderful embryos for you. :)

[Suzlywoozly]

alo- Thinking lots of good thoughts for you!

Our case nurse just really pissed me off! Can somebody please tell me the protocal for a FET? The RE gave me it when he called after the BFN, now the nurse is telling me something completely different and way off from what the RE said. She is telling me ET won't be until Thanksgiving day. To end the conversation she says, "let's hope we get it right for you this time." WTF? Did they not get it right for me the first time? I am totally feeling b*tchy... AF must be around the corner.

[amygrrl]

I am totally feeling b*tchy... AF must be around the corner

or that nurse is just retarded???? :D

[Suzlywoozly]

I am totally feeling b*tchy... AF must be around the corner

or that nurse is just retarded???? :D

Who knows!! Long time, no see! You never call anymore... are you seeing someone else?;)

[CapeCod04]

alo - I hope things go well for you!

[Jad]

Y'all have been chatty the last couple of days! Thanks to everyone for the PIO stories. Still nervous, but I *think* I can probably do it. :D I go in for an u/s today. Don't know how I'm going to make it through the next six hours. :p I'm *so* impatient!

alo - That's great news on the retrieval. And 12 embryos for testing is still better than last time, right? Am keeping absolutely everything crossed that you get some perfect embies to transfer.

coreen - I can't believe it's only one month until the first SA. That's so exciting! I bet you're going to see real improvement even at just three months.

jon's girl - Don't think I answered your # of days stimming question. I did 7 days the first cycle and 8 days the second cycle, which meant my retrievals were 10 and 11 days after starting stims. But don't worry if you don't go that fast. I'm a really fast responder -- the first cycle was almost *too* fast. The eggies need time to mature, so slow is ok, too.

suzly - I'd say the nurses annoy me probably 2/3 of the times I talk with them. When I'm feeling generous, I just keep telling myself how hard their jobs must be. Working with hormonal women can't be easy. :p The rest of the time, I just wonder if they shouldn't all be required to have sensitivity training. ;)

[jon's girl]

hi ladies. hoping some one can help me... i am quite nervous .... i have not gotten AF (my menses).

I stopped the birth control pill on Tuesday, and I am going in to my RE's office for blood/sono on Saturday - 4 days later which is supposed to be cycle day 2.... but i haven't gotten AF. The secretary told me to come in anyway.... but

QUESTION for you guys... do any of you know: With out having gotten my periodd, can I still start the hormone injections and the Cycle??
Will I have to wait another few days? another cycle?

Any one who has been through this or knows of this????? Please advise.

[Sidsou]

Jon's GirlI've heard of a few women that never got AF and then started their IVF, so it's not uncommon. Or you might get AF right before your ultrasound which isn't a big deal either. I can't remember if you might be delayed a day or two, but I don't think so. I think it's really how everything looks at that baseline ultrasound - you might look fine without AF if your lining and everything didn't build up on the BCP and Lupron.

AloHoping for some genetic beauties for you!!!!

SuzlyYou think the nurses would be extra careful about not agravating hormonal women - you never know what we might do to them :) See if you can talk to someone else there or your RE.

I don't know if I mentioned it but since I got converted and was only on the Antagon med for a couple of days, I got the *luxury* of being on progesterone suppositories :) rather than having to do the PIO shots. I was expecting not to feel any of the moody and sleepy side effects - thinking that I wouldn't be getting so much progesterone. All I want to do is sleep.... I honestly feel ok with everything now, but I wonder if maybe I'm a little depressed deep down or if it really is the progesterone.

[jon's girl]

Sidsou - THANKS for getting back to me. You rock. The RE's office just called and pretty much said exactly what you said. I can start even w/o getting AF.
As for you, I hope you feel less sleepy and more like yourself very very soon.

[alo]

We got the results. All the embryos were genetically abnormal. Again. We have nothing to transfer.

My RE said he's never seen this happen twice in a row; he's never even HEARD of it happening twice in a row. God, I love being a freak of nature.

IVF is over for us. There's no point in continuing it. My RE said we need to "regroup". I am guessing we'll get the "The only options you have left are egg donation or adoption" speech.

We are beyond devastated.

[Astro]

alo I'm so sorry. Sending you tons of hugs and an ear to listen to you. Please do whatever you think is best for you and your DH to help you at this time.

[mrselle]

alo, I am so sorry. ((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))))))

[Jad]

alo - I'm so very sorry. I wish we could do something to change that outcome. I don't know what else to say. So I'll just send (((hugs))).

[donm425]

Alo, I'm very sorry, sending some hugs

[amychris03]

I'm so sorry Alo :(

[CapeCod04]

Alo, I'm so very sorry.

[Sidsou]

Alo<<<Hugs>>> I'm so sorry. This is just so unfair....

[melissafromnc]

alo So very sorry to hear your news.

Can anyone tell me what kind of side effects they've had with Lupron? Especially a long lupron cycle? We poor responders usually shy away from lupron protocols so I have no experience with it. TIA

BTW, I didn't see the special on freezing eggs that some of y'all talked about but know that USC just announced their fab results with egg freezing at ASRM in the last week or so. They have over 150 happy and totally healthy babies born using this through their clinical trials and are now opening up the program to all. They do it differently from some of the private folks that have gotten attention and are really leading the pack in this procedure.

[Suzlywoozly]

alo
Can anyone tell me what kind of side effects they've had with Lupron? Especially a long lupron cycle? We poor responders usually shy away from lupron protocols so I have no experience with it. TIA


Hey Melissa!! How are things going for you? I was extremely tired on lupron and had some serious headaches. That was about it (if that's not enough).

[Sidsou]

Hi all!

Melissa I remember the headaches for sure. I know of a woman who was on Lupron for awhile (I want to say it was several months for non-fertility reasons) and she had hot flashes, mood swings - "menopause like symptoms" was the way she described it. I have no idea of her dose.

[mrselle]

Melissa, with Lupron I was extremely tired and would get dull headaches...the kind that don't really hurt, but are just annoying.

[amychris03]

Melissa
Headaches and HOT FLASHES!!! Im constantly cold and have to wear
long sleeves to work and I was sweating in short sleeves!