# IVF October/November ???



## lucy_smith

Getting ready to start my first round of ivf and my one here going through a cycle at a similar time ? 
Or offer me any advice ?


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## mummyoneday

lucy_smith said:


> Getting ready to start my first round of ivf and my one here going through a cycle at a similar time ?
> Or offer me any advice ?

Hi Lucy. I'm Natasha. I am about to start icsi. Just waiting on my bleed then the stims start what stage are you at hun x x


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## lucy_smith

If my results come back this week I start norethisterone tablets then but if they don't then I will have to wait till next cycle. Which means November before getting my injections etc.( Try not to be too hopeful for next week. 
How are u feeling about it all? 
How long have you been trying ? Is this your first round ?


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## kk2003

Hi Lucy! 
I just did my first IVF in September...and there is a lot of info on that feed if you want to look over it. Doing my second round now on day 5 of injectables. When do you start? -K


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## SarahC14

Hi! I'm Sarah. I got a BFP on my first round of IVF two years ago. When he turned one we went back to try for a sibling. We've cycled twice with BFNs,and now I'm on to my last try (insurance covers 3 tries per live birth). I'm DOR and have been using the estrogen priming protocol, but this time my doctor wants to try testosterone and estrogen priming. So I start with testosterone gel tomorrow. I'll start stimming next month. Good Luck to everyone!! Would love to keep this thread going for support and luck!


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## MKaykes

Sarah, I also am DOR and did estrogen priming and testosterone along with growth hormone (haven't seen anyone else using that in here yet). My AFC was in the double digits but don't recall exactly, we retrieved like 16 eggs. We did a freeze all and ended up with 4 embryos after PGS. 

Lucy, what I found was all the meds was intimidating at first (and I'm a nurse) but after a couple of days you get real used to it. Just keep your med calendar handy. I got overly confident my first FET cycle and messed up my meds delaying transfer by almost a week. I found belly shots easy to do myself but used DH for my intramuscular trigger and progesterone shots.


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## lucy_smith

I start my first injection tomorrow morning ! Feeling nervous! But I'm hoping it isn't as bad as I'm expecting! 
Thanks you guys for replying!


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## SarahC14

Thanks MKaykes. I asked my clinic about HGH as I've heard it can help with egg quality, but they said they don't use it as part of their protocols. I do trust my doctor, so I want to believe she knows what is best for me, but part of me wonders what would happen if she let me add the HGH as well...


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## lucy_smith

Can I ask how long you guys have taken your injections for ?before egg collection? Is it 2weeks ? I know I'm to take mine for a week and have my first scan and see how I am, just wondering how long I should expect to be taking them?


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## SarahC14

lucy_smith said:


> Can I ask how long you guys have taken your injections for ?before egg collection? Is it 2weeks ? I know I'm to take mine for a week and have my first scan and see how I am, just wondering how long I should expect to be taking them?

I started stims on a Friday and my retrievals have always been the next Monday or Tuesday. So 11ish days. But I think it's different for everyone!


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## MKaykes

I stimmed for 11 days I think.


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## mnelson815

Hi Ladies,

Thought I would join in! I am doing my first FET tomorrow, my fresh round in July caused OHSS so I had to do a freeze-all. 

I stimmed for 9 days then. At my clinic you have your first ultrasound on day 5 of stims and then you determine where to go from there. I think the usual stim time is 8-12 days.


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## mummyoneday

lucy_smith said:


> If my results come back this week I start norethisterone tablets then but if they don't then I will have to wait till next cycle. Which means November before getting my injections etc.( Try not to be too hopeful for next week.
> How are u feeling about it all?
> How long have you been trying ? Is this your first round ?

Hi Lucy so sorry I haven't been back on. I tend to use baby centre a lot more than here. I ended up not taking norosthisterone in the end. I was stimming for ten days. I had my egg collection this morning and they got 13. Now the dreaded wait for the phone call tommorow to see how many have fertilised. I wish you all the very best with your cycle and if any concerns ask as many questions as you like xxx


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## amy8686

Hi all,

I'm doing a FET on November 7, so I'd love to join you.

I had my first scan and bloodwork yesterday, and my estrogen levels are a bit high, so I have to go back and repeat the test tomorrow. Hopefully all will be well. I've always responded perfectly to the medications, so this uncertainty is new to me. I'm just adding it to the list of things to worry about. :-/

Lucy, how did your first injection go???

Amy


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## kk2003

Lucy,

How are your injections going? For me, I started one med once a day on day 2, then added one on day 6 (2 injections a day total). That lasted until day 13, when I just did the trigger shot and the shot to prevent ovulation (cetrotide). So all in all from day 2 to day 13 (ER was on the 15th) I had 20 shots. This round I started the same, however the added menopur. Now I have three shots a day, and it's progressing faster so I may have ER a few days earlier. 
I was super nervous starting them (even though I am also a nurse), but after a couple of days it became a lot easier. I don't look forward to them by any means, but I find that its not as bad as I made it out to be. A couple of them are uncomfortable (menopur burns-so go slow with the injection & Cetrotide can sometimes cause itching/swelling/histamine reaction at the site)

Good luck to everyone! DH and I are on day 9 of the second IVF. (Last one ended with only one blast to tx). We are awaiting results from today's labs, but it's looking good with a good cohort of eggs between 11-15mm. ICSI is the plan this time due to poor response of fertilization with my 17 eggs that were mature (out of 20). We have no issues with sperm/egg quality, so it's a mystery why they aren't fertilizing. 

Hope everyone has an awesome Thursday! :thumbup::thumbup::coffee:


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## amy8686

Kk, when is your retrieval? You must be getting close!

I think I've blocked out of my mind the stinging from the Menopur in my fresh cycle. I just have vague memories of trying to find decent injection sites among the big red splotches across my belly. Ugh.


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## kk2003

Amy-

I'm thinking ER will be early next week? I have an appt tomorrow so hopefully I will have a better idea.
Menopur is the worst. I didn't have any bruising last cycle and now it's looks like I have been punched. Oh well, hopefully almost at the end point
! Day 11 tomorrow. :)
-K


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## amy8686

I'm out already. My estrogen levels shot up yesterday, which apparently means I have a dominant follicle and my clinic cancels FETs if that happens.

I have no answers about why that happened or how to prevent it next time, which is the worst part. I couldn't quite pull myself together to ask more questions on the phone when the nurse called.

I may disappear for a while, but I'll try to check back and see how you're all doing. Best of luck, ladies!


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## kk2003

I'm sorry amy! It stinks to have no idea why and waiting is the only option. Enjoy your time off from this and see you when you return. :) 
K


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## steph1607

Hi ladies, I was hoping I could join!

We are about to start our first cycle of IVF. We have our "Treatment Information Appointment" this Friday afternoon, and I will also have a Saline Infusion Sonogram and a Pipelle Procedure on that day. They have told us that retrieval is scheduled for 24th November at the moment, though of course they could change depending on how I respond. Not sure what kind of medications I will be taken or for how long yet, but I'm sure I will get all that info on Friday.

I'm feeling pretty nervous about the whole thing to be honest! I guess part of that is not knowing how I'm going to feel physically, but also how I'm going to take it if it doesn't work etc. etc. Ahh, such a roller coaster of emotions!


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## kk2003

Welcome Steph! 

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. 

ER tomorrow! Had to trigger with Lupron, so a little different than last time. May have to freeze, but not sure at this time. Wish me luck ladies! :thumbup:
K


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## steph1607

Thank you K! I'm sure I will have many more questions after Friday's appointment when we find out our protocol.

Best of luck for tomorrow :)

Was it difficult going straight back into it after your first cycle?


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## kk2003

Steph,

Honestly it wasn't, and I was pretty fired up to try again. I don't take defeat easily :). My body felt almost 100% normal. The feeling of heaviness I felt in the first cycle in the ovary region is not as bad this cycle. I am actually responding better than last time (too good actually), but the doc added Menopur to the mix so that could be the cause. I also felt that I had the process down, and was in the rhythm of it. I'm sure everyone is different though! Good luck on Friday and keep us updated! 
-K


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## babylights

Hi ladies, I thought it was time I started getting my head back in the game for my second round of IVF. Im starting estrogen priming in about five days, just had my baseline scan this morning, will probably start stimming Nov 13-ish. 

kk please teach me how to be gung ho for this second round! I have two genetically normal, beautiful frosties from my first round, but I cant shake the dread of those early morning monitoring scans where I know my body is responding poorly. Even though were going with a much more aggressive protocol I just am so worried my body wont respond again. I dont want to do anything Ive been doing - acupuncture, supplements, strict diet. I just kind of want to cry - ugh. Im so glad youve been having a much better response this round though, you give me hope! Good luck with retrieval tomorrow!!


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## kk2003

Hi babylights,

I wish I could give this gung ho feeling I have. I did not have it last round, and I wish I did. I have finally gotten to the point where this stuff is out of my control and I do not want it making me feeling like crap everyday. Frankly I'm tired of it. All those worries, feelings of failure, feelings of guilt when my friends/family become pregnant. I'm done feeling sorry for myself and whatever comes will come. For us, this is the end of the fertility journey and I cannot wait to see that light. Science has done all it can do, now it's up to God. My DH and I decided to do the second round now because honestly, we are tired of it and want to go on living our lives.

Just as I was typing, the clinic called. Looks like the lupron did it's job and I'm surging.:happydance: 

My relaxation about this cycle is so uplifting to me and I have never felt this calm. Even my blood pressure is different! (140s/60 round 1 to 118/50s round 2). I'm physiologically calm! Even if I get OHSS, and heaven forbid get admitted to the hospital, I am ready for it and so is my husband. We will get through this and so will you! Believe in yourself and what your body can do, take every little thing positive that happens with joy, and be happy for what you have. As for the prep things, I haven't done too much except pre-natals and exercise. I try to get enough sleep and not worry. Sometimes I feel doing things to prep can be great, but it can also make things so much more worse (especially if all that prep ends in failure). 
I'm happy to hear you have two frozen little ones!! That is such a miracle! I hope to have a couple as well, as we had none last cycle.

Good luck to you and I'll update you all after my ER. :) -KK


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## babylights

Thanks kk, I feel your exuberance and its very inspiring! Im sending so many good thoughts for your retrieval and to ward off OHSS! I couldnt breathe for a long time after retrieval last time so I really hope youre not in too much discomfort!


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## amy8686

Kk, you made me glad I came back to read your updates! New goal: be more like you.

Babylights, I'm with you on dreading future appointments with my body not responding like it should. This (now canceled) cycle was back-to-back after a chemical pregnancy from my last cycle, and since that last one technically worked, I was totally gung ho to jump back in. But having my body not respond to the medications this time makes me weary of the next round. 

I've really vacillated on the "extra" stuff we put ourselves through. I did acupuncture and was crazy about my diet with my fresh cycle, but I don't have the energy to go through that again. So now I'm trying to do the minimum amount of that stuff to leave me with no regrets, so at least if it doesn't work I won't blame myself. Over time, I've gotten a little bit better at believing my doctor when he says that all of the little details don't amount to much, and we really just need the luck of finding the perfect embryo.

Kk, good luck on retrieval! I hope you don't get OHSS, but I'm glad you sound mentally prepared to freeze if you do. I had it on my fresh cycle and my RE didn't insist on freezing - he errs on the side of "do whatever it takes to get this cycle to work!!!" and I ended up in bed, in a great deal of pain, for the first 35 days of my pregnancy, with one hospitalization to drain some fluid. Obviously I was grateful to be pregnant, but I definitely would have frozen if I could do it again. If you do freeze, you'll at least recover within days, rather than weeks. The days that I had it after retrieval were tolerable (I had "moderate" OHSS at that point)... with your attitude, you'll sail through it. :) 

Keep us posted!


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## steph1607

Oh hey Babylights! 

Hope today goes very smoothly K.

And hi Amy!

With regards to OHSS, I've convinced myself I'm definitely going to get it because I have this ridiculously high AMH level (the second highest my clinic has ever seen...). How long after retrieval does it tend to happen and is there anything at all that can be done to help prevent/ minimise it?

I've been so chilled about everything TTC related these past few months, and I am genuinely in a position of it may work or it may not but either way I can deal with it. But now it's happening, I have this constant knot in my stomach!


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## kk2003

Hi Ladies,

I had my ER today and we got 12 eggs! Super stoked about that and excited to hear how the fertilization rate goes tomorrow. I'm sore but it's not as bad as last time, which is quite nice! Just feeling good today, and I'm taking it as a win!

Amy-You are so sweet! I'm just over feeling poopy. Im ready to feel awesome again, like I did before all this TTC stuff started. I don't want this to define me and I don't want people to feel sorry for me either, because I don't. :happydance: I'm sorry to hear you had bad OHSS. Sounds terrible! It looks like i'm in the clear for that, so we are on track for a fresh cycle. They are having me take estrogen in addition to the progesterone. 

I think you are so right about the right timing and cycle. I really believe that things have to be just right. And that cycle can have just one egg or 20. It is just hard to predict. 

Good luck all and I'll update when I have news tomorrow. :happydance::happydance:

KK


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## babylights

Congrats kk! Glad to hear youre feeling great post-retrieval also. Fingers crossed for a great fert report tomorrow!

afm I got a positive opk today so starting estrogen priming on Thursday. Im feeling re-energized and ready to take on this new cycle (thanks kk I think your amazing attitude is infectious!). I got this!!!!


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## amy8686

Kk, congrats! 12 eggs and no OHSS = a win!

Can't wait for your next report!


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## babylights

amy Im so sorry about the chemical and the cancelled cycle. This process just takes so much out of us, physically and emotionally. Im glad to hear that your doctor says the extras dont really amount to much, its so easy to start buckling under the pressure of what were supposed to be doing, and once you start googling and finding more and more things that different people have done or taken...oof. Do you know when your next FET will be? :hugs:


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## kk2003

Hi Ladies!

Babylights- that is so great you are starting! How long does the estrogen priming take? I haven't done that process yet. Good luck! 

Steph-I hope you don't get OHSS! Keep a positive outlook! They have ways of dealing with it, and it appears treatment is much more understood now. Keep us updated!

Amy-Thanks for your support!

So clinic called early this am...kinda took me off guard. I don't know why but I had totally forgot they were calling today. Looks like 10 eggs fertilized! I'm so excited!!! The nurse was excited for me too, which was so sweet. (I am usually getting not so good news from her...so it's nice she is my cheerleader). Now they just have to make it to Sunday! I'm feeling so blessed. God is good. :cloud9::happydance: 
Thanks for your support ladies! Next update on Friday! 
KK


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## amy8686

Steph - I hope you don't get OHSS. But like I was telling kk, if you do get it and you freeze all, it'll be over quickly enough that it won't be the worst thing in the world. Most of the scary OHSS stuff happens to people who didn't freeze, and are pregnant with it. Just prepare yourself to maybe need a few extra days off from work and life after your retrieval if necessary. 

Babylights - Yeah, google is trouble. I don't know how to stop googling, but at least I'm getting better at not following every bit of advice I find there. My next FET will HOPEFULLY be in January. My clinic is relatively small and only does FET's on certain days of the year, every other month. So my fingers are crossed that I'll get my period in time to start the process for the January date. If not, I might need to wait until summer. I'm a teacher and Spring is just so busy that I can't imagine getting through it while maybe not feeling great (physically and/or emotionally)... so as much as I want to get this show on the road, I think I'd be better off waiting until I have a couple of months off from work. But, plan A, January.

Kk - That is so great!!! I have a good feeling about this cycle for you!!


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## babylights

Hey steph! I only got 6 eggs but I have a short torso so it felt like I had OHSS so I really really hope you dont get it! But like the other ladies have said, if you have to freeze all it will be okay. My clinic actually prefers to do FETs to give your body a chance to calm down from all the hormones before transfer. Good luck!

kk that is amazing news!!! I have everything crossed for you, its looking so good for you!!!!

amy Im hoping you get a January transfer, well be transfer buddies!


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## kk2003

Hi ladies!

Update yesterday: All eggs (10) are still going strong! 6 are grade 3, 8 cell; and 4 are grade 2, 2 8 cell, 1 >8 cell, and 1 7 cell. We will transfer tomorrow! So happy! :cloud9::happydance:
Last month at this point we only had 2/6 that were 8 cell, the rest were 1-7 cell and 3-4 cell. This is a total night and day from last month. It is amazing what a different month and ICSI can do. Not sure if it was the ICSI plus a different egg/sperm sample, or just ICSI. Either way, we are stoked.
No s/s of OHSS either. Very mild bloating, but it is WAY less than last month and I did not have OHSS per ultrasound then. Also, ultrasound on retrieval showed no signs either. I think we are in the clear, thank God! 

How is everyone else doing??

-KK


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## babylights

Congratulations kk that is amazing news! :happydance: Sending so many good thoughts for a smooth transfer tomorrow!!!


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## amy8686

Kk, congrats! Are you going to transfer two?


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## kk2003

Transfer went well today! Tx 1- top grade blast. 3 frozen and 6 more awaiting possible freeze tomorrow. This tx was night and day from last month, very smooth and easy. Now the count down begins again! :coffee::happydance:

Amy-They chose to tx one today. Not sure why, but I didn't push the issue. I would rather just one kiddo anyway. We are moving next summer and two would be a challenge. 

K


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## babyseeker

Hi Ladies, 

I am currently in the TWW from my 3rd IVF cycle and looking for some buddies to help pass the time. This is my 3rd cycle we're hoping to be blessed with our second bundle of joy!


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## amy8686

Welcome, babyseeker!

Kk, congrats! Fingers crossed for you. Are you going to wait for your official test, or obsessively test at home at the earliest possible moment? :) I'm glad to hear there are clinics that choose to transfer one. Mine does two by default, but we are choosing to only transfer one at a time.

Babylights, how are you doing?


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## kk2003

Amy- I think I will hold out this time. I tested once or twice last time and it made everything way worse. I going to wait (hopefully!). I think they chose one due to our age (<35) and no other issues noted. I think it's possible if we have another failed tx, two would be considered. 

Babyseeker-Welcome!! 

Clinic called this am! 3 more made it to top grade blastocyst A/A! Total 6 on ice and we can't be more excited! I hope this means I don't have to do the whole thing again! :happydance: We had such great results this month, I just am so happy. Last month was needless to say a disaster! 

Any updated for anyone else?

-KK


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## babylights

babyseeker welcome!! 

amy how are you doing, any updates?

kk that is AMAZING Im so happy for you!!! Sorry if you already said, but when is beta?

Im just chugging along with the estrogen, its making me so tired and nauseous! Not sure how itll affect when I get af but suppression check is on Nov 6, the day after I stop estrogen and start hgh.


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## kk2003

Babylights-
I test the 8th I think? So 10 days post transfer. I'm super tired today, not sure if it's from the events of yesterday or the meds or both! Yuck. Does the estrogen make you sleepy? I haven't been on it before. There is a lot of prep going into your cycle. Go YOU!


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## amy8686

Kk, that's awesome that you have 6 to freeze! It's such a relief to have frozen embryos after going through all of this. After having my son, I was obviously very glad I had gone through the whole process, but I also vowed never to do it again. Frozen transfers are so much easier to go through. 

I was super tired the day after both of my transfers, too. I don't know if it's the medications or the emotions or something else happening physically (implantation!!???), but you're definitely not alone.

Babylights, that's so weird that the estrogen is making you nauseous! The only side effect I get from estrogen is that it messes up my sleep. I wake up, WIDE AWAKE, at 3am, and can't go back to sleep until around 5:30, which is unfortunate when my alarm is set for 6. Anyway, I hope you'll move out of that phase ASAP. 

No updates for me. I just have to wait for my period and then they'll see if I can be ready for a January transfer. I'm figuring I have at least 2 weeks to wait for that, but who knows... clearly my cycle isn't doing what it's supposed to do, so maybe I'll be lucky and it'll come sooner.

Kk, I'm glad you're planning to not test. I tested early both times and definitely made it much more of a rollercoaster than it needed to be. Hang in there. :)


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## kk2003

Amy-
Do they regulate your cycles after AF? Sorry I haven't done any FET so I don't know the process at all. 

Yeah I think the tx is an emotional thing, and those always exhaust me. Blah! feeling better today though, but still a little tired. Just glad I don't have to go into the clinic for a bit!!

-K


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## amy8686

I think different clinics do it differently. Since mine has to get me onto their schedule, it's birth control, Lupron, Estrogen, and Progesterone. So it's still kind of a lot of stuff, but it's night-and-day easier not having to go through the stimming and retrieval parts! 

Also, it's a total of 2 ultrasounds and 3 blood tests prior to transfer (2 of which are on the same visits as the ultrasounds), so it doesn't feel like you live at the clinic like it does for fresh cycles. :)


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## kk2003

Amy,
Thanks for the info! Yeah that does sound better than a fresh transfer! Does your clinic have cyclic transfers (group everyone together?)?
K


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## amy8686

Yes. It's a smallish clinic and they only do cycles 5-6 times per year, with everyone grouped together on just one or two days each time. I know they bring in their embryologist at those times, and I think there are some other specialists that only come at those times.

Kk, are you passing the time ok? Hopefully not driving yourself crazy with the wait?

Babylights, how are you doing with the estrogen?


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## ashknowsbest

Hoping to join in. I'm doing my 6th IVF, retrieval set for November 25th. I'm excited and nervous. I'm just hoping for a good outcome. Fingers crossed. Good luck to all!


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## amy8686

Hi Ash!

Looking at your signature... you are coming back just a year after having twins?? Brave woman! I couldn't even think about it until my son turned 2. :)


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## ashknowsbest

amy - :haha: Some days I think I'm crazy too! I don't know why but I have such intense baby fever! Also, we're doing the retrieval and I have to be on depot lupron after for 2 months (to help the embryo implant). We're not planning to transfer until May/June. We're also doing CCS testing since that's what worked for us last time and that takes 2 weeks after retrieval.


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## emilydee87

Hi ladies! Mind if I join you? I'm currently stimming my first IVF cycle, and could use some buddies!! I've had to jump boards a lot: TTC, long term TTC, TTC after loss, and now IVF! Quick bio is that I switched doctors after 6 failed IUI's with another doctor who said I had "unexplained infertility. Within 24 hours this new doc had diagnosed me with PCOS, elevated NK cells, low Vitamin D, and a uterine polyp!! Answers are good! Answers are treatable!! So I'm feeling very optimistic about my situation now. I had the uterine polyp removed last week, and I'm taking meds for the other stuff. So I guess my advice would be to get a second opinion if you arent getting answers from your current doc :)

On day 4 of shots Gonal F and Menopur! No real complaints so far :) But not sure if things will get worse?


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## emilydee87

amy8686 said:


> Welcome, babyseeker!
> 
> Kk, congrats! Fingers crossed for you. Are you going to wait for your official test, or obsessively test at home at the earliest possible moment? :) I'm glad to hear there are clinics that choose to transfer one. Mine does two by default, but we are choosing to only transfer one at a time.
> 
> Babylights, how are you doing?

Amy, the one v. two embryo transfer has been a hot topic with my husband lol I'm with you, just one at a time for my first child - I mean I dont know what I'm doing! My husband wants twins of course - he says, what, like its hard?? haha :haha:

Luckily my clinic defaults to 1 if you are classified as "favorable". They define favorable by several criteria including under 35, they grade the embryos, lining, etc. They said most likely I'll be favorable. They also said that regardless of favorable or unfavorable, you have to sign a waiver now to transfer two! I think that's a new standard from insurance companies? Because they are realizing it costs more to cover a multiples pregnancy than it does to do multiple transfers... all very interesting :)


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## emilydee87

ashknowsbest said:


> Hoping to join in. I'm doing my 6th IVF, retrieval set for November 25th. I'm excited and nervous. I'm just hoping for a good outcome. Fingers crossed. Good luck to all!

Ash I think I'm lined up with you! My retrieval should be somewhere around the 18th :thumbup: its my first one so I have no idea what to expect. Any advice? Is it painful during or after?


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## kk2003

Amy- Yeah I have been pretty good about being distracted, which is great. I'm trying to ignore the fact that I may or may not be pregnant. :)


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## babylights

kk not too much longer now, keeping everything crossed for you!!

Had my suppression check this morning, need to take estrace two more days, continue with hgh. Will probably start stims on Friday.


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## ashknowsbest

emily - Only advice is to take it easy after. Don't push yourself to do anything. If you've ever been under anesthesia before and get sick make sure you tell the anesthesiologist so they can give you anti nausea meds. And eat lots of salty foods, it helps ward off OHSS if that's a concern. And during you won't feel anything if they give you twilight anesthesia, it will be uncomfortable when you wake up, but for me it wasn't any worse than period cramps. Best of luck!


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## amy8686

Hi Emily! That's great that you have answers. Fingers crossed that the stars will align for you now.

I actually wasn't as concerned about the possibility of twins for my first child as I am now (I have a 2-year-old). I was so desperate for it to work that I was kind of in a "the more the merrier" mindset. But having had kind of a hard pregnancy and placenta issues, I just kept thinking about how much worse it would be with twins. So it's actually the possibility of a twin pregnancy, and the associated risks to the babies, that are firmly grounding me in the one-at-a-time camp now. 

As far as retrieval pain goes, like Ash said, you won't feel anything during with the anesthesia. I had some weird cramping afterwards, but it was gone by the next day. Nothing to worry about.

Kk, so exciting!


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## lucy_smith

Sorry I haven't been back in a while! Found it easier to not over think the process, but here I am in the 2ww after only having 1 of 12 eggs fertilise!


How on earth do I stop thinking about the 2ww ??? It's constantly on my mind!


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## babyseeker

Hi ladies, sorry for being MIA been crazy busy at work.... just wanted to check in and let you ladies know we got our first beta yesterday it was 770...&#10084;&#65039;&#10084;&#65039;&#10084;&#65039;&#10084;&#65039;&#128513;&#128513;&#128513;&#128513;&#128513;&#128513;&#128513;&#128513;


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## kk2003

Babyseeker- CONGRATS! That is so great!!! :happydance:

We have good news too! Positive beta at 50 today! (Not as high as yours) We are excited beyond belief that we were able to conceive. It felt like it would never be a reality, honestly. We have a f/u lab on friday, but I'm not stressed at all. Either way we are stoked that we have gotten this far in the process. It's a miracle. 

How is the road for everyone else?

Lucy-The TWW is the worst. This time I did EVERYTHING to distract me, and I didn't feel too bad until last night when I thought it was over. I honestly thought I wasn't pregnant and cried most of the day. I don't feel any different and I felt my period was coming this morning. Just little things i noticed that usually happen before AF. But I was wrong....pregnancy. Keep the hope and find something to do! :) It helps I promise. 
-KK


----------



## lucy_smith

Baby seeker & kk2003 congrats!!!!! That's amazing!!!! :)

This wait is awful!! I'm only 2 days in and I just can't get away from it, and I'm so tired all the time, will need to make myself stay busy!! Even my dreams are about it and I'm awake 2-3 times a night ! What is going on?? One minute I'm excited and then the next I just want to burst into tears. Am I normal?


----------



## kk2003

Lucy

It's normal to be stressed! I felt that way last cycle...thinking about it every second of every day. It was so frustrating and I was so over that feeling. This cycle was night and day...and it just clicked that I didn't care what happened and I was happy with whatever. It felt amazing!! Is there something that you can be distracted with? I'm sorry you are feeling like this. :( We have all been there.

K


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## amy8686

Congrats, ladies! Kk, once again I love your attitude, to celebrate having gotten this far no matter what happens next. I'll try to remember that in the future. &#55357;&#56842; 

Lucy, welcome back! The 2ww is the worst. My first cycle, I took up jewelry-making. Buying beads and searching Pinterest was a good way to channel some energy away from obsessing over every symptom. But I still drove myself a little crazy.


----------



## kk2003

Thanks Amy,

I can't be sure, but I feel like being positive made a difference. I have been such a debbie downer until now...seriously. But this cycle was pretty awesome. I have even been planning a baby shower this month, and not feeling bad about it! (like that woe is me feeling I had in the past) I'm so thankful to have those terrible thoughts out of my mind. :dance:
Keep it up! You got this! :thumbup::thumbup::hugs:


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## lucy_smith

thanks girls for the advice :) 

feeling much better today, got my sewing machine out of the cupboard and going to keep my self busy! planned a little weekend away this weekend too! !!

baby shower!!!! how exciting :D when are you plannign for it to be?


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## kk2003

Baby shower is for my sister-in-law, not me! :) :) I guess what I was saying is I'm not stressed about planning something for someone else despite my difficulties. Sewing and a weekend away sounds great! I went away for like 5 days to my in-laws and it was AWESOME! (in the TWW time) It felt so great to be away from responsibilities and stress. Keep us updated!


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## Ask4joy

Hi ladies! Jumping in late here! Prepping for December 4th FET. Currently on Lupron and beginning estrogen next week.

Congrats baby seeker! So exciting!

And congrats again, K! So happy for you, friend!


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## kk2003

Excited for you!!!! It's just around the corner! :) :)


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## kk2003

Beta is 168!!!! :) :) :) :thumbup::happydance:
I was SO worried this morning too. Blah.

Progesterone is on the low side so they are going to switch me to IM injections. Anyone have experience with this? 

KK


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## Ask4joy

K - I commented in the other thread. I&#8217;ll be starting the PIO shots in 3 weeks. The needles are intimidating but according to my friends, don&#8217;t usually hurt. Warming it in your hands (or under your breast or armpit) before hand is supposed to help. Massage and heat afterwards so the oil dispersed and doesn&#8217;t cause lumps (ugh).


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## kk2003

Ask-

Thanks! OMG I'm not looking forward to it though. The oil based meds are the worst. Thanks for the tips though! I already ordered a heating pad so I can sit on it after. Hopefully my cat doesn't think that's his new bed. LOL


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## Ask4joy

Haha my cats love my heating pad! :haha:

Maybe by the time I start the PIO shots you&#8217;ll have some tips for me! :)


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## babylights

Congrats kk!!!!!!! :happydance:


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## amy8686

Kk, I'm so happy to hear that your second beta is good! So exciting.

I've always done the PIO, including for my ENTIRE first trimester with my son, because my skin reacts to the suppositories and creams and stuff (yeah, that's as unpleasant as it sounds). And with FET's, you need double the dose - 2ml. So I've had ample experience with the shots! Here are some things that have helped me:

-Have a nurse draw circles on your hips in sharpie, so there's no guessing about location. It's not cute, but it alleviates a lot of stress. My husband re-drew the lines about once a week, when they faded too much.
-Definitely warm the oil against your skin before trying to inject it.
-I like to ice my skin for about 30 seconds beforehand. Just don't ice for too long, because you don't want the muscle to be cold.
-Most important tip: Massage the area REALLY well immediately afterwards. My husband did this with a warm washcloth. My doctor's advice was "massage so hard that it kind of hurts." That made the biggest difference in whether I was sore the next day(s). 
-Sometimes, I would walk up and down the stairs or do leg lifts for a few minutes after the shot. I don't know if it actually helped, but it always felt good to get the muscle moving when I felt like the oil was making it feel stiff.
-Similarly, using a heating pad afterwards often felt good.
-I use a smaller needle (25g instead of the standard 23g). The downside is that it takes longer to get the oil out from the tiny needle, and it takes a bit more skill (my husband said he had to work harder to push the syringe without it wobbling around). But for me, it's a lot more comfortable than the quicker shot with the big needle. 

Feel free to ask if you have any questions!

Sincerely,
Your resident PIO expert.


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## babylights

wow amy that was amazing, I hope to need those instructions soon myself!

We started stims this morning. Hoping for the best but kind of letting go and knowing that well be fine no matter the outcome. Kind of scared what the effects of the stims + Clomid will be, tbh. Guess well find out!

Congrats again kk!!


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## Ask4joy

Good luck babylights! I know clomid did a number on me but was surprised that the IVF stims did not seem to affect my mood at all! Hopefully it&#8217;s not too rough and goes quickly!

Thank you, Amy! That is all super helpful! Thanks for taking the time to write all of that!


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## amy8686

Babylights, that's interesting that you get to experience both of those things together! I definitely had more side effects from Clomid than from anything else I've taken... it makes me feel like a crazy person. Hopefully you won't notice much difference heading into this new stage!


----------



## babylights

Thanks ask. This is my second round of ivf, stims didnt affect my mood at all either the first round. The combo has me a bit nervous though...

Thanks amy! Interestingly, when I was on Clomid all I had were some headaches, but Femara was a nightmare for me which is the opposite of most peoples experience. Im taking the Clomid the entire cycle so I really hope the combo isnt too bad and gives me lots of follies!


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## steph1607

Hi again ladies!

Babylights, I started stims on Friday too- definite cycle buddies! 

Feeling a bit apprehensive about what's to come over the next few weeks, but happy to be getting started. Injecting yourself for the first time is a strange old experience! They've started me on a low dose because I have an insane AMH level (the second highest my clinic have ever seen), hopefully it will do the trick and I won't need to increase.

Thank you all for all the advice you've given me on various threads! :hugs:


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## ashknowsbest

mistake post.


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## ashknowsbest

lucy - I know I'm behind on responding but I also went crazy in the TWW. I think it's a great idea that you're keeping yourself busy with your sewing machine. I knit and spin yarn so next time I transfer I plan on keeping myself busy with those things. oh yeah and my twins. lol! 

kk - I've done PIO shots every single IVF cycle plus FETs and they do hurt when it initially punctures the skin but it's nothing too crazy. Make sure you warm it up before hand (if you have time) and definitely walk/rub the area for a few minutes so that the oil doesn't clump up. Other than that you'll do great! 

steph - good luck with your upcoming cycle! Injecting yourself is sort of weird at first but then it becomes easier. You'll do great! 

babylights - good luck with your stims! I start on Tuesday, not too far behind you. Do you know why they put you on clomid with stims? Just curious. 

AFM - I had my suppression check yesterday and I'm all set to go. U/S looked good, I have 24 antral follicles, and my bloodwork came back great. Wow, I can't believe I'm doing this again. 

If I missed anyone sorry! And best of luck to everyone. <3


----------



## kk2003

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the congrats! I appreciate it. We are excited, and having the second beta made me feel a lot better. Sometimes I wish I was one of those people who didn't know they were pregnant, and don't have betas...and just go in 8 weeks and everything is great. haha NOT US! The worrying continues! 

Amy-Thanks for those PIO tips! I did most of those last night and shot wasn't bad at all! I made sure to get 25g. Those 22g are huge! I mean I know I'm a nurse and see the regularly, but it looks so terrible when you know it's going right into your butt. My husband did a great job though and it didn't hurt AT ALL. It's a little sore today but just barely. If I didn't know I had the shot, I wouldn't notice the soreness. I warmed under my boob for 15 minutes so I hope that did the trick. :) Looking forward to 40-50 more of those guys! 

Babylights-I didn't have really any mood changes from the stims. Just tired toward the end when my levels got really high (like into the 2-3K levels). Clomid--omg that meds is terrible. I had the WORST mood swings. Good luck and i'm glad clomid works for you. Good job on letting go! It feels so good to do that. Just say screw it, lets do this!! Shots? Oh yah I got this. No big deal. :thumbup:

Steph-It does feel weird injecting yourself, but after a couple you get use to it. It still sucks, but it's not as bad. Don't get me wrong though...I'm happy my husband does my IM injections. I don't like looking at that needle going in my skin. It weirds me out a bit. 

Ask-Cats were already fighting for my heating pad when I was done using it. I got two, one for them and one more me...but I know who gets both. lol 

Good luck ladies! I will keep you updated. Next appointment is Monday. I am hoping these shots boost my progesterone! I'm sure they will! :thumbup::thumbup:


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## Hope16

Question...

With IVF, do you have to do progesterone in oil injections or can vaginal suppositories work just as well?? Anyone know the difference. I used vaginal progesterone suppositories after my IUIs... if I can avoid having to do more needles I'd like to.


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## ashknowsbest

Hope - my doctors have always told me that pio injections are more effective at getting the progesterone into your system. You could ask for the suppositories but if your progesterone isnt high enough theyre going to put you on the pio.


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## steph1607

Morning ladies!

Quick question, I'm only on day 4 of stims (and I'm on a low dose), but I feel EXHAUSTED. I don't know if this is normal, or if it's too early for it to be down to stims and it's something else altogether! I had a chilled weekend so it's not as if I'm recovering from overdoing it! I'm sat at my desk struggling to keep my eyes open and it's only Monday morning... going to be a fun week!!


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## Ask4joy

Definitely normal! I started feeling the effects around day 4-5 as well. A few days after that my ovaries felt huge and I could feel them with every move. Your body is going through a lot so try to take it easy as much as possible!


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## emilydee87

Thanks Ash and Amy!! Just got home from retrieval and yall were totally right. Thanks for the advice! 21 eggs retrieved :)

Steph, i had similar side effects from stimming. I basically just felt like a zombie until today, egg retrieval day. Now I feel like myself! Praise God


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## Ask4joy

Congrats on the 21 eggs, Emily! You are lucky - I was really sick and in excruciating pain after my ER. Didn&#8217;t feel okay again until AF showed up. Ugh. Hopefully I won&#8217;t ever have to go through that again! Keep us updated!


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## babyseeker

kk2003 said:


> Babyseeker- CONGRATS! That is so great!!! :happydance:
> 
> We have good news too! Positive beta at 50 today! (Not as high as yours) We are excited beyond belief that we were able to conceive. It felt like it would never be a reality, honestly. We have a f/u lab on friday, but I'm not stressed at all. Either way we are stoked that we have gotten this far in the process. It's a miracle.
> 
> How is the road for everyone else?
> 
> Lucy-The TWW is the worst. This time I did EVERYTHING to distract me, and I didn't feel too bad until last night when I thought it was over. I honestly thought I wasn't pregnant and cried most of the day. I don't feel any different and I felt my period was coming this morning. Just little things i noticed that usually happen before AF. But I was wrong....pregnancy. Keep the hope and find something to do! :) It helps I promise.
> -KK

Congratulations praying for a happy and healthy 9 months


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## babyseeker

lucy_smith said:


> Baby seeker & kk2003 congrats!!!!! That's amazing!!!! :)
> 
> This wait is awful!! I'm only 2 days in and I just can't get away from it, and I'm so tired all the time, will need to make myself stay busy!! Even my dreams are about it and I'm awake 2-3 times a night ! What is going on?? One minute I'm excited and then the next I just want to burst into tears. Am I normal?

Probably the longest TWW ever and now I have another TWW for ultrasound


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## lucy_smith

Steph I have felt exhausted on and off throughout the whole experience ! So I'm sure that's pretty normal, 

Blood test on Thursday, 
But woke up this morning and I've had some spotting ! :( 8dp 5dt


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## kk2003

Lucy-
I don't think that means you are out quite yet! Keep hope up! I have had spotting yesterday and today, and they told me it's implantation spotting. Seems late to me...but I think spotting is a thing sometimes. 

Emily-Congrats on your ER! 21 sounds great! Keep us updated on your progress.

I had a blood test yesterday, and my beta is 980! Progesterone also went from 9 to 22, so i'm happy those PIO's are working. It's TOTALLY worth the sore butt. We are super glad about the results. I was a bit worried yesterday morning because I started spotting from brown to pink and then to burgundy. It was enough to wipe but not much on the liner. Spotting is how the last cycle went starting on 5dp5dt, but it was much more. It has almost subsided this morning. The nurse told me on the phone the burgundy color is usually implantation bleeding. It made me feel a lot better. 
Hope you all have a great Tuesday!
KK


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## ashknowsbest

lucy - a lot of women report spotting before and after a positive pregnancy test so you're definitely not out. It's very likely that it's implantation spotting. Fingers crossed! Is your beta tomorrow?

kk - Yes, anything burgundy/brown is old blood and that's a good thing. I'm glad the PIO is working out for you. Your beta sounds great!


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## lucy_smith

Thanks for the reassurance girls, my beta is the day after tomorrow ! So still a little wait,really wish it was tomorrow!!


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## lucy_smith

Anyone here from the U.K.? We don't call it beta here do we? Any idea if we even get to find out the levels ?


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## ashknowsbest

lucy - will you test with a HPT?


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## lucy_smith

No I'm going to the drs for a blood test, I'm too scared to do a hpt incase its negative. Does that sound crazy?


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## kk2003

Lucy,
You aren't crazy! I didn't test ahead of time for that SAME reason. And the day I got my positive, my test looked like it came up negative (I took it right after the phone call). Well i saw it in the trash the next day and it was a faint positive. Hold out if you can, I felt that testing early the previous cycle made me depressed! It would have been negative if I tested too much earlier since my levels were 50. 

Yea I guess we call it beta's here. Before this cite, I just called in a qualitative blood test, but everywhere must be different. 

KK


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## Sweetness_87

Lucy- Don't be nervous, when I was pregnant with my twins I had every color of blood from dark brown, bright red, and even tissue looking and my boys are almost 4. Its actually very normal to bleed in early pregnancy.


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## lucy_smith

Thanks for your optimism! When I was pregnant with my first I had a 'period' and didn't know I was pregnant until morning sickness kicked in at 7 weeks, so I should know myself that bleeding is normal, but I just panic! Haha


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## lucy_smith

Update here , Negative pregnancy test :( roll on for round 2


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## ashknowsbest

Lucy - I&#8217;m so sorry :hugs: and I love your attitude!


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## Ask4joy

Really sorry, Lucy. :hugs: 

Hope the next round is a success!

I had my baseline ultrasound on Tuesday and started Estrace yesterday. Transfer is 2.5 weeks away. Eeek!


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## kk2003

Lucy,
I'm so sorry!! I totally know how you feel. You got this next one! :) Keep on going! :thumbup:

Ask-Wow thats great!! So exciting!!

K


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## emilydee87

Lucy I'm so sorry for your bad news. We are with you <3 Its encouraging that we've had 2 positives recently. IVF really does work miracles, just wish it was the first time every time :(

Ask, keep us updated on your progress! That step is next for me so I have no idea what to expect :) What is estrace and are you having side effects?

Update on my 21 eggs: they did half natural fertilization and half ICSI because I was borderline for needing the ICSI at all. Only 2 of 10 natural eggs got fertilized! 9 of 11 ICSI are fertilized. So that answers a lot of questions for us about why we werent getting pregnant. 10 eggs is about a year of trying naturally! We have 11 little embryos growing to day 5. We wont get another update until they freeze them over the weekend. My hubby is very impatient to know how many we get. Does anyone know how the "grade" them at the end?


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## Ask4joy

Emily - that&#8217;s great that you did ICSI on half and that it answers some questions for you. We did ICSI too because my clinic requires it when you do PGS testing. We had 22 out of 24 fertilize with ICSI and 16 make it to blasts and biopsy for PGS. The grading is done in 3 parts usually. The first number tells you how expanded the blastocyst is (4=fully expanded), the next is a letter A-C and tells you about the cells in the inner cell mass, and the last is a letter A-C (A is best, B is good, C is fair) that tells you about the cells in the triphectoderm - the outer cells which will eventually form the placenta.

Estrace is estradiol (estrogen). My only side effect right now is headaches. I&#8217;ll let you know how it goes! I increase my dose in 3 more days and then 5 days before transfer I&#8217;ll start the PIO shots.

Keep us posted! Hoping you get lots of blasts! Are you doing a fresh transfer? Your protocol will be a bit different than mine if that&#8217;s the case!


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## emilydee87

Awesome, thanks Ask! I hope your headaches subside. Maybe Tylenol is allowed? I'm doing frozen, same as you. Transfer is tentatively scheduled for 12/18, which means we may be able to test on Christmas morning!! Oh what a Christmas present that would be...


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## amy8686

Aw Lucy, I'm so sorry. Glad you're ready to keep going!

Emily - That's great! It's such a relief to have a whole batch of embryos sitting around. I hope they all keep going strong!

I'm still awaiting a period so we can embark on the next round. My clinic called today to have me go in for bloodwork tomorrow. If my progesterone is low enough, we may move forward without a period. On the one hand, I would like for my body to get back to normal before trying again, but on the other hand, a January cycle would place a lot of the appointments and stuff over winter break for me (I'm a teacher), and that's too good to pass up. So, I hope I get to move forward one way or another.

How's everyone else doing?


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## babylights

Lucy Im so sorry :hugs: Thats so great that you can look forward to another go!

Emily wow what great numbers, congrats!! 

amy I hope your clinic will have a definitive answer for you after your progesterone results come back. I think Ill be transferring in January too!

Tomorrow is our day 8 appointment. Really hoping for some good growth, my E2 numbers were looking better after day 6 than last round so Im holding onto that glimmer of hope.


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## ashknowsbest

I had my first check up today. It's day 4 of stims and I have 31 follicles growing. They're worried about OHSS which is nothing new to me so they want me on a high protein diet and electrolyte water. I'm getting excited about retrieval!


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## Ask4joy

That&#8217;s great Ash! I had 33 retrieved and had what they described as &#8220;mild&#8221; OHSS ...I&#8217;d hate to know what moderate or severe felt like! My RE also told me to eat extra salty foods. Good luck and keep us posted!

Babylights - how&#8217;d your appointment go? Sounds like things are moving along well!


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## kk2003

Hi ladies!

Hope you guys are having a great weekend so far! We have family coming tonight, so naturally I am procrastinating getting the house ready. 

Ash-Wow 31 is a lot! My RE didn't even count all my little follicles when we first started (just a guesstimate). I hope those guys grow nice and big for you! 

Babylights- what's next for you now?

Amy-I totally know how you feel to have AF to renew your cycle and start fresh. I felt that way every month...like a relief and release, then hope for then next month. When do you find out when you will get started? 

I'm doing well right now. I feel pretty normal I think. I don't really have any symptoms, minus an occasional cramp. It's not like an AF cramp, much lighter and quicker. Im not too tired (except in between 2-3pm when I usually have my second cup of coffee...) and honestly wish I could work out. I'm waiting to talk to my doc on tuesday about it. If I can't workout, then I'm not going to be too disappointed. I will have plenty of time after all this. It's weird not going into the clinic every 3 days right now, but I do enjoy not getting up and driving 30 min early in the am...then sitting for 1-2hours. Waiting still continues on this end...:coffee: but I'm okay with it. We are all use to that by now, right?! :dohh::thumbup::cloud9:
-K


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## amy8686

Ash - That's a lot! Do your ovaries feel like softballs yet? I don't miss that feeling.

Kk - I'm glad you're doing ok! For what it's worth, you should be fine for most types of exercise at this point. I remember asking about that and the answer was basically "if it feels ok, then do it." But asking your doctor first is a good thing after all you've gone through to get here. &#55357;&#56842;

Still no period here, but apparently my progesterone levels are high. The nurse says she expects me to have a period within the week, which puts me on track for a January 10 transfer. She was confident enough that we went ahead and scheduled the appointments. So, here we go again! I'm probably going to be a nutcase about taking the birth control and then Lupron at the exact same time of day this time... They say that within an hour or two is fine but it's the only thing in my control that might have possibly caused me to have a dominant follicle last time, so let the obsession begin.


----------



## babylights

Thanks ask!

kk so glad youre feeling good! I hope you get the clear from your dr. to work out, but like you said, if not you have plenty of time to work out after. 

It looks like were going to have a Thanksgiving retrieval! It might turn out to be the day before, but Im hoping to have an extra day for these follies to grow!


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## SunnyBe

Hi everyone, nice (or well, I guess since this is the "assisted reproduction" section, "nice" might not be that fitting) to see a couple of familiar faces. Hi babylights, Steph!

Just read through this topic and I just wanted to send massive congrats to kk2003 for getting that BFP. Sorry Lucy that this wasn't your cycle, it really sucks :(

Good luck to everyone currently cycling. I'll be joining you in a day or 2 when AF starts. DH and I have been trying for our first for about a year but due to some MFI have decided to move on to IVF. We're from the US but are going to Europe for treatment which adds an extra layer of... excitement? Let's call it excitement ;) 

Keeping my fingers crossed for all of you :)


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## Ask4joy

Welcome Sunny!

Wishing you lots of success with your IVF cycle! Where in Europe will you be traveling?


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## ashknowsbest

babylights - any updates to when you're retrieval will be? 

sunny - Welcome to the group! Can I ask why you're going to Europe for your treatment and whereabouts?

amy - they do! I'm getting more uncomfortable and noticing the bloat more and more every day that passes. I'm excited though! Good luck with your upcoming cycle. I'm like you and OBSESS about taking my meds at the same time every single day. It's exhausting but it is one thing I have complete control over so I'll take it. 

kk - How are you feeling? When I got pregnant I refused to work out for the first trimester because I was just so freaked out about losing the pregnancy. Go you for wanting to work out though!

I am on day 7 of stims. They started me on cetrotide today to keep my follicles growing in sync. My largest is 14mm, smallest is 10.5mm. My doctor thinks my retrieval will be on Sunday, woohoo!


----------



## kk2003

Hi all

I'm feeling pretty good today. Trying to get all this school work completed before the thanksgiving holiday. No symptoms really, minus the more frequent bathroom trips and occasional fatigue. Ultrasounds is tomorrow!

Thanks everyone for the workout advice/encouragement. We will see what they say tomorrow. I have been working on getting more PIO, since there is national wide shortage and I need 1 more vial for the 10 week span. I found a place that will ship to me, so thank goodness for that! They are out in my city completely!

Welcome and good luck SunnyBe! 

Ash/babylights- that's exciting about your ER! So soon! I was so ready when mine came around to not feel so full! 

Hope all is well! back to the school grind! 
K


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## emilydee87

KK so exciting!!! Its the real deal now! Here you go!!:baby:

Ash looking good on your follies!

Sunny thats very exciting to go to Europe for treatment! Do they do it better over there or something? I hadnt heard.

We got our results back, we have 8 blastocysts frozen and waiting for us to transfer in December! It seems that different clinics grade slightly differently? Our clinic says they rarely give A's, and we have several 4B+B+ so trying to be happy with the grades. Being an A student (or at least having A expectations) is making me slightly bummed. But still overall happy, since there could have been none! Now we just have to wait for the 18th :coffee: its gonna be a long month. Veterans, what were your grades and what was the outcome? I'd like to obsess for the next 4 weeks :haha::dohh:


----------



## Ask4joy

Emily - congrats on your 8 blasts! My embryologist said the same - As are rare. I only know the grades of our 5 PGS normal embryos but they were all 4BBs or 3BBs except for 1 day 6 4AA. I am curious to know how the 11 abnormal were graded so I think I&#8217;ll ask! We are transferring a day 5 4BB (embryologist said day 5 trumps day 6).

K - glad you are feeling good!!!

Ash - so exciting that you are nearing retrieval! Keep us posted!


----------



## babylights

Hi Sunny, I wish you so much luck on your cycle!!

ash yay youre getting so close now!

kk thanks for checking back in, hope you continue to feel good!

amy any updates?

emily thats such a great number, congrats!!

Good luck to anyone Ive missed!

It looks like were still on for a Thanksgiving retrieval with a small chance we might push one more day of stims, so then itd be Friday. My e2 didnt rise as much yesterday so they bumped up my meds, Im hoping these follies can keep pushing and that Ill have a nice rise today!


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## amy8686

Babylights, you're almost there! Are you even planning a Thanksgiving dinner, or has this completely taken over?

Emily - I'm not sure what grades I had. I did ask once (because I'm an A+ student and expect nothing less from my embryos!), and the nurse practitioner downplayed the importance of grading and then "forgot" to print the grades for me. I'm trying not to ask again, because my clinic really doesn't seem to want patients to obsess over it and I guess that's best. I'll just trust them when they say they froze 10 embryos that were good and have a chance at working.

Kk, Good luck tomorrow! I had no idea about the PIO shortage. I have a little stockpile sitting in a drawer because my last cycle got canceled just before I was starting it, so I wasn't going order more this time. But maybe I should order a little bit more so I won't be rushed to refill it if this next cycle works! 

Ash, so close!

Welcome, Sunny! I want to know all of the same things the other ladies already asked about you going to Europe. :)

I'm STILL WAITING for a period to start so I can start birth control. I just had a little panic because I saw a note on my cycle calendar that gives this Wednesday as the deadline to start birth control, which would put today as the deadline to get my period. But I called and the nurse said there's a little bit of wiggle room, and I'm ok as long as I get it this week. I don't really love the idea of adjusting the med calendar, if it means that the result will be less than perfectly ideal, but I'd still rather try than wait for the March cycle date. Right now I'm trying to resist looking up old wives' tales (or old Google's tales) for bringing on a period sooner.


----------



## SunnyBe

Ask, Ash, Emily, Amy; the most important reason we're traveling to Europe for treatment (Prague by the way) is because of the cost. We'll be paying around $2,500 for IVF+ICSI plus another $1000 or so for meds. The clinic we picked is pretty well known and has excellent success rates so we're giving it a go. DH and I also started a blog to keep track of our infertility journey and the financial side of things, link is in my signature in case you're interested. I'm waiting for AF and expecting it today. If there's full flow before 3 pm, today would be considered day 1 and if it's after, it'll be tomorrow. Hurry up :D

Emily, congrats on 8 blasts! The 4B's are still excellent so I'd be absolutely over the moon if I was you :) 

Bablylights, ahh wouldn't that be something to be thankful for :) Just a few more days!

Amy, hope AF shows up today or tomorrow!


----------



## kk2003

Hey Ladies!

Bad news. Went for an ultrasound today and they couldn't find anything on ultrasound. I went for blood work and hcg was 5. So looks like a chemical or early miscarriage. I'm bummed obviously, but revealed it wasn't ectopic...which they were extremely concerned about. My doc had a pretty extreme grimace on his face when he was looking for that little sac and not finding it. We are moving next July, so we are going to take off for a couple months so we don't deliver enroute, and start again after the first of the year. 
I'm feeling optimistic and glad I was able to achieve a pregnancy, even if it was only for a little bit. I know I may sound crazy, but that give me so much hope for the future. I know we can do this and I know it'll happen again. Thank you ladies for being a great support and I will pop on and off here. 

K


----------



## babylights

Oh kk Im so, so sorry :( Im so glad that you feel encouraged that you were able to get pregnant, it really is something to hold onto and I know you will be pregnant again in the new year when youre ready. Please take good care of yourself and let us know how youre doing if you feel up to it. Sending so much love <3

amy my DH will just make steak, weve know wed likely go on Thursday so were just keeping it simple. Hope af will show up quick for you!!

sunny wow that is such a good price, and you get a vacay too, amazing! Hoping for CD1 today!

Were dual triggering tonight/tomorrow (Novarel & Lupron) and retrieving on Thanksgiving! Trying not to focus too much on numbers and just hoping for the best!


----------



## emilydee87

KK that's heartbreaking, I'm so so sorry. Lean on each other <3


----------



## ashknowsbest

amy - It always seems that AF shows up when you don't want her to and takes forever to arrive when you want her to show up. It's very frustrating. I hope she comes soon so you can move forward.

sunny - sounds great! It's sort of like a vacation and IVF in one (if that's possible ... hm). Gotta make the best of it I suppose. 

kk - omg I didn't expect this at all. I'm so sorry :( It seems like you have a great attitude about it and have a plan moving forward. Best of luck in the future, and good luck with your move. 

baby - Good luck with your trigger. I'm also doing a dual trigger with this cycle and hoping for good results. Retrieval on thanksgiving? Woohoo! Do you have plans for thanksgiving besides the retrieval?


----------



## Ask4joy

K - I am so sorry. That&#8217;s heartbreaking, I know. Sending you a big hug! :hugs:

Babylights - good luck with trigger and retrieval!!

Sunny - was reading through your blog! Sounds like besides a couple little hang-ups everything is moving right along! Exciting!


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## lucy_smith

Ok im so sorry kk !!! I really thought this was it for you! Fingers crossed for January! Maybe see you through another cycle xxx


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## amy8686

Oh kk, I'm so sorry. Yes it's encouraging to move forward with the knowledge that you can get pregnant, but I hope you take the time to mourn this one at least a little bit. Pamper yourself.


----------



## SunnyBe

Oh my, so sorry Kk :( That's just heartbreaking!! I hope you take some "you" time.


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## kk2003

Hey all,

Thanks for all your support! I am going to take some time for me (mostly after finals though...gross!) Not the best time for this time happen, but my DH and I are taking in in stride. What a crap fest though. Not something we are expecting and prepared for. I'm happy we were together when they told us though. It would have been a different story if he wasn't by my side when they told us. :cry::cry:
We are prob going to take a little vaca in Jan, so prob start in Feb. We hope the next time will be successful!! 

Anyone know how long it takes for AF to come after PIO and chemical (if that's what this was i guess?) Normally with the suppositories I get it right away, but with this it's taking it's time. I assume it's because IM's secrete slowly in the muscle, and it has a long half life. Thanks ladies!
KK


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## amy8686

Kk,

After my chemical, it took a full 3 weeks to start bleeding. But my clinic was surprised that it took me that long... they expected it much sooner. So I don't know if there's a good way to predict these things. :-/

I felt the same way about not expecting or being prepared for it. I had prepared myself for a positive result or a negative result. Not a positive followed by a no-longer-positive. It sucks.

Hugs.


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## kk2003

Amy-
Totally! It hit us like a ton of bricks. Looking for the sac was one of the worst moments of my life. We both just knew it was over. So sad. Yeah positive or negative...not pos then just kidding! Blah. Thanks for the info on the AF/PIO. Good to know!! I have no feeling of it coming. Everything in the ultrasound they said looked really pregnant, minus the fetus, so I assume it'll take a bit. Thats why I think they were so worried for ectopic. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving (those who celebrate)!
KK


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## ashknowsbest

babylights - how was retrieval?! 

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday! I go in for my retrieval tomorrow morning. I did all of my trigger shots (they dual triggered me) and just had post trigger blood work done this morning. I go in tomorrow morning at 7am, retrieval at 8am. I'm excited, also a little nervous because my e2 is pretty high, it always is because of PCOS, and they're warning me of a tad bit of OHSS which I'm used to from almost all of my cycles but it's going to be pretty uncomfortable.


----------



## Ask4joy

Yes babylights, how&#8217;d it go and how are you feeling?

Ash - good luck! OHSS sucks but at least you know what to expect. Hopefully it won&#8217;t be too bad!


----------



## amy8686

Ash and Babylights, let us know how retrieval goes/went!

I fiiiinnnnaaalllyyyy got my period last night. So I start BC tomorrow and I'll find out from the nurse on Monday exactly what the rest of my schedule will look like, but I think it's locked into Jan 10 for transfer date. I hope my body cooperates between now and then!

Anyone else have updates?


----------



## ashknowsbest

Retrieval went well for me. I'm in a little bit of pain right now but that's to be expected. They retrieved 16 eggs. We were hoping for more but at this point we really want quality over quantity so we'll take it. Hopefully they're better quality than we normally get. I will know more tomorrow when they call with the fertilization report. 

amy - I'm glad you finally got your period. January 10th will be here before you know it!


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## SunnyBe

Ash, congrats on getting 16 eggs! Fingers crossed for an amazing fertilization report tomorrow :) 

Amy, glad AF finally came. So you'll do a FET?

Babylights, we're waiting for an update ;)

AFM, first 5 days of injections went well. No symptoms whatsoever :)


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## ashknowsbest

sunny - glad to hear you're moving along without side effects. I used to get HORRIBLE headaches with lupron (they didn't put me on it this time around) but I did get bad headaches with BCP. It will fly by and you'll be having ER before you know it.


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## Ask4joy

Congrats Ash! Hope you feel better soon!

Glad your injections are going well, Sunny!

Two more days until my lining / blood level check and start of PIO. I woke up to a nasty lump and bruise behind me knee this morning that really freaked me out. Went to urgent care and doc said it&#8217;s a ganglion cyst. Ugh. Harmless but annoying. The excessive bruising is probably from the baby aspirin. Transfer is a week from tomorrow!


----------



## ashknowsbest

ask - oh no that sounds horrible! Glad it's not dangerous though. It's always exciting when you're getting close to transfer. Best of luck! Keep us updated.


----------



## amy8686

Ask, that's terrible! Do they think that could have resulted from the IVF meds, or is it unrelated (with unfortunate timing)?

Ash, I get the Lupron headaches too. Something to look forward to in a few weeks...

Sunny, I'm glad things are successfully underway for you! And extra glad that you aren't having side effects. Yes, mine will be a FET. We were lucky enough to get a whole gaggle of frozen embryos with my fresh transfer a few years ago, so no more fresh cycles for me!


----------



## babylights

Hey all sorry for the lack of update, been feeling pretty down about our results since retrieval and cant seem to shake it. They retrieved 14, 10 mature and 7 have fertilized normally and 2 fertilized with fragmentation. Doesnt that mean that 9 have fertilized? Im not sure why she differentiated the two with fragmentation. Trying not to think about it too much 

ash congrats on 16. 

amy glad your period has started

sunny yay for no side effects


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## Ask4joy

Thanks Amy & Ash. They don&#8217;t really know what causes them but I read they are 3x more likely in women so I&#8217;m thinking it may be tied to the hormones. I also found lots of posts by pregnant women saying they have them. I&#8217;m going to ask my RE about it when I go in on Tuesday.

Babylights - I&#8217;m sorry you are feeling down. Hopefully your 7 are excellent quality! I remember the embryologist telling me &#8220;24 were mature and 22 fertilized normally with ICSI&#8221;. I never asked about the other 2. Fingers crossed for you!


----------



## amy8686

Babylights, having 9 fertilized (7 of which are normal) is great! I know that when you're in the middle of it, it's easier to obsess over the negative than to see the positive, but as an outsider here, I think your results are looking really good. Take care of yourself.


----------



## ashknowsbest

babylights - thanks for the update. As for why the emrbyologist would group them separately, fragmented embryos normally don't grow much past fertilization or day 3, I think that's why she split them up. I agree with amy that 7 is good. I know it's disappointing in the moment (I've been there 5 times before) but it's about quality not quantity. Take care of yourself and let us know how you're feeling in a couple of days <3


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## ashknowsbest

Fertilization report - 16R 12M 12 fertilized via picsi but 2 of those are not developing so we currently have 10 growing normally. I&#8217;m happy but super nervous what the next few days is going to bring. Most of my embryos die off after day 3 so the next 5 days are going to be miserable. Except that we&#8217;re moving so I do need to get packing. I&#8217;ll have to wait until I&#8217;m feeling a little better from the retrieval though.


----------



## Ask4joy

10 is great, Ash! FX that a bunch make it to blasts! Are you doing a fresh transfer? Or doing CCS again? Take it easy with the move!


----------



## ashknowsbest

Ask - I&#8217;m doing ccs testing and depending on the outcome of that may not transfer until June. Either way I have to do 2 months of depot Lupron so the soonest I could transfer would be late February/March.


----------



## Ask4joy

What is the difference between Lupron and depot Lupron? I&#8217;ve been on a low dose of Lupron daily for the last 24 days. Tomorrow is my last shot then I start PIO. Lining check is tomorrow!

Just noticed you had your DH have a similar age gap as me and my DH. :)


----------



## ashknowsbest

Depot lupron is one shot/month and they use it a lot for women who have endo. I don't have endo but we did a biospy on my uterine lining a while back and I was out of phase negative which means that I don't have a protein called beta-3 integrin that is required for an embryo to implant. We did the test since I had multiple transfers but never became pregnant. 

Here are a few links if anyone is interested to know more. 

https://ivfbaby.com/images/A New Me...egrin as a Marker for Uterine Receptivity.pdf

https://www.pacificfertilitycenter.com/blog/beta-3-integrins-and-embryo-implantation

https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/27/3/881/640603


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## Ask4joy

Thanks for the explanation, Ash! I&#8217;m glad they figured that out for you! Did you do depot Lupron before your successful transfer with the twins?


----------



## ashknowsbest

Yes we did and I&#8217;m so glad! I also did a ton of supplements and we also added in picsi. Not sure exactly what did it or if it was a combo but we&#8217;re doing the same things as last time.


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## Ask4joy

Good plan!


----------



## babylights

Thanks so much ash & amy, I appreciate the support so much <3 We didnt get an update like we were supposed to today so hopefully well hear back tomorrow. Itll be day 5 for the first five that fertilized so hoping for good news. Both our embies (5aa and 6ab) reached blast on day 5 last cycle so fx! 

Keeping everything crossed for your 10 ash!


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## ashknowsbest

Ask - how did your lining check go? 

Babylights - did you hear about your embryos today?


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## babylights

Just heard back - they just biopsied two blasts, a 4AA and 5AB. Four more are still going, theyre past the maroula stage so hoping so hard they all make it, well get the final count tomorrow. 

ash how are you doing in your wait? Its so brutal, ugh. 

ask hope your lining check went well!


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## Ask4joy

Great news, Babylights! Hoping hard for you! I just wrote in your journal - 3 of our 5 normals are day 6 blasts! FX fx fx those 4 keep going strong!

Lining check went great! Doc said my lining looks &#8220;gorgeous&#8221; lol. Must have been all that wine i drank over Thanksgiving. :wine: Ha! 9.7mm this morning so transfer is on for Monday! 

Hope you are starting to feel better, Ash!


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## ashknowsbest

Babylights - that&#8217;s great news! My twins were both day 6s. A 6aa and a 3ab. You have great things happening! 

Ask - Woohoo for a good lining! Do you start the pio tonight? I always hated those shots but I&#8217;d do anything for a baby so ... 

I&#8217;m still pretty bloated but did manage to pack some today. Laying down now with a heating pad. I think I&#8217;ll feel great tomorrow.


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## Ask4joy

I start PIO tomorrow - my nurse said we can pick any time of day and stick to a 2 hour window so we are going to do it in the evening so we don&#8217;t have to wake up early even on weekends. I have big circles drawn on my butt in permanent marker from the nurse lol. Super cute.

Glad you are feeling a little better! Heating pads are the best!


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## ashknowsbest

Ask - the big circles on your butt are the best. Eventually you won&#8217;t need them. You&#8217;ll become a pro! I think it&#8217;s great to do it at night but just make sure you walk for 10-15 minutes or massage the area after the shot. Because it&#8217;s oil if you don&#8217;t massage it around it sits and will build up and become really uncomfortable.


----------



## babylights

Thanks so much for the encouragement ladies! I feel like I breathed a tiny bit today, but of course will still be worried until tomorrow. 

ash hope you feel great by tomorrow! And thanks for being so kind in sharing your knowledge about everything IVF. Its so nice to have such a huge success story to keep hope alive! I know it was a long, hard road for you and Im so excited this round has been going so well for you already!

ask the PIO shots sound so scary, but its crazy how quickly youll become an old pro at them just like everything else in this process. So so exciting that your transfer is coming up so quick!


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## SunnyBe

Babylights, that's great news. I hope the others make it as well! 

Ask, so happy to hear your lining looked good and was nice and thick! Looks like you're all set for transfer! 

Ash, will you get another update tomorrow? Or will you find out after the full 5 days are over? 

Amy, ahh FETs really are the way to go. How many embryos do you have in storage?

AFM, my Day 7 scan went great. I have about 15 follicles growing and my lining looked great. I hope to find out tomorrow if I'll be triggering this week or if it'll be next week :D


----------



## ashknowsbest

Sunny - I won&#8217;t hear anything until Saturday which is freeze/biopsy day. 15 follicles is GREAT! I&#8217;m glad everything is moving along for you.


----------



## emilydee87

Ask, I'm so excited for your lining and transfer day!!:happydance: You're almost there! And I'm especially jealous that you got to have wine on thanksgiving! My doc said no alcohol, and I hadnt even finished my period yet! Its gonna be a dry holiday :(

Babylights, great news!

Ash thanks for the heads up on PIO. I start them on the 13th for the first time. Did you do them yourself or have your hubby do it?

I have my baseline appt tomorrow getting ready for transfer on 12/18. I just realized estrace is Category X and they want me to be on it through most of the first trimester :nope: they want to put me on prednisone and intralipid infusions as well for my high NK cell counts. Both are Category C :nope: does anyone have input on these meds? I know its part of the protocol, but why do they use it if its rated so poorly for birth defects??? I naively thought that once I got through IVF I could have a natural pregnancy drug-free :sad1:


----------



## ashknowsbest

Emily - I did them myself because I found it less stressful than to have hubby do it! :haha:

I was on estrace up until week 10 with L and O (my twins). They're perfectly fine. I would try not to worry so much but I know it's really hard. Doctors do this every single day so although there are risks, the risks normally outweigh the risk of not taking those meds. I know it's all very scary :hugs:


----------



## babylights

sunny great news!

ash I cant believe you did the PIO yourself, thats amazing!

We have two more blasts for a total of four this round, 6AA and 5BB. One arrested and theyre growing one more until tomorrow, that one was part of the batch they ICSId a day later so tomorrow will be its day 6. Please keep growing!!!


----------



## Ask4joy

Hooray! Great news, Babylights!

I hope our embryos are ok quality - they are chromosomally normal but the grading isn&#8217;t top quality. Our best is a day 5 4BB which we are transferring first. Next is a day 5 3BB. Then a day 6 4AA, day 6 4BB and day 6 3BB. The embryologist said they transfer the day 5s before the day 6s as they tend to do better, even if the day 6 is graded higher. Hoping this works on the first try!!!

Emily - good luck with your baseline tomorrow! I didn&#8217;t drink during stims but thought a few glasses of red wine a couple of weeks before FET wouldn&#8217;t hurt! I am on another forum with all women doing IVF + PGS + FETs and asked what they thought and everyone said it&#8217;s fine and some even said the cycle they had some wine was their only successful one! Now I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s a correlation (except for maybe just being less stressed). I haven&#8217;t had any since Thanksgiving though to be safe!


----------



## babylights

ask Ive read time and time again that the grading becomes way less relevant once theyre determined to be chromosomally normal. Youre so close, I have such a great feeling for you!!

emily good luck tomorrow!!

ash how are you feeling today?

amy how are you, any updates? So excited for your FET!


----------



## Ask4joy

Thanks Babylights - I read that too but will always find something to worry about! 

DH did my first PIO shot! I hardly felt a thing! I heated the area with my heating pad for 5-10 mins before and heated the oil for 2 minutes on the heating pad then massage and heat after. I can&#8217;t believe that huge needle and I only felt a little prick!


----------



## amy8686

Hi all,

So many exciting updates! Yay for embryos and successful PIO shots. 

Emily, I don't know specifically about those medications, but I know that there are lots of drugs that aren't recommended during a "normal" pregnancy because of the way it would affect hormones, but for us, we need those effects, so the usual medication warnings don't really apply to us in the same way. And in the ones that do still apply, we just have to trust the doctors when they say that the benefits outweigh the risks. I went into my pregnancy dedicated to being all-natural, after the IVF chaos had subsided, but my plans were instantly squashed by the fact that I couldn't stop vomiting unless I had anti-nausea medication (which I think was graded C). I still played it safe as much as I could, but that got me to accept that some things were going to be out of my control.

As for the drinking thing, I was overly cautious during my fresh cycle. My doctor wasn't worried about drinking in moderation until there is a fetus getting nourished through a placenta, but I know that my body functions best (better sleep, more energy, less inflammation) when I don't have alcohol. I've been much more relaxed about it during FETs. I'm staying healthy, but I don't really feel the need to obsessively CLEANSE THE BODY OF ALL TOXINS until we're approaching transfer. I made a pitcher of sangria on Thanksgiving and I'm still snacking my way through the leftover boozy fruit!

Sunny, we're lucky enough to have 9 embryos remaining. We froze 10 when I had my son, and we used one this summer. Fingers crossed it won't take 9 more tries to have one more baby, and then we will get to delve into the world of embryo donation!

No updates here. Now that things are finally underway, I'm just chugging along with bc. I start Lupron next week, and I have my suppression check on the 20th. I'm nervous about that, since I failed it last time, but I'm hoping to just stay distracted in the next few weeks. (I'm a music teacher and it's holiday season, so I'm plenty busy and distracted.)

Looking forward to all of your updates in the upcoming days!


----------



## kk2003

Hi Ladies,

I just wanted to let you know I'm doing well here. All has cleared, and I feel a little less sad and ready for the next go around. We hope do our first FET in Jan/Feb time frame still, once I figure out where my cycle is. Tuesday I still had a thickened lining, but the HCG was at 1. Kinda glad to take the holidays off...it was too hard to find out about this the day before we went up for Thanksgiving with family. We told our parents and a couple close friends about everything, but next time we are going to tell no one. It is too hard, as I'm sure you all would understand. It frustrates me that my DH and I don't have that special secret many couples have for weeks and weeks before they tell others. Is that what you all do? Keep it to yourselves or tell others? It's so hard to do either!!! 

Sounds like everyone is doing well! Maybe I can tx around the same time as you ladies in Jan! I may not update during it to stay completely to ourselves on every level, but I'll let you know if we have any success or failure. I hope and pray all the best for you all! I do check in here regularly. 

Also fun tip that helped with with PIO. I was sore with a electric heat pad with massage (and a foam roller for 10 min). However, I was NOT sore when I used one of those corn filled (homemade) heating things you heat in the microwave. It was super hot to the touch and I used that without the massage...not sore at all the next day. It was like magic. I highly recommend it. Good luck all!
-KK


----------



## Ask4joy

KK - glad you are feeling better and looking forward to your next transfer. The decision to tell people is tough. We have told our close family and a few close friends but I&#8217;m sure if this first transfer doesn&#8217;t work out I will be more private about the next one.

Thanks for the PIO tip! I used an electric heating pad and am sore today. Going to purchase a corn-filled one!


----------



## amy8686

Kk, how much to tell people is definitely a personal decision. We've found it helpful to be pretty open. We share almost every step with our families and for the most part, they've been good about just letting us go to them to share updates, rather than asking questions that would put pressure on us. We've definitely had to do some educating of our families on how to best support us (my mom is a walking "what not to say to an infertile person" list), but they've learned. As far as friends go, we share when it comes up because it's easier than dodging questions about why we aren't having babies. Depending on how much we trust the person to be tactful, our answer will range from some vague "oh yes, we'd love to, but we're on a long winding journey" to "why yes, I'm transferring an embryo in January!" And we've been really lucky that the response has been positive. I have a small crew of friends who are in on the details and know how to tactfully check in and support me (like you all do), and it's shut down a lot of nosiness by others. And the best thing that's come out of being open is that I've made a few connections with others who are going through IVF or have been through it. 

So, that's what works for us. I think for me, it would be harder to go through a failed cycle without that support system!


----------



## Ask4joy

Amy - I feel the same way. I find people make less comments and are less nosey now that they know we are in the middle of IVF. It&#8217;s easier for me that way. 

Will you be transferring 1 or 2 embryos in January? 

Good luck with the Lupron. I&#8217;m relieved to be done with it, even though it&#8217;s been replaced with PIO.


----------



## amy8686

Ask, we're just transferring one at a time. I really don't want a twin pregnancy. We did two my fresh cycle, though. (And both took, but one stopped growing around 5-6 weeks.)


----------



## Ask4joy

Amy - I undetstand that. My RE will only transfer 1 PGS normal embryo at a time and with ICSI, PGS and assisted hatching there is an increased chance of splitting and identicals so I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;d transfer 2 anyway. BUT if we hadn&#8217;t done PGS I might be tempted to transfer 2 since the rate of aneuploidy for 35-39 year olds is 62% (according to my geneticist), on average (ours ended up being 70% with our 1 cycle so who knows how many transfers it would have taken to get a good one)! I hope your next transfer is successful!

KK - I got my corn filled heat bag and you are right! It relieves the pain much better! My DH didn&#8217;t believe it would (he&#8217;s an engineer and knows a lot about thermal dynamics etc)...but I&#8217;m glad I listened to you! :)

Ash - looking forward to your update today!!

How&#8217;s everyone else doing?


----------



## ashknowsbest

Copying and pasting from my journal but here is the result of my IVF cycle. 

Just checking in to give an update. 

We have 3 total that are currently frozen and we have one that we're watching until tomorrow to see if they want to freeze it. It's as follows 

2 day 5s - 5BB and 5BA 

1 day 6 - 5BB

and the possible day 7 but we will know more when they call us in the morning. 

I'm .... kind of happy about this but still concerned of course because we have to get over the CCS hurdle. It's good right? lol! They're all Bs and As so I guess that makes me feel good. Fingers crossed. We will have the results of the 3 that are frozen in approx. 2 weeks.


----------



## Ask4joy

Happy to hear you have 3 frozen blasts! And hopefully 1 more on the way!


----------



## SunnyBe

Ash, happy to hear you got 3 and possibly another one! Hope they're all healthy :)

Ask, just wanted to wish you lots of luck for your transfer tomorrow. So exciting!!!

Hi to everyone else, hope all is well :) I still feel great and will probably trigger tomorrow.


----------



## amy8686

Sunny, you must be in a magical land where one can continue feeling good all the way up to trigger day! That's awesome.

Ask, good luck!! Ash, congrats on the embryos!


----------



## SunnyBe

Haha I guess so. At the same time I feel a bit worried because of the lack of symptoms. But the scans show that the follicles are growing nicely so I guess I shouldn't complain. 

I can't believe you still have 9 embryos in storage!! That must be such a reassurance!


----------



## emilydee87

Ask good luck today!!! We're all routing for you! :happydance:


----------



## Ask4joy

Thanks ladies! Transfer is at 1:30 eastern time. Going to brunch with DH then off to the clinic! I&#8217;ll let you know how it goes! :)


----------



## babylights

Good luck ask! I think youre probably PUPO at this moment!

sunny excited to hear how retrieval goes!

Sorry for the radio silence, wanted to give you an update. We have 4 frosties this round, 4AA 6AA 5AB 5BB. Three are day 5, one is day 6 but not sure which one. Waiting on CCS testing, hoping for the best.


----------



## Ask4joy

Congrats on 4 more frosties, babylights!

Officially PUPO! Yay!


----------



## amy8686

Congrats, babylights! I hope the test results are good.

Ask, I'm so excited for you! For an October/November group, we've had very little PUPO activity so far. Time to get this show on the road.


----------



## SunnyBe

Ask, congrats on being PUPO!! When is your official test date?

Babylights, that's great news :) 

ER scheduled for tomorrow. I don't have high expectations though as my E2 levels were low even though I had 15 trigger-worthy follicles and a couple of smaller ones. Hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. Still excited to see how it goes :)


----------



## Ask4joy

Thanks all!

Official beta is December 13th but I will test earlier...just not sure when yet! We will see how long I can hold out!

Good luck with ER tomorrow Sunny! Estradiol and mature follicles don&#8217;t always match up perfectly. FX you get a good number of eggs!


----------



## emilydee87

Ask here's a poll I found on when people got their BFP after FET! 

https://community.babycenter.com/po...ou_get_your_bfp_new_-_includes_4_5_and_6dp5dt

I was thinking I'd start at day 5...


----------



## Ask4joy

Haha I found that same poll, Emily! I&#8217;m thinking the same. 4 more days!


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## emilydee87

Oh good, its really a gold mine of information! 87% of the pollers got a positive by day 7! I was so excited when I found it because my clinic tells us to wait the full 2 weeks for beta. They dont even have a good reason for it lol so I'm testing early for sure. Day 6 will be Christmas eve for me so I'm hoping I can give my husband what he really wants for Christmas :hugs: 

Lets see, Day 5 is Saturday for you? Let the countdown begin!! :happydance:


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## Ask4joy

Yes, Saturday!

I think they want you to wait because there&#8217;s a chance of getting a false negative...but I&#8217;ll just keep testing from 5dp5dt on! Armed with my wondfos and 2 FRERs!

A Christmas Eve BFP would me amazing! I&#8217;m hoping for an early Christmas present! :)


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## amy8686

Sunny, 15 sounds promising! But I fully support going into it with low expectations.

Early testing ladies, I know that there will be no way to talk you out of testing early, but I'll just say that testing early for both of my previous cycles made for a really miserable emotional rollercoaster. My first cycle, I started at day 5 and got my first faint line the evening of day 6... After a day and a half of crying, basically. So the next time, I waited until the evening of day 6, and it was negative, but I tried again on day 7 and got a positive (though that one ended up being a chemical).

I definitely will keep testing at home, because I'd rather have a clue about what's going on before the nurse calls, but I'm going to try really hard to wait longer next time.

If you do test early, just make sure you don't have anything important going on that requires you to be fully present. Clear your schedule for some emotions to happen! 

Can't wait to hear your updates... But no rush... &#55357;&#56842;


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## Ask4joy

Thanks Amy. I may wait longer if I can help myself. Especially since my transfer was late in the day yesterday - around 2:30pm. I know I&#8217;ll be crushed if it&#8217;s negative.


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## emilydee87

Amy, thanks for the warning. Or rather the reminder of what I put myself through when I test early lol Having been through 6 IUI's and 13 months of naturally trying, I should be very familiar with how BFN's affect me emotionally - and you're totally right they should be avoided at all costs! Ugh, there's just no good way to get bad news though, and like you both said I'd rather know before the doctor's office. Great advice to not have anything planned for testing days :) 

At least we dont have triggers falsing up our tests! That was the absolute worst for me.


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## babylights

CCS results are in - 2 normal (1 boy 1 girl), 1 abnormal and 1 no result my dr. is treating as a normal because its a 6AA. Were moving onto transfer. Any advice for FET prep? Itll probably be end of January if Im assuming correctly. Ive never actually thought past cycling so feel like Im completely in the dark!


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## Ask4joy

Congrats Babylights! I drank pure pomegranate juice every day of my FET - it is supposed to improve your lining. RE said it looked &#8220;gorgeous&#8221; - not sure if it made a difference but I&#8217;ll take it! I mixed it with coconut water and regular water as it&#8217;s very concentrated. I also ate organic eggs, avocado, Brazil nuts, walnuts, flax seeds and pumpkin seeds most days ...read that these are all beneficial (I usually mixed up the seeds and nuts in my oatmeal). My RE had me on baby aspirin, 200 IU vitamin D, a prescription prenatal and a prescription folic acid + b vitamin. They recommended I keep taking my coq10 ubiquinol and I chose to keep taking omega 3 fish oil which they said was fine. I started eating pineapple core a couple of days before transfer and am continuing it for a few more days. I also went for a lot of brisk walks to keep up good blood flow. Who knows if this worked ...still too early to tell!

Excited for you!


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## emilydee87

Yay Babylights! Ask, thats a lot of healthy things that I probably should be doing! haha I'm 10 days from transfer and so far I havent done anything other than limit my caffeine and cut out alcohol. I tried everything under the sun while trying naturally and doing IUI's: pineapple, acupuncture, organic, running, not running... It was kind of stressful for me and all ended in failure obviously. Now that I've found this doctor and she's discovered all these treatable things that were preventing me from getting pregnant, I've decided that diet/exercise/natural remedies are great if I feel like it, but not necessary for me and shouldnt add stress. Relaxation is my main plan of attack for this (and prayer). Still, kudos to Ask for being in optimal shape!! :thumbup: My doc has me on 5000 IU Vitamin D daily, baby aspirin, prenatal, and metformin (for PCOS). I'm doing acupuncture in-office before transfer at my doc's recommendation. Good luck!!

I'm curious about the genders, are you going to pick or let it be a surprise? We didnt do genetic testing so that's not an option for us.


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## amy8686

Babylights, that's great!! You're on your way. FET's are sooo much easier to go through. 

Ask, your list brought back memories of my fresh cycle. I did all of the things. I don't do them anymore. Partially because I don't have the energy anymore, partially because my doctor didn't seem to think that they mattered much, and partially because I feel like preparing my body for FET is a much simpler feat than preparing my body to produce good eggs (I don't know if that's actually true, but it makes sense in my mind). 

These days, my only real change is that I've cut way back on caffeine and alcohol. I'm also being careful to mostly avoid dairy because when I have too much dairy, I get a weird itchy skin response, and I figure that if I'm having obvious inflammation on my skin, then my insides are probably not optimal either. Otherwise, I'm sticking with my usual eating habits (which are pretty healthy) and not adding supplements beyond my prescribed aspirin and folic acid. When you and Emily both mentioned vitamin D, though, I started thinking that maybe I should do that too, because I've always been pretty D-deficient when I've been tested. So I'll add that in. :)


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## Ask4joy

I did the same while stimming. I like all of those things so it was easy for me (except Brazil nuts...gotta chase those with something)! They probably don&#8217;t make a difference with a medicated FET since everything is controlled by the meds but this is my first IVF / FET rodeo so I&#8217;m throwing in the kitchen sink! :haha:

Earlier I felt AF like cramps but only for like an hour or less and now I&#8217;ve had this radiating dull pain down the front of my leg. Anyone have this before a bfp? I know symptom spotting is useless but I can&#8217;t help myself. :wacko:


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## ashknowsbest

ask - I had cramps that started approximately 4 days from transfer. They stayed throughout pregnancy but weren't as often later on. Fingers crossed! How many dpt are you? Good luck!


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## Ask4joy

Thanks Ash! I&#8217;m 3dp5dt.


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## Sweetness_87

Good luck to those that are PUPO!!

And good luck to those that are going to be doing your egg retrievals soon!

I know I had cramps this last time around 3-4dpt and kept coming, at times they felt like AF cramps but ended up being BFP!


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## SunnyBe

Babylights, I'm so happy you got two healthy embies and are getting ready for your FET. 

Ask, I read your diary about the embryo "switch-up", wow! Glad everything worked out in the end though. Can you imagine if you didn't ask and they transferred the boy and you wouldn't have known up until a 20-week scan or after birth? Quite the surprise lol. 

What's going on with everyone else? 

AFM, 23 follicles retrieved, 13 mature and all fertilized. Today's report (Day 2) shows all of them are still alive and growing, 8 with 1-2 cells and 5 with 2-4 cells. Excited to see what'll happen over the next couple of days :)


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## Ask4joy

Congrats Sunny! That&#8217;s great news! 100% fertilization is awesome! How are you feeling?

Yes it was a whirlwind! I thought the same exact thing...what if I hadn&#8217;t asked?! It&#8217;s not that we don&#8217;t want a boy but since we had a choice we wanted to transfer the girl first. Glad it all worked out in the end!

Thanks for the encouragement, sweetness! This 2WW is pure torture!


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## Ask4joy

Sooo I caved and tested after 1 hour hold (after resisting with FMU) and got squinters with wondfo and FRER! I&#8217;ve taken hundreds of these tests so I know this is real! Baby girl implanted! It&#8217;s so early - I&#8217;m barely 4dp5dt since transfer was in late afternoon. I&#8217;m pregnant! :yipee:


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## ashknowsbest

Ask - congratulations!!!! Pics? I loooove seeing that second line. I got my positive wth my kiddos on 3dp5dt so it definitely is possible. Do you know what her grade was?


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## Ask4joy

Thanks Ash! The lines are super faint but def there and showed up within minutes. She was a day 5 4BB.


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## babylights

Yayyy congrats ask!!!!!!!


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## Ask4joy

Thanks Babylights! Here are pics. They are def squinters and hard to see but they are there! The top wondfo was 2 days ago, bottom today.
 



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## babylights

:cloud9: those are some beauts, Ask!!


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## ashknowsbest

Those are great lines! I could see them right away :D yay!! Such great news and right before Christmas. Woohoo :happydance:


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## Ask4joy

Yay! Thank you! I took one more wondfo and it was definitely darker than the first one I took today! Best Christmas present ever!


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## amy8686

Woahhhhhh Ask! That's awesome! I'm so excited for you.

Congrats!!!


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## Ask4joy

Thanks Amy! I took another wondfo about an hour or two after the first (cuz Im crazy like that) and it was much clearer. Yay!
 



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## Sweetness_87

Ask- congrats I def see another line!


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## emilydee87

Omg Ask I just got teary reading your good news!!!! Im so so happy for you!!! :happydance::happydance::hugs: Early testing for the win! haha


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## Ask4joy

Aw thank you, Emily! My lines are progressively getting darker so I&#8217;m starting to relax a bit! I suck at being patient but this time it worked out! :)

How is everyone doing?
 



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## Sweetness_87

Ask4joy said:


> Aw thank you, Emily! My lines are progressively getting darker so Im starting to relax a bit! I suck at being patient but this time it worked out! :)
> 
> How is everyone doing?


Great progression pics!!!


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## SunnyBe

OMG Ask :D :D :D That's an amazing line. Congrats girl, you're pregnant!!!!


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## Ask4joy

Thank you Sunny and sweetness! Darker yet this morning! After 3 CPs I&#8217;m kinda being a freak (as DH likes to call me lol) with watching the line progress but it makes me feel better!


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## Sweetness_87

Ask- I was taking like 2 a day :) I even took one when I was like 6 weeks preg and the line was way darker then the control!


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## amy8686

Ask, you have earned the right to be a freak about this. :)

Nothing new with me - started Lupron last week. My suppression check is the 20th, and if I pass that, then I'll be more excited about the next steps!


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## Ask4joy

Haha thanks Sweetness and Amy!

Amy - good luck with the Lupron and suppression! 

Since there is a national shortage of progesterone in sesame oil I have to switch to progesterone in ethyl oleate (a different kind of oil) until the shortage is over. Unfortunately my insurance might not cover this other kind and it&#8217;s $75/vial. One vial lasts me 5 days. I have 3.5 vials of the original stuff left and the shortage should be over by January so hopefully I won&#8217;t need to buy more than 2 vials. Ugh the expenses for just making a baby never end! Worth every penny though!


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## MrsHowley81

Hi guys! Is it ok to tag along on here and there doesn't seem to have any December thread's?


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## emilydee87

Welcome Mrs. H! What are your next steps?

I had my pre-transfer check up yesterday. My lining was 7.5 mm so they are continuing me as planned for transfer on Monday :thumbup: they also did an intralipid infusion on me yesterday, where I found out I'll have to continue that periodically until week 24... ugh. One more thing that makes this pregnancy not the natural drug-free one I wanted. Its for my elevated natural killer cell numbers, which is completely controversial if you look it up. Luckily I have a doctor I really trust. Anyone else have NK cell issues? This week is going by verrrryyyy slllloooowwwwllyyyy


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## MrsHowley81

Hi Emily, that's a lot to contend with there. I hope it all goes as smoothly as possible for you. I actually have Egg Collection in the morning so for now the end is near.


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## Ask4joy

Emily - exciting that your transfer is coming up! Im sorry that there is another thing to add to your plate. How often will you need to do the intralipid infusion and what all is involved with that? Are you starting PIO soon? Glad you feel comfortable with your doc and can trust he/she is making the best decisions for you.

Mrs. H - good luck with your retrieval tomorrow!


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## emilydee87

Thanks Ask, I'm very impatient. Do you guys ever think about baby names to pass the time? It helps me. The infusions are every two weeks until week 12 and then monthly... takes about 45 minutes. No side effects though! That's rare with this stuff lol

MrsH I'm glad you're almost done stimming!! That was a crappy week of hormones! Let us know how it goes!


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## Ask4joy

I totally have a list of names on my phone that I&#8217;m constantly adding to / editing and running by DH. Just found out one of our top 2-3 girl names was in the top 20-30ish last year...not sure how I feel about that. :(


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## emilydee87

Ha! I was considering a top 10 name! Decided against it, but 20 or 30 is totally fine by me! :) I say go for it! My name was 19th the year I was born and I never met another Emily until middle school. But there were 3 Jenna's in my elementary class and that was ranked 57! :shrug: I guess there's a little luck of the draw in there?


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## Ask4joy

I love your name and it is on my list! I actually like a lot of fairly common girl names but was surprised the one we were thinking of was so popular when I looked it up!


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## amy8686

Hi MrsH! A few of us on this thread still have yet to have our transfers, so you're in good company here. Good luck with your retrieval!

Emily, I haven't heard of all of that! Crazy. Just add it to the long list of annoying/expensive/inconvenient things that will be worth it in the end.

Sunny - I checked out your blog to see if you had any updates. Congrats on being PUPO! And your blog is awesome.

With my son's cycle, I was pretty good about not going crazy with baby names until I got my positive result. And then the instant I saw that faint line, I was googling names and pestering my husband 24/7, like we needed to pick out a name that week. This time around, we have a girl name picked out (because we picked it last time and then had a boy), but we have zero boy name prospects. As for the popular-name dilemma, it was important to us to pick uncommon names. Anything in the top 50 was pretty much out. And then right after we named our son, his name started rising in popularity, and now we've met several babies with his name and there is another kid in his preschool class with the same name! (I'd rather not put it here, but it's one of those old-man-names that's totally cute on little boys.)


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## Ask4joy

Exactly Amy! You never know which names are going to rise in popularity. My SIL thought she was giving my 2 year niece a semi-original name and now it&#8217;s in the top 10. I found a site that tells you a name&#8217;s popularity over the last several years - I&#8217;ll see if I can find it again. The girl name I like went from 60-something a couple of years ago to 20-something this year. Boo!

Yay Sunny! Congrats on being PUPO!


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## steph1607

Hi girls!

I have been terrible on this thread (although I do speak to Sunny and Ask elsewhere) but as Amy said a few are still waiting for transfers, I thought I would come back in!

I have been following along, and a lot of my questions during my IVF cycle seemed to get answered without even asking them!

I had my egg retrieval on Monday 27th and they retrieved 36 eggs. Im doing an egg share, so we got 18 and my recipient got 18. Because over 30 were retrieved, the clinic automatically freeze all, so we were slightly disappointed about that because we had transfer and test dates planned, and knew we would find out this side of Christmas. But cest la vie! Apparently that was the least of our worries, as on that Thursday I ended up in A&E at 4am and was admitted to hospital for 6 days. In short, it was absolute hell (though there is fun long version of the story in my journal :haha:). Eventually at 11pm on the Friday night, I had an emergency stomach drain stitched in which got rid of 6 litres of fluid. Not pleasant. 

Recovering well now though, and we have since had a follow up with our clinic and should be on track for a FET around Jan/Feb time. I knew I was probably going to get mild OHSS as I have a ridiculous AMH of 153, and throughout stims we could see loads of follies, even on the lowest dose, but to develop such a dangerous severe form like that was not something we ever expected. Needless to say, hubby and I will never go through that part of IVF again, I think it would probably be quite a reckless thing to do. But we had 15 of our 18 eggs fertilise, so have 15 day 1s on ice. It seems they do the opposite to many clinics, and start culturing them to blastocyst stage after thawing. They will probably thaw about 5 at a time, and any extras that make it to day 5 can be frozen again which is good to know.

So the limbo continues, but I know a lot of you have gone through/are going through that yourselves!

My opinion on names is if you love it, you love it! Weve had our names picked out for years, and theyre fairly common, but I couldnt imagine calling our children anything else now. When I was born, I dont think Stephanie was particularly common, but it ended up being the most popular name in my year group at school with 4 of us having it!


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## emilydee87

Hi Steph! Wow that's a lot of eggs and SOOO kind of you to donate them!!! Wow. It sounds like you've been through hell though! I'm sorry. You seem in good spirits which is great to hear :) I hope you enjoy the lull in your cycle over the holidays!


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## Ask4joy

Glad you are on the mend, Steph! That is interesting that your clinic freezes on day 1. I think I&#8217;d go crazy having to wait so long to find out how many blasts we had! But I get the feeling you are a bit more patient than me!

First beta was yesterday and hcg was 76. I expected it to be a bit higher, honestly. My nurse said anything over 60 is good but I can&#8217;t help but compare to others who had higher hcg at 14dpo. But I keep telling myself that it&#8217;s still a good number and really I was more like 13dpo yesterday since transfer was in the late afternoon and blood draw was in the morning. Lol. I go back tomorrow morning. FX!


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## SunnyBe

Steph, that's very interesting about cultivating them that way. I wonder why, hadn't heard of that before. When will they start the first 5? A couple days before transfer? 

Ask, do the lines still get darker? If so, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Hope your beta tomorrow shows it's doubling nicely!

Emily, wow intralipids huh! The things we do to get pregnant :D Just a few more days until you're PUPO!

MrsHowley, How did EC go? Are you doing a fresh transfer?

Amy, thanks :D What's your timeline going to be like if you pass the suppression check? 

AFM, 3dp5dt and we're back home in the States :) There's nothing like coming home after a long trip, can't tell you how much I missed sleeping in our own bed lol.


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## MrsHowley81

It went well thanks Sunny. I had 8 eggs retrieved and 7 were injected and 4 fertilised, so yes I will be having a 3 or 5 day transfer. I think it will likely be 3 day as I will have 2 transferred.


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## Ask4joy

Congrats MrsH! So transfer could be tomorrow? Or Saturday? So exciting!

Yay for being 3dp5dt, Sunny! Are you going to test early? Yes my tests keep getting darker...I think they are close to being max darkness, so that is encouraging!
 



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## emilydee87

Ask your lines look great, no worries :) Can you make yourself stop testing? Understandable if you cant, but it might help your fears? Youre pregnant!


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## Ask4joy

Thanks Emily. I must stop! My husband is quite annoyed with me lol. He keeps explaining the chemistry of a pregnancy test. I&#8217;m like, &#8220;but you don&#8217;t understand...!&#8221; I might need to have him hide the rest!


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## MrsHowley81

Hi Ask!! I'm a POAS addict too my last pregnancy I took 44 tests. They only do 3 day and 5 day transfers at my clinic, I've made 5 day before with 4 embryos and my last IVF I made it to day 3 with 2 embryos, so it could easily be either, but I'm having 2 put back so it could likely be Saturday, which would work out better, then I won't need a day off work. But Monday would be good too which means they've made it to Blastocyst.


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## Ask4joy

Good to know I&#8217;m not alone, MrsH! :) Keep us posted re your transfer! So soon!


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## amy8686

Ask, congrats! It's official. Hopefully after the second test, you'll feel more at ease.

Steph, that's crazy! I had moderate OHSS and had to be drained once... it's so scary. I'm so glad you froze all. I'll never do another fresh cycle either. That can stay firmly in the past. Your FET will be a piece of cake in comparison.

Sunny, welcome home! My timeline, if I pass the suppression check, will be a January 10 transfer. Right around the corner.


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## steph1607

MrsH that 44 tests bit made me laugh- I do think Ask might take the crown from you though! Best of luck for your transfer, what a December this could be for you :hugs:

Ask, your lines are looking so good, I get so excited whenever I see them! Im not sure Im more patient than you at all :haha: just one of those situations that is so far out of my control!

Sunny, agreed, there is nothing like being back at home. Especially when youve gone from freezing Europe to sunny Florida... not that Im at all bitter about that. Just lying here shivering and listening to the rain...

Amy, Im glad Im not the only one who wouldnt do a fresh cycle, I did think to myself am I being over the top and dramatic? But then I speak to my husband and he reminds me how ill I was and I quickly stop thinking like that! I think my friends and family would kill me if I did anyway.

Emily, thank you! Egg share is *fairly* common over here, as it is a way of helping somebody out if you have a ridiculous amount of eggs, as well as reducing costs of treatment. You obviously have to meet a lot of criteria beforehand and it is anonymous. As the donor I am entitled to find out if a pregnancy occurred and then whether that resulted in a live birth. I think lots of people choose not to find out, but I definitely will. We had a post-hospital follow up with our clinic on Monday, which should have been our test date if we had transferred, and the doctor told me that my recipient had lots of embryos make it to blast stage and that she had two transferred, so he was really happy with my egg quality which of course bodes well for our frozen embryos. I am just so excited for her!!! I may have missed it when youve said before, but when you transfer Emily?


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## emilydee87

Thanks Steph, I transfer Monday!! I am being so impatient about this. Its just been soooo long wanting something. I had a sign though, if you believe in signs. Two nights ago I woke up wide awake at 3:30 am. Anyone who knows me knows that in itself is a miracle lol I was surfing my phone and saw that it was the meteor shower day! So I went outside at 4 am and watched the shooting stars. They were little and pretty. In the middle of a "is this finally it?" prayer there was the biggest shooting star I've ever seen. It went straight over my head in the direction I was facing and left a tail in the sky. :happydance: I'm afraid that only made me more impatient lol but I feel very good about Monday. No fear.

Also speaking of baby names, we were considering the name Natalie. I looked it up the other day, and it means "Christmas Day" which is the day we've known since the beginning of IVF is the day we can test for a BFP! Needless to say if this is our time, the baby will be a Natalie :hugs:


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## Ask4joy

Wow that gave me goosebumps, Emily! I love that. 2 days before my transfer I noticed my tea bags had little inspirations written on them. It said something like, &#8220;A strong trunk grows from a tiny seed&#8221;. I saw that as a premonition! I love the name Natalie. One of my best friends just had a baby last May via IVF and named her Natalie. So pretty and goes so well with Emily!


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## steph1607

Emily, I agree with Ask, Natalie is a lovely name and will be so perfect for your Christmas BFP. Aaah the shooting star story is wonderful, I love signs like that :hugs: And its so lovely to hear that youre feeling great about the transfer, that can only be a good thing.


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## amy8686

Emily, that's the best story! And I love the name Natalie!

Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but I could imagine a really cute baby room with a shooting star theme... :)


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## amy8686

Ask, did you get your second beta results?


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## Ask4joy

Yes Amy! Forgot to update here! 76 to 250 in 48 hours! Woot woot!


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## amy8686

Yayyyyyyyyy!


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## babylights

steph omg so scary but so so glad youre doing better now!

sunny welcome home! When do you test?

MrsH good luck with transfer!!

emily that story seriously gave me goosebumps, hoping so hard for you!!

ask congrats again, what a great rise!!

afm were looking at a 2/7 transfer date, which is also my birthday *gulp*. Were electing to do the Receptiva testing which tests for the beta-3 integrin protein as well as the BCL6 marker for endo. Its not something thats offered automatically or even something my dr. brought up, but with four chemicals and just four embryos, Id just feel better if we gave ourselves the best shot for success. Having so much anxiety lately, Im simultaneously dreading and impatiently awaiting transfer.


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## emilydee87

Thanks everyone!! Amy I LOVE that idea for a nursery!! You're brilliant!

Ask I'm so glad you're numbers are still looking so good! You're on your way now!!

Babylights I'm so sorry you're having anxiety. Its completely understandable- a very nerve racking time for sure! I really do think we're all getting much closer to our dream though. Have hope <3

We did the transfer yesterday. Everything went well. I'm PUPO!


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## Ask4joy

Hooray! Congrats on being PUPO!!!


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## SunnyBe

Yay Emily :D Congrats!!

Ask, how are you feeling, any symptoms yet?

MrsHowley, any updates? Did you end up doing a 3 or 5 day transfer?

Babylights, yeah the anxiety is the worst of all of this. The constant worrying... I'm afraid it just never stops. You have an excellent shot at this working though so keep that in mind!

Amy, any updates yet? Hope you're doing well!

AFM, it's a no for us :( Still no line at 8DP5DT, which means I'm pretty much out. I'll continue the progesterone for a couple more days but already know that this is it. Sucks! Glad we have 4 in storage though so we'll probably do a FET in February if all goes well.


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## MrsHowley81

That's great news Emily. We can both drive ourselves crazy in the 2ww together. Good Luck!! 
Sunny I had a day 5 transfer with 2 Blastocysts and I found out today I've got one extra going in the freezer, which I've never had previously, but infact I never had any Blastocysts good enough to freeze even the first 1 from 2012, which is now sat right next to me.
I'm sorry that this round has not worked for you it's so tough. I really hope you look after yourself and take the time you need to go in to your FET.


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## emilydee87

Sunny omg nooooooo!!!!! Ugh that makes me so sad. They say a blood test is the only "for sure" negative, do you have one scheduled? We're with you <3


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## babylights

Im so sorry Sunny :hugs: Do you have a beta scheduled? Im keeping everything crossed for you, were here for you!!

emily & MrsH congrats on being PUPO!! Hoping so hard for you both!


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## Ask4joy

So sorry about the bfn Sunny. :( It&#8217;s true that some get bfns up until beta, but I understand your discouragement. :hugs:

No new symptoms for me really...just the same ones I&#8217;ve been having. My stomach seems more sensitive too. No more spicy food! :wacko:


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## amy8686

Oh Sunny, I'm so sorry. I know they say it might take a few tries to find the right embryo, but it's still so hard to get a negative result. Thinking of you!

Babylights, yes, the anxiety. I hope you can ride this wave out to get to a slightly less anxious one soon. My anxiety always seems to just build exponentially until the cycle is over. I wish I could let go of some of the stress along the way. I hadn't heard of that testing before. My doctor definitely errs on the side of just trying different treatments until one works, rather than spending much time/money/discomfort looking for answers. I have mixed feelings about that tactic, but I'm also pretty burned out on medical procedures, so I'm not pushing for anything extra. 

Congrats to the PUPO ladies!

AFM, I just had my blood taken to test estradiol as part of my suppression check, and my ultrasound is in the morning. I'm hoping they call me this afternoon with good results from the estradiol so I can relax a bit during the ultrasound.


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## ashknowsbest

Just a quick update. Will check in thoroughly with everyone in a bit. We have two normals out of our three embryos. Woohoo! I&#8217;m so happy. I was incredibly nervous but now just very relieved.


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## amy8686

Ash, that's great! 

I had my suppression check this morning and I'm cleared to continue! My estradiol was a little bit high again, but my doctor didn't see any big follicles. He didn't sound entirely sure that things were perfect, but we're moving ahead. Next appointment is in two weeks.


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## Ask4joy

Great news Ash and Amy! 2 out of 3 normal is excellent! Glad you are moving forward, Amy!


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## babylights

Amy great news, so excited for your transfer! And thanks for understanding about the anxiety, thankfully its passed now but that was a miserable couple of weeks! 

ash yay amazing news!!

afm I just got the call today that our fifth embie that was retested is normal, and a girl! I also got my positive opk so biopsy is scheduled for next Thursday 12/28. My DH and I are so happy about the fifth embie, we feel like weve just taken our first breath in years!


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## mimi4

@ashknowsbest- awesome news and great numbers x


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## SunnyBe

Thanks for the support girls :) Did my beta today (10dp5dt) just to confirm I'm okay stopping the meds.

Amy, so glad you got the all clear!! Won't be long now :D

Ash, that's amazing! Will you transfer both or just one?

Babylights, omg you have 5!!! I can only imagine the peace of mind that must give you. 

MrsHowley, Emily, when will you start testing?


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## emilydee87

Great news babylights! I love GIRLS!!!

Sunny, I'm going to start tomorrow at 4dp5dt. I know I know lol. I was going to wait until 5 days, but I had period-like cramps at only 1.5dpt, and they are gone now, so I think baby got snuggled in there early. (I hope) We had assisted hatching so maybe that sped things up? I might not tell DH though... he didnt want me to test early :winkwink: Loongest dayssss evvveerrrr. 

MrsH when are you going to test?


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## MrsHowley81

Going crazy here!! Yesterday I was feeling optimistic today I'm having a real battle with myself. I'm going to only test 2 days before test day on the 27th...... Probably!


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## emilydee87

Mrs H you are so well-disciplined!! I know what you mean about battling yourself, I'm TERRIBLE at not knowing. I'm trying to push all negative thoughts out of my head...


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## SunnyBe

Hahaha that _is_ very early Emily, but I completely understand. And if the embryo really implanted that early, you'd be able to pick it up at Day 4. 

MsHowley, nerves of steel!!!


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## MrsHowley81

Definitely not either of those things, If I had a test in the house this morning I might of caved, but glad I didn't I had a mini melt down this morning thinking it hadn't worked, I had been awake most of the night with my own thoughts and convinced myself It hasn't worked, but I am feeling positive again!! Sometimes not knowing is best.


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## emilydee87

Its official!!!! :bfp::bfp: 5dp5dt with FMU!!! My hubby and I are on cloud 9. Im trying hard not to worry bc weve been here before. In fact I dont even want to take another test tomorrow lol But for today Im pregnant and its exactly what I asked for for Christmas &#127876; &#10084;&#65039; It feels very surreal
 



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## Ask4joy

Yay!!! Congrats, Emily! The perfect Christmas present!


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## babylights

Congrats emily ahhh!!!!


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## amy8686

Emily!!! That's such great news, and with such perfect timing!


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## MrsHowley81

Emily that's fantastic news, Congratulations.


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## emilydee87

Thanks ladies!! Merry Christmas to you all! &#10084;&#65039;&#10084;&#65039;&#10084;&#65039;


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## MrsHowley81

I tested this morning and it's a BFP for me.


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## Ask4joy

Hooray!!! Congratulations!


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## amy8686

Wahoo! Congrats!


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## babylights

Wow congrats!!!


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## emilydee87

Yayyy Mrs. H!!!! I&#8217;m so happy for you! What a great new year it will be for you and your family!

How&#8217;s everyone else doing??

My first Beta numbers were 140 at 10dp5dt and 340 at 11dp5dt. So good but really rising super fast?? Is that ever a bad thing? I&#8217;m also having mild cramps and a bit of spotting almost every day (even before betas). The ever-accurate internet ;) says it&#8217;s normal so I&#8217;m trying not to worry. I have my ultrasound on Wednesday. 

Happy New Year to all!


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## amy8686

Ooh Emily, good luck with the ultrasound! How are the other pregnant ladies doing? Anyone else have any updates?

AFM, my estrogen was too low after I started estrogen injections, so my dose was increased, and now it's where it should be. They're hopeful that things will be fine at this Wednesday's lining check (the last hurdle!), but I'm nervous. My hormone levels all used to be perfect at every check, and it's disheartening that my body has stopped responding like it should. But I realize that they do those checks for a reason and it's not unusual to have to adjust doses, so most likely it'll be ok. 

Kk, are you still lurking? Have you decided what your next steps will be?


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## Ask4joy

Those are great numbers, Emily! Congrats! 

Amy - FX that the higher dose is doing the trick! So close!

Our first scan is tomorrow. Nervous!

I caught a horrible stomach virus which had been exacerbated by MS. It&#8217;s been brutal! I get sooo hungry and if I eat the wrong thing it&#8217;s very bad, to say the least. Trying to stick to bland foods. At least I&#8217;m keeping everything down so far today *knock on wood*.

Happy new year!


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## SunnyBe

Omg Emily and MrsHowley81 CONGRATS!!!! Amazing news. 

Good luck with your scan Ask and Emily. It's all so exciting (but scary at the same time). Hope things will go well with your lining check as well Amy, and glad your hormones are now back to where they should be :)

Hi to all the rest and Happy New Year :D


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## Ask4joy

We saw our little peanut and heard her heartbeat! Doc said all is looking good! Next scan is in 2 weeks.

Hows everyone else doing?


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## emilydee87

Yay Ask! That's so exciting!! A real heartbeat! 

Amy when is your transfer scheduled for? Have you decided if you're doing one or two?

AFM my clinic does a US at 5 weeks so we got to see our little one too! Too early for a heartbeat, but it was very "real" to see a little sac with a little baby dot! Beta was 2500 and progesterone was 16. I've been spotting this whole time (and freaking out) so I asked them to increase my progesterone... they said it wasnt necessary but wouldnt hurt. Whatever keeps mamas sane right?!


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## amy8686

Ask and Emily, congrats on the ultrasounds! What a relief, and so exciting!

My lining looked good today and I am officially scheduled for a transfer next Wednesday! We are just transferring one. I really don't want a twin pregnancy. 

I still feel a little pessimistic after all of the setbacks of the last two rounds, but I'm getting a bit more excited now that it's definitely happening!


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## emilydee87

Amy how did your transfer go? When will you test??


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## amy8686

Thanks for asking, Emily! Transfer was fine. I took a test today (7dp5dt) and it seemed like maybe there was a faint squinter of a line, maybe? Really it was too faint to even be sure if it was there, which is what happened on my CP, but who knows. Beta is Friday! I really think it could go either way at this point.

How are the pregnant ladies feeling?


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## MrsHowley81

Best of luck Amy, I really hope that it's worked for you.
I hope everyone else is ok?
I had my scan on Monday, there were 2 heartbeats.


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## Ask4joy

FX for you Amy!

MrsH - wow! Congrats on your twins! How are you feeling?

Had my 2nd scan and baby is right on target (measured 1 day ahead). Got to see her wiggling around! 9w2d today. Nausea has vastly improved over the last several days. Made me nervous but then everything looked great at my scan yesterday.

Emily - how are you doing?


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## amy8686

Ask - I love seeing them wiggle around on the ultrasound! So exciting. 

MrsH - That's amazing! Congrats. How are you feeling about the fact that it's twins?!?


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## amy8686

Hi girls. My beta just came back at 18. Looks like another chemical, but we will test again Sunday just to be sure.


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## Ask4joy

I&#8217;m sorry Amy. Hoping you just have a late implanter. Keeping everything crossed for you!


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## emilydee87

Ugh Amy no!!! What happened yesterday? Im so sorry for your loss if it wasnt the good news we were hoping for. Will they do more tests to figure out what the heck is going on?? I'm frustrated and sad for you. 

MrsH wow! That is incredibly exciting <3 You got the two-for-one deal as my husband calls it!! How are you feeling?

Thanks Ask, I'm happy and nauseous lol I thought I'd be one of those pregnant women that didnt have the bad symptoms... my mom never had any symptoms. Guess I didnt inherit that! Your one day ahead is EXCELLENT. Great news. Can I ask what your heartbeats have been? We had a heartbeat of 120 at 7 weeks. Hoping it goes up at this week's scan just because I'd like to be in the middle percentile and not on the low end.


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## amy8686

Thanks, Emily. The second beta was exactly the same 18. The doctor says that indicates a problem with the pregnancy, and he wants to check again until it goes down. So I get to keep going back for blood work every few days. He said there's nearly no chance it would turn out well, but he'd rather me keep going with my pio just in case... But I just don't have the strength. I need to at least start feeling like myself again, if I'm not going to come away from this with a baby. Did I mention I have the flu too? It's not a good week for me.

He's not recommending any more testing right now. He says it's most likely a matter of embryo quality and we just have to find the right one. I think I'll push to repeat my blood work in case any immune-type stuff comes up, but I don't have it in me to do anything more invasive. It would be different if this were my first, but I do have my beautiful son and I can't put myself through too much more if I also want to be a good (sane) mother in the meantime.

So, next step I think will be another try this summer, and we are leaning toward transferring two. MrsH, if you want to talk me out of transferring two, you have until the summer to do so. :)


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## SunnyBe

Oh Amy :( I don't even know what to say :hugs: Hang in there hun!


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## Ask4joy

I&#8217;m so sorry, Amy. That just sucks. :( And to have the flu on top of it all - ugh! Hoping you are feeling better soon. I lean towards agreeing with your doctor. At age 34/35 we had 16 embryos put through PGS and had 5 normal / 11 abnormal. That&#8217;s a bit on the high end for my age but the geneticist said it was still within a range they would expect to see. I had 3 chemicals before doing IVF and it seems my doctor&#8217;s assumption was right - embryo quality. I know the thought of transferring two is scary, but I agree that it may speed things up. I hope you don&#8217;t have to keep going through this! :hugs:

Emily - heartbeat was 119 at 7 weeks and I was kinda worried...then at 9 weeks it was 180! I&#8217;m sure yours will have jumped up there too!


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## emilydee87

Oh Amy thats terrible! And the flu! I'm so so sorry. And you're right, limbo is just the worst. At least if it were dropping you could mentally heal. I'm so glad you have your son to brighten your days a bit. It does seem that if quality is the issue, transferring two would double your chances? And you do know it works because you have your son. Hang in there! We are with you!

Ask thanks 119 makes me feel SOO much better! :)


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## amy8686

Thank you ladies for your support and reassurance that we are on the right track. It helps more than you know. Or maybe you do know!


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