30 something and TTC #1 for a year

[lilyV]

thanks ladies!

Mk8, what tests have you done/gone through and yet you're still labelled unexplained?

 

[mk8]

Hi lily, after a lot if waiting I finally got tested the following on the NHS:
* day 3 and day 21 bloods (usual fsh lh progesterone)
* transvaginal ultrasound to check ovaries and uterus
* hsg
* whole load of other tests to infections etc
All clear. The hsg suggested a "slightly abnormal shaped uterine cavity" which freaked me out and made me think it was fibroids and perhaps that was stopping implantation. The appointment to discuss my results was 2 months away from my test so I opted to see a private consultant.

The consultant felt that the hsg could have highlighted a normal uterine fold which will not impact fertility seeing as my transvaginal scan indicated everything was fine. But he suggested I do an amh blood test and a saline ultrasound (they place a catheter up my uterus, inject saline to expand the uterus and carry out a transvaginal ultrasound. This allows them to see the shape of everything). This was all ok.

Amh was low for my age though. But the doc felt I was still unexplained.

Personally, I think luteal phase defect. My periods since TTC were light. Spotting brown before af for a day or so. Charting indicated a lpd.

I was given clomid last yr for 6 months by my gp. This proved useless. I was given 50mg and not monitored. I highly recommend u push for monitoring if you get given meds. My fertility spec was stunned my gp did that. And this is the Nhs fs!

Oh dh had sa done too.

So the choices for hubby and I were
A) carry on giving things a go naturally
B) moving on to iui

We decided on iui.

 

[aleja]

hi girls, thank you so much x
Welcome Lily, these ladies are lovely on this thread. we have really stuck together through thick and thin.
The unexplained category must be so frustrating because i would find it hard to believe. I recently purchased a book by Dr Alan Beers "Is your body baby-friendly?" His research shows that women with unexplained infertility, repeated IVF failure, or repeated miscarriages have issues with Immunology that may be affecting ttc. It was a dense but interesting read. I was sure I was about to fit into this category until this pleasant surprise!

MK, when are you doing the IUI?
To answer your question, yes I think the Clomid solved my 'out of phase endometrium' but to be honest I think the only reason I got a bfp this cycle is because of that endometrial biopsy I had in the month prior. It must have shaken things up in there!!!!

i did get my beta today at 16dpo it was 485. I am a bit nervous though as I hear it is a bit high..could be 2 in there?yikes

 

[brassy]

Welcome Lily!

Aleja! Congrats!!! That's a high number! How are you feeling? Are you excited? How is DH? I can't imagine the amount of happiness!

AFM, waiting to ovulate. This is cycle #1 on clomid...Not sure what this is going to do for me since I ovulate on my own and have a v.good lp at about 15 days. We'll see. I have an appointment of Friday with my dr to have an ultrasound and check things...If I ovulate on a week day we will try to do a post coital test to check if DH's spermies are compatible with my CM... Aleja you are right, ttc is all about waiting!

 

[lilyV]

Hi lily, after a lot if waiting I finally got tested the following on the NHS:
* day 3 and day 21 bloods (usual fsh lh progesterone)
* transvaginal ultrasound to check ovaries and uterus
* hsg
* whole load of other tests to infections etc
All clear. The hsg suggested a "slightly abnormal shaped uterine cavity" which freaked me out and made me think it was fibroids and perhaps that was stopping implantation. The appointment to discuss my results was 2 months away from my test so I opted to see a private consultant.

The consultant felt that the hsg could have highlighted a normal uterine fold which will not impact fertility seeing as my transvaginal scan indicated everything was fine. But he suggested I do an amh blood test and a saline ultrasound (they place a catheter up my uterus, inject saline to expand the uterus and carry out a transvaginal ultrasound. This allows them to see the shape of everything). This was all ok.

Amh was low for my age though. But the doc felt I was still unexplained.

Personally, I think luteal phase defect. My periods since TTC were light. Spotting brown before af for a day or so. Charting indicated a lpd.

I was given clomid last yr for 6 months by my gp. This proved useless. I was given 50mg and not monitored. I highly recommend u push for monitoring if you get given meds. My fertility spec was stunned my gp did that. And this is the Nhs fs!

Oh dh had sa done too.

So the choices for hubby and I were
A) carry on giving things a go naturally
B) moving on to iui

We decided on iui.

hi hon, I had pretty much the same tests (minus the hsg) and also think my prob is w the luteal phase!!! I had 2 months of clomid without monitoring and that didn't work. If AF visits this month, I'm on cycle monitoring from cd3.

yeah, I'm hearing a lot more positive things about iui as opposed to ivf. iui is very painful and so I hope your journey isn't so rough. hubby's sa is good? Even though my hubby's are what the ob/gyn deemed "perfect", the fs wants him to do two more and then a dna sa. ugh.

 

[lilyV]

aleja - thanks so much! I'll look into finding this book at the library. how painful was the endo sampling? what were the test results?

brassy - I was on clomid for two cycles and I already regularly o. ob/gyn said that clomid would give me the umph to get preggo. well, it didn't work. only side effect I had was hot flashes, or feeling hot all the time. no biggie. I also did NOT have mood swings or irritability post-o like I usually would. being on clomid felt GREAT, I felt 'normal'. gl to you and your bfp

 

[aleja]

Hi lily I didn't like clomid either as it was making my lining thin so on this last cycle the FS cut it to 25mg . However unlike normal TTC the reason I had clomid was because my cycles were not great which meant my one of my frozen embryo transfers Had to be cancelled. my cycled were long and late OV
The Endo scratch took 10 mins.. it hurt at the time but now I can't even remember it! I would do it all over again if it meant helping implantation

 

[mk8]

Hi again

Aleja, great news on the beta! How are you feeling? My goodness, potentially twins! Heheh. What a great Christmas gift for you and hubster. take it easy mrs. Are you on progesterone? I hear that's usual for ivf cycles. When's your next scan or blood test?

Brassy, here's hoping clomid makes you ovulate more eggs and thus increases the chances! Do you have to pay for the post capital test? They don't really offer it here in the uk, either on the Nhs or privately.

Mrs g, where are you? If you are checking in, I hope you're ok.

Mrsp and broody, how are your pregnancies going, broody, are you showing now? When did your bump start being visible? Any sickness still or has that subsided now you're about to hit second tri? Mrsp, bought many things for the little one yet?

Lily, how come you haven't done the hsg yet? DNA sa? Sounds v high tech. What is it exactly? I'd recommend doing the hsg for sure. Likelihood is everything will be fine but it puts your mind at ease about the tubes! I had heard horror stories about it so was petrified going in, but the nurses were lovely and gentle and it wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be. Over quickly too. I had a saline scan after which also involved inserting a catheter up my wotsit, again it was ok and I wouldn't say I have a high pain threshold at all. I therefore don't think iui would be that bad. My doc has recommended gonal f injections with iui. That's scary! But everybody says they're not painful. Whatever the pain, it will be worth it for a baby!

 

[mk8]

Also cupcake, how are you? I recall you were waiting for Xmas/dec to start your next plan if attack. Hope you're doing ok and managing to relax before Xmas. It's tough but we will all get there!

 

[mk8]

Oh Aleja, hubby and I are saving hard at the moment as we have to pay for our own treatments. The doc recommended we try iui 3 times in a row (unless I get lucky first or second time!) so we decided it makes sense to have the money for that ready. Trying very hard to chill before Christmas (not easy).

X

 

[MrsPTTC]

We're great thanks MK! Bump getting much bigger I've bought LOADS! Waited so long for the BFP I bought a few babygrows before my 12 week scan - though I had the 7&9 week scans so I knew everything was in the right place/hb was good etc.. I'm almost done now! We had to be organised though as we're getting a kitchen extension in a few weeks so things will be manic!

Hope everyone is ok & welcome Lily

x

 

[MrsG2010]

Wow. Looks like I've missed a lot! Congratulations Sarah and Aleja!! What wonderful news!

Thanks for sharing pic gettingbroody.

Welcome lily!

Mk- I really feel that iui will be successful for you! You expect to start after the new year?

Mrsp- happy to see you progressing well!!

Brassy, good luck on the clomid!

As for me, still in waiting mode and expect to be for months. Most days I don't even think about it and then other days it's all I can think about. Sister in law informed me over the holidays that they'll be looking to ttc #2 in early next year. Of course. It doesn't really bother me. But for a minute I was like grrrrr.

 

[MrsPTTC]

MrsG, what's next with you? I really hope you all get your BFP's ASAP! x

 

[lilyV]

aleja - oooh, ok so the endo wasn't that bad. the SHG I had was the worst pain ever. did you have that and if so did it hurt? I've been thinking I'm really sensitive down there and have somewhat of a low pain tolerance :-S

mk8 - my ob/gyn didn't order the HSG and my fs was really surprised I hadn't have it either. She kept insisting/suggesting I had and I said no, I didn't have any x-ray down there. IDK why. What's it supposed to uncover or rule out? my tubes were SUPER clear thanks to the SHG and the ultra horrible pains I had during it. ouch! they shot the saline up three times bc they wanted to make sure, lol. it was nuts. when the technician asked the dr if she should shoot up more saline, I burst out NO! I was crying on the table. it was fun (not). My gf had iui twice and she said it was very painful. All I remember her saying over and over again is "of course it hurt, they have to go through your cervix". Sadly, neither iui worked for her. they tried it bc her dh has low sperm count and low mobility. they got preggo naturally 7 yrs after starting ttc. baby's healthy. I'm still at the point where I don't believe the pain will actually help me produce a baby. I feel at times like it's impossible for me to get preggo.. :-S GL, hon.

MrsG2010 - hello and thanks!


AFM, I'm cramping at 10dpo. fx I won't have to start cycle monitoring..........

 

[mk8]

How exciting mrs p! I keep seeing ultra cute outfits for babies and can't wait to buy them! Ooo extension, exciting! Hope it won't be too stressful though!

Mrsg, welcome back! Waiting mode can be tough, but hopefully you're finding time to enjoy life without a bubs for now as I'm confident you will be a mama! In fact, I'm confident all of us will be! I know what you mean about some days being tough tho. At times I just throw my arms up in despair and bawl to my hubby. But I'm trying to stay positive and tell myself that this is making our relationship stronger. Hang in there.

Lily, ahhhh so you had the shg. I've been told that the Hsg is considered the gold standard for checking tube patency. Maybe worth requesting it just to ensure all tests have been covered?

 

[aleja]

hi mrsG, so glad to see you back hon. sometimes its good to take time out and recuperate. it is hard to keep going when there is no sight in end.

for me I am exhausted after a whole year of ivf related treatments. i am very lucky I got this far now. still find it hard to accept. i got another blood test on Monday then if all good a scan to see if there is a baby (or two!) in there!

Brassy, my DH is soooooo excited already. he is so cute! he is daydreaming of a baby future. whilst me I am feeling a bit negative and sooo nervous. I need to just enjoy the moment but its hard.
I told my mum n dad who told my brother and SIL. I was a bit annoyed as I think its too soon to celebrate just yet. I should have waited a couple of weeks but I couldnt help it!!!!!

mrsP wow you are more than half way. You sound very organised with all your baby stuff.

lily, i didnt have a SLG, only a HSG to check my tubes. I found the hsg the most painful thing so far. I was dying in pain at the time!

Mk, does this mean you will do the IUI early next year? you may not need 3 in a row!!!

hi everyone else

 

[mk8]

Gosh two Aleja! Imagine! I can imagine after the journey you are feeling nervous. I know it's a million times easier said than done but try to sit back and enjoy. As my mum says, when you have kids, you have a lifetime of worry! My mum cracks me up. I'm really chuffed for you. So cute that hubby's so excited too! Out if curiosity, did you do the test when he was there? How did you tell him etc?

Good luck with your blood test.

Oh and yes, h

 

[mk8]

Sorry bnb posted my post early and I can't go back to edit... Annoying!

So as I was saying, yup, hopefully 3 iuis aren't required as they're not cheap. Not as pricey as ivf of course and I'm grateful we have the choice to do assisted in this day and age. Here's hoping all if us will be mummies in 2013!

 

[MrsPTTC]

Thanks mk & Aleja. I'm on countdown to my maternity leave now, hopefully 12 weeks today! Don't know where the time is going! So much for 2nd tri being the easiest, my moodswings & emotions are all over the place & I'm so tired & not sleeping very well Baby Bump expanding nicely though. Must post a pic ASAP.

Aleja when do you think the scans likely to be? Sooo exciting possibly twinnies!

Mk sorry I'm sure you've already said but why you not eligible for IUI or IVF on the nhs?

x

 

[mk8]

Hey mrsp, because of where we live, we aren't eligible. Only certain primary care trusts allow it. The so called postal ivf lottery! Sigh. I was hugely frustrated and upset at first as hubby and I have worked since uni (and during uni), paid our taxes and we aren't entitled to help. The real kick in the teeth is when we had to pay for certain tests ourselves. That annoyed me massively! I think after seeing our fs, I felt so much better there was a plan. We initially wanted to go for it in jul but then our fs was on leave. Then we said aug but we had to do some more tests. But pushing things back a bit was ok as I felt at least we knew what the next step would be. I also didn't want to rush into it. Back in aug when we got told it was best to make sure all he tests were complete, the clinic thought if be upset or angry. On the contrary I agreed and felt its more important to be emotionally and physically ready for treatment. I also spoke to my mum who told me to try to really relax befire treatment to get the best possible outcome. after all, you gear so many stories where people give up trying then get their bfp or thought "fuck it, i will eat and drink what i want" dyring an ivf cycle as they cant be bothered to obsess. Plus more time to save!

I can't believe it's 12 weeks till mat leave mrs p! Woop!