30 something and TTC #1 for a year

[aleja]

Hi ladies
Cupcake nice to have you back on the thread. A lot has happened but then again not much since most of us are still waiting for the stork !
I had the AMH test too a few months ago. i think it checks the ovarian reserve to see how many eggs you have left. Women with low AMH sometimes produce eggs of less quality and sometimes respond poorly to AC meds during fertility treatment . If AMH is too high then it may lead to overstimulated ovaries not good either. Having said that lots of ladies on the other threads seem to get a bfp with low AMH anyway . I am Sure u will not be told to go down IvF road but I'd just like to share that so far the hardest part has been the cost! So far the injections haven't been bad and I don't feel overwhelmed . I didn't think I would cope with going down this road either but so far it's manageable . Ha but I will keep you posted on this given the harder stuff is coming up.

Broody, I am taking 2 days off After egg collection. I hear the first few days after surgery is really hard as u feel sore and more cramps.

I hope the clinic calls you this week.

Mk& mrsP yay for the 25th April !!!
Mk I have heard that acupuncture is good for male infertility too. I spoke to DH about it but he hates needles mk what is high free androgen ? I hope u do the HSG but that you have clear tubes .

 

[GettingBroody]

Aleja - oh! Didn't realise it would be as sore as that! Have you told anyone at work? Are you taking sick leave or do you need to use annual leave days? Any idea yet when they'll be doing the egg transfer or does that not get decided until they see how they're developing?

Mk8 - I rang them Tues last week thinking I could just make an apt but she said they must wait til they get the referral letter from my dr and then they'd ring me. Said to ring them back in 2 weeks if I hadn't heard from them...

 

[mk8]

Morning all

Aleja, pleased to hear that ivf is going well so far. My friend did it and said the egg collection bit was sore and took a few days off. Ivf worked for her and she said she recommends chilling out and not obsessing during the process (easier said than done I know). I know 4 positive ivf stories and hope you will be no 5! Where are you again hun? Have u had to pay for it yourself?

Broody- def ring them next week! Good luck!

Oh, free androgen index is a blood test they do to check for pcos I think. Mine was high, suggesting pcos, but my scan showed no cysts, I appear to ovulate and have regular periods so my gp ruled it out. I think I def have some kind or hormonal imbalance though. My testosterone is normal but on the high end and I have pre af spotting. When I have charted my temps before, my progesterone falls early- from day 6.

As for acupuncture- I don't like needles either but once you relax it's ok. I would urge him to give it a go. Nothing to lose!

 

[GettingBroody]

... she said she recommends chilling out and not obsessing during the process

Anyone who can do any of this and not obsess definitely deserves a medal!!!

 

[cupcakesarah]

When are you expecting to have your egg collection Aleja?

 

[mk8]

heh heh heh, how true broody!

talking of chilling out, its really hard isnt it? i am a super impatient person and started to stress in month 1 let alone now im in month 16! i have heard so many stories where people get their BFPs when they chill out or take a break for a while. today, my friend was telling me about a friend of hers who had been trying for around 2 yrs and was about to embark on ivf but was told to wait a few months whilst her hormones rebalanced. in the meantime she got preggers naturally! i really wish i could chillax... sigh...

 

[aleja]

Hi ladies,
Cupcake the egg collection is tomorrow on Monday. I feel very nervous but I need to get the eggs out as my ovaries feel huge at the moment

Broody I am taking sick leave to do it. I told my boss a while back that I would need some time off so she knows about it but she doesn't know what I am having done though.
Oh the waiting for the phone to call would drive me insane . I guess there is not much you can do unless you make sure that your doctor has definitely sent through the letter. The clinic that I initially went to let me bring in referral letter myself. It was probably a good thing because the GP letter was a one-liner that just said we ' need assistance with conception' !!!! The FS laughed when he read it.

I am in Australia we had to pay the whole lot up front and then our Medicare system (govt assistance ) refunds about half of it in rebates .

Mk hormone imbalances would be very frustrating but I think there is things they can do for lower progesterone . What was the Clomid supposed to do for you? Because if you already ovulate regularly ? I have heard all the 'relaxed and BFp ', 'took a break and Bfp' 'was about to start IvF and got Bfp' . Even the FS at the start of each appt would ask us if we had any news to share!!! Unfortunately it didn't happen for us but I think that's because of spermy issues. It would be more common with unexplained issues I think .

 

[mk8]

Good luck with egg collection aleja!!!!!

 

[MrsPTTC]

Welcome back cupcake! I don't think I have had AMH tested, I'm sure it was just LH/FSH but will ask about it at my next apt!

Aleja, good luck for tomorrow hun!

x

 

[Delilah8]

Just wanted to pop in and say that low AMH was my issue. Other than that I was totally healthy. I was very distressed by that news, but I responded well and was successful on the first round of meds and IUI.

Good luck Aleja!

 

[cupcakesarah]

Good luck for the egg collection Aleja.

I really hope that they offer me IUI. When i look at the list of treatments at the fertility clinic, i just think it's the one that would suit me best. Delilah did you do IUI with hormones then or without. I read on the clinic website that you can do it either way.

MK8 try as i might i find the chilling out thing hard but that's my mission this year, i can't forget about it but i'm just trying to stop my constant thoughts about it...we can but try

 

[GettingBroody]

Good luck tomor Aleja! I hope they collect lots of healthy eggies and that it isn't too painful!

 

[Delilah8]

Cupcake, I did take hormones. I took Femara for a few days, it's just a pill sort of similarish to clomid, then I took Follistim injections. They monitored my follicles at the start and then on CD12 and then gave me a shot to trigger ovulation and we did the IUI the next day.

I think whether you would do IUI on it's own or with hormones depends on what your diagnosis is. For me, since my AMH was low the medications were in hopes of getting me either more eggs or a better/healthier egg. In the end I only had 1 follicle/egg and I thought it wasn't going to work, but apparently that 1 egg must have been healthier because it worked. I think maybe before the medication my egg wasn't maturing enough by the right time.

For us the hormones were actually more important/crucial than the IUI. The doctor told us the IUI part was somewhat optional actually and we could just do the deed at home. However, in her personal experience she said the IUI seemed to increase the chances of it working and most of her patients who did meds and tried at home a few times ended up eventually doing the IUI and then getting success. We figured if we were doing the meds we wanted the highest chances and just dove in for what would give us the best possible chances and it worked for us.

From my limited experience and people I talk to though, typically they have you at least try IUI a few times before moving to IVF. Our doctor told us she'd recommend we try IUI 3 times before moving to IVF. Of course it depends on your issue, like if sperm is an issue the treatment would be different.

 

[mk8]

Hurrah it's egg day Aleja! Best of luck

 

[GettingBroody]

Hope everything went well today Aleja!

Rang the FS a while ago and spoke to a lovely nurse who told me that they got my referral letter last week and that she'd be ringing me in the morning to arrange my appointment! Why she couldn't arrange it while I was on the phone is a bit of a mystery!!!

 

[mk8]

woo hoo broody! your turn next

aleja- i really hope it went well today. best of luck for the next step. thinking of you!

as for me, still in fertile period i think. positive opk yest but lots of ewcm yest and sticky cm today. go figure!

 

[aleja]

hi ladies,
thank you so much for your kind thoughts and well wishes. I wanted to post in when I had some definite outcomes from the EPU. It has been a very emotionally and physically draining couple of days but today I feel much better. Yesterday I was very sore and slept most of the day.

Well the EPU went ahead. I was heavily sedated so I don't remember any of it!! I was glad to see my FS's friendly face just before they knocked me out!!
i woke up to find out they got 16 eggs out of me!!
No wonder i felt so bloated and like my ovaries had doubled in size. Later in the day they rang to confirm 15 of those were mature eggs and this morning the embryologist rang to say that all 15 started fertilizing overnight

I am so happy and relieved today but it really is an emotional rollercoaster. The whole cycle is all about waiting and more waiting and it can all go wrong at any time. So now I wait.
Next they call me on Thursday to tell me if any of the embies are growing well. If all goes to plan i have a transfer on Saturday.

GL and baby dust to all

 

[aleja]

woo hoo broody! your turn next

aleja- i really hope it went well today. best of luck for the next step. thinking of you!

as for me, still in fertile period i think. positive opk yest but lots of ewcm yest and sticky cm today. go figure!

Mk, just for it honey, sticky or not a positive OPK is a positive. GL

 

[aleja]

Hope everything went well today Aleja!

Rang the FS a while ago and spoke to a lovely nurse who told me that they got my referral letter last week and that she'd be ringing me in the morning to arrange my appointment! Why she couldn't arrange it while I was on the phone is a bit of a mystery!!!

maybe they had to check the FS's diary? well at least they got the referral letter. Fx they call you today

 

[GettingBroody]

Wow, Aleja, 16 eggs!! That's a lot! No wonder you were sore! Are you still in a lot of pain today? It's great that so many of them started fertilising. The whole procedure is just amazing really! How many of them do you think they will transfer? Do they do an ultrasound or something to measure your lining?