38 and TTC first baby, anyone else?

[Star2011]

Wish- hehehehe that was funny. You made my day. I bet the Dr are used to such things when they go to check us down there. Glad it was a tampon and not any other weird thing....

Your Fsh and Amh #s are improving. A step at a time. You are getting there too. Mammogram then on to IUI. Cant wait for all of you ladies success!

Mdc- Yes, l did Pgs. But because it was a study l was not given much info other than simple good. They didnt want to indulge us with alot of info that will jeopardize the study. The good thing is the pgs part was paid off by the study. This prompted me to do the verify test. Its like the Panorama. The test check for all types of chromosomal abnormalities and the gender of the baby. It can be done when one is 10 wks pregnant. I couldn't wait until 16-20 wks to find the gender. Guess its the nurse in me..... Just nosy and impatient with results I will know what l am having in less than 2 weeks. I did the verify test today.

Ellie- Congratulations on weight loss. That was a beautiful pic of you guys. Heheheh that was so funny comparing what your Dh had to do to what we do. We all go through a lot to get this babies then the worry never end even after the egg had been put back in! Its good you are with somebody in this journey. June will be here before you know it. We will all be bump buddies for some time.

Dandi- Do you follow a particular diabetic diet? Yay to increase in complex carb.

Nothing much going on with me. I still have food aversion and l do get occasional side cramps- nothing l cant handle. RE stated those were just ligament pain. Work is still busy and l can handle it when am there, l just get so tired when l come home. Guess is because am on my feet for 4-6 hrs while at work. I finally told my floor manager and co workers today. They were all surprised l had kept it quiet that long. I can keep secrets

Well, hope you all have a wonderful afternoon and a good night to Ellie.

 

[elliecain]

Star... That first photo isn't us, it's models on a shoot! The third picture is me with my dog, Pip

 

[Wish2BMom]

HA! i'm glad you all found it to be an entertaining story and not one that grossed you out. I'm super paranoid of it too, dandi, and honestly this isn't the first time it's happened. But the first time, I was camping and I at least had the excuse that I was DRUNK in the middle of the night and just lost track of what I was doing. Either way - mortifying. I've been a little crampy this week and b/c my AF was so short (prob b/c that thing was sitting in there taking all the end spotting!!), I was maybe hoping for a miracle story like my aunt had about getting pregnant but still having a full-on AF! Nope, just gave birth to a week-old 'pon. sheesh.

ellie - you're right! I've heard ER stories about the other things they pull out of people who 'accidentally' got something caught. Like a jar of mustard!!! woops, slipped in the kitchen while we were having hamburgers and BAM, landed on the mustard. Surrrrrre.

star - I'm so glad things are going so well and selfishly, glad you're getting the gender test early!! WOO!

 

[Wish2BMom]

and also meant to say that I loved your note Ellie about DH. SO STRESSFUL doing one thing! My DH had his SA today too and I had to get the cup from the RE's office, get the directions, remind him to keep it warm on the way there...boy oh boy. I understand a lot of it is probably embarrassing for him, though - he's very modest. I, on the other hand, have lost all modesty at this point. Clearly!

 

[Dandi]

"Nope, just gave birth to a week-old 'pon." Dying over here.

Star- It's just a balance of carbs, proteins, and fat at every meal. Eating 3 meals and 3 snacks each day, a total of 2200 calories! The first week I was just going by what I had researched on the internet. Then yesterday I finally got in for an appt with the diabetic nutritionist and she said that I was doing really well with everything that I had learned on my own, I'm making great food choices, my post meal levels are perfect, my exercise s on track, etc. The only thing I was doing wrong is not eating enough snacks and not eating enough carbs. The nurse at my OBs office told me that I needed to limit my carbs, so that's what I had been doing, hence the weight loss. So yesterday and today I have basically been eating non stop it feels. I'm so stuffed, but have to fit in the carbs every few hours. My OB made it sound like he was definitely going to put me on insulin if I couldn't get my fasting numbers under 100 by next week, but the diabetes lady said that my numbers weren't that far off and she doesn't think I'm at a point of needing insulin. I'm hoping she's right, I thought the needle portion of this adventure was over!

 

[Mdc]

Wish, omg that is hilarious and sorry I am laughing at your expense. And 'giving birth to a 'Pon I am always paranoid I will forget a tampon at some point. I agree doc's have seen worse.

Star, I cannot wait to hear, if you are sharing that is , the sex of the baby. We just did a phone consult with Natera and they surprised me by suggesting skipping the Panorama if we do PGS and just head to an amino if we wanted double reassurance, but you are so right....then we have to wait to find out the sex. I guess we could find it out after pgs, but I am told the doc we do not want to know then. Maybe they could wrap it up and we open it at 11 weeks or something.

Ellie, my DH is exactly the same way about the analysis and I have to bite my tongue every time. Kind of need to make sure he ummm...performs on the big day so that is the one thing I let slide. I would be so upset if he could not perform at the crucial moment. He goes in with his own material because he says no way is he touching anything in there.

Dandi, eating sounds like a full time job and it sounds like you will not need insulin so keep up the good work.

So, we are on track! We have a total of 14 follies (2 baby ones popped up 5 and 6 mm). Nine are 11-13, the rest are 7-8mm (totally misread the dimensions last time), and they are all growing 2-4 mm in 48 hours. E2 doubled to 574 so we are starting certrotide tonight to keep the biggins from ovulating. Next ultrasound is sat morning. Oh yeah, and I am officially getting crazy (ok...crazier). Insert husband rolling eyes here. I had a dental cleaning scheduled for today, but started thinking what if I get a bacterial infection from them scrapping, got a fever, and had to cancel ER so I cancelled last minute. That is me being totally paranoid, but I feel better after canceling it. Yeap, falling off the IVF cliff

 

[elliecain]

I totally get that, Mdc. I'm going to cancel my hair appointment and just do root touch up at home, as I'm sure a whole dye job can't be good during this lot. Will save me money too. I'm also trying to work out if I can get an appointment with my shellac girl to remove mine the day before retrieval, as I'll be under GA and they need to see nails.
My DH didn't want to touch the material there either, so he tethered his iPad to phone!
I've said it on the other thread, but great news about the follies! Is that med for "coasting"? I remember the nurse saying that is done when the follies are a bit spaced out and they don't want some to get too big.

So I started the nasal spray. It was odd to use and I've got a bit of a funny taste in my mouth, but all good. It's coming to school with me today. Next week is half term, yay! I didn't POAS today in the end. 8dpo just seems way too early for someone with normal length cycles, it's still 7/8 days from usual period due date (not that that will be normal this time)... I will test this weekend.

 

[Dandi]

Great news on the follies Mdc!

 

[Mdc]

Ellie, it is part of my antagonist protocol. Generally it is used when you get a follie(s) over 13 to prevent an lh surge and ovulation. I do believe it can be used as coasting especially when you stop your FSH. I still need growth, but want to hold on to the bigger follies. Man such a dance this is! Hope your nasal spray goes well! Sometimes with medications that give you a metallic taste in your mouth a piece of chocolate (use dark for the antioxidants ) works to make it go away. Not sure if it will work for the nasal spray since it is probably part of the medicine coating your tongue, but it might help.

Wish, any news on the damn mammo?

Day 7 stims in the books and man that certrotide needle is not a walk in the park, but guess I am just working my way up the needle food chain I will say I hit a bit of a wall yesterday. I am not sure what set the wheels in motion to get me into a funk. First I stupidly looked up egg attrition statistics so with 14 follies now we statistically will get 1-2 pgs normal embryos. Ugh! I was really hoping to get multiple on ice for future siblings. Second I was just over the shots 2 at 530 and then one more at 10. I have been doing so good at staying positive and then I was mad at myself for feeling negative then DH questioned my choice for dinner...how dare he (geez I am a hormonal biotch)...strike 3. I likely have 4 or more days left of stimming so I hope it was just a bump in the road and blaming it on all the hormones that are starting to swirl. I just need to continue to take all this one step at a time (since I am counting starting the certrotide is step 4 ). Positivity and zen please come back! On a funny note I did forget to put the car into park yesterday luckily I had the parking brake on, so I am also blaming that too on this whole process. Wonder what all I can try and get away with and blame it on the process

 

[elliecain]

I'm sorry you had a negative day Mdc. I think the hormone responses are totally normal, I know my DH will be horrible when I get hormonal, so we'll probably argue loads.
Why is the normal pgs outcome expected to be so low? Does that mean the rest will be deemed abnormal or it is on the cautious side? That worries me because I'm not having pgs, so am I at real risk of abnormal embryos going back in?

Anyway, I'm sure things will be better than you currently think. Be kind to yourself xxx

 

[Mdc]

So here is a stat model that I found, and keep in mind there are different ones and overall results could vary widely. So hopefully this will not depress anyone. Say you have 10 follies, of those 8 will have eggs, 7 will be mature, 5 will fertilize, 3-4 will become embryos, 2-3 will get to blastocytes (my clinic only does 5 day biopsies for pgs), and due to age only 1-2 will be genetically normal. There is a lot of variability based on so many factors so trying not to get too worked up. I guess the main take home message is there will be attrition so just because so many drop off it is normal.

There are a lot of docs that are pro and con pgs for multiple reasons. Some say if a embie makes it to day 5 and is graded well the chances are lower for abnormalities. Also, many women have gotten preggo with day 3 embies that did not look so hot. There are also some theories that embryos can self correct as they grow. Finally pgs is not an absolute for chromosomal normal (although the confidence interval is high they are), and even normal embies may not result in a live birth.

That is why I think pgs is such a personal decision and not necessarily a crystal ball. For us we though it was in our best interest, but totally understand it is not for everyone.

 

[Wish2BMom]

I totally hear where you are, mdc. That's why it stunk so much when I would only get 6-7 follies, b/c I knew the attrition rates. So mine - I'd have 6 follies, only 5 would have eggs, only 3 of those were mature, only one of those fertlized and b/c it was only one, they transferred on Day 2 to get it back into it's natural habitat.

BUT, don't let that discourage you! I think it's just readjusting expectations. The fact that you have over double what I had means that you have double the chances!! And yes, keep in mind that PGS isn't a complete science. Heck, none of this is!!

also, keep in mind, as my RE told me - we have more abnormal eggs than normal eggs in our personal stashes. So stimulating all of these eggs in the follies at once, you are bound for a few of them to be abnormal, unfortunately. It's all a game of numbers.

I'm sorry you had a bad day, hon. Jacking yourself up with uber-hormones will take its toll!! Just give DH notice that he shouldn't question any or your decisions for the next week. Especially any shopping decisions.

ellie - good luck with the nasal spray. YUCK!! I like the idea of the chocolate though.

 

[Wish2BMom]

der, totally forgot to update as well - mammo is happening this coming Tues!! WOOHOOO!!!

 

[Star2011]

Dandi- you have become a nutritionist. Thanks for explaining.

Mdc- I agree with your post on pgs. I ll be optimistic over your case that all will work out!

Wish- Fx for Tuesday mammo!

Ellie- the second pic is beautiful too....Pip and you. I see you started on youe protocol too. Enjoy half term.

Afm, today was my last day of PIO and am going to celebrate with a large cup of tropical smoothie!

Happy weekend.

 

[elliecain]

I just messed up. I took another norethisterone instead of my folic acid tonight before bed. I made myself sick, but now I have 1 short of this med. I knew I was going to do something stupid. It's been a nightmare remembering it all and going about normal life:
6am thyroxine (home)
7am buserelin and norethisterone (home)
11am buserelin (school)
3pm buserelin (school)
7pm buserelin and norethisterone (home)
11pm 2xbuserelin and FOLIC ACID (home)

I think it's because the other 2 times I'd done the nasal spray at home, with a pill, it was norethisterone. It had become a habit.

What hurts most is that DH was vile to me about it, called me stupid and lectured me about being more careful.

I've emailed my nurse to check it is ok. I'm sure it is fine, but I feel like such an idiot. I think I'll move the folic acid to 7pm, then the bedtime one is just the nasal spray.

 

[Wish2BMom]

Hang in there, Ellie - you're not stupid by any means. In addition to keeping regular life straight, now you have alllllll of this. I'm sure it's fine too and I'm sure you can order one extra. Remember all my flubs?? My doc reassured me each time that it wasn't a big deal.

Star - hooray for no more shots!!!

 

[elliecain]

My nurse told me it was fine and also fine to stop the norethisterone half a day early, so all good. My lessons learned:
1. Double check exactly what I'm taking each time.
2. Don't tell DH if I mess up.

He's been better today, we had a talk and I explained things. He still doesn't get it, but he's asking me if I'm ok.

I'm looking forward to things starting properly so I get scans and can offload onto my lovely nurse, Carrie, who will be doing them.

 

[Mdc]

Wish, yeah for the mammo! When it the witch due?

Star, that is a reason to celebrate! Are you still doing Lovenox or are you totally shot free? Either way the smoothie sounds awesome. So incredibly happy for you!

Ellie, that is a lot to remember and oddly enough the shots should be so much easier. Glad the RN said it was fine, and not that it matters haha: ) coming from me but I agree not big deal. I am going to have to be cross at your DH though...mistakes happen and he doesn't need to talk to you like that especially with the stress of all this. You are not stupid. Glad you talked it out.

So my next scan is in 5 hours. Yikes! I will update when I get done.

 

[elliecain]

Hoping those follies are plump and perfect, Mdc

 

[Star2011]

Ellie am glad all is well now. At one moment l was taking alot of pills like you. I had to buy me a pill box with diff days on it like an old woman to keep track of my pills. It was even hard to keep track of them the days l work nights. You can do it. Good luck.

Mdc- waiting patiently for your update. I got weaned off Lovenex on week 7 and ASA on week 8. I am no longer on any shots.