Any Bostonians starting IVF?

[notoptimistic]

Sept - I am not sure what they call it but you are asleep during the procedure. Whatever it was it is the same as what I had for my d&c's and really it wasn't bad and I woke up pretty quickly as they transferred me to recovery. I felt like I had just woken up from a nap. Hope you have a wonderful, relaxing trip to France!

 

[septbride]

OK, that's reassuring, thanks! Not sure why but the anesthesia part of things is worrying me.

Are you close to getting started now? So exciting!

Thanks re: vacation -- it will be nice to unwind before we take the plunge!

Sept - I am not sure what they call it but you are asleep during the procedure. Whatever it was it is the same as what I had for my d&c's and really it wasn't bad and I woke up pretty quickly as they transferred me to recovery. I felt like I had just woken up from a nap. Hope you have a wonderful, relaxing trip to France!

 

[notoptimistic]

septbride - It's called conscious sedation. You are asleep but not unconscious. It will be fine - you will be in great hands at the brigham. Have you ever had surgery where they put you to sleep? Wisdom teeth removal perhaps?

I met with my doctor Friday for the preop and mock transfer (mock transfer is basically taking a measurement of your uterus). That was fine, and then we sat down with the nurse who showed us how to do the injections and gave us some needles to practice with (on an orange). I picked up all my meds on Saturday (opted not to have them mailed to me). It included a sharps container, syringes, alcohol wipes, and the medications. I will be going in on cd 25 which will be July 16th for a blood test to confirm ovulation. Most people go in on day 21 for that, but because I am not like most people and I don't ovulate on my own until at least cd 22, I got my doctor to agree to let me come in on cd 25 (a Monday) which works out better for me because I will be in NY that weekend. If the blood test confirms that I have ovulated, I start the lupron injections the next morning (July 17th).

I'm so nervous. Got nervous just watching the nurse holding the syringe!

When do you leave for France?

 

[septbride]

Oh, thanks so much -- I feel better knowing that it's conscious sedation. I was put out for my wisdom teeth and it was fine, and you're right that I can trust the Brigham.

Wow, you're getting so close! That's great that you have your meds. The needle thing is so nerve wracking...how was the practice session? I think you said your husband is cool with doing the shots, right? Hopefully you can try to distract yourself and he can take care of it.

We leave for France on Saturday and will be there until July 21, so I will miss the beginning of your Lupron journey, but will check in when I'm back. Did they say how many days they'll have you on that, or does it depend on your response?

Also, did you take birth control pills or are they not putting you on them? I think my doc plans to put me on them as our first step. Not sure yet what stage in my cycle that starts (CD1?) but I'm realizing that it's probably going to be September before we get around to egg retrieval/transfer -- UGH!

septbride - It's called conscious sedation. You are asleep but not unconscious. It will be fine - you will be in great hands at the brigham. Have you ever had surgery where they put you to sleep? Wisdom teeth removal perhaps?

I met with my doctor Friday for the preop and mock transfer (mock transfer is basically taking a measurement of your uterus). That was fine, and then we sat down with the nurse who showed us how to do the injections and gave us some needles to practice with (on an orange). I picked up all my meds on Saturday (opted not to have them mailed to me). It included a sharps container, syringes, alcohol wipes, and the medications. I will be going in on cd 25 which will be July 16th for a blood test to confirm ovulation. Most people go in on day 21 for that, but because I am not like most people and I don't ovulate on my own until at least cd 22, I got my doctor to agree to let me come in on cd 25 (a Monday) which works out better for me because I will be in NY that weekend. If the blood test confirms that I have ovulated, I start the lupron injections the next morning (July 17th).

I'm so nervous. Got nervous just watching the nurse holding the syringe!

When do you leave for France?

 

[notoptimistic]

septbride - We haven't practiced on the orange yet. Got to get to the supermarket soon! My husband said he'd do the shots but I'm thinking now that I am going to at least try to do them. If I chicken out, I'll have him administer the shots. I believe I will be on the lupron for 11 days and on that 11th day I have an ultrasound and that's how they determine whether it's time to reduce the lupron dose and add the stim injections. Also, I am told that sometime before day 11 I should get my period or some version of a period (could just be spotting). If they determine I am ready, I think the lupron dose cuts in half and I continue to take that in the mornings plus an injection of follistim, and then in the evening I do a second follistim injection. Then I continue all of those injections (3 per day) for at least 7 days (but could take up to 10 days) with periodic blood tests and ultrasounds to determine when I am ready to do the trigger shot. After the transfer no more injections, just progesterone gel.

I am not doing birth control pills. Not sure why some people are put on that and some aren't. My retreival/transfer will probably happen in August so you aren't too far behind me. I'm guessing they'd start the birth control pills second half of your cycle, but I am definitely not a doctor.

Try not to worry about any of this until after vacation. Make sure you drink some wine!

 

[septbride]

It's so great that you have your plan exactly mapped out at this point! Keep me posted on how it goes with the Lupron. Sending good thoughts as you begin the shots -- I'm sure it won't be as bad as we fear.

Re: BCP, I think they might be putting me on them because there's a good chance I will be a "poor responder" given my AMH levels and %$@# antral follicle count. I believe it might make your ovaries respond more to the stims? Not sure though.

I'm going to do my darndest to stop thinking about all this while we're on vacation. There will be wine!

septbride - We haven't practiced on the orange yet. Got to get to the supermarket soon! My husband said he'd do the shots but I'm thinking now that I am going to at least try to do them. If I chicken out, I'll have him administer the shots. I believe I will be on the lupron for 11 days and on that 11th day I have an ultrasound and that's how they determine whether it's time to reduce the lupron dose and add the stim injections. Also, I am told that sometime before day 11 I should get my period or some version of a period (could just be spotting). If they determine I am ready, I think the lupron dose cuts in half and I continue to take that in the mornings plus an injection of follistim, and then in the evening I do a second follistim injection. Then I continue all of those injections (3 per day) for at least 7 days (but could take up to 10 days) with periodic blood tests and ultrasounds to determine when I am ready to do the trigger shot. After the transfer no more injections, just progesterone gel.

I am not doing birth control pills. Not sure why some people are put on that and some aren't. My retreival/transfer will probably happen in August so you aren't too far behind me. I'm guessing they'd start the birth control pills second half of your cycle, but I am definitely not a doctor.

Try not to worry about any of this until after vacation. Make sure you drink some wine!

 

[notoptimistic]

Sept- I will keep you posted. I'm excited to get started especially bc it worked for my friend who is now pregnant with twins (she just had her first ultrasound and there were two)! I'm not sure whether I'll want one or two embryos transferred .. The doc will make a recommendation based on the embryo quality but it will be up to us to decide.

Regarding afc, my count was 8 which I've read puts me into a below average responder category. I'll be curious to see how many eggs they get from me. It seems counterintuitive but even though my afc is low (esp for a 33 year old) my doc said that I'm at risk of overstimulation bc one of my ovaries is polycystic.

Have a terrific trip. Bon voyage!!

 

[dc608]

Hi- I just came across these posts... did you all have your first IVF done at BWH yet? I am actually in my 2WW after my first IVF (3 failed IUIs). I go for my Beta on Thursday (I have been cheating and testing at home though... so far, BFP's for me!). How about you two?

 

[notoptimistic]

Welcome to the thread dc608! Congrats on your bfps. Hope the blood test confirms it - I don't see why it wouldn't! I am starting my first ivf cycle after three failed clomid/iui cycles.

I am doing the luteal lupron protocol and will be going in on Monday for my blood test to confirm ovulation. If confirmed, I start lupron injections on Tuesday morning. Septbride is away in France right now so I am not sure if she will access this website during that time but she has told us she will be starting soon after she gets back.

Which protocol did you use? How many embryos did they implant?

 

[dc608]

Thanks! I had 2 miscarriages, one in Dec 200 and one in April 2011. I had 3 failed IUI's also. I didn't want to go through with the 3rd one- I wanted to go right to IVF, but I had to for insurance.
I did lupron too! And then follistim for the stims. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. They retrieved 19 eggs, 11 fertilized, and they transferred 2 (because I begged!), and froze 3.
The worst part of this IVF process had been the 2WW, everything else has gone pretty smooth for me. Let me know if you have any questions when you start everything up!!

 

[notoptimistic]

Looks like we both had our two miscarriages around the same general time period! Do you know why you miscarried? I had d&c's for both so I was able to find out what caused my first one - it was a chomosome issue - it had an extra sex chromosome, but the second miscarriage remains unexplained - chromosomes were normal and I had even seen a strong heartbeat around 7.5 weeks. I had no trouble getting pregnant for both of those pregnancies - got pregnant first cycle trying, but ever since that last one in January 2011 (after I finally got my period back in March 2011) I have been unable to get pregnant again. I finally got referred for testing this past January. I also would have preferred to only do two iui's but I knew that wasn't a possibility for insurance reasons. I was so happy my doctor recommended I go right to ivf after those three failures because I was worried he might propose that I do more iui's and add injections. If I am going to do injections, I want to only do it for ivf because the success rate is much higher!

I'm worried about the injections. I think I'm going to have my husband do them all after all. We are supposed to watch the videos together and practice on an orange! Did you do them yourself? That's great that it all went smoothly for you (and not to mention that you are likely pregnant - and possibly with twins!) My doctor really prefers not to implant two embryos unless my embryos aren't good quality. I think it's because I am under 35 although he did seem to indicate that even if he recommends 1 embryo I can choose to do 2 (but no more than 2)!.

 

[dc608]

Yea, I noticed that too! Bad luck at the same time :/ I got pregnant right away too, first month we started trying. And then again first month we started trying again after the first MC, and haven't been able to conceive since! I miscarried naturally, so they weren't able to do any testing on the fetus, just on me and my husband, which all came back fine. Unexplained, ugh.
The injections really weren't bad at all! The needles are really pretty small. I had my husband squeeze my thigh, while I injected. We had a good system. The follistim pen was a little tricky, but by the time I was done, I mastered it Only a few bruises along the way. The trigger shot is a big needle. I just iced my butt for 5 minutes before, but I was afraid my husband was going to wimp out with it. He actually did fine! Probably enjoyed it, getting me back for all the emotions I had during those weeks
I am 30, so they recommended just 1 embryo, but I really wanted 2. Just to increase my chances. I would be equally happy with a single or twins. My husband is pulling for twins. We transferred 2 8-cell embryos, which I guess is great quality, I think one of them had zero fragmentation, and one of them was rated a one in fragmentation (slightly fragmented).
Best of luck! Let me know if you need any help along the way!

 

[notoptimistic]

dc608 - We are also unexplained. It's really good to meet someone whose gone through the same issues i.e. getting pregnant twice with no problem then struggling to even get pregnant again. I was worried that something must of happened to my uterus as a result of my two d&c's (like scar tissue forming - I've read that can happen and that could prevent implantation) because I just couldn't understand how I could go from getting pregnant quickly two times to not being able to get pregnant at all in over a year. My doctor has reassured me that it is unlikely that the d&c's are the cause of my inability to get pregnant now, but I've always been suspicious. Now that I know that you miscarried naturally twice and then couldn't get pregnant after that, then that makes me feel a bit more confident that it wasn't the d&c's (does that make sense?) so maybe I can get pregnant again like you.

That's great that your egg quality was so good. I am thinking mine won't be too good. I am 33 so that's three extra years for my eggs to go bad.

 

[dc608]

I would have been suspecious of that too! I'm glad I can help you feel better about it

OMG, I have thought the worst through the whole process. I thought I wouldn’t have any eggs, I thought I would ovulate before the retreival, I thought none would fertilize, I thought the ones that did would die before transfer, I thought I wouldn't have any to freeze. I'm still thinking the worst… I keep testing every morning to make sure the line is getting darker, or that there even is a line still. Then I worry about ectopic, chemical, and miscarriage. I am such a worrier. I wish I could just fall asleep for the next 4-9 months

I wouldn't worry with the 3 extra years! That's nothing

 

[notoptimistic]

I'm sure I'll be worried about all of the above too. Are you excited for tomorrow's blood test, or just worried? I'm excited to get started. I have my day 25 blood test on Monday. Would normally be a day 21 test but i ovulate sometime between days 22-25 so surely if I went in tomorrow (CD 21) the test won't confirm ovulation. I expect to start the lupron injections Tuesday!

 

[dc608]

I am excited about to tomorrow! But worried too!

I was really excited to start the Lupron too- are you taking that once a day? I did 10 units in the morning, and once I started the Follistim I went down to 5 units in the morning (and the Follistim in the evening). Now I'm just going the Progesterone.

I had to go back a few times also to detect ovulation! Good thing I work at BWH, so it wasn't inconvenient for me. Also, once I started the Lupron (and had to wait for my period before starting the Follistim), my period was about 5 days late! I was sooooo annoyed, because I just wanted to get on with the process. The nurse didn't think the Lupron should delay AF, but I have read mixed things online!

I'll let you know how my BETA results are tomorrow I always stalk Patientgateway before the nurse calls me!

 

[notoptimistic]

Yes, lupron once a day in the mornings and then I go down on the dosage once I start the follistim. I think it is also from 10 to 5. I need to take the follistim once in the morning and once at night, so between the lupron and follistim I will be doing three injections a day. Do you recall what your starting dose was on the follistim? I think I am doing 150 morning and 150 at night.

That's so convenient that you work at BWH. I actually go to the satellite office in Newton at Newton-Wellesley hospital which is close to my home, but unfortunetely my work is an hour away. My doctor is a brigham doc but he works out of the satellite office once a week. I've been to BWH though because one of my iui's fell on a weekend and NWH doesn't do iui's on the weekend. My ER and ET will be performed at BWH.

I've stalked patient gateway too. The results always come out before the nurses call! Definitely keep me posted on your beta's and all that good stuff.

 

[dc608]

I started with 225 units of Follistim, just at night. At one point, when I was near the end, they had to go down to something like 187 units? And then I decreased again right before the trigger, I forget how much I went down for that one, maybe in the 120's?

 

[notoptimistic]

I wonder why I have to do morning and night rather than just one injection. Maybe it is because my dose is higher per day (300 total)? Didn't the doctor hear me when I told him I was afraid of needles? Maybe he thought three injections a day would help me get over it. I will just have to wait and see how it goes. I'm excited to start the lupron but to be honest, I'm really excited to get to that first ultrasound and start the follistim. That's when I'll really feel like I'm making progress towards the end goal.

 

[dc608]

When I went to the class at BWH for starting the IVF, there were so many couples there, with so many different protocols, it was hard not to compare myself to them, but everyone is so different. But yea, if you're afraid of needles, 3 a day doesn't sound that fun. To try to make you feel better, it really doesn't hurt at all, not even a pinch! Mine itched for a few minutes after the injection, but there wasn't any pain. Are you going to go into your stomach or your thigh? I did thigh because I thought I had more control that way.

The ultrasounds are exciting! My last ultrasound I had 9 follicles I think, so I was freaking out that it wasn't enough, but by the time the retrieval had come, I had 19 eggs! So don't panic if you don't have a lot, there will probably be some hidden ones they find

I just had my blood work for the HCG!! Now to begin stalking patientgateway for the results!