Chinese Accupuncture

[terripeachy]

Just to update everyone, I had an abnormal embryo. There were three chromosomes in the first grouping so, a trisomy. Sucks but what can you do. I tried my best. Moving on.....

 

[nobump]

Sending hugs Terri.

Be kind to yourself x

 

[Briss]

Terri, i am so sorry. unfortunately this happens. i am sure your next embryo will be perfect.

 

[stefdan]

I have some resources about acupuncture, I've heard acupuncture therapy is somehow effective, not only to boost your chance of conceiving, but also to your health.

Infertility And Acupuncture
How Acupuncture Works for Infertility
Acupuncture May Boost Pregnancy Success Rates

 

[Juniperjules]

Just to update everyone, I had an abnormal embryo. There were three chromosomes in the first grouping so, a trisomy. Sucks but why can you do. I tried my best. Moving on.....

Sorry to hear that hon.. It's such a hard slog this TTC business.. What will u do now? Do u have a plan?

 

[terripeachy]

Thanks ladies. My plan right now is to spend my $ on myself. Hee hee. So, no plan and probably no babies. I have a great life and I will continue doing fun things. I'm in Seattle with my besties this weekend so I'm already doing what I want and it makes me happy.

 

[Jazzbird]

So sad to see how quiet this thread has gone. How is everyone? Thinking of you ladies!

XXX

 

[Vonn]

Jazzbird--thanks for initiating, hope all is well with you!

Juniper--I'd love to get an update on how the additional tests came out, what your protocol will be, and if you are starting your next stimm cycle. I am so very hopeful for you that sorting these immune issues will get you your take home baby!

Hi to everyone else, would love to get updates and hear how folks are!

AFM--I am about to get my period!! I think CD 60 will be the last day of this cycle. This cycle after my polypectomy in August where they removed 1 polyp and found and removed 1 fibroid has been crazy long. I guess that is not totally uncommon, though none of my Drs bothered to inform me in advance that my cycle could be out of whack for several months. That's seems like information I would have liked to know!

Now please let this next cycle be normal. I need one normal cycle before I can do my last IUI. I am gonna try really hard to get 3 follicles. I stimmed and got 2 on my last IUI, which was all the way back in July. It's been quite a break. I'm eager to get back to it. We will try on our own this cycle, and anything is possible, but I really think we need the big guns, so I don't have too high of expectations. It is good to be thinking about trying again, though! Bring back the bbts.

Also, I've looked into buying private insurance as it was suggested on another thread as a way to lower overall costs if you need IVF & can find a policy that covers it. It had never crossed my mind that I may be able to save overall by paying out of pocket for insurance, but not having to pay out of pocket for IVF. Heard back from one broker who said there are no policies with any fertility coverage. I am waiting on another one and I also want to look on the MN health care exchange, but those options aren't posted yet since it's not open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act. We shall see if this is an AV enue that could help me deal with the financial burden.

 

[Juniperjules]

Hi Jazzbird & Vonn!!

I check in here occasionally but yeh it's very quiet! Lovely to hear from u both.

So funnily enough I'm just about to start my 2nd stim cycle.. AF due today or tomoro. This time I'm taking gonal F & menopur.. My nurse said the FS wants to get a few more eggs (got 13 last time), but doesn't want it at the cost of quality.. So is using this combo of meds.

I had my 2nd phone appt with the reproductive immunologist. He said my thyroid antibodies & anti nuclear antibodies are high (which I already knew), and that one of my natural killer cells is high, another is borderline. So in his opinion, my immune issues aren't terribly bad- but I definitely need an immune protocol to get & stay pregnant.

Our plan is to hopefully get another 1-2 embies thru to PGD, the freeze if normal- then do an FET in Jan/Feb using all the immune meds. So that will mean taking an increasing dose of prednisolone from weeks before transfer (15mg, then up to 20 after FET, then 25mg if bfp). Also clexane from a week before transfer, high dose of progesterone post transfer, and intralipid infusion 1 week before transfer, 1 infusion if I get a bfp, then monitor for antibody flares throughout pregnancy and treat accordingly.

It's all slightly overwhelming, but I'm in a forum for over 40's doing IVF - and OMG the amount of girls who've done IVF over & over with no success, then do the immune treatment and get pregnant is astounding to me! One of the girls is 43, has done 12ish IVF, (10 own egg cycles & 2 donor egg), and this last cycle she did immune treatment & she's now pregnant with twins!!!! So I'm definitely a believer!

Good luck Vonnwith the iui.. I also considered insurance earlier this year, but there would have been a 12 month waiting period to claim for IVF anyway so I couldn't wait! So far were probably about $6-8k out of pocket for our first cycle.. This 2nd one will cost us about the same I think.. Mind you I forget all the incidentals like the immunologist has cost $450 so far, meds & supplement are extra too of course.. Am hoping it will all be worth it!

 

[nobump]

Hello ladies.
Jazzbird thanks for kick starting the thread again.

Vonn hope things settle down for you and you have been able to start your IUI.

JJ good luck with your stims. Hope they are going well.

AFM we are NTNP but really think we have given up. Starting to feel like I have accepted this is how things are meant to be.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Xx

 

[nobump]

AF due on Monday. On holiday. Thought have some fun in the sun. Stress free. Who showed up yesterday full throw! Why! Not happy! Dam you witch.

 

[Vonn]

juniper--how are things going for you? Where are you at right now? I hope things are going well, your plan sounded great & I hope it's moving forward!

nobump--how's the holiday going? sorry af showed.

hi to anyone else who's lurking!

AFM--after another consult with our IVF clinic, I think we will use DE if/when we do IVF. This was the 2nd dr to say it really would be hard with my eggs, less than 5% chance. It's just too much money to risk it with my eggs. I am working (and have been for some time) to come to terms with this possibility. DH and I haven't spoken too much about it yet, but the bit we have talked about makes me feel he's on board. I am feeling good that this cycle seems normal, so hopefully I'm not too far away from my final IUI! It'll be good to get that underway. Who knows, maybe I won't need DE IVF!

 

[Briss]

Vonn, I was not going to post but any time I see DE mentioned it compels me to say something. While it's a perfectly reasonable choice to opt for DE, I fear a lot of ladies are not making an informed decision and are simply being scared into DE by clinics who tell them they have poor quality eggs and very low chances. you have not even tried IVF and yet they tell you it wont be successful! It is of course a fact that as we age the egg quality goes down and it gets harder to get pregnant and stay pregnant. and it is also a fact that our uterus usually still functions well long after all the good eggs are gone and it's easier to get pregnant with DE (considering there is no underlying implantation issue which does not usually depend on age). However, in vast majority of cases you can still get pregnant with your own eggs as long as you still have your cycle and ovulate. Yes, it's harder but it's possible. What clinics fail to mention is that they just do not really want to invest time and effort in making it happen with your eggs because it does not really improve their stats or profits. DE are always more successful and more profitable. I just want you to make sure you really research this issue and totally understand the situation before you make this decision. and if you make this decision it's because that's what you want and not because you think you have no choice. if you cant get pregnant with stims there is always natural IVF (which is what I did), if you still ovulate you have a new egg coming up every month which can be collected and fertilised and put back increasing your chances of pregnancy by a lot. but you really need to invest time in finding a clinic that would work with you. in Europe natural IVF is much cheaper and it's easier on your body so I was able to do it on a monthly basis pretty much like TTC naturally but with EC/ET. I also had to change a few clinics and travel abroad to reduce costs (it's more expensive in London than in Germany or Czech republic) sometimes you just need to find the right lab/embryologist that would treat your egg nicely. we had to have IMSi due to sperm issue so lab work was very important as you are limited to one egg per cycle.

anyway, I really hope your IUi works so you do not need to go through any IVf.

 

[Vonn]

Briss--Hi! I hope you are well. I appreciate hearing all opinions on this matter, so thanks for sharing your thoughts!

For us, I'm afraid it's coming down to time and money. I think it is probably possible that I have at least a few good eggs & could get pregnant with my own eggs if time and money were no object. Others could/can make this happen, but we just don't have enough money. I will admit that this situation makes me a little resentful of the lack of money me and DH have. I have a master's degree and a good job in my field, but the money isn't great. I don't want to sell out and do work I don't love just to make more money, so how can I expect my artist DH to do that? I wish that were not the same, but tight money is a reality for us, and we both have side gigs that bring in a little extra, too.

Both doctors did tell us they would do whatever we wanted so I didn't feel pressured exactly. Now, if they stretch the truth when they say 5% success rate, then they are pressuring in a way, but how can I know that?

Just one unmedicated/natural cycle at any of my 4 local clinics would wipe out our savings entirely, so doing many until we catch a good egg is simply not realistic. It is so incredibly maddening to think about the outrageous money they charge for this. My blood just boils! There are a couple places that offer more affordable IVF in the US, but they are thousands of miles and dollars away, so lots of rounds at those clinics isn't really possible either because travel costs add up so quickly. Since we want to have 2 kids it's really important to get pg as fast as possible as I'm 41, so we do want to stack the odds in our favor. I've researched and made charts with info about many clinics & I just don't think we can keep trying indefinitely. But your post has motivated me to look back and make sure. It's such a big decision, I really want to get it "right." It's so complicated!

 

[Briss]

I understand you on time issue, it's a big problem cos you are effectively working against time which is always frustrating. It depends on your stats, if your AFC, AMH, FSH are good then you may have more time on your hands to play with. but even with good stats age still affects egg quality. unfortunately getting pregnant is only half of the journey, staying pregnant is not easier but often down to egg quality as well. having said that I am sure you still have a lot of good eggs in there. I have seen ladies getting pregnant naturally after years TTC and DE IVF cycles which all failed even with immune treatments only to get pregnant naturally at 40+.

re money, i think it's probably the same in the UK, the prices are outrages. we paid around 4,000-4,500 pounds for a natural IVF but i know stims + immunes can go up to 15-20K pounds per cycle. it's just not something that we can afford. but even 4K pounds is way too expensive compared to 600-1000 euro in Germany or Czech republic for the same natural IVF which is just 1.5 hour flight away so even with travel expenses it works out so much cheaper. so basically that's the main reason we had to look for clinics abroad. I came across many US ladies opting for Greece and Czech Republic even for cheaper DE cycles. in the end we had to use our savings so probably are stuck renting for a while, my career is virtually non existent now cos with traveling abroad for EC/ET on a monthly basis and getting annual leave at short notice (even if it's just for 2-3 days) + skipping work to go for scans/bloods which I do in London did not help. basically cos I spent more time researching for TTC than working I am 3-4 years behind in my professional knowledge and it shows so no partnership for me. but this was my choice, as soon as I realised that my stats are really poor and looks like I might be ageing faster than my actual age I had to intensify and prioritise my TTC efforts. the only thing i regret a little bit is that I did not move to IVF sooner. but even when TTC naturally I could not do both TTC and career.

just to say that I really understand the struggle you are going through. it seems so unfair.

btw, I have no idea where 5% comes from, i really think it's random cos everyone (with my stats) seems to be getting this 5% from clinics on stim cycles. in my case I often got less than 1% cos I was going with natural IVF. most people get pregnant on the first or second stim IVF cycles. there is a small % of ladies with additional issues that either do not respond to stims or have implantation or other issues that need more than that.

 

[Vonn]

Thanks, Briss. You've read and thought so much about all this that your take on things is always really helpful.

My stats are terrible, so my body is not any better than my age. I get between 3-5 total on my AFC; my AMH is .149; FSH most recently was 7.2, but once was 28. None of that is any good and I know it. But, I would LOVE to be surprised with a natural BFP!!!

I do the math on heading to Europe and it doesn't add up. My guess is when other US ladies go to Serum, Reprofit, or the others because of lower prices, they maybe aren't aware of the clinics in upstate NY or CO that offer more affordable IVF (which they do just because they think the prices charged by everyone else are outrageous).

I'm glad that you were/are able to make it work to try the way you want, natural IVF aligned with your natural cycle each month. I hope it all works out for you despite the challenges it causes in work and daily life.

I know what you mean about struggling to balance work and TTC. I've been terribly distracted at work, constantly off-task looking things up. I have taken vacation and sick time at an alarming rate. And now I'm realizing that my absentmindedness has caused problems with my credit because I forgot to pay a couple bills on time & credit cards will send that in immediately to credit reporting agencies. Grrrrrr..... I'm about to start calling and begging them to remove the charges. And I'm not above giving a sob story to a stranger.

Thanks for listening!

 

[terripeachy]

I just wanted to pop in and say hi to Briss!! How are you, chica! It's so nice to see your little picture on the screen. I've missed your long, well-thought out posts, and hope you're doing well.

 

[Briss]

Vonn, your stats are not great but OK for your age. I particularly find your 3-5 AFC encouraging. there is definitely at least one good egg in there somewhere waiting to be fertilised. I just wish IVF was for free it really should be! How's your DH's SA (sorry I am sure you mentioned it before but I just cant remember)?

I do not really have any information on US clinics so cant comment on the price range. I just came across many ladies coming from the US for IVF treatment over here but cant say I have seen anyone going to the US for IVF. I just assumed it was price related. but as you say US is a big country so the prices must vary. I so hope you can find somewhere that would work for you.

re credit card charges, they sure do sneak up on you I made it a routine to deal with these things as soon as I get my pay every month but sometimes I also forget and it's just painful what they do to you. good luck, I hope you can sort it all out quickly.

re clinics abroad, I like Reprofit better actually when it comes to cycle but Serum's Penny was super helpful. I have a few things that I do not quite agree with how they run at Serum but I was so grateful for her input (and it did not cost anything). what you can do is send her completed form together with your test results and a list of questions and ask if she can take you on. She is very thorough in responding, basically this was the first time I got all my questions relating to immune tests (and I had a very long list!) answered properly, so grateful cos immunes are just way too complicating. she even called me directly one evening on my mobile and talked through my options - no other clinic did that. but money wise it's better to do stims there rather natural IVF. Reprofit was also fantastic as they did not even charge me when we had no eggs collected (although I understand they stopped this practice now). basically you just need to start talking to various clinics by email and see what responses you get and it will make you feel more confident about this or the other clinic or particular protocol and maybe some further tests.

btw, what about mexico? are there any good and affordable clinics there? cuba could also be an option and it must be cheap there. I've heard they have pretty good medical standards (but cant be absolutely sure it's true). what about Canada?

terripeachy, thank you. I hope you are doing well? I am fine, just taking it one step at a time...

 

[nobump]

Hi Vonn and all.

Holiday was good AF only lasted a few days. Since op in May things have been better on that front.

We looked at donner eggs, but hubby wasn't comfortable about it. I have a friend who was successfully with DS her DH has medical issues so went down that route. Hope you are able to come to a decision.

Think I have come to terms with it just being the two of us.

Briss good to see you on here.


xx

 

[Briss]

nobump, it's really good that your af improved after the op. it's just great to get this sorted it was such a big issue affecting your quality of life.