Clomid Buddies (moved from TTC board)

[Ask4joy]

Belle - those are exciting statistics! If egg or sperm quality is our issue, having more than one egg fertilized would definitely increase our chances that one will stick!

I finally got a flashing smiley today on cd 14. Yay! Looks like I should ovulate within a normal time frame this cycle. Temps keep dropping - will provably get a +OPK in the next 2 days. Just happy to see my body working normally after the CP.

 

[BelleNuit]

Yay ask! I'm glad to see things are moving in the right direction!!

 

[Ask4joy]

Except DH has performance issues whenever his kids are here (which is half the time). We never have issues when it's just us at home. He gets too worried about them hearing us. It's sooooo frustrating and can take an hour or more to get the job done!

 

[BelleNuit]

Omg Ask that would drive me crazy! Its just not fun to do it that long after awhile. Why don't you use soft cups or a syringe on those days so your DH doesn't have to worry about being heard? honestly we used soft cups 3 times this cycle because I was so sick and didn't have energy to BD.

 

[Ask4joy]

I wish we could do that but it takes even longer that way! We are going to use a collection condom for the IUI because he had such a hard time with the SA. It's totally a mental thing but at least we are able to power through it one way or another lol.

 

[LAR83]

I will ask my doctor about the extended release Femara if I don't get pregnant this cycle. I got in touch with my doctor's office today, and they said because my levels are looking good already, they want me to start Femara today (cd2) and take it for 5 days. Then I have to go in on cd10 for an ultrasound. Usually I would go in for an ultrasound on cd12 but everything got all confused this cycle since I went in for blood work 2 days earlier than usual. Hopefully they know what they are doing.. haha.. I dunno. I am nervous, but here goes another cycle. They are calling the Femara into the pharmacy now.

Glad to hear you got a flashing smiley, Ask! When I used to buy those OPKs I would get flashing smiles for like a week or longer, it was so frustrating! Then I would keep getting error messages. I stopped buying them because it was more than I wanted to spend on something that wasn't working for me. I hope you find it useful though!

And Belle, I understand about going to the other extreme. I used to really fear never being able to get pregnant, but after we got tests done and everything came up pretty good, and the doctor's seemed hopeful, I started really believing that I would. As frustrating as unexplained is, I am very thankful that they didn't find anything like closed tubes or something. It is reassuring to me that our bodies are functioning more or less as expected. I truly believe it is just a matter of when and not if for all of us... as long as we keep trying. I know some months that is harder than others.

 

[LoveCousar]

I've been so moody today. Idk whether it's from the insensitive pregnant April Fool's jokes or the fact that my best friend announced her pregnancy on social media today but I am not feeling it. I want this sooooo bad. I've always said something is wrong because I've never been pregnant & people brushed it off because I'm so "young" & tell me that "it will happen" but here I am medicated & partially monitored at 25 years old & it still isn't working. I would be so happy with just 1 baby in my lifetime, just ONE but why is it so hard for us when there are people who get pregnant so easily who think abortions are a form of birth control. BOTH OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE PREGNANT A WEEK APART & both had abortions in their lifetime. It just isn't fair

 

[BelleNuit]

Ask you're a good woman, those performance issues can be tough to work through! I'm glad the collection condom will be an option for you for the IUI! Thats fantastic! Maybe in a way the IUI will take some of the pressure off from your guy?

Lar i hope you're right about it just being a matter of time. I know that most people with unexplained do end up conceiving if they pursue treatment. So i think we are all doing the right thing. I've been mentally preparing myself for IUI. Ultimately it doesn't matter how my child is conceived, the important thing is that I have a child. We are all so fortunate to live in a time and a place where fertility treatments are easily accessible, even if there is a cost associated. We just have to take it one step at a time!

Lar I'm hoping that femara will make the different for you this cycle! Who knows, maybe starting it an extra day early will help you get more eggs!

Love I'm sorry you're having such a tough go of it today, I was preparing myself to see a bunch of fake pregnancy announcements, but luckily none popped up on my newsfeed this year. I also have found myself saying "why can't I just have one! I would be happy with 1!" There are so many people who take their kids for granted that it just doesn't seem fair. If I ever do have a child I'll look at my infertility as a blessing though. It will be a reminder for me not to take things for granted.

Well I was SUPER moody today and ended up having a crying fit lol. I want to blame it on the femara. I've been feeling irritable and on edge the last couple of days. I have a four year old half-brother who I was baby sitting today. (we share the same dad) and he randomly started calling me mommy. "mommy, mommy, can I have this, can I do this, mommy..." I had to tell him I wasn't his mommy and then he started calling me by my name. He probably doesn't fully understand what those terms mean. He knows I'm not an aunty, but it probably seems weird to him to call an adult by their first name. Maybe that's what was tugging on my heart strings today.

 

[LAR83]

Yes, Belle, I am so thankful for the opportunity and resources to pursue fertility treatment. so far it hasn't been very expensive because my insurance covers most of it. But it only covers 4 IUIs, so I am really hoping it works in the first 4 tries. Two down, two to go.

I just picked up the Femara from the pharmacy. My doctor started me on 5mg for some reason. I was surprised. I am also a little nervous about what side effects I might experience. Hopefully nothing too unbearable.

 

[Ask4joy]

Love - that's gotta be tough having both of your best friends pregnant right now. All of my best friends and nearly all of my friends have had at least 1 child at this point, which isn't surprising at my age but definitely makes me feel totally out of the loop. I can't participate in the mommy conversations and sometimes it just makes me feel sick. It will be your turn soon, I'm sure! It's only a matter of time now that you're ovulating on clomid!

Belle - it can certainly try my patience at times but it could be worse. I'm grateful that DH has been able to go every day and every other day (we've tried both and both times we conceived we were doing eod). Most of the time it's no problem but if we've had a fight or his kids are here or something is stressing him out it can take longer than I'd like! The pressure of delivering the sample definitely stresses me out because I know he's effected by that kinda stuff. I'm sorry you had a tough day! Sometimes my students accidentally call me mommy and it pulls on my heart strings too. I also have a little brother and sister (they are 9 and 13 now) and it definitely took them until maybe 6 or so to understand the dynamic of our relationship. I love them dearly (though I bawled my eyes out when at the age of 20 when my dad told me his wife was pregnant with a girl lol! I was a big daddy's girl).

LAR - you are really lucky that your insurance covers infertility treatment. Mine covers nothing. Even the progesterone I picked up yesterday - they will only cover a 30 day supply (which is actually 2 months worth as it's only used during the luteal phase)...apparently without insurance a 30 day supply costs $300. Ugh! The IUI should be around $500.

 

[LAR83]

yikes! that is a lot of money for the progesterone. IUI is also pretty expensive when you consider that the success rate isn't really that high until you do a few of them. But it certainly can work on the first try. Fx that this is your cycle!

wondering, does anyone's partner take anything for sperm count/quality? and did they have it tested before and after and notice if there was any improvement? thinking about asking DH to take something, but I am not sure if he will. I bought him multivitamins a while ago, but the bottle still seems pretty full.

 

[Ask4joy]

LAR - DH takes a multivitamin and coq10 (we just switched from ubiquinone to ubiquinol at the beginning of last cycle which is supposed to be much better). He also started taking omega 3 fish oil at the beginning of last cycle but recently developed an allergic reaction to it. Not sure if either of those led to our BFP last month but it may have! CoQ10 is supposed to be excellent for both sperm and egg quality. He's only had the one SA which was normal so I don't know if his numbers have changed. Guess we will find out in a few days!

 

[LAR83]

Thanks Ask. Excited to hear how it goes! Hmm.. I didn't know coq10 was good for sperm too. Maybe I will pick some up for both of us to take.

 

[Ask4joy]

Can't hurt! It's a powerful antioxidant. Just make sure you get ubiquinol not ubiquinone (your body has to work to convert the ubiquinone into ubiquinol which it becomes less efficient at as you age).

 

[LAR83]

thanks for the head's up! will probably pick it up tomorrow. I guess there is no problem with taking it with clomid or femara? I plan to take it and hopefully convince DH to take it too.

 

[Ask4joy]

I don't think so. It's not an herb and doesn't effect hormones as far as I know.
It supports healthy cell development and helps repair damaged cells.

 

[Norelisa]

Thanks Ask. Excited to hear how it goes! Hmm.. I didn't know coq10 was good for sperm too. Maybe I will pick some up for both of us to take.

Ok, so last summer my hubby had following results after SA(approx):

Count; 99 million (good)
Mobility (15% - of these 15% only about 5% moved forward) (bad)
Morph: 3% (not the best, huh?!)

We redid a test end of Dec, with no big changes other than DH cutting down on alochol:
Count: 119 million (good)
Mobility: 17% (6% progressive, moving forward. Slight improvement)
Morph: 4% (slight improvement)

Since it takes about 2-3 months to make swimmers I started giving hubby some extra vitamins / nuts and seeds from beginning of Dec, and we did a third SA beginning of March:

Count : 275 million (woah!)
Mobility: 67 %!!! (50% progressive moving forward) (double woah!!)
Morph: 5% (still, an improvement!)

So what he took (he forgets when I am not around, so he just had 3-4 weeks with nada.. even though I packed it in his bag, and he KNOWS it makes a difference.. Mother in Law being a bad influence...)

- Follic Acid (5mg - he took my tablets)
-COq10 (30 mg)
- 2-3 brazil nuts a day for the selenium
- Multivit (grrrumph that he also stopped taking..)
- Vit C (also stopped taking by now )
- walnuts / pumkin seeds / sunflower seeds as snacks
- 1 square of dark chocolate every once in a while..

I am really annoyed that he stops taking his supplements, as we clearly saw a big change after he had taken them for 2 months.. I guess we will know the count and motility next week-ish if we can do the IUI this cycle..

 

[LAR83]

thanks nor! that is really helpful. my dh had 3% morphology when he was tested too. I understand the frustration with dh not taking his vitamins! the nuts and seeds are a great idea though. my dh loves nuts, so that sounds doable

 

[BelleNuit]

Nore those are fantastic results!!! I have DH on fish oils, coq10, vitamin C, mens multi vitamin and melatonin (which he uses for sleep). Melatonin is also a pretty strong antioxidant. Its so great to hear actual tested results and the improvements shown! Hopefully that morphology will keep sneaking up for you guys as well!

 

[LAR83]

anyone notice changes with your period while on clomid or femara? I don't know if it might be from taking the clomid the last two cycles or the femara this cycle.. but my period is much different. usually it is about 6-7 days including spotting/light flow days, with at least 2-3 very heavy days and 2-3 medium flow days. this cycle I only had two days with light to medium flow and now nothing on day three except a little blood when I wipe. so strange. my period is never this light. I don't know if it is a good thing, a bad thing, or if it doesn't really matter, as far as fertility is concerned. I am also going through it emotionally tonight. I don't know if it has to do with the Femara. maybe, but it could just be me. my mom died in a tragic way less than a year ago and the grief is hitting me like a ton of bricks tonight. I can't stop crying.