Entering the world of Assisted Conception...like it or not...

[TinyLynne]

Thank you ladies. IUI this afternoon. I will let you know how it goes.

Good luck to you!

 

[Hiker1]

Hi all, just checking in to see how you are all doing?

Had my check this morning. 4 follicles starting to grow! I am to continue the same dose for my shots the next 3 days and go for a recheck on Saturday morning (715am! No rest for me!!). Nothing else to report.

 

[lemon_tree]

Hi, Hiker! That's great news, and I hope the recheck goes well, too.

I had my bloodwork done yesterday (something like 12 vials ) and then my day 3/antral follicle ultrasound. The tech saw some follicles but wouldn't tell me more than that.

DH had a few blood tests too and did his SA. Now, we wait. HSG next Friday!

What are your next steps, this cycle, after your Saturday AM re-check?

And Tiny - how did your IUI go?

 

[TinyLynne]

It was incredibly painful. It didn't help that I was expecting it to be like a pap, just a little discomfort, but it was awful. I hurt for a long time after and bled more than I expected. She used some tool to 'straighten out' my cervix and it was horrible. I never want to go through that again.

DH had a good sample they told us, no official counts or anything but she said "lots and they were moving all over the place". I talked to them while they were in the cup staying warm in my bra on the way to the office. Lol. Told them to behave and if there were any unbalanced ones that they should just die before we get there.

Sounds like you ladies are moving along nicely! Happy thoughts for continued progress!

1dpo down, lots to go!

 

[Hiker1]

Hi, Hiker! That's great news, and I hope the recheck goes well, too.

I had my bloodwork done yesterday (something like 12 vials ) and then my day 3/antral follicle ultrasound. The tech saw some follicles but wouldn't tell me more than that.

DH had a few blood tests too and did his SA. Now, we wait. HSG next Friday!

What are your next steps, this cycle, after your Saturday AM re-check?

And Tiny - how did your IUI go?

Hi Lemon,
Yes they do take a ton of blood that first time around. They are testing you for tons of things!! Hopefully the bloodwork will give your doctor good information so you guys can come up with a plan and get rolling. And hopefully it will roll quickly. I remind myself that it was Dec. 9 when I first when to see my regular gyno about a potential problem. And here it is, 2 months later and I'm already on my second month of assisted fertility. So for us, it's moved very quickly. And I hope the same for you as well. Fingers crossed for you!

I believe for this cycle, they continue to monitor me every 2 to 3 days with bloodwork and ultrasounds and will adjust how much I need to inject every day based on that. I think they are checking how many and how fast follicles are growing until they are the right size. At that time I'll have to do my Ovidrel trigger shot and IUI a day or so later. (Same as last month, just more monitoring as I'm doing the injectables, not pills) At least that's what I'm guessing! This is all new to me!

 

[Hiker1]

It was incredibly painful. It didn't help that I was expecting it to be like a pap, just a little discomfort, but it was awful. I hurt for a long time after and bled more than I expected. She used some tool to 'straighten out' my cervix and it was horrible. I never want to go through that again.

DH had a good sample they told us, no official counts or anything but she said "lots and they were moving all over the place". I talked to them while they were in the cup staying warm in my bra on the way to the office. Lol. Told them to behave and if there were any unbalanced ones that they should just die before we get there.

Sounds like you ladies are moving along nicely! Happy thoughts for continued progress!

1dpo down, lots to go!

Hi Tiny! That sounds awful whatever it is they did to your cervix! Yikes!! The actual IUI shouldn't be painful...at least it wasn't for me. I felt nothing - same as when I had my HSG. But I guess everyone's different. I assume they put the swimmers through the machine that cleans out the bad ones? My hubby last month went in 2 hours before me to give his "sample", then they had to process them for 1.5 hours, which is when I came in and they did the IUI. Hopefully if you have to do the IUI again, they won't mess with your cervix again. And hopefully you wont have to do it again because you'll get your BFP this month!!

 

[Smille24]

Tiny - the IUI definitely shouldn't have been painful. I didn't feel a thing and it was done in less than a minute. I'm so sorry you had a horrible experience. It sounds like you have an awesome shot as it only takes 1. I hope this is your cycle and you don't have to go through that again.

Lemon- All of the testing and a plan of action goes really quick. We started seeing our RE a week before Thanksgiving. I started the tests the Mon after Thanksgiving and first IUI was Jan 12th. You probably wont get any insight on the tests until your follow up. It sounds like things are moving at a great pace and you'll have answers soon.

Hiker- it sounds like things are progressing nicely. I really think this will work because you're on the right track. Are you having any side effects from the injections? Are you doing ok with everything going on?

 

[Hiker1]

Tiny - the IUI definitely shouldn't have been painful. I didn't feel a thing and it was done in less than a minute. I'm so sorry you had a horrible experience. It sounds like you have an awesome shot as it only takes 1. I hope this is your cycle and you don't have to go through that again.

Lemon- All of the testing and a plan of action goes really quick. We started seeing our RE a week before Thanksgiving. I started the tests the Mon after Thanksgiving and first IUI was Jan 12th. You probably wont get any insight on the tests until your follow up. It sounds like things are moving at a great pace and you'll have answers soon.

Hiker- it sounds like things are progressing nicely. I really think this will work because you're on the right track. Are you having any side effects from the injections? Are you doing ok with everything going on?

Hi Smille!! So I definitely feel strong cramping at certain times. Not crippling by any means, but like AF cramps...definitely the workshop is running at full steam! Haha!

Also where we are giving the injections can be sore for a few hours. I've tried icing before which helps right at the time of injecting, but still stings later in the evening.

I've been pretty tired - taking a nap almost every day - but it's probably more to do with these 6/7am appointments a half hour away from my house that are making me tired more than anything!

How are you feeling?? I'm hoping I will be joining you soon on your side of this journey!

 

[Smille24]

Tiny - the IUI definitely shouldn't have been painful. I didn't feel a thing and it was done in less than a minute. I'm so sorry you had a horrible experience. It sounds like you have an awesome shot as it only takes 1. I hope this is your cycle and you don't have to go through that again.

Lemon- All of the testing and a plan of action goes really quick. We started seeing our RE a week before Thanksgiving. I started the tests the Mon after Thanksgiving and first IUI was Jan 12th. You probably wont get any insight on the tests until your follow up. It sounds like things are moving at a great pace and you'll have answers soon.

Hiker- it sounds like things are progressing nicely. I really think this will work because you're on the right track. Are you having any side effects from the injections? Are you doing ok with everything going on?

Hi Smille!! So I definitely feel strong cramping at certain times. Not crippling by any means, but like AF cramps...definitely the workshop is running at full steam! Haha!

Also where we are giving the injections can be sore for a few hours. I've tried icing before which helps right at the time of injecting, but still stings later in the evening.

I've been pretty tired - taking a nap almost every day - but it's probably more to do with these 6/7am appointments a half hour away from my house that are making me tired more than anything!

How are you feeling?? I'm hoping I will be joining you soon on your side of this journey!

I'm glad you aren't having any awful side effects. Cramping is a good sign, as you said your body is really doing work. I bet the tiredness is from having to get up and go so early, plus everything you're going through.

I am feeling ok. Morning sickness has kicked in the last few days. My boobs are still hurting really bad, but it's going ok.

 

[TinyLynne]

I'm sure it was from the 'straightening' torture device!

I wonder if they do something different to prepare the samples, I think ours only took about 30 minutes, maybe a little longer, but less than an hour.

All of these appointments are exhausting. Just setting them up and planning your life around them gets exhausting! I hope you get to catch up on some sleep soon!

Sorry you are feeling icky Smille. It's a great sign of that healthy baby!

 

[miranda007]

Welcome Tiny! That sucks that it was painful for u. U poor thing. And I saw on your signature thingy you've had a few CP's. Life is really unfair isn't it?! I hope this works out for u.

Lemon tree I remember I had the same they took so much blood and the girl checked everything like 3 or 4 times - our name, birth date, ahh it took ages. Actually one of the other nurses we had a little laugh about it when she was taking my IVF bloods and she said people complained that she double checked stuff like some bad OCD.

Hiker - I never tried to injectibles. That's a pain that they sting. I'm sure u won't end up with too many bubs too! I was reading ages ago on Michael Greger's Nutritionfacts.org videos that he thinks the twin risks increases because of the hormones in the dairy. You can check them out yourself. I just thought it was interesting.

Yeah we were married in Feb 14. It's really hard for the 1st anniversary to click over and i felt down coming up to the second anniversary and would think argh I'm still not pregnant. It's hard when others around u are flying by.

As for me I'm still in shock it worked - I don't feel any different. Not sick at all. I'm eating everything I did before I was pregnant. You know minus the ciggues, bottles of whiskey. Kidding!! I cut out coffee doing the IVF so haven't had to make that change.
Actually been feeling so well I talked to my Dr and friends and they said it's fine to return to the gym (as I was pretty fit before). But just not going super intense - the instructor said you'll notice your heartbeat gets a lot higher more easily. Definitely notice that I have a heart rate monitor and watch it. My Mum didn't get any morning sickness, neither has my sister, so I'm not too worried. Smile I've heard the same morning sickness is a good sign.

 

[Hiker1]

I need some help here - I'm freaking out a little. So I just got off the phone with my doctor's office. Apparently of the 6 follicles forming, 2 are the right size and another 2 are right behind them, and a couple smaller than that. My husband and I now have to choose if we want to cancel this cycle or take a chance of having multiples. When I asked the nurse, how many are we talking, she said, well it could be 4 or 5!!

I am speechless and have no idea what to do. I asked to speak with the doctor personally, so she's going to call me back later on today. I'm so conflicted. I definitely dont want quadruplets, but would never do "selective reduction". Then again, there's no guarrantee this month will work anyhow. Ahh what to do???

 

[lemon_tree]

Oh gosh, Hiker, that's amazing!

What would it mean for you if you cancelled this cycle? Could the same thing happen next month or would they adjust your treatment plan?

And I'm curious what the doc recommends.

But...just wow.

 

[Hiker1]

Lemon, I asked the nurse the same question - how would this be any different next month? She said since this was my first month of injectables, they have no idea how a person will respond to the dosage. So now they know I respond REALLY well, so next month I'd just be on a lower dosage so I don't produce as many. I'm hoping when the doctor calls back she can give me some kind of statistics so we can make an educated decision. I hate to waste a month, but I also don't want to end up with a life changing decision because I was impatient. This is so insane.

 

[TinyLynne]

Hiker, sorry you are in that position. It must be stressful and confusing. Our doctor asked us how we would feel about selective reduction and told us he wouldn't let us proceed until we have discussed it with each other. He always gives us the risk % and issues with the babies of multiple births. Regardless of if it is likely or not that we will conceive at all, he makes sure that we know that there is always a chance.

The decision can only be made by you and DH. Again, I'm really sorry that you are in this position.

Is this the first time you have responded this much?

 

[Hiker1]

Tiny,
this is only our second month with assisted conception. Last month I took Femara and had 1 mature and 1 immature follicle. So yes, this is the first time anything like this has happened. To top it off our doctor is on vacation so this is the other doctor we are dealing with. I just left a message on the nurse line to see if the partner could still speak with our doctor so that between the 2 of them they can give us a recommendation or some stats of some kind. Blahhhh

 

[TinyLynne]

I'm sorry I hope you can get the information you are looking for.

I don't think the stats are super high that all of them would be mature and fertilize and implant and grow. But there always is at least a small chance. Hopefully you get an understanding and realistic Doctor though. Mine just makes me feel like I want to be 'stupid' like Octomom when I even mention 2-3 follicles.

Let us know how it goes!

 

[MMW430]

Personally, I think if your doctor feels that the chance of big multiples (as in more than two) is high, I would cancel the cycle. Before our second cycle, some nurse who had no business making suggestions had said we would probably be moving to injectables. Then, another nurse called and told me that the doctor wouldn't be comfortable allowing me to do that unless I was cool with selective reduction (like it was my idea to do that or something) which we were, but who really wants to be in that position? It's life altering. Even more life altering than having one or two babies at a time.

 

[Hiker1]

Just spoke to the doctor. She said I have definitely 1 egg, most likely 2, probably 4, and potentially 6. She said I am right on the borderline - not enough that she'll say cancel the cycle, but she's hesitant to recommend going ahead with it. She said our regular doctor is one who would say definitely go ahead with it, but she said he doesn't have an issue with multiples (twins, triplets). When I asked for statistics, she said we have a 20% chance of conceiving, and if we conceive, 20% chance of twins, and 3-5% chance of triplets or more. Just depends on our comfort. I cannot bear the thought of "selective reduction" but still divided as to whether that's even realistic possibility or if we are being paranoid.

 

[MMW430]

It doesn't seem like the odds for big multiples are really that high. Twins wouldn't be so bad. Having 5 at once would be, but that seems hardly plausible. Go with your gut. If you think about the possibility of having big multiples, and it's something you both can realistically live with, then that's all that matters.