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

[beemeck]

star - I know I recommended you femara on our other thread. I don't have pcos but my doc prescribed me that over clomid just because I have some symptoms of pcos. although I believe clomid worked well for smille. either way, it sounds like looking into another clinic might be a good option. they just don't sound like they are really keeping you informed the way they should. i'm so sorry you had to cancel this cycle. it's like a lifetime in ttc time. and I hope they are right about the bd on saturday. seems like they were pretty dismissive but hey, maybe one of those eggs will be fertilized!!

hiker - thanks for the info about the shot on the other thread! if I get the same nurse showing me then i'm sure she might forget that part again lol. good luck on your sono on wednesday! have you started any of the meds yet?? holy box of goodies!! We had asked all about IVF with sandy when we were there too and it's so funny since we have the exact same insurance, she told us exactly the same things down the egg hatching and all lol!

I'm now on the other side of the fence with my upcoming ultrasound. i went from terrified of a million follies (had a nightmare this weekend that I had 8) to afraid I won't even have one good one which doesn't even make sense but of course I read one story where that happened to a woman who o'ed on her own and was on my same dosage so that's all it takes. I just want friday to be here so I have a better idea of what's going on inside me. i felt a lot of right o pains saturday and sunday and now tonight felt it on my left. that's typical for me anyway but never this early. i start opks on wednesday and hope they don't go positive before the appt because i don't want things rushed. eeek!

 

[BronteForever]

Thanks so much for the info Hiker. There is so much to this process and it makes it feel a bit less overwhelming to hear from others going through it. Unfortunately, my insurance doesn't cover anything. It sounds like many that live in states that require infertility coverage have much better coverage, but unfortunately our state doesn't mandate it and I think very few employers offer insurance with coverage here. Though I'm trying to look at a lot of options (understanding insurance is not one of my strengths at all though). My husband even works at a pretty large university that offers various plans from multiple insurance providers and we looked into waiting and having me switch from my employers plan to his, but none of them cover anything past tests to determine cause of infertility (which makes me laugh that they will pay to help you determine that there is a problem than essentially just say "sorry, you are on your own" for anything that can actually help). I'm hoping some meds will be covered at least. I don't know my exact start date and I'll know more by the end of the week but I need to wait for a few reasons: including losing some weight, getting funds together, and I have a few more tests I need. Hopefully I can get it all sorted out soon.

I'm anxious to follow your journey as you start.

Bee - this is one crazy journey and I'm sure we are all going to experience a lot more ups and downs. I know I feel like I change my mind everyday with decisions and I'm normally a fairly decisive person. It's just intense and there's so many emotions involved. I'm sure the meds don't help in your case. Plus, waiting always sucks. Just get here already! Good luck!!

 

[Hiker1]

Hi again!
Bee- good luck Friday! This is your first U/s so you are naturally nervous. But once you go in there and see those follicles (depending on who you get - one lady is super friendly and very informative and will show you the screen and explain things to you; the other lady is very matter of fact and "the doctor will let you know" kind of way), you'll feel relief. If I had nearly 2 on my first month with low dose Femara (and my horrible ovaries), you'll be just fine and I'm sure will have at least one good one. I wouldn't think you'll have a ridiculous number on that low of a dose...but who knows. The reality is no doctor can predict how any person's one body will react to meds. My doc admitted he thought initially, given my ovarian numbers, he didn't think I'd respond at all and would need a donor egg! So you just never know. I'm excited to hear how you responded. Oh, and regarding your OPK, at least in my experience, while on Femara, my O day was not affected by the meds. On injectables, it was several days earlier, but not on pills. And not sure how true this is, but I was told to stop temping once you start on all the meds because your body is controlled by the drugs so much your temps get all messed up. It is also one less thing to stress about. You asked if I am on meds yet - not really - I'm on birth control until Sunday...then I don't know what comes next. After my pee-terrifying scan on Wednesday, I think the nurses are going to go over the whole protocol. Yikes!

Bronte, that is so discouraging to hear you don't have coverage for IVF. That's one more roadblock you don't need. But do try to get clarification regarding which plans would cover what because it could make a big financial difference for you. Hopefully you have a financial person at your clinic that can help you make sense of it. My hubby and I printed out both his potential and my current plans and she helped us sort through what will make the most sense for us. We each made several phone calls to both our companies to make sure we understand everything correctly. We still might not completely understand, to be honest, haha. You still might have a ton out of pocket, but every penny you can save will help I'm sure. There are so many tests you need to do before starting all this, so it's good you'll have some time to get all those done, as well as save some money and get yourself healthy in the meantime. I thought I was done (we even had genetic code testing on my husband done because...awesome, one more thing we found, I am a cystic fibrosis carrier), but when we were almost going to do emergency IVF last cycle (another emotional roller coaster), we each had to get infectious disease testing (HIV, etc.) because the FDA requires it prior to cryo-freezing embryos together. It's been such a ride, but once I have come to terms with the concept that our journey is going to be a long one, I have relaxed a bit I think. I've given up on the idea that anything will go smoothly or easily. Thanks for being here for me you guys. It is so much of a comfort to come here and share and vent with you all. I've only told my mom and 2 very trusted friends about this, but you guys are the only who truly understand. Sorry for spilling my guts here. BIG HUGS!!

 

[lemon_tree]

It is so much of a comfort to come here and share and vent with you all. I've only told my mom and 2 very trusted friends about this, but you guys are the only who truly understand. Sorry for spilling my guts here. BIG HUGS!!

I could not agree more - you girls are such blessings.

Bee, I'm so excited for you - you've got this!

Bronte, that's so frustrating to not have that coverage. I'm so sorry to hear it. Hopefully you'll get some meds covered, at least a bit. It doesn't seem right to me that insurance companies can get away with not covering infertility. It's a very real health issue.

 

[star_e]

hiker thank you for your feedback!

when you over stimmed how long did it take for your follicles to shrink? one month? and if they detect a cyst will that add an additional month? when I spoke to my doc she said it could take six weeks! oh and they also told me yesterday that I have 12 matures follicles, six on each side!

not sure if I mentioned this on this thread but my faith in the clinic has been restored. The last two visits prior to the one yesterday I had seen the other doctor because mine was out. But yesterday I met with my doctor again, finally and all is well. she was nice, professional and set aside a lot of time for us to ask questions. she did say she suspects that given my pcos I might over stimulate even by lowering the dose. I'm not very patient and so so sad about having to wait long to try again. the thought of over stimulating again next cycle is dreadful. I just don't want it to take six weeks. I don't ovd on my own so I hope these things shrink quickly and don't leave a cyst!

you over stimmed twice? did you move to IVF after?

 

[star_e]

beemeck good luck with the appointment Friday! hope it goes well!

 

[Hiker1]

Hi star e,
To answer your questions, I am under the impression that all follicles, mature or not, shrivel and dissolve after any cycle. So after your period, you shouldn't have any left. On an ultrasound they can see residual follicles from the previous cycle but there shouldn't be much of anything. As for the cysts, I think that just happens when a follicle doesn't dissolve. What I understand is they are ok so long as the bloodwork shows they are. I only had one last month that stuck around from the previous month and they had me go ahead with the meds. But I think if it's too big or the bloodwork shows otherwise, they will make you do a rest cycle so that the cyst goes away, then you can start again the following cycle. I go in for my initial ultrasound next Friday and Im hoping after all this time on birth control that all my old follicles havery gone away and I don't have any cysts that would prevent me from going ahead with ivf this cycle.

You also asked about my over stimming.what happened with me was my first cycle on Femara I had 1 mature and 1 just under follicle and did an iui. No go. Second month we did injectables and I got 5 follicles. It was risky but we did the iui, still no go. Third month we did injectables (why they didn't reduce my dose I don't know) but I got 7 follicles and we chose to cancel, just too risky. We asked about adjusting dosages, but the doctor said even by doing so, he can't promise what we'll get on any given month. So knowing that it could be many months of playing this game, combined with the fact we are not cool with multiples because of messing with meds and the fact if that happened we wouldn't be cool with selective reduction, we decided to just move onto ivf. Plus we have insurance options, my ovaries are not doing great, we want more than one child, ivf sound more controlled, and our chances are the best with this...those were all how we came to the ivf decision. Everyone is different and obviously there are lots of factors, so you have to do what's right for you and your beliefs and situation. I'm also glad you are on board with your doctor now. That is so important.

As for me I had my Sonohyst on Wednesday, which is the practice run for implantation of embryos, hopefully in a few weeks! It was horribly unpleasant. I was almost in tears I had to pee so bad. They had trouble navigating my uterus, but turns out it was because I drank way too much water, too early and my bladder was actually blocking the path! So I peed a little then it went better. Note to self on implantation day to not drink so much water!! I'm on bcp until monday, then they said I may get a period, then next Friday I go in for my initial bloodwork and ultrasound. If all looks good, I'll start my crazy meds next Friday!

Bee, how did your appointment go? I'm dying to hear how your body responded to the meds.

 

[BronteForever]

Hiker, the Sonohyst doesn't sound pleasant at all. However, that's such exciting news you'll most likely be starting this week. Does that mean you are on a long protocol since you are on BCP first? There is still so much to this I'm learning. Good luck to you!

 

[Hiker1]

I'm not sure what you mean by long protocol? They have me on bcp because I think it "quiets" the ovaries so once I start on meds the follicles all start developing at the same time. That and they only do ivf once a month at the hospital so all the women who go to my doctor's have to be on the same schedule. A little weird! But then once I start meds, hopefully friday, it shouldn't be any different time wise than with IUIs or any other cycle. The retrieval will be about 10 days after the meds start, or until I have a good number of mature follicles, which seems pretty quick to me! Then hopefully we get enough so we can implant!

 

[star_e]

hiker, thank you for your response. you had solid reasoning for choosing ivf. DH and I do not want to play a long game of gambling whether or not I will over stim either. I think we want to try at least 1 or 2 iuis and then discuss next options. but, if we over stim again and are unable to try an iui, maybe we will discuss them sooner b/c we also want more than 1 child and i am 34.

so right now i am confused as to whether or not i ovd. FF, if you see my chart below, shows that i O last saturday, but when i went to my appointment on the monday after that, they did not tell me i had O, and i would think it would have shown up on the u/s as a collapsed follie. so i am not sure what to think. when we went in last monday that is when they told us i had 12 follies and we needed to abstain from BDing. we listened to the advice, and did not BD after receiving their advice, but we had BDed before we learned this, and it turns out that we BDed on the same day that FF predicts I ovd. I really don't know what to think. Part of me thinks maybe FF is wrong and maybe my temps have risen b/c over stim makes them higher. and that really i have not ovd. only time will tell.

oh and hiker, glad you got through the hyst test, i have heard that is incredibly painful. i might have to do that at some point to and it really scares me. it almost brought you to tears and i have heard this from many people. sounds so unpleasant. congrats on getting to this point. you are going to start soon with ivf! that is awesome! keep us updated on how it goes. fx for you!

 

[BronteForever]

I don't know either, Hiker It's just based on the meds they give you, so I think with BCP that means you are the long protocol. Both long and short protocol seem to have pros and cons. But here is a good comparison chart: https://www.bubblesandbumps.com/whats-the-difference-between-a-short-and-long-ivf-protocol/

Anyway, good luck!!!

Star_e - I'm horrible at understanding charts. But I would go with what the doctor says over FF for sure. I'm sure you will be fine, but I know every stage of this can get super stressful.

 

[Hiker1]

Hi Star e,
We are in the same boat. I'm also 34, will be 35 next month, and really don't want to waste time (we also want a few children if possible!). For us, the 2-3 cycles with IUI was enough for us to say "enough." As for your chart, I'd definitely say go with what the ultrasound showed. If they showed 12 follicles (I believe it's obvious by their size and condition on an U/S whether they were released yet) at your U/S, then they are probably right and you probably didn't ovulate when FF said you did. Which is probably a very good thing considering you would have a very good chance of high number multiples if you fertilized during O time, which would be very scary. I don't know about high temps from meds - my doc discouraged me from temping once I started there. They said the meds will very much skew any accurate temp results, and the office is keeping such close tabs on me with bloodwork and U/S, that I'm better off giving that up and having one less thing to think about. Which I do admit, has been nice. But then I don't know with your situation maybe they are suggesting you do temp to help pinpoint things. In the future, if you do continue temping, you may want to try OPKs around your O time to confirm your surge. Keep us posted about what happens this cycle and what happens next!!

Bronte,
Thanks for sharing that comparison chart. I never knew that long and short protocols were even a "thing!" It sounds like maybe I'm kinda in-between? They are doing things about the same pace of my natural cycle - just started BCP's on day 3 of my cycle and kept me on for just under 2 weeks. Today was my last day of them - yay! So not super long. Then I may get a light period here in the next few days, but regardless, if bloodwork and U/S look good Friday, I start Follistim and Menopur that night. So all told, from the first day of my last period to when approximately they'll be doing my retrieval, it'll be 4 weeks. So not exactly my cycle, but not exactly super long like that chart described. I really dont know much about it as I've avoided Googling IVF at all costs and trying to stay blissfully unaware.


How's everyone else doing? Some of you have been quiet - I hope that means you all have been so busy with the happy news of your BFP's that you have forgotten about us!! (Which I would totally understand!

 

[BronteForever]

Hiker - I think you are fine. Stay blissfully unaware. Once you start Googling something, it's hard to resist. Good for you for staying away! I think the switching procols come more into play on any subsequent cycles anyway, which hopefully none of us will need. I think most doctors go the proven route first to see how you respond and then adjust as needed. You are already in good shape though since you had IUIs so they probably have a better idea of how your body responds. That's great it should only take about 4 weeks though!! How exciting. Good luck. Fingers crossed for you.

We should be set to start in late June for IVF.

 

[lemon_tree]

Hi, Hiker! :wave:

I'm glad things are progressing for you, and think it's so interesting that your clinic has all the women cycle together!

I've decided to proceed with myomectomy to get my fibroid out, which will happen next month. If all goes well, I'll need 6 months to heal before I can TTC again (because of the size of my fibroid) to avoid a high risk of uterine rupture. That basically takes me out of the game for the rest of2016.

I've been more stalker than participant lately due to this news, but I'm so excited for you all and am crossing my fingers for your BFPs.

 

[Smille24]

I'm still here to cheer you on! I'm just waiting for your retrieval. I'm so sorry the trial run was so painful for you hiker. I really think this will work.

Lemon- I'm sorry you're out for the year, but it is better to take care of the fibroids first.

Bronte- June will come by quickly.

 

[robinsonmom]

Officially in the tww 1 dpo today. Guess that puts me at a testing date of 26th my wedding anniversary. The irony

 

[star_e]

Hi Star e,
We are in the same boat. I'm also 34, will be 35 next month, and really don't want to waste time (we also want a few children if possible!). For us, the 2-3 cycles with IUI was enough for us to say "enough." As for your chart, I'd definitely say go with what the ultrasound showed. If they showed 12 follicles (I believe it's obvious by their size and condition on an U/S whether they were released yet) at your U/S, then they are probably right and you probably didn't ovulate when FF said you did. Which is probably a very good thing considering you would have a very good chance of high number multiples if you fertilized during O time, which would be very scary. I don't know about high temps from meds - my doc discouraged me from temping once I started there. They said the meds will very much skew any accurate temp results, and the office is keeping such close tabs on me with bloodwork and U/S, that I'm better off giving that up and having one less thing to think about. Which I do admit, has been nice. But then I don't know with your situation maybe they are suggesting you do temp to help pinpoint things. In the future, if you do continue temping, you may want to try OPKs around your O time to confirm your surge. Keep us posted about what happens this cycle and what happens next!!

Bronte,
Thanks for sharing that comparison chart. I never knew that long and short protocols were even a "thing!" It sounds like maybe I'm kinda in-between? They are doing things about the same pace of my natural cycle - just started BCP's on day 3 of my cycle and kept me on for just under 2 weeks. Today was my last day of them - yay! So not super long. Then I may get a light period here in the next few days, but regardless, if bloodwork and U/S look good Friday, I start Follistim and Menopur that night. So all told, from the first day of my last period to when approximately they'll be doing my retrieval, it'll be 4 weeks. So not exactly my cycle, but not exactly super long like that chart described. I really dont know much about it as I've avoided Googling IVF at all costs and trying to stay blissfully unaware.


How's everyone else doing? Some of you have been quiet - I hope that means you all have been so busy with the happy news of your BFP's that you have forgotten about us!! (Which I would totally understand!

Hiker, thank you for your response. if i find out this cycle that i did not ovd, i will definitely stop temping b/c it will be pointless if the meds just skew the temps. my temps are still high and i dont know if that is left over from the fsh injections. its been a while now though since i have taken them. if AF does not start by monday or tuesday of next week, i prob did not ovd and will call the doc so that they can prescribe meds to induce AF. will definitely keep you all updated. good luck to everyone this cycle!

 

[Hiker1]

Hi guys! Boy things have been quiet. I wanted to pop in with an update. After stopping the BCPs on Monday, sure enough AF started Wednesday. Crazy how meds call fool your body. 2 periods in 2 weeks! Hopefully I'm good and cleaned out now haha. Friday morning had my US and bloodwork and was happy to get the call yesterday that I could start my meds! I'm on so much. Double the follistim I had been on that gave me the 7 follicles, plus menopur, another fsh/follicle booster. I go back Monday (weds and Friday too) for bloodwork and ultrasounds to monitor follicles. I really hope we get lots of eggs so we can implant this month and have plenty left for later use. I can hardly even imagine the alternative of freezing them all waiting until august to do it again..I'm just too excited. I did some reading- no or little exercise during this time until implantation? Anyone else hear this?

I'm also going to try to keep the stress down and continue with acupuncture and maybe a massage good night's sleep, cut out alcohol and caffeine, drink green tea...just take care of mself and well being .

How's everyone else doing? Would love to hear updates! !

 

[Smille24]

Hiker that is great news. I really hope all of the meds provide you with lots to work with. I couldn't imagine having to wait, but like you said, you aren't sure how much time you have left. It sounds like you're on the right track. Keep us updated. Good luck this cycle!!!

 

[star_e]

hiker so exciting that you are in the stage of starting the process! yea! that's so exciting. when i saw my doc after my overstim she told me no exercise at all.

so even though what you will be doing is different maybe its similar since you will be growing many follies. please keep us updated on the process. wishing you the best of luck!