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

[Smille24]

Hiker- I had that happen to me one cycle. Af started and I scheduled my cd 3 tests and it stopped until the next day. I never had it happen to me, but it could've been stress.

 

[BronteForever]

Yeah I'm not sure. I spot every month now before my period. It's super annoying because no one is sure exactly what's causing it. They think in my case it might be scar tissue but aren't sure. It just randomly started one month. And now it happens every month. Between 2-7 days before my period. Mine is darker and more brownish in color which suggests it's old blood. I have a feeling in your case it might have been the catheter as I mentioned. If it irritates a bit of your uterus or cervix, it could have bled a bit at the time but doesn't come out fully until your period time. Our bodies are weird sometimes. Or it could be hormones changes from BCP or any of your other meds which is also possible. At least you know and can move onto IVF. Hope this is your lucky cycle!!!

 

[Hiker1]

Omg I figured it out. I'm on another board and one of the ladies was like "are you on progesterone? " and I am. She said Duh! it can delay AF and I should have stopped taking it 14 days after the iui if I had a - hpt. Did more googling and this seems really common! Sooo...somewhere between the switch of doctors I must have missed the memo to stop progesterone. Although the nurse today when I asked her, said keep taking them...so...??? Hopefully all will be cleared up tomorrow once I speak to a nurse. All these meds are totally messing with me - first the bcp and now progesterone. I am relieved though now i know menopause isn't here yet lol. Sighhhhhh....

 

[BronteForever]

Glad you figured it out!!

 

[Regin7]

Well, the beginning of the process was rather stressing for us both I should admit as it all was completely new to us. We had our 1st app on 24th March in Biotexcom clinic which is in Ukraine. (Dealing with donor eggs along with IVF this time.) The first thing as for the meds I’ve made conclusions on is never read all the scary side effects as most medications have those! The more you get into it the more it seems you’ll never cope with it if there turn to be these and those ones. Take a deep breath and just do what you’re told, trust people you’re working with on your aim! A good talk with someone professional about my worries: RE, a nurse, a family doctor, ... whoever really helps.
This is naturally we have a lot of worries, frustration and questions. So I truly believe we need to have someone close by that can help us through every step of this intense journey. Also ladies here are very helpful. Accupuncture to calm mind might be something to look into too (it helped me).

 

[lemon_tree]

Hiker, hope that chat with the nurse today helps. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Hiker1]

Hi all,
Chatted with nurse today and today is officially cd1 since I didn't have full flow before noon yesterday. I go in tomorrow for bloodwork and ultrasound, and provided all looks good, we'll move forward with ivf!! Fingers crossed! AF in full force today. She did say the progesterone likely delayed things but not to worry. Tomorrow is also my 35th birthday so with that, officially entering "advanced maternal age" territory. I really hope we get the go ahead to go ahead or that will be a double whammy of birthday suckiness.

Regin7, thanks, there is so much to get used to with all the meds and affecting out natural cycles. I sure hope they know what they are doing. And I currently do acupuncture and I agree it's a good idea to do alongside all this other very medical stuff.

Lemon, tomorrow is your procedure right? ? I'll be thinking of you. Good luck!!

 

[lemon_tree]

It is tomorrow! Eek!

Happy birthday, Hiker. I think that's a very good sign.

 

[Smille24]

Lemon- good luck with your surgery!

Hiker- happy early birthday! Fxd for great news tomorrow!

 

[BronteForever]

Welcome to advanced maternal age tomorrow I'm also 35. Let's hope it's a lucky age for both of us. Hope things go well tomorrow and it goes so much smoother this time around. Try to celebrate your birthday in there too!!

 

[Hiker1]

Had my first appointment at the new clinic. It was a very pleasant experience overall. I really liked how in the waiting room they had an article framed from the paper about IVF and in it had the stats of the 3 local clinics. The place I'm going hands down has the best success rates so that was encouraging to see that.

Man what a depressing birthday. I mean I should be happy because I got the green light to go ahead with IVF this month from the new clinic, but overall I feel so weird, almost sad about everything. Couldn't let myself be happy. Although we drank some nice wine with dinner, as I figure it will be my last one since I'm starting meds today and not going to drink during the whole ordeal. So, starting meds, then back again Saturday for follow up. Bronte, I hope you're right. I hope 35 is lucky for us both.

Lemon, how did the surgery go? I've been thinking about you.

 

[Smille24]

Hiker any update? Do you know when your retrieval will be?

 

[Hiker1]

Hi guys, thanks for thinking of me. I have been going in about every other day for monitoring appointments, which is getting tiring. Today is day 8 of stims. From what i can see, my bloodwork levels are slowly rising and uterine lining is thickening. But I don't know if it's enough to proceed with anything. Every ultrasound, the techs keep saying follicles are there but small. They increased my follistim yesterday. Based on the ultrasound report, it is showing 1- 11 and 4 less than 11 on my left ovary, and 1-12 on my right, with 6 less than 11 on my right.

Just got my instructions which say "the doctor wants to caution you we may not see a large number of follicles. We recommend proceeding with retrieval if we have 3 measurable follicles or more. We will know more after we see results on Saturday but we can talk more about how things are going at that stage."

I don't know guys. This doesn't sound good to me. Seems like they need to be larger than 11 to "count" , so right now, that means I have only 2. I hope to god the 10 little ones catch up!!! I'm trying to prep myself for another cancelled cycle.

Oh ya and since this is a Saturday appointment, I have to cancel my trip with my friends for this weekend. I'm so bummed.

 

[Smille24]

Oh Hiker I'm so sorry things aren't looking up just yet. I pray that you receive good news on Saturday. I look forward to your update.

 

[BronteForever]

Hiker - you still have several days for the others to catch up. Really hope they do. I've seen several other people have follicles that grow quickly at the end of stims. So you are definetly not out yet and that's great they will do retrieval for anything over 3. Though it sounds like you could still do the retrieval if there is less, it's just not "recommended." There's quite a few people that do natural IVF and get several embryos in multiple cycles before transferring any back. If you are worried about losing a chance at future cycles since you have a diminished reserve and have decent insurance coverage it might be worth it to talk with your doctor if there are fewer mature ones and if they could still try it. Hopefully they grow and you don't have to do that though. Good luck!!

 

[tulip11]

hi everyone
This is my first post in this thread. My hubby has NOA with FSH 13 and Testosterone on low side with with lil difference. No other issues. Chromosomal tests n other came back normal. on my side everything is normal . I have started first IVF/ICSI injections last Wednesday today is third day. Egg retrieval will be at end of June and so is hubby M TESE as well. Lets hope dr find out some swimmers.
Best of luck to all of you .

 

[lemon_tree]

Hi, Tulip! Nice to meet you. Thanks for joining the thread. Good luck with your ivf this cycle! How are you feeling?

Hiker, that is so frustrating, I'm so sorry. They do have time to catch up, though, Bronte is right. I'm just so sorry you're going through this. I hate that your clinic put you on BC and shuffled things up. Praying that things will pull through.

AFM, my surgery went well. They got the fibroid out and also discovered that I have endometriosis, so they took out as much as they could see. I'm very grateful that I had the surgery because otherwise they may never have caught that.

 

[Hiker1]

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been MIA. Didn't get notified of any responses and just checked in and saw many of you had responded.

Today is day 12 of stims. Bronte you are right, things are finally starting to catch up. I am realizing now what a good move it was for me to switch clinics. I figured out that As of Friday, had I been at the old clinic, I would probably have been cancelled again because I wouldn't have had enough by that time. Seems like I had about 10 days there. At the new place, they are not giving me any time constraints. Just so long as things are increasing with my bloodwork and follicles are growing,we are continuing on. So as of yesterday I have 3 mature follicles, with several smaller still. Not sure how much smaller, but that there are several. I go back tomorrow again to see how they are coming along. So I'm responding, just slowly.

And yes we have talked about freezing this batch and doing it again to have a good number in the bank. Just need to see what we end up with this cycle before making that call. So now I am singing the grow grow grow song!

Tulip, welcome to the thread and our group. It's a rough road but the support is so awesome. How are the shots going for you? Seems like a long time between starting meds and retrieval. What protocol are you in?

Lemon, I'm so glad to hear the surgery went well and thankfully they were able to discover your endometriosis. Sometimes things work out for the best. What complications does that present? I'm not very familiar with that condition.

I want to share a story I read this morning that I can really relate to. Well maybe not the part about th girl with too many kids but otherwise enjoy https://nadirahangail.com/2016/05/25/mind-your-own-womb/

 

[BronteForever]

Welcome to the thread Tulip. There's another "tulip" that just joined the IVF May/June board so I'm going to have to try to distinguish you since you have similar user names and are both starting IVF soon or have started. Best wishes for you. I start stims in a few weeks myself and should have egg retrieval in July.

Hiker - yay I'm so excited they are catching up and that this doctor seems to be a much better fit. You and Bee went to the same clinic, correct? I hope she can switch over as well since this new doctor seems a bit more patient centered and definetly not as time specific on several things. Really hoping your smaller ones catch up and you get a good amount for retrieval. If you want multiple kids then it sounds like freezing might be a great option in your case depending on your numbers. I love that it's even a possibility and that our eggs can stay at a "younger age" and will likely be more successful for us in the future. My husband currently only wants one child and I want at least two. But I have a feeling he's going to change his mind especially if we have left over frosties that at one point we'll need to decide what to do with. So I hope he comes around eventually. Though sometimes I think I know him better than himself and know he'll probably want more in the future if for no other reason then they can help keep each other entertained.

Lemon - hope you are doing alright. I made another post in your journal but you are definetly in my thoughts right now and hope you heal up and everything is alright. Endo isn't fun to discover at all and does make everything else more time sensitive in the future. I'm curious if I have it as well. Though I feel like it would have been seen in my ectopic surgery. It's most likely either that or scar tissue blocking my tubes and they think it's more likely scar tissue given my symptoms. They respond very similarly though and whatever it is it's not pleasant to deal with at certain times of the month and I really hope it doesn't affect either of our chances for a successful pregnancy very much. I know pregnancy itself can help some endo symptoms. Anyway hope you are doing alright and get some answers on your other potential issues soon!

 

[tulip11]

Hi, Tulip! Nice to meet you. Thanks for joining the thread. Good luck with your ivf this cycle! How are you feeling?

Hiker, that is so frustrating, I'm so sorry. They do have time to catch up, though, Bronte is right. I'm just so sorry you're going through this. I hate that your clinic put you on BC and shuffled things up. Praying that things will pull through.

AFM, my surgery went well. They got the fibroid out and also discovered that I have endometriosis, so they took out as much as they could see. I'm very grateful that I had the surgery because otherwise they may never have caught that.

I am doing well thanks. Thank you very much.