First time IVF - Started Lupron last Thurs - Would Love some Buddies

[sars930]

It is very quiet after some exciting few weeks. I've got nothing exciting to report.

I've been breaking out pretty badly as well LadySosa.

What's your itinerary for the trip LadySosa?

 

[LadySosa]

Ugh, it's the worst! Nothing I do seems to stop my face from breaking out. I am sure I will have to deal with this during pregnancy too.

We fly into San Diego on Fri, then rent a car (convertible hopefully) and drive to Huntington beach and stay one night. Then the next day, we drive to San Luis Obispo and stay one night in the Madonna Inn in a theme room! (Old West theme) Then on Sunday we'll visit the Hearst Castle, and drive to Carmel, stay one night. At some point I'd like to visit a winery or two! Then on Monday, we can dink around Carmel, drive to San Jose, and fly home. It'll be a mini road trip.

 

[Mrs W 11]

Hi everyone!

Kfs congrats on being an aunty as well as a mummy, lovely news! My dd and my niece are only 9 months apart as my sister didn't want to steal my thunder so got pregnant the month I gave birth! I wouldn't have minded tho, like you, I think it's an exciting journey to share!

Terri, glad your baseline scan went well, yay for getting started! Lovely amount of follicles!

Jkb, brilliant news on your repeat scan! Your little lady is growing strong! Wonderful picture!

Sars great news that your betas were good! Sounds like all is fine in there. And yay for baby shopping, I loved it when I was preggo! We don't have pottery barn in the uk but the sheets sound gorgeous!

Baby w I went bowling on Monday night and was rubbish!! Came second to last so well done you for winning, it's hard!! Fun though

Lady and Amy as you are having fets, I don't think a few glasses of wine in the run up will make much difference. I've only stopped because of my egg quality with my ivf. I have been pregnant twice in the past (my dd and a mmc) and both times I drank a little until I had a positive test.

As for me, had a scan today after 5 days of stims. They saw 6 follicles, 2 small (under 6mm), 2 medium and 2 bigger (10mm). The nurse is going to scan me again Friday and said we will know more then. She said it was too early to call yet as some follicles may plateau, some may grow lots. She mentioned again about cycle cancellation and low success rates, which is very disheartening, but I have to keep going and praying!

 

[terripeachy]

Nothing exciting going on over here.

Mrs. W-Does the nurse want you to cancel first? When would they let you know about cancellation AND why would they do that? Like, if you only had 4 eggs, 1egg? I don't understand the criteria, I guess. It only takes one, so why cancel? There are several here that can attest to that. I'm still thinking positively for you. Friday we'll know more.

LadySosa-Sounds like a great trip. As far as drinking, I have cut back for a while now, so I don't remember when I started stopping. hee hee. I'm sure you'll be fine. Most say 'drink until it's pink' so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

jkb-nice new picture!

 

[jkb11]

The board is quiet this week! I need some action to read about! Haha.

Jkb - yay! How exciting! And so cool to see your little peanut in her picture. So glad everything is going along smoothly for you. I think Kfs is not actually having twins - its just that her sis is having a baby at the same time...Right? Did I read it correctly?

Anywhoo, afm, nothing too exciting. Still plugging along with 5 mg of Lupron and my estrogen 2x a day. The estrogen is making me break out. Ugh. Getting ready for our trip - soo excited! We fly out Friday.

the one symptom I do have is pregnancy brain! I totally meant knit girl! I broke out horribly in the beginning as well but then it went away. Hope your breakout stops soon. It is annoying.

Mrs. W - praying your repeat scan on Friday has exactly what they want to see. Yay for 2 more follicles! Sorry the nurse is so negative

 

[beaglemom]

Hey guys. I am trying to limit my pregnancy talk on this thread just in case it gets on anyone's nerves

I am pretty much set on baby clothes & maternity clothes after this past weekend. My mom took me to goodwill & I actually found a ton of stuff to get me through the first few months.

So now I am focused on baby announcements & finding good deals on diapers. My candy bar wrappers came yesterday, so family announcements will go out this week I hope! Telling my step dad in person tonight. And I just went to Hobby Lobby & loaded up on things to announce it at work. After searching for blue candy & thinking about cakes or cupcakes or whatever...I finally decided on cupcakes. Cheap & easy. So I bought a card board cupcake tower, some It's a Boy flags to put in them, napkins, & some blue paper to write the announcement. I work at a bank, so I am set up kind of weird. I plan to set it all up in a room behind the teller line. But not everyone goes back there. So I am putting a few on people's desks with a little note card. I also found this cute small easel...chalkboad on one side & dry erase on the other. I will use it for the cupcake tower display. I also plan to use it to mark days on my bump pics when we start those.

Am I being egotistical with all this? I just really want to enjoy the surprise factor. I think after so long I just want to go all out & enjoy all of it! And I think I should be able to enjoy it however I want!

As far as my dad, thank you again for everyone's comments. I don't plan to make any more efforts. He is grown...he can choose to act how he wants. And I choose to enjoy my first pregnancy. I don't need the negativity...and I am growing a child...I do not have time to bottle feed a grown man! But thanks for letting me vent & for the kind words.

 

[booger76]

Hi ladies!

Beagle - I think you're just really excited! There's nothing wrong with that. You've waited a long time for this to happen so do whatever you want.

jkb - Hooray for your great scan. What a relief. I'm always happy to hear about you ladies doing so well with everything. Helps calm my nerves a bit!

Terri - You are always so nice! Surely these little acts of kindness you do for others have to be repaid at some point, hopefully in the form a baby bundle of joy!

MrsW - If you only have one ovary, it sounds to me like your stimming quite well. Your nurse sounds overly cautious. Next time just ask her why she keeps saying you might get canceled. Good luck on Friday - this part of IVF is one of the hardest. You can do it!!!

LasySosa - Your trip sounds amazing!!! I am jealous. Drink some wine for me. I'm trying to taper off a bit since transfer is getting closer. I sure am going to miss my DH's beer. He keeps asking me what kind he should brew next, and I'm like "I don't know - I won't (fingers crossed) be able to drink it!" I don't remember reading if your bathroom remodel is finished.....

Babywhisperer - Sorry you fell but glad to hear it was nothing to worry about. And way to kiss ass bowling!! I am the worst. Horrible. But it's still fun. We have a Wii and I even enjoy Wii bowling. I wish I could come to VT to ski. DHs family has a cabin near Burke so we would even have a place to stay. Maybe next year - then his Mom can babysit while we ski.

Amy - Hooray for having less than a week to go!! I'm not going to lie, I am getting SUPER nervous. How are you feeling??

Hola to all you other fabulous ladies!! I hope everyone is doing well.

I'm back from my whirlwind trip to my clinic for monitoring this morning. I think everything looked okay but it seems like my lining has stalled out at just over 8 mm. I hope that's okay. I haven't heard back from nurse yet to see what she has to say, but my doctor does the ultrasounds himself and he didn't seemed concerned so I'm trying not to worry.

So, I had one the nurses give my first PIO shot while I was there and then draw X's where I should do them myself. The shot itself didn't hurt at all but about 2 minutes later, it was pretty achy. So much for hoping that my extra junk in the trunk would help alleviate any pain! I just figured since my trigger shot was a breeze that these shots would be too, but I guess the thick oil really does make a difference. Oh well, guess I had better get used to them because if I end up pregnant then I'll have to take 46 total!! I think as long as I move around, I'll be alright.

Like I mentioned to Amy above, I am getting super nervous. I've let myself have hope and believe that this transfer is going to work. Now I'm not sure how I'll take it if it doesn't.

 

[beaglemom]

Booger I think your lining is probably okay. Seems like 7 was the number they are looking for, but I am not sure. The progesterone helps with that too, right?

I felt so pumped & excited until right after transfer. Buying stuff specifically for a boy made me so nervous. Which reminds me, how is the gender part going to go? Can you choose? Will you choose? If they choose for you, do you plan to have them tell you the same day what the gender is? So following transfer I started getting pretty paranoid & freaking out. But all was well in the end. I honestly think we have the benefit since doing PGS. Keep reminding yourself of that! What are the plans for testing? Any early testing?

 

[booger76]

Thanks, Beagle. Since the Dr. didn't seem disappointed or concerned about my lining thickness, then I think I'm okay. We'll see what my nurse says when she calls.

The plan right now is to let the clinic choose the embryo for transfer. We also don't plan on finding out before birth. BUT, I am horrible with surprises, so there is a good chance I might cave at some point and find out. We shall see.

I also don't plan to test early. I might take a home pregnancy test the morning of beta but I'm not sure about that yet either. I just don't want to stress myself out and I know if I test early that is what will happen. You asking is a good reminder that I need to purge my house of all pregnancy tests!

 

[Mrs W 11]

Thanks so much everyone for all of your support. It's actually two different nurses and I think they are just being cautious and preparing me for the reality. They are saying that if they all grow, great news, but if only one or two keep growing they might suggest cancelling because my chance of getting those eggs to transfer and pregnancy are very low. But they did say they had one instance of a lady with one follicle, one egg, one embryo and a baby! So it happens.

Booger the injections are not nice are they, I'm doing two a day just now. I hope your lining keeps thickening although I'm sure they'd have said if they were concerned. My lining was 7mm at a scan a few months ago and I was told that was ok and would support a pregnancy if one happened.

Beagle enjoy it all! I was such a worrier through my first pregnancy, now I don't know if I will get a second I wish I'd just relaxed and enjoyed it all. It's wonderful!

How are you feeling terri?

 

[booger76]

Thanks, MrsW! Thanks makes sense about the lead follicles.

Sars - I forgot to say that as long as my Dr. and my nurse say it's okay to keep running, I plan on running after transfer. I think I'm just supposed to keep my heart rate below 140 - which is more a jog for me - but I'll take whatever I can get! Glad you got 2 miles in the other evening. I bet after your scan on Friday, you can start doing more if you want. Everything I have read says running throughout pregnancy is fine as long as you feel good doing it and don't fall! I have this trail race that I absolutely love (it's not until the middle of May) and the registration just opened. I was so tempted to register (mainly because if this transfer doesn't work then the race cap will likely be filled already by the time I know) but I didn't just in case. I'm pretty clumsy on trails so I just figured I had better not chance it. DH wasn't all that interested in doing it again this year (because he doesn't think he can run faster than last year - boys!) so that helped me decide too.

 

[beaglemom]

Mrs W - there is something called mini-IVF. Basically it is less meds I think. From what I understand they retrieve one to two eggs & implant. Not sure of the success rate, but obviously they do not get the benefit of frosties. But none of us are guaranteed that either. I say this to you just to remind you you only need one good one...and there is actually a practice out there of only retrieving 1 & transferring one.

 

[beaglemom]

Side note...how easily do you think people can read & comprehend the BNB logo? My computer faces the door so I have to quickly click away when I hear the door.

 

[LadySosa]

LOL Beagle! I always think the same thing. My back sits to the window right where our front door is. So I keep my blinds shut so people can't see what I have on my monitor. They may not be able to recognize or read the BNB logo, but with all the pictures and purple/pink on the screen I am sure people can tell it's not work-related. Haha.

 

[terripeachy]

Booger-don't be nervous. You're finally getting to the good part!! Yeah. I am not a big tester so have your DH hide the tests. That way you won't be tempted if you know where they are.

Oh and I had one bad experience with PIO and I still feel sore to this day when I start running. I think I was too close to my hip or something. As long as you stay in the general area of yor backside, you should be fine. I also looked at google images every day before I injected to remember exactly where I was supposed to give myself the shot. That eased my mind and gave me confidence. The oil is kind of thick so it takes longer to inject. You'll be fine. Maybe take a picture of those Xs. I should have done that.

I picked up my new prescription of BCPs today. No one was in the pharmacy so it was great. Mental note: never go to the pharmacy the day before predicted snow. I haven't heard back from my nurse but I forget what days she is out of the office.

 

[sars930]

LadySosa: Your trip sounds awesome! I second the drink lots of wine comment. I'd love some wine right now. Good call by Booger checking on the bathroom progress. I'd love to see photos if it it is done.

MrsW: Glad to hear things are going well! Hopefully, your nurse is just trying to keep you informed of all the possibilities but it's not needed info. How are you feeling?

Beagle: When do you plan on telling everyone? My closest girlfriends and family knew about IVF, so they know. I wasn't planning on going broader until 10-12 weeks. We'll tell some friends in person and most of my co-workers will learn on Facebook.

Booger: I definitely thought the PIO needle hurt the most but it wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't get so damn sore from the shots. It's funny Terri said one spot still bothers her because I swear I could feel something when I ran last week.

You're doing them yourself? I don't think there's anyway I could have done mine. I did do all of my other shots. I could have reached the spot perhaps but you really had to stab it in there and I don't think I could get the force. My nurse drew circles with a Sharpie, which stayed on about 2 weeks with me showering every day. And by then there were plenty of needle marks to guide the way.

Your anxiety is super normal. We spend so much time waiting and putting so much energy into this, the closer it gets the thought of failure is totally overwhelming. I tried to keep a positive attitude while also preparing myself for the worst. It does help you have some frosties in the wings!! But I feel great about how this is going to go for you! You've done everything you can, now you have to trust your doctor and mother nature. I'd be psyched if you held out and joined team yellow! It is annoying how little gender neutral stuff there is out there.

After your transfer, they'll probably tell you to keep it easy for like 36 hours and then you can resume your normal activities. The only reason she's been keeping me from running is how big my ovaries got. I think I may have a mild case of OHSS given how sore they were and how long it took them to go down. There was no way I wanted to run by then. I'm hoping to run a half-marathon I run each year at the end of April. I'll definitely be slower than usual but that would feel pretty awesome. I got a stress fracture while training for a marathon this fall, so crossing the finish of a race pregnant would be amazing.

I work from home most days so I don't have to worry about coworkers seeing me on here. But in the office I never go on because we are an open floor plan with big monitors. I think it is fairly obvious, given all of the ultrasound photos and tickers that it is some sort of pregnancy website. I definitely go on non-work related websites at times but this isn't one I like to advertise.

Terri: Exciting for picking up the BCP. How long are you on them for before you start stimming?

 

[Amy1976]

jkb11 - Such a cute picture. I can't believe the detail you can see at 8 weeks.

LadySosa - That sounds like a great trip. We've been having such great weather but now it shows a chance of rain all weekend. Normally that would make me happy, but that's not good news for your trip. I love Huntington Beach. It's our favorite beach to go to and ride our bikes. They also have a dog friendly area that is pretty cool. Unfortunately my dog hates water lol.

Mrs. W - I'm sorry your nurse is being such a Debbie Downer. It really helps when the people guiding you through this are positive.

Beaglemom - I think it's cool you're bringing everyone cupcakes. If I worked with you, I would definitely enjoy that

Booger - I also had my check-up today. My lining was at 8.3 and he was very pleased with that so I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. He said only anything under 7.5 would be an issue. I'm also really nervous but excited too. But also a little worried. Worried that it won't work a second time because what are the odds? And worried because if it does work, I'll be worried about having another miscarriage. But I keep telling myself to take it one step at a time.

So my transfer is officially set for Tuesday at 7:00am!! Eeeeekkk!!!

 

[booger76]

Amy - I won't know my transfer time until Sunday. I hope it's not too late in the day since I have to drive 4 hours home afterwards. I would love 7 am!

Sars - The plan right now is for me to do the shots myself. We'll see how it goes! I think DH is too nervous. Plus, if this transfer is successful, he'll be gone for just over a week starting the day after my beta so I'll have to do them then anyway. Wish me luck! Good luck with your half-marathon! I need to do one too to keep my streak alive (doing at least one a year since I did my first in 2008). I was training but then I stopped but I can run at least 10 right now so I think I should be okay if I can squeeze one in in April or May.

Terri - Glad you were able finally get your BCPs from the pharmacy. You'll be on your merry way again here soon. Good idea to have DH hide the pregnancy tests. Thanks for the encouragement. I am just a worry wart by nature. I can't believe my time is almost here!

My nurse called and said everything looks really good so I am feeling much better! She said that at first they thought my progesterone was a little high but that was due to me having taken the shot about 10 minutes before my blood draw. Didn't take it long to get into my blood stream!

 

[terripeachy]

Do you guys remember or know the clinic where you did your PGS? My nurse called today with two options. IviGen and Natera.

She asked if we wanted to do the overnight one (I remember ERose mentioning that one, but I can't remember which option she chose) and still do a fresh transfer, or send it away and do a frozen transfer the next cycle. She mentioned that the overnight one is like 300-400 dollars more, and at this point, I might as well get the verdict as soon as possible, but I'm unsure right now. We'll discuss again on Friday. Any thoughts/ideas?

Also, I asked about putting in one or two embryos if we find out they are healthy, and she wasn't sure of the answer. I would assume that if the embryos are good, we don't have to put three back in, but who knows...hopefully she'll talk to the doctor and have an idea of what we would put back should all be well.

My schedule is also coming on Friday, but I think the plan would be to start stimming on March 3, maybe? She mentioned the 3rd and the 10th, but I was more concerned with the PGS then my stim dates.

 

[beaglemom]

Terri - I had to get my estrogen refilled today. Only technically it was a new script. I had one from my FET I never used...I was still using refills on the one from IVF. So anyways my pharmacy didn't have it...but I was OUT. So I went to another pharmacy. When I went to pick it up she said my insurance wouldn't pay. I knew the med wasn't expensive so I just said I would pay it. Something about not covering 3X a day only 1X a day. My other pharmacy had no issue. But I was just ready to go. Then computer issues. So I was there like 3 min. I was so annoyed because I was just thinking why didn't you call when you knew about my insurance. But whatever. At least a slow day at work so no one missed me.

This was my PGS lab. https://genesisgenetics.org I was supposed to do fresh, but my dr changed it. I would almost recommend FET. It takes longer but I honestly felt a little less stressed. And it is so monitored & structured I just felt good during the FET.

So if I can hold out this long, we will announce on FB & my work on April 1st. I thought that it would be funny. No one would really know if we were telling the truth or not.

I don't think I realized how close the FETs were. I am ready for another round of positives.