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

[terripeachy]

Moni-Those follie counts are awesome! I never felt nauseous, but I did mine between 7-9 at night, and had already eaten.

 

[moni77]

I take the gonal in the mornings and the menopur at night. Plus the lipron both times. Ugh, at least another week of this! I'm going to try eating tomorrow morning and see if that helps.

 

[1timemomma]

Hi!

I wanted to see if I could join. Over a year ago I started using this website when we were trying to get pregnant, I would come on here and talk about my "symptoms". haha. Oh geez, it feels good to be out of that stage of hoping and wishing every single month when you knew something had to be wrong.

A year and half later here I am... Last night was our first night of stims. Gonal F and Menopur for now. That menopur stung, ouch!! My tummy is already tender and bit bloated I'm a little worried for the coming week!

 

[moni77]

welcome 1time - it looks like we are close to the same schedule...

 

[beaglemom]

Hey guys...just curious why you are on gonal f vs any other type of med? I was taking follistim during my IUIs. Gonal f was an option, but my dr prescribed the follistim & gonal f only if my insurance would not cover the follistim. Just curious. If I have to go through this, I think I would want to stay on follistim unless there is a reason I have to do gonal f. I have not heard anything bad about gonal, just firgured I am used to the follistim, so why change?

So are you on that just becaus that is what the dr said or did you have a choice or did they prefer gonal f?

 

[1timemomma]

welcome 1time - it looks like we are close to the same schedule...

We started trying for baby in Nov of 2012 too! When is your estimated retrieval?

 

[moni77]

don't know the estimated retrieval yet - I am hoping for next Friday - but knowing my luck it will be sat - the most difficult day to change around some plans.

I am just doing the meds that they ordered - both the gonal F and the menopur do the same thing as far as I know but I am still doing both.

 

[ERosePW]

Moni, I'm sorry, you're having these side effects... I dont recall really have any side effects, except occasionally being a little more emotional a day or two (which could've just been the process in general). I mean, my tummy started to show bruises near the end. But I dont recall headaches or nausea that I can remember.

Welcome 1time! Glad to have you join us! GL with your stimming, and keep us updated on everything! I've been TTC since about a month after you started, and had one CP after about one year of trying. Now, here I am!

beagle, my RE didn't say anything about follistim vs gonal, so not real sure why they choose that one. That's just the one they called in for me on their own. I know they wouldn't have done it for insurance purposes since my insurance hasn't turned down any meds at all, so I don't have a clue. They didn't mention follistim to me at all. Not sure about the other ladies.

 

[beaglemom]

Thanks...just curious. I am not sure why my dr did follistim. I think it is just a preferance. I seem to remember in my med class they said the follistim was easier than the gonal especially if you needed more than 1 vile at a time. I only had to do that once. But I guess the follistim keeps track of how much you injected, then you switch out the vile & the pen is still set to inject what is left. Also the follistim comes with quite a bit more than the bottle actually says which is nice if your meds are cutting close. Maybe my dr had said some insurances prefer gonal over follistim.

If I have to do IVF, & there isn't a difference, I will probably try to keep doing follisitm. I know my body reacted well to it & I still have some left...maybe half a vile.

 

[terripeachy]

I think follistim and Gonal F are the same thing. Maybe one is generic and maybe one is a name brand. They are both FSH. I used a rediject pen, so I didn't have to mix anything, but I had to mix the menopur and last night, I mixed my hcg, and neither were a big deal.

1time-Welcome. So do you have one baby already? You didn't really say, and I'm just nosy. hee hee. I don't know if this helps, but after you take your shot, massage the area lightly for about 15 seconds with the gauze. My stomach really didn't start hurting until the end of stims, but I made sure to massage it every time.

 

[beaglemom]

I know I am not doing nearly as many injections as you ladies, but the ice was the key for me.

 

[ERosePW]

Thanks...just curious. I am not sure why my dr did follistim. I think it is just a preferance. I seem to remember in my med class they said the follistim was easier than the gonal especially if you needed more than 1 vile at a time. I only had to do that once. But I guess the follistim keeps track of how much you injected, then you switch out the vile & the pen is still set to inject what is left. Also the follistim comes with quite a bit more than the bottle actually says which is nice if your meds are cutting close. Maybe my dr had said some insurances prefer gonal over follistim.

If I have to do IVF, & there isn't a difference, I will probably try to keep doing follisitm. I know my body reacted well to it & I still have some left...maybe half a vile.

Same with terri, my gonal didn't use a vial. It was a Redi-ject pen that was probably the most simple injection I've done out of all of them. It was a fat pen that came prefilled, and I just turned the knob to the required dose, injected, put the cap back on, and did the same thing the next day. With each use, I saw the amount of med in the pen go down until it was empty, and then took another pen out of the box. It was super easy.

 

[beaglemom]

Thanks...just curious. I am not sure why my dr did follistim. I think it is just a preferance. I seem to remember in my med class they said the follistim was easier than the gonal especially if you needed more than 1 vile at a time. I only had to do that once. But I guess the follistim keeps track of how much you injected, then you switch out the vile & the pen is still set to inject what is left. Also the follistim comes with quite a bit more than the bottle actually says which is nice if your meds are cutting close. Maybe my dr had said some insurances prefer gonal over follistim.

If I have to do IVF, & there isn't a difference, I will probably try to keep doing follisitm. I know my body reacted well to it & I still have some left...maybe half a vile.

Same with terri, my gonal didn't use a vial. It was a Redi-ject pen that was probably the most simple injection I've done out of all of them. It was a fat pen that came prefilled, and I just turned the knob to the required dose, injected, put the cap back on, and did the same thing the next day. With each use, I saw the amount of med in the pen go down until it was empty, and then took another pen out of the box. It was super easy.

So you have a pen for each 450 dose? If so, that is the difference. When I say vile, I am talking about the meds in the pen. So basically I can open my pen & put in a new 450 dose. Maybe cartridge is the right word. But I watched the gonal video & don't see any other difference. Oh well...no big deal...I guess basically it is a dr preference.

 

[terripeachy]

I only took 225 at a time, but yes, you dial it and inject it. To me, a vial is either liquid or powder and you mix them. It's a small bottle. Hee hee.

 

[booger76]

Hi Ladies!

Howdy, 1timemomma! I'm pretty new here myself but everyone has been amazing so far!

So, I'm kind of tired right now and I'll do a thorough update later but I thought I would pop in and let you lovelies know that everything went great today - better than expected. We made some pretty big decisions and are moving along into IVF but I'm excited!!! I think I should start stimming around Sept. 14 or so.....

Anyway - Terri!!! Your big retrieval day tomorrow. I hope all goes well for you and you aren't too uncomfortable afterwards. I'll be thinking about you.

Hope everyone is enjoying your Friday night - I'll do a proper catch up tomorrow.

Oh and AF still hasn't shown but the Dr. did say during my ultrasound that it looked like I was pre-menstrual. My body certainly agrees with that!

 

[terripeachy]

Success!! 14 eggs. I'm really pleased with that number. Taking it easy for a while-will report back later.

 

[beaglemom]

Great news Terri! Take it easy.

 

[ERosePW]

Success!! 14 eggs. I'm really pleased with that number. Taking it easy for a while-will report back later.

YES!! That's a great number, Terri!! So excited to hear! Rest up and report more later!

 

[booger76]

Wahoo! 14 eggs is spectacular!

 

[terripeachy]

I'm ready to report!
All was pretty simple today. The anesthesiologist came in and was planning on putting the needle on the top of my left hand. After tapping on my hand and squeezing it, she said 'Here comes a sharp pinch.' Well, she couldn't get the needle and the vein to meet, so she pulled it out and said 'I missed it.' Then she said 'let me try again.' She put the needle back in and a sharp shooting sensation ran down my middle finger (it was like when your leg falls asleep but way more severe, or she hit a nerve or something), and I yelled 'My finger is numb!!! My finger is numb!!' and she quickly took the needle out. She said 'I have never experienced that before. Usually, people will have pain on the underside (like where you put perfume). Then she asked if I was right or left handed, and then I said 'Can you just put it in my elbow crook.' She did, and that seemed to be ok, but my hand HURT SO BADLY. It was hurting the remaining time I was waiting to go in for retrieval. Oh, and then my neighbor was screaming too when the lady put her needle in. hee hee. That doctor was TERRIBLE. I really hope I never have to go back to her again. I'll request someone else.

Retrieval was easy..they docs/nurses were just staring at me until I conked out, and next thing you know, my original nurse was like 'Great job, Terri. You had 14 eggs. That's the highest number so far today. Great job!' I said thanks, and ate some peanut butter crackers and drank water. Time seemed to fly by. After resting for about 20 more minutes, we left, and now I'm just parked on the couch watching tv. I am starting to feel a little bloated, but it's not terrible. I can walk upright at least. I'm going to skip church tomorrow, and I'll probably go in to work on Monday just in case I'm out on Tuesday for transfer. Tuesday will be 3 days, and Thursday will be 5, obviously, so I'm hoping for a 5 day, but we'll see what happens.