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

[beaglemom]

Hi girls. Terri and moni, so exciting how close you're getting!! Oddly, I'm finding that time has been going by pretty quick with the whole IVF thing. Things seem to drag by sooo slowly during other cycles, but the past month or so seems to have just flown by (well, for me it has!). You girls are SO close now!! Getting very excited for you!! Beagle, still holding out hope for your bfp this cycle. And I agree, the count could've been down from not abstaining longer. Fxd you'll have good news in a day or so anyway!!

On my end, I'm losing hope a little. Not completely, but it's sort of a gut feeling. I tested BFN this morning on a hpt. I'm only 9dp5dt, but that's sorta like being 14dpo. I won't lose hope since the clinic doesn't do blood tests until later than that for IVF patients, and there must surely be a reason for that. I just read so many girls getting IVF BFPs at home by this time, many more were before this time. Then again, I also read about plenty of late BFPs as well. I should've just stayed off the internet and not tested at home at all. Anyway, blood test is Thurs, and I don't have anymore tests at my house, so will probably wait until that. If bfn, we'll just be shooting for a frozen transfer as soon as they allow it.

Erin, I am not sure about IVF testing...but we do know that last time you had to test at 15 dpo anyways. Maybe that was because it was not a strong pregnancy or maybe you are just one of those people who test late. I have actually been considering holding off until Friday. I am actually starting to get nervous about testing. But if it does end up a negative (which I think is too soon to tell right now) then at least you have the frozen as backup & won't have to go through as much next go round.

But I think you still have a shot

I woke up at 3 am & didn't go back to sleep until 5 or so. Then slept late. I woke up with a headache & it continues now...I have not had a headache in a long time. And the only other times it was related to meds I was on. Maybe this is another good sign. I told my husband last night when I start to analyze everything, I know we still have a shot. We put 500K of the best sperm in there & shoot for 3-4 eggs. And I know I had at least 1 egg on both sides. So no worries about half the army getting lost at the wrong tube.

So if I can have hope, Erin, you should def not be giving up yet

 

[terripeachy]

ERose-Don't give up just yet. You still have a few more days to go! I am not sure whether I would test or not. It was depressing last time, but getting the call with negative results was even worse than knowing from testing, so either way can be bad. And yes, you can read the stories from other people, but try not to let them get to you either way. It's hard, but I have a feeling you will be surprised in a few days. I just know it!

beagle-Yay for new symptoms...the pin needle thing and now a headache. Woohoo!!

 

[moni77]

Erin - I think it is still too early as well.

I just picked up the BCPs!! I start tonight, take the last one on Aug 1st and go in for a scan on Aug 5th (I fly back in on the 4th - so this is the timing that I wanted!!) I have to pay by Monday - so that will be a little tough - but we had it saved up - but yikes $12K is the biggest check I have ever written!

Anyways - I am still expecting good news Beagle and Erin!!

Terri - I leave next wed night, I am gone the 23rd through 8-4!

 

[beaglemom]

Another neg for me today

 

[terripeachy]

Oh, beaglemom.... I'm sorry for the BFN. How are you feeling otherwise? Do you think the witch is on her way? You may be surprised.

 

[beaglemom]

Oh, beaglemom.... I'm sorry for the BFN. How are you feeling otherwise? Do you think the witch is on her way? You may be surprised.

Feeling some cramping...not really sure what to think. Of course it could always go either way. Plus I am on Progesterone, so that will delay things. I plan to test again Friday & if negative I will stop the P. I am trying to delay AF so my next cycle works out with me being out of town. I am feeling a bit down & emotional.

 

[terripeachy]

I'm sorry you feel bad, but I'm still not going to be super depressed for you just yet. Cramping is a good sign...we just have to wait for AF, but hopefully she moves on past you, like the storms the past few days. It took me 6 days for AF once I stopped taking p. What a pain that was.

I have my mock transfer at 11:30. I hope it's not too traumatic.

 

[beaglemom]

I'm sorry you feel bad, but I'm still not going to be super depressed for you just yet. Cramping is a good sign...we just have to wait for AF, but hopefully she moves on past you, like the storms the past few days. It took me 6 days for AF once I stopped taking p. What a pain that was.

I have my mock transfer at 11:30. I hope it's not too traumatic.

Last time it took about 2-3 days...not bad. But I cannot get it before Sunday or I have to skip the cycle or cancel my trip. Technically it could come Saturday, I would just have to come home a day early which isn't the worst thing.

 

[terripeachy]

Just so people reading this thread will know in the future, my mock transfer was very similar to an HSG. They used the iodine to clean everything out, put in a catheter with numbers on it (like a ruler) to measure the "cavity." Once they get the measurement, they insert the vaginal probe and shoot some water into the cavity to make sure everything is cool and took a few pictures. It took about 10 minutes, and had a bit of sharp cramping, but it was bearable. I guess because I felt that sensation before when doing the HSG. Good thing hubs has his sperm analysis in a few days because again they said no intercourse for 24 hours. check. hee hee. This is going to be a lonely time for him because I don't really want to use condoms.

Anyway, I also asked about ICSI versus regular IVF, and the nurse explained that with regularIVF, they put each egg in its own well in one petri dish (we make petri dishes at my plant, so I get that some of them may have various wells). Then, they take a concentrated amount of sperm and stick it in the well with each egg, and hope that one sperm fertilizes the egg. Then, they transfer/freeze the ones that fertilize after so many days. If they find that none are fertilizing, then to go to FICSI, which is a rescue program. Not sure what the f stands for.

For ICSI, they hold the egg with a suction tube (or something like that), pull out the one best sperm available and shock it to slow it down a bit. Once it's sedated, they shoot it INSIDE the egg, and hope for the best. A lot of people are using this now because the chances are better for those with low counts or poor morphology/motility. It gives the sperm a boost. My doctor is probably going to go right to ICSI, but it's going to be a game day decision.

Currently, the schedule is 8/7-8/10 for egg retrieval and 3-6 days later egg transfer.

 

[beaglemom]

Thanks for that info. My dr would probably want to do ICSI as well.

With this negative it puts me in such a down mood that part of me just wants to say straight to IVF. But then I just breathe & say we agreed on 1 more, so stick to it. We have time. So no matter what, I plan to ge pregnant by the fall! DAMMIT!!!

 

[terripeachy]

It all depends on insurance and paying and such. My insurance is really good and my IVF is $2000, which is super cheap. That doesn't include the meds though. I think Moni just said that she had to write a check for 12K, so I'm REALLY SUPER THANKFUL that I can afford IVF, and since I'm old, my insurance let's me go right to it. If I were younger/poorer, I'd probably be trying IUIs until I couldn't try any more. So yeah,if you still have time, stick with IUI and just save save save for IVF.

I told hubs that we still have to buckle down with our spending. He's a spender and I'm a saver, but I'm not footing this whole bill because I'm responsible. I'm still waiting for him to give me total control of the $. That would make me so happy, but I think he thinks I would give him $10 a week to spend, and that's it. HA!!HA!!

 

[beaglemom]

Yeh my cost would be similar to Moni. But no more IUI after the next one. We do not have the money saved but I can get a low interest loan against my 401K.

 

[ERosePW]

Sorry about the BFN beagle, but of course you could still have a surprise in a day or so. I'll keep my FXd for you. Either way, with the P helping you delay your AF, it sounds like the timing will still work out for next cycle's IUI, so that's really good. At least we have our own ways of manipulating our cycles like that! One thing that is actually in our control!

Moni, SO glad your timing is working out exactly as you'd hoped! That's so great! I've been thinking about you and hoping for that, because I know how ready I was when I got started. Great news!

Terri, glad your MET went well today! Mine was way better than my HSG, but if you recall, my HSG was extremely bad w/ that blockage or spasm, whichever the heck it was. Like, wanting to fly off the table bad. So the MET was a walk in the park for me, and was very similar to what you described. Except I dont recall if I had any cramping afterward. I found the endometrial biopsy (scratch) to be more uncomfortable too. Is your RE doing that?

I'm sure you recall, but we decided right before the retrieval that we'd do ICSI on half my eggs, since we weren't certain whether or not our eggs/sperm got along on a molecular level. Two of the eggs died quickly though, so with 18 left, they did ICSI on 10, and the other 8 in the petri dish the way you described. Turned out even the petri dish eggs all fertilized, so I guess they did get along after all.

Nothing new here... I didn't test today simply because I didnt have anymore tests. Don't really know how I'm feeling right now. Not very hopeful at certain moments when I feel like I should've already gotten a pos HPT if it was gonna happen at all. But then I get a teensy bit of hope again because who knows, maybe by today it would've shown up on an HPT but i just don't know because I didn't test. Maybe I'll hold my pee all day and grab some tests on the way home.

 

[beaglemom]

Sorry about the BFN beagle, but of course you could still have a surprise in a day or so. I'll keep my FXd for you. Either way, with the P helping you delay your AF, it sounds like the timing will still work out for next cycle's IUI, so that's really good. At least we have our own ways of manipulating our cycles like that! One thing that is actually in our control!

Moni, SO glad your timing is working out exactly as you'd hoped! That's so great! I've been thinking about you and hoping for that, because I know how ready I was when I got started. Great news!

Terri, glad your MET went well today! Mine was way better than my HSG, but if you recall, my HSG was extremely bad w/ that blockage or spasm, whichever the heck it was. Like, wanting to fly off the table bad. So the MET was a walk in the park for me, and was very similar to what you described. Except I dont recall if I had any cramping afterward. I found the endometrial biopsy (scratch) to be more uncomfortable too. Is your RE doing that?

I'm sure you recall, but we decided right before the retrieval that we'd do ICSI on half my eggs, since we weren't certain whether or not our eggs/sperm got along on a molecular level. Two of the eggs died quickly though, so with 18 left, they did ICSI on 10, and the other 8 in the petri dish the way you described. Turned out even the petri dish eggs all fertilized, so I guess they did get along after all.

Nothing new here... I didn't test today simply because I didnt have anymore tests. Don't really know how I'm feeling right now. Not very hopeful at certain moments when I feel like I should've already gotten a pos HPT if it was gonna happen at all. But then I get a teensy bit of hope again because who knows, maybe by today it would've shown up on an HPT but i just don't know because I didn't test. Maybe I'll hold my pee all day and grab some tests on the way home.

Erin does your "dpo" start after the retrieval? If so, I think you were a day in front of me. I am also staying hopeful for both of us. I ran across a forum that said 15 dpo is the best day to test. Makes sense...because technically AF would be late if nothing happens on 15 dpo. And I think I saw that 99% of women get their positive by 18 dpo. So there is still hope. Do you have anything going on? Cramping or anything like that?

 

[terripeachy]

Yes, I remember how painful your HSG was, so that makes sense that the MET was a lot easier. I didn't have any tube troubles, so it was just the same, basically. They used water instead of saline today, though. No, they never mentioned an endometrial scratch. I do hear that that helps implantation, but I guess they are confident without it. They did also say that if my eggs have that hard shell around them, they will do the assisted hatching thing too. Not sure when they realize the shell is hard, but I just have to trust they know what they're doing.

I also didn't realize that I should have taken an Advil prior to my transfer, but I feel ok without it. I guess some people have a rough go of things. Again, I'm fortunate that I can stand a bit of pain.

 

[moni77]

Terri - glad the mock transfer went well - I asked if I needed one and thedoc said since he has doneso many IUIs on me he knows where to go...so no mock transfer needed.

Erin - FXed for you!!!

Beagle - I'm still not giving up on you either.

 

[ERosePW]

Erin does your "dpo" start after the retrieval? If so, I think you were a day in front of me. I am also staying hopeful for both of us. I ran across a forum that said 15 dpo is the best day to test. Makes sense...because technically AF would be late if nothing happens on 15 dpo. And I think I saw that 99% of women get their positive by 18 dpo. So there is still hope. Do you have anything going on? Cramping or anything like that?

Yea, I suppose dpo would start on day of retrieval. My blue line on my chart is that day, and that's the day they fertilized the eggs too. Most IVFers go by transfer date though, so I'd be referred to as 10dp5dt today. As far as having anything going on, not really at all. I had dull cramps on and off for about 5 days after transfer, but then after that they've been super dull and only for a few minutes at a time, and not even every day. Like none at all today. I haven't had any spotting at all either. I don't feel even remotely like AF is coming, but that's probably from all the extra P. Thanks for the stats on bfp timing... It does give me a little hope. Are you testing again in the morning?

 

[ERosePW]

Terri, I wondered whether the embryologist in my lab was gonna do the assisted hatching on mine, but she didn't. So I guess they determined it wasn't needed, but I didn't get the details because I asked her as I was laying on the table for transfer, right before she brought my embies out to my RE, ha! She did say, however, that if we do a frozen transfer at some point, she'd do it on those for sure. I know what you mean by just trusting they know what they're doing.

Moni, that's nice that your RE feels fine moving forward without the MET. He has become quite familiar with your reproductive tract I guess, huh? Hehe! Anyway, that's at least one thing you don't have to do, and considering all that this entails, that's something!

 

[ERosePW]

Picked up HPTs on my way home from work yesterday and tested this morning BFN. When I went in for my blood test though, I asked the nurse if she ever sees women who are getting negatives at home and then end up getting a pos beta. She didn't even have to think about it... right away, she said yes she's seen it happen several times. So I will hold onto this last shred of hope and wait for the call this afternoon. I will hope for the best, but if it doesn't work out, I'll be okay. I will throw myself into looking ahead at a frozen transfer as soon as they'll allow it, and I'll just get excited about that.

On a separate note, today I also paid for my first quarter of cryopreservation for my other embies. After the initial freezing fee, which I guess my insurance paid for, they then only charge $60/month at my clinic, paid quarterly. I'm thrilled about that, because my insurance doesn't cover the quarterly fee. I thought that was VERY reasonable to hold onto my future babies for me.

 

[beaglemom]

Picked up HPTs on my way home from work yesterday and tested this morning BFN. When I went in for my blood test though, I asked the nurse if she ever sees women who are getting negatives at home and then end up getting a pos beta. She didn't even have to think about it... right away, she said yes she's seen it happen several times. So I will hold onto this last shred of hope and wait for the call this afternoon. I will hope for the best, but if it doesn't work out, I'll be okay. I will throw myself into looking ahead at a frozen transfer as soon as they'll allow it, and I'll just get excited about that.

On a separate note, today I also paid for my first quarter of cryopreservation for my other embies. After the initial freezing fee, which I guess my insurance paid for, they then only charge $60/month at my clinic, paid quarterly. I'm thrilled about that, because my insurance doesn't cover the quarterly fee. I thought that was VERY reasonable to hold onto my future babies for me.

Good morning Erin! I had just sent you a message. How long before you can do the next transfer? (Still hoping you are prego though, )

I don't know what my clinic charges for short term storage, but I feel like they told me about $450/yr for long term. But I would have to look back at my paperwork.

I had another negative today so I am pretty much counting myself out. I will stop the P & wait for AF. If nothing by Monday, will test again.

Good luck this afternoon!