IVF/ICSI/FET OCTOBER "4 LEAF CLOVER" CYCLE-Anyone joining me?*** UPDATES ON PAGE 1***

[maxxiandniko]

Sammy - thank goodness they're sedating you. Horrible story but good ending - my friend had 2 mc's and had to do a D&E for both with nothing but local anesthesia because she doesn't tolerate sedation well (ends up in the icu). Luckily she just had her first baby this summer but can you imagine?

Megg - did you start the shots yet?

Mercy - can you believe that you're almost at testing?!?!

My office called. Keeping the same doses of meds and going into the office in the morning for blood work and a sono. I could have called myself with that message. The tech tells me I have 10 follicles but I don't know anything beyond that. What are good sizes for follicles? Or have I asked this question already?

 

[mercyme]

Thanks, Megg & Maxxi -- I know, it's hard to believe that I jumped through almost every hoop, except for this last test! (well, there are the progesterone shots, but they don't hurt at all -- no more than a little prick, like a blood draw -- nothing like the belly shots of FSH!!)

 

[Megg33k]

Yes, I did, Maxxi! I woke up at 7:15 with my alarm to take my steroid and stab myself in the stomach. I was actually REALLY nervous. I don't know why. I didn't want to do it. Kevin offered to do it, and as soon as he took the needle from me and held it near me, I sort of freaked and grabbed it back and told him I had to do it myself. Its usually really simple, because as soon as it touches you it basically slides right through the skin... no real pressure needed. So, I tried twice and it just stabbed me... didn't really pop through like it should. After the 2nd botched attempt, I thought maybe the needle had some issue... So, I squirted the meds back into the bottle and opened a new needle. They aren't the kind where you can take the needle off of the syringe and replace it with a new one. Its all one piece! Anyway, I got the new one open, went through the process again, got my meds into it, and as soon as it touched me, it popped through as it was supposed to. So, I guess I had a bad needle? I'm not sure... but it hasn't really bolstered my confidence in this. Blah! I still don't know why I was so flippin' nervous to do it today though. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

 

[maxxiandniko]

Megg - I was nervous too the first time. Mine has to be mixed though. I lost one vial one time because I pulled the plunger back too far thinking it would stop on its own. I was so upset. The Ganirelix comes prefilled and I lost one of those because I saw the air bubble on top, thought I was supposed to clear it out, pushed lightly on the plunger and all this medicine sprayed out! The shots hurt me more now for some reason. I have bruises on my stomach, the Ganirelix gives me a local reaction so I'm really itchy right after I inject it and my body is just generally tired from all the sticks. Do you get headaches at all from the meds? I do each and every day!

Mercy - I am so glad that you said that the progesterone shots don't hurt! I'm nervous for those even though my friend's sister whose a nurse is giving them to me.

 

[Mrs-G]

I'm off tomorrow guys, not too sure whether or not I'll get access to Internet or not so good luck all x

 

[Megg33k]

Oh man! That sucks, Maxxi! I'd understand if it was my first time... but this is round 3 of me doing injections. Very confusing!

 

[mercyme]

Okay, I need a reality check. Tell me all about false positives & IVF. I took two shots of Ovidrel on Nov 1. When could I reasonably expect it to be out of my system -- and not giving me false positives? Also, do progesterone in oil shots create false + as well??

Thanks for your help!!

 

[Sammy2009]

Well the scan went well.... I have 11 follicles which are as follows:

Right Ovary: 7 follicles

1 x 22
1 x 21
1 x 19
2 x 18
1 x 16
1 x 10-15

Left Ovary: 4 follicles

1 x 19
3 x 10 -15

Endo lining: 9mm

The doctor seemed happy with that and said there is no need to stimm anymore and to trigger tonight with 10,000 of Pregnyl (2 powder, 1 water) and EC will be on Wednesday 17th November @ 8.30 (to be there for 8am) I would anticipate that ET will be this Saturday since my clinic do 3 x day transfers and I got BFP the first time with a 3 day embryo so I will trust them on that one! God its a tense time now and I am scared. I am confident that the smaller follies will catch up to a stage where they might contain an egg and in that case I will have maximum follies stimmed which is better than last time but we will see. I am just happy at this stage that we have 6 already there! The doctor could clearly see I was already stressing about the EC so she upped my Pethedine does to 100 and said this was A LOT of Pethedine so i'm hoping I will be away with the fairies while the procedure takes place.

 

[mercyme]

OMG, Sammy! What fantastic news!
Those seem like good numbers to me. I can't believe you're already triggering! And you get to look forward to a lovely, drugged-up EC!! Yay for you!!

 

[Blue12]

Mercyme - I am guessing that ovidrel was your trigger shot right? Mine was gone after 4 days - but for some it can take up to 10 days. I don't think it lasts longer than 10 days though.

 

[mercyme]

Mercyme - I am guessing that ovidrel was your trigger shot right? Mine was gone after 4 days - but for some it can take up to 10 days. I don't think it lasts longer than 10 days though.

Yes, ovidrel was the trigger -- and I took two, so I didn't know if that makes a difference in the amount of time it takes to go away? Thanks for answering!

 

[maxxiandniko]

Sammy - congrats!!! I can't believe you're almost there.

I'm still waiting for a call from the office. I went in this morning for a scan and bloods. I have 13 follicles according to the tech. The one's on my right are a little smaller than the left and the left has one more than the right (7 on the left, 6 on the right). I don't know the sizes at all or the thickness of the lining although she said the lining looked good. So I've got more sitting around to do for now until they call. My prediction is that I'll have to do 1 or 2 more days of stimming meds but that's not based on anything.

 

[Megg33k]

Yay, Sammy!

Sounds positive, Maxxi! Hoping you get more info soon!

Okay, I need a reality check. Tell me all about false positives & IVF. I took two shots of Ovidrel on Nov 1. When could I reasonably expect it to be out of my system -- and not giving me false positives? Also, do progesterone in oil shots create false + as well??

Thanks for your help!!

Progesterone in oil does NOT create a false +.

Mercyme - I am guessing that ovidrel was your trigger shot right? Mine was gone after 4 days - but for some it can take up to 10 days. I don't think it lasts longer than 10 days though.

Yes, ovidrel was the trigger -- and I took two, so I didn't know if that makes a difference in the amount of time it takes to go away? Thanks for answering!

What dose does "two shots" equal? Is it 10,000 or 20,000? It does make a difference, but not by much.

 

[maxxiandniko]

I heard from the office. They're lowering my dose of gonal f by one vial and keeping everything else the same. I have to return in the morning for another sono and blood work. This is so frustrating!!! Before you know if Megg I'll be on your schedule!

 

[Megg33k]

Aww, Maxxi! I hope not, honey! I don't even start stimming until the 27th!

AFM... I have some news... sort of. No one called me or anything, but I only just read through the legal crap I need to get notarized... and there was more than just random legal jargon. My clinic (SIRM) routinely does ICSI with Assisted Hatching on ALL cases unless the patient requests in writing not to! So, my fear of total fertilization failure sort of dissipated. I know its technically still possible, but unlikely at best. Assisted Hatching also gives me extra hope! I'm a little less scared and a little more excited!

 

[Sammy2009]

Thanks everyone.... I am a little relieved. I know that i only have 11-15 follicles (now thinking its more like 11) in total to stimm so the fact that they have all popped up to play is great! I dont know how many of the small ones will grow big enough but maybe i will be lucky and they will get big enough to at least contain an egg! If i get 7 eggs it will be one more than i have got so far so i would be happy with that. We all know what IVF is like though... you can have 30 follicles and end up with two decent embryos or have 5 follicles and end up with 5 embryos. Numbers do not mean much at this stage... only the number of fertilized embryos matter... well to me anyway! lol

 

[Megg33k]

That's all that matters to me too, Sammy!

 

[Sammy2009]

I heard from the office. They're lowering my dose of gonal f by one vial and keeping everything else the same. I have to return in the morning for another sono and blood work. This is so frustrating!!! Before you know if Megg I'll be on your schedule!

Why are they lowering it/ Im sure they have their reasons of course but i was just curious...

Hang in there hun it wont be long now.....

Right im off to mix up the trigger shot, my final injection

 

[Sammy2009]

Aww, Maxxi! I hope not, honey! I don't even start stimming until the 27th!

AFM... I have some news... sort of. No one called me or anything, but I only just read through the legal crap I need to get notarized... and there was more than just random legal jargon. My clinic (SIRM) routinely does ICSI with Assisted Hatching on ALL cases unless the patient requests in writing not to! So, my fear of total fertilization failure sort of dissipated. I know its technically still possible, but unlikely at best. Assisted Hatching also gives me extra hope! I'm a little less scared and a little more excited!

Great news megg... any extra help is most wanted! How does the assisted hatching work and how is it different from ICSI? I dont know much about it.... sounds good though!

 

[Megg33k]

Aww, Maxxi! I hope not, honey! I don't even start stimming until the 27th!

AFM... I have some news... sort of. No one called me or anything, but I only just read through the legal crap I need to get notarized... and there was more than just random legal jargon. My clinic (SIRM) routinely does ICSI with Assisted Hatching on ALL cases unless the patient requests in writing not to! So, my fear of total fertilization failure sort of dissipated. I know its technically still possible, but unlikely at best. Assisted Hatching also gives me extra hope! I'm a little less scared and a little more excited!

Great news megg... any extra help is most wanted! How does the assisted hatching work and how is it different from ICSI? I dont know much about it.... sounds good though!

It is a bit different... Yes! Its usually reserved for people with tough, older eggs... which is not an issue I have. I'm very impressed that they do it for everyone. I love any help I can get!

assisted hatching = a hole 30micrometers in size is made into the zona pellucida so that the embryo can more easily break through and implant... normally, they embryo has to burst through unassisted to have even a chance at implantation (think chick with egg tooth in a chicken egg)... but the assisted hatching process raises the odds of successful implantation