IVF/IUI - Winter 2012 & Beyond! (updates 1st page - 25 BFPs, 7 - twins!)

[Mrs. Bear]

Had my blood tests and that needle HURT

I don't know if they used a different size needle since they needed 6 vials or what but man that hurt. My arm still hurts... And to add to the fun I went and got my flu shot on the way home. Compared to the blood draw the flu shot was cake.

I don't mind the injectibles, to me the blood draws are always worse than doing the shots for the injectibles. Maybe it is just me though - perhaps I have sensitive veins...

They didn't bother to test AMH or FSH since they know how I respond to the injectibles from the IUI cycle. From what I could tell they are testing for STDs and checking my blood type. Guess that is standard procedure to make sure I don't contaminate the lab. And since I have no clue what my blood type is they have to check for that

 

[AliSun]

Hello Mrs. Bear!

I am finding out tomorrow when i get to start my first round of IVF. Would love to have a buddy on this. I do, however know for sure i will be starting IVF between Oct-Feb. Depending on me and my doc. So i will keep you updated! Good Luck!

 

[Mrs. Bear]

Hi AliSun and welcome!

I have PCOS too - isn't it lovely... Have you done ony other treatments or are you going straight to IVF?

With it already being October I suspect you wouldn't be on stims til November at the earliest, but then I'm not an RE (else I'd save myself lots of money and do my own IVF at home ). Whenever you start you are welcome to stay on this thread .

I'm planning on being on BCP in December then start stims at the first of the year (for insurance reasons).

 

[Mrs. Bear]

AliSun - did you find out when you are going to be able to start IVF?

 

[Mrs. Bear]

I decided to change the thread title to include Feb too, since the time between DR and testing can drag out for a while depending on the protocol for IVF.

Still a couple months to wait so nothing else to do

 

[babyhope2011]

hi ladies hopefully we will b starting jan/feb hate all this waiting

 

[Mrs. Bear]

Hi babyhope

I know - the waiting is the hardest part right now. I'm so impatient to just get started already .

Are you waiting on a referral or just for your turn in the system? The UK system is so different from here. I wish we had option for covered IVF but I know some of the waiting you gals go through to get approved and referred and then waitlisted would drive me nuts

 

[babyhope2011]

hi mrs bear,weve been referred just waiting for our appointment to cum through. i know we r very lucky sum people in the uk can only have 1 fresh cycle but luckly where i live we get 3 goes, so fingers crossed we get our at the end of this long journey.
good luck 2 u.xx

 

[FrankieGirl16]

Hi Ladies,
I am currently on my fourth IUI, this is my first cycle on follistim. Before I was on clomid and didn't have any luck. Today the doctor who did my IUI said that because my dh's sperm morphology is consistently low (3 percent or less) we will probably need IVF. Right now the plan is 3 iui's with follistim, so that means Oct, Nov, Dec. I guess if I'm not pregnant by December our last step is IVF. How long does the IVF process take? Can I assume that I would be able to start it right away in January or are there other things that postpone it. I have really good insurance so hopefully that helps!

 

[Mrs. Bear]

Babyhope - that is great that you get 3 tries! I bet that lowers the stress level a little bit knowing you can try again. I still don't understand why everyone in the UK doesn't get the same coverage . My insurance will cover about half for one IVF per year. After that we would have to pay 100% out of pocket or wait a year. At my age waiting a year isn't an option. Hopefully we can be first time lucky and be TTC #2 next January instead

Welcome FrankieGirl FX the follistim does the trick for you. Whether or not you can start IVF right away will depend on your clinic and the protocol they put you on. If you are on a Down Reg protocol you will have a month or so of meds to put your ovaries to sleep and then start stims. Not everyone does that though. I think I am supposed to start BCP in December to suppress cyst formation and start stims early January. Some women just go straight from AF to stims too. I would go ahead and let your RE know you are planning IVF if these IUIs aren't successful. That way any additional tests they need to do can be done ahead of time and you won't have a delay for that.

 

[FrankieGirl16]

Thanks! I asked the nurse to get back to me with the stats. She told me that they don't check for morphology rates when doing IUI because it requires a seperate sample than what's provided for the insemination, but if his SA came out 3 percent, it would usually always be around that number. She told me that 3 percent "isn't horrible."

I told her that I would like to know her and the doctor's recommendation. Do they recommend I move to IVF or continue on with the follstim/IUIs. She said that I have a 25 percent chance of becoming pregnant through IUI and a 65 percent or higher chance via IVF. She didn't really give me a recommendation either way, just said, "you can start IVF next month if you want to."

I am going to set up a consult with the doctor if this cycle is a failure. I don't want to make this decision on my own. I want their medical opinion and advice. My husband agrees that he wants their advice on this.

Thanks for your help!

~FrankieGirl

 

[Mrs. Bear]

I think it is a good idea to have a consult with the RE before deciding either way. I had 'the talk' with my RE in September after my injectibles IUI was another BFN. He wouldn't say directly what we should do but when I said I though we should go to IVF he said 'I don't disagree with that'. I guess that is how they give advice without opening up to the 'you told me to..' argument

 

[FrankieGirl16]

Yeah I think they are very careful with their words so that patients don't get angry and say that they were pushed into IVF b/c it costs more money. I've seen people make comments like that before.

However, I still want them to give me their professional opinion as to what makes more sense for us at this point.

Thanks again!

 

[Springy]

Just checking in to see how everyone is doing? I am COUNTING down the days till my consult on the 17th of November!!! Feels like it is going to be an eternity from now!!!

Mrs.Bear -did you get your insurance all figured out?

Frankie - hang in there and hopefully you can get an appointment set up sooner rather than later to discuss your options. Like you my husband and I really wanted the opinion to come from the Dr and not be something we were making on our own.

 

[Mrs. Bear]

Just checking in to see how everyone is doing? I am COUNTING down the days till my consult on the 17th of November!!! Feels like it is going to be an eternity from now!!!

Mrs.Bear -did you get your insurance all figured out?

I KNOW! I am getting SO impatient with the wait - that's why I had to make my IVF countdown ticker to help me keep track of exactly how long it is

I actually just got a big part of the insurance figured out today. They confirmed that the 2012 coverage will be the same and I had them send me a copy of the full policy. So now I have something in writing that says it is covered and won't feel like it is a gamble . I'll take $5000 towards IVF for $500 in premiums any day . Enrollment isn't til next week but once that is over it will be all set. I'm also maxing my flex account to $5000 so will be losing $400+ per paycheck for that but it is tax free so that is a big help. Hoping to be first time lucky and then we can try for #2 in 2013 the same way without having to pay a full cycle out of pocket Getting ahead of myself though - need to get through cycle #1 first of course.

How are you doing Springy? When are you testing for this IUI?

 

[FrankieGirl16]

I'm really excited about starting IVF. After talking with my husband, we've decided that if this fouth round of IUI/injectable meds doesn't work, we'll try ONE more. If I'm not preg now I'll get my period around the 25th of October. That means that I would do one more IUI round and then move onto IVF!

I decided to do 1 more round of IUI b/c the nurse said that they would have me get my period, then take bc pills for 10-14 days, and then once I get my period again we would begin with lupron injections and other meds. That pushes me into November which is actually the worst month for me to fall pregnant due to maternity leave timing for work (assuming the IVF would work on the first try).

So I'm going to keep my fingers crossed, and if this month is a bfn I will try again next month. This way once I start IVF it will be December which is a better month to fall pregnant.

The nurse is going to set me up a consult with the doctor next cycle, so I can begin IVF right after that. I am hoping to get a appointment on nov. 10th or 11th b/c I have off of work those days. I really don't want to take another sick day for a consult. (Like to save them up for when I actually HAVE a baby!)

I'm a teacher so a December pregnancy makes a September baby, which means I can go on maternity leave for September using my sick days and then take 12 weeks from the state, so I wouldn't have to go back to work until January. Hopefullly IVF works if the IUIs don't! I can't wait!

Does anyone know if when you do IVF and they do the egg retrieval you can work that day? I'm assuming I would have to use a sick day because the nurse said you're under anesthesia for the retrieval.

How often do people end up freezing embryos? I know that we have to pay out of pocket for that, which is 1,000 dollars. I know it's not a lot compared to what others pay without full insurance, but it still makes a dent in the bank account!

 

[Mrs. Bear]

Does anyone know if when you do IVF and they do the egg retrieval you can work that day? I'm assuming I would have to use a sick day because the nurse said you're under anesthesia for the retrieval.

How often do people end up freezing embryos? I know that we have to pay out of pocket for that, which is 1,000 dollars. I know it's not a lot compared to what others pay without full insurance, but it still makes a dent in the bank account!

Glad you were able to get things settled and now you will have a plan in place whatever happens . I totally understand your thinking about the timing. My sis is a teacher and she has done the same thing when ttc.

Based of what I have read on BnB about other ladies' experiences with IVF you will want to take the day of ER off and maybe even the day after. After ER you will probably not be in any shape to go to work. My RE says 2 days bedrest after ET too.

As far as freezing goes, again based on what I've read on BnB, it doesn't seem like most people end up with frosties, I'd guestimate less than half. A lot depends on how many eggs you retrieve and how well they develop. I've seen some with 3 or 4 end up with frosties and others with 25 have none. No way to predict that I guess

 

[FrankieGirl16]

Does anyone know if when you do IVF and they do the egg retrieval you can work that day? I'm assuming I would have to use a sick day because the nurse said you're under anesthesia for the retrieval.

How often do people end up freezing embryos? I know that we have to pay out of pocket for that, which is 1,000 dollars. I know it's not a lot compared to what others pay without full insurance, but it still makes a dent in the bank account!

Glad you were able to get things settled and now you will have a plan in place whatever happens . I totally understand your thinking about the timing. My sis is a teacher and she has done the same thing when ttc.

Based of what I have read on BnB about other ladies' experiences with IVF you will want to take the day of ER off and maybe even the day after. After ER you will probably not be in any shape to go to work. My RE says 2 days bedrest after ET too.

As far as freezing goes, again based on what I've read on BnB, it doesn't seem like most people end up with frosties, I'd guestimate less than half. A lot depends on how many eggs you retrieve and how well they develop. I've seen some with 3 or 4 end up with frosties and others with 25 have none. No way to predict that I guess

I'll have to get used to the new lingo. "frosties" very cute! Never heard of them described like that

 

[Mrs. Bear]

I'll have to get used to the new lingo. "frosties" very cute! Never heard of them described like that

Yeah, there is all sorts of new IVF lingo for everything - plus with the slang variations between US/Canada/UK on here sometimes it feels like you need a translator

 

[Springy]

I'm really excited about starting IVF. After talking with my husband, we've decided that if this fouth round of IUI/injectable meds doesn't work, we'll try ONE more. If I'm not preg now I'll get my period around the 25th of October. That means that I would do one more IUI round and then move onto IVF!

I decided to do 1 more round of IUI b/c the nurse said that they would have me get my period, then take bc pills for 10-14 days, and then once I get my period again we would begin with lupron injections and other meds. That pushes me into November which is actually the worst month for me to fall pregnant due to maternity leave timing for work (assuming the IVF would work on the first try).

So I'm going to keep my fingers crossed, and if this month is a bfn I will try again next month. This way once I start IVF it will be December which is a better month to fall pregnant.

The nurse is going to set me up a consult with the doctor next cycle, so I can begin IVF right after that. I am hoping to get a appointment on nov. 10th or 11th b/c I have off of work those days. I really don't want to take another sick day for a consult. (Like to save them up for when I actually HAVE a baby!)

I'm a teacher so a December pregnancy makes a September baby, which means I can go on maternity leave for September using my sick days and then take 12 weeks from the state, so I wouldn't have to go back to work until January. Hopefullly IVF works if the IUIs don't! I can't wait!

Does anyone know if when you do IVF and they do the egg retrieval you can work that day? I'm assuming I would have to use a sick day because the nurse said you're under anesthesia for the retrieval.

How often do people end up freezing embryos? I know that we have to pay out of pocket for that, which is 1,000 dollars. I know it's not a lot compared to what others pay without full insurance, but it still makes a dent in the bank account!

As Mrs. Bear says for the ER you won't be able to work that day or probably the next day, then with the transfer its definitely a few days of bed rest then too! Tough when you're a teacher and taking time off isn't as easy as for the rest of us with "desk" jobs!

And as for "frosties" it all depends on your number retrieved, number fertilized and how good they look at a day 5 blastocyst stage. I have had friends have several frozen and then another friend who went through IVF twice and neither time ended up with frosties!