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

[Dis3tnd]

Happy you are on your way Mrs. Bear!!

I am so excited to get AF so that I can find out what the routine will be for FET. Before IVF I was so freaked out, cried almost everyday and was terrified nothing good would come from it - but as each hurdle was met, with each growing follicle, retrieval count, fertilization report, frostie count etc, optimism kept growing. I'm scared I may have cysts this cycle (my ovaries still hurt) and that I'll have to wait until Feb or even later for my FET.

On a side note, felt like sharing what gets DH and I through lately.

Not a lot of people in our family know that we're doing IVF - but there are a few members (mostly my family though not DH's). Regardless, my little brother is my favourite person in the world... he is 11 years younger than I am, and a lot more like my son than brother. I based my entire life around him, and growing up would take him with me everywhere (often even when I went out with friends in high school/ university, and dates with now DH). He is almost 17 now and is the sweetest boy in the world. Anywho, in chemistry class they were learning how to oxidize things to make them silver plated, and they could bring in anything to oxidize. He used a test tube, and gave me a beautiful silver test tube - he even put a bow around it. Whenever I get sad, or impatient, I pull that tube outta my purse, hold it in my hands and smile - it makes me think of my embies!

I think we all need these physical symbols at times. After our chemical with the last IUI, DH and I were devastated. We had a trip planned a week after, and we were still not 100% but were still trying for each other's sake to enjoy the trip. In a gift shop DH saw a little wish stone with the word 'Hope' on it. It made him feel like it was a symbol of our chemical and bought it. We keep it in our family room, so that our little 'Hope' is always with us....

 

[wanabeamama]

Happy you are on your way Mrs. Bear!!

I am so excited to get AF so that I can find out what the routine will be for FET. Before IVF I was so freaked out, cried almost everyday and was terrified nothing good would come from it - but as each hurdle was met, with each growing follicle, retrieval count, fertilization report, frostie count etc, optimism kept growing. I'm scared I may have cysts this cycle (my ovaries still hurt) and that I'll have to wait until Feb or even later for my FET.

On a side note, felt like sharing what gets DH and I through lately.

Not a lot of people in our family know that we're doing IVF - but there are a few members (mostly my family though not DH's). Regardless, my little brother is my favourite person in the world... he is 11 years younger than I am, and a lot more like my son than brother. I based my entire life around him, and growing up would take him with me everywhere (often even when I went out with friends in high school/ university, and dates with now DH). He is almost 17 now and is the sweetest boy in the world. Anywho, in chemistry class they were learning how to oxidize things to make them silver plated, and they could bring in anything to oxidize. He used a test tube, and gave me a beautiful silver test tube - he even put a bow around it. Whenever I get sad, or impatient, I pull that tube outta my purse, hold it in my hands and smile - it makes me think of my embies!

I think we all need these physical symbols at times. After our chemical with the last IUI, DH and I were devastated. We had a trip planned a week after, and we were still not 100% but were still trying for each other's sake to enjoy the trip. In a gift shop DH saw a little wish stone with the word 'Hope' on it. It made him feel like it was a symbol of our chemical and bought it. We keep it in our family room, so that our little 'Hope' is always with us....

Wow that is beautiful I hope that your dream comes true

 

[SquirrelGirl]

Wow, Dis3tnd, that was super nice of your brother. So thoughtful!


It's a happening place in here. I thought I could remember what I wanted to respond to once I got to the end, but now I've forgotten almost everything.

Mrs. Bear -- YAY no cysts!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know the intramuscular shots are very intimidating. I don't have a lot of room to talk since I only had to do one for HCG, but honestly...... people will say it all the time and you won't believe it til you do one. But it really doesn't hurt. I don't know how or why, but it doesn't. That's not to say I could give it to myself, but try not to psyche yourself out about the needle.


Lucie... argh.

 

[Equal]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes!! I go in tomorrow for the start of my iui cycle! Very excited but nervous. I find out if I can start clomid tomorrow as well...

I have done natural cycle monitoring beofre this and just tracking my ovulation etc..

Good Luck to Everyone!!

 

[Viola77]

So i was wondering if anyone opted out of the HSG because I truly cannot afford it and my insurance does not pay for ANY infertility/fertility testing whatsoever. very depressing. my dh and i are thinking about just moving forward with the iui medicated cycle and taking about chances bc my husband is the one with the low sperm count but i'm ok and have had a baby three years ago. what do you think?
thanks for all the help
viola

 

[Mrs. Bear]

Angel baby - I totally understand cancelling the beta. No need to bother going through that and getting the call when you already know the answer. I think it is a good idea to go ahead and have the consult, that way you have all the info and can make your decisions from there.

Lucie73821 - Sorry to hear you think AF is on the way

Dis3tnd - those are such sweet stories and great momentos of your journey. FX you won't have any cysts and can get going on your FET asap. Have they said if they will do a medicated or natural FET?

SquirrelGirl - the only IM I have done myself I did in the thigh and I think I hurt myself mostly because I was hesitant to jab the needle in so I pricked myself over and over DH won't have an issue with it - he will just stab me If I had to do it myself I would probably take 20 minutes for each time getting up the nerve to jab it in

Equal - Yay for getting started! IUIs are a piece of cake


Got my call from the RE office this afternoon and E2 was good so all systems are 'go' for starting stims Saturday. My first follie check will be the 12th

 

[MrsC8776]

So i was wondering if anyone opted out of the HSG because I truly cannot afford it and my insurance does not pay for ANY infertility/fertility testing whatsoever. very depressing. my dh and i are thinking about just moving forward with the iui medicated cycle and taking about chances bc my husband is the one with the low sperm count but i'm ok and have had a baby three years ago. what do you think?
thanks for all the help
viola

I'm not sure of the total cost of the HSG where you are at. Insurance did cover some of mine but not all. Still waiting on the bill though. I did do 2 IUI's without having the test done first. If you feel comfortable doing the IUI's without it I would say just talk to your FS and see what they say. It is up to you though. Good luck with what ever you decide.

Got my call from the RE office this afternoon and E2 was good so all systems are 'go' for starting stims Saturday. My first follie check will be the 12th

Sounds like things are moving right along for you and that is great. Good luck on stims!

 

[princess_1991]

Dis3 that is so sweet of your little brother!

Afm Were starting stimming tonight

Hope everyone is ok!

 

[Mrs. Bear]

So i was wondering if anyone opted out of the HSG because I truly cannot afford it and my insurance does not pay for ANY infertility/fertility testing whatsoever. very depressing. my dh and i are thinking about just moving forward with the iui medicated cycle and taking about chances bc my husband is the one with the low sperm count but i'm ok and have had a baby three years ago. what do you think?
thanks for all the help
viola

It's really up to you. The danger is that if you have blocked tubes or some other issue you could be throwing money away on the IUI cycles because they may not have any chance of working anyway. It is a gamble. Odds are you are fine but you never know.

 

[Dis3tnd]

Dis3tnd - those are such sweet stories and great momentos of your journey. FX you won't have any cysts and can get going on your FET asap. Have they said if they will do a medicated or natural FET?

I have no idea I can't wait until AF shows up so I can go to the clinic and find out all my details!! Anxious, Anxious, Anxious!!!

 

[Springy]

Happy you are on your way Mrs. Bear!!

I am so excited to get AF so that I can find out what the routine will be for FET. Before IVF I was so freaked out, cried almost everyday and was terrified nothing good would come from it - but as each hurdle was met, with each growing follicle, retrieval count, fertilization report, frostie count etc, optimism kept growing. I'm scared I may have cysts this cycle (my ovaries still hurt) and that I'll have to wait until Feb or even later for my FET.

On a side note, felt like sharing what gets DH and I through lately.

Not a lot of people in our family know that we're doing IVF - but there are a few members (mostly my family though not DH's). Regardless, my little brother is my favourite person in the world... he is 11 years younger than I am, and a lot more like my son than brother. I based my entire life around him, and growing up would take him with me everywhere (often even when I went out with friends in high school/ university, and dates with now DH). He is almost 17 now and is the sweetest boy in the world. Anywho, in chemistry class they were learning how to oxidize things to make them silver plated, and they could bring in anything to oxidize. He used a test tube, and gave me a beautiful silver test tube - he even put a bow around it. Whenever I get sad, or impatient, I pull that tube outta my purse, hold it in my hands and smile - it makes me think of my embies!

I think we all need these physical symbols at times. After our chemical with the last IUI, DH and I were devastated. We had a trip planned a week after, and we were still not 100% but were still trying for each other's sake to enjoy the trip. In a gift shop DH saw a little wish stone with the word 'Hope' on it. It made him feel like it was a symbol of our chemical and bought it. We keep it in our family room, so that our little 'Hope' is always with us....

This gave me goosebumps and almost made me cry! My education is in chemistry so this may also trigger a bit more emotion in me but your brother is amazing!!! And the Hope rock is perfect and looking at it will bring you both strength and joy. I have a GREAT feeling about your FET!!!!

 

[Dis3tnd]

This gave me goosebumps and almost made me cry! My education is in chemistry so this may also trigger a bit more emotion in me but your brother is amazing!!! And the Hope rock is perfect and looking at it will bring you both strength and joy. I have a GREAT feeling about your FET!!!!

Thank you so much Springy! You have no idea how much I needed to read that! I was just coming here to post a little vent.

For some reason I'm really emotional today. I used to be able to blame it on the drugs, but I'm not on anything now! I can't keep myself from crying, think about all my fears and the beautiful babies I see everywhere but in my arms. I keep thinking about this FET and what if it fails, or worse, I miscarry. I'm so so scared and sitting at my desk unable to hold back tears. Why am I so wonky!?

 

[MoBaby]

Hi question for all ivfers...today I went for scan after 5 days of meds and they saw 12 follicles; I had 22 baseline. Where did they all go? I was a slow responder with day 3 e2 at 23, but they kept meds the same because everything looked fine. I had 2 follicles at 13mm today. I am concerned with only having 12 follicles now? The nurse said it was u/s technique and it was just they could not see them all. The u/s tech said its hard to see everything because of my fibroid. Is this normal? Hopefully on friday they find over 15...im getting anxious here! dh sperm is not cooperating so we've learned we may have to freeze the eggies which is worrying me also.

 

[Springy]

Hi question for all ivfers...today I went for scan after 5 days of meds and they saw 12 follicles; I had 22 baseline. Where did they all go? I was a slow responder with day 3 e2 at 23, but they kept meds the same because everything looked fine. I had 2 follicles at 13mm today. I am concerned with only having 12 follicles now? The nurse said it was u/s technique and it was just they could not see them all. The u/s tech said its hard to see everything because of my fibroid. Is this normal? Hopefully on friday they find over 15...im getting anxious here! dh sperm is not cooperating so we've learned we may have to freeze the eggies which is worrying me also.

Hi MoBaby - not all follicles present at your baseline scan will "take" and start to mature. In a normal cycle only 1 of those 22 would start to grow and you have 12 good ones. Remember quality over quantity. And it could very well be that some of them were not visible to the technician.

 

[Springy]

This gave me goosebumps and almost made me cry! My education is in chemistry so this may also trigger a bit more emotion in me but your brother is amazing!!! And the Hope rock is perfect and looking at it will bring you both strength and joy. I have a GREAT feeling about your FET!!!!

Thank you so much Springy! You have no idea how much I needed to read that! I was just coming here to post a little vent.

For some reason I'm really emotional today. I used to be able to blame it on the drugs, but I'm not on anything now! I can't keep myself from crying, think about all my fears and the beautiful babies I see everywhere but in my arms. I keep thinking about this FET and what if it fails, or worse, I miscarry. I'm so so scared and sitting at my desk unable to hold back tears. Why am I so wonky!?

I think how you are feeling is TOTALLY normal. Regardless of whether you have or have not been on drugs your body is still a little out of sorts and given the mental battle of TTC I am not surprised you want to cry at your desk. God knows I have sure cried many, many times at my desk. Sometimes I am just sitting here and my mind wanders and I start to tear up, just thinking about babies, my friends who are having them and wondering if I will ever be in that position. You will have good days and bad days but just trust that your doctors know what they are doing and that your FET will be a breeze!!!

 

[berki]

I completely understand, I was at work last night and saw this really young pregnant mom and I just started to tear up.... this is such a hard battle !!

 

[sunshine1217]

Dis3nd, that is so touching. Don't focus on what's not happened yet, it'll just drive you crazy. Unfortunately, I myself am the victim of that, too. The tough part is done, I wish you the best of luck on the FET.

MoBaby, I lost a few follies from one scan to the next in my IUI last time so that does happen. I don't understand why your fibroid would impede looking at your follicles though, isn't the fibroid in your uterus? Also, I noticed you said slow responder b/c your E2 was 23. I thought E2 should be as low as possible, at least that's what I was told.

 

[Equal]

well ladies I went for my first day 3 for my iui cycle. Given to go ahead to start clomid tonight.

is it normal to take it for only 5 days starting on day 3?


As this is my first time, what time do you typically take it?? What side effects have you experineced? I am only at 50mg, which I believe is the typical starting dosage.

 

[Lucie73821]

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with the thread. I'll try harder these next few days...

Equal, I think it's normal to take clomid for 5 days. I've heard of people taking it CD 3-7 and 5-9. I always took mine at bed time. The side effects I had were some headaches the morning after I took the pill, hot flashes that came and went, and I noticed I was a bit PMSy...fine one minute, then either really sad or really mad the next. I hope you have a side-effect free experience with it!

As for me, we will be meeting with the Dr. Friday morning at 9:15. I'm going to ask about injectables. I really don't feel like another clomid cycle is worth it for us, considering he doubled my dose last month and I only produced one follie. It does suck that this will be all out of pocket for us, but I think that it is a better use of our money to move on to something with better success rates. So hopefully I'll have a plan in place come Friday.

 

[Equal]

Lucie, good luck with your dr. appt. you definitely know your body best so im hoping the dr agrees with your decision.

going to be taking my first pill in 30 min....eep! work was so stressful today but the entire time i was taking deep breaths trying not to get stressed out...then that was stressing me out lol...