IVF October/November ???

[Ask4joy]

Great news, Babylights! Hoping hard for you! I just wrote in your journal - 3 of our 5 normals are day 6 blasts! FX fx fx those 4 keep going strong!

Lining check went great! Doc said my lining looks “gorgeous” lol. Must have been all that wine i drank over Thanksgiving. Ha! 9.7mm this morning so transfer is on for Monday!

Hope you are starting to feel better, Ash!

 

[ashknowsbest]

Babylights - that’s great news! My twins were both day 6s. A 6aa and a 3ab. You have great things happening!

Ask - Woohoo for a good lining! Do you start the pio tonight? I always hated those shots but I’d do anything for a baby so ...

I’m still pretty bloated but did manage to pack some today. Laying down now with a heating pad. I think I’ll feel great tomorrow.

 

[Ask4joy]

I start PIO tomorrow - my nurse said we can pick any time of day and stick to a 2 hour window so we are going to do it in the evening so we don’t have to wake up early even on weekends. I have big circles drawn on my butt in permanent marker from the nurse lol. Super cute.

Glad you are feeling a little better! Heating pads are the best!

 

[ashknowsbest]

Ask - the big circles on your butt are the best. Eventually you won’t need them. You’ll become a pro! I think it’s great to do it at night but just make sure you walk for 10-15 minutes or massage the area after the shot. Because it’s oil if you don’t massage it around it sits and will build up and become really uncomfortable.

 

[babylights]

Thanks so much for the encouragement ladies! I feel like I breathed a tiny bit today, but of course will still be worried until tomorrow.

ash hope you feel great by tomorrow! And thanks for being so kind in sharing your knowledge about everything IVF. It’s so nice to have such a huge success story to keep hope alive! I know it was a long, hard road for you and I’m so excited this round has been going so well for you already!

ask the PIO shots sound so scary, but it’s crazy how quickly you’ll become an old pro at them just like everything else in this process. So so exciting that your transfer is coming up so quick!

 

[SunnyBe]

Babylights, that's great news. I hope the others make it as well!

Ask, so happy to hear your lining looked good and was nice and thick! Looks like you're all set for transfer!

Ash, will you get another update tomorrow? Or will you find out after the full 5 days are over?

Amy, ahh FETs really are the way to go. How many embryos do you have in storage?

AFM, my Day 7 scan went great. I have about 15 follicles growing and my lining looked great. I hope to find out tomorrow if I'll be triggering this week or if it'll be next week

 

[ashknowsbest]

Sunny - I won’t hear anything until Saturday which is freeze/biopsy day. 15 follicles is GREAT! I’m glad everything is moving along for you.

 

[emilydee87]

Ask, I'm so excited for your lining and transfer day!! You're almost there! And I'm especially jealous that you got to have wine on thanksgiving! My doc said no alcohol, and I hadnt even finished my period yet! Its gonna be a dry holiday

Babylights, great news!

Ash thanks for the heads up on PIO. I start them on the 13th for the first time. Did you do them yourself or have your hubby do it?

I have my baseline appt tomorrow getting ready for transfer on 12/18. I just realized estrace is Category X and they want me to be on it through most of the first trimester they want to put me on prednisone and intralipid infusions as well for my high NK cell counts. Both are Category C does anyone have input on these meds? I know its part of the protocol, but why do they use it if its rated so poorly for birth defects??? I naively thought that once I got through IVF I could have a natural pregnancy drug-free

 

[ashknowsbest]

Emily - I did them myself because I found it less stressful than to have hubby do it!

I was on estrace up until week 10 with L and O (my twins). They're perfectly fine. I would try not to worry so much but I know it's really hard. Doctors do this every single day so although there are risks, the risks normally outweigh the risk of not taking those meds. I know it's all very scary

 

[babylights]

sunny great news!

ash I can’t believe you did the PIO yourself, that’s amazing!

We have two more blasts for a total of four this round, 6AA and 5BB. One arrested and they’re growing one more until tomorrow, that one was part of the batch they ICSI’d a day later so tomorrow will be its day 6. Please keep growing!!!

 

[Ask4joy]

Hooray! Great news, Babylights!

I hope our embryos are ok quality - they are chromosomally normal but the grading isn’t top quality. Our best is a day 5 4BB which we are transferring first. Next is a day 5 3BB. Then a day 6 4AA, day 6 4BB and day 6 3BB. The embryologist said they transfer the day 5s before the day 6s as they tend to do better, even if the day 6 is graded higher. Hoping this works on the first try!!!

Emily - good luck with your baseline tomorrow! I didn’t drink during stims but thought a few glasses of red wine a couple of weeks before FET wouldn’t hurt! I am on another forum with all women doing IVF + PGS + FETs and asked what they thought and everyone said it’s fine and some even said the cycle they had some wine was their only successful one! Now I don’t think there’s a correlation (except for maybe just being less stressed). I haven’t had any since Thanksgiving though to be safe!

 

[babylights]

ask I’ve read time and time again that the grading becomes way less relevant once they’re determined to be chromosomally normal. You’re so close, I have such a great feeling for you!!

emily good luck tomorrow!!

ash how are you feeling today?

amy how are you, any updates? So excited for your FET!

 

[Ask4joy]

Thanks Babylights - I read that too but will always find something to worry about!

DH did my first PIO shot! I hardly felt a thing! I heated the area with my heating pad for 5-10 mins before and heated the oil for 2 minutes on the heating pad then massage and heat after. I can’t believe that huge needle and I only felt a little prick!

 

[amy8686]

Hi all,

So many exciting updates! Yay for embryos and successful PIO shots.

Emily, I don't know specifically about those medications, but I know that there are lots of drugs that aren't recommended during a "normal" pregnancy because of the way it would affect hormones, but for us, we need those effects, so the usual medication warnings don't really apply to us in the same way. And in the ones that do still apply, we just have to trust the doctors when they say that the benefits outweigh the risks. I went into my pregnancy dedicated to being all-natural, after the IVF chaos had subsided, but my plans were instantly squashed by the fact that I couldn't stop vomiting unless I had anti-nausea medication (which I think was graded C). I still played it safe as much as I could, but that got me to accept that some things were going to be out of my control.

As for the drinking thing, I was overly cautious during my fresh cycle. My doctor wasn't worried about drinking in moderation until there is a fetus getting nourished through a placenta, but I know that my body functions best (better sleep, more energy, less inflammation) when I don't have alcohol. I've been much more relaxed about it during FETs. I'm staying healthy, but I don't really feel the need to obsessively CLEANSE THE BODY OF ALL TOXINS until we're approaching transfer. I made a pitcher of sangria on Thanksgiving and I'm still snacking my way through the leftover boozy fruit!

Sunny, we're lucky enough to have 9 embryos remaining. We froze 10 when I had my son, and we used one this summer. Fingers crossed it won't take 9 more tries to have one more baby, and then we will get to delve into the world of embryo donation!

No updates here. Now that things are finally underway, I'm just chugging along with bc. I start Lupron next week, and I have my suppression check on the 20th. I'm nervous about that, since I failed it last time, but I'm hoping to just stay distracted in the next few weeks. (I'm a music teacher and it's holiday season, so I'm plenty busy and distracted.)

Looking forward to all of your updates in the upcoming days!

 

[kk2003]

Hi Ladies,

I just wanted to let you know I'm doing well here. All has cleared, and I feel a little less sad and ready for the next go around. We hope do our first FET in Jan/Feb time frame still, once I figure out where my cycle is. Tuesday I still had a thickened lining, but the HCG was at 1. Kinda glad to take the holidays off...it was too hard to find out about this the day before we went up for Thanksgiving with family. We told our parents and a couple close friends about everything, but next time we are going to tell no one. It is too hard, as I'm sure you all would understand. It frustrates me that my DH and I don't have that special secret many couples have for weeks and weeks before they tell others. Is that what you all do? Keep it to yourselves or tell others? It's so hard to do either!!!

Sounds like everyone is doing well! Maybe I can tx around the same time as you ladies in Jan! I may not update during it to stay completely to ourselves on every level, but I'll let you know if we have any success or failure. I hope and pray all the best for you all! I do check in here regularly.

Also fun tip that helped with with PIO. I was sore with a electric heat pad with massage (and a foam roller for 10 min). However, I was NOT sore when I used one of those corn filled (homemade) heating things you heat in the microwave. It was super hot to the touch and I used that without the massage...not sore at all the next day. It was like magic. I highly recommend it. Good luck all!
-KK

 

[Ask4joy]

KK - glad you are feeling better and looking forward to your next transfer. The decision to tell people is tough. We have told our close family and a few close friends but I’m sure if this first transfer doesn’t work out I will be more private about the next one.

Thanks for the PIO tip! I used an electric heating pad and am sore today. Going to purchase a corn-filled one!

 

[amy8686]

Kk, how much to tell people is definitely a personal decision. We've found it helpful to be pretty open. We share almost every step with our families and for the most part, they've been good about just letting us go to them to share updates, rather than asking questions that would put pressure on us. We've definitely had to do some educating of our families on how to best support us (my mom is a walking "what not to say to an infertile person" list), but they've learned. As far as friends go, we share when it comes up because it's easier than dodging questions about why we aren't having babies. Depending on how much we trust the person to be tactful, our answer will range from some vague "oh yes, we'd love to, but we're on a long winding journey" to "why yes, I'm transferring an embryo in January!" And we've been really lucky that the response has been positive. I have a small crew of friends who are in on the details and know how to tactfully check in and support me (like you all do), and it's shut down a lot of nosiness by others. And the best thing that's come out of being open is that I've made a few connections with others who are going through IVF or have been through it.

So, that's what works for us. I think for me, it would be harder to go through a failed cycle without that support system!

 

[Ask4joy]

Amy - I feel the same way. I find people make less comments and are less nosey now that they know we are in the middle of IVF. It’s easier for me that way.

Will you be transferring 1 or 2 embryos in January?

Good luck with the Lupron. I’m relieved to be done with it, even though it’s been replaced with PIO.

 

[amy8686]

Ask, we're just transferring one at a time. I really don't want a twin pregnancy. We did two my fresh cycle, though. (And both took, but one stopped growing around 5-6 weeks.)

 

[Ask4joy]

Amy - I undetstand that. My RE will only transfer 1 PGS normal embryo at a time and with ICSI, PGS and assisted hatching there is an increased chance of splitting and identicals so I don’t think I’d transfer 2 anyway. BUT if we hadn’t done PGS I might be tempted to transfer 2 since the rate of aneuploidy for 35-39 year olds is 62% (according to my geneticist), on average (ours ended up being 70% with our 1 cycle so who knows how many transfers it would have taken to get a good one)! I hope your next transfer is successful!

KK - I got my corn filled heat bag and you are right! It relieves the pain much better! My DH didn’t believe it would (he’s an engineer and knows a lot about thermal dynamics etc)...but I’m glad I listened to you!

Ash - looking forward to your update today!!

How’s everyone else doing?