IVF or FET November/December 2015 - chat thread

[Asterimou]

Congrats Hazel, I remember following your progress early on. So glad it has worked for you

Hope - I love your avatar!

Disney and Wish: my IVF cookbook says nettle tea is blood nourishing so you may want to add a few cups of that in as well

Klik: waiting is hard hey. Although I am using the time to get lots of work done so when next cycle comes up I won't be so busy.

My counselling session was okay. It helped to just blurt everything out. I'm gonna go again and she said she will give me some ideas around coping mechanisms and staying sane in the tww! So I'll let you know if I get any good tips

 

[klik]

Thanks, Hazel! Yes, the progesterone suppositories are icky but at least you know you're doing everything you can to support your pregnancy! And your numbers look great--well done--and without morning sickness too! Best of luck for the scan next week! Soooo exciting!!

Disneyfan: thank you so much! I now have less than half of my BCPs to take, so I feel like I'm over the hump Good luck on the lining check!!

Wish, I love the summary! Can't wait for the scans and lining checks next week. Nothing specific planned for the weekend, which is probably not very clever... but I'm about to walk the dog now, with DP, which should be nice I hope your lining check goes beautifully!

Asterimou: So very clever of you to pack in the work now so you can be less busy later... I'll try to take a page from your book. Glad the counselling has already helped some--hope next time will be even better!!

 

[Wish2BMom]

i'm glad the first session went well, aster. Sometimes blurting feels sooooo gooooood!!

thanks for the note on nettle tea too - I assume this isn't something I can just pick up at the grocery store, though? it's always something fancy!
we are going to make a Guiness stew tomorrow - yummmm. I'll choose steak tips for dinner tonight!

 

[Asterimou]

Nettle tea is in uk supermarkets. Maybe it isn't as popular in the US? I drank it before ttc, it's very earthy. Some of my friends hate it though so it may not be for you

 

[klik]

Wish: Guiness stew sounds nice--let us know how it goes! We had sushi last night--I try to fill up on sushi when I am definitely not pregnant because I keep hoping I won't be able to eat it for 9 months

Asterimou: I've never had nettle tea, but the idea of consuming those horrible prickly things does not appeal! OTOH, I've heard of nettle pesto, and have toyed with the idea of trying to make some...

Exciting week coming up! Good luck to all!!

 

[amanda1235]

Aster glad the counselling helped!! Blurting is great, but I'm afraid I wouldn't feel comfortable telling a stranger how down I am.

Klik, lol I do the same thing we went to the spa last weekend, to take advantage of all the hot tubs and saunas before starting the next cycle.

I hope you guys don't mind that I'm hanging around even though I'm not doing IVF this cycle. I joined the thread for my last IVF/FET in November, but have switched to donor IUI after they cut the IVF funding. Currently on CD 7, on gonal-f and luveris, go for my next scan tomorrow to check follie growth and HOPEfully schedule IUI. Not positive about it though! Sure we'll have to go back to IVF in March. Our poor bank account

 

[Hope16]

Amanda of course you should hang around, and we all will be rooting for you this IUI. Let us know how your follie growth is going.

 

[Disneyfan88]

Hazel - Thats great that you aren't having any MS. I totally get that feeling about starting to show. When I was pregnant with DD, I couldn't wait until I had an obvious bump. I have always been fairly small, so I wanted to get past what I felt was my "is she pregnant or did she eat too many donuts?" phase since we waited to tell people at work.

Asterimou - Thanks for the tip! I'm not familiar with nettle tea, but I'll look into it. I'm glad that you are finding the counseling sessions helpful. I hope she helps you even more at your next session.

klik - You'll be done with those BCPs very soon! And then everything's going to move along fairly quickly for you.

Wish - The stew sounds yummy. Especially when it's cold outside! Let us know how it turns out. If you like it, you'll have to share the recipe.

Amanda - I'm glad you are sticking around. The ladies here are awesome and so supportive. There are other threads out there with thread titles that match the month(s) we are cycling through, but I like it here. Good luck at your scan and with your next IUI!

 

[Wish2BMom]

amanda - definitely stay with us! over the months that are assigned on the name of the thread, we get to know each other well enough so I actually don't like when people move on b/c I can't track their successes as easily!! stay! stay! And good luck with the donor IUI. I hope it works out quickly for you! I hear you on the bank account. Thankfully this FET isn't hitting us hard, I don't think. But the bills haven't come in yet - new year, reset on the deductible so it might be pricier than I think.

klik - yeah, I'm taking advantage of turkey subs! hahaha not really - too many would kill the waistline but when/if we do go that route for lunch or dinner, that's what I'm getting!

the stew turned out nicely. DH didn't really cut things into bite sizes - he follows recipes exactly still b/c he's not yet comfortable. So when they said to quarter the potatoes - that's what he did so we had HUGE chunks of potato in it! This also means he doesn't go rogue on the ingredients like I do.
I'll give you both recipes!
The Guinness one is off of his Weber Grill app but here's something close:
https://allrecipes.com/recipe/232694/slow-cooker-guinness-beef-stew/
we didn't use puff pastry - we just had a sourdough loaf on the side

mine:
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/beef-stew-with-mushrooms-shallots-and-potatoes-104155
but I add carrots, celery, use reg yellow onion instead of shallots (I'm lazy), worcestershire sauce, leftover red wine (if there is any! ), chicken broth, throw in sprigs of rosemary and thyme if I have some...I really just use this recipe as a reminder of the steps to get started.
enjoy!!

lining check tomorrow - I hope all is well. My last blood test, they said everything looked good but they jacked up up to 3 pills 3x a day instead of the regular increase of 2 pills 3x/day. So this lining better be thickening up just right.

 

[Disneyfan88]

Thanks for the recipes! I made a recipe that my mom has been making for years ("Mexican Steak and Beans") for dinner last night. I doubled everything but the water and chili sauce (I triple those), added a little extra veggies, and served it over rice. The only other thing I did differently was return everything to a boil at the end to let the bell peppers and carrots soften more, and I thickened up the sauce with a little cornstarch. It turned out just like mom's. We ate it again for lunch today.

I have the day off today, but DH had to work. I've got a pot roast in the crockpot for dinner tonight. I'm running out of ideas for beef-heavy dinners.

Good luck at your lining check tomorrow!

 

[amanda1235]

Ooo loving the recipe sharing!!

We spent the day yesterday cooking meals for the freezer, shepherds pie, lasagna, soup.....now all we gotta do all week is pop things in the oven

Thanks for letting me stay hehe scan today, had one follie almost ready to ovulate and a couple more lagging behind, so trigger tonight and IUI Wednesday morning. I forgot to ask if the other follies can catch up, I think they were around 15mm. I guess all it takes is one though! Not feeling very hopeful this time....just kinda going through the motions.

 

[Wish2BMom]

thank you for that recipe, disney! I copied it down, can't wait to try it!

along the lines of cooking - I bought DH a cooking class at an Italian restaurant a few towns over and we had it last night. It was so fun! learned how to make pasta from scratch (wow, so easy) and they cook it and serve it to you as the appetizer of a 4-course meal. It was pretty cool, something fun and different to do with the Hubs!

lining check this morning went really well - they look for the lining to be at 8 on this day and I was at 8.8. So it's only going to thicken from here on out for the little frostie to snuggle into on Monday!

amanda - go little follie, go! You could have a surprise this month! I hear you on going through the motions. Keep your chin up - you wouldn't want many more follicles than that or they could cancel b/c they don't want to increase the risk of multiples. One is all you need! And one or two others could totally catch up (I think they grow 2mm/day now?), esp with the trigger shot. Drink lots and lots of water. GOOD LUCK!

 

[klik]

Amanda, I'm super-happy you're here with us! And happy to hear your lead follie is doing well, and you might have one or two catching up too. Hey, the two latest pregnancies announced on here were from IUI, and I know that says nothing about your journey but it looks to me like there is at least room for hope!!

Wish, I am sooooooo happy your lining check went well! Well done!! Thanks also for the recipe--it looks gooood! I haven't even been thinking about eating red meat, but of course it makes sense!!

Disneyfan, good luck on your lining check! Thanks for your recipe too! It also looks yummy!!

Hope & Hazel: good luck on those baby scans!!

You gals have made me hungry. Time for dinner!

 

[Wish2BMom]

good luck on the lining check, Disney!
and good luck on the scans, preggo ladies!

 

[Disneyfan88]

Amanda - Premaking meals is brilliant. Something I always say I want to do but never get around to actually doing. I've been wanting to make lasagna for a while. It feels like a lot of work because for our house, I have to make 2 (I guess the extra work is really only the extra pan to wash now that I think about it...). DH is allergic to dairy, and I don't want to eat the soy cheese version that I make for him. Sounds like you are right on track for your IUI! for you tomorrow!

Wish - Thanks for the well wishes! Your lining sounds great and right on track! Monday will be here before you know it!! The cooking class sounds awesome! I'd love to try something like that sometime!

klik - Thanks!! What did you decide on for dinner? I'm getting hungry myself!

 

[klik]

Disneyfan: I'd premade some oxtail and lentil stew, so was planning to eat that but DP didn't feel like it so we ordered Indian delivery instead. Not exactly super-homemaker there . Still, it was yummy, and I had the oxtail today for lunch! Again, best of luck on your lining check!!

 

[Disneyfan88]

Disneyfan: I'd premade some oxtail and lentil stew, so was planning to eat that but DP didn't feel like it so we ordered Indian delivery instead. Not exactly super-homemaker there . Still, it was yummy, and I had the oxtail today for lunch! Again, best of luck on your lining check!!

Thanks!! Don't mistake me for a super homemaker. The 2 meals I mentioned on here are probably the 2 I've cooked this month. We are incredibly lucky that my in-laws come over to help watch DD during the day, and my MIL generally cooks our dinner most nights before they leave. And my parents (and sister and her family) live in the same neighborhood (separate houses), and we typically eat together at my parents house on most weekends. Lining check and blood draw is in about 4.5 hours.

 

[Disneyfan88]

Hi ladies! Just got back from my lining check. Not so great news. My lining isn't even 6 mm right now - closer to 5.5 mm. We're now waiting for my estrogen levels to come back so that we can find out if the transfer will be next week or pushed to the week after. Either way, I'm fairly certain she'll up my daily dosage. My blood was drawn after 11:30 am but before noon, so she thinks we might get the results today. I may not find out until tomorrow, though. My body has been doing a great job at finding new ways to disappoint me. I've never had lining issues in the past.

I'm still trying to stay positive -- no matter how many obstacles I keep running into.

Amanda - I wish you the best today with your IUI!

 

[Wish2BMom]

oh man - I hope they up your dosage to get that lining nice and thick!! They skipped over the dosage that was on my original calendar last week - instead of increasing from 2 pills 2x/day to 2 pills 3x/day, they jumped straight to 3 pills 3x/day. I imagine that helped things along.
I am staying on that dosage from here on out, still taking the baby aspirin and I start my Crinone tonight, then twice a day for the rest of the time.
keep us posted on the bloods!

 

[amanda1235]

Disney so sorry to hear thaT!! Hopefully it catches up!

IUI went well today, start PIO tonight. Tried the crinone last cycle but had awful s/e from it, so oddly enough I prefer the PIO. A little more painful, but less messy and irritating for sure.