IVF or FET November/December 2015 - chat thread

[Disneyfan88]

I'm sure you'll do great, Boopin!

AFM, AF finally came. Waiting to hear back from my doctor so that I know what the plan will be. I'm not sure how my cycle day 3 blood work will go since that would be a Sunday.

 

[Wish2BMom]

boopin!!! Congrats officially!!! H&H 9 mos ahead for you!!

klik - yep, I agree with Disney - your best is all you can do! I'm so glad your FIL's surgery went well. He can curse all he wants, better than the other option! That's what I would keep telling him too
That's great you've had your mammo done 2x already too! Woo!!

disney - eh, I agree with klik too - do what you can do. I have a hard time saying no to things as well. I HAD to have my bagel sandwich this morning but I've really cut back on the amount of times I have them per week (not even once a week now and I was up to about 3x/week!! yikes!!)

aster - haha, I clearly didn't come on to say anything unique today - I agree with klik on the NKCs. My doc didn't even think twice when I mentioned looking into these b/c the studies are so inconclusive. It seems to be handled differently in the UK vs the US. I barely hear about these in the US but the UK docs are all over them.

nothing going on here - I guess I'm in the au natural TWW. I don't know when I O'ed but it was sometime early this week. So I'll pick.......Tuesday! Since that would be in between our BD days. So I'll say I'm 3dpo today. I'm going to start Crinone on my own tomorrow just in case. I have a short LP and I wonder if I have been preg before (I remember a time my boobs were so sore I had to hold them walking down stairs) and maybe my short LP dashed everything. I don't know, but it's worth helping things along. I have 2.5 boxes of it left, so I have some to spare.

 

[Disneyfan88]

Still waiting on my calendar, but I got my lab slip for tomorrow. This doesn't even include the immunology work up that will be done at the doctors office!

prolactin
thyroid antibodies
TSH
Vitamin D
Lupus Anticoagulant Profile
anticardiolipin Ab. IgG/M
Antiphosphatidylserine IgG/M/A
Antithrombin Activity
Protein C, functional
Protein S, functional
PT and APTT
estradiol
fsh

 

[boopin4baby]

Geeeee wiz Disney!! I wonder how many vials of blood they need to run all of those tests.. lol!! Make sure you're hydrated and have a snack tomorrow. Things are starting up for you. How exciting!!

 

[Disneyfan88]

Thanks! I plan to eat something before and have a snack waiting in the car for after in case they take a ton of vials. I'm going to a new lab that I've never been to before (Saturday hours), so hopefully the lab is a good one.

 

[Disneyfan88]

The lab collected 12 tubes of blood!

 

[boopin4baby]

Hi Disney Holy moly @ 12 vials!! That's quite a blood panel. How soon will you find out the results?? xx

 

[Disneyfan88]

The person who drew my blood said that some of the blood is for specialized tests (the coagulation stuff I believe), so he said those results will take longer to get back (probably Wednesday or Thursday by his estimate). I'm guessing the other results take a couple of days since it's the weekend. I need to do the blood draw for the NK testing in her office. I'm hoping that one comes back normal as the treatments (intralipid infusions) aren't cheap, and my insurance won't cover it (or the test). My doctor said I'd need them once a month until 4 months pregnant if the tests came back showing an issue, and I think she said it would be around $800 each time. I highly doubt that was a total cost for all of them. I'm not really sure what the intralipid infusion really entails, so given that and the cost, I'm just hoping I don't need it.

I started BCP tonight. I'm on that for about 3 weeks. Lupron starts on the 22nd assuming everything looks good at my ultrasound on the 20th.

 

[klik]

Boopin: when is the first scan?! FX'ed indeed!

Disneyfan: Well, you're on the road again... this time, to your second THB, hopefully! 12 vials is a lot... When I did my NK tests it was... 8 or something? But I did the full Chicago tests, which include extra bells and whistles, so hopefully they won't need very many from you. Maybe Amanda can tell you how the intralipid infusions have been for her... But hopefully you won't need them. Hoping for excellent results from those bloods!

Wish: I, too, have a short luteal phase... I've also been wondering whether progesterone support wouldn't have helped me when I was trying naturally... Maybe that's the ticket... Good luck on your 2ww!

AFM: full house: one of DP's friends and some of his family are staying over... They'd be happy to eat out but I want to try and eat mostly home-cooked food, so bottom line, I'm cooking for a bunch of people and playing hostess, so kinda exhausted. But good news: FIL is off the high-dependency unit and into the unit intended for rehabilitation and discharge. He was so discouraged yesterday, poor thing, not even being able to get out of bed by himself... It's very sad for such a strong, independent man. But he'll get there again, I'm sure! And as for my 2ww... I'm felling really discouraged. I feel almost certain I'll get a BFN when I test on Tuesday. My cousin, just 7 months younger than me, just announced she's 3 months pregnant, naturally (first baby), which is excellent and quite hopeful... But I wonder whether all this expensive IVF stuff has really been the right way to go, with all these months where I'm not even allowed to try naturally, and so who knows whether I'm being forced to sit out the very month when I'd be getting a good egg. ARGH!

 

[amanda1235]

Klik, I'm glad your FIL is on his way to discharge! You've had an incredibly stressful and crazy few weeks, and I really hope you get some good news on Tuesday! You deserve it!!!

Disney, that's a crazy amount of blood! Hopefully everything comes back good! As for the intralipids, they really are a breeze, just a bit costly. Mine are $500CAD a shot, and I need them a week before transfer, day of transfer, then at 6 weeks pg. So potentially a $1500 increase in the total cost. My insurance doesn't cover it, but my insurance is crap, so maybe IF you need them you'll be lucky! Total breeze though, doesn't feel like anything, I watch a movie on my iPad while I wait (3hrs).

Wish, the tww sucks. Hang in there!

Boopin' when's your next appointment?

AFM, I start my doxycyline, medrol and progesterone today, then off for Intralipids tomorrow, and transfer on Friday. I feel oddly positive, which scares me, because I'm not sure how I'll take a negative. Sigh. In other news, one of my colleagues just announced she was 6 months pregnant, and another one is off pregnant as well (not sure when she's due). Sucks, because the 3 of us last year, were talking about how our plan was to try and get pregnant asap this year, and well, it worked for both of them right away. Then, my brother (5 years younger) just got engaged, planning for a wedding Sept/2017. When I said I hope I am at least pregnant by then, even better if we already have our baby, he said "yeah, I hope so, because we will be trying as soon as we get hitched". Soooooo........one more thing to worry about. I know it's far away, but still now that's on my mind. The hormones are starting to get the best of me!!

 

[Disneyfan88]

Thanks, ladies! I can relate to the recent round of pregnancy announcements. My husband's brother and wife officially announced last night that they are expecting when we went out for his wife's birthday (I had a hunch before they finally said something). We're very excited for them, but we have a little bit of mixed emotions given that her due date is 4 days before my due date was supposed to be. Now I have someone right here in front of me chronicling the various milestones that we would have been meeting in real time. They have no idea that I was pregnant earlier this year or that we've had any medical assistance on the fertility front.

Klik - I hope you were able to get some rest this weekend and that your FIL is doing better today. Hang in there - you'll know one way or another very soon, and we'll be here with you regardless of the outcome. I'm still holding on to hope that you'll get that BFP.

Amanda - You're moving along! That's so exciting that your transfer is Friday! Wishing you lots of luck and baby dust!

 

[boopin4baby]

amanda and klik - If I can make it to my 3rd beta on Friday 6/10, an ultrasound will be scheduled at that time. Next week will be a milestone week for me if I can make it through. My last pregnancy ended at 5.1 weeks and I'm scared shitless that I won't make it past 5 weeks. I know I should be happy and optimistic because this is a joyous time, but honestly I'm not. I'm scared to death you guys. Fx'd until next Friday ladies!!

Wishing everyone all the best!!

 

[amanda1235]

Oh Boopin, I understand, but try to hang in there!!! This time is a different try, so there are no reasons to think it will go the same as last time!! (Easier said than done I know!!)

 

[Disneyfan88]

Hang in there, Boopin! I'm sure everything will be fine, but I totally get it after what we've been through.

 

[klik]

Amanda: thanks! Wow, Friday transfer! And hey, it's good you're feeling positive. And if--IF!! there is a disappointment (hopefully not), you are strong enough to bear it, so don't be afraid.... Enjoy the positivity! And hopefully it's more than optimism--hopefully it's a hunch, and you'll get your BFP and it will stick this time!

Disneyfan: thanks!

Amanda & Disneyfan: Yeah, the pregnancy announcements really are difficult. It's not that you don't want others to be successful, but that feeling of being left behind is very painful... despite your very best efforts, all the money, the time, the focus, the dedication... Disneyfan, it would have been amazing to have been so close to your SIL's foetal development... What a shame...

Boopin: I'm totally with you! My MC was probably somewhere in the fifth week, too--when it was time for my scan there was no foetal pole... I hope your experience is different this time, and that your scan goes well and you can start to relax! But I totally get how difficult it is... hang in there... every day is a little victory!

I'm a little less pessimistic today, and I have to admit that like Amanda I'm apprehensive as to what state that will get me in if I get a BFN tomorrow. Well, I'll be disappointed, of course... But I can survive that. Either way, less than 24 hours to go...

 

[Wish2BMom]

klik - I know what you're going through, we all do. All too well. You'll do great tomorrow. Any symptoms to speak of?

boopin - same goes for you - you'll do great at your next u/s! I like to think how Amanda does - this is a completely different time, the outcome of this one is not dependent on the outcome of the last. Hard to keep that in mind, but they are exclusive of each other!!

amanda - wow, transfer on Friday!! That's a lot going on between now and then. How many are you transferring again?

disney - WOW, that's a ton of blood!!! I think the most I've had taken was 6 vials and I thought that was a lot!

aster - hope you're doing well!

hope - how's it going with you?

yeah, all of those pregnancy announcements are disheartening. Of COURSE we wish them well, but yeah - why does it have to be so hard for us?? I know there's a reason but...ugh.

afm - not too much going on. I completely kept forgetting to do the crinone so that's out the window. I feel like I shouldn't start it on 7dpo. However, I did cut up some pineapple core this weekend, so there's at least that. My folks are coming into town for a week tomorrow, so that will be fun (for me, not always so much for DH). We have some fun things planned. So I guess that might help take the sting out of getting AF if she comes this week.

 

[klik]

Wish, there's nothing I can really point to and call a symptom... I think I'm colder than usual... I think I was more tired than usual for a while but not anymore... I was having some menstrual-like cramps (light ones) for a while but not really anymore... I sort of have a feeling that something is in my belly but it could be the lining or, I don't know, gas (or just my mind playing tricks on me)... Sometimes boobs feel sore, sometimes not... My libido is on the low side, but that's all the progesterone, I think. So yeah, nothing I can really point to with any certainty. Still mostly expecting a BFN, I guess, but haven't lost all hope.

Nice that you'll have some distraction in your 2ww! I will LOVE it if you get a natural BFP!!!

 

[Asterimou]

Klik: good luck tmrw I know the last few days are sooo hard but there is a chance of BFP so I'm really hoping this is it for you xx

Boppin: I will be exactly the same if I ever get that BFP. I'm sure it will be fine and really hope it's a sticky little bean.

Amanda: for Friday. I have a good feeling for you sweetie xx

Wish: I'm really hoping this I your time too. It's so exciting and nerve wracking so many of you at the same stage. This could be it!

Disney: I'm also doing NKC next Tuesday, it's £500 and then £1500 a pop for immune treatment so I REALLY hope my levels are low also. I had 5 vials taken today for thrombophillia screening, so you beat me

AFM: I'm in counselling again and it does help but I do keep on crashing. I have a wonderful husband and am trying to make the most of being a DINK. But as we all know it is very hard sometimes. Respect ladies xx

 

[klik]

Aw, dear ladies, I wish I had something good to share but sadly I got a BFN... I'm feeling pretty angry at the universe--when you really give your all to something and then it doesn't work, it just feels persecuting, and unfair. Still, I am nothing if not persistent--my follow-up appointment is on Thursday. Cornell is closed at the moment for a long-ish summer break, so I'll TRY to do one more natural cycle IVF here in London and, if that doesn't work, I'll do estrogen priming in July in preparation for a Cornell cycle in August. Hopefully you'll all be nice and pregnant by then!!!

Asterimou: it is indeed very hard. I'm really glad you have counselling... Listen, crashing is totally normal, and human... I'm sorry it's so hard. Right now, I'm right there with you... all of this really sucks sometimes. Much of the time, even. Hang in there... You will recover, eventually, and find a way to build your family. Til then, I'm really sorry it's so tough...

 

[Wish2BMom]

ugh, klik I'm so sorry. I know you feel like you knew and all that but yes, the universe sucks when it's not looking our way. Literally everything about this process sucks except the end result - the meds, the money, the waiting, the failed cycles, the secrets we have to keep, the endless research we have to do. So, know that your persistence makes you a warrior. You WILL make this work, even if it takes traveling around the world for it to happen! Huge hugs to you.

here's my little warrior:

aster - ditto. HAHA! same goes for you - it's so trying that it's definitely ok/expected/normal for you to break down. It's a lot to take on our little shoulders! Along with all of the regular adulting we have to do! But yes, try to enjoy your DINKness - hopefully you won't have it anymore sometime soon! Relish it now!

Thank you for all of the good thoughts on our natural cycle. I am sure I'll get AF this week, so it'll just be a pleasant surprise (ok...a shocking, no-f'ing-way-you-can't-be-serious surprise...) if I don't get it. HA! I'm assuming I'll be popping some Letrozole next week!

my folks are coming into town today, I'm pretty excited. I have Friday and Monday off of work so that excites me as well. I just haven't had my head in the game these past couple of weeks - it's been so nice out and I just want to go outside and play!