IVF or FET November/December 2015 - chat thread

[klik]

Amanda: I have a... copious behind (child-bearing hips, they say, though for the past couple years that has felt deeply ironic) so hopefully won't run out of space! But by now... I can imagine you're ready to be done with those shots... You're doing great!

Asterimou: thanks! Enjoy your last few weeks off before your cycle! I have high hopes that Amanda has indeed started a wonderful trend for this thread!

Cramping occasionally--hard not to panic at those moments, but they're few and far between. Apart from that, no symptoms at all... Can't wait til Monday's results--I keep needing some sort of reassurance!

 

[Wish2BMom]

OMG KLIK!!!! you did it!!! that's some multiplying right there!!! I could not be happier for you!!!!

ugh, so not looking forward to the PIO shots. I'm not 'skinny' anymore but for the first time in my life, i'm hoping I have enough to work with back there. But I've also started working out again to try to keep the medication weight at bay and keep healthy for a little one!
Lupron is going just fine - no side effects from what I can see. What did you experience? maybe I'm having some and just chalking it up to other stuff.
I went for acupuncture yesterday and melted into the bed. It was amazing. I am all lined up for the next couple of weeks too but will figure out if the transfer will actually take place on 11/13 and then we'll book one before and after that. Weeeee!

 

[amanda1235]

Wish that's so exciting!! Getting so close!

Oh, and lol ladies I definitely should have lots of extra room back there, never been skinny a day in my life lol. Still, the whole area's pretty worn out now, and with the lovenox in the front.....just a giant pin cushion lol.

 

[Asterimou]

Exciting times Wish. Everything crossed for your transfer. Let's get the next BFP chalked up ��

 

[klik]

Wish: Thanks! Oh, yeah, no possibility of twisted ovaries for you, so you can work out to your heart's content for the moment! Oh, as for Lupron (or buserelin), I just felt, uhm... dry and libido-less, and that felt really life-sucking for me. But many women report no problems at all. Then again, all this progesterone is not making me particularly feisty either (and the estrogen is somehow not countering it), but it's a different feel--it feels like I'm full of hormones, rather than entirely devoid of them--like, there's a lot going on, rather than nothing. Sorry, hard to explain! Anyway, let's get to what's important: awesome that you're back to acupuncture, and I cannot believe how close 11/13 is!

Amanda: do you get to stop the lovenox in about a week, too? That would be grand!

Asterimou: :wave:

 

[Wish2BMom]

how'd everything go today, klik?? I'm still in shock - I feel like you said something about doing everything in November and this was unexpected! I can't keep up with your wheelings and dealings overseas! HAHA! I'm so, so happy for you.

Ok, so I think the Lupron is giving me heartburn and yes, I can say that i didn't have even one day of really wanting to BD at all (do I even call it BD'ing anymore??) but we did on Sat night. DH still feels like we're having scheduled sex so I had to mix things up a bit to show him we're not.
cd1 today, with a vengeance, and just got back from my baseline blood giving. I'll get those results with a green light to drop the Lupron in half and start Estrace and baby aspirin this afternoon. Weeeee!

How is everyone else?

 

[scoobybeans]

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been MIA for a week, between work & doctor appointments it's been crazy.

klik- CONGRATULATIONS!!!! That's a fantastic doubling rate & I can't wait to hear the results of your scan. You must be over the moon right now!!! Try not to focus on negative statistics. I know that is SO much easier said than done, but you deserve this and it IS your time.

wish- Woohoo on getting started today! I hope everything looks great with your bloodwork & this cycle progresses smoothly! Are you doing a fresh or frozen transfer? I saw you're doing acupuncture as well. I've been considering it lately & I wanted to ask you how long/how often you've been doing it?

Amanda- how are you feeling hun? Almost into the 2nd trimester now, hurray! I hear symptoms start easing up right about now so I hope the same is true for you

Sava, Boopin, Aster & Disney- How are you ladies? Well I hope!

AFM, I had a week of both good & bad results so I took the weekend to process everything. Bad news first: My cardiologist confirmed my arrhythmia is a WPW, so I was born with it and eventually I'll probably have to have ablation surgery. The polyp has grown from 7mm to 1cm so surgery is scheduled for November 14th to remove it (and anything else they find). Despite losing about 20 pounds, my husband's A1C level only dropped 1/10 of a point and his cholesterol is still super high. We really don't understand because his diet has improved so much and he's on stronger meds. Got this news on Thursday so assumed the worst for his SA results, but...

The good news, his SA results improved tremendously. They went from 8 million with awful motility and morphology to 42 million with 60% motility and 25% morphology!!! Could have knocked me over with a feather. Also, my AMH is surprisingly decent (2.11) and my FSH is pretty low (6.9) and all of my bloodwork came back perfect, so I'm in WAY better shape than I expected.

So, next month we can't do anything because of the timing of the polypectomy. Assuming we get the all clear for December I think our plan is to try naturally one more time as a last-ditch effort (with polyp removed, who knows???) and assuming it's not successful plan on doing either IUI or IVF in January. Will anyone else be going forward around the same time?

 

[Savasanna]

Hi everyone! Scoobs - I think we may end up on a similar track! My appointment went well, everything came back normal. The only snag was that they found a "structure" behind my uterus during the ultrasound. My RE doesn't know what it is, but said he doesn't believe it's attached to the uterus (so related to (in)fertility) or that it is anything in the tumor/cancer category. That said, he may order an MRI to investigate further, just to identify what it is.

So, the plan he suggested was to try a couple monitored IUI cycles with clomid/triggering prior to moving on to IVF. However, he said he'd support going right to IVF if that's what we'd like. I appreciated that he put the ball in our court some. I wanted to do one IUI, my wife voted for two. After some thought I agreed to two, as well, sort of for the same 'last ditch' effort before moving on to IVF. Who knows - maybe it could work. I really don't love the idea of wasting any more time (and for insurance purposes, it makes sense to have multiple IVF rounds (if necessary) in the same plan year) but, at the same time, timing is important when using frozen sperm so maybe we'll get lucky and that will do the trick.

So that's our plan. However, if my RE decides to recommend an MRI then this could push back "next month's" try to December. We'll see, though. He said to call him if I haven't heard back from him by tomorrow.

 

[klik]

Wish: Yeah, I think no one is more surprised than me! I thought I'd be back in NY in November, if that September attempt at Cornell (that ended up in rush-flying back for TI) didn't work... But then the RE there said they'd done studies and found back-to-back cycles are just as effective as non-. So... here we are! I TOTALLY get that feeling of "BD'ing is for a purpose" (especially since we call it that!) so well done on making it interesting! DP and I BD'd yesterday for the first time in AGES (since he had to start "saving himself" for providing his "sample", which is like 3 weeks ago). How did your bloodwork turn out?

Scooby: Good to hear from you! I'm really sorry about your cardiac news, the polyp growth, and your DH's bloods... I'm really glad that at least for fertility purposes, though, your situation looks pretty good--having the polyp removed will get you ready! Super-well done to your DH for getting his sperm to this much better state--he really gets kudos for losing so much weight and improving his diet! Hopefully between that and your polypectomy, you should be ready really soon. I hope that natural attempt is then all you need!

Sava: I'm so glad your appointment went well and everything looked normal! I was wondering how it had gone... Hard to know what to do in the IUI vs IVF front, but now you've made your decision, I hope your next IUI is the golden one for you!

AFM: Beta is good again! 759.6 this time, and the minimum target was 329, so all good! Progesterone and estrogen levels are good too, and my thyroid function went back to normal with my increased thyroxine dosage, which is an enormous relief! Now I'll just be climbing up the walls til Friday's scan... There should be a gestational sac at the very least by then!

 

[amanda1235]

OMG Klik!!!!!!! Fantastic news!!!!!!!

 

[Wish2BMom]

we are doing a frozen cycle - ordered up the eggs already. It was just much easier and affordable and really, gave us an end in sight if things didn't work out (only get 6 eggs). Acupuncture is wonderful but I only do it when I need to (it's $70 a pop so I have to keep my 'services' in check!) - I did it earlier this year when going through my last IVF and just started up a few weeks ago for this cycle. I highly recommend it to anyone - I was a skeptic, but I'm now a believer. Sometimes, it's better than the best massage I could get!

scoob - I'm sorry about the things that are delaying you but glad you are getting a plan in place to remove any obstacles. At this point of the year too, might be just best to wing it over the holidays and such. Then start fresh in January if needed. Is your arrhythmia something to be concerned about once you get pregnant? What does WTW mean?
Excellent news on your hubs getting his boys up to where they need to be!! I'm sure everything else will fall in line.

Same for you Sava - maybe it'll be a blessing to start everything with fresh new insurance and hope after 1/1!! The excitement will roll on into the new year!!

 

[Wish2BMom]

yikes, we crossed paths, klik! those are AMAZING numbers, I'm sooooooo happy for you!!! you're, like, quadrupling!! maybe it split into 2!! This definitely sounds like a little late implanter b/c you are SURE on your way now!

I haven't gotten the call on the bloods yet, but I'm sure all is fine.

 

[Savasanna]

Klik - amazing numbers!! You must be over the moon! Looking forward to Friday's scan!

 

[Savasanna]

Very true, Wish. I hope you guys don't mind if I stick around here, even if I'm not moving right into IVF at this moment.

 

[boopin4baby]

Amazing news klik!! I agree with Wish, maybe your embie split into twins!!

 

[klik]

Amanda: thanks!

Wish: funny, with me the acupuncturists have to dig around a bit painfully until I actually get the tingles . But once they're done, it's pretty relaxing. My embryo does sound like a late implanter, huh? I think it was like, "Hmmm, should I or shouldn't I?" And then when it decided to go for it, it went with gusto. Or so I hope... Good luck with the bloods!

Sava: thanks! I'm pretty ecstatic, yeah. Kind of frightened of all my optimism, though, in case things turn sour... It's great that you're with us, even if IVF comes a bit later--we've had some IUI success stories on this thread, (Hope comes to mind--I hope everything went well with the delivery!) so hopefully you'll be one of those, too!

Boopin: thanks! I hope to read about a BFP from you soon! . I don't think mine is twins, though... It's multiplying by about 2.5 every 2 days, which I think is well within the range of a singleton... Anyway, if you're right, DP will be delighted and I will be tearing my hair out in panic!

 

[boopin4baby]

Please do stick around Sava. The more here, the merrier!!

Wish - If you don't mind me asking. How much does it cost for 6 eggs?? Does that include the transfer of them or is that a separate cost?? I'm using an anonymous egg donor. It's very expensive, but well worth it if it works out. And I pray to God everyday that it does.

 

[Asterimou]

Hey Wish: Hope you got good bloods back and are ready to go

Klik: I'm on for you. You're perseverance and optimism really paid off. Such an inspiration!

Scooby: rough with smooth hey. Not sure how long your hubby has been on the health kick but lots of stuff takes 3 months to impact so could still have time. I find Accupuncture great, it regulated my periods and stopped them being painful, so definitely does something. I go weekly at the moment and they say to start a few months before a cycle so now would be good for you xx

Sava: at least they are investigating so will be able to make sure the 'object' doesn't impact anything. I personally would go for IVF as it has much better odds, but we all have different situations so I get you wanting to try iui again first. I really hope it works.

Amanda: I hope you're settling in to pregnancy nicely and relaxing a bit before

Boopin: transfer will be soon hey?

AFM: Digging out the needles and left over meds from last cycle so I can order the next batch. As long as scan is okay I'll be cycling in November. Ready as I'll ever be

 

[klik]

Boopin: I really hope you don't need any more eggs! So hope your embryo from the anonymous donor egg works out!

Asterimou: Thanks! So exciting you are about to start again! When is your scan again?

I just saw a doctor at my general practitioner clinic to announce the pregnancy and find out what's next from their perspective, and through the NHS there's apparently no monitoring whatsoever until week 10. I think I would die if I had to wait that long! Friday already feels like ages away as is... She said there's nothing to monitor now--vitamin D levels, or folic acid levels, or whatever... just take the supplements and assume everything is fine. Feels so weird after so much monitoring! When I asked about the flu jab, she did say it's a good idea to take it, so I'll go in tomorrow, but I didn't even get the impression that she'd have recommended it if I'd not mentioned it first. Felt pretty useless, really. Feeling incredibly lucky to have a clinic (two clinics!) looking after me for now...

 

[Wish2BMom]

eeeee! I'm just squealing with delight, klik! I understand what you mean, though - I'll feel like my lifeline is gone if they just now start chalking everything up as 'normal' and 'we'll see you when we see you!' I don't think that's how it is in the US, though. I think you stay with the RE until...week 8 or so? a scan at 6w, then another at 8 and THEN you are let go? It might even be 10 weeks. Anyway...

boopin - the DE process is costing us $18k, flat fee. Our donor is anonymous too, we picked her out of an online library of donors which was only about 100 deep. This covers EVERYTHING - her screenings, any legal fees, etc. If we went fresh, we could potentially get more eggs but we'd have to pay for all of those things separately and the minimum amount was about $17,500. So I figured - we'll go with the frozen, flat fee, max of 6 eggs (unless none fertilize, then we get another lot - we are guaranteed one transfer) and then we're done. I didn't want 15 more shots from fresh eggs or whatever it could be. I'm turning 41 in Dec and there has to be an end date to this at some point. So this is it! I really hope that this is it for you too and you don't have to go through this ever again! This is your turn for a sticky BFP!

sava - I'd love it if you stuck around! Definitely the more the merrier and we're here to cheer you on through the non-events too!

speaking of...Disney - how was the trip? are you home yet? Time to get started on your next IUI!

aster - I'm so excited for you to start again too!! November sounded so far away a few weeks ago but hell if it's not next Tuesday!

oh yeah - bloods were fine, I'm sufficiently suppressed. So I dropped the Lupron dose in half last night and am starting my Estrace pills and baby aspirin every day now. Does Lupron cause weight gain??? ugh, the scale keeps going UP and I'm doing nothing different EXCEPT working out more! I hate these drugs sometimes!