July 2014 IVF Buddies

[Plex]

Amy - how are you doing hun? Thats an awesome number of follicles you got there Drink plenty! EXCITED for you!! trigger tonight! bet ur looking forward to getting the retrieval outta the way?

For my retrieval the anaesthetist (if thats how u spell it??) was awesome, he saw i was nervous and said - do you want some music? I said why not lol so he put his phone next to my ear and played the pink panther theme tune Then it was mission impossible as i was being put under - quite appropriate i thought xx

Emmi - hows ur tww going hun? Any sneeky testing? xx

Lizzie - its good that theyre increasing ur meds - lets hope it does the trick! xx

Lanet - Amazing betas!!! how are you feeling about it all? Do you have an u/s scheduled? xx


Aaargh brain power fading! I will continue with replying 2moro i think - too damned tired to think straight

 

[haleiwamama]

Hi ladies! Havent been here in a while, sorry..

I had my egg retrieval on Friday, doc collected 48 eggs! Now Im suffering through OHSS... but mildly... but so excited about the eggs! 41 were mature and 28 fertilized!!

Cant wait for FET!!

 

[Ebenson703]

Hi, hope you don't mind if I join. My husband and I have been trying to conceive for the past 1.5 years. We tried naturally, with meds, iui, and have finally decided to go big or go home. With my husband being in the state police academy (gone for 6 months with visits every other weekend) things have been tough. Luckily I found an amazing doctor (second fertility doctor we have seen). We decided on IVF and have began the pre-IVF routine and will begin the process on July 31! I am excited and nervous at the same time. Any suggestions, success stories, anything? Let me know! Thanks for taking me in!

 

[amy8686]

Plex - Your anesthetist sounds awesome! I wonder if he's conducting psychological experiments, seeing what kind of mental state he can put people in with the Pink Panther and Mission Impossible before knocking them out. Or maybe with the next gal, he played some soothing Debussy piano music, and then he secretly compared her mental state against yours.

Anyway, it's good to hear from you again, and do keep us posted. I hope you get some answers, but even more so, I hope you get to do a transfer and get pregnant!

haleiwamama - Woah. That's a lotta eggs. I'm encouraged to hear that your OHSS is only mild. :-/ Hope you feel better soon.

Hi to the newest ladies!

I'm drinking as much Gatorade as my stomach can hold, and I feel like it's burning a hole in my tongue! Maybe from the sugar? I think I'll start watering it down. Yuck.

 

[lanet]

Amy have you tried the G2? It has less sugar. I was drinking 96 oz a day for 3 weeks!
Plex thinking of you!

 

[lizzie78]

Redbean - welcome you and your lucky mojo!! We will definitely have you

Aurora - I just spat my tea all over the desk you made me laugh so much. I will also now ensure that I am horizontal at 10pm tonight though. I do my injections at that time anyway and tend to lie down for half an hour afterwards before doing my vizualisation whilst I go to sleep. DH messed it up last night by coming to bed, dozing off whilst visualising his eggs growing and then snoring so loudly I couldn't concentrate My gonal F dose is 260.5 so still lower than yours. I was on 225 IU. I'm assuming they are being careful because they are worried about OHSS with me but I'm not really sure.

Amy - hope your trigger went ok? Not long now hon although the Gatorade tongue burn doesn't sound nice. I get that when I drink sugary drinks.

Plex - another tea spatter here when reading about your anaesthetist. Glad you are posting back here and hope all goes well with the frostie tomorrow.

Haleiwamama - wowzers, those are some numbers!!! Hope you feel ok after producing all of them! How soon do you think you will be able to do FET?

Ebenson - welcome and how exciting for you to be at the beginning of all of this. No specific advice, just the general really - eat well, drink plenty of fluid, cut out caffeine and alcohol and make sure you take a good prenatal vitamin with 400 folic acid in it. I found it helped me that I had done a lot of research about IVF/ICSI both formal and informally from message boards. I like to be prepared but everyone is different. Do you know whether you will be on Long or short protocol yet or is that what you will find out on the 31st?

Lanet - hope you are still well

Emmi - hope you are hanging on as time must seem to be passing so slowly now your DH is back at work. I'm back at the clinic for another scan tomorrow so if you get desperate you can meet me there for a bourbon and a decaff tea

I'm a bit of a wreck today, just feeling emotional and fragile but that's just the way the rollercoaster goes

 

[Redbean]

Plex - Your anesthetist sounds awesome! I wonder if he's conducting psychological experiments, seeing what kind of mental state he can put people in with the Pink Panther and Mission Impossible before knocking them out. Or maybe with the next gal, he played some soothing Debussy piano music, and then he secretly compared her mental state against yours.

Anyway, it's good to hear from you again, and do keep us posted. I hope you get some answers, but even more so, I hope you get to do a transfer and get pregnant!

haleiwamama - Woah. That's a lotta eggs. I'm encouraged to hear that your OHSS is only mild. :-/ Hope you feel better soon.

Hi to the newest ladies!

I'm drinking as much Gatorade as my stomach can hold, and I feel like it's burning a hole in my tongue! Maybe from the sugar? I think I'll start watering it down. Yuck.

Be careful: You're always supposed to drink one water for every Gatorade. You can get too many electrolytes!

 

[Aurora CHK]

Aw Lizzie, sorry you're feeling delicate/fragile today. Is it mostly emotions/sensations or negative thoughts? If that makes sense? I know sometimes I just 'feel down' or 'feel anxious' but then if I can trust its a physical cause (like hormones or raised heart rate) I can make sure I dont start over-thinking and tying myself in 'what-if' knots. Sorry if that doesn't relate to you though.

I keep being convinced that I'm gonna have no/low eggs at Fri scan and they wil cancel this and all future possible IVFs. I'm so desperate to have my own genetic child. I suspect I unconsciously try to think negative early on to 'soften the blow' later, but know that positive thinking can be so important for IVF/fertility. So then I worry even more that I've buggered it up!

Haleiwa - 41 fertilised -gulp- that's amazing! Hope the ohss resolves quickly!

Hi Ebenson :wave:

Amy - trigger ok? Hope you're feeling good!

Off to check on Plex's journal... I have one too btw where I ramble a lot, if anybody needs a night time sedative

 

[lanet]

Redbean in the case of ohss I was told to avoid all water! My case was moderate/severe though, and in that case the water just leaks and you lose the electrolytes as fast as you replace them

 

[Emmi]

Hello everyone, hope that you are all doing okay.

Plex, glad that you are feeling a tad more positive and ready to look forward as us ladies never give up.

Amy, nearly ready for all those eggies to be collected. Really hope that you are feeling okay what with all that Gatorade.

Wow, Haleiwamama that is some amount you got there.... Hope all is okay with you.

Aurora, over thinking is part of this oh so joyous journey and I think expecting the worst becomes the norm as dissapointment is oh so tough... But we just have to keep trying...I was always petrified before every scan but all was always okay... it's such a roller coaster journey.

Ha Liz, such a shame that we never crossed paths in the waiting room. I would be the one in the corner with 5 packs of biccies... hope your doing okay lovely lady, the emotions and feeling weepy is all part of this game, the continual worry just doesn't go away..But you are getting there slowly but surely.

Hope all you other ladies are doing good today???

So as if I am not stressed enough on this 2ww, hubby had a cancerous mole removed last week and the stitches became badly infected these last few days so he was in A and E last night. He phoned to say that he may have to be kept in the hospital overnight and of course I just fell apart.... The Dr had to take the phone from hubby to calm me down..... he must have thought I was a right nutter wailing down the phone about my 3 embies....

Thankfully, he was able to come home and has spent the day with me as he is on strong antibiotics. So it's been nice to have him home to curl up with.... Honestly, always a bloody drama in our house.....sheeesh

No sneaky testing, am gonna hold out until test day ��

Xxx

 

[lizzie78]

oh Emmi, I'm sorry but I did chuckle a bit there as I can just imagine the conversation! Sorry to hear about DH though, hope he is feeling better now? It's never easy is it?! Take care xxx

Aurora, I can't even tell you what it is that I'm emotional about tbh, how crazy is that. I think I'm just really stressed by work, really stressed about IVF and the two have maybe just combined to make me want to hide under the duvet for a couple of days. Nevermind. I'm going to go and have a bath in half an hour and then get dressed (oops!).

 

[Redbean]

Ah, then sorry Lanet. Drink away!

So I only have 4 fertilized eggs on day 1. I'm so nervous but also trying to stay positive. Am reading success stories online

 

[Emmi]

Honestly Lizzie, the doctor must have thought that hubby was married to a total mad crazy woman.... I was asking if he was going to die but saying at least I had his sperm frozen....I have officially lost the bloody plot....

Redbean I have heard of women that have only had 1 fertilised egg and that going on to be the golden embie...It really is about having just one little fighter.

Xxx

 

[Redbean]

Haha, thank you for that snarky post, Emmie. It's the best laugh I've had in a few days. So funny, though you poor girl for such a scare and your hubby is a trooper.

I bet these docs get some real pieces of work coming in. They all seem overly sweet and walking on eggshells. I'm sure they're wise to the hormone crazies.

 

[nobump]

Hello ladies, trying to remember all the names and where you are at in the journey!

Just had my first acupuncture session this afternoon, very relaxing, and a bit weird... the man that was doing it is Chinese and speaks little English, he has a helper who translates, so had initial conversation with him and he took my pulse etc.. then said he advised double sessions given short time to treatment, got acupuncture on front - lay for 30mins with heat lamp over belly, then on back and lay for about 30 mins again with heat lamp on back, then he massaged base of my back... Going again on Saturday morning, and Tuesday afternoon, start down reg on Thursday, hope this helps me respond better than last time... will look at booking a session a week after starting injections I think as it would become to much with hospital appointments and this.

Aurora - I think that staying positive will help, my first cycle was hard as I took longer to down reg, then didn't seem to respond to stims, I seem to worry about every little thing, but looking back I think trying to stress less would have helped, it is so draining stressing.

haleiwamama - that is an unbelievable number of eggs!!! hope you get the OHSS under control.

Amy good luck with EC! FX for you.

Emmi I can so relate, my DH was in hospital last month and now is not allowed to drive until he gets the all clear, it will be a long 6 months... keep thinking maybe first cycle was not meant to be as we had this to deal with, hope your hubby recovers quickly and think of it as a distraction... how much longer to test day?

 

[lizzie78]

Emmi, I'm fairly sure I would have done exactly the same. I heard about an accident on the motorway earlier in the week which is DH's route to work. His phone wasn't responding when I called so my next thought was 'at least he signed the consent to let me use the embies, .....oh shit I haven't got that far'... Obviously i didn't mention any of that to DH when I did get through to him!!

Red bean, it's easy to be disappointed but seriously 4 is a great number, as Emmi said it really does only take 1. Take it day by day

Xxx

 

[haleiwamama]

Thanks ladies! I'm taking Cabergoline to help with the OHSS.. and I think it did.. Today day 4 after the retrieval and Im starting to feel good... yesterday was crappy, but Sunday definitely the worst day.

I would do this again if I needed to.. it could have been much worse...

We're super stoked on our eggies! But tripping out on what we're gonna do with 28 embryos??

 

[Aurora CHK]

Oh Emmi you poor honey - the last thing you needed right now. Glad Hubby was able to come home - how is he feeling? Well impressed that you are staying strong til official test day.

Lizzie is there room under that duvet for two? Hang on that sounds a bit wrong actually

I have a sore throat today and feel a bit coldy... Could that be the Gonal F, in some weird way? Or am I just bloody getting ill again, right on cue? I came down with a cold and cystitis in the week I had my endo scratch and started down-regulating, after months of ace health. Grrr...

Nobump, do you feel more relaxed from the acustabbage? I am considering it but am sooo poor atm I need to rationalise all the stuff I am spending on to help support what may still be a cancelled cycle (not that I'm being negative)

Glad you're ok H-mama.

 

[nobump]

I do feel more relaxed. I do struggle with distressing so hoping this and the hour of caster oil pack at night helps.

If they cancel this cycle you can learn a lot from it, but hopefully they wont x

 

[Redbean]

I have been doing acupuncture now for 1-2 times per week for the last three cycles. Obviously, not sure if it's helped as I'm not pg yet. BUT, I did some research and it seems it helps the most with IVF and FET cycles (or at least those are the only cycles with supporting research). This is my first IVF cycle, so we'll see.

At the very least, it has helped my blood flow. My feet don't get quite as cold anymore, and the dark circles under my eyes have gone down a bit. Of course, that may be the height of summer, too, though it was warm the first month when I still had all those things.