March...Hoping for some Irish luck to bring us little Charms

[allisonmh]

Thanks Erin. Yeah I'm going to take one a day instead of the 2 a day they prescribed. If it can't hurt, may as well!

 

[beaglemom]

Woke up at 3 am with a sick pup. She threw up 3 times & then was fine. I guess she just needed to get it out of her system. But of course I couldn't go back to sleep because I was worried. I am glad it is Sunday & I have time to recover...but it's daylight savings & my husband had to be up at 6 to get to work for a 13 hour day.

I guess I am getting some experience for when a baby comes.

 

[allisonmh]

Oh no, beaglemom! I hope you dog is ok! I totally know what you mean though, I woke up to my cat vomiting the other night and I felt like I barely slept after that. We need baby monitors for our animals. Lol

 

[beaglemom]

Oh no, beaglemom! I hope you dog is ok! I totally know what you mean though, I woke up to my cat vomiting the other night and I felt like I barely slept after that. We need baby monitors for our animals. Lol

She seems fine now. I think she ate some tangerine rinds. She threw up twice in the bed (just washed the sheets!) and once on the floor. But that was because I heard her so I pushed her off the bed. Better on the hardwood than the mattress. But she ate this morning & has not shown any signs of sickness.

 

[savvysaver]

I had to take a short break from ttc after AF showed up Friday at 9dpo. I read everything and will try to respond, but if I miss something/someone I am sorry.

allison/curly - congrats girls! Your + gives me lots of hope that one day each of us will get our bfps.

ERose, I am sorry the hsg was so painful for you but glad that you got it over with and that you have more information. Hopefully with the tubes cleaned out you will have a bfp before you know it! Your doctor told you to take the prog supps to thicken your lining right? Does it have anything to do with lengthening your LP?

MissStacy, glad you are still following along and I am sorry for all the pain and surgery you went through. Hopefully you can move on as soon as you see your doctor. Congrats on the upcoming wedding date! Keep us posted on your appointment.

Beaglemom, sorry your pup is sick! Hope she feels better soon. I am worried about my ability to take care of a baby in the middle of the night! I don't do well if I don't get 8 hours of sleep. I am sure I will get used to it quickly.

As for me...I had to take a short break from ttc this weekend after getting AF on Friday. I spent all day watching movies and crying in my pajamas. I am e-mailing my OB today and demanding he starts running tests and if not I will switch doctors or most likely go see an RE. Hubby and I had the talk yesterday and discussed how far we are willing to go to make this happen. Obviously I just had two 9 day LP which after much research is just way too short and I barely have a chance. I honestly can't handle another month or two without getting my bfp, it is just way too upsetting for me.

 

[ERosePW]

Hi savvy, I'm so sorry you're feeling this way. I completely understand. I decided two things for this cycle... That I'm getting more aggressive, and that I'm also going to throw myself into other things so that my mind has other things to focus on during all the waits. Luckily it is the end of our fiscal year at work, and I'll be insanely busy thru the rest of March. So while I'll be tracking and BDing and hoping for a bfp, I won't let every thought of my day be taken up with ttc. Now that my HSG is done, I'll be scheduling an April appt with the FS that I picked. Of course, I'm hoping for a bfp in March, but if not, I just want my appt ready, and I'm moving on to the next step. No, the P wasn't to lengthen my LP. My LP was always about 14 days (before clomid), and then between 15-17 days on the clomid. I agree with beaglemom that clomid might end up being a good option for you. It would lengthen your cycles and probably even have you O'ing earlier. But if your Dr does run some tests and finds your P to be low, then maybe they'll feel the P is all you need. I believe it did lengthen Allison's LP when she took it. She had to stop it so that AF would come.

 

[floridasian]

ERose - I had similar experience with my HSG (minus the pain). When the dye went it I could see it on the screen that it immediately went through the left tube and was spread out into a large area while the right side did not spread as much and was mostly concentrated in a smaller area. Although the doctor was both sides were clear I had a feeling that the dye pushed some minor blockages out. I'm pretty sure I only ovulate on the right side as I almost never feel any o pain on the left side and the two cycles that I had ultrasounds I only had large follicles on the right.

I ovulated a day after the HSG and got pregnant that cycle (which ended in m/c).

Best of luck to you!! I hope this is it!

 

[savvysaver]

Hi savvy, I'm so sorry you're feeling this way. I completely understand. I decided two things for this cycle... That I'm getting more aggressive, and that I'm also going to throw myself into other things so that my mind has other things to focus on during all the waits. Luckily it is the end of our fiscal year at work, and I'll be insanely busy thru the rest of March. So while I'll be tracking and BDing and hoping for a bfp, I won't let every thought of my day be taken up with ttc. Now that my HSG is done, I'll be scheduling an April appt with the FS that I picked. Of course, I'm hoping for a bfp in March, but if not, I just want my appt ready, and I'm moving on to the next step. No, the P wasn't to lengthen my LP. My LP was always about 14 days (before clomid), and then between 15-17 days on the clomid. I agree with beaglemom that clomid might end up being a good option for you. It would lengthen your cycles and probably even have you O'ing earlier. But if your Dr does run some tests and finds your P to be low, then maybe they'll feel the P is all you need. I believe it did lengthen Allison's LP when she took it. She had to stop it so that AF would come.

I definitely agree, I said I would give the OB a chance for 3 months but now that I discovered my LP is very short I can't stand to waste another month. Hubby and I agree that we want a few basic tests done this month. I think it is a good idea to schedule an appointment in advance for next month, specialist are hard to get into sometimes and it wouldn't be great to have to wait longer. I knew the P would help you for some reason, I just couldn't remember what. I guess I thought clomid would make you O later...so it gets you to O earlier? Yikes I am so confused and I really just want to do what is best. Thanks for your help, I definitely have a lot to discuss with my OB.

 

[floridasian]

Sorry Savvy about AF. I don't have any real advise for you on lengthening LP as I'm sure you read about all the home remedies and vitamins/supplements to take to lengthen it. I'm guilty of doing it - googling home remedies and then going out to buy the supplements (I probably take no less than a dozen different vitamins a day because of that).

Did you have all the fertility-related tests done? I had the basics done when I first started seeing a RE and last week he just ran more tests - thyroid, APS, prolactin. He was supposed to call me back on Wednesday to let me know the lab results but he never did. I kept calling back and couldn't get a call back and then on Friday I talked to the office manager and she told me that my labs tomorrow include a repeat prolactin so then I went back to the google mode (guilty again) to see why they would repeat my prolactin and it looks like elevated levels of prolactin is bad to ttc - it might be linked to low progesterone/short LP, issues with the lining, and causing miscarriages. So without the actual reason or the results of my prolactin or repeating my prolactin level I'm already freaking out over here, although it appears that it's easily treated with a pill. My RE also wants us to do the karyotyping (both DH and I) although it could run in the thousands since insurance doesn't cover it. We couldn't test it on the fetus because it was too small. I had no idea it could be done on us but apparently it can.

Anyway, just throwing it out there - maybe you should have more tests done to determine the cause.

 

[floridasian]

Oh no, beaglemom! I hope you dog is ok! I totally know what you mean though, I woke up to my cat vomiting the other night and I felt like I barely slept after that. We need baby monitors for our animals. Lol

She seems fine now. I think she ate some tangerine rinds. She threw up twice in the bed (just washed the sheets!) and once on the floor. But that was because I heard her so I pushed her off the bed. Better on the hardwood than the mattress. But she ate this morning & has not shown any signs of sickness.

One of my cats has been throwing up as well - not really throwing up food or hair balls but more like some white foamy stuff. Vet suggested switching food. She seems to be shying away from her regular food so we did switch and it looks like she likes her new food and we have seen less of the vomit.

 

[ERosePW]

Savvy, the clomid can do either... It can help push someone's O out by a few days (which was my case because I O'd so early), or it can also help them to O earlier, closer to the middle of their cycle (in the case of a friend of mine). It helps regulate cycles pretty well. If your cycles are short, it will lengthen it. If someone's cycles are long, it can make her more regular (my girlfriend had 35-37 day cycles and got them down to 28-32). It's strange how it works, but I think that's part of how your Dr will determine which days you take it (3-7, 4-8, or 5-9).

I'm glad you're going to push for some tests. I have to admit, after every test I had, I just felt so good and proactive, like I was that much closer to getting a bfp. Knowledge is power. You either get to rule things out, or you get to find that something was up and many times it can be a simple fix.... Like clomid or P. You're on your way Hunny.

 

[ERosePW]

ERose - I had similar experience with my HSG (minus the pain). When the dye went it I could see it on the screen that it immediately went through the left tube and was spread out into a large area while the right side did not spread as much and was mostly concentrated in a smaller area. Although the doctor was both sides were clear I had a feeling that the dye pushed some minor blockages out. I'm pretty sure I only ovulate on the right side as I almost never feel any o pain on the left side and the two cycles that I had ultrasounds I only had large follicles on the right.

I ovulated a day after the HSG and got pregnant that cycle (which ended in m/c).

Best of luck to you!! I hope this is it!

Floridasian, it gives me hope that you got prego right after the HSG, thanks for your story! I'm truly sorry for your loss though. I'm sure your next bean will be a sticky one. I'm taking my clomid now too (today is third day, so only two more pills). I usually O cd13/14, so I'm hoping it'll be a good O, and with the newly unblocked tube, maybe I have a chance this month.

 

[ERosePW]

Oh also, floridasian, I too had slightly elevated prolactin. But it was barely out of normal range, so my Dr wasn't that concerned. Did they tell you the number yet? My Dr said usually elevated prolactin only affects ttc if it is causing you to miss periods or not O, or just have really irregular cycles. (And some other weird symptoms that I don't have). So he told me he wasn't worried and that I could take bromocriptine if I wanted to, but that it wasn't totally necessary. I actually did take it last cycle, but I don't think I'm gonna take it this cycle. They say a lot of different things can cause prolactin to elevate just slightly... Like certain meds, stress, etc. It was only 2 points above normal, so I'm thinking it was the meds I was on that day, or maybe stress.

 

[savvysaver]

Sorry Savvy about AF. I don't have any real advise for you on lengthening LP as I'm sure you read about all the home remedies and vitamins/supplements to take to lengthen it. I'm guilty of doing it - googling home remedies and then going out to buy the supplements (I probably take no less than a dozen different vitamins a day because of that).

Did you have all the fertility-related tests done? I had the basics done when I first started seeing a RE and last week he just ran more tests - thyroid, APS, prolactin. He was supposed to call me back on Wednesday to let me know the lab results but he never did. I kept calling back and couldn't get a call back and then on Friday I talked to the office manager and she told me that my labs tomorrow include a repeat prolactin so then I went back to the google mode (guilty again) to see why they would repeat my prolactin and it looks like elevated levels of prolactin is bad to ttc - it might be linked to low progesterone/short LP, issues with the lining, and causing miscarriages. So without the actual reason or the results of my prolactin or repeating my prolactin level I'm already freaking out over here, although it appears that it's easily treated with a pill. My RE also wants us to do the karyotyping (both DH and I) although it could run in the thousands since insurance doesn't cover it. We couldn't test it on the fetus because it was too small. I had no idea it could be done on us but apparently it can.

Anyway, just throwing it out there - maybe you should have more tests done to determine the cause.

floridasian, thank you for so much information! Seriously everything said helps me learn and get better educated and I appreciate the time you take to tell your story.

I haven't had a single fertility test done, the OB I started going to refused to start doing tests until 6 months after the m/c, so that would be in June. I honestly can't wait until June to find out more information. He said none of the information I told him warranted him running tests. Even though I have IBS with extreme stomach discomfort, was on BCP for 10+ years and ttc for close to 1 year and I am 30+. My DH also had the double hernia and he wouldn't even run a SA. I just wanted some simple tests for peace of mind. I am willing to pay whatever it costs if my insurance doesn't cover it. I also have very low levels of Vitamin D, elevated CRP and low potassium. I am thinking a simple progesterone test would give me a better chance in the LP.

I am sorry to hear about your elevated levels of prolactin, hoping the repeated test can help shed more light on the issue and you can start the medicine if needed. Hoping you post an update when you get your results back. Did you just look up an RE or did you need a referral? I am seeing an OB from a very well known hospital, I am thinking of staying in the same hospital and either transferring to an OB who will help or going straight to the top and booking an appointment with an RE. Thanks again for all of your help.

 

[savvysaver]

Savvy, the clomid can do either... It can help push someone's O out by a few days (which was my case because I O'd so early), or it can also help them to O earlier, closer to the middle of their cycle (in the case of a friend of mine). It helps regulate cycles pretty well. If your cycles are short, it will lengthen it. If someone's cycles are long, it can make her more regular (my girlfriend had 35-37 day cycles and got them down to 28-32). It's strange how it works, but I think that's part of how your Dr will determine which days you take it (3-7, 4-8, or 5-9).

I'm glad you're going to push for some tests. I have to admit, after every test I had, I just felt so good and proactive, like I was that much closer to getting a bfp. Knowledge is power. You either get to rule things out, or you get to find that something was up and many times it can be a simple fix.... Like clomid or P. You're on your way Hunny.

I knew I met you girls for a reason! Thinking back to November I think I was the only one in the thread not on clomid. It is strange how it adjusts the cycles to what is needed. Unfortunately I am sure it is too late to start clomid this month but at least I could get on track for April. Thanks for the info, I will definitely be finding out more information on clomid.

I look at tests as finding out more information, you can't tell what is wrong by just looking at a person. Even with me telling a doctor my background doesn't help much either. Testing is the only way to know the exact levels and figure out what needs to be done. I am hoping it is a simple fix, we got prego once and I think maybe my progesterone levels were just way to low to sustain the pregnancy, maybe if I would have been checked when I got my bfp it wouldn't have had my m/c

 

[moni77]

Congrats Allison and curly!!

AFM - definitely sick the lsat couple of days - low grade fever included - hope I didn't burn up the little guys from Fridays IUI. Finally got a peak on the monitor today - with the shot thurs am I should have gotten it yesterday. I had serious cramping on Friday night and then the fever and cough yesterday. Oh well, nothing more I can do but wait...

 

[floridasian]

Oh also, floridasian, I too had slightly elevated prolactin. But it was barely out of normal range, so my Dr wasn't that concerned. Did they tell you the number yet? My Dr said usually elevated prolactin only affects ttc if it is causing you to miss periods or not O, or just have really irregular cycles. (And some other weird symptoms that I don't have). So he told me he wasn't worried and that I could take bromocriptine if I wanted to, but that it wasn't totally necessary. I actually did take it last cycle, but I don't think I'm gonna take it this cycle. They say a lot of different things can cause prolactin to elevate just slightly... Like certain meds, stress, etc. It was only 2 points above normal, so I'm thinking it was the meds I was on that day, or maybe stress.

Thanks for the info! I have not been able to get a hold of either the doctor or any of the nurses yet so I don't know what my number is but I'll sure ask at least the nurse when I go in tomorrow morning. Hopefully it's just slightly elevated like you and don't actually require any treatment. I don't have any classic symptoms of high prolactin - not lactating, no excessive body hair, no PCOS, I ovulate every month so I'm surprised that it's high. The only thing I can think of is stress - I am stressed about why my HCG hasn't gone down below 2 now that's almost 2 months after the D&C!!

 

[floridasian]

floridasian, thank you for so much information! Seriously everything said helps me learn and get better educated and I appreciate the time you take to tell your story.

I haven't had a single fertility test done, the OB I started going to refused to start doing tests until 6 months after the m/c, so that would be in June. I honestly can't wait until June to find out more information. He said none of the information I told him warranted him running tests. Even though I have IBS with extreme stomach discomfort, was on BCP for 10+ years and ttc for close to 1 year and I am 30+. My DH also had the double hernia and he wouldn't even run a SA. I just wanted some simple tests for peace of mind. I am willing to pay whatever it costs if my insurance doesn't cover it. I also have very low levels of Vitamin D, elevated CRP and low potassium. I am thinking a simple progesterone test would give me a better chance in the LP.

I am sorry to hear about your elevated levels of prolactin, hoping the repeated test can help shed more light on the issue and you can start the medicine if needed. Hoping you post an update when you get your results back. Did you just look up an RE or did you need a referral? I am seeing an OB from a very well known hospital, I am thinking of staying in the same hospital and either transferring to an OB who will help or going straight to the top and booking an appointment with an RE. Thanks again for all of your help.

I'm sorry to hear that your OB refuses to run tests on you. If you're willing to pay for them I wonder why they won't do it. Have you shown them your charts with the short LP and tell them you're suspecting low progesterone is to blame to see if they're willing to test the progesterone?

I live in a small town so when I decided I needed help and get some tests done I googled and found the only RE in town. He is affiliated with the largest hospital in town which also ties into DH's work. I did not need a referral fortunately and was able to get in within 2-3 weeks. In a way I'm glad I live in a small town because I never have to wait for long for an appointment. If it's just for labs, I'm in and out within 5 minutes. A full doctor's visit is usually less than 45 minutes as well.

 

[savvysaver]

I'm sorry to hear that your OB refuses to run tests on you. If you're willing to pay for them I wonder why they won't do it. Have you shown them your charts with the short LP and tell them you're suspecting low progesterone is to blame to see if they're willing to test the progesterone?

I live in a small town so when I decided I needed help and get some tests done I googled and found the only RE in town. He is affiliated with the largest hospital in town which also ties into DH's work. I did not need a referral fortunately and was able to get in within 2-3 weeks. In a way I'm glad I live in a small town because I never have to wait for long for an appointment. If it's just for labs, I'm in and out within 5 minutes. A full doctor's visit is usually less than 45 minutes as well.

I am actually composing an e-mail right now to my OB. He said I could e-mail him anytime so I am going to give him all the information and if he isn't willing to cooperate (lol) with me then I am finding a new OB/RE by the end of the week. He is the doctor that told me not to temp/use opks and just have well timed sex between CD7-12. If I did that i wouldn't have a chance since I O'd on CD20 this cycle and CD17 last cycle. Before that I never tracked more than the first day of AF. I started using opks but I didn't fully understand the importance of timing and I really don't believe I had a + opk though I thought I did at the time.

 

[beaglemom]

Savvy, I really hope your dr cooperates. I know it is a hassle to switch, but we have to do what makes us comfortable.

So I just went to the bathroom & saw some light brown when I wiped. Only 3 dpo. Not sure what to think. Of course I am googling 3 dpo spotting to see if I find any positive results. I am very happy I am getting a progesterone check tomorrow morning.