TTC 1st child 35+ (Please spoiler any PG news/announcements).

[Lady H]

Snow stopped finally at 4pm after 7 hours!

 

[padbrat]

Been snowing all last night and all day.... and is still snowing now...

Brrrrr cold...

Yep... is true Purps! The amazing fabulous incredible Ms Deans told me so it must be true!! Hehehhe

 

[twiggers]

x

 

[dashka]

Pad..I didn't know that about the frolic acid

"frolic" acid! that is so cute and really made me laugh out loud! Thanks purps

I'm only taking CoQ10 (600/day), prenatal multivitamin and D3 (1000/day).

I took my first BC pill yesterday. On it for 3 weeks then 5 days rest and possibly starting stimming on Feb 11.

I'm going skiing this weekend and I'm super excited. It's going to be freezing cold on Sunday though (6F/-14C) so I'm not sure how long we'll be able to make it out there.

Ladies, happy Friday and have a great weekend!

ps, I'm an executive assistant or what I call an "adultsitter"

Hi Owl! yay for starting IVF! On my first one I also did the B/C for 3 weeks. Then they expect your AF to come on right few days after you stop?

My next one they are putting me on a short protocol and I'll be taking Femara I think instead of BC at the beginning.

Hopefully you'll be getting some good news at the same time I'll start my IVF #2...!

P.S - I am also an executive assistant per say....(I have co-ordinator in my title but I am more or less boss' assistant - do all of his expenses, scheduling, travel, meetings etc and a tiny tiny bit of sales)... You are right we are "adult-sitters"!!!

 

[dashka]

hope all you UK ladies are enjoying the snow.....

It's so NOT exciting here when it snows..... life just goes on -but at a more frustrating pace!!

Lady H

Spoiler

- Happy V-day girl!!!

Lils - poor you - feeling all this pressure re: journal.... take your time hun but really I can't wait!!! I agree with you about the 'spoiler' I always read them whether I'm in the mood or not - it kind of screams 'read me now'.... but I guess it's the right thing to do so we are not 'blind-siding' each other...(I say that in a general sense - I always love reading your updates!)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

 

[LilSluz]

Chicken - I will defo post the link when I get a journal! (that's sorta the hard part)

As they said in Bridget Jones, "Get the fu** on Bridget!!!"

Houston We Have a Problem: How the fu** do I start one? (No one ever answered my question - lol)

Dashka got close & said "it was really easy" but that's as far as she got (thanks Dash)



(I see links for starting a thread but not any for starting a journal???)

lol

 

[LilSluz]

So, I think we have: math/science geeks, teachers & adult babysitters (Pad HR fits here I think!) on this thread - and that's really it right? Anybody do anything different? That's really odd as its a fairly small grouping!

Yeah, thanks for the no pressure thing ladies

Dash - I guess that's our fault technically for not being able to control our peeking, but I needed to start one anyway so I can post things there & track it. Just hope I'm not gonna jinx anything... Hope your teeth are feeling better today!

OMM & Owl - Holy Brrrrr Batman! Thats freeeezing! I knew something had to be going down up north as I woke up this morning to 55 degrees (12.8C)!

UK ladies - go enjoy that snow! Sledding after is always recommended for good times! Who's got mine tonight???

TGIF/TFIF/TGIFF/TFGIFF!!! Its a 3-day weekend here, thanks to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr! Thank you MLK for being awesome & giving us this day off work too!

 

[Butterfly67]

Lils if you go to he pregnancy journal section then start a new thread. You can get there quickly by just going through someone's journal (I hink mine is in that section as I don't know how to move it ) then click the link at the top that says the section name. Does that make sense?!

 

[LilSluz]

Oh! Ok, I didn't think it was right bc I thought "I'm not starting a thread, I'm starting a journal" - always have to over-analyze & pay attention to every little detail, of course!

 

[iamtruetome]

Hello ladies and Happy Friday!

I continue to lurk and catch up on everyone’s posts, but I really struggle to keep up with the steady flow, which is why I haven’t posted lately. I do read when I can because it is encouraging and reminds me that I’m not alone on this journey.
I hope that everyone is doing well and that 2013 is a positive year for all the ladies on the board.

As I’m taking next steps on my TTC journey, I have a question for all of you…

At what point did you decide to finally see a fertility specialist? Was it your age? Length of time TTC? A medical issue?

Were you referred by your ob-gyn or were you able to see an RE without a referral?

I have been charting/TTC #1 since May 2012 with no success, and I’ll be 37 in a few months. I am getting my FSH test done next Monday at my ob-gyn’s office, and my husband has a referral to get a SA at Shady Grove Fertility Clinic. But, if I had the choice, I’d get all my bloodwork done at once, as well as an HSG right away just so we’re not wasting more time.

I just wonder what my options are and would like to move things along a bit faster…but I guess this is just how it is done?

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

P.S.- I'm a teacher too.

 

[LilSluz]

True - Its is recommended that if you are >35 & have TTC 6 months unsuccessfully, that you go in for testing. So, yo are at that mark & depending on your insurance, you may be able to just make an appt directly with an RE (if you can just make an appt w/other specialists then yes, you shoudl be able to make it directly w/RE - they're just specialists). Although Shady Grove should be able to do all the gamut of testing (just make sure they don't add mystery charges on there) & if they are like many IVF centers, they should be quite thorough. Some people prefer to knock out all the hormones/SA testing first & go from there if nothing shows up. Others get all the tests done & want to know everything. Even if you want to do it all like I did, it took a good month to month-and-half for me to get all the tests done on the appropriate cycle days, the special tests, etc., get them all back & get into the Dr.

I even did my Immunes tests about 1 mo. after my initial battery of tests, as that's like the final level of testing you can do, usually. I wanted to be thorough so I could see the whole picture. Had 37 blood in all & did HSG, SHG & hysteroscopy too. You can certainly do the HSG during your testing month, as well. Also, don't let them test you on the actual CD21 if you are not a perfect 28-day cycle person or it can come out negative. You'd think this would easily be known by all RE's, FS's & OBGYN's but alas, it is not so. You must be assertive & take charge in this place we call TTC#1, 35+!!!

There are recommendations, but some people can't wait & some people have to take things in baby steps, so its also what you are comfortablw with. Hope that helps!

 

[LilSluz]

OK here it is you bunch of impatient, spoiled brats ! (I'm saying that with total love & light of course! )

My journal is now in my siggie!!! & I know this has been asked before but I wasn't paying attn like the naughty girl that I am - how does one get the actual link part off the siggie & have it only say Journal (BF?)

 

[LilSluz]

I figured it out all by myself (pat on back), nevermind!

 

[iamtruetome]

True - Its is recommended that if you are >35 & have TTC 6 months unsuccessfully, that you go in for testing. So, yo are at that mark & depending on your insurance, you may be able to just make an appt directly with an RE (if you can just make an appt w/other specialists then yes, you shoudl be able to make it directly w/RE - they're just specialists). Although Shady Grove should be able to do all the gamut of testing (just make sure they don't add mystery charges on there) & if they are like many IVF centers, they should be quite thorough. Some people prefer to knock out all the hormones/SA testing first & go from there if nothing shows up. Others get all the tests done & want to know everything. Even if you want to do it all like I did, it took a good month to month-and-half for me to get all the tests done on the appropriate cycle days, the special tests, etc., get them all back & get into the Dr.

I even did my Immunes tests about 1 mo. after my initial battery of tests, as that's like the final level of testing you can do, usually. I wanted to be thorough so I could see the whole picture. Had 37 blood in all & did HSG, SHG & hysteroscopy too. You can certainly do the HSG during your testing month, as well. Also, don't let them test you on the actual CD21 if you are not a perfect 28-day cycle person or it can come out negative. You'd think this would easily be known by all RE's, FS's & OBGYN's but alas, it is not so. You must be assertive & take charge in this place we call TTC#1, 35+!!!

There are recommendations, but some people can't wait & some people have to take things in baby steps, so its also what you are comfortablw with. Hope that helps!

Lil-Thank you VERY much for your thorough reply. I have wondered how long women typically wait or what prompts them to go from their ob-gyn to an RE. I'm not happy with my ob-gyn and feel like I am at that point, so it's good to know I'm not being too impatient. I just want to find out what's wrong with me or DH (or both of us) in hopes there is something we can do to help the issue while we still can.

Thanks for the advice on all the tests...as for that 21-day test, my cycles were 28 days when I was younger, but have now shortened to 23-25 day cycles with several days of spotting before AF, so that's good to know. And as you said, many of the "experts" don't seem to know as much as I'd expect, which can be frustrating...when I showed my ob-gyn my BBT charts from a few cycles and pointed out the spotting before AF as well as the night sweats, she didn't have an aswer for me...and she didn't seem too keen on the charting either, which I just don't get. I have learned so much about myself just from the charting!

I am printing out the initial paperwork for Shady Grove Fertility for both DH and me as we speak. He is willing to go, so our next step is making an appointment there for an initial consult. I have no idea what to expect, but I won't see my ob-gyn on Monday...just a nurse drawing the blood. And I really want to get this TTC ball rolling a bit faster.

Again, thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate hearing what steps others have taken.

Spoiler

Congrats on your little green olive.

 

[emily405]

LilSluz, is your meeting over?

Bless all you admin assistants! I did that for a short while after college. I had a crazy boss. It was miserable. It has made me appreciate anyone who does admin work forever. Just like working in a restaurant and in when I was younger did - for the rest of my life I will tip well and put items that I decide not to buy back where they belong or give them to the cashier and not hide them behind other things.

I am planning on putting this kid in a sling and taking him or her all over the place. Perhaps I live in a fantasy world. My mom pretty much did that with me until she had two of us to take care of, and I don't think I'll get the chance to have a second. I'll be no younger than 39.5 when this one is born, and I just can't imagine that I'll be up for doing it again any time soon. The best I can offer is close cousins. My sister seems to be on the verge of ttc again, so if I get pregnant soon, maybe mine will have a cousin close in age. My nephew is only two now and he lives near me.

CD6. Last month I inseminated on days 9 and 11 and that was too early. We're going to go for 10 and 12 this time as I occasionally ovulate on CD11 and don't want to miss it, but it's usually CD13 or 14. I can't meet him on CD11 due to a work thing, and with needing to do every other day, this at least leaves the possibility of also meeting on CD14 too. I'm not going to POAS any more until at least CD8. The CBFM wants me to start on CD6 and I know it will start giving me a high on CD6 or 7, but what's the use of wasting the expensive stick? I'm not going to start inseminating that early. I don't know why my hormones get so high that soon when I don't ovulate for another week. I figure I should start by CD8 in case I ovulate on CD11, but since I never have earlier than that, no sense in starting sooner.

 

[twiggers]

x

 

[LilSluz]

LadyH -

Spoiler

Happy V-Day!!! What a great feeling that must be!!!

 

[LilSluz]

Here's the tests I did - I had this in Word & realized I had to add some more due to some Vits tests, so I really did like 42 (probs more) bloods total:

TESTS I’VE DONE:
1. Hepatitis Panel, Acute w/Reflex
2. Beta 2 Glycoprotein I AB (IGG, IGA, IGM)
3. Factor V (Leiden) Mutation Analysis
4. MTHFR DNA Mutation Analysis
5. Homocysteine, Cardio
6. Hemoglobin A1c
7. Phosphatidylserine AB (IGA, IGG, IGM)
8. Prothrombin Gene Analysis
9. Cardiolipin AB (IGA, IGG, IGM)
10. Rubella Immune Status
11. HIV AB, HIV ½, EIA, with Reflexes
12. Cytomegalovirus AB (IGG)
13. Varicella Zoster Virus
14. RPR (DX) w/Reflex Titer & Confirmatory Testing
15. ABO Group & RH type
16. Cystic Fibrosis Screening
17. Xsense (R ), Fragile X w/Reflex
18. Antithrombin III Activity & Antigen
19. Protein C Activity & Antigen
20. Thrombin Clotting Time
21. Protein S, Activity
22. Protein S Antigen, Total
23. Lupus Anticoagulant
24. Protein S Antigen, free
25. Chromosome Analysis, Blood
26. Natural Killer (NK) cell assay panel,
27. TH1/TH2 cytokine ratio
28. Tissue Plasminogen Activator (E1A)
29. Glucose Challenge Test
30. CBC
31. Vitamin D
32. Folate/Folic Acid
33. B6
34. B12
35. Magnesium

Cycle Day 3 HORMONE TESTING (really only 2 of these “have” to be done on Day 3 – definitely FSH & then it was Estradiol, I think?):
36. TSH, Free T3, Free T4
37. FSH
38. LH
39. Prolactin
40. Estradiol
41. Anti Mullerian Hormone
42. HCG, Total, QN

Anatomic Testing (physical uterus):
43. HSG
44. SHG
45. Hysteroscopy (removed septum)

You can have an RE/FS do all of them. I would also recommend getting DHEA tested. They already knew I had DOR due to my low AMH so I didn't need it per se, but apparently its pretty important for eggs!

Emily - I hope to be able to do a sling/backpack thing myself & keep traveling. Meeting?

 

[emily405]

Lils, I meant to ask Pebble if her meeting was over and ask how things were going with your MIL situation, and instead asked about your meeting. That's what I get for trying to do things in two windows at once.

 

[chickenchaser]

Hi guys I think I must be the ultimate adult sitter. I know my job has been discussed before but for those who have asked I'm a dementia care specialist occupational therapist


Lils thanks for that list and WOW...... I bet I don't get all that on the NHS. My appointment is now booked for the 21st of February unfortunately because of DH work he wasn't able to make it sooner. But in all fairness that is no later than we expected anyway, it just the appointment they sent me was one someone had cancelled. Love to you all.