April IUI - Page 3

[DaisyMae08]

I'm sorry to hear that Laura-Belle, and big bummer that your insurance doesn't cover IVF at all. Try to stay hopeful - you just never know!

AFM, rocking the BCPs right now. They're giving me headaches and making me cranky (according to DH who I think is just being more annoying than usual - ha ha!).

[nummies]

laura- My insurance doesn't cover anything either. I hope you get a surprise this month.

Daisy-Ugh...I loathe BCPs! Sorry hun!

AFM- CD1 today. This sucks. Waiting to hear back from the RE about what to do next. Seems like all I do is wait for them to call me back.

[BabyGoal]

Nummies,


Are you temping and checking progesterone to confirm ovulation?[/QUOTE]



Nope. I just pee on a stick. If there's a surge, does it mean that you definitely ovulate?

I had my second IUI this morning. Not too hopeful. This 2ww will (hopefully) feel like every other second half of my cycle, rather than have all the emphasis I placed on the last one. I'm starting to mentally prepare myself for the inevitable, that we will be childless.

I don't mean this to be a downer. This has been a very long process (6 years) and it actually feels ok now, to start winding down this process and make real plans for our lives. It affects EVERYTHING we do. We're househunting -- do we buy a house that would be great for kids, or do we buy the house we love now, even though it's not really kid-friendly. Do I go back to school? Uuugghh.

Thanks for giving me a place to vent.

Great good luck to everyone this month -- I figure someone will have good news! I'm looking forward to that!!!

[Laci]

Baby Goal,
What have you tried in the past? Do you use Injectables? Is IVF an option?
Do not lose hope. And as for the house plan for the kids because I have faith that it will work out. (And I believe in Murphy s law so if you buy the house you like then you will get pregnant so it could go either way)Have you ever thought about adoption? You state that this is your second IUI. In my experience which isn't much, it takes a few try's to be successful with IUI. Very few get a positive result on the first 3 tries.

Laura, that sucks about your insurance. Are there any state jobs that you could apply for. My husband works for the state and I have great IVF benefits.

AFM: I am out of work due to my pulled muscle in my back. I am sure glad I have AFLAC. My DR says I will be out until at least Thursday. I have second u/s tomorrow but may have to cancel due to these heavy duty pain killers. Thank god my IUI's are covered under the medical section of my insurance. I do not even have to pay a copay and there is no limit. Now my IVF benefit is 25,000. But I have not touched it yet b/c the IUI is a medical procedure.

State benefits are the best. If you can get into the state then you will have excellent IF benefits. I have not heard of anything better at other insurance companies

[mamasgirls]

Well, AF showed up today so I am on to IUI #2. I guess that puts me in "Waiting to O"?

I am feeling a little frustrated (and this ended up really long, sorry). I went to the RE hoping for some answers. For years I thought I had PCOS, and my last 2 pregnancies were conceived with metformin (the last one ended in m/c). I went to the RE who told me that she doesn't think I have PCOS because my cycles are regular and there are no cysts on my ovaries. After my m/c the metformin wasn't magically helping me get pregnant like it had done in the past. The RE told me this was because I didn't need it, which it is why it isn't working. She did a ton of labs all which came back normal, except my DHEAS and testosterone were slightly elevated. Again, she said "If you had PCOS they would be higher". My LH:FSH ratio was normal. My glucose tolerance test and fasting insulin were normal. My HSG was also normal.

So she said that I have "unexplained secondary infertility", even though I have 2 hormones that are elevated. I asked if these would be what is affecting my fertility and she said "no", that they would only be an issue if they were causing me not to ovulate.

She recommended clomid/trigger/IUI and that she thought we had a really good chance at it working due to our history. I had felt pretty good about the office up until this point. Our insurance covers nothing, so everything is out of pocket. Oh, as a side note, things have been "off" for me since my miscarriage in Oct. I started having a pinching pain in my left ovary and then during my last 2 cycles a VERY tender, palpable pain in my left ovary and surrounding area. The first month she said it was probably a cyst. Last month she was monitoring me and also said it was probably a cyst but when she looked on the ultrasound there was no indication of a cyst and she said I might be constipated?? Really? 2 months in a row I have a very tender pain for 36 hours at the exact same time in my cycle and you think it is constipation? I just started AF today and haven't had that pain yet, but the first month it came on CD2, so we will see.

So then I went for an u/s on CD12 and I had 2 follicles, both in my left ovary (my left ovary is also very difficult to find on ultrasound). They were 15mm and 16mm, so not big enough yet. They don't do u/s monitoring on the weekends so I didn't go back until CD15. I had a peak reading on my monitor that morning, so LH surge had begun. The follicles were 24mm and 20mm. They told me to take the ovidrel that night and to come in 36 hours later, so CD17. I asked if I should come earlier since my LH surge started already and the RE told me no, that the hcG would keep my hormone levels up and I wouldn't ovulate until CD17 (without the ovidrel I always ovulate the day after the peak reading). My luteal phase is almost always 13 days. It has been 14 a couple times, but it almost always 13. So imagine my surprise today when I got AF with a 12 day LP. Seems to me I ovulated before the IUI!

I called the office at 8am to schedule the new cycle and they didn't return my call until 5pm. The nurse asked what I wanted to do? Another IUI? Well, the RE originally told me 3 IUI's. The receptionist was already gone for the day and the nurse couldn't schedule me. So I have to call back tomorrow to schedule for the inital ultrasound. I am just so frustrated by all of this. I feel like once I started paying out of pocket, they started getting sloppy with my care. Maybe this is not the case, maybe I am just hormonal, but I kind of get that impression. Everything I have read online says that the best timing for IUI after a natural LH surge is 24 hours after the ovidrel, not 36. I keep telling myself that she is the doctor and I shouldn't question her about everything I read on the internet. But we have been trying for 25 cycles now and I have 2 more tries with clomid/IUI. Honestly I can't afford anything more than that. So I am really scared of what to do next if I don't get pregnant. I am also thinking about taking my metformin again without her knowing (I still have many refills left at the pharmacy) because it worked for me in the past. I can't keep paying for more cycles that aren't timed right for whatever reason, meaning that there really is no chance of them working from the get-go.

I appreciate you making it through this- I just needed to vent.

[BabyGoal]

Laci, We have did IVF (one fresh, one frozen) cycles -- with "perfect embryos, perfect lining" but then -- nothing. No baby. When I got preggers on my own last year (m/c @ 6weeks) we realized that perhaps we could do IUI (since we never did before) and not go into tremendous debt, since insurance doesn't cover any of this. We moved to this new town 6 months ago (which was stressful in it's own right) and all along we were hoping wee'd just get pregnant again on our own. I finally went to the ONLY RE here and so, I had my second IUI yesterday. Really can't stand this Doc. I asked him 2 questions which he did not clearly answer. The first, my cervical mucous is thicker 2 days before my LH surge, is this normal? (I had always been judging by my mucous, rather than using sticks -- so did I screw up all those cycles???) And my second question was how long do we have after a positive LH surge? 24-36 hours or 24-48 hours? He wasn't clear on either answer. Idiot. Basically, I have decided to tell him a day in advance next time, so that I do the IUI the same morning I test positive for the surge. (I've been using "Answer" test strips, which come 30 in a pack and are much cheaper and more environmentally friendly than the plastic tests. It's kinda like the urine teststrips they use at the Doctor's office. But they allow me to test more often, so I can see when the line is getting darker.)

Thanks for the info about IUI's taking a few cycles, good to know.

As far as adoption, I think it is a beautiful gift for both parent and child, but I am not ready to give up on having my own. A friend of mine is adopting, after years of this, and she has been extremely helpful in "guiding" me, if you will. She recently told me that we'll know what to do (give up/adopt/do IVF again, etc.) and that we just have to trust ourselves as we go this this process and be gentle with ourselves.

So mamasgirl, I completely relate to your frustration and anger with your Doctor. I think sometimes (often) they don't know what to do either. I do think that your Doctor is trying to help you, but sometimes they get a bit jaded. Strange personal question -- do you "overthink" all of this? I only ask because I may be a bit hypochondriacal (if that's a word...) I swore I felt all sorts of twinges, pangs and pains after my IVF's and last IUI. I was soooooo in tune with my body, I thought. A lot of it, turned out to be gas! And then, I noticed signs that I took as positive (like heartburn, twinges, etc.) when I was waiting to ovulate. So, this time mentally I have turned off my radar, if you will. There are no easy ways to deal with any of this -- physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, intellectually... we just have to trust ourselves and to some extent our Doctors and make the best of it. I believe in doing every thing you can to control what you can in this horror of infertility. What else can we do?

Good luck to you and everyone else on the board. My thoughts, prayers and hopes are with us all!

[nummies]

babygoal- Thanks for sharing with us. for all that you have been through.

mamasgirls- That sucks hun!

Question for all of you: How many hours after the trigger shot was your IUI? I have been trying to decide if we should do two or just one well-timed one. Thanks ladies!

[Laci]

Well the cyst is getting bigger so back on BCP for 28 days. I am okay with it since I am going through all these issues will my back. Seems that I have a bulging disc. PT made me feel better and I have to go back on Friday and then 3 times nest week.. I think I mat make an appointment for massage. now I will have to wait until april to cycle. These pills make me loopy too. I am still out of work and will return on Monday provided I can walk!

[nummies]

Laci- sorry hun!

[laura-belle]

mamasgirls: That really sucks. My first IUI cycle was a similar story of completely messed up timing.

nummies: We typically aim for having the IUI ~24 hours after trigger shot, generally a bit less.

AFM: I had a doctor consult yesterday. DH is getting sent in to double check that there is no fixable reason for the v. poor motility. Presuming that this cycle doesn't work and DH doesn't need anything done, we're moving on to injectibles for a couple of cycles. I get to learn how to give myself shots. As I'm rather thoroughly needle-phobic, this should be interesting.

[BabyGoal]

Laci -- hope you are feeling better soon! Do you do acupuncture? It may help your back. Also, with regard to the cyst, do you get them often? Do you have PCOS? My cousin had PCOS and was unable to get pregnant for years, until she went on SugarBusters (diet) and not only lost a great deal of weight, but now has 2 beautiful daughters!

Laura-belle -- I don't know anything about injectibles for IUI, but I sure gave myself plenty of shots with IVF. The little needles really don't hurt. And the ones that do, only hurt a second. Remember why your doing this to yourself, take a deep, relaxing breath and then (and I feel this is most important) do it right! If you whimp out on the shot and do it half-heartedly or fearfully, it's gonna really hurt. Think about ripping a bandage off quickly, rather than slowly. Just do it and it'll be done. You'll get used to it. And if you bruise at the injection sights, consider them "war wounds". My sister has MS and gives herself daily, extremely painful shots (at lot worse than what we take) and I always think of her. We at least, are choosing to do this. Good luck!

[Laci]

Baby Goal- No I do not have PCOS. They said it was from the injections. So here is to another 28 days for BCP!

[DaisyMae08]

Hi ladies,
I was put on BCPs for 10 days because of a cyst and 8 days into them I started spotting. The doctor's office said it was ok and that I could stop taking the BCPs because they had done what they needed to do and that I would get full flow soon. I'm supposed to start Follistim the day after I get my full flow. Well.... I'm just not sure what full flow will look like after such a short amount of time for the lining to build up. Will it be normal? Lighter than normal? I had noticeable pink spotting on Thursday and then red spotting yesterday and today (but only noticeable because I've been checking). Could that be it? Or should I expect more? I just don't want to miss my chance this month. Any ideas?

[feyfollow]

May I Join?

Hi All,

Had my first IUI 4/9/09. We're hoping the timing was okay, as I was 2 hours late getting to the doc's office.

DH and I have been married almost 11 years, and together 12 years at the end of the month (OMG, really??!! LOL). We had only used birth control the first few months, and then we stopped. I dx'd w/PCOS in 1998, and we tried for a couple of years with charting, a couple of rounds of Clomid/Met, and then we just decided to enjoy ourselves, and get all of the toys we wanted. When we decided we wanted to start a family in 2002 we looked into adoption instead of fertility txs. We adopted our beautiful son when he was 9days old in 2004. This time, we decided to try for a biological child, as adoption is as much a rollercoaster ride, and more of a big business than the fertility txs. We tried Clomid again, and nothing. I had some surgery to fix the plumbing (terrible pelvic congestion/polyps, yada yada). We had to take a short break due to DS's psychological SNs, and then we started Femara last month.

We ended up with 2 follicles on CD15 that were 19 and 17mm. HCG shot 4/8, and IUI 4/9. So, altough this is our first attempt with with IUI, we have never tried to interupt a pregnancy in almost the entire time that we have been together. We're going to try IUIs for a while, as we have absolutely NO fertility benefits . Good luck to everyone!

[nummies]

Welcome feyfollow! Thank you for sharing your story with us. Best wishes on your IUI!

[DaisyMae08]

Welcome feyfellow. Good luck with the first IUI - hopefully it will be the only one you need!

[tomanygirls]

Well I tested 13 & 14 days after IUI & it is negative. So this was failed IUI #2. Now I am on to #3 i guess. I am starting to want to give up. I am only getting one good sized egg each time. The Dr. said I had a 10% chance getting pg with IUI! I want to do more but they want me to have 4 failed IUI's before we can do anything more. This is really hard to keep getting time off of work for DH & I. I even tried to be more relaxed & not over test, think about it, come to this site etc to see if it would work. There has got to be more than 100mg of clomid, HCG, & IUI I can do to try to get pg. Now just waiting for AF

[nummies]

So sorry tomanygirls. That sucks that your RE won't let you move on. I would have serious issues with that.

[feyfollow]

Thank you ladies for such a nice welcome!

Tomanygirls: I am sorry about your RE. Is there anyone else you can see?

[feyfollow]

I Have Some Questions Please

I am cross posting this from the TTC forum.

Hey ladies, I am sure that this has been answered elsewhere, but I cannot fine a definative answer. Is it 10d that the HCG shot stays in the body? Even the different medical books I have been reading have differing answers. So, I am asking for assistance from the women that have been there done that. This all started, because my boss gave me a box of 25 pregnancy tests we use in the office, and he told me to knock myself out when I'm good to start (Goddess I love my boss!!!). I was curious to know if the HCG shot had half lifed it out of my system or not, so I took one for S&Gs. Of course I got a positive, faint, but positive.

I had my HCG shot on 4/8 and my IUI on 4/9. I know that it is way to early to test for a BFP, but it should show a base line for HCG in the system, correct? I am sure if it was not me going through this, I could find the precise info for my patients!

I am also curious if anyone who is using progesterone suppositories (I have the capsules and not the gel based ones) had axillary pain/side boob pain, sharp pains on the top left and right of my pelvis that radiates to my back, and I can barely touch my cervix. What I can touch is soft and shut tight. Has this lasted the entire time that you are on progesterone? Trust me, I am NOT complaining at all. I am just really curious, as there is nothing about these side effects in my PDR.

*****Just FYI, since I wrote this the sharp pains in my pelvis and boobs have gone down to fullness in the pelvic area, and dull aches in my boobs. Oh, the exhaustion is gone, and my HPT was neg this am. TIA for any and all assistance ****