~ Fall IVF Cyclers ~ - Page 22

[msgoodbuns]

Joyful, thanks for asking. I'm doing as well as can be expected. HPT's are negative. I don't "feel" pg. But no spotting or AF, either (of course, I'm totally jacked up on daily progesterone shots and pills, plus twice weekly estrogen shots). I can only hope that my urine is too dilute, but one would think that I'd be seeing something by now. I'm 12dp5dt.

What was your beta number on Monday?

[wahine5]

msgoodbuns: How are you? Did you have the test?

FtMPapa: Any luck with insurance today? I ordered the meds today. They'll be here Wed. We CAN do it

How is everyone? I hope excellent.
I have a question. I will be on Lupron microdose 40 mcg twice a day. Start GonalF 450 mg on day 3 for 8 days. How soon after do you trigger? How soon after the trigger to you have egg retrieval?

[msgoodbuns]

As expected, BFN. I'm not surprised, and am glad to have the official word, but I "knew" almost a week ago, when I was getting BFN's on HPT's.

I'm going to have to lift myself out of this funk, but it's not going to be easy, considering that I'm not working (recently laid off) and need the socialization to get back "up". Lots of exercise, I guess. Hopefully the endorphins will kick in and bring me to a better place.

[gemasita]

msgoodbuns - I'm so sorry. You have the right idea though - do whatever you can to heal and help yourself feel better. It always takes time but you'll get to a better place. Really sucks in the meantime though.

[wahine5]

msgoodbuns: soooooo sorry
That sucks !!!!
You have the right idea with the exercise.
I hope you're feeling better soon.

[quelindo]

Hello, I've been lurking and I think I'm ready to introduce myself. First of all, I want to say to msgoodbuns that I'm SO sorry about your BFN. (((HUGS)))

My issue is that I don't menstruate. I think I've had three periods in my life on my own (not induced by BCP's). I *think* I had a period once or twice as an adolescent (though honestly I don't totally remember -- I remember *telling* my mom I did so I could get out of going to swimming lessons, but I don't know if I did actually have one before that). Then at the age of 21 I went on BCP's. I did that for ten years and then when my DH and I decided to have a baby I went off of them. Nothing happened, and two years of infertility treatments (Clomid, Metformin, lots of IUI's with injectables) followed. Finally, on our first round of IVF, we were successful. Two years later we tried using our one remaining frozen embryo but that failed.

I had pretty much resigned myself to being the mom of an only child (though always searching for the "solution" to my problem through supplements, since I did have two periods about two years ago on my own, which led me to believe it was technically possible). We didn't have the money to do another round of IVF (since everything is out of pocket for us). But then...my mom completely surprised us by offering to pay for IVF if we wanted to try again.

The RE I was using is no longer doing infertility treatments, so we're starting over at the same clinic with a new doctor. Our first appointment is on Thursday.

I was trying to figure out the timeline. Maybe some of you can help me? I'm guessing they'll have to induce a cycle with a round of BCP's. Is day one of the next cycle the first day of my bleed? And then at about day fourteen of that cycle is when they do the egg retrieval?

I know I'm getting ahead of myself with all this, but my son is 4.5 and I never thought I'd get the chance to do this again.

Also, to whoever recommended taking DHEA and shared the link from that clinic in New York, thank you! I'm almost 39 and after reviewing the information I am definitely starting DHEA. I'm SO much more informed about nutrition and supplements this time around. I'm really hoping I get the chance to do it all again, smarter this time.

[5terre]

NewMama Welcome! How wonderful that you were offered money! I also have a 5 y.o. DC. I was just thinking yesterday that if my child/ren need to go through this, I WILL pay for it! DD is a miracle child; we didn't know we had severe MF and that DH had a genetic issue that causes most of our embryos to be incompatible with life. And after two IVFs and no transfers, apparently at age 32 I have diminished reserve. I don't know how it works out for people who don't get AF (do you have PCOS?). For me on BCPs, they have me come in 4 days after the last pill and they count that as Day 1 (but I don't bleed until the 5th day, or Day 2). Retrieval really depends on the protocol and the response. At my clinic stims are usually only 8-10 days for most people (but it varies by clinic and person).

msgoodbuns Sorry to hear it was BFN.

gemasita How are you doing? Any more thoughts on what you will do?

Joyful Congrats!

Wahine I'm on a similar protocol, but 50mcg Lupron and dividing the Gonal-F into twice a day. Are they basing the 8 days on your past responses? Trigger is 36hr before retrieval. So for me it was at 10pm, with retrieval two mornings later that 10 am. Have you heard of the Anji meditations? I am finding them helpful, I think it's worth the $30 if it helps you get in a better state of mind even just a little bit.

FtMPapa I am sorry to hear your insurance woes. This is all painful enough without the added financial stress. I wish they could straighten it out in time since you have the month off.

heatstone Congrats!

Hi ladies, I'm back. I needed a break. I started IVF #3 over the weekend. Please hope that we make it to a transfer this time. My antral follicle count was only 9, but I am 'talking' to those little guys and coaxing them all to grow, and maybe find a few more friends.

[quelindo]

5terre, I don't have PCOS -- or at least I don't have any of the (other) symptoms and my RE says it isn't. No one can figure out what's wrong with me.

Luckily, though, I appear to be capable of producing viable eggs if they can just go in and retrieve them. Last time they got ten eggs and after PGD three were viable. They used two and froze one.

[JoyfulLioness]

Welcome New Mama and welcome back 5terre!

Msgoodbuns, I'm so sorry to hear your news. Please take care of yourself and try to surround yourself with people who love you

[wahine5]

5terre: Welcome back... Good luck on this cycle. I'm rooting for you
Thanks for the recommendation on Anji.. I ordered it today. I NEED it... I'm crazy nervous.
I've never done IVF before, so I think they're basing the 8 days on what is most common amongst their patients I guess. Not sure... I wasn't even on birth control. I just started taking estrace on day 23 of my cycle.

New Mama: Welcome to the forum. Sorry I can't be too much help on the timing. I'm thinking the 1st day is the 1st day of injection?

I go in for u/s tomorrow. I guess they tell me how many follies I have, right? Are those the ones the meds will mature or will there be more in the next couple of weeks from the meds? I'll ask the doctor tomorrow. We paid for the cycle today through ARC. It's a package that pays the doctor directly. I think it will be less stressful. Has anyone else used that service? The meds will be here tomorrow. DH is reading all the waivers we have to sign right now... I'm watching Julie and Julia... It's excellent so far. It;s making me hungry, even though I just ate...

Good night, Ladies

[5terre]

wahine Glad you ordered it! Did you try it yet? You can do the pre-retrieval track now, you don't have to wait to start stims. Hopefully you noticed the specific one for IVF. So are you on the estrogen priming protocol, then? I wanted to be on that this time but my RE didn't agree. Yes, your ultrasound and bloodwork today (I'm assuming) are for your baseline, to make sure that your hormone levels are down and that you don't have any cysts. The follicles <10mm that they will count today is your antral follicle count. It is one of the indicators of how you will respond/how many eggs you will get (but just a guide, some people can end up with more, some with less). So do you start stims tomorrow? I loved that movie!!!!! I read both of the books - Julia's was wonderful, I highly recommend it! I don't care for Julie, the beginning where she donates her eggs to pay off credit card debt was enough to turn me off, there is lots of swearing and she is nothing like the character in the movie.

NewMama We are doing PGD also, that is why I am having so much trouble making it to transfer.

Anyone have any good movie recs?

[wahine5]

5terre: I didn't get the cd yet. I did order the the IVF one. It should be here in a couple of days (supposed to ship 3 day). Was there a way to download it instead?

The u/s showed 10 follies. The nurse said we hope those mature and and more show up. I start the stims on the 1st. They arrived today...
They said no bloodwork today, as it would only show the estrogen that I've been taking. I'm supposed to stop taking it tomorrow night.

Does the RE suggest the PGD testing? I don't know if we should request it. Does it have anything to do with age? I just turned 40 and DH is 42. Does the testing harm the embryos? OMG... so much to consider.

[quelindo]

Originally Posted by wahine5

Does the RE suggest the PGD testing? I don't know if we should request it. Does it have anything to do with age? I just turned 40 and DH is 42. Does the testing harm the embryos? OMG... so much to consider.

We had it done because DH has a daughter with Down syndrome from his first marriage. I don't think it's been proven that testing harms the embryos, but I guess there's no guarantee. My healthy DS is the result of IVF with PGD, but that's just anecdotal evidence.

PERSONALLY, I think that it allowed us to identify those embryos that were truly viable. I think we had six embryos that seemed viable before the testing and three of them turned out to have chromosomal disorders incompatible with life. So if we had used any of THOSE embryos, they would have failed to implant or ended up in an early miscarriage, and we wouldn't have known why. Then we would have ended up freezing the good embryos, which I think does lessen their viability.

JMHO.

[5terre]

Wahine I ordered the download because I didn't have time to wait for it to ship. We are doing PGD because DH has a known genetic issue that causes half our embryos to be incompatible with life, plus another 1/6 of them will have the rare inherited form of Down Syndrome. I don't think they necessarily recommend PGD solely based on age. It adds another $5000 or so. They say some of the embryos will stop growing after biopsy (kind of like freezing/thawing, you will lose some). But there is a huge benefit to knowing that you are transferring an embryo that is compatible with life. Good luck with your injections tomorrow. Are you feeling better about everything? I felt my anxiety lessen (or at least change to a different kind!) as I got into the stims. I hope you feel excited and hopeful.

NewMama Has you husband had a karyotype? Just curious to know if he has the same thing my DH has (probably not). I hope your appointment with the new RE goes well today.

[MOMTOALEXIS]

Hi everyone, just wanted to let you know I started a Winter IVF thread for all those who would like to join, I would love the company. I see a lot of us just beginning and hopefully we can all have our 2010 babies soon.

[wahine5]

Happy New Year Ladies !!!!!
I wish for all of us to have a happy healthy pregnancy and baby this year

Thanks for the info on PGD. We'll talk to the doctor about it. I don't think we will opt for it though. The cost of the ivf is already so high. I pray it goes well and the selection will be the right ones. But if doc suggests it, then we will somehow work it out.

I had my first lupron shot 5 minutes ago. Not at bad as I thought it was going to be. I am soooooo relieved. I'm glad to know how it is, instead of anticipating the worst. I thought anything with the shots are the stims. Sorry... I will start the gonalF on Sunday night.

Momtoalexis: Thanks for letting us know.

To a wonderful year !!!!!!!