belly, what about a good soup? i have a butternut squash soup that i make as my go-to comfort food. it's filling, simple to make, reheats well, and is deliciously healthy!
Please share!!
Aura, I never even thought of a soup! I'd love to get your recipe, sounds delicious!
Renavoo, I am glad you are feeling a little bit better today. I totally forgot you bought the IVF package, so that must relieve a lot of the financial stress. I am still holding out hope for Tuesday!!!
Gelly, any updates on your embies?
Blue, how's the family time going??
hooray! basically what i do is just cube up a butternut squash, cube up an onion (i prefer vidalia but any will do), and throw in about four or five cloves of garlic. i add about 2 cups of chicken stock and let it steam for a good while until everything is soft and mushy. they i use an immersion blender, puree it all up, add a quarter stick of butter, salt, pepper, and blend until fluffy and smooth. my husband always laughs and says it is like squash pudding, or baby food, but then he asks for seconds and thirds. i prefer the soup to be really thick, but you can always use more liquid or less, whatever you prefer. it is my go-to winter dinner, takes about 10 minutes to throw together, and is so good and full of vitamins!
graf214 - 
CONGRATS momma!!
bungalowmama - TWINS? I am actually not shocked, I had a feeling there was more then one!! Congrats!!
auraleigh - Whohoo for a schedule, feels good to know what is coming next. Thanks for the recipe, I am going to have to try that this fall, sounds wonderful!!
renavoo - how are you feeling?
gellybeangrl - thanks for the hugs - I am pulling for your 5!!
AFM - Our clinc only does 5 day transfers. An, I would like to wait then to make sure it is strong and healthy. The report this morning said that it start dividing, so that is good!! I am starting to feel normal again. I have clients in the office tomorrow and need to find something to wear since my arms are black and blue from all the IV attempts...
Hope everyone had a good weekend!!
April~ I'm pulling for you as well. That is wonderful that your embryo is dividing and growing. Yeah
Aura~ that recipe sounds wonderful...I'll have to give it a try!
Belly~ I think that my beta will be September 1st or September 2nd. I'll find out for sure tomorrow.
AFM~ I'm doing fine..started PIO shot last night...it hurt...not the shot itself, but after the fact the oil dissipating through my leg. This morning the butt muscle is sore...just 12 weeks more of the shot...yuck, but if it helps me get a healthy baby it is so worth it. We have our transfer tomorrow morning at 11:00a.
(Renavoo, it kind of depends on your RE. My RE only does FET for 2 weeks every other month, so we take the drugs to time with their schedule. Either way, you would start the estrogen on day 1, then increase for a week or so, then start the progesterone to time with the eggies (since we are doing blasts this time I started 5 days before transfer) and voila your done! There are also RE's that will let you do a natural transfer where they time with OPK's, and some (like Blue's) that have you stim a little during your cycel. With both of those options your body naturally produces the progesterone, because you ovulated, so you don't have to supplement as long.
April, fingers crossed for your report tomorrow!
Gelly, YAY for transfer tomorrow!!!!
rcr, I love it when you stop by!
Aura, I couldn't resist and made the soup today! It was SO easy and super yummy! I shouldn't have let my DH go grocery shopping with me because he has a *thing* for vegetables and refuses to even try most. So I couldn't get him to have any, but me and DD ate it up for lunch! Plus we still have some for lunch later on this week when I need to rest!
AFM, I am starting to get VERY excited for Tuesday, I can't believe my transfer is less than 48 hours away! I wish there was something more I could do, but really it's completely out of my hands like always. We know a blast from the same group during our fresh cycle worked, I just hope that one of these two holds on in there! Oh and no more tubals :) I better give specific instructions to them after transfer!
gellybeangrl - I will be praying for you tomorrow morning!!
renavoo - am sad today is Sunday too, the weekend always goes by way too fast - I have enjoyed taking it easy the last few days!!
rcr - thanks for sharing, I needed to hear that!!
BellyBean - I am sure the next 48 hours are going to feel like forever, sending prayers your way
AFM - hubbs gave me my first PIO shot tonight. He doesn't like needles so this was a stretch for him but he did awesome. I did let it sit out for about 20 minutes before and maybe that helped it not hurt so bad? I can feel where he gave it to me though - and OH MY is the needle big compared to the shots we have been doing all along.
Hope everyone has an uneventful Monday!!
April - still praying for you and your eggie!!! Glad that you survived your first PIO shot!!! Keep your head up my friend!!! 
Gelly - good luck tomorrow!! Thinking of you! Keep us posted!
Belly - so excited for you and this upcoming transfer. I just think this will be your month!! Fingers crossed. The family weekend went better than expected. This was Abby's first road trip to my parents house and things went well. I warned her on the way there that she needed to be on her best behavior so we would be invited back! LOL She didn't even have any accidents in my parents house so that was a plus. We took her to a lake and she did some swimming and then played with my parents neighbors dog so that day she was worn out. That kind of stimulation is just great for her. I'll be thinking about you on your ET day!!! You guys transferring 2, right? LOL about your comment about my "short post".... i know, sometime I can be long "posted" (aka: long winded on the computer when i type).
rcr - good to see your name. Hope you are doing well and enjoying your time off right now. When do things start up again for you?
Renavoo - I'm still trying to keep my hopes alive until after your beta. Like they say, "it's not over until the fat lady sings".... that is such a weird saying, but you know what I mean. I'm still hoping that those hpts are wrong. I'm staring to think we should have done a package deal... that is great that you guys have that security blanket. That doesn't include meds though right?
Aura - that soup sounds great!! I love having soup or chili in the winter months. I love to make huge pots of both and then freezing them for later dates. After I have a transfer I always try to eat warm things like soup b/c they say that is good for implantation too to keep things warm and cozy in there.
AFM - not much going on here. We were at my parents this weekend with the whole family and had a good time, but I'm tired. I got up with the pup both mornings at like 6am and this morning at 4:45am (i usually give DH the morning shifts on the weekends, but he is always so loud that i was afraid he would wake everyone else in the house up, so I did it myself - i always seem to get the short end of the stick, but I figure I might as well get used to all this responsibility b/c it will probably be the same way w/ a baby maybe one day). Hoping to figure out the whole med thing this week b/c I think we will be trying one more cycle in Oct. Hoping I can get mentally ready for all of this again... I think i need this month off to get myself prepared.
Belly, SO EXCITED for you!! Are you going to rest that day and the next? or are you back to work? Thanks for the info about the cycle! I think that the clinic I go to are pretty open about doing FETs so I think we will be able to get started on my schedule. I hope so anyway because work is ramping up after the summer. Let us know how the transfer goes! my fingers and toes are crossed for an easy transfer and a bfp a little while after!
April, ewww to the PIO shot!! is the needle bigger than your trigger shot? DH was also really worried about giving me the lupron trigger because the needle was so big. But they all get used to is after a while and hopefully, it will continue to not hurt!! Keep us updated on your embie!
Gelly, GOOD LUCK TODAY!
Blue, I'm so glad that you're getting another shot at this! We'll be with you through the cycle to help you get mentally prepared again. This next one will be the time!!
DH and I are very happy about getting the package so that we don't have to worry about the costs associated with individual cycles. However, yes, drugs cost extra. We do get 80% of them covered but I am also worried about DH's job- he's in an unstable industry. But oh well, I'm going to stay positive. Worst comes to worst, I may end up asking the nurse if we can start hoarding the drugs...hopefully, she can call in a huge amount and we can get that and put it into our fridge! Test is tomorrow. I didn't end up testing again...just that one time, because I don't want to get another BFN. haha. It doesn't matter anyway. I guess I should actually go and try to get a normal test...I've read that some people don't think that the internet cheapies work well but the general consensus is that they do. I just wish that i could test it on SOMETHING...I just want to see one positive test to know that those tests are working. Generally, though, i don't feel any symptoms anymore so I'm thinking the tests were correct. I just want to get it all over with!!!
Happy Monday everyone!
Belly - I'll be thinking about you on Tuesday. Good luck!
Blue / AFM - I am waiting for AF to start, and getting impaitent. I was expecting AF after my lap/hyst, and then she didn't arrive so I got really worried, but the RE said that the hyst/lap was kinda my AF too, since she did a D&C to remove the polyp. So, that would mean that AF should be here soon, it will be 4 weeks since my surgery this Friday. I will be doing another IUI when AF gets here - I already ordered the meds, so I am ready to go. I hate to be so negative about it, but I really don't think that the IUIs will work, we are doing 2 or 3 more of them, and then doing IVF again (with my own eggs!!), so I don't think that I will be getting pregnant with these IUIs. Actually, I asked the intuitive this same question, and she said that it will take IVF to get pregnant again. I guess I am just going through the motions.
Gelly - good luck!!
April - I hope your little egg is doing great. Do you get any updates before day 5? I only had one make it when I did IVF too - out of 8 retrieved (I think). Congrats to your DH for giving you the shot. My DH couldn't bring himself to do it, so I had to do it myself (he is gone a lot anyway).
Renavoo - I am still crossing my fingers for you.
Aura - we make that soup too. It is yummy.
I am like the queen of freezing food. When I was was nursing DS I produced so much milk that I found an adopted baby to give it too. We had bought a little freezer to store the milk in, then I started pumping just for the adopted baby, and we got another little freezer. So after I was done pumping, we started freezing food in the freezers and found that it works out so well for us! My DH is gone all week for work, and we only see him on the weekends. When DS was smaller I had to leave work at 5, pick him up, go to take care of my mom for about an hour or so (she has Alzheimer's), and then we didn't end up getting home until 6:30 or 7. So, it was hard to make dinner in the time before DS had to go to bed, and it was hard to make dinner with him always wanting me to hold him. So DH and I started spending one day every month and a half or so cooking food to freeze (we bought a bunch of casserolle dishes). We still do it, and the food tides us over for about a month or two (we cook a ton of food). DH chops everything the night before, and I spend the entire day cooking (like from 7 am to 9 pm). That cooking day sucks though. We usually cook something fresh on the weekends because I get sick of the same thing (since you can't freeze anything). Anyway, we do a lot of pot pies, lasagna, neat loaf (we are veggie), soup, casserolls, waffles, etc... I think there is a freezer recipes thread in the meal planning forum with some good ideas.
Well the embryo made it but it is only at 3 cells and they wanted it to be more like 8. DH asked if they though it would make it and they said they couldn't tell. They have seen some that were at 8 today that didn't make it and some that take off... so we will wait for our call tomorrow.
rcr, you and DH are amazing. I don't know how you guys do it and especially, how you do it. I can't believe that you have to do so much of this alone. It must be so difficult with your DH traveling so much! But it just shows how strong relationships can help make any situation work out. I just wanted to say that. :o) Why are you doing an IUI if you don't think it would work? I was considering going through another IUI if the FET doesn't work but this time, having DH inject me 36 hours before the IUI to see if that works (usually, the RE gave me the shot 24 hours before the IUI and I wonder if that was the issue!) Anyway, i think it's not a big deal since DH's insurance covers 3 IUIs and we've only used one under that insurance!
April, sorry about the not so good news with your embie! Did your doctor say why he thinks this happened?? Hopefully, the embie stays strong and continues to grow. My embies were slow growers too and they had to wait 7 days before they could freeze my last three. Also, one of the ones I transferred was an early blastocyst so it still had a couple of days of growing anyway before it would have been ready to implant. So hopefully, your embie is just a slow starter!! Let us know how it goes.
Big hugs!!
April - Praying for that cell to just take off and start dividing like mad!!!!! 
rcr - that is awesome that you do all that cooking!! I wish I had the drive but if I did it, it would be all me and DH wouldn't be in the kitchen helping so it would take me much longer so that makes it hard to get motivated to do it i think. Keeping my fingers crossed you get a miracle with one of those next IUI's.
Renavoo - go to the $ store and get some tests. I tested positive with our twins on one of those, so i know they work and they are only a buck. Can't beat it. Still crossing fingers for you.
Rena - that is a good question (why I am doing IUIs). when I read your post, I thought to myself, "hmmmm. why AM I doing IUIs if I don't think they will work". I guess the answer to that is that my RE thinks that my eggs are so bad I won't get any more success with IVF than I would with IUIs. My problem is egg quality. DH has a sperm problem too, but it is not horrible anymore. When we did IVF my eggs didn't like the environment in the lab, and the RE says that poor quality eggs may do better with IUIs since they are happier in my body than in a lab. I guess that makes sense to me. DH takes a lot of supplements, and they have worked, so his morphology has improved. Also, we are one of the lucky ones to have insurance coverage - unlimited IUIs and up to 4 IVF tries. I am planning to save my last two IVF tries for donor eggs, so this next IVF try is my last try with my own eggs. I guess I am saving it.I guess since we have insurance coverage we are doing more IUIs / injectibles than most other people. I want to give my own eggs as much as a chance as possible.
April - big hugs to you. The good news is that your little embryo is still viable, right? You still have a shot!
Blue - yea, DH feels guilty for being gone all the time, so he actually does a lot around the house - all the cleaning, as much cooking as I give him very detailed instructions for, all the laundry, and a bunch of other stuff. It would probably be different if he were home more.
Hey Ladies,
So Blue, I don't have a dollar store near me but I think the amazon cheapies are pretty much the same thing right? And I have those...I used one to get my BFN and I just decided that I'll wait for tomorrow to confirm via the beta test. It just didn't seem worth it to do another test when I don't even really feel pregnant so I think I'm out this month. I'm so annoyed though because according to the nurse today, I wouldn't be able to do the FET until October. It wouldn't be that bad, although DH and I wouldn't want to delay at all, but I have to travel end of Sept for work. She said that they use intramuscular injections and I couldn't inject myself. I have a feeling that my trip would fall right around the time I would need to inject myself. Also, I have to travel the end of October for work as well so it is feasible that I would have to wait until November!!! If this is the case, DH and I are considering doing an IUI during the wait...we just don't want to sit around and do NOTHING while we wait for the FET- They said that they are booked for FETs so they can't get us in.
Rcr, I'm jealous about your coverage but that's good that you're planning how you're using the cycles you have!! Good for you! Your reasoning for using the IUI makes complete sense to me!
rcr- tell me more about doner eggs. After this whole fiasco DH and I have talked about using donor eggs as it looks like that might be our problem. However, when I looked into it, it looks like that costs $20K - we do have insurance that covers some things, so it is just the egg we need and I think all the meds for me would be covered. I know our clinic offers donor eggs so I am sure we will have that conversation with them... just curious what you know about it...
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