Taking the Scenic Route...to a BFP - Page 88

[jpack]

Hello and happy Thanksgiving! I'm a long-time lurker (all the way back) and would really love to join you. I have a 3yo DD who was conceived on -yup- the first try. My mother had IF and only got me in 10 years of trying so I was sure I'd struggle. But, since #1 was so easy, I was all cocky about #2. Ha. We started trying hard in September 2011. I had a really early m/c in January and blighted ovum that passed about 9-10w in April. I see a great RE, and did two rounds of clomid, then took a hippy detour and just did TCM and ayurvedic practice - lost patience pretty quick 9 (two cycles), and just started a monitored cycle (went in today for cd3 too, TF). I've got an HSG scheduled for Monday (questions about that but I'll save them for a later post).

Just going to throw some comments I've had over the past few weeks out there, since that was all AFM above!

Bebe + Gtree- belated congratulations! Indie I hear you about it being a sickness! I was so chill this cycle, esp. with our super bad timing but by 8dpo I was convinced! (totally thinking about that frozen turkey baster while DH was traveling - kinda thinking it doesn't really work like that but thinking maybe we should invent something for that purpose?!)  Lucile - hmmm.. Shell - really hoping to cheer you on in this remarkable process! Sherry - Love to know more about the house project! We just finished tiling our little master bath and I'm totally overwhelmed! :) Chrissy - I found similar stuff about homocysteine levels. I'm heterozygous for one of the MTHFR genes, and my levels are normal. The RE gave me the high-dose B Folbic, but I don't think it's critical unless you need to bring those levels down. SKJ  - I have to say, I laughed so hard and cheered for you about what you said to the other mom about m/c#2. That's SO something I would say (then try to back pedal, as if you can do that after you've said "miscarriage"). All the best to those I missed. I genuinely hope it's OK to chime in - I know you ladies have a great thing going and I want to respect that.

[MindlessChrissy]

Jpack - Welcome and I'm sure everyone is glad to have you. Good luck on your hsg on monday. When I had mine it hella hurt. lol

Just popping in to say Happy Turkey Day!!! Anyone going black friday shopping? I don't think I will this year. Have a great one friends!

[Shell77]

Welcome JPACK.: goodluck on the HSG... Mine hurt too.... but that is because one of my tubes is blocked :-/  Thank you for cheering me on!! I need all the cheers I can get . lol

Chrissy: I REALLY want to go Shopping on friday after my Dr appointment.... I am hoping to convince DH to take me lol... I used to get up at 3 am with my daughters and we would go get starbucks and fight the crowds till 10 am then come home and sleep till 3 ... sooo much fun!! I hope I can do that next year and leave the babies home with DH ... cause I WILL have babies by then..

TF.... UPDATE????

[toothfairy2be]

Late night AFM post so I don't keep you all crazy- got the go-ahead. Took my first BCP about 5 minutes ago. My ovaries were calm, 2 complex cysts but much smaller than before. Looking at retrieval between 12/29-1/1. So tired now, what a long day. My house looks really nice but theres still a lot of cooking & some cleaning to do. Time to sleep!

Welcome jpack, I remember you from the one thread but maybe just from lurking ( i left there sept 2011 for the IF One thread but lurked for a while). My HSG was fine, cramps for only a minute or so.

[SKJ2011]

Heading off to bed, but wanted to say you are absolutely welcome here JPack. I recognize you from the one thread. I'm so sorry for your losses. Sounds like we have very similar stories. I got pg with DD on the first real try and have had 2 losses since TTC #2 (we started in June 2011). Good luck on Monday!

ETA: Hooray TF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so, so excited for you!!

[gtree]

TF - I had to check on you before putting my turkey in the oven!  WAHOOOOOO!!!! And it begins!!  I think you are on the same plan as mine.  It is going to take forever, but hang in there and just blame everything on the hormones!!!

[indie1976]

happy thanksgiving my friends!! 

let's see if i can catch up...

toothfairy - YEEHAW!  i am so excited about your end of year/new year retrieval! let the games begin!! good luck with all that cooking and family today!

shell - another YEEHAW! for you!!! we are gonna have some new bfps to celebrate very, very soon! you cracked me up with the worry wart scenarios... i do the same. crazy brains of ours... 

skj - i think you are in the safe zone as well! i've also heard of many women who get their bfps with slow rising temps... actually, i remember a particular person i stalked (wow, that's sounds awful) where her only slow rising chart was the one that resulted in a bfp... so all is good!

gtree - yes, may we all have babies, indeed! enjoy your little turkeys this thanksgiving. you have much to be thankful for!

sherry - life certainly is getting in the way for you right now... but you still have a couple of good years left so i'm not worried about it being a reachable goal... just maybe not right now. it would have to be hard watching dd struggle... but then again, struggle causes maturity, right? :) much love to you!!

bebe - enjoy your california thanksgiving! give your tummy a pat for me!

chrissy - no black friday shopping for me! i hate shopping as it is... couldn't imagine fighting those kind of crowds! enjoy your thanksgiving!

lucille - waiting on pins and needles for an update!

jpack - welcome! sorry you have to be here but happy you chose us to hang out with!

afm - back from a whirlwind trip to see my baby bro graduate. oh my goodness, i felt so much pride. i was 17 when he was born so i vividly remember caring for him and to see him so grown up... wow. the best part was getting the first glimpse of him on his motivation run at 7am in the morning. certainly made the all night drive worth it. as for my cycle... blah. i started spotting at 9/10 dpo and am still going strong today at 12 dpo. i have not had such wonky cycles since after my miscarriage! last cycle i didn't ovulate and had some major estrogen dominance going on with horrifically sore breasts. this cycle i'm pretty sure i ovulated on cd10 (too early!) and had sore breasts at ovulation (never happens) and then only super minor sore breasts since... i guess we will see what this next cycle brings... 

gobble gobble!

eta: thanks for the kind comments about my pic... it's my instagram profile pic and i guess i thought after a year of hanging out with you guys why bother trying to be all incognito. hi world... it's me... i'm frickin' infertile. here, read all about my cervical mucus! you're welcome.

[bebelove]

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Started the festivities last night by watching Trains, Planes, & Automobiles. Those aren't pillows!!! haha. Hope you are all having a great start to a day of thanks! DH is still asleep but I'm waking him soon to make blueberry pancakes!

Jpack, welcome to our little family and thank you! Sorry you have to be here, but it's a lifesaver of a group. I'm sorry for your losses, too! My HSG amounted to about 15 seconds of intense cramps and that was it, but I didn't have any blockages. Good luck!

Chrissy, my mom and I used to get up super early and do Black Friday shopping, which was a lot of fun (I also used to have a lot more energy for such things in my 20s!). DH and I will probably go but not super early. We won't be getting any of the amazing deals but will hope for some good general sales on gifts we intend to buy anyway. It will be crazy for sure.

TF, yay for the go ahead! It's all starting!!! A new year's BFP will be the best way to start 2013! Good luck with all the cooking today. I'm sure it will turn out delicious!

Indie, I wasn't positive if that was a picture of you or not, but that's how I've been picturing you ever since. LOVE it so much beautiful lady! I gave baby a pat this morning for you What a wonderful thing to have been there for your brother to celebrate this great accomplishment. I can only imagine how much love and pride you feel for him! Sorry about your wonky cycles, hmm. I don't have any great insights but wanted to remind you that I'm queen of wonky cycles, so anything is possible.

AFM, I am getting my Harmoney blood test on Friday, so excited to get on with that. Results take up to 2 weeks though. Phew, what a wait for such very important news! I can help but worry that I must be at even higher risk of a trisomy because I ovulated so late with an "old egg". Not really sure if that's an official possibility. I think the "Making Babies" guy in NY said something about that in his book. At any rate, all will be known soon! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! xo

[jpack]

Thanks for the welcomes!

Indie that's a riot about your pic - I agree! Hopefully my pic is less gross that rest of the stuff I share!

TF holy cow, I'm really excited for you!! I always feel so much better once I'm on a path to something - like the plan is comforting in and of itself. On a different note, I can't imagine the hosting situation you've got going on!

Bebe cool about your test, so weird how fast these things change- I don't think that existed four years ago when I was pregnant with DD.

Shell sounds so fun the Black Friday shopping with DDs. I'm with Indie and don't do so well with the crowds, but am way into finding good deals, so maybe I should give it a try.

SKJ yeah, we have pretty similar profile! I really wanted DD to have a sibling, but she was a steal-the-show-up-all-night kinda baby/toddler, and I was SO not ready... until I was READY. I go back and forth between really caring and caring less about the spacing issue. I'm just trying really hard to have faith that it's for the best, however it works out. Anyway, I know that's something you've mentioned.

Chrissy - thanks for the feedback about the HSG. Really looking forward to it ! ;)

So here's the question I had about the whole HSG thing. I was adamant that I needed a hysteroscopy rather than HSG. I'm a little freaked out about the dye and the spilling-into-the-body aspect. Plus, I thought with the m/cs it was more likely to be a uterine cavity problem rather than a tubes problem. Of course, crazy GooleScholar addict over here read about how much less accurate HSG is. But the nurse talked into it for Monday. Anyway, maybe you lovely ladies will have some insight to share about this here. If not, that's cool since it looks like everything is lined up for Monday. At least I'll get some time looking at my innards on a screen! What a geek... :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope lots of great food gets eaten, laughs are laughed, and for those Black Friday shoppers, deals are had.

[SKJ2011]

Hi ladies. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

jpack- I'm no help, but I hear ya on google scholar . I never had an HSG, but had a saline u/s instead and really wanted to push for an HSG. I've since decided to just trust my doc, since researching everything made me more stressed. Thanks for your thoughts on the child spacing thing. I think the norm where I live is to have your kids close together in age and so I feel a lot of pressure to do the same. But, we will only ever know the dynamic we end up with, you know?

bebe - I hope everything comes back perfect on the blood test. You've totally proven everything wrong so far, so I'm not worried.

indie - sorry about your wonky cycle. I agree w bebe, wonky cycles don't mean it's over. With DD, I bled from 7-12 DPO. Didn't need progesterone or anything. Anyways, my point is that you just never know (see my AFM for more on this theme).

Yay for your bro!

AFM - I'm feeling really un-controlling this cycle. My temp jumped a lot at 2DPO, so that made me happy. I did have some very slight spotting from 1-3DPO, but I think it could have been due to my self treatment for bv. I've been having some cramping today. I went to acupuncture this afternoon and my acupuncturist said she did not like my chart. Normally, I would totally think I'm out this cycle, but she didn't like my chart last cycle and I got pregnant then, so I'm ignoring her comments. ETA - i just looked through the gallery of pg charts on FF and they all look completely different from one another and nothing like my acupuncturist described as a "good" chart. My new outlook is that no one really knows why this works when everything points towards it not working, and doesn't work when everything is perfect. So, I'm going to remain hopeful. I'm still really tired of ttc. I want the next three cycles to fly so I can get on to ivf. I hope you will all keep me company after you are all knocked up
Edited by SKJ2011 - 11/24/12 at 2:10pm

[toothfairy2be]

jpack- I don't know the accuracy between the two but it sounds like what you are saying makes sense. If you are getting pregnant but then miscarrying it doesn't sound like a problem with your tubes. It can't hurt to do the HSG anyway and then you can always push for a hysteroscopy especially if the HSG comes back all clear. We are all google masters here, no shame in that!

SKJ- You are so right that really the flow of your chart doesn't reflect the possibility of BFP. Yes there are certain patterns they look for that show a 'strong' chart but you can BFP in the worst of times, so don't fret too much. It's probably why if they say you can confirm you ovulate regularly to ditch charting because it is an added stressor. 

bebe- How long does it take to get the blood tests back. You said Harmony is the one that does not tell you gender, right? In all likelihood your baby is 100% healthy no matter what the egg. Come on little bebe :)

indie- your comments about your photo made me laugh and laugh. Isn't it nice to just shout it out to the world. Hi, look at me, I'm a normal, regular, perfect looking woman and I hold the weight of the world on my... uterus... I always wish there was a 'Face of Infertility' website so uneducated people could see that the infertile people around them look just like them or anyone else. That it isn't the unhealthy, the weak, the overweight, etc. It is anyone. Okay, off my soapbox. Umm you were 12 dpo 3 days ago and we haven't gotten an update.... 

gtree- Thanks! I will be nagging you for advice in a few more weeks. 

Shell- Did you go shopping on Friday?? How was your appointment. Seriously, why no updates from anyone... this stuff is important!!!

Sherry- Were you all together for Thansgiving? So you moved to upstate to help with your DD and new grandson right? Is DH staying in the city to work or is he going to transition to a position closer to new home? I can imagine it is so hard to be away from each other so much and to watch your daughter struggle. I'm still keeping faith that your own little one is on its way.

AFM-  I'm a few days into my BCPs, start Lupron the 5th of Dec and go in for my suppression check on the 17th. It all seems so far away. I'm going back to Acupuncture the 5th as well.  Really I don't want to decorate too much for Christmas because I don't want the stress of being up and whatnot to take it all down after. We didn't do any Black Friday shopping, I had family here until this morning so we are wiped. DH got a cold or something so it is a quiet day. Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. It really was a lot of people once everyone was here and the house was full. Next year my max for dinner is 20. I loved having every one together but it was so much work. 

[jpack]

TF- LOVE your "face of infertility" site idea. Gotta say, kinda want to make that happen!

[Shell77]

TF: yaaay for getting the go ahead!! I know it seems like such a long process... but one you bound to pill times and shot times it flies by....

Indie: you crack me up!! I think your picture is just beautiful, so what DPO are you? I think we definitley need a BFP before mine.... which WILL be soon :-) eeek so excited!!

bebe: what will the Harmoney test show? is that a typical test that they do know days? i feel so out of the loop with all these test...

Jpack : I am pretty sure the HSG shows how the dye flows through the uterus as well, and if they see something abnormal then they would probably opt to do a hysterscopy ... I think the only reason my HSG hurt was because 1. the radiologist was young (like 15 years old ) lol and 2. I have a blocked tube..... My Hysterscopy that they just did a couple weeks ago went great and no problems ... Good Luck :-)

SKJ : your acupuncturist sounds very negative?? aren't they supposed to be upbeat and positive? hmmmm I would ignore her too or find another one. I decided I do not trust temping and charting anymore.... FF had me ovulationg on some crazy days ...  I hear ya on being so tired of TTC .... I have gained so much weight TTC it makes me sick , its like i fluctuate 10 lbs every month ... 10 up ... 10 down.... UGH lol

Hi everyone

AFM: well My sono went great my ovaries are calm and she wasvery pleased... they did blood work (not exactly sure of what they are testing for) but everything was ok... and I started my injections today 150 iu of menopur 150 iu of follistim at 9 am then 300 iu of follistim tonight at 9 pm .... I am also taking my dexemethasone and baby asprin and DH and i started our antibiotics today... ok the menopur shot hurt and i immediatley welped up in that spot.... its ok now (thank goodness) AF also came strong and Hard Friday evening ... she said it may be lighter , but it has been pretty heavy ... maybe a good heavy bleed will clean everything out and make room for sticky uterus for my little embryos that they will be implanting :-) .... Thanksgiving was nice and relaxing ... but I did end up going Shopping at midnight ... and didn't get anything ... the TV I wanted was already sold out POOEY... But that is pretty much the extent of my Black friday shopping this year... we are spent with all the fertility meds being 656.00 more than I was expecting.... I usually go hog wild on Christmas spending but this year we are watching it a bit more carefully... also we are getting a new car after the first of the year :-) along with baby cribs , swings, car seats lol ... I am very excited .... Still pray sticky baby thoughts !!

[SKJ2011]

Just a quickie...

TF - totally agree with the faces of IF. I had basically written out something similar the other day and deleted it b/c i couldnt' get the wording right. Every time I'm at the RE's I look around and think how we all look so fricking normal! Why aren't we pregnant???

Shell - I had a CRAZY crinone dream the other night. All of us from this thread were in Texas for your wedding. It was so vivid and real. We were all so excited to meet each other and each other's DH's. I hope the wedding was really the birth of your twins

AFM - My temp was down a bit this am and put me in a bad mood. But, I'm over it. I hate always finding the one thing that makes this cycle a bust. Wish I could roll with the punches better.

We are potty training DD this weekend and she's doing great. So, it has been an awesome distraction.

[Shell77]

SKJ : LOL well my DD is having a wedding next October... all of you are invited :-) I would love a big get together .... maybe we will all have our babies or be big and pregnant by then!! yaaay for potty training DD ... I loved that time with my DD's

[bebelove]

Jpack, my understanding is that these tests just become available in the last year or so . . . it's such a great alternative to amnio/CVS!

SKJ, I'm so glad you're feeling good about your cycle! Remember my acupuncturist thought I was completely out the cycle I got pregnant, so I'm glad you're not putting too much stock in her analysis. I agree with you -- nobody really knows. Unless you follow a "textbook" scenario, they really have no clue. Clearly none of us are textbook (nor are most woman anyway!). I'm excited for you!

TF, two weeks until test results . . . yep, Harmony is the one that doesn't give us gender. Ah well! I might get an ultrasound through a specialty place that can tell gender at 14 weeks. Thanks for cheering us on! I can only imagine how crazy it was at Thanksgiving. I'm sure you are completely wiped! I know it seems slow-going, but I'm so excited that you are getting started! I feel so positive that everyone is going to get their baby (babies!!).  I know it can't be easy day by day, but just know that I'm thinking of you and cheering you on, too!

Shell, Harmony and MaterniT21 tests exclusively for trisomy 13, 18 and 21 in place of having to do CVS or amnio. It's only been around for a year or so. Sounds like things are moving along brilliantly for you! Yay, yay, yay!

AFM, thoroughly enjoyed my 4-day weekend, and wish I could have another 4-years! ;) I'm 11 weeks since Saturday -- baby is the size of a lime! :)

[MindlessChrissy]

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Going to try and catch up so please bear with me!

Indie - Congrats to your brother! That had to be a super amazing thing! You're pic is wonderful. It's very nice to "see" you.

Bebe - Yay for 11 weeks! I'm positive there'll be nothing with the test.

Tf - Glad things are moving along for you for next year.

Skj - I'm with you on nobody knowing what does or does not work. Hope your cycle does work out!

Shell - Gonna send you a Whoohoo for your ovaries and a good sono! lol

Anyone hear from GreenMum?

Sherry, Jpack, Gtree, Lucille, Devilish - How are you?

[lucillelove]

Hi Lovelies! hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving.

Bebe: Yay!! for 4 days of peace and rest. I totally connect with you on that one.

Indie: lovely, lovely pic of you. Face of Infertility sounds like a great idea! Yay on your young bro's graduation. Nothing could make one more prouder!

SKJ: Yay!! for successful potty-training. I had a really tough time with DD on that one.

Shell: Congrats on DD's wedding. Hope we can all meet up there as new mamas (soon to be and already!)

Sherry and TF: You are definitely on the path to something very beautiful, please always have that in mind. Both of you are in my prayers all the way!

Jpack: Welcome to the tribe! lovely place to be as you can see

Chrissy: hope you had the time of your life this thanksgiving?

Gtree, Green mum, Devilish, MsDolphin: Hi Ladies

[lucillelove]

Sorry,

AFM: I have been ravenously hungry for two weeks now and have had constant sore breasts. Still waiting to test on my GYN's instructions. I feel totally at peace. I know everything is gonna be alright somehow. I will definitely update when the time is ripe. Please everyone pray for me!

[indie1976]

happy (?) monday everyone :)

why do we even bother trying to work this stretch of time between thanksgiving and the new year? aren't we all just phoning it in?

bebe - i'm very eager for you to get your test results back. i know you've been concerned about the late ovulation/"old" egg since the beginning and it will be so nice to get confirmation that everything is a-ok! looks like you will be getting your results in time to enjoy that second trimester SO. HARD. you have so much to look forward to! eek!

jpack - yes, we are ALL google addicts over here so you are in good company. i see what you mean about wanting the hysteroscopy. the hsg doesn't just look at the tubes but also the uterus. my hsg showed that i had clear tubes but it also showed that i had a polyp in my uterus (polyps can interfere with implantation and/or cause miscarriages) and so with that information the doctor decided to do a hysteroscopy (along with my lap). so i think the hsg is a good place to start.

skj - i agree with tf, charting seems to be most useful in confirming ovulation but after ovulation it's anyone's guess as to if it will end in pregnancy or not. i used to search charts like crazy on ff back when i charted and i found the same thing as you. good luck with potty training dd! my niece was recently potty trained and had been doing terrific but then my brother told us he walked into her room this weekend and caught her flinging poo. hahaha. kids.

toothfairy - love your idea about the faces of infertility. seriously, love it. i think a site like that would helpful for not just non-infertile people to see that infertiles are completely "normal" but also for infertiles to see that they are completely "normal". i struggle all the time with thinking i've done something wrong in my life to get me to this place... it was all that sugar and french fries and sodas i so naively ate because for so many years i couldn't gain weight if i tried and felt just fine physically so i was technically "healthy", right? and surely that was the cause of my fertility demise. or the fact that i waited to get married until i was 34... ugh, that one hurts because i feel like there is a lot of shaming of women for being all "feminist" and thinking they can delay marriage and baby making and so infertility is just what we deserve... when in reality i just hadn't met my dh yet and i had seriously been worried about fertility since i was a teenager because i knew how much my mother struggled. but really, what could i have done differently? i have a naturally guilt-laden personality as it is so this infertility stuff is just the cherry on top. glad your thanksgiving went off with out a hitch! i feel you on being minimalistic for christmas decorating... 

shell - oh man oh man oh man... you are SO close!!! i am just so excited to hear about every step!! and skj makes the second person to have a dream about you! (remember my dream about you posting beta numbers on this thread??) you are apparently dream-worthy :)

chrissy - hi lady! no, i have not heard from greenmum. i hope she is hanging in there. 

lucille - sounds very promising! keep us posted!

afm - i think i'm cd 3? my spotting was a lot more than usual so now i'm wondering if i had what would be considered a light flow that then got heavier? i don't know. all i know is i had a true heavy flow starting on saturday so i'm counting that as cd1. you would think after all this time i would just relax and wait for ivf but i caught myself thinking the other day...hmm...this cycle was a lot like the cycle before i got pregnant. i had many days of spotting and then the following cycle, bam! like somehow history is going to repeat itself after all this time? really, brain?