~~Infertility ONE Thread March 2012~~ - Page 6

[hope4light]

Sila - 25 mins still sucks though!  I drive 25-ish mins, but that's from work.  The days that poor DH comes it takes him about an hour.  The consult will be here before you know it!!  I'm excited to hear how it goes!!  I'm hoping he can give you more answers.

kruchyk - I'm so sorry.  I wasn't here when you moved over, but I am so sorry to hear the horrible news.  We will be here when you are ready to come back.  I read your blog - it was beautiful and heartbreaking.  Hugs to you. 

teresa -  That's so interesting about the ugh releasing negative energy.  Even if it did last longer for you - I hope you feel better in the end!!  I can't believe more CC fraud - on top of everything else that is just not what you need!!!  How does your work handle it?  Do they do it or do you have to?  That's really awesome that you got to 'clear up' some things in regards to your mom.  If it helped, then it doesn't really matter how you went about it, just that it did the trick, you know?

toothfairy - Oh we went to Jamaica on our honeymoon!  We had a blast (wink wink) LOL.

Sourire - I'm glad you allowed yourself that day to grieve.  We all need it, especially on a cycle that we really felt was 'our' cycle, you know?  Like a PP said - maybe the November date will symbolize WHEN you get pregnant, or even better, something significant in the pregnancy (so that you don't have to wait that long!!!)
 

[SilaMarila]

tfairy - You guess it. The high temp was me just checking of the Provera was in my system or not. I stopped temping now. Sorry your date got cut short! What a bummer. LOL at laying out in a sweater. Though it's been "cold" here the last new days. I'm glad the family thing went ok.

Sourire - I'm just so so sorry. I'm glad you have a plan and hope your doc goes along with it! The cruise sounds awesome!

Teresa - Interesting, our insurance has great coverage for acupuncture so that is why we go all the time. I wonder if it covers Reiki too? Wow, guided meditation is awesome! Hmm, I have similar mom things I know I need to one day "get out". I totally agree on the IF and age thing. Most of the podcast I listen to and books and info I see specifically talk to women 35 and older. I don't know why it is. I do think there are a lot of women starting to try on purpose earlier now than there were maybe a while ago. Maybe not. I'm one of the youngest ones here and boy do I hate to hear, especially from a doctor, that the "good news" is I'm young and I have time.

Hope - You're right, it's a week from today!!! What's going on with you? You haven't mentioned yourself in your last couple posts. Are you in the boring part of your cycle? I forget and confuse people sometimes.

Re birthday lunch with SIL: It was great. We were so into talking about other things we didn't talk about IF stuff until the very end when we were heading home. She wants this so badly for us. Sometimes more than I think we do. But I know it just seems that way because we've been at this a while. Anyways, it's nice to have someone so so hopeful for us. She helped me come up with more questions/demands to ask my new RE.

AFM - I decided to start a Candidia diet. I've had symptoms forever but now I'm confident it will really clear my skin up. And hey maybe this is the one thing I need to do to get pg. To the normal standard american diet person it will look like I'm not eating anything. But rest assured I am! Sat through today I've slowly eased into it. I'm starting full force on Wed because tomorrow is my birthday date and I have a few glasses of wine planned and want to eat something yummy. So as of Tues night NOTHING sweet for me. God help me it's going to be hard. But I know I can do it. Especially when I start seeing/feeling results!

[toothfairy2be]

Sourire: A last minute cruise sounds divine, what islands are you heading to?! I hope you have a wonderful time and enjoy the time with just the two of you to snuggle and absorb some vitamin D- YAY! I had to laugh about university dining, my Boston restaurant recommendations are the same... I have heard of a lot of good places but haven't been to most of them. We were hoping to stop through Montreal on our way but we are going to have to save it for another trip since it adds about 3-4 hours to our already long trip.

hope: we honeymooned in Sint Maarten, I think all the islands are just lovely- someday we will get to hit them all, right? I'm curious like Sila- are you on BCP now leading up to your cycle? We need an update

Sila: well hopefully your body cooperates better with the Provera & I'm crossing everything for some good eggs this time! It is sweet that your SIL is a big support and is cheering you on.  What is involved in a candidia diet? You eat so healthy anyway I can't imagine what else you need to cut out!

teresa: I never noticed all of the IF stuff to be 35+ but you are right, I think for the majority here, we were never expecting that infertility would be an issue. We started TTC right before my 25th birthday... who at 25 expects they won't be a mama by 26. Well, now knowing I will be 27 at the least by delivery, I wish people understood more what IF really means... sad. I'm jealous of your holistic benefits through insurance. Mine covers a chiropractor but nothing else so no shaman for me! I pay OOP for acupuncture but DH as asked that I stop for a while when we start with the new DR/Surgery. I have to agree with him that after 7 months it seems we need to try something new but my Acupuncturist is so invested in this and such a big support I am sad to say goodbye. Did you get out to enjoy the 70 degree day?! Just what we needed to brighten our days, right?!

shesaidboom: how're  you doing lovely, we haven't heard from you in a few days. I know you're right behind me... do you have a plan for testing or will you wait til Beta? Is yours sunday?

AFM: I wish I had more time outside today! It hit 75 here, I did roll up my pants and stick my feet out the window of my car while I ate lunch, just to get a little vitamin D and took my doggie for a walk when I got home from work. I am feeling crampy today and I realized I forgot to take my vitamins this morning, not sure if they realate. I took a HPT this morning to check the trigger- still positive. I've never done that before, so this was my first ever positive test. I hope it stays that way... it is hard to convince my brain that it could go from what it was today to nothing...

[SilaMarila]

QOTD- Does anyone who has switched RE's have any advice for me?

- Is it worth asking my current RE to fax my file to my new one? Or should I just avoid any potential conflict and just request my file and bring it to my new RE myself?

-Which brings me to, if I do that I should probably try to have it to my new RE before my appointment huh? So hopefully they will look at it. Or he will probably just look at it when he meets me?

I don't have to worry about coming up with reasons why I'm leaving my current one. I'll just tell the truth if they ask. For insurance purposes. I need to go about getting my file in the next day or 2 since my appt is next monday.

[hope4light]

Sila - I'm glad that your bday lunch was good!  Isn't it crazy when it gets to that point where it seems like other people are more excited?  It's because you get into that, well rut for lack of better words, and it's just part of daily life.  That's not necessarily a good thing, but I think if we want to come out of this with our sanity it's what has to happen!!  So what exactly is the Candidia diet?  I've never heard of it (and now I'll probably google it because I'm curious LOL) On switching RE's: now first I want to make sure that you know that we switched a number of years after our last treatment, so our position was a little different.  My prior RE's office charges for copies of my records, and it's actually a LOT of money to get them.  That pisses me off, but what could I do?  So, I went back through all my posts here on Mothering from when I went through IVF the first time (well, first 3 times if you count cycles) and I had posted SO much about my cycles that I was able to put together a 4 page summary that included dates, results of blood work (as I was a big overresponder) including estrogen and progesterone levels.  It also included ultrasound information such as how many follies on each side and their approximate sizes.  It included the doses of all my meds and the results of each cycle, as well as part of the numbers from DHs SA.  It was so detailed that it might as well have been the records themselves.  All 4 RE's that I met with were impressed by the amount of data that I was able to give them.  All thanks to Mothering!!  Now, since it had been so long most of them weren't interested in getting the fine details of things like his SA and my basic IF workup lab results as they wanted to re-run them all anyways.  The one that we ended up going with said that the info I gave him was enough to get a cycle started with, as a few years have passed the assumption is that I'll respond in a similar manner but not necessarily the same (I'm early 30's, so he said late 30's he would have assumed I'd respond differently).  So he'll start me on doses based on my past experiences and we'll go from there.  (wow, didn't mean for that to be a book LOL) See my AFM for an update on me

toothfairy - Ohhh wouldn't that be nice, to hit them all?  Although I'm honestly in love with Europe, so that's where we'd be putting our money if not into making a baby!!  Ohhhh, I'm hoping that it fades a little and then jumps back up to a nice strong BFP!!!  Keep us updated..... See my AFM for an update!! 

AFM - You ladies are all so sweet, checking up on me!!  Well, it is really the boring part of my cycle.  We have our first counseling appt tonight, so DH and I are oddly excited about that.  I think just because we both know it's the right thing to do to make sure we come out of this in one piece, you know?  Otherwise, oddly enough, this RE is NOT starting me on BCP's.  I don't know why as I've ALWAYS started with them.  He is just going with my natural cycle, so it's just something different that he's doing, and I'm trying to trust and not question.  So I go in next Monday to get bloodwork to check my LH, and if I ovulated then I'll start Lupron on Monday.  Then, just like if I took BCP's we'll wait for a bleed and then I'll go in for my baseline, so probably around the 30th of the month if my cycle is on track.  Kinda crazy to think that this could get going in less than a week.  I'm excited, but actually oddly chill about it right now.  I'm sure it'll be insane at the end of this week when I get all the meds in the mail and am staring at my own veritable pharmacy on my kitchen counter though LOL. 

[teresaresa]

hope: Feeling so much better this week, thankfully. I actually didn't really have that much to deal with regarding the CC fraud. They just cancelled my card and overnighted me a new one. I took care of it since the bank called me to let me know that there was suspicious activity. I'm so excited that you could be starting your journey in less than a week! I hope you get a lot out of your counseling session tonight.

SilaMarila: I definitely think getting the mom stuff out will help us get pregnant. Not sure why I think there's a connection, but I just feel better. I'm jealous of your acupuncture coverage!! I don't think there've been as many studies done with Reiki, so you might have a tough time getting coverage for that. It drives me nuts when people tell me I'm still young. I know they mean well, but I feel like giving them a science lesson .... "here's how the female reproductive system works...." I am so amazed that you are going to follow a Candida diet - that is intense!! Good luck!!! Enjoy your last moments of food freedom :) As for switching REs, I would advise getting the records sent directly to your new doc as soon as possible. Usually you have to fill out some kind of form to release them. When I switched, I could send them to my new RE for free, but to have them sent to me would have cost quite a bit. How's it going with the Provera?

toothfairy: No, I have NO holistic benefits through insurance. Everything is OOP. I just meant that if I had to pay for my IF treatments OOP, there is no way that I could then pay for holistic treatments on top. A lot of people actually have acupuncture coverage, but not us. I'm sad that you might give up your acupunturist, but I totally get the cost factor. Maybe you could still go, but just not as often? I didn't much get to enjoy the day yesterday. Went to the grocery store after work, and by the time I got home it was already getting dark. The next few days are supposed to be somewhat nice though (a little rainy today, but warm!). I can't believe it got up to 75 there! No fair :)

AFM: Anxiously awaiting my CD15 u/s on Thursday. This front end 2ww has been worse than the usual 2ww. Last cycle, I went in on CD10. This is torture :)

[Sourire]

teresa - Funny story: when I went to Paris people there would switch to (incomprehensible) English when they heard my French. I was very insulted because I learned French & English simultaneously as a child so it's just like my first language (though I am more comfortable in English).

You're theory about getting pregnant on Nov 17 does give me a bit of hope.... but then again, that's what I thought this time last year when I got my BFN, and I didn't get pregnant last Nov either :( Maybe it will be my 2nd baby.

My cruise is leaving from Ft Lauderdale and we will be going to Turks & Caicos, Bahamas, Puerto Rico & US Virgin Islands. What about yours? I'll be going from April 7-14 so it doesn't sound like it will be at the same time.

The whole focus on 35+ in infertility stuff doesn't really bother me that much. Every time I notice it, I just think to myself: thank god I'm under 30, the stats are so much better for me! (though in a few weeks I won't be under 30 anymore so it will be less fun). My RE has never mentioned me being young, in fact he usually seems to be in more of a rush to move to the next step than I am... he was kind of annoyed when I spent 6 cycles trying out Prometrium/Crinone/Femara before moving on to IUI because he thought I was wasting valuable time! However my parents do sometimes mention how I still have lots of time to which I reply: a) when you were my age you already had 3 kids and thought you were done your family (they went on to have another by accident later haha) so you have NO IDEA what it feels like to be in my shoes... and b) I want 3 kids and if I have to go through a few years of TTC for each of them then by the 3rd kid I will be nearing 40 and running out of time. My mom also told me her goal in life was to be done having kids by 30... and here I am about to turn 30 and I've never even gotten a single BFP :(

Sila - so what do you eat/avoid on a candida diet? I've never switched RE so I can't help you there!

toothfairy - wow and I thought the weather was fabulous here just cause the snow was melting, it's so much warmer where you are!

hope - wow it looks like things will be getting started real soon for you!

smiles, shesaidboom - how are things with you ladies?

AFM - I just realised that I'll have AF pretty much the whole time I'm on my cruise. DH is pissed that I didn't think of that when we booked (we were debating between booking that week or the week after). I think he was really looking forward to a whole lot of non-babymaking fun and now it won't be possible. I'm trying to figure out ways to manipulate AF using Crinone that would result in more vacation BDing hehe. Maybe I'll test a few days earlier (13DPO maybe?) and stop the Crinone if I get a BFN.

Also we just found out that DH's brother is having their new baby (born in Nov) baptised during our vacation. My first reaction was annoyance that they waited so long to tell us (they've known the date for ages and if they had bothered to tell us earlier we would have booked our vacation for a different time), but then I realised that I'm incredibly lucky because I would likely be getting a BFN the day before the baptism and then to have to sit for hours surrounded by a whole bunch of babies... talk about a recipe for disaster! On top of that being in churches always makes me super uncomfortable due to issues from my childhood.

Edited by Sourire - 3/13/12 at 10:46am

[monkeyscience]

I have been reading along, but there's just too much for me to comment to you all individually... I hope you don't mind! I am cheering for all of you, and really hoping March gets better!

Just a few thoughts on recent things:

As far as getting records from your RE, my experience for all kinds of doctors has been that they will charge you to personally get your file, but that they will send it to other doctors for free. And if you're super non-confrontational like me, the best way to go about it is to fill out a records request form at your NEW doctor's office, who will then fax it to your old doctor. No need for you to interact with your old RE at all. But again, I'm also super-non-confrontational, which is not entirely a positive thing! If you want your new doc to have the records in advance, though, it would probably mean dropping by their office about a week early so they have time to get the forms.

Sourire - I thought it was a funny coincidence that my mom also said she would have babies until she was 30, and then she was done! (She had to have a hysterectomy a year after my baby brother was born, so no surprises for her!) I grew up my whole life hearing that, and it really colored my view of when you 'should' have children. I would still rather have my children younger than older, but I'm working on accepting that that just may not be in the cards for me if I want more than 1-2 children. By the time my mom was my age, she had 4 kids! Of course, she'd also been married 7+ years, compared to my <2 years. Also, as far as cruises and AF and sex... well, at least if you have AF sex on a cruise, someone else has to clean up the mess. Our honeymoon was a cruise, and since there is zero way to predict when I will have my period, yes, of course it started a few days before the wedding. But I did leave our cabin steward a nice tip.

AFM, having a pretty crappy day tummy-wise again, but I've felt great for most of the past week, so I can handle it. I finally got brave and started a baby registry. Still haven't scheduled my ultrasound because dh's work schedule is so up in the air. Oh, and on a completely related note... my brother got engaged! So will be getting a new sister. Unfortunately, they will probably have the wedding around when the baby is due, which means I probably won't be going. But I told my brother I totally understand that they have to do what works for them, and if planning around my attendance isn't it, that is fine. I'll be sad, but it isn't about me.

[hope4light]

teresa - I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better this week!  And that the CC fraud was really no big deal for you.

Sourire - While I did not grow up speaking French like you, each time I've been there I've had the same experience - I start out in French and they switch to English for me!  It's so interesting though that when they do it's all good, because I tried, you know?  I did have a few people the last time when DH and I went that spent a good amount of time, that they didn't have to, working with me to have an actual conversation in french - helping me with words, pronunciation, etc.

OMG, your cruise sounds SO awesome!  Boo on AF, hopefully you can adjust it some!!
 

AFM - Our appointment went well last night, and the therapist was really pretty cool.  She laughed because she thought that we were in a really good place with our relationship right now, so we basically just said that once we are in the thick of it, with all the hormones and what not, we wanted to make sure that we had some help keeping the lines of communication open, getting over any resentment that may creep up for no good reason, etc. 

I think that maybe I'm ovulating.  I typically don't feel it, but know based on the higher amount of CM.  I know many have said after an HSG fertility seems to take a leap, but OMG - I have so much freaking CM it's not even funny!!  And I'm having some pain in my one side this morning, that I'm wondering if it's ovulation pain.  Crazy.

[Smilesarefree]

Toothfairy  Glad to hear that your charting training went well, and good luck today at your consult.  Any idea how soon you could have the surgery?  When is your beta?  Have you tested again to see if the trigger is gone?  Hoping for you.

Sila   Sorry to hear about the candida, hopefully the diet clears things up for you asap.  I got reading about candida after your post and I read something about spitting in a glass of water when you wake up in the morning before you get out of bed and if your saliva looks all spider webby then it is a good sign that you have a candida overgrowth. 

Sourire  - The cruise sounds awesome!  Sorry about the timing – but maybe you will have a bfp instead of af and can have all kinds of non baby making sex!!!  And Nov baby could be your second or third baby so you could get pregnant at anytime with no relation to Nov.  Your parents tell you you are young and have lots of time, my mom tells me that I am running out of time (I’m 37) thanks mom, she is right but gee thanks mom.  She has also started to make comments to me like, last weekend I was talking to her on the phone and told her that I was drinking a glass of wine and she says so I guess you’re not pregnant then.  I don’t know why these little comments from her bother me so much but they really do next time she asks I will proceed to tell her in the nicest way possible to stop asking me.

Theresa – Your shaman experience is quiet fascinating to me, keep the updates coming!!!!  Glad you were able to be happy for your friend.   And yes waiting sucks!!!  What cd are you on now?

Hope – Glad your session went well and come on O!!!!  What is Lupron/what does it do? 

Shesaidboom – How you making out?

AFM – I am on cd 11 and no sign of impending O – not a drop of cm to speak of, usually I’d have a bunch by now, or have even O’d by now.  I have started having very mild hot flashes.  I had them last year, but more intense for about a month and then they stopped and my period disappeared for three months.  I have such a fear of menopause, I have symptoms – mainly that my cycles have gone all wonky, I’m 37 so not too old but my mom was 42 when she hit menopause, and I am missing ¾ of an ovary so that means less eggs so it is possible that I am premenopausal.  If that is what is going on with me then I would just like to know so that I could start to deal with those emotions and move on.  When I had my blood work done the doc told me that it was all normal but I was looking into what she tested me for and as far as I can tell she did not test me for anything that would indicate menopause.  Anyways, I am still waiting to hear about my ultrasound/referral, I called my doctor to see if she forgot and she said that she had sent away both requests so I sit and wait.  Arrggggggg!  On a more positive note, I am off after today for a super long weekend!!!!

[Gemmine]

 lurking, thinking of you guys.

Sourire: That cruise sounds awesome.

[hope4light]

Smiles - The Lupron is the suppression drug to prepare me for IVF.  It basically puts you into premenopause - yeah hot flashes

I hope it's not premenopause!!  Are you going to talk to her to see if she ran everything appropriately?  That way you're not sitting around just wondering...

Question for all you who can FEEL ovulation - I know that I have never been able to feel it.  I got used to knowing when more so by OPK's and my CM.  Well, I had my HSG, and this week I have an insane abundance (like WAY more than normal) CM, and today I am wondering if I am feeling ovulation (this morning CM was just out of this world).  But I'm not sure?  What does it feel like?  I had some cramping on my right side, right about where I would think I would feel it.  But it wasn't like typical cramping, more like a dull ache.  Thoughts anyone? 

[Smilesarefree]

Hope  - O pain for me is like a dull ache that come and goes and varies in how long it lasts/ how achey it feels.  When I was younger I remember being able to feel - what I thought was the egg actually popping out, it would feel pretty much just like something popping out of my ovary.

[hope4light]

I'll bet that's what it is!  Eeks, I'm SO not used to feeling it!  It's pretty much gone now, but it's so different for me!  Thanks much!!  (sure is quiet around here today - glad you're here too LOL)

[toothfairy2be]

Sila- I don't know much about switching but I'm about to find out! I would do what monkey said and sign a record release at your new office and let them take care of it. Does your RE have an online portal with your results that you can get them most of your info? My guess is, if you have only done bloodwork and didn't respond well last cycle and obv. you know the dosage you were on that you probably don't need your records.

hope4light- Sounds like you are having ovulation pains to me!! I've had a variety of pain but typically I get some sharp pinches and some dull aches. I've had it last 30minutes to 4+ hours! Yay for O- time for your cycle to start!!! I am going to do just what you said and make a comprehensive list for my new doctor. I am glad that your therapy appointment was great, it is good to get on the same page before you have the chance to drift apart, especially when you already know what to expect.

smiles- What referrals are you waiting for? To be sent to you or to arrive at another office? Doctors can be so frustrating that way. My RE called to say 2 days before my appt they didn't have a referral so I called my PCP and they swore up and down they sent it... I was close to driving there to pick it up myself before my RE called to say they just sent it through. I hope the CM starts soon and you have a nice ripe super egg this month! I hope it isn't pre-menopause- come on Eggs!Thanks for asking about my appt- I will update below!

Sourire- UGH about AF- I would agree with stopping Crinone early to get a few more days without AF on the cruise. It's funny I always felt like my mom was 'old' because she had me at 31...  25 years ago things were so different. We will send some warm air your way, today was back down to 55- I'm a little jealous you have snow, we haven't had snow that lasted more than a week all winter.

teresa- only one more day until your u/s!!! Yay!! I hope there are some beautiful ripe follicles waiting for you. Sorry I misunderstood about the OOP stuff, I'll blame the drugs, hehe. I wish insurance paid more for holisitic things, even acupuncture would hope but it definitely helped having IF coverage so I won't complain. Good for you getting out your mom issues, I have daddy issues but I'm pretty well worked out on them. It feels good just to be on a clean slate. When is your next visit? I just sent the recipe so I hope you like it!

Hi Gemmine and Monkey

AFM- So my HPT today was negative- 11 DPT, 9 DPO (possibly 8) kinda made me sad, I was hoping it would just stay positive but at least now I know the trigger is out. So we will see what happens Saturday. My consult today went well. Surgery is scheduled for March 29th- yup, 2 weeks from tomorrow! He basically said all the same things Dr. C said and a bit more detail about the actual surgery. Apparently he cuts out the lesions instead of laser beacause laser can't guarantee complete removal of lesions. I have to wait 6 weeks to TTC after surgery which puts my into my mid May ovulation. Unless of course I don't follow instructions, which I've been known  to do once or twice, which puts me at the ovulation that occurs the weekend we happen to be romancing in Quebec City.... just saying, in the off chance hubby is feeling romantic and I'm 'not charting ovulation'... who knows what could happen?!

[wissa19]

--just reading along and silently pulling for y'all - We want some more of you to join us on the graduates thread!

[teresaresa]

Sourire: I can't believe the Frenchies started speaking English to you! The Canadian accent is hard, to be fair. The first time I went to France, I stayed with a host family who are Breton. Their accent is so different than other parts of the country.When I did my college year in Paris, we started with a month in Tours as preparation. They say that those who live in Tours have the perfect French accent. The Breton accent I had picked up from earlier times totally did not fly! I had to completely retrain my inflection and pronunciation of certain words. Language is just so fascinating to me. It's amazing how important intonation, etc. can be!!

Our cruise is leaving from Miami from Apr 22-28. We're going to Key West, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica. I'm excited for the week away, but I've never been on a cruise, so I'm a little nervous! I'm totally bummed that you'll have an extra cabinmate on your trip.I hope you can manage to change the timing of AF a bit with the Crinone. But as a PP said, I'd much rather you be pregnant and not have to worry about it at all! It would have been so cool if we were on the same cruise

I guess it kind of sucks on either end of the spectrum - when your doctor wants to go faster than you or when s/he doesn't want to go as fast. It doesn't bother me that there's a lot of information for older women TTC. I think it's great. I guess I just wish there was more awareness for younger women. I don't want to scare women in their 20s, but I think they should have more information. Know what I mean?

It sucks that you'll be missing a family milestone, but from what you've said, it sounds like a total blessing to me. Much better to either a) be celebrating a BFP or b) be celebrating the start of a new cycle with your DH on a boat in the midst of the Caribbean, than to be plastered with a fake smile for hours on end surrounded by lots of things that make you uncomfortable (not that you wouldn't be happy for their special day - I know you would be).

hope: I'm so glad to hear that the therapist appointment went great. Sounds like you and DH are really ready to dive into the cycle. It's good to know that you've laid the groundwork to keep communication open. It's so hard to be good at keeping those lines open when all of those emotions are running high. Weird about the CM - wonder if you ovulated! Enjoy your super long weekend. Got any fun plans??

Smiles: I'm on CD 14 so not too far ahead of you. Next shaman visit is on April 1, so I'll keep you posted! I sincerely hope you are not premenopausal. I can't believe your doctor wouldn't have checked you for that. Is it easy to get that kind of testing done? 37 really sounds too young to me, but I guess every woman is really different.

toothfairy: Thanks for the recipe! Looking forward to trying it out soon. No worries on the OOP stuff. It's all so complicated. I totally wish I could get all of the holistic stuff covered. Wouldn't that be amazing? I'm sorry it was cold there today! We had an amazing beautiful day. It was truly the perfect spring day just on the heels of our nonexistant winter ;-) I am so super excited for all of the good things you have coming up. Hoping that Saturday hands you a BFP - luck o' the Irish and all that jazz. And, if not, surgery in two weeks is totally awesome! Hope you'll still check in with us during your 6ww

AFM: So, I know I'm going to sound totally silly, but question.... if you take an OPK when you are having O pains, will it be negative? In other words, are the surge hormones already gone by the time you actually ovulate? Earlier tonight I felt like I might be having O pains, and when I got home I tested with an OPK. It was negative, but I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. DH and I had a lovely date night tonight (Broadway and dinner) but on the way home I started crying b/c of these mysterious pains. I'm freaking out that my u/s tomorrow is going to be too late. I guess I won't know until I go in, but it just kinda stinks. I wasn't feeling anything special about this month, so I'm not surprised. But, it still hurts. Also, I love my RE, but I'm going to be crushed if somehow he miscalculated and made me miss out on this cycle. Ack!!

[SilaMarila]

First, Thank you everyone for your answers to my questions about switching RE's! It wasn't that bad. Because it was the first time I requested my file they did not charge me ($250 after the first time!!!). I figured out the whole request form thing and I picked up a hard copy in person since it is so close. Then I don't have to deal with the whole we swear we sent it thing. They suggested I also make a copy of everything for myself incase I need it again (how did they know I'm so forgetful? Probably because I'm on fertility meds huh). It was very non confrontational. Thank goodness. They just a checklist of reasons you were leaving to fill out and it was even optional to put your name on it. I called my new RE and they said I don't need to drop it off in advance, that if I come early (duh, because even though most of the paperwork is online they will still have crap for me to fill out) they will give it to the doctor before my consult. Now I just need to fill out all the paperwork I printed off and fax a request to my gyn for my file there and I'll be ready for Monday! It made me kind of sad looking through our file...DH's SA's results, my non growing follicles...

Hope - You are right, it's because this is just part of my life now. It's because that want for another child is always there. Even though you are kind of starting over, I'm glad the doctor you chose was able to go ahead with all of the information you had collected! Good luck with the Lupron and the hot flashes. I got hot flashes when I was BFing DS but rarely now thank goodness. Great news about the therapy appointment! How reassuring and encouraging to hear that she thought your relationship was in a good place! Everything you have said today sounds like ovulation to me! Are you preventing this cycle because of the upcoming IVF cycle?

Teresa - Well in that case I'll probably keep doing acupuncture since it is so "cheap". My new RE is also very pro acupuncture. Though I would always love to try different alternative things! LOL at feeling like you have to give a lesson on how the female reproductive system works. That is exactly how I feel! Good luck with our u/s tomorrow! From what I have read, O pains can be before, after, or during O. They don't necessarily mean you are ovulating at the exact time you are having them. I'm jealous of your Broadway date! See below for how Provera is going (thanks for asking!).

Smiles - I had not read about that spitting test. You know I'll be doing it in the morning lol. Are you going to ask your Dr. for more tests regarding menopause? Have a nice long weekend!

tfairy - I'm glad you got more information about your surgery. Still holding out hope for Saturday! I'm also stubborn and tend not to listen if I don't think it's going to get me what I want. That said, my best ideas have gotten me into the worst places.

Sourire - For how rarely I get AF, I was devastated when we somehow managed to schedule our only alone trip since DS during the end of AF last Sept. I agree on stopping the progesterone early if you are confident you are not pregnant since your natural LP is usually short. There's always the shower. The only down side is at least for me, BDing before AF is done usually leads to an additional day of bleeding and one or two of spotting.

Re Candida diet - The point is not to eat anything that "feeds" Candida, which is a yeast/fungus so it eats sugar. So no sugars, fruit, starches, anything that could turn into sugars, anything that promotes mold ("rancid oils" peanuts, cashews). It's pretty strict. If you don't feed it, it will die. I thought I was doing great today until I accidentally ate a few fresh sugar snap peas from the farmers market. Oops.

AFM - Provera is boring. The diet is keeping me distracted. 4 more days of Provera to go! I could just do 7 days but with my extremely delayed response the first time I'll go with 10 unless I get AF before then. I don't get any side effects from it. I just still get PMS symptoms toward the end. Bloaty, hungry. I'm getting pretty excited about my appt with the new RE on Monday!

[hope4light]

tf2b - I really think it was!  It lasted a couple of hours, and then this morning the CM was pretty much gone.  But now I'm getting really excited!  I should be getting the call from the pharmacy today, as the meds are supposed to be shipped out today.  I'm glad the consult went good!  Glad they gave you more info about the actual surgery, and that he's doing it in a way to ensure that they are ALL GONE!!  Really, I have to wonder, how many of us IF'ers follow instructions when it comes to NOT trying during a given time frame??!!  I hope that your RE didn't miscalculate!!  It's been so long since I did OPK's I honestly don't even know....

Sila - that's awesome that they didn't charge you the first time around.  I don't know if I'd want to read all our records, although it could be interesting, especially after success. We aren't really preventing per se, but we aren't trying, and aren't really too worried.  Here's to hoping that AF doesn't hang back like last time!!!

It was funny at our therapist appt because we did tell her that we knew we were doing OK now, but that our fear was that we wouldn't be able to keep the lines of communication open.  I said that I KNEW that when I was all hopped up on the hormones I would be unreasonable, and testy, and moody and wouldn't be able to stop it.  DH admitted that he KNEW he would harbor some resentment because I would be so tired (known from past experiences with Lupron), so he knew that he would be taking care of our DD, doing dinner, dishes, taking care of the house, etc.  It was so strange, almost like being able to look in a crystal ball and say 'we know these will be our issues, but that doesn't mean we think we can handle them/stop them from happening'.

 

[Sourire]

monkey - you made me laugh with your comment about someone else cleaning up the mess. I have no problem with AF sex (as long as its not on a heavy day) but DH just can't do it, it grosses him out so much that he's unable to finish.

Hope - your new therapist sounds really nice. I only feel O pain when I'm on meds, but to me it feels kind of like someone is grabbing my ovary and squeezing it in their fist, and it lasts around an hour.

Smiles - that premenopause thing sounds really scary. I can't believe it's taking you so long to get an appointment, sometimes our healthcare system just sucks! This is why I go to a private clinic, though most things there are still paid by the government (i realise this doesn't make any sense haha), I never have to wait more than a couple of weeks for an appointment and I didn't even need a referral to start coming here. Is there any way you can call the place your doctor referred you to and see if they got the request?

toothfairy - I'm super interested in your surgery. Are you planning to take time off work for recovery afterwards? Did they purposely schedule the surgery between AF and O or can it be done anytime? Did they give a reason why you have to wait so long to TTC? If I wasn't convinced that there was a good reason to wait I'd probably ignore it too. I've been googling laparoscopies lately and have read a few stories of people getting BFPs the cycle immediately after the lap.

Teresa - I agree it would have been super cool if we'd been on the same cruise. I usually have my darkest OPK the day before O and then on the day of O I usually have a 2nd line on the OPK that's somewhat lighter than the control line. If you don't have a 2nd line at all it might not be your O. I really hope you didn't O yet!

Sila - I'm glad to hear the Provera is treating you well so far.

AFM - I went on a major sugar binge yesterday and now I'm regretting it. At work they were giving out maple taffy on snow in the afternoon and I went WAY overboard to the point of feeling jittery. Then when I came down from that a few hours later I went nuts on candy. Then right before bed I was baking a dessert for a coworker's birthday and I went crazy eating chocolate chips and caramel chips. Now I am feeling super anxious and irritable. DH and I got into a big fight this morning.

I was supposed to start Femara yesterday but I forgot! I never wake up during the night but somehow I woke up at 2am in a panic about forgetting the Femara and took it then. So lucky!