Fall IVF: beautiful fall leaves bringing beautiful summer babies!! - Page 21

[rcr]

Daisy - Congrats!!! I will be happy to move you.

Vieros - the week will be over before you know it. Are you testing early?

shesaid - wow, 13 on each side is wonderful! no wonder you are on such a low dose of stims. I have no idea about the blood vessle. That seems strange. I wonder if it is just unrelated.

Sourire - did your doctor tell you that you can mix the follistim into the menipur? I have always done that. Just inject the follistim into the meniour to hydrate it and inject both as one shot. At least that would save you one shot. Yes, I agree that meniour stings a lot more than follistim.

Bucket - holy moley!! 14 eggs is wonderful! I can't wait for your report tomorrow!

AFM - not much. Did my second day of lupron. It seems so easy because it is such a small dose. Mom seems to be doing better - thanks for all your well wishes.

[shesaidboom]

Sourire - there's so much to remember, isn't there? Also, so many injections! I am tired of them already.

BucketofRain - I had monitoring yesterday (Saturday) and today. I may have to go in again tomorrow too.

Woohoo for getting 14 eggs!! That's awesome. I hope the report comes back with great news!

rcr - I think the burst blood vessel is unrelated. I had a feeling it was, but it's better to be sure, right? I asked the nurse and she said she'd mention it to the RE but she couldn't see how it could be related. The low dose of stims may have been a mistake because only 4 of those follicles are actually growing at all.
I'm glad your mom is doing better!

AFM, I went in for monitoring yesterday and they had me come back today since only four (2 on each side) of those 26 follicles (13 on each side) are actually growing at all. The nurse had left several messages for me yesterday that I had missed and I was positive when I picked up my info from the call line my dose would have changed, but nope. I know my clinic tends to err on the side of caution, but I'm a little frustrated. I mean, 26 follicles and only 4 are actually maturing at all? The nurse said we're still early so more could grow, but now I'm worried about this cycle being cancelled after everything we've gone through. To be honest, having the cycle cancelled wasn't even something I was worried about or even thinking about until yesterday. I'm trying not to get too upset because things can still change, but there I was thinking I'd get something like 10-20 mature follicles and we'd have tons of extra embryos to freeze. I guess I am still very new and naive about this whole process.

[rcr]

Shesiad - what day are you on? I wouldn't worry too much right now, if you are still early. Things change fast in IVF, and a lot seem to pop up toward the end.  Sorry you are worried though. When do you go back?

[shesaidboom]

I'm on day 5 and I go back on Tuesday. She lowered my dose of Lupron to 0.05 from 0.1 because my estrogen was low. Hopefully that helps. It's good to know that things can happen later on with IVF, and I really do appreciate the reassurance. We have our retrieval tentatively scheduled for Saturday and that feels so close, which is why I'm so nervous.

[rcr]

Shesaid - don't worry yet. day five is really early, even a few more days may make all the difference. In any case, what is important is quality - not quantity. A few people (Vegan, maybe?) have gotten BFPs here from low-dose meds, with only a few eggs collected.I will be crossing my fingers that a few more pop up for your next visit.
 

[vireoes]

shesaidboom-Fingers crossed for you, lots of eggs due seem to mature near the end.  It is so hard to say.  You have a lot to work with still so hopefully they can dial in your meds to help them along if needed.

bucket-any news?

rcr-glad to hear your mom is doing better.  I will not be testing early, just because the only tests I have on hand are long expired and I don't have easy access to them here.  So I just have to tough it out.  I used to always keep a stash on hand, but then the repeated negative tests just seem to make things worse.  The maybe I tested too early so let me try again tomorrow and then slap BFN again is discouraging.  Thankfully DD keeps life busy enough that I can't dwell on things for too long, so beta day will be here soon enough.  I love to watch the pile of medication shrink though.  I know that something good comes at the end of that, either a positive test or off the stupid stuff so I can feel more normal again. 

[BucketOfRain]

Rcr: how's the lupron going? How long are you on it and what's your next step? Sorry if I missed all of that earlier...

Shesaid: I hope that some more follicles are growing, I feel very naive about this whole process as well but I know they thought I only have 7 or 8 and I ended up with 14. I think a lot can change as time goes on and the meds have more time to work.

Vieroes: I hope your feeling good!

Fertilization report was great! They did half icxi so 7 and 7. Of the 7 icxi, 6 fertilized and of the 7 not ixci'd 4 fertilized:) as of today all 10 are still looking good so my re recommend a transfer on day 5 which is Thursday. I started trying to find some info online but transfer day seems to vary, any ideas on why they choose to transfer day 3 vs day 5 and which has better success rates?

[hope4light]

bucket - just a quick fly by, but my RE said he made the choice based on the number of embies and how good they looked.  So if you had less, they would transfer early, and if you had a ton of really good looking ones they would push it out.

Now, with that being said, we ended up with a 3 day transfer of 2 and still froze 10.  Not really sure why he ended up making that call, but we freaked about it a bit and he had to spend some time reassuring us.  We decided to trust him, and all ended well!!  Good Luck!

Good luck to everyone else too - seems like there's a lot of movement going on... can't wait RCR to hear your good news :-)

[BucketOfRain]

Thanks Hope!  It's always nice to hear what others have done...especially success stories!

[vireoes]

buckets-great report.  I am really excited for you.  My understanding is the same about when to transfer. I think later is better because they have a better chance of picking the best embryos.  Lots of embryos stop growing between days 3 and 5.  So if you grow them out you will lose more embryos but hopefully what is left will give you the best chance of getting a nice sticky one. Each doctor and clinic seems a bit different.  My current place seems to favor the 3-day transfer.  So even the first time when we had a lot of embryos they went with the 3 day transfer.  That time came back positive for us.  This time we did a 2-day, but we only had 3 embryos and day 3 would have been a Sunday (clinic closed) so they choose to go early.  So a 5 day transfer for you should be great since you have the embryos available for it.  Hopefully lots will make it till then and you will have extras to freeze as well. 

[Sourire]

bucket - did you have local anesthesia or general? I remember when I woke up from general anesthesia after my lap, the nurses covered me in blankets because I was shivering violently. I think this is a pretty normal reaction. Congrats on having 10 embryos! That is great! I've heard day 5 transfers have better success rates. I think it's mainly because they only allow you to go to day 5 if you have great embryos, so the people doing the day 5 transfers would have had good success rates no matter when they transferred.

Rcr - I did not know you could mix Follistim with Menopur. Do you just inject the Follistim into the Menopur vial once the Menopur is mixed? Can you use the Q-cap with the Follistim pen or do you just use the Follistim needle directly?

shesaidboom - what dose of Gonal-F are you on? Your monitoring started way earlier than mine, mine is only on the 6th day of stims (CD8).

vireoes - I'm glad you can see something positive in either result! What day is your beta exactly?

AFM - not much to report, I'm just waiting for my first ultrasound on Wednesday. I've been surviving the stims so far with minimal crying and irritability so that is good (though DH might disagree with my definition of minimal haha). I just got out of a session of electro-acupuncture and I'm feeling pretty euphoric from that, which is always fun.

[deborahbgkelly]

Just a drive-by to say: All systems go! I am now on the suppression part of my cycle :-).

[rcr]

Bucket - great news!!! My RE thinks that a 5 day transfer is best (even though I have always done 3-day transfers). The lupron is giving me a headache in the afternoons.

Sourire - yea, I just inject the follostim into the menipur with the follistim pen and then draw it out with a regular needle, but I am taking a ton more follistim than you (750!), so there is enough to hydrate it. Maybe because you are taking less it is not enough liquid?

Deborah - wow! congrats.

AFM- today was my last BCP. I am still on lupron for a few more days, but at a lower dose. Than I start gannirelix on Friday, and next Monday is my appointment (with a new RE for just that one appointment, because I didn't want to go to my old one) Lupron is giving me headaches, and I went to bed with DS at 8:00 pm last night, so it is also making me sleepy (or maybe that was just the headache).

[GaleTX]

Bucket - thread crashing to chime in about the 3 vs. 5 day transfer.  My RE's office always does 3-day transfer regardless of the number or quality of embryos.  His reasoning is better in than out and he has seen too many people with no surviving embryos at 5 days, so they always err on the side of caution and do a 3-day.  I really think it just depends on the REs personal experiences and what they are comfortable doing, as I've seen many people have success either way.  Good luck!

[shesaidboom]

rcr - thank you for the reassurance, it is very needed right now. Thanks for the good thoughts too!
I'm sorry the Lupron is making you feel so icky.

vireoes - thank you! I hope things end up working out.
At least there is a silver lining no matter what the result, right? If not a BFP, then at least no more meds for a while. I'm crossing my fingers for a BFP for you though!

bucketofrain - thank you! I feel so out of the loop with this whole process, but that's good to know you actually had double what they thought!
I'm glad your report was great! 10 is an amazing number! I've heard the same thing as hope4light about transfer days.

Sourire - I'm on 250units of Gonal-F. I'm not sure why they wanted to start monitoring me so early. Today I'm on day 7 and I'm going back in on day 9.
I'm glad you're not having too bad a time on the stims. I hope that keeps up for you! You're right behind me so I'm cheering you along from over here. I am hoping great things for you!

deborah - congrats!

AFM, I'm definitely feeling less nervous about a cancelled cycle thanks to all the reassurance. I also spoke with the IVF coordinator and she said the same thing you guys did. I think what made me nervous too was that when I asked one of the nurses about having only 4 follicles she said my RE would make her "final decision on Tuesday". Well it's Tuesday now (CD 7) and RE says same dose still and more monitoring on Thursday. These were my results today...

Right side - 13 follicles, two of them at 1.2

Left side - 13 follicles, one at 1.2 and one at 1.0

estrogen - 730

lh - 3

progesterone - 3

[Sourire]

deborah - yay for getting started!

rcr - maybe I can just add the Follistim into the the Menopur after the Menopur has been diluted with the liquid. I'll ask the nurse when I go for my u/s tomorrow if she thinks that would be ok for me to try. Sorry to hear about your headaches! I am so tired I wish I could go to bed that early, but I'm supposed to do my injections at the same time every day and we chose 10pm because that is when DH gets home from work so I can't go to bed earlier than that.

shesaidboom - It's true that your dose is low, but it's not as low as mine! Menopur is only 50% FSH (the other 50% is LH) so I'm actually getting about 190iu per day of FSH. It sounds like you have a lot of follicles on their way to catching up with the first 4 so I'm sure you will end up with great results! I can't wait to hear the news on Thursday!

AFM - I'll update after my ultrasound tomorrow morning.

[deborahbgkelly]

Thanks! I will have growth hormone on the way tomorrow and I'm on birth control pills right now. We have our consult on the 26th (as it stands) and we are doing a repeat pre-conception panel sometime this week hopefully. Estimated retrieval:: 12/9 and Estimated transfer 12/15. My RE always does  5 day transfers. I forget the reasoning.

[BucketOfRain]

Thanks so much for your responses, I'm sure the day 3 vs day 5 debate has been had here before but as an ivf newbie I appreciate all the info and insights:)

Vieroes: thinking of you and hoping the days to your beta go quickly!

Sourie: I had general anesthesia, which I have not had in like 20 years since I got my appendix removed, so I had no idea what to expect really? Are you going to have local or general for your transfer? I hope the shots are going ok, the process gets easier but it does get hard to find a spot to poke and I started bruising after a few days because I think i was reposing spots, or close to spots. I hope you apt. Goes great tomorrow, I can't wait for a report!

Deborah: yay!

Rcr: ugh to med headaches:( I don't know if you are a tea drinker but peppermint tea really helps my headaches and is great when you are trying to avoid taking any other meds, it's caffeine free too if you are trying to avoind that.

Shesaid: your post made me happy, I'm glad you are feeling better about this cycle!

I started crinone yesterday, I had kind of forgotten how much I hated that, ugh:( tomorrow I start prednisone, Thursday I transfer!! We had decided to transfer two embryos but dh has started freaking out about the possibility of twins and now he thinks we should only do one, grr...one more day to make him see the light!

[Tear78]

rcr, I'm so excited for you! I'll be lurking!

Sending love and cheering all of you ladies on, from my lurky-dom!

[rcr]

shesaid - I wonder if they don't want to increase the dose because they want to let the others catch up - maybe if they increase the dose the ones that are already growing will get too big and the others won't have a chance to catch up?

Sourire - ooh, 10 pm might as well be 3 am for me right now. It is 8:10 pm and I am already getting sleepy.

Bucket - I like peppermint tea. I drink it most mornings, since I gave up caffeine a while ago. I did take some tylenol yesterday because my head was still hurting really bad.

tear: Thanks!