Winter IVF Thread - Page 15

[toothfairy2be]

nieves- so sorry to hear that. Sounds like you have some soul searching and planning to start. Hope you're taking it easy on yourself. There is a lot of research showing you can improve egg quality, hope you like the book!

Tracy- Sorry to hear about the negative test  :( Was this your first FET? Sending hugs your way.

Sourire- Have a fantastic vacation and enjoy the pina coladas! Flights from Boston are cancelled til Monday!

rcr- That sounds like a great protocol! I'm surprised to hear you'd prefer PIO to suppositories but it seems like with unstimulated transfers they usually prefer PIO so it sounds like a good way to go. 

[tracyamber]

thanks everyone. i still really bummed but finally not crying. i still can hear the nurses voice in my head saying"negative" what a bummer i just about fainted. my brother is coming on wednesday for a while so i get to have a little "big brother "love. and i guess we are gonna do this roller-coaster again.

i want to biggest coffee in the morning!

[guppyluv]

Tracy - glad you'll have some big brother love this week. (and coffee!)

Afm- staring at and INSANE amount of snow to shovel. Times like this when I do wish there was a man around. Lol... Or a big brother at least it's a distraction. Have hockey tix tonight-- so glad I can walk to the game! Better shovel the steps first...

[nievesstevens]

Guppy: do you live in the Northeast as well? We are in central CT and are digging out big time!

[suzie mccool]

Hi all - would you like a new member?
I am on day 8 after 5 day transfer. This is our first round of ivf and I've been told by the nasty nurses at my clinic not to get my hopes up as it usually takes a few goes. and I'm old (39) and maybe a bit fat... They are full of compliments and optimism.
My Symptoms are:
frequent googling of symptoms
sleeplessness due to wondering about symptoms
Finding heaps of skin imperfections while looking for veins in my boobs (there weren't any)
Stomach ache from worrying
Moodiness due to lack of sex
Hunger for food at meal times

Honestly I'm trying to not get my hopes up, not read into everything and stop obsessing, but I've been crap at that. My husband is an absolute legend but it would be nice to share and learn fom others in the same boat.

[guppyluv]

Suzie-- welcome! Damn nurses. Pissed me off my first round. And again on my second round. They say the meanest stuff without thinking sometimes. Many of us here are even older. So no worries on the age bit. We don't (I don't) think we're all that old maybe I have less-young eggs, but I digress... How many blasts went in? How are you holding up with the progesterone (I'm presuming you're on one form or another!)?

Welcome to the 2ww, the first of a lot of waiting and worrying. I think it should be the 2www - two week wait and worry. Fingers crossed for you. When do you test?

As for googling - man, it can get in your head. Hope you have a good filter!

AFM - 8am tomorrow for my bloodwork. If I can find parking with all this snow!

[deborahbgkelly]

Suzie- I'm so sorry to hear about your nurses. I had a doctor say something to me about my weight 6 weeks after I lost my sons and I know how much that can hurt. My eggs were old the first time around too, even though I'm not. Both times I did not have a lot of faith that my IVF would work and both times I got pregnant. Unfortunately, my uterus doesn't want to cooperate, so we are on to adoption in a few months. I have a lot against me for carrying to term and age has nothing to do with any of it, nor does weight. I hope you prove the idiot nurses wrong and I am still here rooting everyone on.

[auraleigh]

nieves, sometimes what the doctors call "poor egg quality" could also be a result of poor protocol.  my first two fresh cycles were done in NJ at a local clinic and i never made it past day 3. i'd make 20 something eggs, but they were terrible quality, a ton of fragmentation, and looked sad.  i switched doctors and the new NYC clinic put me on lupron, hgh, and estrogen priming with patches, and all of a sudden I had 35 eggs and made six blasts.  as for supplementation, dr tortoriello also had me on inositol, pycnogenol, and circumin as they are all powerful antioxidents... but really i think it was the protocol switch that made all the difference.  and as i learned from a friend going through a similar situation, sometimes your eggs just don't like the culture that the lab is using, and a different lab may have a culture that is better suited to your eggs.  any of these variables can make a difference.  

suzie, sorry those nurses were rude!  i'm 34 and overweight and now pregnant with twins.  my first unsuccessful dr kept telling me to lose 20 lbs and maybe that would "fix me".  my second successful dr never brought up my weight, not even once, and got me pregnant.  it's always good to be good to your body during these times, but don't stress out about it. 

sorry to the ladies who got bfns, and good luck to those starting up or in the 2ww!

[suzie mccool]

wow thanks for the amazing replies guys!!  I think I found my place :)

I test on Friday this week, and still haven't once done a HPT!  I will prob do one Thursday just to get the idea of a negative result, in case that's what it is.  Really am trying to not get my hopes up, but without hopes why would we bother with all this? 

I think the main reason I hate the head nurse is how blunt she is - I rang her on Friday because I realised I would run out of progesterone before my blood test.... apparently not a problem, but "you'll probably get your period before Friday anyway... some people need 6 or more IVFs before they get a positive and some people your age will never get one..."  BROKE MY HEART!

BUT on a lighter note, she is a very unattractive, pointy woman who looks awful in her uniform, and i think she's just jealous that I have a hot younger husband HAHAHA

Thanks for all your support guys - it really is exactly the right time to find you, I was feeling a little alone in the overwhelmingness... nobody really gets it unless they've done it!
 

Guppylove: Best of luck with your blood tests!  Fingers crossed the are results perfect :)  Not too many side effects from the progesterone, just a bit sick of laying down twice a day for half an hour and my boobs are ENORMOUS!

Deborah: Thanks for your kind words!!  I'm sorry it didn't work for you but am so impressed you are able to make such a big move in the positive direction.  Am very interested to hear what happens! I don't know anyone who has gone through the adoption process so good luck!!!

Auraleigh: A million congrats on twins!!  My egg quality wasn't an issue, so much as quantity.  Only 2 out of 5 retrieved made it to 5 day blast, but they are apparently perfect quality :) my embryologist is a fantastic man and kept me posted every other day because he knew I was stressing at the low number.  I trust him completely, and my doctor is a love and always positive. Neither of them have made any comment about losing weight - it's just my nurse that sighs over my BMI and makes me feel like it will be just another reason it won't work - and during the stimming and now progesterone I think I've gained another 6 kilos (last week I looked 5 months pregnant) so hopefully some of that will drop off when the hormones finish and the bloating goes down? 

[rcr]

Nieves - I had a similar experience as Aura, though not such a great result. I did two cycles with my old clinic and never got any fertilization and was told that I had poor egg quality and should do donor eggs. Then I switched clinics and protocols and got more eggs, with fertilization. Though I didn't get pregnant, I do think that switching clinics and doing a different protocol is a very good thing. I also was really glad that I didn't give up on my own eggs after my first cycle (I almost did).

[deborahbgkelly]

Thanks for the encouragement Suzie. I hate the stupid BMI charts. They are not even close to an accurate assessment of a person's health. According to those, at about 30-35 lbs. "overweight" I am obese. I have tons of muscle  and am very active. Neither of those are taken into account when people assess our "health". I am a size 10/12 right now after 2 IVFS and being pregnant twice in less than a year and am normally an 8/10. That is not reflected in my weight.

[suzie mccool]

Hey Deborah - I know exactly what you mean!! I am a size 12-14 in Australia  (size 8-10 in the US) and the national average, but my BMI says I'm obese too! The BMI chart says I should be a size 8 (which is a 4 US)!!  Which is ridiculously skinny for me and not a weight that most people can maintain unless they have the metabolism & lifestyle to support it ... (I don't)

I dropped to a size 10 (6 US) when I got married the first time (by starving myself for 3 months and taking Duromine) BUT i looked like an unhealthy scarecrow and it didn't suit me at all.  Even then, I was on the heavy side of healthy BMI?? 

Luckily for my nurse, she could also criticise my old age and small amount of eggs retrieved, so she was in seventh heaven! 

And just by the way, for you to only go up one dress size after 2 IVFs is incredible!! 

[deborahbgkelly]

I have good habits and exercise regularly. I obviously couldn't exercise later in my cycle, but the second they gave me the go-ahead this time around, I started my yoga. I didn't gain anything during this pregnancy since I wasn't pregnant long. I think I gained 4 lbs each time I did IVF, but I had gotten down to pre-IVF weight before this 2nd one so there was no difference in size for each. I like how I look at 150 lbs, so at some point I aim to get there. It isn't far away from 167 and if I give myself a year there's no pressure (I lost 13 in a year before). I just watch calories and exercise. Slow going, but healthier. However, after the body image issues I had when I lost my sons I couldn't lose. I was obsessively weighing myself. So, the biggest trick for me:  hiding the scale. The second I did that I lost 6 or 7 lbs. without doing anything differently. The BMI chart says 118-130 lbs here. Ridiculous! I would look terrible. I might look okay at 130, but not great and think I would look awful at anything less than that. I'm still sorry your nurse sucked and I think you need to report her to the higher-ups.

[guppyluv]

BFP! Levels over 300. Was too excited to listen to exact number. They don't typically repeat when over 300 but I asked them to anyway. So repeat Wednesday. First u/s is march 8 (my schedule and the drs dont jive well... So it's 6w5d but hopefully can hear heartbeat by then.)

Let's hope this one sticks and grows. Last m/c was heart breaking. I've been so damn nauseous since last week it better stick. I "cheated" and tested during the blizzard (but didn't want to jinx by posting.). I almost puked up breakfast so figured either I picked up the noro virus or was PG...

Nieves- btw I had terrible egg quality last time (lots of fragmentation) and my Dr thought menapur maybe was some of the issue as some women don't react well to LH. This time was a Follistim only round (Lupron prime) and no fragmentation in the 5 that fertilized. Quality was better despite 5 not fertilizing. He also put me on dhea which is controversial... I hatedthe mood swings and hair loss (I have a ton of hair, so not so bad just annoying) but otherwise minimal side effects. It's such an inexact science. Frustrating.

[deborahbgkelly]

Guppyluv- Yay! We saw our bean's hb at that gestation so there's a good chance.

[guppyluv]

Suzie -- Quick question... any reason you went to 5d blasts? were you doing pgd? my RE rarely goes to blast (unless genetic testing is being done), so I'm not familiar with the reasons why one waits... I'm just curious from an educational point of view...  Glad you found "your place" :)  Both times I tested 1-2 days ahead because I didn't have the "luxury" of falling apart when I got the answer (like today I was in lab with my students -- so if it was negative I needed to know/be prepared ahead of time).  Fingers x'd for friday! 

[lilacvioletiris]

guppy, congrats on your BFP!

Suzie, welcome to the thread.  I can't believe the things that people say to those that are overweight.  My great grandmother was likely 200 pounds when she started having kids at 5 foot 10 inches tall and ended up around 300 pounds when her youngest was 5 years old.  She had 7 boys and 2 girls.  I think I can get pregnant even if I am overweight if only my DH's sperm can get to my eggs!

AFM, I got AF today. Never been so excited for it to come.  Need to call my RE tomorrow and get day 2 blood tests done and then wait for 4 weeks to start IVF cycle.  I am pumped!

[tracyamber]

guppyluv-

congrats!!

welcome suzie!!

[suzie mccool]

Hey Guppy - Firstly congratulations and good luck!! That is spectacular!!

Long answer... my clinic believes that if an embryo doesn't make it to blast, then it's unlikely it would have survived in a transfer.. of course, there's no way of knowing that for certain, but it makes sense to know I have a slightly better chance after transfer if it's proven itself to 5 days.  They also don't transfer more than one embryo unless they are low quality and the two survivors I had were both high quality fighters... Either way, they showed me loads of studies showing 5 day blasts having a substantially higher success rate, so I went with their advice.  Honestly, I'm not feeling particularly pregnant, so I'm not really expecting this to be a successful go, but I have to start somewhere :)

The clinic I'm at is in Australia, and is also a teaching hospital attached to the university next door, so they are involved in lot of studies/trials.  I'm hoping that means they will more open minded with maybe changing my protocol next time (if I need it).  It took 13 days of stims and they still only got 5 eggs from 15 follicles - I have a pretty long cycle usually, so I'm thinking if I had stims for an extra day or two it may have let the extra eggs grow?  Does anyone have any experiences with that kind of thing?

Also... I promise I will never rave on about symptoms again.. BUT has anyone had that awful needle pain in the nipples (like a hot skewer through the centre) and gotten a postitive?  I've only had that once before and it turned out to be from a very late period (apparently a chemical preg) and the hormone surge from that... just trying to be prepared for the worst. 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[toothfairy2be]

Guppyluv - congrats!! Wonderful #s!! Did you put back more than one? That sounds like multiples to me...