Winter IVF Thread - Page 24

[Laggie]

I have seen this posted a few places, I can't find a sourcefor it but it's helping me feel better about not having any symptoms yet:

What happens after a 3 Day and a 5 Day Transfer! 

3-DAY TRANSFER: 

1dpt ..embryo is growing and developing 
2dpt... Embryo is now a blastocyst 
3dpt....Blastocyst hatches out of shell on this day 
4dpt.. Blastocyst attaches to a site on the uterine lining 
5dpt.. Implantation begins,as the blastocyst begins to bury in the lining 
6dpt.. Implantation process continues and morula buries deeper in the lining 
7dpt.. Morula is completely inmplanted in the lining and has placenta cells & fetal cells 
8dpt...Placenta cells begin to secret HCG in the blood 
9dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops 
10dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops 
11dpt...HCG levels are now high enough to be immediately detected on HPT 

5-DAY TRANSFER: 

-1dpt ..embryo is growing and developing 
0dpt... Embryo is now a blastocyst 
1dpt....Blastocyst hatches out of shell on this day 
2dpt.. Blastocyst attaches to a site on the uterine lining 
3dpt.. Implantation begins, as the blastocyst begins to bury in the lining 
4dpt.. Implantation process continues and morula buries deeper in the lining 
5dpt.. Morula is completely inmplanted in the lining and has placenta cells & fetal cells 
6dpt...Placenta cells begin to secret HCG in the blood 
7dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops 
8dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops 
9dpt...HCG levels are now high enough to be immediately detected on HPT

[rcr]

Laggie - if it is AF cramping, it would be early, but the FET made my cycle longer than usual, so I  would be a little behind. I hope it is pregnancy cramping, but it feels so much like AF cramping it is hard to believe that. Glad you liked the Circle+Bloom tracks. Are you testing early or waiting until the 25th?  I wnt to test but I hate buying pregnancy tests. I live in a small town and am always afraid of running into people. I used to buy Depends for my mom (she had alzheimer's), and one of my students worked at CVS, and I was always worried that he thought they were for me. Hmm, maybe I will send DH to buy some :)

[Laggie]

I have a few tests from saveontests.com

I did POAS this morning, even though I know it's way too early since I did a 3 day transfer. Negative of course. I really shouldn't have done that.

[lilacvioletiris]

Laggie, that is pretty sweet to see how things work out for implantation after transfers.  I found it here http://www.nyufertilitycenter.org/ivf/embryo_transfer

rcr, I know I hate buying pregnancy tests too.  I have a stash of 10 cheapies that I am saving up for my transfer. I want to use them to see how the trigger shot goes out of my system, then once its gone wait the appropriate number of days to get a positive result.

AFM, today's shots were better.  Used the q-cap for the menopur and I think I actually got everything out of the vial.  Grr about having to give myself 2 shots for follistim because the first vial was short 25 units to make it a full dose.  I find it funny that it says it is 300 units, but I got 225 and 200 out of it.  Hum I guess the nurse was right that they overfill the cartridges. Tomorrow morning I go for my next ultrasound and see when I start my morning ganirelix shot.  Yippee.

[auraleigh]

rcr and laggie, holding my breath and crossing everything for you both!!!

[toothfairy2be]

lilac- Good job on the shots! Hope all is progressing well at your u/s tomorrow!

rcr- Not to project my experience on you since obviously you know your body best, but the cramps I started with were mild but a day or 2 later they felt just like AF cramps Especially with 2 in there, it is def. possible this is implantation cramping. Even more so since it is so early for it to be AF. Crossing my little fingers and toes for those growing babies. 

laggie- Too early for sure! Keep the faith. That is a pretty cool chart you posted!

[rcr]

lilac - great job on the shots. For follistim that has a little bit leftover, you can use an insulin shot to take all the leftover out, and just insert it into a full one and inject it in the full one. The plunger will back-up when you inject the leftover meds into it.

TF - I know, I have read all over the place that cramping could be success. I guess I am just trying to be guarded about it. A BFN would be pretty painful right now - oddly even more painful than my last BFN (with my own eggs). I guess I just feel more fragile since my mom died, and I think it will hurt more.

[SilaMarila]

Lurking - Lilac, the nurse told me ahead of time that my 300iu Follistim would get me 425 because they over fill them. She was right :) Really cheering you on!!!

[rcr]

I am having some pretty serious cramping now - like curl up in a ball on the bed kind of cramping (well if I wasn't at work thats what I would do). I never have that before AF. So maybe that is a good thing? Anybody (grads?) experience anything like this (I kinda remember somebody did, but I don't remember if it was a BFP or BFN).

[Laggie]

Originally Posted by rcr 

lilac - great job on the shots. For follistim that has a little bit leftover, you can use an insulin shot to take all the leftover out, and just insert it into a full one and inject it in the full one. The plunger will back-up when you inject the leftover meds into it.

Holy crap! Brilliant! Here I ended up poking myself with 4 needles trying to get the last bits out of the pens. I think maybe you posted this trick a long time ago, but I had forgotten.

I am going to assume that cramping is a good sign. I have been having a lot of little cramps but they're all on the left side, so I think it's just that poor ovary.

[Tear78]

rcr, I hesitate to chime in because everybody's different and hope can be so difficult a thing. That being said, I had cramping this pregnancy and remember thinking, huh, that's new. It was sometime about a week (or less?) before AF was due. I hope hope hope it's an early pregnancy sign for you!!! You did donor eggs, right? So there's no chance it's somehow related to OHSS?

[suzie mccool]

rcr.. I was in the same boat of not wanting false hope during the 2ww.  That being said, my cramping a week after transfer was so intense I was sure it was just going to be a particularly heavy AF.  Esp because of the progesterone, which already made me cramp often - the new cramps were far worse.  I got a BFP, so maybe it's a great sign for you. Fingers crossed for you!

Laggie.. I still haven't uncrossed my body parts for you yet  lol x
 

[lilacvioletiris]

rcr, I hope the make you want to curl up and die cramps mean you are pregnant! I am not sure how to do the "insulin shot" that you recommended.  I would prefer not to stab myself twice though so if you can hoke me up with a video that shows what to do, I might be able to get myself figured it out.

AFM, today there were 9 follicles on one side and 8 follicles on the other. Taking less follistim tonight - 150 units rather than 225 units, still 1 menopur.  Still no ganirelix yet. What is ganirelix for anyway? I figured I would be taking it today. Next ultrasound is Thursday.

[Laggie]

lilac - I think you need an insulin syringe, or if you have extra syringes from another drug those are fine too, so long as they have the small needle. You just suck every drop out by sticking the needle in the rubber tip of the nearly empty pen, then inject it back into another pen (make sure there are no air bubbles.) 

The way I was doing it, I had to calculate how much was in the insulin syringe (the units on the syringe are NOT the same as the units on the prefilled pen) so not only was there math involved, but I was injecting it straight from the insulin syringe and that meant more pokes for me.

I was just reading a post elsewhere about ordering the 300 unit pens of Gonal-F instead of the 900 unit pens, because each pen has the same amount of overfill and that means 3x the overfill. I am not sure if the 300 unit pens work out to the same cost as the 900 though. 

Makes your head spin, doesn't it? Or maybe I'm just slow!  I know I got 600 units out of a 450 unit Gonal-F vial. That was exciting. 

[auraleigh]

rcr, i had period cramps every single cycle, positive or negative, but the cycle i got pregnant they were different than my usual period crampy feelings.  i actually was woken up in the middle of the night by sharp cramps, which i am convinced is when they implanted! i am crossing just about everything i can now!

[Xerxella]

Laggie - At least you know any positive from now on will be a real positive! So, that's good right? Do you know if you ever had more follicles or was it always low? I'm wondering because I was also on dexamethasome and that, and the BCP, was the only things that were different from the cycle with 15 follicles to the cycle with 2 follicles.

rcr - I really do think it's a good sign. Will you be testing early?

lilac - 17 follies!!! I am so jealous. The ganirelix is for stopping your body from ovulating. The follicles must not be big enough to be in danger of ovulating.

AFM - I'm even more annoyed with my doc's office than I was before. I'm trying to make my WTF appointment and, of course, I had cleared the mornings of this whole week and next week because I was expecting it to be busy with doc's appointments, but can they get me in in the mornings?????? NNNnnnnnnoooooooooo..... I don't know. Maybe I'm just feeling really angry.

[blueyezz4]

Rcr - I have everything crossed for you and think those symptoms sound good but totally understand not wanting to get your hopes too high. Been there, done that!! Sooooo hoping though!!!

Laggie - fingers crossed for you too!!! When's your beta again???

FYI for those buying meds- when I used to buy meds I found that getting the actual vials of the gonal F (fsh) ( I think it was, it's been awhile, so now I forget the true name) instead of the pens I'd not only get more, but also save money. Ask your nurse about getting your FSH in a vial instead. Prices may have change in the year, but it's worth asking. It is really simple to just mix yourself and by buying the vial you save $ too!! Like I said just an FYI.

[rcr]

Lilac - an insulin syringe is just a shot that you can get at a drugstore like CVS. Like Laggie said, you can use any kind of shot, just make sure to use a tiny needle. Take the old follistim container (the one containing a little bit of follistim left), and the new one. Then put the timy needle into the old one, draw everything up. Make sure there are no air bubbles, and then inject it into the new follistim container. The little grey plug at the end that keeps the follistim in the container will back up a little when you inject it in. But make sure there are no air bubbles because if you have air then you will inject that into it too. I looked for a youtube video showing how to do this, but couldn't find one.  Gannireliz starts when they think you are going to ovulate - to keep you from ovulating, so you must not be there yet.

Tear - yes, it was donor embryos, so no OHSS or even a trigger shot. Wait, aren't you supposed to be having a baby today? :)

X - I think I am going to test on Sat. (see below)

All - Thanks for crossing everything for me. My cramping was really weird this afternoon. I got kinda fainty and ended up throwing up. I also had Diarrhea (sorry, TMI). I wanted to bad to go to the bathroom and throw up when I was at work, but I felt like I couldn't get up off the flood of my office the cramps were so bad (good thing I have a door to my office). Plus the bathroom that is across the hall from me is being renovated, so I had to walk to one that is on a different flood. I finally made it, and felt better afterward. For the rest of the afternoon my cramps have been different than usual AF crams. So I am feeling pretty optimistic. I went out and bought a 3-pack of FRER tests, but i am going to try to wait until Sat (which is the anniversery of concieveing DS 6 years ago). Sunday is also my birthday, so I will probably test then too (at risk of making myself have a bad birthday).

[Tear78]

rcr, eep! I'll have everything crossed for Saturday! And you're right, but baby has other plans.

I had to chime in again about the "getting all the medicine" topic. Hasn't anybody's care provider given them a "Q Cap?" I forget exactly how it works, but it basically helps you suck every last drop out of a bottle. Maybe it only worked because we were using Menopur, too. It screwed onto the syringe instead of the needle, then you could suck everything out of the bottle. We would empty the Gonal pen into the bottle, mixing it with the menopur, then spray the remaining dosage from a new Gonal pen. You don't really need to have the menopur in the bottle, all you need is an empty bottle. Anyway, just another possible resource. Back to lurking.

[rcr]

Tear - I used to mix menipur with follistim with my old RE, but when I went to SIRM they told me not to.