Taking The Scenic Route to a BFP - Winter/Spring 2013 Edition - Page 7

[chuord]

MsD - good luck 😃 it's cool that everything feels so good for you! I don't envy the wait tho 10 days feels a long time - I hope you stay calm and don't second guess like I did...

[toothfairy2be]

There feels like all sorts of excitement going on in my uterus area. Could this really be happening??

[indie1976]

tf, yes! yes this could really be happening!!! oh, i'm so excited i can't stand myself!

msd - so excited for you too! 10 days...you can do it!

[jpack]

mindlesschrissy I'm so sorry that you're feeling blue. I think you have a good chance of making it all the way with another babe. I do really believe it.

MsD it's so hard to wait, I'm glad to hear you're feeling positive! It's nice that waiting so long you can have more confidence in the result!

Sila I'm now 12dpo, 11dp trigger today. Thanks so much for sharing your experience! I'm reserving judgment at the moment, I'm very aware that I might just not be metabolizing the trigger. However, my 11dpo wondfo was the same or darker than my 5dpo wondfo. Was that your experience? That there was little or no change? Love your dream, too btw, it's so funny how dreams can be so crazy but how we still need to explain things in our mind- like making up excuses!

TF I'm so, so excited for you. Oh, and I'm making a run to Ikea today, need anything?!

Indie I'm so glad you're feeling at peace and positive! And we're planning our vacation and may be in your neck of the woods...

Chuord- glad you're seeing a positive in your bfn, that's super helpful! Hope this cycle is it for you, though!

Afm-I haven't tested this morning since I'm staying at my moms and all my tests are at home (or, more accurately I used up what I brought)! I did take two FRERs yesterday, and they were both obvious positives that can up well within the time, but there's really no difference between them (duh). As I mentioned above, big ikea trip planned today, so I'll be well distracted all day. This evening I'll head home and I'll update then!

[jpack]

Oops, I was reading on the wrong page! TF excitement?! That's always good! Yes, yes it could actually be happening! I'm thinking of you and your uterus today!!

[jpack]

Oh and Shell, thank you so much for your congratulations!! I really appreciate it! Clearly, I'm not 100% or anything yet, but so far so good! I really appreciate your support, and hope you're going well!

[SKJ2011]

Yay tf!!!! Sounds really promising!

jpack - cant wait for your next test!

msd - 10 days! I hope the wait turns into 9 months.

afm - no bleeding since that one time. Temp is up. I'm 10 dpo. I caved and tested - bfn. I'm taking this really hard. I just have this worry that there is nothing that can be done for us.

[indie1976]

skj - you know, you told me something the other night that really helped put things in perspective for me and i think it's also true for you... we haven't really tried everything yet. you haven't been on injectables yet and you haven't done ivf yet... i hope that helps you to squash your worries like it helped me! i know how freaked out it makes me to see my cycle behave weirdly... so i totally get that. but you've also had two back to back miscarrages. i don't think it's unreasonable for your body to be a little confused, you know? i know you are still waiting for the RPL test results and that's still questions that are yet to be answered but as far as your cycle goes... that should be put back on track pretty quickly with a medicated cycle i would think? sending you a big hug. also, just learned i might be back in chicago in february!

jpack - oooh... if you guys do come my way for vacation you and your pregnant self better meet me for tea!!

chrissy - you will not be the only one left! forgive me for forgetting, but is there a reason you are not trying out medications?

shell -  come back and tell us what's going on in your world!

toothfairy - uterus update, please! i want to hear in great detail what is happening your lady parts!

afm - gonal-f will be arriving today and i start letrozole tonight.

[SKJ2011]

indie - thanks for the reminder. I guess I just had this desperate thought once I learned my AMH had dropped that I am running out of eggs immediately. I know that's not true. I guess I'm just scared to try the next thing b/c I know that most of my real back-up plans are too "out there" for DH, so one of these things has to work. I have my doc appt with the third RE in a little bit. I hope she can give me some hope. I just really hate that I'm on all this progesterone and I'm still getting so much spotting. I did also start DHEA rigth after O. Do you think that could have any impact?

I'm glad you are starting your cycle! I am so hopeful for you. And, yay for another trip to Chicago!

I am feeling all sorts of AF crampy and bloated and moody today. I haven't had a proper AF since September!

ETA - The other sucky thing is that I have my follow-up with the RPL specialist on Tuesday, so if I get AF before then, I will not be able to do the injectibles cycle b/c DH wants to know the results first. Ugh. And, I'll be traveling the following month when I would have done baselines, so that's another month when we won't be able to start the next thing.
Edited by SKJ2011 - 1/11/13 at 8:36am

[MindlessChrissy]

Indie - every doctor I've been to said there's nothing wrong with me, DH doesn't want to, insurance coverage sucks. I guess it's a take your pick kinda thing.

[indie1976]

chrissy - that makes sense. i'm so not well behaved that i probably would be asking people for their left over femara and taking it just to see it made a difference...  hahaha

skj - ok, so then we want AF to hold off at least til Sunday, right? also, if it were to come early, would you be able to do baselines at least and then "change your mind" about doing a medicated cycle if the RPL blood work gave you reason to? will they be mixing fsh and clomid? i know you could start clomid on cd 4 if need be... the window might still work out...

afm - my super happy bee-boppy upbeat mood was interrupted by the thought that while i'm not waiting for potentially bad news about my amh (couldn't get any worse!) i don't know yet if my fsh has somehow skyrocketed in the last 6 months. ugh. nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach...

[indie1976]

skj - also, yes, i think the dhea could potentially be screwing with your cycle as it is a hormone. i actually think stopping dhea might have led to the annovulatory cycle I had in october...i would think your body will have adjusted by next cycle. come to think of it... i started dhea immediately when i got my amh news in june and i had an annovulatory cycle then, too... but for what it's worth, i had great cycles in between those two wonky cycles :)

[SilaMarila]

Jpack - I didn't start testing until 9dpo. From 9-12pdo the tests all looked the same, by 13dpo it was lighter, 14dpo it was gone - maybe I could make out a shadow of a line - and I got AF. Do you have any other symptoms????

TF- Hope wish hope wish!!!

Sorry guys I've been busy and haven't had time to respond!

[SKJ2011]

Just had the appointment with the new doc and I am in love with her!!!!

Will write more when I get to a computer
Edited by SKJ2011 - 1/11/13 at 11:46am

[SKJ2011]

I'm back. Ok, this is going to be long, sorry!

So, the doctor came in and asked how I was doing and said that it must be hard with all I've been through. Good start. Then, she wrote down all the possible causes for miscarriage that the other specialist likely tested for and explained what to do about each. The worst one is if we have a chromosomal issue. Then, we'd meet with a geneticist and he/she would tell us our odds of having a live birth or a baby with an issue. Depending on those odds, we could just try on our own, or we could do IVF with PGD. All the other possibilities would mean blood thinners or prednisone. Then, she said, she wants to do an hsg to rule out any abnormalities in my uterus and she explained how a saline ultrasound only looks at the profile of the uterus instead of the "mug shot" of the uterus. So, the hsg would tell us if my uterus has an odd shape that could be causing issues.

Then, she said my response to clomid was awful and was annoyed that the other doc had me on it for 3 cycles. She said my lining was like trying to get a baby to implant on a sidewalk

So, after all that, she said that her recommendation would be to do a natural cycle evaluation. I would go in very frequently so she could test all my hormones. She said, as we get older, the LH spike is more like a hill than a sky scraper, causing weak ovulation. This jives with my multiple positive OPKs and my slow BBT rise. Then, she wants to check how my uterus looks after ovulation to make sure it's responding appropriately to the progesterone. And then, she wants to monitor my progesterone and estrogen in my luteal phase.

Depending on the evaluation, she recommends a natural cycle with an HCG trigger at the appropriate time. Then, after ovulation, prometrium orally and another HCG shot a week later.

I asked about why I had my period early when I was on prometrium and she said it could be that my estrogen was low. Low estrogen means that the receptors for progesterone are lacking, so the progesterone just doesn't get used, even thought it's available. So, if that's my case, then I'll be on estrogen in my LP too. She also said that we can use FSH after I get a dominant follicle to help it along, but prevent multiple follicles. So, instead of FSH on day 3, I'd start it after we see a dominant follicle on ultrasound.

So, the bad news is that we can't try this coming month. She said if we have an "oops" we just have to tell her and she'll treat me with the HCG and progesterone after O, but that will limit her ability to figure out what is going on. I hate to have to wait another month, but I'm willing to do it.

I asked about my AMH causing miscarriage and she said, without hesitation, no And, she said it has no bearing on the likelihood of something being wrong with a future child. I asked about her guess to why I"m having the miscarriages and if she thinks it's crappy eggs and she said that she's pretty sure it's a progesterone issue and that the stress of the miscarriages can worsen the issue. She did not seem to think we'd have a problem getting pregnant once all the hormonal issues were fixed.

So, now I want AF here ASAP. i'm going to stop the crinone and hope for CD 1 on Sunday.

I'm feeling better than I've felt in forever. Also, the doc had a really, really high FSH (25) when she got pregnant with her 4th. She needed fertility treatments for at least one other child too. So, I feel like she totally knows how this feels. All in all, really, really happy with her.

[indie1976]

skj!!! i am in love with her too! wow, so much great information! i learned a lot just reading your recount of the appointment... I'm soooo happy for you! i'm so encouraged for both you and me... it makes me happy to know she had an FSH of 25 and got pregnant and it makes me happy to know that a trigger shot makes such a difference (looks like it did the trick for jpack!). i think the monitoring sounds terrific... i think we will all learn a lot just from your next cycle of monitoring! it does suck that you have to wait to try again but i imagine you will feel so much more confident in your body when you do start trying next time... 

oh! so much good news happening here! i'm ecstatic! 

[SKJ2011]

Indie - I seriously almost called you to tell you all this b/c it made me so hopeful for both of us! And, she even mentioned how she wanted to make sure the follicle ruptured after ovulation, which made me think of jpack! All the things I had wanted the other docs to do, she brought up on her own. Also, she said that people are putting WAY too much emphasis on AMH and that it's only real use is to help determine how well you will respond to IVF. This is exactly what I thought, but it really helped to hear a doctor say it.

I got home and wanted to have a glass of wine. I think the whole AMH thing had me soooo stressed out. Even though I was trying to remain positive, I felt this LOUD ticking clock in my head. I think I'm back to a place where I'm not worried about having a glass of wine every now and then or exercising at the "wrong' time of my cycle. I seriously feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. And, I'm just so curious to see what she's going to find. Plus, everything she said totally fit with my cycles - delayed ovulation, slow temp rise, lots of +OPKs, and my general gut feeling that my issue is hormonal. And, she's a fan of BBT! It's like she's the most eastern minded western doctor. I really think I needed to find someone like her.

Anyways, I'm basically shaking with excitement. I feel as excited as if I had a BFP

[chuord]

SKJ - I'm do happy fit you right now... Finding the right doctor has made you so positive again - just what you needed... I imagine the thought that you can trust her and not have to do it all yourself is a huge help... I'm looking forward to the journey 😃
Hugs to everyone else - indie hope this cycle works for you... TF living vicariously ATM how's that uterus?
Afm to be honest I was hoping that this one part of my life would be easier... Oh well I think besides temping i'll go chat with my gp... And see if I should be doing anything else tick tock...

[toothfairy2be]

SKJ- I am so happy to hear that you finally found the doctor you deserve. The waiting is the absolute worst but sounds totally worth it to get a healthy baby ASAP. It sounds like she said and did all the right things. You are in good hands! I love what she said about the clomid and implanting too. My lining also sucked on clomid and on letrazole  (highest I ever got was 8.5), I wish my Drs ever had a plan like yours has.

jpack- I tested out the trigger once... It went from light to barely there to nothing. My guess is that yours is a coming +++ but I will continue to hold off til you are sure. I thought you were only a day ahead of me but you are 2! Makes me impatient!

indie- FSH changes from cycle to cycle though so even if it is a little high this month it could be better next so don't fret too much. Is this your first time on Gonal-F? The shots are really not bad at all. My strategy was always to pinch the skin so it didn't hurt and go in slowly (opposite of what the instructions say) but I only had 2 bruises (and both were from the Lupron shot, not Gonal-F). I ended up using all but a small portion of my meds but enough that everything is open. Does your insurance pay for any of your meds?

MsD- 10 more days! Keep busy, the 2ww is excruciating!

AFM- I am so glad 5 days of this 2ww were in a dish and knew for sure a healthy bug was growing and put back. I don't know how I've survived the second 5 days of this 2ww! As far as my uterus, it is a very flighty feeling but consistent. Like sharp little pricks and sometimes dull cramping. It is so sporadic that I question what is going on there and then it is gone. This morning it was a little stronger than usual which is when I posted. TMI but sometimes I honest to God think it is just gas pain (not that I've ever had gas pain like this before...). Husband is taking me on a date tonight. I wish it was far enough that we could have tested to celebrate but I don't want to test too early and then have it wrong. 

[toothfairy2be]

Sorry, double post!