April IVF-ers! - Page 2

[Leslie in Chicago]

hi Marlee, good luck on your FET!! When you say 'natural cycle,' do you mean you won't be doing any meds, or that they're not artificially timing you with bcp/meds? I'll be curious to hear about your experience...

ok, ladies, I'm about to burst. At least it feels that way. Had to dig out the fat pants this morning. The u/s revealed a dozen eggs over 10mm!!

what if I lay a dozen eggs on Easter?!

It could happen. I'll find out more this afternoon when they call with the bloodwork results.

[Dena]

Originally Posted by Leslie in Chicago

what if I lay a dozen eggs on Easter?!

:

Easter Eggs!! I love it!

Oh, and don't expect to get out of those fat pants anytime soon. It is straight from those to mat. wear for you, missy!

[lesliesara63]

Leslie maybe when all the eggs are mature you'll start hopping Easter will always be special that way. Can't wait to hear what happens next.

Marlee good luck on your FET!

[Leslie in Chicago]

...they'll be day-after-Easter eggs!

I have over a dozen, with 8 in the 15 - 20mm range. I'm lookin' for a belly wheelbarrow.

Last stims tonight, HCG tomorrow evening, retrieval on Monday. I pressed the nurse to make sure I wasn't being postponed just due to the holiday, and her response was very reassuring. Turns out other gals are doing retrievals on Sunday, so the holiday isn't an issue. My perfect timing just happens to be Monday.

Thanks for all the love, dust and well-wishes, my friends. I've been super-conscientious about being gentle and loving to me this time: lots of acupuncture, massage, good therapy, evenings in the recliner, few/no meetings scheduled at work.

And last but not least, I've been listening to Anne Lemott's latest "Grace (Eventually)" on CD. I highly recommend it. If you're (very) left-leaning, open to faith and appreciate dry humor, you'll love it.

I'm kinda rambling on here, but one more thing... Last night over dinner dh and I actually talked a bit about 'what if this really happens?'. He asked, what do these last 4.5 years mean, if/when we actually get pregnant? There has been so much heartache, disappointment, anger, stress, frustration. Does it just go away? I told him that I think it has shaped us, individually and as a couple. It is a part of our life experience, that we will carry forward. Hard lessons learned, that maybe will help us with challenges later in life. Those aren't really answers, just thoughts. What happens to infertility after pregnancy? I don't know. But I sure would like to find out.

[ELKMama]

Leslie - What a lovely post. Your excitement is so fun to see! I am thinking of you and wishing you the very best this round. : x 1,000!

Great question too about how this experience has shaped you and what it might mean to let go of the stress and have it all in the past. I sure hope that happens to you.

[marlee]

Leslie,

Great post. Here we all thought the stork was a bird It makes sense though because bunnies are so fertile and they have a strange association with eggs that I could never really figure out until now!

I call my cycle natural as I am doing no meds before o. I will do OPK tests until positive and then make the long journey to the clinic for u/s and b/w and transferring 3 days later. I will have progesterone and estrogen support. I don't know when I start that exactly. I still have to talk to my RE. I am focusing on my embroys being shipped across the country and arriving sooner than later: I am also still bf'ing my dd.

To comment on what infertility means after you are pregnant. We too were ttc 4+ years. Which I know you know what those years feel like. We felt so blessed when we were pregnant with dd. So much love, joy, gratitude and also peace. The infertility pain went away for the most part. It still would fire up when I would see circumstances that seemed to be little or no gratitude for someone elses pregnancy or baby.

It quickly became noticable for me when my periods returned and we would have sex. No pregnancy. Both my sister in laws got pregnant the first month trying and were pregnant at the same time as me with dd. They both are pregnant again (first time trying for both of them). Here I am back to the Dr.s and test praying for another. It is way less stressful as I have all the joy from my dd that I relish in.

Gotta run. Best of luck.

[celesterra]

Leslie,

That WAS a great post. I'm just over the moon that you're doing this cycle... it all feels so right, doesn't it?!?

Happy Easter!

[Leslie in Chicago]

hi gals! thanks for the notes, ELK, Marlee & Celeste

just got back from retrieval. I don't know the number yet...waiting for the doc to call. But man my belly was uncomfortable yesterday. Feeling some relief today...

Everything was easy & quick except for the IV, which was awful. Lots of digging around in the back of my right hand, no luck. Then she tried the inner-elbow vein on my left arm. Got it in, but when the flow started it hurt like heck. It wasn't positioned right, so they had to take it out. The very, very nice (and feeling terrible by this point) nurse called in the anesthesiologist. Dr. Wu to the rescue, and indeed he was my knight. Insta-presto, IV in back of left hand at first try. thank GOD. I'm going to look like a serious junkie with all these bruises, though.

Today I start the progesterone, which is a gel (Crinone). : No PIO, unless the blood test shows low levels.

[Leslie in Chicago]

and the magic number is...eight.

My nurse/coordinator says that's good, but honestly I'm a little surprised. I had a ton of follicles, easily 12. I didn't get any details (the doc is to call tomorrow with the fertilization report and I can ask her) but I'm guessing not every follie had an egg. It's just that last year I made 14 eggs. But that didn't result in a pregnancy, so who knows, really, what's good. This stuff is enough to drive anyone crazy!

So today I watched "The Lake House" on cable and reclined. What a totally sappy movie. I LOVED it.

[ELKMama]

Eight sounds great.

Glad you had a fun, relaxing, sappy day. It is great that you're able to take care of yourself and try to stay sane in this fun, exciting, nerve-wracking month.

[Dena]

Eight is a great number!! Lower numbers often means they got the highest quality eggs.

Can't wait to hear how many embies you get!!

BTW, I loved The Lake House too - awesome movie!

[celesterra]

eight is the best number for Chinese people! - it's a homophone for "blessing" - and this is the word that people use when a baby comes.

so. there.

eight is GREAT! :d

praying for your embies tonight, love!

[marlee]

Eight sounds awesome! Quality over quantity. Remember one or two for transfer is all you need.

Yeah!

[Leslie in Chicago]

Thanks for reponding so quick, ELK -- your post really made me smile.

Dena, I've told my dh and my mom about your theory -- that really put my busy little mind to rest.

Celeste that is so cool about the number 8! I had no idea!

Marlee, did your embies make it across country yet? Where are you in your cycle?


ok...now that I've spent the last 12 hours repeating the number 8 as if I'm The Count, we have a new number. The doc called this am with the fertilization report: seven fertilized! : : : : : : :

We're doing chromosome analysis with a 5-day transfer, so I'll have embie quality reports Wednesday and Friday with a transfer on Saturday...

[Dena]

That is AWESOME fertilization, Leslie!! IMO, since so many fertilized, that is proof you had great eggs. Just my .02.

Lucky number seven!

We had seven the cycle dd was conceived, so I think of it as a good number. But then, we only had five this cycle, so I guess that is a good number, too.

[celesterra]

Leslie, that's AWESOME! I'm so excited over here.

All I need to think about is that email you sent to me when you guys decided to dothe IVF. You do remember the subject line, don't you? :


love, love, love time nine (7 plus you and your dh!)

[chiromama]

leslie, celeste sent me here.. and congrats on an awesome fert rate! you have all of my : and and : coming your way.

[fenwickmama]

c sent me too. best of luck to ya :

[Leslie in Chicago]

hey Korin & fenwickmama! nothing like having a few grads around for good vibes.

So...got the first results from the chromosome analysis. Of the seven that fertilized, three had abnormalities. We're moving forward with four.

Both my RE's office and the lab assured me that these are good numbers. I have no idea. They had said to expect to eliminate 50% right off the top. We only need one good one, right?

I'll have the results from the second phase of testing (and dividing/surviving) on Friday....:

Meanwhile, my right ovary decided to fill up again. Apparently with fluid. RE's office said this was perfectly normal. It'll drain on its own (hopefully soon). I'm so grateful to NOT be doing PIO shots that I'll take an achy ovary instead, any day.

[chiromama]

no pio? lucky!
i had a lot of fluid retention too... eat lots of protein and drink gatorade... totally helped!
: 4!