TTC #1 In Our 30's MARCHing aTHREAD! - Page 11

[frog]

Negative test, here, and I feel like I'll bleed any time, now. Next stop for me: A reproductive endrocrinologist. Feh.

[poetgirl]

Originally Posted by frog

Negative test, here, and I feel like I'll bleed any time, now. Next stop for me: A reproductive endrocrinologist. Feh.

Frog, I am so very sorry. Sending lots of

Adorkable, Have a wonderful time with your DH!:

[poetgirl]

Originally Posted by Olerica

Jen,
OMG! I am so there with you! I am so in love with my body right now, despite it's faults. I don't know if it was the first day of spring yesterday (though we are getting like 5" of snow right now) or WHAT! I feel fierce and happy!
I'm so glad that the procedure you had done worked the way it was meant to, but even moreso for your new found optomism.

Yea you!

Oh good, yahoo for body love! I agree, a little spring equinox is quite sweet on the psyche. I'm glad you're feeling a similar burst!
Let's see 5 in. of snow, upper midwest...Minnesota maybe?

Corikodjo, Thanks! on empowerment!

[I'm feeling relatively neutral right now as I continue to wait for test results to come back.]
Mischievium, this makes a lot of sense. : for test results and for waiting.

[Olerica]

Originally Posted by poetgirl

Oh good, yahoo for body love! I agree, a little spring equinox is quite sweet on the psyche. I'm glad you're feeling a similar burst!
Let's see 5 in. of snow, upper midwest...Minnesota maybe?

Corikodjo, Thanks! on empowerment!

[I'm feeling relatively neutral right now as I continue to wait for test results to come back.]
Mischievium, this makes a lot of sense. : for test results and for waiting.

yep...Minneapolis to be exact.

[frog]

Oh, I LOVE the Twin Cities. I'm a Katie.

[Olerica]

Originally Posted by frog

Oh, I LOVE the Twin Cities. I'm a Katie.

Saint's be blessed. My friend is attending there now.

[JustKiya]

Originally Posted by frog

Negative test, here, and I feel like I'll bleed any time, now. Next stop for me: A reproductive endrocrinologist. Feh.

Feh, indeed frog.

We are headed there today, and ya know what? I think feh will be my word of the day, as it just almost sums up how I'm feeling about the whole thing.

Poet - edit out adorkable's name...

Have a FABULOUS time on your cruise, Adorkable - hopefully there will be just loads of grads by the time you get back.

[poetgirl]

Originally Posted by earthymama2b

Feh, indeed frog.

We are headed there today, and ya know what? I think feh will be my word of the day, as it just almost sums up how I'm feeling about the whole thing.

Poet - edit out adorkable's name...

Have a FABULOUS time on your cruise, Adorkable - hopefully there will be just loads of grads by the time you get back.

oops my bad, thanks kiya!

Kiya, I hope going to the RE turns out to be a v. good thing. HUGS, though. I remember vividly the stomachache I had going in. My big regret was that I went alone. Can you DH come with?

[JustKiya]

Poet - thankfully, yes - one perk of him still not having a job - he was able to come along.

Okay, I'm back.

Urm.

Wasn't as bad as I expected.

Wasn't really ANYTHING, honestly.

For the good news file: DH apparently just had a bit of performance anxiety while giving up his sample, which reduced the sample size. However, he had a crapload of sperm in that sample (something insane like 300 mill/unit?? ), all swimming merrily, all with one head and one tail like they should, etc, etc. Doc thinks he's A-OK, basically.
I've lost at least another 5 pounds! Last time I weighed myself (at home) I was 246 - at the docs, I was 240 perfect. The nurse gave me an odd glance when I was all : - screw her. Esp. considering I'm still losing JUST by cutting out sugars and grains, and haven't even STARTED lifting weights yet.
They didn't charge us at the door (doesn't mean we won't get a bill later, but mrr - deal with that when I get to it).


For the no, reallllllllyyyy??????? file: I, apparently, don't ovulate regularily. I know, right, who would have guessed? He suggested Clomid (naturally), and I rebutted with the idea that I'd much rather figure out WHY I'm not ovulating regularily than force it. He seemed fine with that, and wants to run more tests on me, including Ovarian Reserve, and Prolactin, as well as the CD3 panel (which, hopefully will be in the next week) and I THINK he's rerunning all of the tests that gyno ran.
Also - *gasp* - I'm overweight, and losing another 20 pounds would be a good idea. The fact that I've lost almost 20 pounds already isn't of much notice, apparently.

For the OUCH, file:
Smoking is bad, m'kay? While I quit a while ago, he was still muttering something about it potentially decreasing my ovarian reserve.
7 blinking vials of blood WILL leave you light-headed.

He eyeballed me and said he doubted I had PCOS, as apparently while I'm fat enough, I'm nowhere NEAR hairy enough.

I think that's erryting. Ah! The funniest thing was the everyone was giving up when I told them I was on CD58. I did at the nurse who just HAD to count what cycle day I was at - I wanted to tell her that while I might not be pefect on the first day of my last period, I'm DEAD ON when it comes to what cycle DAY I'm on, dammit.

*sigh*

Off to research maca, now.

[Quate]

earthymama2b: all in all, that sounds like it's good news--a doctor who's willing to work with you, a husband with sperm ... but I don't blame you for still feeling frustrated.

me: I have crosshairs! So thus begins the 2WW. I think our timing was as good as it's every going to get this cycle, and I seemed to have more ewcm than usual, so I'm hoping that will be all the change we needed. But, we shall see. I'm supposed to graduate in June, and if I'm not pg by then, I think it will be time to start figuring out why, but in the meantime, I really don't have much time to think about it (she says, as she checks the TTC forums daily).

[soc]

Well girls, I'm on the CBFM bandwagon!
This is my first month using it... I hope it brings me as much luck as other girls who have used it and got a BFP!!

[mischievium]

Originally Posted by frog

Negative test, here, and I feel like I'll bleed any time, now. Next stop for me: A reproductive endrocrinologist. Feh.

Frog, I am so, SO, SO sorry that you are having to look into going to see an RE. HTH that if (and that's a big if) there are any problems, they are easily and cheaply fixable.

Originally Posted by poetgirl

[I'm feeling relatively neutral right now as I continue to wait for test results to come back.]
Mischievium, this makes a lot of sense. : for test results and for waiting.

Well, neutral last week has turned into a bit anxious this week. Apparently it is easier to be neutral when you know it's going to be a few days until you can get the results back, now I'm like TELL ME THE RESULTS, ALREADY!!!

Originally Posted by earthymama2b

For the good news file: DH apparently just had a bit of performance anxiety while giving up his sample, which reduced the sample size. However, he had a crapload of sperm in that sample (something insane like 300 mill/unit?? ), all swimming merrily, all with one head and one tail like they should, etc, etc. Doc thinks he's A-OK, basically.

Wow, go DH! One thing I'm just going to mention, though it probably doesn't apply to you, is that our first SA ordered by my OB was "normal" by the standards of the urologist DH was referred to. But what apparently isn't tested for on a standard SA is antisperm antibodies (ASA). It wasn't until we had an SA done by the urologist's lab that the "clumping" that is indicative of ASA was noted (and you would think that sperm clumping together would effect their "motility" but apparently not because DH's motility was fine ). Anyway, like I said this most likely doesn't apply to you, just something to keep in mind about SAs.

Originally Posted by earthymama2b

I've lost at least another 5 pounds! Last time I weighed myself (at home) I was 246 - at the docs, I was 240 perfect. The nurse gave me an odd glance when I was all : - screw her. Esp. considering I'm still losing JUST by cutting out sugars and grains, and haven't even STARTED lifting weights yet.

That's awesome, Kiya!

Originally Posted by earthymama2b

For the no, reallllllllyyyy??????? file: I, apparently, don't ovulate regularily. I know, right, who would have guessed? He suggested Clomid (naturally), and I rebutted with the idea that I'd much rather figure out WHY I'm not ovulating regularily than force it. He seemed fine with that, and wants to run more tests on me, including Ovarian Reserve, and Prolactin, as well as the CD3 panel (which, hopefully will be in the next week) and I THINK he's rerunning all of the tests that gyno ran.
Also - *gasp* - I'm overweight, and losing another 20 pounds would be a good idea. The fact that I've lost almost 20 pounds already isn't of much notice, apparently.

You crack me up! I'm glad to hear that the doc was willing to actually explore the problem *gasp* and not just throw clomid at you and hope it works.

Originally Posted by earthymama2b

For the OUCH, file:
Smoking is bad, m'kay? While I quit a while ago, he was still muttering something about it potentially decreasing my ovarian reserve.
7 blinking vials of blood WILL leave you light-headed.

He eyeballed me and said he doubted I had PCOS, as apparently while I'm fat enough, I'm nowhere NEAR hairy enough.

at the "m'kay" I hope that he's not right about the smoking and ovarian reserve :.

Originally Posted by Quate

me: I have crosshairs! So thus begins the 2WW. I think our timing was as good as it's every going to get this cycle, and I seemed to have more ewcm than usual, so I'm hoping that will be all the change we needed. But, we shall see. I'm supposed to graduate in June, and if I'm not pg by then, I think it will be time to start figuring out why, but in the meantime, I really don't have much time to think about it (she says, as she checks the TTC forums daily).

:

Originally Posted by soc

Well girls, I'm on the CBFM bandwagon!
This is my first month using it... I hope it brings me as much luck as other girls who have used it and got a BFP!!

I just wanted to note, soc, that I probably should be exempted for your "statistics" since I'm probably dealing with male factor infertility. Good luck!

As for me, I got my repeat 7DPO progesterone back yesterday and it was 14.1 (up from a level of 9.4 last cycle) which is better, but isn't the 15+ that my OB would like to see. She said she wants to wait and see what my endocrinologist says about whether I have some sort of hormonal issue going on-- I saw the endo ~2 weeks ago and had a bunch of levels sent and I'm still waiting to hear back about that. Meanwhile, my DH did his repeat SA to confirm whether he has antisperm antibodies or not and we have an appointment tomorrow evening with the MFI urologist to go over the results and our options. As I mentioned above, I am a bit anxious to see what the results are and what our treatment options will be.

[mischievium]

x-posted:

So, we have an official diagnosis for my DH-- Antisperm Antibodies (ASA). The urologist (who specializes in MFI) laid out our options:
1) Immunosuppressive therapy: essentially DH would have to take the same kind of meds that transplant patients take to keep their body from rejecting donor organs for about 9 months to get his antibody level down to the point that we could conceive and then who knows how many months until we actually conceive. As you can imagine, DH is not psyched about the idea of being on high-dose steroids for an indeterminate amount of time. The doctor presented this as an option, explained how it works, and then explained that in the past five years *none* of his patients with ASA have chosen this option. In fact, apparently he was on an expert panel at a medical convention and he and the five other experts on the panel were asked how many of their patients have chosen this treatment in the past five years and they all said "none." So, this is not really an option

2. IUI: The thing with antibodies is that they can attach at different places on the sperm and where they attach effects what you need to do to treat them. In DH's case ~50% had antibodies attached to the tail, which they believe effects the ability of the sperm to swim up to the egg. About 30% had antibodies attached to the head or neck, which effects their ability to penetrate the egg. With these numbers, the doctor said we were a good candidate for IUI, couples with higher levels of antibodies bound to the head or neck usually have to go straight for IVF, probably with ICSI.

3. IVF: Depending on the results of my tests, we might just go to this option.

So... now to find an RE...

[poetgirl]

Originally Posted by mischievium

x-posted:

So, we have an official diagnosis for my DH-- Antisperm Antibodies (ASA). The urologist (who specializes in MFI) laid out our options:
1) Immunosuppressive therapy: essentially DH would have to take the same kind of meds that transplant patients take to keep their body from rejecting donor organs for about 9 months to get his antibody level down to the point that we could conceive and then who knows how many months until we actually conceive. As you can imagine, DH is not psyched about the idea of being on high-dose steroids for an indeterminate amount of time. The doctor presented this as an option, explained how it works, and then explained that in the past five years *none* of his patients with ASA have chosen this option. In fact, apparently he was on an expert panel at a medical convention and he and the five other experts on the panel were asked how many of their patients have chosen this treatment in the past five years and they all said "none." So, this is not really an option

2. IUI: The thing with antibodies is that they can attach at different places on the sperm and where they attach effects what you need to do to treat them. In DH's case ~50% had antibodies attached to the tail, which they believe effects the ability of the sperm to swim up to the egg. About 30% had antibodies attached to the head or neck, which effects their ability to penetrate the egg. With these numbers, the doctor said we were a good candidate for IUI, couples with higher levels of antibodies bound to the head or neck usually have to go straight for IVF, probably with ICSI.

3. IVF: Depending on the results of my tests, we might just go to this option.

So... now to find an RE...

Oh Michievium, this is quite a lot. I am sorry for the ways your ttc journey has become more complicated and the emotions that come with that. I sincerely HOPE option 2 (or 3) is very successful very soon. You've been so supportive of everyone and I wish you a wonderful accessible RE and a quick path to treatment and most importantly, the baby you deserve. Sending a bucket of hugs to you. This Will Work Out.

p.s. I'll be your IUI bud if you do that...that's where we're headed too...
p.p.s My RE said Wed. that during a recent RE conference, they agreed they really want to see a P level of 10 or more. Your doc may have a diff. take on that but I wanted to pass on.

[soc]

Originally Posted by mischievium

I just wanted to note, soc, that I probably should be exempted for your "statistics" since I'm probably dealing with male factor infertility. Good luck!

That's no probs! You poor thing! I really hope that things work out for you. This whole TTC thing is tough - and being faced with decisions like yours (from your x-post) is even tougher! I'll keep : for you that things work out! :

[Quate]

(((Mischievium))) -- not what you wanted to hear. I'm so sorry.

[~Adorkable~]

Hi ladies, hmmfff you are all still here, i was hopping for graduate news on my return.
Well i am on my way home from a wonderful week on our mexican cruise, really a nice time was had by all.

Finished my provera on wed night, so just waiting for Flo. It has been nice to spend a week not charting or reaching and squeezing anything

not to say there has not been lots of thinking about things. As DH's deployment creeps into within a month and our vacation is nearing a end the stress and fear and hope and wishes all get ramped into overdrive. So far things are still good and the same just whirling around alot.

now for the strange bit. i feel sooooo pregnant it is crazy! i know it must just be pms that is ramped up by the provera but ouch! i have never had many or much of physical pms symptoms and the last few days have been
• breast soooo tender, nipples completely off limits
• so tired i cant keep my eyes open even after napping most of a day away
• gums bleeding

now i really know there is no way that this could be the case, my chart never clearly showed a O and we did 2 progesterone tests before i started that provera and they were .06 and .1 basically nil minus nada, but the only other time i have ever felt like this was the times i have been preggo in the way past. haven't mentioned a word to my dh, but he even brought up the ideas to me.

so i wait and flip out a bit and wait some more till i can get home and take a test or something, oh and last time i took provera i was spotting by now.....
i wonder what my temp is.....

[jencat]

Dear God,

Please let Mischievium's DH's sperm work extra super hard to penetrate her egg in the womb, right away! If this plan won't work for some reason, please help her and DH's RE get some of those sperm with the antibodies on the tail to get squirted up in Mischievium's hoo hoo so they find an egg and make a baby!

Respectfully yours,

Jencat

[poetgirl]

Dear God,

What Jencat said. Precisely.

BFF,
poet

[frog]

mischeivium and poet, IUIs are da bomb. Seriously. So easy and frustration free you won't even believe it. Not that I have a BFP, yet, going that route, but I know that you will. Fresh swimmers rock!

AAM: No insem this cycle--I'm just hanging around, waiting for 7DPO so I can get some bloodwork done and figure out what our next steps are.

I'm not my usual perky self--there's been Very Big Drama in my circle of friends and on Saturday, a beloved cousin of mine died--she was family in addition to being family, which somehow makes this harder. She was in her mid 40s.