+++ Autumn Acorn check-in 9/25 +++

tweetyknicks

Welcome to the Autumn Acorns Check-In!!! Check-ins will be every Monday & Thursday. Your check-in leaders are @katemonster1 (Monday) and @tweetyknicks(Thursday).

This is a check-in for those doing IVF/IVM or FET with an ER/ET scheduled for October. If you would like to join, please fill us in on your cycle below. Please include what cycle number this is for you, where you are in the process, when you expect to start stims, and when you're planning on retrieval and transfer. (Also, please update us along the way!)

The group badge is linked on our inaugural post.

Below is our list so far. Everyone is welcome, so please let us know if you would like to be added.

QOTD: I'm hoping IVF/stims will give me an excuse to sit around and read more when I would usually be working out. Have you found a silver lining to any expected restrictions?

Stimming
@futuremrsbaldwin2012 IVF#1
@honeypie32 IVF#1?

@katers79 IVF#1 (ER Sept., FET Oct.)

Prepping
@aggiejess2007 IVF#1
@aliciafiggy IVF#2

@bcara11 FET#1
@bunnybun IVF#1
@callalily30 IVF#3 (freeze all)

@caringcat FET#1
@chicory IVF#1
@daashuriaa IVF #2
@frenchteachermama FET#1

@ifmamaainthappy IVF#1 (ER only, FET Dec.)
@katemonster1 IVF#2
@k1111k IVF#1
@lilycakes78 IVF#1
@lmc0513 IVF#3
@lynnlee7 IVF#1
@mrscw IVF#1
@o2girl FET#3
@runforcookies FET#3
@saratrying IVF#2
@sunnyb FET#2
@tifga FET#1
@tumbleweed123 IVF#1 (freeze all)
@tweetyknicks IVF#1

katers79

Good morning acorns!

I have my ER today!!!! It's not til 1:30, so I'm trying desperately not to think about food and water -- which is damn near impossible since I normally eat 6x/day.

But I can't wait to have some relief from these busting-at-the-seams ovaries. I'm so uncomfortable and I'm ready to get back to the gym! So excited!!

QOTD- I already thought that I had an amazing husband, but I'm seeing how awesome he really is. He's been so completely supportive and will do anything to make me laugh when I'm nervous -- he played the doogie howser theme song while I was prepping my trigger shot at 2:30am!

tweetyknicks

@katers79 Afternoon ER sounds eeevil!

Bcara11

Please add me to this group. I had a fresh cycle IVF#1 in July and it did not take We were able to freeze three so I will now be doing FET near the end of October. AF just came this morning so I have a saline ultrasound since it has been over a year and then start BCP. My husband and I are hoping this time around it will work out. It has not been easy but I am excited to keep the ball moving.

aggiejess2007

@katers79 - That's so exciting!!! Good luck today! Hope everything goes well!

@Bcara11 - Welcome!

AFM I had my teaching appointment and baseline ultrasound and bloodwork yesterday. We got our calendar and we will be starting stims on October 3rd with possible ER on October 15th. Nervous and super excited!

QOTD: I found out that I have to have 3 days of bedrest after my transfer and while I was really freaked out at first because its going to be during a busy time at work, I realized that it will be really nice to just relax some and take time for myself.

LynnLee7

@katers79 Good Luck today, FX

Checking in, I received my box of meds this morning, its pretty intense!! I wish someone would have told me NOT to look at the size of the needles. I spent the first hour of work going through them and taking inventory with my boss and coworker, luckily they both have worked in the medical field and volunteered to assist me with my injections if Hubby is unable to do it. I have gotten so much support from my coworkers offering to switch/cover shifts. I feel blessed to have an employer who understands. Still anxiously waiting for AF.

QOTD: My birthday is Oct 7th- the big 3-0 and my anniversary is Nov 7th, celebrating 5 years!! Regardless of the outcome if IVF works for us, we will be celebrating our blessings. I took some time off work for my birthday and will be spending my time redecorating my bedroom and cooking a bunch of easy freezer meals for the busy holiday season. Hopefully this will help me relax and keep my mind off things while I can keep busy with my tasks.  

KM721

Hey everyone! I'm not sure if I should do the Oct or November group--my ER will probably end up around Halloween with the transfer the next week. Any input? 

If this is a better group for me, then this will be IVF#3 for me. I will start stims around October 19-20.

tifga

I have been on estrace since Monday and haven't really felt much except hungry a lot. And today I feel a little weepy, hmm maybe haven't felt anything isn't true.

On Saturday I bump up to 2 pills twice a day and then have another ultrasound on the 2nd. 

QOTW:

I am spring cleaning this week to keep sane. I am getting a lot of projects done to keep myself from going nuts with worry. 

That is all I got. 

CallaLily30

Hi ladies.  Happy Thursday!  I'm just trucking along on Lupron for now.  Today was my last day of BCPs and we start stims a week from today.  Nothing too exciting to report for now.

QOTD:  I usually take the time to just relax.  I'm always on the go so it's nice to have some down time.

runforcookies

Happy almost Friday acorns! Im not even a week into estrace and I am an emotional mess. I cried because my husband used the last if my hot sauce and didn't tell me. I only realized when I went it to use it, clearly this was the worst thing that could have happened to me haha.

QOTD I am pretty excited to relax and watch movies and catch up on my Netflix. I'm hopefully having my transfer during a 3 day weekend and plan on doing not much more than that.

chicory

Hello Acorns! Just cruising along on BCPs here. I go in next week for mock transfer and hysteroscopy, and DH will provide a sample to freeze "just in case." Baseline is Oct 15th. QOTW: I've been forced to ask work partners to pick up some of my workload during this process. The silver lining is I've gotten some really genuine support; they want this to work for us! (One seems to be acting like it's a burden on them, but oh well, I'm not going to dwell on the negatives!)

tweetyknicks

@bcara11 You're added.

My baseline appointment was yesterday morning. Stims start Saturday evening. I'm still waiting to find out my dosage and exact schedule.

BCP has made me very moody for the last week at least, mostly after 5pm. I've also been ready to go to bed by 9pm. I'm usually a night owl.

<rant>

I wish someone at my clinic would have told me they can take *days* to get back to me after my baseline monitoring. My old clinic always contacted me the same day, although that was only for IUI. At my new clinic they do not seem to have any idea how to manage patient expectations so I don't freak out.

I finally got a hold of my nurse today and she said someone would call me by Saturday afternoon. I asked her if there was a number I could call in case I didn't hear back by then. She just said that I should not worry; someone will call me. I do *not* like not having a backup plan.

I chose this clinic for their excellent success rate. I hope that part is true. They utterly fail at communication.

</rant>

Nutmeg8484

Hi Acorns. I hope you don't mind if I join you although it looks like my ER could be either the very end of Oct. or the beginning of Nov. We are doing IVF # 2 and I am set to start BCP's tomorrow the 26th.

QOTW: DH and I always fall behind on the dvr'd shows we watch so hopefully we can use the downtime to start off the season on the right foot. Also, Oct. is a huge month for new release books I've been looking forward to since last Oct. so there is that to keep me occupied.

FutureMrsBaldwin2012

Happy Thursday Acorns!! I had an ultrasound and bloodwork this morning and everything is good to go for me to start stimming tonight!! I had a minor freak out last night because I started heavily bleeding, more than AF. At my appt this morning they said it is normal with lupron to bleed. Anybody else experience this?

Not gonna lie, I am pretty excited to have to take it easy for a few days after ER. I have a whole stack of Disney movies and a new cozy blanket waiting for me!

O2girl

Hi ladies!!

I have my activation biopsy/lining check tomorrow afternoon :-SS and I'm super nervous; if all is well then I start PIO, crinone, medrol, and doxy on Sunday. Estrace is going pretty well...... I'm just HUNGRY all the time....... I mean ALL the time.

tumbleweed123

Nutmeg8484KM721 . 

DH and I have had to do a ton of labs/tests and hope to finish all those over the next few weeks. Since we are doing CGH testing, there are more than usual.  I had one false-positive come back and spent a weekend worrying, only to be told all was fine.  Whew.  Also, have to retest Th1:Th2 imbalance after I finish a three week course of steroids, for inflammation.  

It's still weeks until I start stims, but I will say, on medicated cycles, I always enjoy not feeling like I'm lazy, but instead, that being lazy is something I NEED to do.  I'm normally so high energy, and stimming forces me to chill a bit.  

katers79

ER done! 14 eggs retrieved, and I'm waiting on a call for the fert report. It happened super quick, and before I knew it, I was in recovery. I got some good drugs for sure

Light spotting, cramping, and a LOT of bloat. Since it was so late in the day, I took today off of work too. I'm taking gas-x, colace, and doxycycline religiously, and rotating Tylenol and Tylenol #3. Pushing Gatorade and protein too. I was told NO heating pad?

I'll keep you girls posted! FX!

@katemonster1‌ - good luck starting stims!

saratrying

I had my WTF meeting with RE this morning to discuss the failed IVF. It went well. He explained he wants to change the protocol for my October cycle because he thinks this may result in better quality, rather than quantity. But I also have a greater chance of cancelation, which does not make me happy since we've been through cancelations before. I'll just have to see how this plays out. Hoping and praying October is my month!!

QOTD: I get out of walking the dog around the ER and ET. The hubs and I rotate walking (I do morning and afternoon, he does late night walk).  I love my dog to pieces, but the 6am walk sucks when stimming. So grateful my hubs is willing to take over all the shifts!

saratrying

@katers79 That's a fantastic ER! 

I didn't think about taking GasX. That's a good idea, I'll have to remember.

aliciafiggy

Started BCP on Wednesday. That's going fine but I have a miserable cold. I hope it goes away soon because I do not want to start injections and feel like this. BLAH!

honeypie32

Hi all.... I'm on day #9 and trying not to freak out because my doc pushed my dosage up on menopur and my copay is 4,000 which I don't have after just paying for follistim....my doc is giving me enough for this weekend so hopefully I won't need to fill it, fingers crossed!

Sunny B

I'm late! I go in for my lining check on Monday morning. I'm praying everything looks good. I'm having weird feelings in my ovaries so I hope its the Estrace and not ovulation. 

O2girl

Sunny B said:

I'm late! I go in for my lining check on Monday morning. I'm praying everything looks good. I'm having weird feelings in my ovaries so I hope its the Estrace and not ovulation. 

Hey lady! I was having a similar feeling in my ovaries..... I had it last FET cycle too. I thought for sure I ovulated. But just as with the last FET cycle my ovaries were sound asleep and my lining checked out at 10.5 and all striped out. So fx you are experiencing similar estrace twinges and you can get your show on the road too!!

fayth4one

Hello All!!!  Looks like I may be an Autumn Acorn. I haven't gotten my official schedule yet, but based on my last cycle I expect that I'll have ER around 10/24.  Just finished IVF #1 with a BFN on 9/15.  We knew we wanted to go again right away so here we are. Had Baseline U/S last Monday the 22nd (Cycle Day 3) and started BCP.  Our clinic is reviewing our case in their  IVF meeting to determine if any changes to our protocol are indicated and we are waiting on that.  We had 18 eggs retrieved last cycle with 12 Mature. 7 fertilized with ICSI and only 1 made it to transfer :-( I look forward to getting to know you all !

 The silver lining last time was having my mom and sister-in-law volunteer to clean our house while I caught up on some LONG overdue reading!!! 

tumbleweed123

fayth4one welcome!

Sunny B

O2girl said:

I'm late! I go in for my lining check on Monday morning. I'm praying everything looks good. I'm having weird feelings in my ovaries so I hope its the Estrace and not ovulation. 

Hey lady! I was having a similar feeling in my ovaries..... I had it last FET cycle too. I thought for sure I ovulated. But just as with the last FET cycle my ovaries were sound asleep and my lining checked out at 10.5 and all striped out. So fx you are experiencing similar estrace twinges and you can get your show on the road too!!

This is so good to hear! Great lining, girl! I'm hoping it looks good for me tomorrow. Did you have more aching on one side? How did the Uterine Scratch go for you?

Sunny B

fayth4one said:

Hello All!!!  Looks like I may be an Autumn Acorn. I haven't gotten my official schedule yet, but based on my last cycle I expect that I'll have ER around 10/24.  Just finished IVF #1 with a BFN on 9/15.  We knew we wanted to go again right away so here we are. Had Baseline U/S last Monday the 22nd (Cycle Day 3) and started BCP.  Our clinic is reviewing our case in their  IVF meeting to determine if any changes to our protocol are indicated and we are waiting on that.  We had 18 eggs retrieved last cycle with 12 Mature. 7 fertilized with ICSI and only 1 made it to transfer :-( I look forward to getting to know you all !

 The silver lining last time was having my mom and sister-in-law volunteer to clean our house while I caught up on some LONG overdue reading!!! 

Welcome! Good luck going forward! Sorry about your last cycle

erbear84

I'm in the September group but it looks like my ER/ET will be October 1st and 6th, God willing!

fayth4one

Good luck! PS....erbear is my irl nickname. I tried to get it on here too. Small world :-)

IfMamaAintHappy

Checking in!  I've been lurking everyday and keeping up with everyone, but haven't had a chance to post.  I am scheduled to stop bcp this Wed and head into RE for first ultrasound and bloodwork on Thursday. I ordered my IVF meds on Friday and they should arrive on Thursday too.  We don't have insurance and are paying for all of this OOP and all I can think of is what if this doesn't work and we are shelling out another $23k in a few months?  But then I tell myself to not borrow trouble! 

O2girl

@Sunny B‌ I did have more twinges and aches on my right side. It felt like it did when I had a cyst. I thought for sure I was out. My FX big time for you lady!

My endo scratch went well. It didn't hurt near as bad as I thought it would. My RE and DH made me laugh so hard right as the RE was started the scratch so I barely noticed it because I was so uncomfortable laughing while my RE had his face in my crotch and a speculum in my vagina...... Ya that really happened. "> both my RE and DH are pretty funny so it was just timing with the wisecracks that led to these shenanigans

FutureMrsBaldwin2012

For those of you that are stimming, how are you feeling? Tonight is night 4 and I feel no different! I expected to feel SOMETHING going on in there, but other than hot flashes, nada!!

tweetyknicks

@FutureMrsBaldwin2012‌ I'm on day 2 and felt terrible most of the day because of a migraine. Besides that, ovaries feel a bit tender and occasionally it feels like they're being poked by a needle (much like the sub-q shots). Also, sweaty and warm most of the day, but I don't know if that was the stims or migraine.

FutureMrsBaldwin2012

I go for an ultrasound and bloodwork this morning to see how things are doing. I'm just hoping that they don't have to up my dosage, I'll have to order more meds if they do the hot flashes/ feeling hot all the time is awful!! We went to the cider mill yesterday and it was about 75 degrees out and we had to leave because I was so miserable. I'm sorry that you are having migraines, I'm surprised that I haven't had one yet. I have gotten them for years and I can't believe that the hormones haven't triggered one. Hope that you feel better!

Sunny B

O2girl said:

@Sunny B‌ I did have more twinges and aches on my right side. It felt like it did when I had a cyst. I thought for sure I was out. My FX big time for you lady!

My endo scratch went well. It didn't hurt near as bad as I thought it would. My RE and DH made me laugh so hard right as the RE was started the scratch so I barely noticed it because I was so uncomfortable laughing while my RE had his face in my crotch and a speculum in my vagina...... Ya that really happened. "> both my RE and DH are pretty funny so it was just timing with the wisecracks that led to these shenanigans

I'm so glad it went well for you!!! It's so interesting how people tolerate things so differently. If I ever have to do it again ill try laughing
Thank you for the crossed fingers. It's so weird. Feels very cyst-y like you said!

erbear84

@FutureMrsBaldwin2012 I've been pretty miserable the entire time of stimming - I've had a migraine, tons of lower back pain, the twinges, tears, dizziness, and lately, lack of appetite.  Hang in there!

honeypie32

Hi everyone, today is day #12 of stimming and my follicles are doing good I'm told... It's exhausting going to all these doc appts every other day and now everyday it seems.... But I'm ready for this trigger shot and for ER cause I'm bloated and my stomach feels full all the time now. And I'm so sleepy all the time especially with working til 10 on every night....excited, nervous, worried all at the same time.... Hope everyone else is doing ok and moving right along...