Precious Penguins Check In Jan 8, 2015

emmuffy

Welcome to the January 2015 Precious Penguins Check-In!!!  Check-ins will be every Monday & Thursday. Your check-in leaders are @SweetieShellieH (Monday) and @emmuffy (Thursday).<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

This is a check-in for those who are doing IVF/IVM or FET with an ER/ET scheduled for January. If you are interested in joining, 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, when you're planning on retrieval and transfer, and when your beta day is!  Also, please update us along the way!

 

For those that don't have it yet, here is the link to our badge https://i57.tinypic.com/8ybc3m.jpg

 

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

 

BFP!!!!

 

BFN (((HUGS)))

 

PUPO!!!!

 

@tweetyknicks IVF#1 FET#1

 

Between ER & ET

 

Stimming

@.Mrs.Matt. IVF #1

@apitts2 IVF#2

@BlueJell0 IVF#1

@browncoatjr IVF#1

@cokiebear IVF#3

@jro1602 IVF#1

@Kbrooke06 IVF#1

@Kcheese IVF#1

@kford81 IVF#1

@K1111K IVF#2

@kristin1k IVF#1

@NariaDreaming IVF #1.2 (fx for <60 follies this time!!)

@RG1979 IVF#3

@sewfie IVF#1

@ShortStuff IVF#1

@SmootiePie IVF#1

@vballbaby IVF#1

 

Prep (BCP/Lupron/EP)

 

@afsalinas IVF#1 FET#1

@bkam IVF#1

@Buttmonkey34 IVF#2 FET#1

@doves654 IVF#1 FET#1

@Dyork IVF#1

@emmuffy IVF#2

@Fluffydamn IVF# ??

@GoBucksOH IVF#1

@Jetta83306 IVF#3 1st w/ DE (Donor is Stimming)

@LilyHarper IVF#1 FET#1

@kels1977 IVF#1

@lemonliz IVF#1

@maddychan IVF#1

@Mysh IVF#2

@shadidynyc IVF#1 FET#1

@Spring78 IVF#2

@tifga IVF#1 FET#2

@tumbleweed123 IVF#3

@Twinkie0612 IVF#4 FET#1 w/ OE

@zeynsom IVF#2 FET#1

 

 

Waiting to Cycle (No prep)

@crazycatlady4 IVF#1 FET#1

 @Discouraged31 IVF #1 FET#1

@kfb829 IVF#1

@MamaKakes611 IVF#3

@tbj1 IVF#2

@wcasar IVF #1 FET#1

 

Cycle Delayed / Cancelled

 

@BootsOrHearts IVF#1 FET#1 moving to February

@crazycatlady4 IVF#1 FET#1 - FET Early February

@Daashuriaa IVF#2 FET#1 - Moving to February

@fizzashaudhary IVF#3 FET#1 - RI Protocol for 2 months

@lilycakes78 IVF#1 FET#1 moving to February

@SundayBrunch IVF#1  Moving to February

@saysjess IVF#1 Moving to February

 

QOTD: If you could only eat breakfast foods or dinner foods, which would you choose?

 

emmuffy

Hello Penguins!

I start the Saizen tonight, and I'm excited to get things started! Baseline is next Friday, then I start the stims. I had a good appointment with the RE today to review my situation and what to do about my recent endometrial biopsy results that I obtained through another clinic as part of a second opinion. For now, my plan is to go ahead with a fresh transfer. My ER will be approx Jan 29 and my ET will be aprprox Feb 3.

I think we have some people who had transfers today and are hopefully now PUPO?? Come back and update us!

QOTD: dinner foods if they can include desserts (I love having dessert for breakfast)

Smootiepie

I had an u/s yesterday w/ the tech (not the nurse who did my baseline), and she was a lot less informative than the nurse.  So I'm not really sure what the follie count or measurements are.  I do know the nurse called later and said everything looked "fine" but my E2 was only at 48, so they upped my Gonal-F (they started me out at 100 IU, so now I'm up to 150 IU).  I kinda knew going in that this was a possibility because they didn't want to overstimulate me from the get-go.  Go back in tomorrow for my next u/s.

And the potential for insurance coverage got completely shut down.  Apparently the first rep the clinic talked to knew nothing.  So when they called back the next day and got someone who actually knew their shit, it was pretty obvious there was no coverage.  Already knew that, but was hoping for some sort of miracle...

My headache from Monday eventually turned into a migraine, but it's fortunately been gone since yesterday afternoon.  Just rocking some killer bloat.

QOTD: Breakfast!!!  French toast, pancakes, waffles, eggs, jam, bacon..........mmmmmm, now I'm hungry!

Twinkie0612

Not a lot going on right now.  I am chugging along on prednisone, lupron, lovenox, baby aspirin, and a bunch of vitamins and supplements.  Tonight is my third delestrogen injection and tomorrow I start viagra suppositories 4x a day (fun!).

Next week I have my first E2 blood draw on Monday, doppler u/s (checks blood flow) and IVIG on Tuesday, and blood work and u/s (lining check) on Thursday.  If all looks good on Thursday, I'll start PIO for a transfer on 1/20.

QOTD: I would choose breakfast foods, because I love breakfast anytime of the day.  Right now I could totally go for some blueberry pancakes.  Mmmm... and bacon.

doves654

@Smootiepie sorry to hear about your insurance update. That sucks.

@K1111K glad your cyst is still gone!

@RG1979 woohoo for triggering! Good luck at your ER!

AFM, I go in for another baseline tomorrow to see if my lining thickened up to the point they wanted. If all is well, the FET will be next week!

QOTD: Dinner, but man I do love some breakfast foods. Wafflllllllllllllles.

maddychan

Looks like January is getting busy for more of us as we get further into this process! Had my baseline U/S yesterday. All looks good so I started stims this morning. They had me decrease Lupron from 10 units to 5, and I take those in evenings. Follistim is 225 units for 4 days, then 200 the next 4. I go back for next U/S on 1/15. I don't feel any side effects yet other than my continuous headache I've had since starting Lupron. As much as my head hurts, I sure hope that's the extent of the side effects, although I'm sure there will be more. Qotd: definitely dinner! I am gluten intolerant and don't like eggs so breakfast is tough for me

Spring78

@Buttmonkey34‌, I hope everything works out for the best, whatever that may be. I'm sorry you have to deal with the added stress!

AFM: As of last night, I am done with BCPs!!! Yay and woohoo!!! Looking forward to feeling more normal again - for a few days, anyway. Baseline is Sunday. Hopefully starting Bravelle then.

QOTD: I love breakfast food as dinner, but not so much at breakfast time. Not sure where that leaves me...

Bostongirl617

I am going to join in now that I have an official protocol/timeline! This makes it feel real! 

I am doing my 1st IVF. I am prepping with BCP until Sunday (1/11) and expect to have my baseline US and blood work sometime that week. I should have my ER the last week of January. 

Today I completed my IVF intro class, had a mock transfer (still cramping!) and received my medication. Thinking about all the needle makes me feel a little queasy! 

At this point I am hopeful, but nervous.

QOTD: Dinner for sure. For years I have eaten dinner type food for breakfast. Although right now I am on a fruit protein smoothie kick, trying to up my protein intake! 

Kbrooke06

Hello!

Just left my first u/s after starting injections. I have 4 follies that are at 11, one is 6. This is what my doc was expecting since I have a low reserve. Estrogen is at 445 so I'm not starting cetrotide yet. Next u/s is on Sunday.

I'm on mobile so.its hard to tag, but so excited for the ER @RG1979‌ !! GL!

Jetta83306

Hello, ladies! I am still taking my meds (Lupron 5 units, 2 Vivelle patches, Estrace 3 times a day, baby aspirin, doxy, Prenatal, Folic Acid suppliments, etc). My donor had her scan and labs yesterday. Everything looked good so she is starting to stim today. Her next appointment is on January 13th, so we will see what happens from there. That's about it for now.

QOTD: Dinner. I am not a huge fan of breakfast foods usually.

Kcheese

Eeekkkkk! I'm having retrieval on Tuesday!!, Can't believe I'm almost there! I'm not sure if I'm more excited or nervous...

QOTD: dinner....although I have just convinced DH we should have breakfast for dinner in the next few days

shadiddynyc

Hey, hey, hey.. @dove654 fx for your lining thickening.
@Buttmonkey34‌ you should be fine with 6 yrs experience, you'll able to find something else once you start looking.

I went in for b/w & u/s on Tuesday & everything was good. Lupron was lowered to .05 & I started on Estrace 2x per day. Going back in for lining check on 1/23 & scheduled for FET on 1/29 if everything looks good. Hopefully this time there won't be any set backs.
QOTD: I'm gonna have to go with dinner, there's more of a variety & I'm greedy =P~

Fluffydamn

Hey ladies!!! I got my meds today in the mail! This makes it even more real now. I have my base line u.s. On Monday. Then see when I start my stims from then on.

QOTD : breakfast food for sure. I love it.

Also @emmuffy‌ this is IVF #1 for me. I see the ?? By my name and wanted to clear that up lol

apitts2

Had u/s yesterday about 8 follies on each ovary, repeat u/s tomorrow and sign consents. ER should be Sunday or Monday! I'm getting excited!

Qotd: definately breakfast! I love all breakfast foods!

wcasar

 Finally started today. Called the office and I have baseline u/s and bloodwork tomorrow morning. Cramping like crazy, but excited to get this frozen transfer started.

Update: Had my ultrasound and no cysts. Yay! Started me on estrogen twice a day. I go back on Sunday for bloodwork. Tentative egg transfer day is the 27th. Obviously that may change based on my body.

QOTD: Hard choice... I love breakfast so much but I think there are more options for dinner...

kristin1k

Hi everyone! Had my baseline u/s and started stimming today! I go in for b/w on Tuesday and see where that takes me. I believe I'm still on track for ER on or around 1/21 and ET on 1/25. This process really is so intense. AF still hasn't shown up but apparently that doesn't matter. @lemonliz - I hope everything is okay!

QOTD: Definitely breakfast! Eggs, bagels, bacon, French toast casserole = YUM!!

vballbaby

Hi Penguins! Feeling incredibly icky from either the Doxy or the injects, probably both, massive headache today as well. My belly is so bloated and I always seem to have more discomfort on my right side. Living in sweats as even yoga pants hurt.  Tomorrow I go for another scan and I'm hoping and praying that those laggard follies have caught up. Will update tomorrow. I'm also looking forward to my acupuncture appt. tomorrow to relax and feel good. Good luck to the ladies with ER's coming up quick! I'm guessing mine will be Mon or Tues. Going for the gold and I have this secret hope that they will find one or two extra's hiding in there.
Edit QOTD: I love breakfast! Over easy eggs mixed with breakfast potatoes is my fave! (I have the opposite of an aversion of foods touching, LOL).

doves654

So much exciting news on here! I love to see everyone progressing!

@Buttmonkey34 I'm sorry to hear about your job, but I'm glad you have a good outlook on it.

Thanks @shaddiddynyc!

LilyHarper

@emmuffy I'm not PUPO yet, my FET is in a week! . I'm going to be in and out (we've got a family wedding this weekend) but hi everyone! Really looking forward to having to sneak off to take my endometrin starting on Saturday. Fun times. Otherwise, all is well here. QOTD: I would have to say dinner mainly because of variety, but...I can't imagine eating some dinner food at breakfast.

bkam

Good luck all! I finally got my insurance approval! I have an appt with my RE next Thursday for a preop/mock transfer. I'll stop my ocp on the 22nd and go in for baseline on the 26th. We can't go earlier because mh has to travel for work the last week of jan

QOtD - definitely breakfast food!

Sewfie

@Smootiepie, I'm sorry about your insurance, even though you expected that.

@K1111K, congrats on the cyst being gone

@RG1979, I triggered tonight too, for ER Saturday morning!

@doves654, fx for you! 

@Buttmonkey34, regardless of what happens with your job, I hope it works out for the best

@Bostongirl617, welcome to the party!

AFM, our RE was concerned that I had mild OHSS yesterday, so I went back in today and everything was clear. So either it was a little fluke, or going full-tilt high protein took care of it. Going to stick with protein for now to hopefully prevent it. The mr gave me my trigger shot tonight and we're heading to the lab for ER on Saturday!

QOTD: If you could only eat breakfast foods or dinner foods, which would you choose?
Dinner food. I like breakfast, but I just basically end up eating just bacon and carbs- I don't think I could do that full time.

.Mrs.Matt.

@buttmonkey34 ((hugs)) I'm sorry, I can't imagine worrying about your job during this process! Hopefully everything works out fine.

Seems like we are all making some serious progress! I have my 3rd scan tomorrow, hoping for some measurements. Every day that I've had to go in, we've had terrible weather. 6 to 12 inches has been predicted overnight, but I'm happy that DH and I can both work from home, so he can drive me to the appt! At least that takes some of the pressure off?

I'm trying not to think about my swelling ovaries, and I'm surprised at how uneventful this all feels. I thought it would be difficult to hide this from my coworkers, but it has been pretty easy so far!

Best of luck to everyone this week!

QOTD: Considering that we had breakfast for dinner tonight, I'll go with breakfast

MamaKakes611

Hi Ladies...

Just wanted to check in.  We're on hold still waiting for insurance.  First time was 10 days, last time was barely 48 hours.... So you know, we're just on their watch.

I'm having one of "those" days.  I got a call from one of my college BFF's last night.  She's 5 months pregnant.  Another of my college BFF's is 6 months.  High school friend is 7 months.  No one wants to say anything to me, all had "a difficult time telling me", and no one wants to invite me to showers, etc.  I'm not usually one to get down on things like this- but for some reason (perhaps between the BCP and my period for the last 2 weeks) I'm just a hormonal mess.  I love that people are so "concerned" but life has to go on- whether I like it or not.  Ugh.  Sorry for the rant - it is just so hard. 

Hopefully better news at our next check-in.  Looking like lots of follies out there

SweetieShellieH

Evening ladies Started my new dose of Synthroid Tuesday. Still taking my Estrace 3x a day. AF is still kicking around. Really hoping she'll be gone in the morning, since she started last Friday. Usually she's around for 5 days, and I'm at a week already. I keep thinking how can my lining build up when I'm still shedding the old one?? I don't know if that'll delay my FET by a few days I hope not because I'll probably cry.

tifga

FET @10 am tomorrow nervous as can be. Husband is thrilled though.

QOTD: breakfast, I have been having scrambled eggs a lot lately.

SweetieShellieH

@tifga‌ good luck!!

Bostongirl617

@K1111K Right now I am using plain greek yogurt to add some protein. I have been exploring protein powders, however most contain soy or are chocolate flavored. I love chocolate, but I don't want chocolate powered in my fruit smoothie. As a vegetarian it has been a little challenging to increase my protein intake while eliminating soy.

Today's smoothie is banana, frozen cherries, frozen strawberries, power greens (mix of spinach, baby kale, and others), a little sunflower butter and greek yogurt.  You can also use different seeds to add in protein. There are tons of smoothie recipes online, but I usually stick with a random mix of the frozen fruit and greens I can get at Costco.

Also, we have a blendtex and I think a good blender makes all the difference. No chunky bits!!!

emmuffy

@lemonliz, sorry for the added stress of your AFC. Hope you respond well and get more eggs than anticipated. Your protocol (300 Gonal + 75 Menopur) is the same as mine. FWIW, I met with my RE#1 yesterday to discuss RE#2's recommendation that I increase to 450 Gonal F and Luveris, and she convinced me this wouldn't help any futher. At some point your body just becomes saturated and higher doses of drugs won't actually yield more eggs. According to her, the b/w showed I was saturated with my IVF#1 with 300 Gonal + 75 Menopur.

vballbaby

@lemonliz my very first AFC was 5 then when I did the clomid challenge test with iui we saw 7. This ivf the first scan we saw 6, then 9 now I'm at 8. I know your pain as I also have low AMH but don't lose hope! More can def pop up even if it's just a few more! Hugs. I'm headed for my scan now and I'm just praying that the small ones have caught up with those two feaking lead follies.

Discouraged31

Hi everyone, I am being pushed to Feb due to AF not showing Good luck everyone!! 

Smootiepie

((Hugs)) to ladies that need them, @lemonliz @Discouraged31

I just got back from my u/s, and while all things are going great on the follicle front, I have some fluid in my ute.  If it doesn't go away by my next u/s on Sunday, we may have to start talking about do a freeze all cycle until things clear up.  Normally this would be NBD, but my job likely wouldn't allow for a monitored frozen cycle until April.  So I'll have to ask if there's any way to do it unmonitored (natural?), and, if not, I'll be waiting until April (

vballbaby

My scan was less than ideal. One of my big ones actually got a little smaller. Basically I'm looking at only 3 "potential" follies that are big enough since the small ones aren't doing much. They told me being cautiously optimistic they may retrieve 1-3. I'm going to stim for another day or two, and I go back tomorrow for another US and BW. It's going to be a hard decision. My egg outlook looks grim, but my lining is trilaminar at 8, and my estrogen has looked ideal each time. So...what the hell to do? Convert to IUI or have some faith and just go for it even if we only retrieve a couple of eggs. If fertilization is the issue, then ICSI will give us a chance. Ugh it's all so depressing at times. I also feel like I get different readings depending on which US tech I get, even the nurse mentioned that. 

Kbrooke06

So sorry @vballbaby‌ !! This roller coaster is awful. Hugs!
I feel like we are going to be in the same boat, with only 4 follies seen yesterday for me.

tbj1

Hi Ladies!

Update on me instead of a fresh cycle I will be doing my first frozen cycle. I go in on Monday to start the process.

QOTD: I love Breakfast foods anytime of the day. Right now, I have been eating chicken sausage and grits.

Discouraged31

Smootiepie thank you! I will still be lurking since I have to start my meds in Jan and may need tips from all of you! 

vballbaby

Seeing that necklace made me cry!

LilyHarper

@vballbaby‌ I had numbers fluctuate up and down too. If you have different people doing the scans, you can get very different results. I'm being the determinedly happy person here, and saying, hey look at that, you improved by another 50% because you went from 2 to 3. It's tough to make the decision on whether to convert or not. Have you asked your RE if they thought you were likely to respond differently on a different protocol/amount?

@Smootiepie‌ I'm doing a relatively natural FET. I had an SIS, one monitoring appointment and I'm scheduled for my FET next week. FETs are NOTHING like a fresh cycle. I didn't believe my case manager, but seriously, nothing like it.

@lemonliz‌ I'm of the belief that afc is a total crapshoot. I think the first scan is generally a better "baseline" but I know I recruited throughout. Sorry that happened, it must have been a bit of a shock and that's never a good thing to deal with.

@NariaDreaming I remember you saying your protocol was way different this time. Are they starting you on a low dosage?

@Smootiepie‌ even though you knew the insurance probably wasn't going to cover that's a bummer. It's ridiculous that they can't figure out their own coverage...if they can't how are you supposed to?

@RG1979‌ it's tough missing things bc of IF stuff.

@Buttmonkey34‌ I sympathize with the job situation. I was hired on a temporary basis this year and have no idea if I will have a position next year (but some people who are tenured are going back to full time, so it's looking unlikely) but I also feel I can't put my life on hold for that either.

eta to add a tag.

vballbaby

@lilyharper, yes you're right that technically I went from two to three (and another small follie popped up today!), but I'm not sure if that one that went from 13.3 down to 12 would be an indication that there's nothing growing in it? The nurse said they don't like to see them go down... as far as the dosage, they started me at apparently the max dose 225 gonalf and 225 menopur per day using antagonist Ganirelix with a BC prime so I'm not sure that a lupron type cycle would help. Nurse said that may quiet my ovaries even more. In other news my estrogen level came back at 706 today and they were looking for over 600 so that's a good sign. From what the nurse said, they look at the estrogen levels plus the follie sizes to determine what's going on. I'm still only on day 8, they just seem to have a grim outlook, like why not just let me stim longer and see what happens? They were talking triggering possibly tomorrow doesn't that seem TOO early??
Edited for comprehension lol

SweetieShellieH

@NariaDreaming thanks, that helps me feel less worried. 

It looks like AF is gone now, so hopefully my lining will be good on Tuesday's scan. It'll be 10 days on Estrace by then. Then I go in again Thursday and hopefully will have the date set for the FET. 

Dyork

I'm late to post, but I get to start stims tonight and I started on the doxy this morning. They did lower my gonal f dosage from 225 to 150 after having my baseline done on Wednesday. So the next thing will be blood work on Monday to check my levels. Then they'll start monitoring. QOTD: That's tough, but I'd have to say dinner food.

doves654

@LilyHarper we are cycle buddies - we have FETs on the same day! 

@Sewfie I'm so glad you didn't end up having OHSS, and FX for a great ER tomorrow!

@MamaKakes611 I hear you - it's hard not to be affected by news from others. 

@tifga I hope your FET went well! 

@NariaDreaming sounds like you have lots of follicles!

@lemonliz I really hope you still get to do ER. How stressful. Your husband sounds so sweet - your necklace sounds lovely.

@Discouraged31 so sorry to hear you're pushed out

@Smootiepie FX you don't have to do a freeze all.

@vballbaby I feel for your position. Hang in there - there's no wrong choice. 

Update for me: I went in for another baseline u/s and b/w today and my lining was 7.7. They want 8, but I have already been delayed a week, and it's close enough, so we're going forward with next steps. Tomorrow I add PIO, zithromax (ugh, last time this made me have to abruptly leave a birthday dinner and drive home, doing deep breathing to keep from barfing) and on Sunday, medrol too. My FET is on next Thursday!