March / April - IVF/FET

halips

@Tulips29  The initial meeting can be so overwhelming! But you'll get into the swing of things quickly!
I opted out of the PGS testing. RE said since we're both under 35 still, have 0 genetic disease issues and egg and sperm quality is good,  that he didn't think it was necessary. Now, if I continue to not be able to get pregnant, we may opt in if we have to do another IVF round. 
As for fresh and frozen transfers, many times people don't have a choice. In my case, with PCOS, RE was worried that having so many follicles that I could still develop OHSS. So he made me mandatory freeze all cycles. So hopefully your insurance will cover both options. If not, you can always go the protest route and tell them that the freeze is medically necessary, and hope they cover some or all of it!
Fx for good news!

mtpbadger

@tulips29 that first meeting is SO much information! I opted out of the PGS testing for the same reasons as @halips.

Met with the surgeon yesterday who will do the hysteroscopy and am scheduled for that on Friday! Then it will most likely be 2-4 weeks on estrogen pills to build my lining back up and prevent any re-growing of scar tissue if he removed a lot before re-starting the IVF process and BCPs (I'm guessing I'll get put back on them). Also he indicated that if there is a lot he has to remove, he will insert a catheter to prevent the uterus from collapsing for a week to allow it to heal - has anyone else had that done after the procedure? All the doctor's I've met with/talked to are really perplexed as to the reason I could have scar tissue since I've never had any procedures done, infections, etc. This guy said there is a possibility it could be genetic but guess he'll find out more when he gets in there!

Tulips29

@halips @mtpbadger ok, good to know I'm not the only one considering opting out of PGS. I was already tested for about 104 diseases last July, and was negative for all of them. Today both DH and I opted to do another test since my new RE tests for over 200 genetic diseases. I feel like if everything comes back negative, I'll work on convincing DH we don't need the PGS (especially since my RE doesn't feel it's necessary at this point.)

I've also got it in my head now that a frozen transfer is much better than fresh, and can't stop thinking about my insurance approving it. 

@mtpbadger I haven't had the surgery that you're referring to, but my thoughts will be with you on Friday and that all goes well! GL!

rachlee2010

@Tulips29 I also opted out of PGS testing. My dr didn't think we needed it..we are both under 35 and have no genetic issues..we did have one miscarriage but he still didn't think it was necessary for us.  
We also decided to do a frozen transfer over fresh.  The dr said it's about a 10-15% higher rate of pregnancy with frozen so we wanted any extra points we can get..especially since we only got 1 embryo at 5 days.  
Good luck with your decisions

Rachnan

We decided to do PGS even though I'm under 35 since my doctor told me she would only transfer 1 embryo instead of 2 (without PGS).  I think the cost of PGS is cheaper than having twins (we only want a singleton).

kms456

We are opting into PGS. I will be 30 in March and DH will be 31. No history of genetic diseases. We have decided we are only doing one full cycle of IVF so we wanted the absolute best chance of getting a BFP.  Success rates are higher with PGS because they only implant the best normal embryos. Our insurance doesn't cover anything so we are paying 100% OOP. We figured we are already paying about 12K to do the cycle - figured it was worth it to pay the 4K more to increase our odds even more.

thejessicanicol

@tulips29For our fresh round last year DH and I opted out of PGS because our RE didn't think we needed it. I have had a child with another marriage, we are young, and have no genetic issues. We announced to family that we were going to be doing IVF because DH really wanted everyone to know. We asked if there was any medical history we should know and since there wasn't anything we didn't want to pay for the test. (We're completely OOP.) I had a miscarriage and it turns out DH's sister had genetic testing over a year ago and didn't want to share that something came up in her results. If I could go back in time I would have paid the extra money to get genetic testing and possibly PGS. I can only give advice based on my experience but see what comes up in your genetic test results first. If there is anything weird that pops up I would do PGS.

ultratomato

So I just went for my ivf consult after 5 failed iuis and a pending 6th that I will find out next week. I think they said I will start the cycle in April or May since testing needs to be done. I don't know much about the process so I will be peeking in here to see everyone's process

capps42613

My nurse called and said that today's Progesterone level indicated that ovulation occurred. I will start Lupron injections (10u every morning) beginning tomorrow morning  

Next: wait for Lupron bleed or AF to arrive and go in for bloodwork & u/s to see if I'm ready for stimming! 

mtpbadger

@ultratomato welcome! FX that your 6th IUI is successful so you won't need to move to IVF but if you do, this is a great place to ask questions! This will by my first IVF after 3 failed IUIs and it can be overwhelming at times!

@laurenlalap that is great news your clinic is able to work with you and DH's schedule and get you in sooner to sign all the consents! That has got to be a relief!

AFM - just waiting on the call this afternoon to tell me what time the hysteroscopy will be tomorrow. The anesthesiologist's office called yesterday to go over all that fun stuff and it was this sweet older-ish lady. She asked all the standard questions to confirm I knew the procedure I was having and the reason why, etc. At the end of the call she goes "I really hope this procedure does what it needs to and you will be blessed with as many babies as you wish". It was just so unexpected and so sweet, I started tearing up and even did again when I was telling DH about it later that night.

 

Tulips29

@mtpbadger my thoughts will be with you tomorrow during the whole process. As for the sweet lady, from her mouth to God's ears! GL! 

erica0901

Good morning ladies! I may be here a bit prematurely, but I did go for my IVF consult with my RE yesterday. I am currently in my TWW (6dpiui) with my 5th and final IUI. If this cycle is not successful, I am going straight to IVF next cycle. RE went over my medication regimen as well as how the whole process works, and since I have a high AMH (8.2) I produce anywhere from 30-40 follicles per cycle we have to be careful of overstimming. RE did suggest ICISI since I have never been pregnant before and I think DH and I are going to do PGT to give us the best odds. My beta is next Friday so I will know for sure whether or not I will be moving towards IVF. I just wanted to intro incase I am joining you girls in a week

Tulips29

@erica0901 I'm hoping you won't need to move on to IVF and you'll have your bfp from your IUI! Wishing you a speedy tww!

erica0901

Thanks @Tulips29 !

mtpbadger

Thanks @tulips29!

@erica0901, FX that this IUI is successful and you won't need to join us here!

erica0901

Thanks @mtpbadger . I'm not feeling too optimistic, but I guess you never know!

ultratomato

Thanks @mtpbadger I know I will have plenty of questions 

mtpbadger

Well on my way home from the hysteroscopy and it wasn't too bad. Just had twilight sedation but almost no pain. Not the best results though. Dr thinks I have a septum or bicornuate so now I have to go for an MRI to determine which and if it is a septum go back for another hysterscopy to have that removed. He believes I'll be able to start IVF in May. 

While im bummed it's delayed even more I'm trying to stay positive that everyone on my team is being very thorough and is being positive. If it's the bicornuate there is no treatment and it won't impact getting pregnant but would put me at a higher risk for early labor. 

Now to lay on the couch and take it easy and watch some movies. 

Happy Friday everyone!!

Tulips29

@mtpbadger phew, glad that's behind you. Now you can relax and enjoy your weekend. Bummer for the delay, but it is comforting to know that you're working with a very thorough team. May seems like years away, but it'll be here before you know it! 

Rachnan

@mtpbadger it is nice they are being so thorough, you want to have the best chance at getting pregnant!

I went in this morning for US and everything is good to start shots tonight!  I'm doing 150 gonal-f and 150 menopur.  Gonal-f I'm familiar with and it's easy with the pen, but the Menopur makes me nervous!

mtpbadger

@tulips29 very glad it's behind me and if I do have to have another one, won't be as anxious since I know what to expect!

@rachnan good luck starting stims tonight! You got this!! I'm sure after a few days you will be a pro at the menopur!

Tulips29

@Rachnan how is menopur different? I'm not there yet, and I've done gonal-f before for my last iui cycle. I found gonal-f to be a bit more uncomfortable than bravelle that I did initially. I don't know why, but gonal-f felt more painful while the liquid was going into the muscle. Curious what to expect with menopur as I'll be there in a few weeks also. 

Griffin5413

Hi Ladies... I've been on the Jan/Feb board but since I just had my retrieval in Feb and doing FET in April I was thinking this could be a better board for me timing wise. A little history... never pregnant. DH had 0% morphology and ok count. RE felt like IVF was our best option. Began stims Feb 6, ER was Feb 17. We had 15 eggs: 14 were mature, 11 fertilized. We sent out 8 for testing and just found out today that 5 were good eggs. If all goes well, we have a tentative FET date of April 12.

@tulips29 - even though DH and I were not genetic carriers for anything, never been pregnant and 32/33 we still decided that we wanted to go through with the testing. Yes it's a ton of $ out of pocket! But, when we got our results back today though I'm really glad we did. 1 of the 3 eggs that didn't make it had Turners and the other 2 had extra chromosomes. While we never would have aborted after the fact, we feel in the long run it was worth it to test the eggs and know that when we transfer in April we will be using our best bet.

Griffin5413

@rachnan - menopur wasn't all that difficult. It's scary b/c you have to mix it yourself but the water solution makes the powder dissolve immediately so it wasn't bad at all. It's just a little intimidating to begin with. By the end of my stims I felt like a professional chemist. lol

Tulips29

@Griffin5413 up until last night, I was convinced I wanted to skip PGS. Last night hubs and I had a talk and he's really pushing for it. His logic is, we're already spending money on the whole process and it's been so difficult for us getting pregnant, why not take all the chances we have to ensure we have a healthy baby. I agree. We still have a few weeks to decide as I'm only on week 2 of bcp. I think in the end, we will probably do it. That means I won't have my transfer until sometime in May.

Tulips29

P.S. I guess I should add that we will see how many eggs they retrieve. I'm worried because my left ovary has not responded well to meds during iui cycles, so it may not produce any follicles and I'll only have the right one to work with. If we don't retrieve enough eggs, we might just go forward with a fresh transfer. 

Rachnan

@tulips29 It's mentioned above, but you have to mix it yourself and its injected from a regular needle (vs. pen). Definitely a little intimidating but the nurse did a demo today and I'm sure I'll have it down fast! She also mentioned it might sting more than the Gonal.

Thanks everyone for telling me it's no big deal

zantster

Happy Friday Ladies! (long post) I intro'd on the main page after migrating over the years from other groups between TTC breaks.  I thought this would be the best group to join since so many of you are very knowledgeable about the IVF process and I'm eager to give and receive support with like minded women as we wait for April.  Thanks to the OP for getting this started. 

I went to get a saline sonogram today to check on the possibility of a polyp after Gonal, Menopur, Cetrotide, bcp and the ER in January.   It was a bit crampy but fine .  Afterwards the nurse and I mapped out a timeframe that aligns with an FET in April.  It turns out there isn't a polyp.  But the uterine lining is thick and there is a large fibroid that I've decided not to have surgically removed since it's not impacting the uterine wall in the least.  Other fibroids seem to have gotten smaller as I've taken natural remedies.  

The RE tried to convince me to have the myomectomy.  But when I pointed out that I have insurance so it's not just one shot he kind of backed off.  26 eggs were retrieved at the ER.  18 were fertilized.  9 became snow babies.  The RE said that's a good number.  

DH and I also joined an NIH clinical trial on PGS effectiveness to get the opportunity at free screening.  We won't know whether our screening was PGS or conventional since it's a blind trial.  But we thought it was worth the effort cause it's free.  Also, another reason I couldn't do a myomectomy is because I have to do the FET within 90 days of the ER to be included in the clinical trial.  The recovery time would not allow for that.  Thankfully, the trial doesn't require a patient to not have fibroids so I opted out for now.  I'd prefer to not be locked into a cesarean with a myomectomy too or take two weeks off work! 

I'm so happy to be able to to share all this with you.  Thanks for allowing me to get this all out.  Best wishes to all of us!

vssbrm

Hi ladies, I'm popping in over here from Feb/March. We are in the middle of stims now ( started Monday) - 150 follistim, 150 menopure, and just started ganarelix yesterday afternoon. The nurse counted +/- 21 follies yesterday. My retrieval is looking like it will be Wednesday. We are a part of a study to see the effectiveness of PGD testing, so we will be doing a frozen transfer, which we are tentatively planning for April* 7. DX is low morph. 

@zantster is the study you guys are doing called the Star Study? That is what we are doing.

@rachnan how did starting the meds go? I feel like a pro now! So not looking forward to the trigger shot though. After 5 days worth my stomach looks like a war zone. As much as I hate it, I am a little greatful for the weight I have gained over the past year, I think the shots would hurt more with out the little bit of cushioning. 

*edited because I am loosing track of months!!

jenn6782

Hello ladies, I just introduced myself on the main board.  My husband and I have been married a bit over a year and due to severe male factor infertility we would never be able to conceive naturally.  

I've started on my Lupron on Thursday and will be adding in menopur and Follistim over the next two weeks.  Hopefully everything will go smoothly and we can go in for a ET mid March.  We haven't really discussed a possible FET date because the doc wants me to consider a mock cycle.

We are paying OOP for most of the treatment, my insurance covers a tiny sliver, and because of this we decided we are only going to try one round of IVF as that's what we can afford financially.  Because we are only going for one round, we have decided to do everything we can possible to increase the chance of success so we are doing ICSI, PGS, and the doc had recommended a mock trial then a FET.  I'm in between about a mock trial as from what little I do know about it seems to add more time to the whole journey. If any of you ladies know more I would appreciate your knowledge on this.

The doc says that he's excited about the number of my follicles, but is concerned about possibility of OHSS due to that so he has me on a high protein diet with the requirement of also drinking one 25g protein muscle milk per day.  

Anyway, so far everything seems to be going smoothly.  The BCP and Lupron has made me gained some weight and retain a lot of water and the Lupron has made me really tired, but nothing I can't handle.  I look forward to meeting all of you and embarking on this journey with you all.

zantster

@vssbrm Hi! Yes!  It is the Star Study!  How cool that you are doing it too.  I saw the brochure at my RE's late last year and me and DH decided to go for it.  The head RE nurse told me they are starting to wrap up recruitment of study participants.  We had thought about doing more IUIs since I've only had one.  But I'll be 38 this year so time is of the essence.:) By the way, I see that your ER is scheduled for Wednesday with a possible ET in early March.  I hope it all goes smoothly.  I went under anesthesia for my ER and then had to take pain meds, antibiotics, and bcp for a couple weeks.  That's why I decided on a break from the action for a while.  I don't want to make you nervous.  But I just thought you should know so you aren't caught off guard if you end up needing more recovery time than expected.  I wish I knew where we landed in the study.  But all that matters is a healthy THB at the end of it right?


@jenn6782 Sorry for your challenges but glad you are being so proactive and maximizing your chances of a successful FET.  Welcome to the board and best of luck!

capps42613

@jenn6782 welcome! Sounds like we share a lot of similarities. Our only chance of success is through IVF (Severe MFI as well). I started Lupron on Thursday too and will soon begin Follistim & Menopur once AF arrives. And it's looking like a mid-March transfer here too. Cycle buddies!!  

vssbrm

@zantster I need to update my signature, since we decided to do the star study we have to do a frozen transfer. So now we are tentatively looking at the second week in April for the transfer. I think it will be good to give myself the break - especially a break from all the needles! 
I think they wrapped up enrollment for the star study right after we applied for it, we were not sure if we wanted to do it, but we applied right away just to make sure we had the opportunity!

jenn6782

@capps42613 yay!! How is Lupron for you? I've been extremely tired on Lupron, especially not long right after the shot... Most of the time I could hardly keep my eyes open.  Are you guys doing a fresh transfer?

MrsM00re87

Hi everyone...
Just wanted to join in on the discussion of IVF cycle March/April
I will be starting my antagonist protocol IVF once my AF starts. Today was my last day of Provera to kick start my cycle. Hopefully the wait isn't too long.
I have been told I will do blood work cd 2 after AF begins, I will be stimulated with Gonal-F 112.5mg (low dose to start) starting cd 2-4, will start Cetrotide 250mg beginning day 5 of stimulation. ultrasound monitoring stimulation day 7, 9, 11 (if needed). Egg Retrieval (tentatively March 17?), Egg transfer 3/5 days (tentatively March, 19?/March 21?) depending on fertilization quality. Followed by Crione 8% suppositories 2x daily. yuk!
Looking for some cycle buddies.

zantster

@vssbrm That's good that you're giving yourself some more time too.  This process has definitely been better for me when I give myself time to adjust as needed.  My transfer will be around the third or fourth week in April based on what the nurse mapped out and depending on when AF shows.  Maybe we'll end up cycle buddies!

@MrsM00re87 welcome to the board and best of luck on your journey

Rachnan

@vssbrm everything went fine last night. The menopur was a little tricky and did sting more than the gonal, but I'm sure we'll get the hang of it! I can totally do this for 10 days (or whatever it ends up being). Sounds like you're well on your way to a nice ER, fx for you!

emgem819

Hi ladies!

Looks like some of you are familiar "faces" from other boards but I wanted to introduce myself as it looks like I'll be joining this board as well!

We just finished our second failed iui and our re has recommended we go straight to ivf, mostly because we are oop and already spending lots of money on stim drugs so it makes sense to just go full on with ivf and chances for success seem better.  I'm excited but also feeling very unsure about all the medicines and procedures.  Just got back from my re where we had our ivf consult and started bcp today.  Ordering meds soon and will likely start the baseline March 16th.  Also stressing a bit because dh and I are having a conversation with my parents tomorrow to ask for help with $$ so if we don't get that, we will have to take out a big loan.  But it's all worth it for us, just a bit nervous about how it'll all go!  

I think I'm on the right board since likely my ER won't be til Beginning of April approximately.

Looking forward to connecting with any cycle buddies who want to share experiences through this along the way!  GL to everyone on here.

Rachnan

Welcome @emgem819, we are just moving to IVF after 5 failed IUIs.  It's a little overwhelming at first but I'm feeling really good about it all since the success rates are so much higher! We are 100% oop too and put everything on a no interest card that we expect to pay off within the 18 month time frame. I think that's the best option if you can't get the loan and you can get it paid off! 

Good luck with everything, and ask away!

Tusername

Hi everyone! I wanted to go ahead and join the IVF board a little prematurely to ask questions and see other experiences. I have my saline infused ultrasound and required blood work scheduled for Mar 7 and my ivf cycle should be sometime April-June. I'm hoping it'll be in April since we are fighting the time before DH deploys again! 
I'm so happy to have a support system on here.