April/May IVF

babylonghorn16

@wifeinraleigh28 Hi again!! Thanks for the warm welcome. Excited to get this show on the road! GL with your results!

@erica0901 same thing happened to me, except they found that out during my IUIs. Since I didn't want to wait, they let me go forward with the IUIs without the MMR vaccine. My nurse said I can just go to Walgreens and ask for it. Should be pretty simple. Planning on doing that today... FUN! Sorry you have to hold off another month  . Waiting is the worst.

AFM, had a pretty big moment with my mom last night... she's Catholic, so I was really worried about telling her I'm planning on doing IVF. Thought she would be disappointed or disown me, but I was 100% wrong. Her and my dad said they supported my decision completely and felt nothing was wrong with giving life a chance. Amen!

That we even have this option is a gift from God... hope you all remember that!!  

babylonghorn16

@calfherder Hi there! Thanks for the welcome! I'm a big Texas Longhorns fan (my alma mater), not to mention our family has a few out on the ranch. The thought was that we'd have our little baby longhorn in 2016... guess I need to update my username to babylonghorn17

babylonghorn16

@dragonfaerie Keep missing my notifications... Thank YOU also for the warm welcome!!

wifeinraleigh28

@erica0901 - Ugh, I'm sorry you're being delayed.  IF really is one delay after another.  When I needed my chicken pox (varicella) vaccine I just went to Walgreens.  I had to call around and find one that had it, since they didn't all carry it, but it was pretty simple to get done.  Hopefully rubella will be easy and quick too!  Hang in there.

@babylonghorn16 - Being able to do IVF is completely a miracle, and I am so thankful for this opportunity every day!

I hope you all are happy the weekend is finally (almost) here.  Any plans this weekend?  My grandparents are visiting from CA for the next week so we'll be pretty busy doing things with them.  They don't know about our IVF plans.  Only my mom, my best friend, and DH's dad know what we're doing... so I'm glad that it worked out so that I'm not having appointments or injections and stuff while they're here.  At this point I actually kind of enjoy being with people sometimes who don't know what we're doing.  It gives me a break from talking/thinking about it.  This is one of the reasons I never plan to tell anyone at work what we're going through.  I like going to work and not being triggered by "oh, so and so knows we're doing IVF..."

Anyway, sorry for the little rant.  I hope you all have a very lovely weekend!

dragonfaerie

@babylonghorn16 This is truly a miracle indeed! DH and I just keep marveling at the science of it all. 
@wifeinraleigh28 DH and I are doing our fancy dinner out tonight. We just got word that he is going to be getting a huge promotion in a few weeks/months (as soon as they hire his replacement) which means a big sigh of relief about the IVF debt and not wanting to work once we get our wee one! 
I'm glad you have some nice plans as well. It's cathartic for me to talk about IVF, but I definitely don't want to talk about it all the time. 

mtpbadger

I am SO glad my day is over. Lots of drama at work with micromanagement going on from someone I don't even report to. So very fun. 

@wifeinraleigh28 have a fun weekend! My sister, brother in law and 3 month old nephew are visiting from Sun to Wed so I'll spend the weekend cleaning and getting the guest room ready. They don't know we are going through IVF but all my meds are chilling in the fridge so I might have to tell them. 

@dragonfaerie that's fantastic news!! Congrats to your DH! Have a great dinner!!!  I would love to stay home for a few years but I carry the insurance and my DH is a contractor so crappy benefits but higher salary. We could afford for me to stay home but I work for the federal government and would hate to give up my benefits at this point. I might look at transitioning into a less stressful position that has a more flexible schedule even if it's a pay cut. 

Happy Friday everyone!! I'll probably be MIA with family in town and am sure I will have a lot of catching up to do next week. Good luck to all you starting stims this weekend!! Can't wait to see how everyone's doing next week 

Kellyfish79

Hi all & happy Friday! 
Had my baseline US and BW this morning.  All is good so I start Menopur tonight w/ Gonal F starting tomorrow.  Here we go! 

@babylonghorn16 Welcome!  I too am a Texas Longhorns fan! Although I live in California now, Austin will always have my heart! 

@dragonfaerie Congrats on the DH promotion and hope you have a lovely dinner date!

Mazda626

Thanks! Sounds like a good appointment. Nothing to be nervous about.

wifeinraleigh28

@dragonfaerie - That's amazing!!  Congrats on the promotion!!  I'm planning to work when we have our baby, but probably just a few hours here and there.  I'm a therapist in private practice so I have the most flexible schedule in the world (basically, when I feel like scheduling people).  It's a perfect job for having a baby.  I'm ready!

@mtpbadger - We got a separate little mini fridge when we started doing IUIs that we keep in the closet in our bedroom so we can keep the meds separate.  We were freaking out a little bit because our first IUI was around Thanksgiving and we were hosting so we knew a bajillion people would be in our house.  But I love our mini fridge now too because we can have visitors and not have to display our meds to them, haha.

@Kellyfish79 - Congrats on starting your meds!  Where in CA do you live?  I'm originally from OC.

Tulips29

Sorry for your delay @erica0901. I hope you stick around. It may seem like a long wait, but hopefully the time will pass by quickly and you can move on in this process. 
@babylonghorn16 yes, these babies sure will be loved and treasure. I look at this process as a true miracle and love that science is so advanced these days and we can hopefully all get our little miracles through this process. 
@dragonfaerie congrats to hubs on his big promotion! I hope you two had an amazing celebration last night and enjoy the rest of your weekend. What a lovely thought to not have to work when you have the baby. 
@mtpbadger @wifeinraleigh28 enjoy your weekend with your families and visitors! It's a nice distraction from this process for sure. 

AFM - I am increasing my menopur dosage tonight and adding ganirelix. I feel so bloated and crampy from the injections. It's like my ovaries are swinging in there. I have another u/s and b/w tomorrow morning and hopefully will get my trigger protocol. I'm nervous as my follicles aren't fully matured yet so I'm not sure how I'll be able to trigger so soon. We'll see tomorrow.  

ultratomato

Well last night was good exercise took my niece roller skating. Today is a baby shower for one of my good friends. I hope I can keep myself together and not get hormonal during this shower. And I pray no one asks me when I'm having a baby. Not sure how I will answer. Sunday I'm looking forward to the most we are going to a Brazilian steakhouse. This will be the last weekend I can have an alcoholic drink. Does everyone else stop drinking when they are on meds? 

Drove2u

You are brave for going to the shower. My last Drinks were last night. Went out with some friends and drank a lot of wine so now I'm done. Baseline tomorrow and won't drink again unless I get a bfn. So enjoy it!!

chickyclg

@ultratomato  you are a better person than I am, I boycotted all baby showers.

erica0901

Thanks for all of the kind words ladies. I may not be as active this upcoming month, but I will still be checking in on this board in hopes of lots of BFPs! 

On another note, I am towards the end of my first natural cycle (no meds) since September 2015. AF is due tomorrow (according to FF) and I am wondering if I should expect this cycle to be the same length as my medicated ones or my non-medicated ones. For once I did not track ovulation so I am not sure when to expect AF. Non medicated my LP is 12 days and medicated, with progesterone it's 14 days. I guess if I'm patient enough I will find out! 

calfherder

@erica0901 I'm so sorry that you are being delayed! For your question, last month was my first cycle with no meds since last year, and it is so far 3 days "late" in comparison to my regular cycles before medicated fertility treatments. I didn't do any temping so I have no idea if I even ovulated. If FF shows you ovulated then hopefully it won't be too far off for you.

calfherder

@ultratomato good luck at the shower! My doctor said to refrain from alcohol while stimming, as a precaution so it won't affect the medication or egg quality.

@dragonfaerie Congrats on your husbands promotion! That's great news!

Yay @Kellyfish79 for starting stims! I can't wait to see the updates on your progress! 

It's so exciting that some are getting started already!!! 

dragonfaerie

@wifeinraleigh28That's great that you can work your schedule how you want it! I decided that if I feel like working after baby, then I will become a nanny again and bring him/her with me. I actually have a degree in Psych and considered getting my own practice at one time. I have great respect for therapists.

@Kellyfish79 @Tulips29 @mtpbadger @calfherderThank you! I told him you guys said congrats and he just smiled and said thank you. He loves that I have this forum to talk to people.
@ultratomato Good luck today! If anyone asks when you are going to have a baby, just say "9 months after I get pregnant."

ultratomato

Thanks ladies for the advice. @dragonfaerie I will need to use that today lol.  Congrats on your husbands promotion too 

ultratomato

I also failed to mention that this friend has gone through 6 iuis to get pregnant on her 6th iui so we supported each other so I need to support her 

wifeinraleigh28

@ultratomato - I always stopped drinking once I started injections for the IUIs.  I will do the same for IVF.  While drinking seems to work to get 16 year olds pregnant I like to keep my body as healthy as possible  That's great that you are supporting your friend at her shower.  I know that once we get our BFPs we will all want the same support.  I know how hard it can be though.

@dragonfaerie - Thank you!  It took me 5 years post grad school to get my MFT license because I moved states and nothing transferred, so after putting in so much work and finally getting to a point in my career where I have a wonderful job that I love, I want to use my license as much as possible.  I paid my dues working in community mental health for very long hours with very low pay to get to this point.  I'm so glad that I can do what I currently do and have a flexible schedule once we have children!

@Tulips29 - I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed for good growth for your follies and a successful trigger/ER!!  You may be the first of us.  I'm excited to hear how everything goes!

Kellyfish79

@wifeinraleigh28  Thanks!  We live in the SF Bay area near Berkeley.  I was just down in OC a few weeks ago for a Disneyland trip.  

@calfherder Thank you! I will keep you all posted.  So far so good.  

@Tulips29 Hang in there! Hope you get to trigger soon! 

Knottie1456036854

Had a +LH surge on Friday, so I get to save my HCG trigger shot for my actual egg retrieval triggering!.  I start my twice daily Estrace on Monday, then wait for AF the next Mondayish to start the clomid, menopur and follistim.

Preemptive unrelated rant here.....Mother's day is coming up next month, and I *know* my sister and my mom and random people are going to tell me 'happy mother's day' and it totally irritates me.  I am not a mother.  I will not be pregnant at that time either, so not exactly a mother-to-be either.  My cats are cats....not kids.  I am not their mother either (That is the reason my sister always gives for wishing me a happy mother's day).  Besides the fact that I consider it to be a Hallmark holiday and won't actually celebrate it if/when I *am* a mother, I don't like the artificial inclusion at all.  For years when we weren't sure if we wanted to have kids, people tried to include me anyway.  No biggie, but this year it irritates me already.  I know they are just trying to be nice and/or supportive (if they know about our IVF situation), but it still irritates me.  Mother's day is supposed to be for mothers, not for all female adults.

I do call my sisters/SIL/mother/grandmother on Mother's day, because I know *they* celebrate it.  And I make a big social media post with pictures of all my nieces/nephew on their day of birth (I am the family photographer and have some gorgeous shots of each of them), and make everyone cry every year with a sweet celebration of motherhood via facebook.  I am not a crotchety, bitter woman. I just don't want to be artificially included in something because they think my feelings would be hurt otherwise.  This whole IVF/fertility situation is difficult, but I am a strong woman and very much do not want/need anyone's sympathy for any of it.

This having been said, I am not going to say anything to anyone other than 'thank you' because I know their hearts are in the right place and I don't actually want to hurt anyone's feelings.  And I *will* appreciate it next year if/when I *am* an actual mother.

GadgetK

Hi ladies!

I am new to these boards and wanted to introduce myself. First off, you all seem very strong and supportive and I am happy to join a wonderful group of women here.  My husband and I are embarking on our first IVF journey after TTC since late 2014. After surgery to remove my uterine septum and 3 failed IUIs, we have "graduated" to IVF as a result of unexplained infertility.  I always felt like we would have to resort to IVF in my heart of hearts and now we're here. I am trying to remain positive that we are blessed enough to have the opportunity to move onto something with greater success rates but overall nervous about the emotional roller coaster ahead.

I start stimming on 4/11 and my ER is scheduled for 4/22 so I may be in synch with a few of you. We'll hopefully do the FET early to mid June if the ER goes well.

Still trying to figure out if we should do PGS or not.  The success rates sound appealing (as does the idea of potentially "minimizing disappointment" by transferring only healthy embryos) but the OOP cost makes it a difficult decision. I would love to hear any advice from those who have or have not chosen to do PGS more along the vein of the peace of mind (is there such a thing?) from knowing exactly how many chromosomally healthy FET cycles you'll have from your ER. 

TIA!

cmm012

Hi @GadgetK .  Thank you for joining our IVF group.  My DH and I decided on PGS testing to minimize the risk of miscarriage.  I have fast growing uterine fibroids and have had two surgeries already.  I refuse to have another myomectomy; my next surgery will be a hysterectomy if intervention is needed again.  That being said, I don't know how long I will have my uterus, so we are trying to save time by implanting the embryos that are most likely to survive and develop into babies.  I am praying for two pregnancies before fibroid intervention is needed again.  PGS testing is controversial, and I hope you come up with the best decision for you.

chickyclg

Welcome @GadgetK! While everyone has a different reason/belief for PGS we skipped it for a couple reasons. *TW~child mentioned*
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 We initially decided not to do PGS on our first transfer because my RE didn't feel like we had any genetic concerns and since I only had 3 viable embryos and you do run a risk of losing healthy embryos.

My son was born with a rare spinal deformity that made us revisit the subject in December since the RE said that some spinal issues can be a genetic trait and wanted a second opinion from my sons doctor.  After meeting with his neurosurgeon we basically found out that his specific type of issue isn't genetic and is basically considered bad luck.  We consulted with the RE again in January which we again came to the decision to not do PGS since genetically we still are in the same position.

Tulips29

Good morning ladies! Hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm on my way to my appointment today and anxious to find out when I trigger. RE says it should be today or tomorrow. I got a nasty bruise on my arm from yesterday's blood draw and it's my only good vein which means today's blood test will probably suck since my bruise is literally purple. Other than that, I'm just very crampy, especially on my right side where most of the follicles are growing. It feels like jabs sometimes. Every time my husband and I hit a road bump while driving, it feels like everything inside of me rolls around lol. Is this even normal? 

@Knottie1456036854 girl, you are really strong for smiling through the happy Mother's Day wishes and just saying thank you. I know how tough it is. My husbands grandmother used to call me every Mother's Day and say the say to me. About 2 years ago I got really annoyed because we were newly married, everyone was constantly asking us when we were having kids and I knew we would have issues getting pregnant. I politely told grams that im not a mother yet but I will be very happy with her wishes when the time finally comes. I think she got the hint because she hasn't said anything since. Hang in there girl! Sending you hugs. 

@GadgetK welcome! I'm in my first IVF cycle now and after much back and forth, we decided to go with PGD. Yes, the cost is high but we decided since we're already going through this process, might as well take advantage of the testing to minimize risk of miscarriage or anything else. I hope to produce enough eggs during my ER to put them through the test and transfer only the best quality ones. Good luck with whatever you decide! 

How's everyone else doing? 

calfherder

@GadgetK Welcome to our group!!! We are going to go with the testing to avoid the possibility of MC. One thing that we considered is that an OOP FET costs more than the testing. So if doing the test will save us from having to do a second FET then the cost makes sense. It also depends on how many embryos we have. We planned on doing the testing on our last cycle, but when only 2 eggs fertilized, the doctor said it wouldn't be worth the risk of losing them to the biopsy. They didn't make it to blasts anyway, but if they had, we would have not done testing. 

Whichever you decide to do, it is your personal choice and I don't think anyone here will judge you if you decide not to test  

caseyw8784

Happy Monday everyone! (Or rather, as happy as a Monday could be? haha...) I hope everyone had a good weekend! DH and I are going on a cruise in a couple weeks, so we spent the weekend trying to get caught up on all of our shows so the DVR will be more empty for the 10 days we are gone. DH got called in for overtime yesterday, so I ended up binge watching season 1 of "Outlander" (again!) since season 2 is starting this coming weekend. Didn't feel too guilty about not. doing. anything. all weekend since the temperature dropped from 70 on Friday to 35 yesterday. and today...snow. yay 6 inches of snow. if only the ski resorts up here were still open...!

@tulips29 good luck at your appointment today! i totally know what you mean about the bruises from getting blood drawn...i sprout bruises like no other - even with a vaccination shot, i get a bruise! i haven't yet had to get more blood taken 2 days in a row, so i hope it doesn't hurt too much! Hopefully you'll get to trigger sooner rather than later - I'm sure being so crampy and stuff isn't that much fun. A friend of mine who did IVF a few years ago told me that the few days before triggering, she described that feeling as being all "jiggly" inside...lol. FX for you!

@GadgetK welcome to our group! You are right, I have found this group of ladies to be very supportive and wonderful! When I first joined, I was a complete newbie to infertility - my RE had us skip IUIs completely, so we jumped from TTC naturally straight to IVF. Reading everything that these ladies post really helps me stay level headed and less nervous knowing that there are others going through the same. We are doing PGD because my RE discovered that I'm a carrier for a genetic disease and, for us, it's the only way to get a healthy embryo. We are also hopeful that there will be a higher chance of implantation. Since one of the side effects of being a carrier for this disease is pof/early menopause, we don't know for how much longer my uterus will be "usable." When we started on our TTC journey, we had planned on having 2-3 children. Once I do my IVF cycle, I hope to produce enough eggs that even after testing, we will have enough left over to freeze to use in the future. (wishful thinking, maybe? my day 3 follicle counts tend to be upwards of 40+ for the most part, so my RE is almost expecting me to get ohss...)

More along the lines of your question re: peace of mind...definitely. Even if we didn't have the genetic factor, if we still needed IVF I think we still would have chosen PGS for peace of mind... Good luck with whatever way you decide to choose!  

ETA: words and thoughts are too hard this early on a Monday. And traffic made me late to work so I didn't get my starbucks drive-thru today. boo.  

Tulips29

@caseyw8784 haha @ feeling jiggly inside. I'm waiting for my doctor to confirm today's u/s and b/w, but it looks like trigger may be tonight and retrieval on Wednesday. So exciting about your cruise, you'll have a great time and it'll be a nice distraction from this process. And 6 inches of snow, yikes! Where do you live? Hopefully spring is coming your way soon!  

caseyw8784

@Tulips29 that's awesome that you hopefully will be triggering tonight! It'll be interesting to hear how the ER goes. I'm very excited about the cruise too...when my RE and I were talking about the timeline she said it'll be a very good distraction, and (since we're doing PGD and have to wait for that) at the most I might've been on BCPs...which isn't happening yet. so, at least I can basically forget about all this for a week and just enjoy being with DH! I live in Boston, and yesterday we got an inch of snow and today are supposed to get a lot more today. knowing New England weather, it'll all be melted by tomorrow! haha  

erica0901

***TW***

I wasn't sure if I wanted to post this because of feelings of guilt. So as some of you know DH and I took this cycle off to prepare for IVF. Well according to FF I was a day late so I thought what the hell and I tested with my last FRER and to my surprise it was a BFP!!!

I immediately called my clinic and they had me come in this morning for a beta and I just got the call that it's at 437! My progesterone however is a bit low at 7.9 so they want to start me on crinone gel. I go back on Wednesday to get my second beta. While I am excited, I totally freaking out as well.

I want to thank you ladies for all of your support and guidance and I wish for many BFPs on this board!

babylonghorn16

@Kellyfish79 glad to see some Longhorns on this thread!! 

@Knottie1456036854 I know the feeling... my husband's brothers all have children and one of their wives made a comment about our dog being our child ("We should all get MIL pictures of our kids... y'all can just get them a picture of your dog LOL..."). um, NO. Sorry, but that is silly, hurtful, and just rude. A dog is a dog. I'm it's owner... that's it (although I love him very much!). I hope you make it through this Mother's Day without any hurtful comments.

@GadgetK I am new to IVF as well! Welcome! My husband and I talked a lot about whether we wanted to do PGS testing or not... we decided to do a fresh transfer with one embryo, and if God willing we have more, then we'd do PGS testing on those before we preserve. Our decision was based the timing of the cycle, age, and the fact that neither of us have a genetic disorder. I am 26 y/o, so RE said there's only a 1/500 chance that the embryos could not be viable. A "classic" IVF cycle (w/o testing) could allow the transfer in a month and a half, whereas a "premium" IVF cycle could take up to 3 months. Although our likelihood of pregnancy goes up a little with PGS testing, we decided we are willing to take a chance and get this show on the road! Hope that helps.

AFM - patiently waiting for AF to arrive. Since I'm on my first non-medicated cycle in 3 months, so really sure when to expect. I usually have a longer cycle (36 days), but I'm hoping AF comes sooner. Hate the waiting!

Hope everyone is doing great!

caseyw8784

@erica0901 - don't feel guilty! lol. unexpected good news is sometimes the best kind...  FX for good numbers on wednesday!  

chickyclg

@erica0901 that's amazing!! Congratulations!!

calfherder

@erica0901 Don't feel guilty for posting!! That's amazing news! Congrats thanks for sharing such a happy update!   FX for a H&H 9 months!

babylonghorn16

@erica0901 totally missed your post before I commented... CONGRATS!!! That's amazing! Don't feel guilty... I wouldn't wish going through infertility on ANYONE. Only happiness for you!

dragonfaerie

@erica0901 Congratulations lady! That is so great!

cmm012

Congratulations @erica0901!  I am certainly cheering for you!

KirstenCas

Great news @erica0901!

DH and I just got back from a vacation and now the real fun begins. We were trying to get all our pre-baby jitters out, that included a little drinking  , but now we're serious.

I start estradiol (Estrace) tonight for about 2 weeks. @calfherder, did I read you were doing this instead of bcps too? This is my first protocol so I'm not sure what to expect. Hopefully the side effects aren't bad. 

Then my trial transfer and sonhysterogram on 4/16/16.

Does anyone else feel like they are annoying the heck out of your IVF nurse? I just keep coming up with questions.

erica0901

Thanks for all of kind words ladies, it's greatly appreciated!!!