May IUI

paigeed

@LadyMillil I'm sorry about the BFN. Hugs. Also, I'm so hopeful for you that IVF will be successful for you!

wifeinraleigh28

I'm sorry @LadyMillil  best of luck with the new job and moving!

LeFemmeViolette

Well it's a BFN for IUI #2. : (

Not totally surprising, but sucky nonetheless.

I think I'll chat with my RE about increasing my Follistim so maybe I make oodles of eggs instead of just a couple. Also, our eventual plan for IVF is to get all our ducks in a row so that we can start prepping for IVF as soon as we're back from our California trip late August. In between now and the time we leave, we'll keep doing IUIs, but I want to wait until we're back to do IVF in case there are complications.

Fingers crossed for everyone else this month!!

BornReady

@LeFemmeViolette So sorry about the BFN, it sucks. I haven't tested yet, didn't test out my trigger. I think I'll just go to my beta on Saturday and see what happens. I thought I'd skip with a BFN, but was told I had to go regardless, so I figure I might as well. Good luck moving forward.

Monica54321

@LadyMillil & @LeFemmeViolette - So sorry to hear about your BFNs   Sending lots of love to you both!

freudianmamma

@LadyMillil and @LeFemmeViolette sorry to hear about this month's IUI results.  Keeping you guys in my thoughts today.

 @BornReady that is a tough call trying to decide between giving yourself a little break and requesting clomid/TI.  My gut reaction was to say take a little break. This is probably in part because clomid/follistim/TI for me has proven to result in cysts after the cycle which caused delays to the next cycle.  That may not happen for you though!  My RE says it happens to 1 in 10.  

 @Monica54321 I am sorry to hear about the potential allergy!  It sounds like IVF is a promising option for you guys.  I can relate a little to your situation.  I have a chocolate cyst that is painful with the medications that I have been given so far. A main reason we are going to move to IVF next is because of the pain I am feeling and the low chances that the TI cyles give us compared to IVF.  

 @madasm0530 hurry up AF!!!

wifeinraleigh28

Not a good start so far this month.  So sorry @LeFemmeViolette.  @BornReady I feel you on waiting until beta rather than POAS.  If I had the option to do a beta I would definitely wait.  I hate POAS because I dread seeing one line.  Just can't deal.

I hope things turn around for this thread!

ADRIANAC1982

Question, post IUI do you guys stop taking vitamins (if you are of course)

I have been taking fertileaid, and ovaboost, + the coq10 and I just randomly though about it last night should I stop now while we wait or keep taking them!

Any suggestions are appreciated.  
Also, very weird, I only feel crampy in the evenings OR when I get stressed at work so strange! 

madasm0530

@LadyMillil, @LeFemmeViolette - So sorry about the BFNs Hopefully next month is your month. 

AFM, I was cearly only thinking of my last cycle. AF takes between 3-10 days after I end provera. That is a small eternity when waiting to start the next cycle. Grr! 

Stars2016

Hi everyone, sorry to hear about all the BFNs. I should be having my 5th IUI sometime next week. The plan was 6 before IVF for insurance  reasons. However, I got the bad news today that my FSH skyrocketed to a high number. I'm still in complete shock because I am only 29 and for the last 6 months it has been normal. The RE didn't sound like there was no hope and is still going through with the IUI, but all the research I looked at online is heartbreaking. Waiting to hear back from the nurse to answer some questions.

Monica54321

May IUI Tracker

freudianmamma

@Stars2016 that is alarming about the FSH - sorry to hear that.  could it be that this month was a one-time thing?

ASM:  DH and I went in for our IVF consultation yesterday.  There is a plan in place now for the future and it is making me feel better.  Except for the money we have to shell out for the shared risk program - that does not make me feel better   RE talked to us about how I would have a laproscropy done to drain my endometrioma at the beginning of the IVF cycle which should help lessen my pain and give us a better shot to retrieve the follies from that side.  So I'm feeling much more calm today then I have for awhile.  I'm day+1 into my tww for this cycle! 

roxgibbons

@LeFemmeViolette and @LadyMillil I am so sorry about the BFNs- it's so hard getting that result. Do something nice for yourselves today

@stars2016 that is so frustrating about the FSH. I imagine if your RE is not concerned that it may be fine but are you going to maybe do a repeat test? The internet is terrible sometimes. I will be 38 in July and sometimes when I research things with regards to fertility and AMH the internet makes me feel old as hell and like I should be put out to pasture  

@Monica54321 I'm glad you have a plan in place. Sometimes just having that creates so much peace in your brain space. At least now you can prepare yourself  for the next steps.

@freudianmamma Welcome to TWW. Glad you had your consult. I think if my next 2-3 IUIs (we'll see what my patience level is like) an IVF consult may be next. Glad you're feeling better!

LeFemmeViolette

I asked my RE if after two failed IUIs it made sense to increase my follistim. She said that "my cycles have been nice" and that I'd "have the same chance of conception with 2, 3, or 4 follicles and adding more follicles only increases chances of multiples, not conception."

 I feel like a good metephor is there's 4 hula hoops across the room, and i'm throwing a ping pong ball in the hopes of getting it through one of them. Wouldn't it be easier with four hoops rather than one?

Having a hard time wrapping my head around this, but I guess she's the expert...

Twomommies16

Hi everyone!  I had IUI #3 on 5/5/16 and i'm on progesterone suppositories 100mg daily for the next 10 days.
Do the side effects of the progesterone last the entire time?  I feel like the progesterone plays with your head so much  during the 2ww.  ugh i just want these symptoms to be real and not just the meds.  One week down...one to go.  Fingers crossed and baby dust to all the ladies this month.  

lady_grey

Good afternoon ladies!  

Offering Internet hugs to the BFNs.  Each month it's like opening a wound up that was just starting mend itself.  Ugh.  

@LeFemmeViolette I like your metaphor with the hula hoops! I don't entirely understand the RE's reasoning there.  But there are lots of ping pong balls going for those hoops at least?! 

As for me, on day 3 of clomid (100mg) having some hot flashes and headaches but not too bad.  I have my US and bw on weds and hopefully IUI at the end of next week.  Doing my prep today for colonoscopy tomorrow - lots of miralax and orange jello.  Yuck.  

My mother in law is coming in town tomorrow too.  A colonoscopy and mother in law visit... Not my top 2 ranking activities but hey what can you do!!!

Monica54321

@LeFemmeViolette & @lady_grey - I think it's the same magic at work that results in the single embryo and double embryo IVF transfers having about the same success rates for live births (meaning double embryo transfer doesn't significantly increase the odds of having at least 1 live baby per cycle... it only increases the risk of having MORE than 1 baby).  If the conditions are 'right' fertilization & implantation will happen (regardless if there are 1 or multiple eggs/embryos).  If the conditions are 'wrong' it doesn't matter how many eggs/embryos there are.

BornReady

@Twomommies16I have not had any side effects from my endometrim 100mg suppositories. Thank goodness! I briefly thought I was nauseous, but turns out I had a stomach bug that only last 24 hours.

Ugh, @LeFemmeViolette I don't get it either. Your logic makes sense to me.

In terms of IUI, the more I talk about it with my doctor, the less positive I feel about it. At our IVF consult yesterday we were talking statistics. My husband was saying something about IUI and said it gave a hypothetical 15-20% chance. She jumped in and was like "oh no, maybe 5%, 10% at best". Uhhh, OK. Mind you we have successfully conceived twice on our own and she even says we could conceive naturally, it would just take longer etc. The one positive is she said they are seeing 65-80% success with FET with PGS. Maybe, she was just "selling" it and talking down IUI, but it was pretty compelling.

paigeed

@twomommies16 the progesterone side effects were more emotional/physcological for me but yes they lasted the entire time I am on it. I'm sorry that it's a struggle for you right now. I wrote a whole blog post about crazy progesterone pills. 

BornReady

@lady_grey Good luck with the colonoscopy prep and the actual procedure! As I'm sure you have heard, the prep is way worse than the actual procedure.

lady_grey

That makes sense @Monica54321 - thanks!  It's like the first "condition" to the probability equation is that the environment is right.  Interesting.  Then that the eggs and sperm are good, and that they are there in the same place at the same time.  Then that the blastocyst is good and implants etc.  One event hinges on the next.  Probability is so hard!  

freudianmamma

@Twomommies16 I just started taking my progesterone 100 mg today.  Last month I remember how much better I did emotionally on the progesterone than I did with the folistim/clomid.  I was blissfully happy compared to those days.  It's so weird how these medicines effect people differently!  The physical symptoms of the progesterone were a killer though...bloating, my fingers and face are all swollen with water weight, and I am ravenously hungry every second.  

lady_grey

Thank you @BornReady !   

Monica54321

@BornReady - The clinical stats I've seen for orally medicated IUI (for women under 35 who've been TTC for 2 or more years, with no MFI) is 9%. This jumps to 14% for injectable medicated IUI. These stats are only valid for the first 3 IUIs. After #3, the odds plummet.

srh18

@LeFemmeViolette I love your hula hoop analogy!! I think @Monica54321 is right though. In fact, my RE would cancel any cycle with 5+ follies and strongly encourage cancelling at 4 due to the risk of multiples. They even reviewed info with me about selective reduction one time when I had three follies! I have asked this question a ton because I am only on 50mg of clomid and typically get 1-2 follies per cycle. I'm with you and was like "let's get like 10 in there and then it seems like less of a crap shoot". They weren't too thrilled with my suggestion lol. My re doesn't have much of a sense of humor and most days I feel like she thinks I'm pretty ridiculous. But oh well. Haha. 

@Monica54321 I'm interested in these numbers!! I've seen other ladies post the same stats but The ones published by my clinic are much different.  They gave me success rates with my PCOS dx at 20% chance per iui cycle (roughly equal to or slightly higher than a typical woman who ovulates regularly). Here's a link to their numbers by diagnosis:  https://www.shadygrovefertility.com/treatments-success/basic-treatments/intrauterine-insemination-iui

they also did a study that showed sperm count only increased chances of success up to a post-wash count of 9million. At 9+million, chances for success held at 17%. Higher counts than that did not lead to a significant difference in success rates. https://www.shadygrovefertility.com/referring-physician-resources/articles/shady-grove-fertility-presents-key-findings-american-society-reproductive-medicines-71st-annual-meeting

I definitely feel like this is one of the most frustrating parts of treatment--everyone has different info and different numbers!! I know it's also hard because everyone's situation and treatment is so different. I like my clinic's numbers--they seem more hopeful!! 

ale9687

@srh18 those %'s your clinic gave you are very close to what my re gave me as well. He said a clomid IUI cycle will give us about 20% chance, same as any normal ovulating person. Also DH post wash was 9.9mil and he said that it was fine. 

Monica54321

@srh18 - I think the  numbers I quoted were for unexplained IF. One thing the Shady Grove stats don't seem to differentiate on is oral medication vs injectables for IUI. My RE referred to using injectables as 'superovulation" - if that's a standard term (as referenced on the Shady Grove website), and that's the medication used for the red/blue/gold chart on the website, then our numbers match pretty well... 14% vs 14.8% for unexplained IF using injectables. Maybe this all does make sense, but there's so much information every clinic picks & chooses what data to highlight,  making it so confusing to us trying to decipher!

wifeinraleigh28

@srh18 The other statistics we've seen probably include everyone, despite the diagnosis, which would be why it shows a lower success rate.  It looks like PCOS is the dx with the highest chances of success with IUI, but at 16.7% (I'm only looking at the live birth % since I don't think anyone would include miscarriage in their definition of 'success') it is still so much lower than any of us would hope for.  Looks like MFI (our dx) gets a whopping 12.6%.  Yeah, I'm moving on to IVF after this.  

wifeinraleigh28

Welcome @Twomommies16!  Ugh, the progesterone.  I had all the symptoms after IUI #1 and not many at all after IUI #2.  Now, after IUI #3 I'm experiencing cramping, bloating, and a brand new one tonight: the strongest craving for cheese and crackers.  Don't get me wrong, I've always loved cheese and crackers, but I never get cravings late at night after eating dinner.  The only crackers we have in our house right now are ritz, and that just won't go with the brie.  So I'm eating brie and pretzels.  Sorry for the rant.

srh18

@Monica54321 I agree-it's all so confusing!!

@wifeinraleigh28 ivf has a significantly higher success rate so *if* you have to move on (still holding out hope for you!!!), I know the hopefulness of that will be so much better! I was only trying to give a different set of numbers than what I've seen going around...not saying iui is spectacular by any means. It actually pretty much stinks no matter how you look at it. Hope your cheese and pretzels are satisfying!

@coocoo4u thinking about you in your TWW! How are you???

NurseTMD85

I don't know what's up with the app on my phone but I definitely replied to more people in my response a few days ago and it totally cut it off in the middle. So, let me catch up  

@omarismyhomeboy Fx it was implantation bleeding! Positive thoughts!!!

@toby102008 Welcome! I have no experience with Letrozole but I wanted to wish you GL on your first round! Also... KU = knocked up. It takes a bit to get all the lingo  

@wifeinraleigh28 Making a plan is the only thing we can do. I hate having zero control over this. I hope that this is your round and you don't even need the trial!

@ladymillil Sorry for your BFNs   It gets harder to see each time. Hugs!

@LeFemmeViolette Sorry for your BFN also!! If it makes you feel any better my RE says the same thing about the chance of multiples. My cycles have been perfect each time with three follicles. Any more and they would cancel so I don't become the next octomom  My RE said he went forward against his better judgement with a woman who had 6 follicles and she ended up having 6 babies  

@adrianac1982 My RE has me taking prenatal vitamins. I've been taking them since November before I even started my treatments and was told to continue everyday. I'm not familiar with the vitamins you're taking but I would assume the same.

@stars2016 Sorry to see you again on this thread. Our RE wanted to move to IVF after the second failed attempt but the insurance company is also making us do 6. And we had to pay OOP for three of them. But I guess I'm thankful that we have coverage at all and that we have finally reached our final IUI. I hope it works out for you. Worse case scenario you have to do one final (pointless - I) IUI

@freudianmamma Fx for this round!!! But I love having a plan in place. It eases my anxiety.

@twomommies16 Progesterone is the devil. For my first 4 rounds it made me have symptoms of pregnancy the whole time. This last round.... Nothing. So I thought for sure this was it. Ended up with a BFN. So every cycle and every person is different, unfortunately. It's hard to predict the symptoms. I hope the rest of your tww goes by fast!

@lady_grey And on Friday the 13th! Good luck with all of those unpleasant event this weekend! And with the clomid - it gives me horrible hot flashes too.

AF came for me today. *sigh* I hate that bitch! So it looks like my calculations were right and my IUI will be on 5/26/16. Unless my follicles do something crazy this time. 

wifeinraleigh28

I think it's so funny, because @LeFemmeViolette and I go to the same clinic but have different primary doctors there.  My doctor wanted to be more aggressive with my meds because of our MFI and has been completely fine triggering me with 3+ follicles each time.  This last time I had at least 4 or 5 that matured by ovulation, but he said that the chance of multiples is still less than the chance of a singleton, which are all low odds to begin with, as we all know.  I've found, through these forums, that there are a lot of different philosophies out there when it comes to fertility treatments!

Glad you're able to get started with your cycle @NurseTMD85!  The best thing ever after a BFN is for AF to arrive as quickly as possible so we can move on.  FX for your 5/26 IUI!

omarismyhomeboy

@LeFemmeViolette- I know its crazy sounding but that is what my RE said to me too! She basically said she'd cancel the cycle if I had 5 mature follicles, so injectables would make me more likely to cancel, not more likely to conceive. It's frustrating but it does make sense in the end...if you are responsive to just regular meds. 

Update on me y'all: this is DEFINITELY AF. I was out all yesterday managing a conference while simultaneously email arguing with my nurse about the heaviness of my flow. Lol. She's just optimistic but I finally convinced her there is no saving this cycle (hi I have had a period since I was 13, I think I know the signs). I am going in for a baseline ultrasound this afternoon to see if there are any cysts. The last time I triggered there were cysts and I was totally crushed to cancel the whole next month...ugh..wish me luck!

Everyone else...FX! It aint over till its over

freudianmamma

@omarismyhomeboy fx for no cysts!  I had those after my first TI cycle too and had to skip all of April. so frustrating!  Hopefully there are none there for you today! 

elisam511

Hi Everyone! I am brand new to posting on the bump community forums... I saw @wifeinraleigh28 is in RALEIGH - I am too! and @LeFemmeViolette what clinic are you going to? I had my first (and hopefully ONLY) IUI done last Thursday on 05/05/16 cinco de mayo.... I had a 19mm follie and what seems to be a great progesterone result of 31.6..... on that 2ww! Happy Friday everyone!

LeFemmeViolette

@elisam511, both @wifeinraleigh28 and I are in the Raleigh area, and we're going to Carolina Conceptions. How about you?

wifeinraleigh28

Always nice to meet another Raleighite @elisam511!  Good luck with your IUI!!  Looks like you're heading into your 2nd week of the tww so the end is in sight  Like @LeFemmeViolette said, we're at Carolina Conceptions.

LeFemmeViolette

Well, AF started today, so that's good. But, man is she being a vengeful b*%#$ today. Owwww....

Went in for baseline U/S- and they gave me the green light to proceed w/ IUI #3, which, if things go the way they have for the last two, should be on/around 5/24/16.  

NurseTMD85

Thanks @wifeinraleigh28 I hope your tww is going by quick! 

@omarismyhomeboy Sucks about your BFN... But Fx for no cysts!!!

@elisam511 Fx the 1st time is the charm! Welcome!

@lefemmeviolette I have never had cramps so bad in my life as I have after each failed IUI. I'm assuming it's the prometrium. It's so horrible. Good to hear about your baseline! We'll be having our IUIs around the same time  

Speaking of where people are from... Is there anyone in or around Baltimore, Maryland?

byrneme

Hello there ladies! I hope everyone is doing well this month. About half way through my 2WW and hoping the stars aligned this month. Just heard from the RE that my 21 day progesterone level (switched from Clomid to Femara this cycle so they wanted to do the test) is a 19 so that's a big relief. This month was different - it's the first time I've surged (CD15) and haven't had to go in for an US on the follicles so hearing that I did, in fact ovulate, puts a little smile on this face.