March IVF

LoveDontCostAThing

@cmiller73 -that's funny...my schedule is opposite: I have to take the gonal F and cetrotide in the morning and menopur at night.  My timing is specific...they must be 12 hours apart.  So I've been doing 7:30am and 7:30pm.  But now, I am done...I am about to trigger...literally in a few minutes

mtele

I was told to give all meds at the same time between 7-9 each night. I've been giving them at 8 each night. I tried mixing the menopur and cetrotide last night which worked just fine but it made me nervous that it wouldn't work as well so tonight I did them all separately.

LoveDontCostAThing

@mtele -it would make me nervous to mix meds...never heard to do that before.

I just triggered, and I am now OCD because I couldn't get every drop out of the vial no matter how hard I tried.  I think it's fine because, of course, I googled.  Always something to worry about!!

mandasd

@rainbowwishes5 I'm sorry you are in so much pain that you have to tear others down. No one has ever told me I am lucky for having 3 years trying to conceive without success (not including the 2 years of not being able to conceive with my first husband). I may not have any miscarriages and everyone here has a unique journey or story to tell, but we all want the same end result. I wish you the best in your journey and accept the fact that you are unable to be as equally kind or supportive. Peace be with you. 

PoeMasque

@LoveDontCostAThing and @mtele I was told the same thing about my meds, FSH in the AM and menopur at night, 12 hours apart and to switch the sides I inject them on each day. My guess is that's to make sure that if you have a reaction to one of them that you know which one it is. This would also make me hesitant to mix any of them (plus they are subq and injecting more than 1mL into that layer of tissue sounds painful!), but if you've been injecting for several days with no problem, mixing should be fine if your clinic said they are compatable. 

famiylgrl86

I was told to just make sure I took them at the same time every day between 7-9am & 7-9pm. They also had me do gonal f at night & menapur/ cetritide am. 

So I officially have 1 baby Embryo I'm my belly!! Now hoping it stays! I have an appointment for a pregnancy test on the 15th. Bought a pregnancy test just in case I cave & want to take an early test. How early did you ladies test if you did?

famiylgrl86

@caseyw8784 ugh sorry you're having issues w/ CVS Specialty pharmacy. They were a pain for me to work with but I was hoping I was the exception. I don't know why they'd be closed all weekend, but hopefully if you call as soon as they open Monday morning they'll ship same day. Don't get off the phone with them until they do

cmiller73

Morning! Wow, so it seems like each clinic/RE have their own best practices... it's interesting to see the differences. I wonder if they base their recommendations on their specific success rates within each protocol. Hmm (don't mind me, science and logic are how I rationalize my stress...haha) I think that is one thing that I have worked real hard on understanding (and reminding myself about)... that we all are different in our situations, respond different, have differences in our protocols and the advice we get from our teams.  It's good to see what other people go through but it doesn't mean that is meant for me, or something that I will experience. This thread is a great way to share, absorb and relate to ladies in a similar space mentally and emotionally as me.  THANK YOU ALL! 

@caseyw8784 I am sorry that the pharmacy is adding stress. That must be very frustrating!  I use Freedom and am fortunate that there is an actual location within a 40 minute drive to go and pick up at.  It's not a quick in and out, but other than the time commitment, I can go day to day with meds to be more budget conscious. Get on that phone first thing Monday! FX they work hard to get you what you need.

AFM, looks like another day of stims. While frustrating on the bloating, needle sticking and 1.5hr round trip drive to get get another day of meds... my results were still moving in the right direction. Up to 22 measurable follicles (+5 from yesterday with more in the wings).  I have 1 that hits their diameter requirements for trigger (36mm) and a bunch more between 29-33mm.  The RN was hesitant to say if I had another day or a trigger tonight until they get the results back from bloodwork.  If my E2 is still going up, they will probably keep me growing one more day. If it has peaked or has begun to go down (ovaries saying 'COME ON, ITS TIME TO GO') I may trigger tonight.  

I'm trying to wrap my head around a 40 follie bloat that one of you had last week and it is BLOWING MY MIND!  With what I have? Boy, can I feel it.  Walking, they feel heavy and jostled. Everything feels FULL. Ultrasounds take longer and longer. 

Here's to waiting for my marching orders! I should hear back around 1 

cmiller73

@famiylgrl86 CONGRATS! FX for good things and great news on the 15th!

cmiller73

@LoveDontCostAThing ER tomorrow morning?!? Good luck! FX for great results!

caseyw8784

@rainbowwishes5 - thinking of you today for your ER. I hope it went well and the eggs are better quality than they predicted! looking forward to hearing the update!

IfYouCanDreamIt

LoveDontCostAThing loved reading your update, looks like you are going to have a nice number of eggs and yay for possibility of fresh transfer. 

mandasand yay for moving forward and fingers crossed for Tuesday tests!!

@rainbowwishes5 I’m so sorry, those kind of updates are so upsetting.Hope you get some better news soon xxx

@cmiller73 what an amazing response you’ve had! Good luck with the trigger!

AFM got green light after baseline, didn’t get any number just that she saw tiny follicles on both sides. I’m taking one more cetrotide for down regulation and starting stimms with 300 gonal-f. I go for bloodwork and ultrasound again on Wednesday.  

QUESTION - Does anyone have experience of taking shots at different time than usual and whether it can effect the results? 

I’ve always taken mine around 7pm but I just started a new job and I’ll be working some evenings from 4pm and would rather take my shots before work, my nurse said 3 hours difference would be too much. 

cmiller73

@IfYouCanDreamIt I usually do morning shots between 6:30a and 7, and night between 9-10p.  Other day DH and I went to a comedy show and got home around 11 and I rushed to get it done, but based on my results, there was no real difference in the results over the next day or so... congrats on the new job!

HottLemonade2886

@caseyw8784 @cmiller73 @mandasand So glad you are all having great responses!

@rainbowwishes5 GL today! Hoping for good eggs and a speedy recovery!

@LoveDontCostAThing GL tomorrow!

@famiylgrl86 Yay for being PUPO! Do you know the gender of the embryo since you did PGS or did you decide to not find out?

AFM Got the embryo update for day 3. Still have all 7 embryos in the game. The day 2 call got me a little worried since they told me only 6 out of the 7 that fertilized were still growing up but they said the 7th might pick up. I read that sometimes when using testicular sperm they can be slower to respond. I was hoping we still had all 6 but hearing we are back to 7 has me dancing. Haha! Won't get another report until after they do the biopsies so most likely won't hear until Wednesday. That call will probably be one of the most nerve racking since I know a big drop-off can happen between day 4 and 5.

Aera11

@mtele I mixed my meds! It was super easy & my dr/nurse recommended it so I'd have less injections.  It was Gonal f & menopur at first, then I added in cetrotide.  Ovidrel was still separate.

STO210

@mandasand - I am laughing about your husband questioning the measurements because mine does the same thing!  The minute the doctor walks out, he is like "that doesn't even make any sense"?!

@cmiller73 - Great results, 22 follicles, that is amazing!  Do you think you will trigger tomorrow and have the ER on Wednesday?  My ER is Tuesday, so sounds like we have similar timing.  What is the range of size of your follicles?  I was concerned about the ones I have over 25, but it seems your doctor is waiting for them to be larger than that so I was glad to read your post :-)

@IfYouCanDreamIt - The instructions I received regarding timing was to do them within an hour of each other each night.  So if you previously did them at 7pm, perhaps move to 6pm one night, 5pm the next night, etc.  I have zero medical training, so I would definitely check with your doctor, and you may have to take them at work which is annoying.

As for timing, I am told to do all shots: Menapur, Gonal, Omnitrope, and Cetrotide between 6pm and 10pm.  I have never been instructed to do morning shots, so every office is different.  We always do them right at 6pm to get it over with and then have dinner.  We also go to bed early, so I will have to set the alarm for 10pm trigger tonight!  

rainbowwishes5

@IfYouCanDreamIt can you move the times up gradually??? Like 30 min a day?

@caseyw8784 and @HottLemonade2886 thanks! 

Afm- 4 eggs. 

mandasd

My coordinator said to do shots before 9 am and 9 pm, around the same time every day. I've been tracking the time of each injection on my calendar since I get fuzzier and fuzzier the longer I do injections. Morning shots are between 7:30-7:45 except on bloodwork days, which I can usually be back to the house by 8:30. Evening shots are between 6:45-7:00. I am glad I've been writing it all down.

This morning I had 2 shots, meno and granelix. The granelix stings really bad and caused a red a huge red irritation, an hour later it's still there. My acupuncturist gave me castor oil which helps soothe the skin so I will rub some on and hopefully feel better. I'm a little fuzzy headed this morning! 

@HottLemonade2886 great report thus far - grow embies, grow! @cmiller73 wow! Awesome numbers!

IfYouCanDreamIt

cmiller73STO210rainbowwishes5 the secretary of my RE just called me back and said if it’s just one time I can go ahead and take it just before 4 and then the next day do at regular time. Since I’m only starting stimming, I’ll do at 6pm and then tomorrow at 4pm. I much rather have 2 hour difference than risk of not being able to do at time or simply forgetting in the rush at work. 

HottLemonade2886

@mandasand the ganirelix burned once for me. I think it was my second day. I also had some itchy red irritation at the site for a while after giving that shot each time. Then in the morning I would have a bruise in the area. Only one that gave me a bruise.

I wasn't given a range of time to give my shots. I was just told pick a time each night and try to do them around that time each day but if one night that didn't work it was okay to change the time. I did them at 6:30pm each night since it was a good time after dinner but early enough that if I crashed and took a nap it wouldn't interfere with shots.

LoveDontCostAThing

Hey everyone!  I have to be at the dr. for my ER tomorrow at 8:45am!  Thank you for the good lucks

@cmiller73 -that's great...you have so many follies!  Your clinic wants your follicles to be a lot bigger than my clinic for trigger...it's interesting how places vary.  Out of curiosity, what does everyone's clinic consider a "mature follicle" OR big enough for trigger?  I know they can grow between trigger and retrieval!

STO210

@LoveDontCostAThing - Best wishes for tomorrow, keep us posted!

LoveDontCostAThing

Ohh yea...I wanted to ask if anyone else's dr. tells you when to have sex lol.  I always find it funny when they do and tell my husband it's "doctor's orders."  They instructed us to have sex last night, and then to have my husband "abstain" until tomorrow morning...I guess so his sperm is fresh...lol...just a side, funny thing.

mandasd

Oh geez! My husband won't come near me, he says he doesn't want to "bust a follicle" I told him that's not even possible! But he's scared of me right now being a human egg incubator! Haha! 

cmiller73

@STO210 Off the phone with my RN for orders (stimming ONE. MORE. DAY. UGH) I have some good sized ones... so I'm assuming all docs measure the same, so I have 1 at a 36mm (its like 19x17) 2 at 32mm and 3-4 at 31 and more on down the line.  

My E2 hit 2547! with progesterone at 1.1 (good they say?) and believe if I get one more follie to grow 4mm, they will trigger me tomorrow with a Wednesday ER. 

Last minute call into the pharmacy for an emergency refill and pickup... now out to the car and to RUSH down (aka the hour and a half rush).

LoveDontCostAThing

@mandasand -lol!  I have to say the sex wasn't exactly comfortable...I kind of felt like a follicle would bust.  One of my dogs is a jumper and I swear his paw always hit the ovary...I keep telling him not to disturb my follicles!

@cmiller73- My dr. likes them to be in the early 20s (mm, that is)...I didn't even know they grew to the 30s!!  How big do you think they are, like to the naked eye?  I keep trying to picture them lol...I read maybe a grain of sand??  But on a ruler mm are bigger #confused

DungeonTrollMel

@LoveDontCostAThing my office specifically said we WeRENT allowed to have sex because of torsion risk. He needed "clear the pipes" another way for a fresh speciemen

@cmiller73 that was me. I had my delightful PCOS ovaries blow up. Sitting on stools hurt by the last couple of days. Walking was difficult. It was a waddle

PoeMasque

wow, this board is hopping! woot! 

@IfYouCanDreamIt are you starting stims tomorrow? If so we are cycle buddies

AFM - baseline US was great this morning and estradiol was nice and low. We start FSH 225 and menopur 225 tomorrow. The previous US showed only 6 follicles on each ovary and today ther were 12 on my left and 9 on my right (yay!). The RE says that's on the low side for my age (boo!), so we still have to do the "aggressive" protocol. 

I have a question though, I stopped BCPs on wednesday, had mild cramping with dark red spotting/light bleeding friday and saturday, they said that was probably my "period" and was fine, but when we got home from the clinic this morning I started having my regular period bleeding/cramping. Is that normal? I thought the nurse said they didn't like to have people bleeding during stims....so now I'm worried that I am messing up my lining by bleeding the first few days of stims. 

@LoveDontCostAThing we were told no sex due to risk of torsion, so my SO is on his own! haha!

mtele

@Aera11 - Glad to hear someone else mixed meds! I ended up doing them separately last night because it made me nervous! Thankfully the cetrotide didn’t hurt that much anyway!

@famiylgrl86 - So exciting! FX for that little embaby!

@LoveDontCostAThing - Good luck tomorrow!

@PoeMasque - My clinic told me you may or may not have bleeding after stopping BCPs. I had bleeding starting on stim day 1 which was almost like a regular period, but a little lighter and shorter.

My clinic hasn’t told me a specific size for a trigger. My biggest this morning is 20 mm and I still have a bunch in the 7-9 mm range. My initial calendar had me triggering tonight, but I will be stimming for at least one more day. My estradiol is 928, and they have had me on low doses the whole time. Not sure how much longer I’ll end up going (today is day 10).

rainbowwishes5

@LoveDontCostAThing gl!
@PoeMasque what is "aggressive" per your clinic?

cmiller73

@DungeonTrollMel yep.  I can't see how they could have me stim any longer. It is most certainly uncomfortable. My DH now knows not to mess with me unless I have my heating pad on my tummy.  

@LoveDontCostAThing I have no idea how big! All I know is as I walk, they droop and jiggle and make their presence known. So your RE wants the total diameter to be 20mm? like a 13x7? or a 10x10? So interesting how different each doc's protocol and orders are...

caseyw8784

@PoeMasque - i had my withdrawal period start on stim day #2...but it was only a couple days (when normally it's 4-5 days)....i also was wondering if it would screw up the stim cycle at all but no one seemed that it would... yay and good luck for starting stims tomorrow!

My RE "recommended" no sex during the stim cycle due to the torsion risk, and honestly, with the way the shots make me feel, sex is the last thing on my mind at the moment...

LoveDontCostAThing

Thanks for the good lucks!  Clearly, my clinic doesn't care about torsion risk because they told me to have sex...lol weird.

@cmiller73 -I don't know about total diameter?  That's the first I've heard of diameter...come to think of it, I think on the ultrasound screen it said diameter, but I didn't know what it meant.  They just tell me the follicle size.

PoeMasque

@rainbowwishes5 I'm starting on 225 FSH and 225 menopur, adding Ganirelix next Monday. They said we might taper meds down depending on how I respond. I'm hoping they do because we are two days short on the Menopur if I have to take the full 225 the entire time. 

cmiller73

@LoveDontCostAThing My RNs show me the measurements when we review, and they'll say "Oh you have one at 36" and point to the 19x17mm telling me you add the two measurements together for the total diameter... "you have 3-4 here at 31" etc... I assumed they all talked to us the same! HA! I'm sure my protocol and 'benchmarks' have something to do with my age, 43, although my FSH at day 3 testing was a 6 (my doc was super excited) and looked at my DH and I and said 'let's do this, you got the ovaries of a 30 year old'. We have no known reason for our infertility (probably timing/age/normalcy of egg/sperm combo on any given month...)

DEF feel the hormones: cranky and emotional... oh, and over-analytical? Time to take my (HOPEFULLY) last Gonal and watch some Expanse before crashing for yet another 7am ultrasound and blood draw.

'Night ladies!

Rachel_leigh22

@cmiller73 yeah I was told to take my lupron and gonal between 7-9pm 

krenee124

@kenneyjn I am doing a FET this round. Failed fresh cycle last month. Started bleeding 9dp5dt and got negative beta on day 10. Waiting for full flow to start so I can start the estrogen & baby aspirin - it's been almost a week since negative beta. Waiting ... this might be worse than the TWW! 

QsMadd

So many posts! I have been busy this weekend and haven't had time to scroll through them all. I hope everyone ER's have been going well! I am thinking mine will be Wednesday or Thursday.

I had ultrasounds yesterday and today. Started the ganirelix yesterday.

The shadow (possible polyp) is still there. My nurse said she talked to my RE and he said he really doesn't think it is a true polyp because I just had the hysteroscopy. He told her he didn't think my polyps could come back that quickly and is assuming it is my endometrial lining getting thicker in one area early (since I have polypoid endometrium, it could be that the more polypoid areas are responding faster to the hormones).

He said he will not diverge from the fresh cycle because otherwise I am doing very well. I took it as good news but I am still a little worried. 

I took some time today to walk to our local animal shelter and played with some dogs. Also let a cat fall asleep in my lap for an hour....animal therapy is the best therapy! Me and DH are also planning a weekend getaway during my TWW so we can unwind from all this.

I am feeling so full and uncomfortable that it is has started to become difficult to get an appetite. I have been forcing myself to eat...luckily, I am craving fruits and veggies, so it helps with the bloating.
 
I will be so excited when they transfer the embryos (or blastocysts)! Good luck everyone!

mandasd

@QsMadd I know that full feeling! Even my yoga pants are getting uncomfortable! Since I've been off work the whole week, mostly lounging and eating, I thought I had gained weight but I actually lost 5 lbs! I'm sure it is just water weight because I'm pretty sure I'm dehydrated a little even though I'm drinking tons of water - it's the medication! 

I do have to to go into the office tomorrow because I have three candidates I need to interview for an open position I have, and I need to give a training session to some recent new hires. I'm not really looking forward to it since I'm feeling so bloated and I'm suffering from headaches. I know my VP will acost me as soon as she comes in, she's relentless and demanding. Good news is I'm scheduled out of the office the remainder of the week and getting excited for ER Friday. 

gwinnyblack

i have already started stimming, my donor is stimming at the same time with me. in an approx 2.5 weeks I am having the ET. It is not going to be FET obviously but I actually have planned it to be FET some time ago. ALthought I was convinced that fresh round is better. 
Good luck to everyone!
Hopefully this is our month!