March IVF

laurad75

@caseyw8784  I am trying to catch up with this thread after taking the wknd off but just read your post about the cetrotide needs.  You can mix the menopur and cetrotide (helpful videos are on youtube) so you only have to do one injection for both meds and use the thinner needle.  

laurad75

@mtele I also mixed - exact protocol as @Aera11.  I was nervous the first night but after that it was easy.  It was recommended in my injections class and then I asked my doctor directly if he encouraged mixing and he said it if it worked for me it was fine.  

caseyw8784

Happy Monday, everyone!  

@cmiller73 - the HORMONES! Oy! DH had bought the "doctor strange" blu-ray yesterday so we put it on last night, and then afterwards saw that one of the more recent "x-men" movies was on, and we started discussing/debating the marvel "universe" (he read the comics and watched the cartoons growing up...i didn't so everything i know about is from the movies) and apparently i got teary eyed from being frustrated at how confusing the comics could be with the alternate universes, etc....I think i freaked DH out a bit, cause he had no idea why it looked like i was about to cry!

@QsMadd - i've also noticed a decrease in appetite! 

AFM, I had another blood draw and ultrasound today. I now have 7 follicles that are 10mm+! I was a little worried that on Saturday I only had 2 that were barely bigger than 10mm, but today I'm feeling a lot better about it! I guess I have a lot more smaller follicles on both sides, cause instead of saying "10" or "9" like on Saturday, the tech just said, "follicles smaller than 10.....woah, uh, just write down 'many'..." (at my office, the techs have us fill out the sheets since they hands are kind of busy...)

Just waiting on the bloodwork to get back with my E2 level and to see if they want me to change dosage at all or not. I also called CVS Caremark, and they don't do same-day delivery (boo, lame) but they're overnighting the refill of gonal-f. i checked last night, and i know on the already used pens that i have at least 75iu left over, so i'll be fine for tonight unless my RE increases my dosage to over 300! a bit of a relief!

@laurad75 - thanks for the tip! i've gotten used to the needle, but i think i might call up my nurse and talk to her about mixing. My office doesn't really have injection classes (if a patient really wants one, they will do one, but the have the videos and the techs explain everything is much detail, but no "dry-runs" or anything)

cmiller73

@caseyw8784 hahah yes. YES! I'm on vacation this week (thankfully), the work related people who keep texting and emailing me? Yeah, they've met "Stimmed Me" and I think they will leave me alone the rest of the week hahaha. You will be amazed at the changes that happen once everything kicks in. They now say it just took me a bit longer to respond to the meds. Then it was like a tidal wave.

AFM, LAST ULTRASOUND THIS MORNING! WOOHOO! up over 25-28 follies over and now I have 3-4 that hit their requirement of 36 total diameter. Thankfully. The nurses all came in to give me a high five hahah it was cute.  They have me prepping for trigger tonight, but won't know if I am doing a combo trigger or just the lupron.  They think based on the total number of med to large follicles I will be doing a 'freeze all' and might only have the Lupron trigger tonight.  Just in case though, one of the nurses drew the good ol' bullseye on my HCG intramuscular shot location.  Looking back, I should have had DH practice a bit by administering one of my subcu stims... oh well!

Still waiting to hear back a bit later on my blood results. FX for an early morning Wednesday trip to Boston for the ER!

caseyw8784

@cmiller73 - yay for triggering! with that amount of large follicles, it's probably a good idea to do a freeze-all...so your body can heal after the ER on the off-chance you get ohss...! Is the lupron trigger subcutaneous instead of IM? didn't know that! and Boston? what clinic do you go to? do you live in the area? I live in East Boston!

rainbowwishes5

That sounds reasonable @PoeMasque. What is fsh?

beary67

Hello Everyone!  

I just started stims on Saturday and return to the RE tomorrow for blood work and an ultrasound. This is my second IVF cycle (we had a failed fresh transfer and a failed FET). 

I'm looking forward to following everyone's journey and cheering you on! 

PoeMasque

@rainbowwishes5 FSH is follicle stimulating hormone. My meds are from Israel so the names are all different. That one is called puregon which I think is the same as gonalF

caseyw8784

@beary67 - welcome! Good luck with your ultrasound tomorrow!

HottLemonade2886

@cmiller73- Yay for Trigger day! I only had a Lupron trigger too. Its easier since it is just subq and reading into it the risk for OHSS is greatly lowered since the Lupron doesn't linger in your body for 10 days like the HCG does.

@beary67 - Welcome to the group and FX for lots of big healthy eggs!

caseyw8784

Just got the portal orders...E2 is 779, and to continue taking same doses of everything and will return on Wednesday for another ultrasound. Tonight will be day 9 of stims.
(What a relief, I'm good with the dosage for Gonal-F for tonight! whew!)

LoveDontCostAThing

Had my egg retrieval this morning...went well...except I almost passed out after the anesthesia wore off.  I am a fainter in general, so that's nothing new, but never fails to freak people out.  I was groggy, but I think they said they got 13 or 14 eggs.  I made sure to ask how many were mature because that's more important.  10 mature...same as last time.  They'll call me tomorrow with fertilization numbers...we do ICSI.  Good luck everyone!

HottLemonade2886

@LoveDontCostAThing - Sounds like your retrieval went similar to mine. They told me 14 eggs but when I asked how many were mature they said they didn't know yet so I never got that number. We also did ICSI. FX for good fertilization numbers!

laurad75

10 is good!  Great news @LoveDontCostAThing. 

LoveDontCostAThing

@laurad75 -thank you

@HottLemonade2886 -when was your retrieval?  are you doing a transfer soon, or were you saying you're doing PGS?  Last time 7 out of 10 fertilized..I'm hoping more this time!  That's a pain you never found out how many mature.  Through my grogginess, I kept asking lol and the nurse went back to check.

cmiller73

@caseyw8784 whoa! So awesome you're close by  I'm in Southern New Hampshire, and my RE is in a satellite office for Brigham & Women's Hospital...all monitoring is done at my doc 20 min away, but ER and FET happen in Boston! Sooo...my trip in to the Brigham will be interesting on a Wednesday morning... FX for either a super early or mid morning ER so traffic isn't too bad!  Where do you go?? Also, congrats on your E2! Next monitoring I wouldn't be surprised if it doubled again.  I'm still amazed how once things get rolling, it goes fast!

@LoveDontCostAThing congrats!! Great numbers and fx for good news tomorrow post ICSI! I'm thinking I will be the same way with the anesthesia, for sure.  Happy all went well!

HottLemonade2886

@LoveDontCostAThing - I ended up with 7 fertilized so thats funny to hear you had that many last time. Right now we are on day 4 so no update but as of yesterday all 3 were still growing. My retrieval was this past Thursday. For me it wasn't grogginess but instead was nausea I wasn't expecting. We plan to do PGS and freeze all. I think the call telling me how many made it to biopsy/freeze will be one of the most nerve-racking calls. Are you doing fresh or frozen?

LoveDontCostAThing

@cmiller73 -thank you!  

@HottLemonade2886 -I had nausea the first ER, so I told the anesthesiologist, and he gave me medicine for starting the procedure to prevent nausea.  It did help.  I only felt a little nauseous, so they gave me some tablet...I was then able starving and ate chick filet lol.  I was definitely crampy and felt weird/ almost passed out, but all is fine now.  I am doing a fresh cycle.  I did two FETs, but have never done a fresh.  I am growing them all to 5 day to see which have the best shot.

caseyw8784

@LoveDontCostAThing - congrats on the 10 eggs with 7 mature! can't wait to hear how they are growing!

@cmiller73 - so close! lol! i know that office affiliated with BWH. (I'm hoping to use that hospital if/when i ever get pregnant!) I go to Fertility Centers of New England. My RE's office is in downtown Boston, but I usually go to the Reading office for labs and ultrasounds, it's kind of on the way to work for me, so reverse commute is much better than downtown traffic! I'm glad my E2 went up so much...Dr. Google tells me that it's still pretty low for day 9, but i guess i'm just a slow responder considering how many more follicles i have since Saturday, and also that my doctor hasn't said anything at all about being worried yet...i'm hoping for a lot more follicles on Wednesday!

HottLemonade2886

@LoveDontCostAThing - They also gave me the nausea meds in the IV because they do that for everyone and then when I got nauseous after standing up I also got the tablet. Haha! I get the feeling weird. I had some sharp pains I wasn't expecting and that came on right around the nausea. Ugh not fun but quick recovery. FX you feel better soon!

rainbowwishes5

@LoveDontCostAThing WOW!!!!! That's an incredible number!

LoveDontCostAThing

@caseyw8784 and @rainbowwishes5 thank you!  I'm not sure how many fertilize until tomorrow... the 7 fertilized was my first IVF.  FX that I have a good number tomorrow!

@HottLemonade2886 -still feeling crampy...took a nice nap.  You're right recovery is fast thankfully...the things we do to our bodies!

cmiller73

Update: Just got the marching orders. 1. Trigger at 10pm (40 units Lupron subq) 2. Hubby do his thing 3. Blood test tomorrow at 7:30a (LH check) 4. No food/drink after midnight Tuesday (clear liquids allowed til 5am) 5. Leave at 6am for Boston (yay for morning traffic on the way to ER *harumph*) 6. check in to IVF suite at 9am 7. ER! Hoping that they give us some info like @LoveDontCostAThing and @HottLemonade2886 while we are there

Last numbers from doc: E2 3467 (lots of maturing eggs in there), 25 measurable follicles with only 4-5 smaller that most likely will have immature eggs. They say we should get our collected/fertilized number on Thursday and then won't hear back until the 14th to tell us how many made it to biopsy and freeze! OMG. The waiting is going to be tough. Then 2 more weeks of waiting for PGS results. 

What am I most looking forward to? One more shot tonight and for the next few days after that! 

LoveDontCostAThing

@cmiller73 -that's great news!  and you have so many mature!!  Yes, every single step of this process is w.a.i.t.i.n.g.  I'm not doing PGS...so I have my transfer on Saturday...pleassse make it to blastocyst!!  How far is Boston for you?  Do you have to travel far for all appointments or is the ER place further?  GL!!!

cmiller73

@LoveDontCostAThing thanks! GL on Saturday! Keep us posted! Sending lots of good vibes your way for blasts

We are about an hour- hour and a half from Boston so the only real issue is that we have to head down during the morning commute.. hence the super early wake up time and drive!  My RE actually is part of Exeter Hostpital (NH) and their Center for Reproductive Care which is affiliated with Brigham and Women's Hospital.  I only have to hoof it with hubby down to Boston for ER and the FET, everything else is taken care of at the CRC which is only about 20 min from our house!

caseyw8784

@cmiller73 - yay for triggering!! and "yay" for the morning commute...I don't envy you for that part of the day! it's good that you're leaving so early! 

famiylgrl86

@cmiller73 oh too funny. I go to Brigham & women's too. My doc isn't based out of exeter though so I had to make those early morning drives for everything. 

Rachel_leigh22

For those of you who have had a failed IVF the first time and are on your second (so sorry

KGTG

There is so much going on in this thread, it makes me excited to continue stimming (somehow I think this sounds wrong )

Estradiol was at 80 after 3 days of stimming so they gave me the go ahead to add menopur and decrease gonal-f. The Menopur didn't burn as much as I thought it would, instant headache and fatigue after these two shots tonight though   . Ultrasound and bloodwork scheduled for Thursday!! 

cmiller73

@famiylgrl86 WOW. Totally small world!  Are you in NH or MA? 

caseyw8784

cmiller73 said:

@famiylgrl86 WOW. Totally small world!  Are you in NH or MA? 

yay for new england gals!

mandasd

@caseyw8784 wow E2 shot up, so glad! We've been similar thus far so I'm hoping my E2 tomorrow will be higher, I have blood and ultrasound in the morning. 

famiylgrl86

@cmiller73 I'm right over the border in nh. My insurance didn't cover ivf in NH though so that's why I'm traveling to boston.

PoeMasque

Quick question. The nurse at the clinic said something about a laxative because lots of ladies get constipated....I'm wondering if she meant during stims or after ER/during PIO shots? Anyone else get advice on keeping things loose? Clomid made me really constipated and killed during O, I'd like to avoid that this time.....

caseyw8784

@PoeMasque - i'm trying to be proactive and try to avoid getting constipated. i've been drinking lots of water (more than usual) and also some juice. i've tried mixing prune juice with apple juice and also with pomegranate juice. i found i actually like eating regular prunes better than the juice. also, the fiber gummies and fresh fruit help. my RE had told me that i can take colace or dulcolax softeners, but not the laxatives - they say that those can make you dehydrated... hope some of these help...

PoeMasque

@caseyw8784 thanks! I might pick up some fiber gummies, I had no idea those were a thing haha

HottLemonade2886

@PoeMasque - I actually had the opposite effect after ER. I think it was more from the antibiotics they put me on than anesthesia but I would stay natural and away from straight medicine laxatives unless you start feeling the need.

cmiller73

@famiylgrl86 super small world I'm right off 101! DH's insurance is out of TX so... yep, self pay all the way!

mtele

Done with my last shot! Gave the trigger tonight and have ER scheduled for Wednesday at 8:00. My report today said I have 17 measurable follies though I'm a little disappointed because there were a bunch more smaller ones that I was hoping would catch up!

@PoeMasque - I've also been taking colace as a precaution. I didn't yesterday because I was afraid of overdoing it and I think my bloating was worse! I would just stick with gentle remedies and avoid stimulant laxatives.

littledarlins

@cmiller73  Yes, TX here, too, and its all out of pocket for me.  but wait, thats because i am single.  there are policies in TX that offer IVF packages, BCBSTX has them.  Definitely worth a look!