April IVF

KLake42

@i-wanna-b-the-girl-w-most-cake I swear, the waiting is the worst! Indulge yourself however you can-- go to the movies, buy clothes, or books, or crafts, or whatever works as a treat.

@Hopeful_mom We transferred two. And while I'd be delighted to get two healthy babies, I'm nervous about a twin pregnancy! It's all still pretty surreal, though.

cmiller73

@KLake42 great news!!! Fix for that to keep going up up UP! 

@Hopeful_mom we have not told our families we are going thru IVF. They know we have been TTC naturally for a few years. I think my SIL can keep it close and not disclose. The more who know, the more people asking how things are going and sharing opinions and information. While I know it would be coming from a good place, we just didn't want that added stress of having to be social about everything, especially with it often taking several cycles/many years... 

brooklyngirl18

@fivetimesnoluck omg that's awesome!!! I'm so happy for you. 

Dragonfly6191

@hopeful_mom it depends on how many make it until tomorrow. If only 2, they will transfer both. If 3 or more, then hopefully just the 1!

2MomsHoping

@KLake42 yay for a BFP and a strong beta!!!!  

@Hopeful_mom so happy your other embabies caught up, six is awesome. 

@fivetimesnoluck congratulations on successful fertilization report.  I hope those little ones keep growing for you.

@i-wanna-b-the-girl-w-most-cake I used to wait for the beta’s for all my IUIs and then I just quit doing it.  For me it takes a lot of stress of me to get that information immediately at home rather than waiting half a day for a phone call.  

cmiller73

Hey ladies. I'm kind of freaking out right now and don't know if this has happened to anyone. 

I triggered red last night with 1/2cc of HCG and 40 units of lupron. Everything mixed well and injected fine. I went for my blood test today to check LH levels and the nurse called and said they weren't as high as they like to see them and asked again what I injected last night. I told her, she confirmed that was what I should have done and then asked questions like "were you able to inject full dose?" "Did any leak out?" And now she is consulting with the RE. My retrieval is scheduled for 8:30am tomorrow. 

Would they have me re-trigger tonight and push the retrieval to the next day? I'm going to have to fly down to the pharmacy if that's the case! 

Help! Has this happened to anyone? How did your RE handle? 

2MomsHoping

@cmiller73 I've never been checked after my trigger and haven't heard of that happening before. Please let us know what you hear from your RE!  I hear some people just don't react as strongly to lupron triggers but usually that is counteracted with a smaller dose of HCG light you had.  Fingers crossed that everything will be ok.

cmiller73

@2MomsHoping thank you and I hope all is ok. I just want the nurse to call back!! I responded fine to the lupron trigger last cycle so maybe they are just surprised this time is lower. Who knows. I just want to get these healthy eggs OUT! 

Hopeful_mom

cmiller73 that is concerning sure!  The trigger helps prepare and mature the eggs, I always have to go back in for blood work after trigger too.  Its a good point like what to do if something isn't right as they only give u the one dosage, maybe the have extra meds at the clinic?  Or you're that far from them too?
Did you do the shot or your hubby?  Its always a tricky one, once I thought I had some leak out but luckily my levels were still ok.  Hopefully your RE will be ok with the levels and you can move on.  Keep us posted.

Dragonfly6191

Just finished my fresh transfer! My embies came out with the following grades:
3AA
1BB
1BB
Ebb

There was some concern about my lining- it's very thick, but they were concerned about the way it was shaped I guess? My actual doctor recommended we transfer the Ebb on account of the lining and freeze the other 3 for a possible better lining, but the Doctor doing my transfer felt like we should transfer the 3AA. We spent a lot of time talking pros and cons and ultimately decided to go with the 3AA. Hopefully that was the right call!

They are freezing the 2 1BB's today, and will decide about the EBB tomorrow. 

cmiller73

Update: nurse just called and gave me the stats. They like LH to show between 12-15 day after shot and I was 9.5. So they went back and ran a check on my progesterone level and it was nice and HIGH! So I did surge, it just didn't produce a huge LH level. I guess??  

We are proceeding with retrieval first thing tomorrow! Thank goodness it's a Sunday otherwise the morning drive into Downtown Boston would be miserable!

cashewchicken

@cmiller73- I'm not an expert, but since you've supplemented with HCG, and the dose you've injected (5000 IU?) has been shown to be adequate for trigger, it should be okay...  This cycle I had a risk of OHSS so I triggered with 3300 IU and I still got 10 mature eggs of which all 10 fertilized and 7 made it to blast. So hopefully it's okay!  HCG acts like LH in inducing ovulation so...

cmiller73

@cashewchicken I think I injected 1000iu (used 5cc water into 10000iu bottle and then drew up 1/2cc?) my maths are super crappy right now with all these meds and today's little "hiccup" haha. I hope my results are as good as yours! I have about 20 follies. Last time 13R,11M and only 3F without ICSI so hopefully doing ICSI this time will get is more!

brooklyngirl18

@cmiller73 I'm glad you got it sorted, so scary! good luck with your retrieval.

sm05-2

Glad that's sorted, @cmiller73--good luck with your retrieval tomorrow!

i-wanna-b-the-girl-w-most-cake

@cmiller73 - I'm happy to hear it all worked out! How unnerving! BTW, you gals are super smart - all that talk about levels went WAY over my head. haha

@Dragonfly6191 - Welcome to the 2WW For me, the first 4-5 days were fine, but now that I'm at 8dp3dt, it's sheer torture. I think I'm going to test (HPT) tomorrow...I just can't handle the suspense anymore.

Hopeful_mom

i-wanna-b-the-girl-w-most-cake how have you been feeling??  hoping that second line pops up no problem for u!!  I know its tougher in the second week!

@Dragonfly6191  congrats, how exciting! sending you super sticky vibes!!  I've never heard about the shape before thats something new.  Glad you have some to freeze thats great!!  I'm usually all about the grading but not sure about yours, many places are different.  Are you going to POAS?

@cashewchicken I must've missed your update i was getting concerned!  You got 7 blasts that awesome!!  how exciting!!  Are they sending them for testing right away or waiting to bank more?

@cmiller73 so happy to see your update whew!!  Good luck tomorrow, looking forward to hearing a great update!

wanderlust14

@Dragonfly6191 I'm curious about the lining issue. Have you had a hysterosonogram? Prior to my IVF cycle, my RE did one and found an abnormality called a septum. He shaved my uterine lining down during hysteroscopy. It's not that big of a deal, people still conceive and never know they have it but I'm curious if maybe that's what they saw?

cashewchicken

@Hopeful_mom- Congrats on all 6 making to blast!  With several AA quality blasts? That's amazing!  

I hadn't really updated, I just wanted to offer a quick support to @cmiller73.  kinda been busy this week with work after taking a chunk of time off the previous week.  I sent all 7 out last week, and takes about two weeks to get the results back. Now I'm in the PGS-TWW that is just as nerve-racking as the real TWW.   The previous cycle I sent out 5 and all were abnormal, though I think part of that was because most of them started out as immature eggs and were cultured in media to maturity.  Well, I'm hoping that was the cause.    At least this time my RE feels confident enough that he mentioned about my transfer schedule.  Last cycle he didn't even suggest it, now that I think about it. 

@brooklyngirl18- I feel great, Thanks!  Felt a bit bloated, and my belly felt a bit tender through day 6, but I'm back to normal now.  So I've successfully avoided OHSS.  Maybe decreased trigger helped.  I sent my embryos for PGS testing.  Have you heard back from your clinic yet?

@fivetimesnoluck- Congrats on all 6 successfully thawed and fertilized!  I'm amazed by the quality of these DE!  My friend's DE also did great, with 5/6 fertilized and all 5 forming blasts.  And she's currently pregnant with two that she transferred (don't know whether it's 1 or 2 that stuck yet).  If only I can produce eggs this good... 

brooklyngirl18

@cashewchicken I'm so glad you're feeling good, I was worried with your high estrogen levels. I'm expecting my results back tuesday or wednesday. Right now I'm waiting for my period and feeling like it's going to be a doozy lol

cashewchicken

@Dragonfly6191- Congrats on 4 embies!  

@sm05-2- Hope your little embie is just chugging along!

@i-wanna-b-the-girl-w-most-cake- Birthday HPT sounds like a great plan!

@KLake42- Congrats on solid beta!

cashewchicken

@brooklyngirl18- Wow, turnaround time for your clinic is fast! Next week will be exciting!

Hopeful_mom

@cashewchicken we haven't had it easy and I knew we were on the same schedule and like to keep up!  I'm thrilled you were just too busy to share the good news!  I'm glad your RE is optimistic too thats awesome!  I think I was worried when I just had 2 at day 5 and then only 1 or maybe 2 would pull through but getting 4 was exciting!  Honestly I feel like my RE told the embryologist please freeze everything u can that is even close  As for the quality I had 1/ 5AA on day 5 and then on Day 6 I got another 2/ 5AA so i'm really praying.  I am concerned that the other 3 start off with a B, BUT many people have fair looking eggs that end in a healthy baby so really hoping that will be the case.  I need to talk to my RE to decide what I will be doing this cycle.  Unfortunately I am 41 so I have to get all the normies I can now as much as I wanted to transfer...I still have a feeling I will be doing another cycle, just not sure if we should try a mini stem cycle in hopes that the eggs would be stronger.  I just dont know and it doesn't see like anyone really has a thought on it one way or the other.  The one thing that is interesting is they never tell me how many mature eggs they get, maybe because i get so few they all seem to be mature  How soon do u think it will be till you get your results back?  You're so right we are in the pgs tww, how do we not have a board for that   

sm05-2

@Dragonfly6191, hope that your transfer went well and that you'll get good news during your TWW!

@i-wanna-b-the-girl-w-most-cake, fx for good results!

@cashewchicken, glad you're feeling better, and I hope the PGS testing goes well!

And nice beta, @KLake42!

@Hopeful_mom, good luck in your consult with the RE. It's encouraging that you have some embryos to think about.

AFM, I'm still waiting to hear about my little embryo--I have no idea if it made it to blast or not. Today is day 6, and I'm fearing bad news. If I don't hear anything today, I'll call tomorrow morning to see what happened. Waiting sucks!

cmiller73

Just out of retrieval and they got 24 eggs!  I couldn't be happier. Now to wait til tomorrow for the full results. After yesterday, I am so thrilled. Even the RE this morning said he was going to go in and check first and might stop the procedure and hcg trigger me to come back for a Tuesday retrieval. I'm ecstatic! 

Now to to see how many were mature and fertilize with ICSI. . Thanks for everyone's support!

cashewchicken

@Hopeful_mom- I've been going back and forth on embryo banking these days. It's definitely a great idea, but to be honest, I didn't anticipate the IVF process would be this difficult, with the ovarian reserve I had. I knew that PCOS patients are more likely to have egg quality issues, but I naively thought that since I don't really have PCOS (I have no other characteristics of PCOS besides polycystic ovaries) that I will be okay.  Besides my egg problem, clearly the first two cycles' protocol was not a great fit for me and the third one also ended up being less than ideal with my runaway estrogen level and shorter stim time than the RE originally had planned. The outcome of the last cycle ended up being not as bad as I had anticipated (so far) and I have regained some hope in the whole IVF process.  But I am exhausted. 

My RE is definitely an optimist, so I'm not sure him feeling confident something will work out is based on the data or just wishful thinking. If we get lucky and get 3-4 normal embryos then we are done. The question is what to do if we get less than < 3. We may have do another cycle, in that case.

cashewchicken

@sm05-2- Not hearing from your office I hope means that your embie is going strong!

@cmiller73- Congrats on 24 eggs! That's super promising. Hoping for many mature eggs and high fertilization rate!

Hopeful_mom

cashewchicken yep with you 100% when i first started i thought bank 5/6 normies and then move on but who knows how long of if thats going to happen 
@sm05-2- hoping its good news coming ur way on ur lil fighter!
@cmiller73- whoah thats awesome!!  can't went to hear tomorrows update, so glad everything worked out!!  Hopefully you're home and resting!

brooklyngirl18

TMi question: how long were you told to wait to have sex post retrieval? I assumed I would wait til after AF ended but I'm 12 days out from my ER and AF still hasn't arrived. asking for science of course...

sm05-2

@brooklyngirl18, I was told two days after retrieval it was fine to resume sex (but that does seem soon, doesn't it?).

AFM, this morning I learned that my embryo didn't make it to the biopsy stage. It looked good on day 3, but then had stopped progressing by day 5. I held it together when my RE gave me the news, but broke down when I told my OH.

I still feel weepy, even though I was expecting this news in a way. I'm at work, and am just trying to keep it together and get through the day.

We have a follow up with RE on May 26th to talk about next steps (and for the May cycle, I'll be doing a Clomid challenge to prove to my insurance that I'm still ovulating--hurry up, AF, and get here!). The RE did say that trying a different protocol would definitely be an option for my June cycle.

A nice consolation is that OH and me booked a short vacation in a couple of weeks--we feel like we really need one! So I will try to focus on that for at least the next few hours and not cry too much. How could something I knew might go wrong make me so emotional?!

brooklyngirl18

@sm05-2  I'm so sorry. I hope you and dh have a great trip and come up with a good plan to try again. hugs.

fivetimesnoluck

@sm05-2 I am so sorry. I hope the vacation proves to be a great distraction! 

artemis618

@sm05-2 So sorry to hear your news.  There is no way for ending up with nothing not to be disappointing *Hugs* Vacation sounds a like a perfect escape.

@cmiller73 Your ovaries are amazing - looking forward to a good fert report from you!

@cashewchicken @Hopeful_mom Banking was our initial plan as well, but so far we have one - which is better than none, but being older and maybe not being able to get any more later doesn't help anything.  It really is all such a gamble.  I don't know how long it would take to get say, 4 normals (if we even could) - and I don't honestly know if there's a number that would ever feel like "enough."

cmiller73

@sm05-2 I'm so sorry your news wasn't better.  Some time to heal and collaborate (And refresh convictions) sounds like a perfect way to prepare for next steps.  Stay strong and (hugs)

cmiller73

@brooklyngirl18 My RE gives orders which are pretty straight forward "nothing in the vagina for a week post retrieval (baths, swimming, hot tubs, sex, tampons etc..)" So I guess it depends on the hospital/clinic?

Hopeful_mom

@sm05-2  I'm so very sorry things didn't go as we hoped!  Especially when it sounds like it made it to day5 just not the blast stage.  Its so frustrating!!  We try to keep it together but we are also human, my RE I think expects it from me.  I never thought I was such a crier but this experience on top of all the hormones has done just that!!  I'm glad you have a nice trip planned to help you relax and get prepared for the next round.  I know its hard and we're all right here with you!

@brooklyngirl18 Was going to say the same thing as @cmiller73 said, my clinic gave me the same instructions.  I barely feel like i'm having sex anymore and we're trying to make a baby HA!

artemis618 Its so true and thats what i'm struggling with now too.  I never thought I wouldn't even get one normie in a bunch, so how many cycles to get to a number i'm going to feel "OK" about moving on to the next phase.  Its so hard!  And I have a feeling AF is going to arive before my results are in...need to figure out if i do another full cycle or do a mini stem cycle in hoping that producing just 2 really strong eggs would make the difference...decisions decisions, i'm just not sure...  

cmiller73

@artemis618 thanks it was a bit of a nutty one this cycle and so far (FX) it has been fruitful. The changes we made this cycle were minimal (a little less wine, a little more veggies and rest, a little less caffeine, DH worked out and was super healthy from the prime cycle to retrieval)... the differences in protocol were also pretty minimal (stimmed one day less, lower E2 at time of trigger, about 4 fewer measurable follies but were more equal in size and growth rates, triggered with 40 Lupron & 1/2cc of HCG but the lupron was premixed/diluted ... which the RE wonders if there was an issue with THAT versus the unmixed multi-dose vial I used last time which gave me good LH levels after trigger, and we used ICSI on all mature eggs...). To have your RE tell you to prepare for a "plan B retrieval if he has to stop the retrieval short" ... was pretty unexpected. I mean, I was happy that there was a plan B, but but the walk into the OR was def different than cycle #1. To then have your RE express when you wake up that your results were "unexpected" and double the number he sees from their "average patient" who is 6 years younger than you? Yesterday was the ultimate rollercoaster so far in this journey.

The fertilization results just came in and I can only say that I am SO grateful and feel very blessed. Of the 24 retrieved, 18 were mature/ICSI'd and 14 fertilized.  Based on the timing of everything, we might not get our day 5 biopsy & freeze results til MONDAY (my office closes M-F at 3p and is not open on the weekends so.... *sigh*)  #alwayswaiting

Ladies, as hard as it is, surrounding yourself with positivity does help. I know that is what I will be focusing on for the next week... power, positivity and grace, fellow warriors

Momifbysea

@sm05-2 I am so sorry. I am still crying on and off since I got the same news last Tuesday. I am glad you are taking a vacation and then meeting with your RE though. We are doing the same.

@cmiller73 wow what a great report! That is amazing! Now for another wait...

KLake42

@sm05-2 I am so sorry. I'm glad you have a vacation coming up. And it's normal to feel emotional-- we're all loaded with hormones, but the feelings are very real. Take care of yourself.

@brooklyngirl18 My clinic advised abstaining for just 48 hours after the transfer. In reality, there haven't been studies about what we should or shouldn't do, except studies that are inconclusive. There's a logical reason to think that it's a good idea not to shake things up. But there's also the fact that IVF is hard on relationships, and sex helps relationships grow stronger. So there's no evidence that sex after transfer harms your chances, but it does help with stress. 

AFM, my second beta came in strong! I was 255 at 10dp5dt, and at 14dp5dt, it came in at 1896! I'm doubling every 36 hours. So I guess it's real? 

Also, of the two embryos we froze, 1 is normal. 

We were going to do another egg retrieval cycle, and bank embryos, to maximize our chances for a sibling before my wife got much older. But my wife is out of work right now and it would exhaust our savings, so we might just rely on what we've got. I know we're incredibly fortunate.

Hopeful_mom

KLake42 awesome 2nd beta how exciting!!  Are you doing another beta or straight to US??  It does start to get real  I didn't realize you were PGS testing as well - double the great news!!  When you did the transfer then how did the RE determine which to transfer and which to freeze?  congrats on all the great news, let it just continue!!

@cmiller73 woah that is some report BIG CONGRATS to you!!!  Its so nice that someones body isn't acting their age on the inside  So when will your next report be?  I'm sure someone is still working and checking on the embabies no?  Maybe one of them can call you?  Thats how they did it at my clinic for the weekend.  Are you planning on doing testing?  How much caffeine is less?  Why did you feel the need to cut down?  And you're off to a fantastic start no reason to not be positive!!