June FET

prudence9-2

Thanks @momma6angels11 & @cmiller73 just picked up the last prescription I'd need for this cycle... so now I've got everything... the patches, Lupron, medrol, Valium and my good old friend PIO. 

I just wish we would know why the last FET ended the way it did. To make sure it won't happen again. But I'm starting to realize, I will not get any answers...

brooklyngirl18

@cashewchicken I'm with you and not being able to focus at work. It's been slower than usual for me too and it's driving me insane.
@Prudence9 I hope you have a good talk with your re and start up. 

I stopped bcp wednesday night and woke up with a full blown period unexpectedly. I mean, it makes sense I was on it for about 10 days but it didn't occur to me that I'd bleed when I stopped. I'm just blah today.

prudence9-2

@brooklyngirl18 you stopped BCP on Wed and woke up with a period on Thurs??? or was it today that you got it? One day *does* sound a little early... Did you ask someone in your clinic about it?

Hopeful_mom

Hi Ladies!!

In hoping to be a part of this June FET for real!!!  Its first trigger time for me and ER on Tuesday.  I'm a bit nervous as I have 8 follies showing but only have the 5 that are measuring from 16 - 20.5  My 3 bigger ones are on the left.  I have another 3 on the left but they are smaller 10 and 11.  And they're not giving me any more meds for them so that I don't loose my bigger ones.  Just makes it concerning as my odds become less.  Lets hope all 5 are super strong!!  Just keep thinking positive thoughts for me ladies it worked last time 

prudence9-2

@Hopeful_mom hope you will be part of June FET!!! 

Ive decided not to wait for the RE phone call on Wed and just start the Lupron injections tomorrow. If anything changes after we talk, I could always stop the injections. 

So if all goes well, I'm on track for an FET during the week of June 12th. 

momma6angels11

@Hopeful_mom that is awesome! Praying all five are strong eggs
@Prudence9 i hope this fet goes much better! I will be praying for you!

brooklyngirl18

@prudence9 I woke up saturday morning with a period, sorry that wasn't clear.

brooklyngirl18

@hopeful_mom good luck tuesday!! and fx you get a bunch of good healthy embryos and a june fet. 
@prudence9 yay for starting lupron, I think that's a good plan. hopefully you won't need to stop taking them for any reason. 

prudence9-2

@momma6angels11 thanks
@brooklyngirl18 ah, that is what expected... 3-5 days after you stop BCP you're suppose to get your period. 

prudence9-2

@brooklyngirl18 yeah, I'm excited to start again. Hope it will work out this time 

brooklyngirl18

@prudence9 yep I've been on and off the pill many times but for some reason it didn't occur to me that's I'd get a period because I was only on it 2 weeks. brain fart moment lol

prudence9-2

@brooklyngirl18 haha!  are you doing a medicated or non medicated FET? I'm suppose to take the last pill on Sat... 

prudence9-2

Anyone on here using Lupron? This is one of my least favorite injections. First, the needle never seem to easily get into my skin (I should be happy it's such a tiny needle. But i need to fight to get it in). And second it's burning and I have a rush afterwards. 

With that said, glad I finally started the cycle! 

brooklyngirl18

@prudence9 it's a medicated cycle. I started estrace last night and take that for 3 weeks, and pio of course ugh. I took lupron during my ivf cycle and didn't have those symptoms you mentioned. maybe you're having a reaction to it?? The one main reaction I had from lupron was terrible headaches. 

prudence9-2

@brooklyngirl18 yeah I think I'm allergic to it or something. The rush does go away after 1 hour or so...

I'm also having a medicated cycle. I started with Lupron today and in 6 days will take the last BCP. So I'm "scheduled" to have period around next Wed with Baseline appt next Thurs (and that's probably when I'll start with the patches). 

cashewchicken

@Prudence9- The first two cycles I did a dual trigger with lupron and HCG and the next day my belly was covered in rash.  I thought it was because of urine-derived HCG as I heard that urinary HCG causes reaction in some patients.  Lupron at a small dose didn't cause any reaction so I didn't think it was lupron, but maybe it's dose dependent.  For me, the worst medication was ganirelix. Oh that medicine burned for about 5 minutes after injection!

So excited that your FET is coming up soon!  I'm still waiting for my AF (hopefully next week) and I'll get to start bcp and everything. 

@Hopeful_mom- Hope your retrieval is as successful as it was last time!  

thucks

OMG my DH is being so stubborn.  My goal is not to have another set of twins but to be on FET #6 maybe we should look at transferring 2. He is soooo against it it's crazy!! We have a phone apt with the RE today to make a decision as to how many to thaw/transfer. It's making it kinda hard cause there is a odd number of embryos. I don't know if we can come to an agreement on this ahh. 

GL today on your retrieval @Hopeful_mom

prudence9-2

@cashewchicken yeah, I didn't like ganirelix as well but with Lupron it's burning as I inject. The rush does go away. So I'm not going to worry about it. FX you'll get your period soon!

@thucks  good luck at the phone appt today. Hope you can all come to an agreement!

@Hopeful_mom  I hope the retrieval went well!!!

thucks

OMG I was on the phone at work when the doc called, luckily my DH was here.  I'm dealing with a pain in the butt realtor and all I hear is I don't understand what the heck is going on why don't we just transfer the 3 that's left. I'm surprised my DH didn't have a heart attach. I was like I am so not ok with that. We decided we will thaw all 3 decided the day of transfer if we want to transfer 2 or 1 then watch the remainder for a day and if it looks good refreeze it.  Still scheduled for June 8th stop BCP on Friday and start patches Saturday. 

Stairbear

Introduction -- WARNING (child and loss mentioned).

Hi everyone -- I am gearing up for a June FET, and I've been lurking here for the past couple of days, so I thought I would introduce myself. Most of this belongs in my siggy (got to figure that out), but: I'm 40. Have one child, age 4. Been TTC #2 for 2.5 years. Did two IUIs, got pregnant on the second, and then had a miscarriage. Then switched to IVF, did two cycles, PGS tested all embryos both times, all abnormal.

Then I switched doctors because a friend of mine who is an RE told me that my egg retrieval numbers sounded off (the original doctor wasn't retrieving enough eggs, given what my follicle count and estradiol numbers indicated). So I started going to my friend (!), even though his office is very inconvenient for me, and on our first IVF cycle, he got more eggs than the previous doctor had gotten in the first two cycles combined. Three of the embryos tested normal -- hooray! Then had to have surgery for a ginormous ovarian cyst in April. Now all healed up from that and ready to get this show on the road. I am cycle day 4, and I go in tomorrow to check things out. Aiming for an early June transfer.

Good luck to everyone on here! Wishing everyone an easy TWW (no such thing, I know) and then good news at the end of it.

cmiller73

@Stairbear Welcome! Good Luck today

AFM, I am 2 days away from stopping BCP and then next Monday go in for bloodwork. Should be starting Estrace then (or shortly day after) and also hoping for an early June transfer of our Lucky #10 beautifully normal PGS embie

prudence9-2

@Stairbear welcome and good luck today!!

@cmiller73 I'm just a day behind you. I'm suppose to stop BCP on Sat. 

AFM... I have my scheduled phone call with the RE today. So if all goes well, I will continue as planned. 

thucks

@Prudence9 and @cmiller73 we are within days of each other. I stop BCP on Friday and start estrace patches Sat with baseline apt Monday and FET on the 8th. 
@Stairbear GL and welcome. 

Does anyone know how to do the spreadsheets? 

Hopeful_mom

Hi ladies...Not really sure if June is going to be my month either ugh!! ER was ok but not as expected, I was hoping my body would surprise me with an extra like last time but instead my largest follie was empty and gave me nothing   First time thats happened so I couldn't not stop crying after retrieval. So I only got 4 eggs and 1 of the 4 didn't seem as mature...which makes my anger grow as I could've stemmed another day making it mature especially since the big one I triggered for was empty.  

3 of them fertilized which I'm happy about but they still have along way to go to be biopsied.  I hate that I'm so down about it when I should be hopeful but the thought of doing another ivf cycle does not excite me in the slightest.   I will wait to see if these 3 make it and take it from there.  I really should've just done a fresh transfer with this batch since there are so few.  Every egg counts so i'm just frustrated that they sacrificed the smaller one for the bigger one and lost both in the end.

Cowboycorgi

@hopefulmom, I'm so sorry to hear that! I hope that all 3 continue to grow and come back normal so you don't have to go through another round.

cashewchicken

@thucks- Your FET is coming up soon!  Is your idea to thaw all 3 and pick the best 1 or 2 for transfer?  Sounds like a plan!

@Stairbear- Welcome!  I'm amazed to read all the stories of how the protocol makes all the difference.  Hope your appointment went well today.

@Hopeful_mom- I'm sorry to hear that you have less embryo than expected, but hope that all 3 make it to blast!

AFM- I've now gone to 2 acupuncture sessions and my acupuncturist saw my nails and mentioned that I may be vitamin B12 deficient.  I googled it and have some other symptoms that may be related to B12 deficiency and apparently patients taking metformin are known to have this deficiency problem.  Going to go in for blood test tomorrow to check things out.  

thucks

@cashewchicken Yeah that's the plan we've done this twice before once we only transferred 1 and the other didn't make it to refreeze. The second time we transferred both. I've never had a frostie hatching so if 1 is actually hatching we will for sure only transfer that 1 but if 2 are mediocre we will transfer 2 but I can't wrap my mind around doing all 3. 

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

thucks I hear that. When I had my xfer last month, RE asked if we wanted to xfer 3 and I about fell off the hospital bed. I guess she was willing bc it was a 3 day xfer vs 5. Since we have 3 blasts frozen, I've actually entertained the idea of xfering all 3 next month but DH and I have agreed on 2 and I think that's wise. 3 just freaks me out.

cashewchicken Isn't it amazing the things an acupuncturist can tell by looking at nails? DH is a licensed acupuncturist and he occasionally asks to see my tongue as that is also a good indicator of overall health. We do acupuncture about 2x week. He loves to stick needles in my ear. lol.

Hopeful_mom

i-wanna-b-the-girl-w-most-cake My ear bled terribly the other day, my question is does it really work?  Do you feel a difference?  I didn't flinch when RE said about transferring all 3 especially because of my age and it was a fresh transfer.  I had 1 ahead of schedule, 1 right on time and 1 a bit behind.  In my eyes i assume the one that was a bit behind didn't implant.  Its usually the look and age when they say to transfer 3 AND how many failed attempts you might have had thus far.  I think you have a great plan in place!

cashewchicken  mine looks at my tongue but never really gives me an update, I ask if everything is ok and they just always tell me I"m stressed and need to eat purple and blue items to cool down the stress.  What do your nails look like?

AFM: My Day 2 update - 4A, 4B and 2BC...so far 2 of the 3 are pretty much on target, I always strive for the A in school so I would like my eggs to do the same   I'm hoping the 3rd will catch up tomorrow and be a fighter!  My tummy is still hurting me which is annoying...but that too shall pass.

amanning2011

@Hopeful_mom so sorry to hear about your retrieval not going as expected This part of it is always nerve wracking.

@thucks I can try and do the spreadsheet when I get off work. Our network stuff blocks Google Drive.

@Stairbear I've found that a good doctor makes a huge difference. I love my RE, he explains everything to us and explains what our options are and what each one actually means. It has really helped me feel comfortable with all the procedures.

AFM, got to talk to our RX insurance company today. We've been going through treatments long enough that this is the 2nd call we've had from them wanting to set me up on 90 day supplies for my fertility meds /facepalm. I got to explain to them again what the meds are for (and that they aren't pills) and that we are hoping they aren't recurring. I also found out why one of the meds I take for my transfer cycle (Cetrotide) has gotten so much more expensive than it used to be. Apparently the manufacturer has jacked up the cost of it so the insurance company did as well. I was doing some research and found that Ganirelix does the same thing as Cetrotide but that it has a latex stopper on the end of the needle for packaging. I'm latex sensitive but am thinking of asking my RE if it would be a possibility for me if I cleaned off the needle with an alcohol swab or something before the injection. Does anyone know anything about Ganirelix?

amanning2011

Hey guys, finally off work and where I can do the spreadsheet.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Xpf5tj_Dx9eDL8pBzCId0xAfjuUc8OsS6TQGhDHAieo/edit?usp=drivesdk

I think I have it set up so anyone can edit so please add your info and let me know if it doesn't work. I also tried to grab everyone's name so if I missed you I'm sorry and please add yourself

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

amanning2011 - very cool, thanks!!

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

Hopeful_mom - I think it can't hurt. I think acupuncture has gotta be somewhat effective considering it's been around for thousands of years! The thing is, is it does not have immediate results in most cases. It's something you are supposed to 'practice' and do regularly to get results. Which I tend to think is difficult to digest given our instant gratification culture. We began it for my anxiety disorder for which I do believe it has helped. Also Chinese herbs, I'm a big believer in herbs. 

Cowboycorgi

@amanning2011, I was on ganirelix protocol for IVF. What do you want to know? 

amanning2011

@Cowboycorgi What kind of protocol are you doing? My RE is doing kind of like an IUI but with a transfer a week after ovulation instead of doing an insemination. My biggest concern is like some kind of latex something sticking to the needle (which I'm pretty sure is ridiculous). What kind of side effects did you deal with while on it?

cashewchicken

@i-wanna-b-the-girl-w-most-cake- My acupuncturist looks at my tongue too.  And she takes care of other problems I have, such as stress (last week) or back pain (this week).  She also gives me pointers on what to eat, what food groups to avoid.  Some of the things are based on eastern medicine and not sure if I believe in it 100% (warming food vs cooling food), but most foods overlap with what is considered good in western culture too, so it's all good.  I still don't find being poked with needles relaxing, but at least I feel like I'm taking care of my body.

@Hopeful_mom- My nails have vertical ridges, but upon googling, I'm not sure if that is caused by B12 deficiency.  Apparently it's part of aging.  I already feel so old with the whole infertility thing, now my nails are showing the sign of aging. Ugh.  But it was great that she mentioned it because I had forgotten about higher risk of B12 deficiency in patients taking metformin and B12 deficiency is also linked infertility.

@amanning2011- I'm mildly allergic to latex and used Ganirelix.  I think the needle was capped with a rubber cap but I don't remember the needle actually physically touching the cap itself.  The last time I used Ganirelix it was back in January so I don't remember exactly how the needle was capped.  You can probably wipe the needle with alcohol and that should be fine, though if you have severe latex allergy, I wouldn't take a chance.  Ganirelix itself burns for about 5 minutes after injection. I absolutely hated it, and itched afterwards, but otherwise I was okay.  

Cowboycorgi

@amanning2011, I'm doing a long Lupron protocol this time around, but did a ganirelix/antagonist protocol for IVF. 
I agree with @cashewchicken, the side effects were like other LH blocking drugs and I didn't actually have any, but it burned and itched more than Lupron. The cap doesn't touch the needle as far as I can remember, so as long as your RE ok's it and you only have a sensitivity you should be fine. 

brooklyngirl18

@amanning2011 thanks for making the spreadsheet!

I was away for a few days and totally needed a little mental break. I was back at the dr bright and early this morning for more monitoring. I am upping my estrace to 2 mg twice a day and still scheduled for June 2. two more slowwwww weeks.

amanning2011

@cashewchicken and @Cowboycorgi thanks! I'll bring that med up with my doctor and see what he says. It is only a sensitivity so I'm hoping he'll ok it and that it will cost less, lol.

prudence9-2

@amanning2011 thanks for starting the spreadsheet.