TTCA35 Weekly Check In 6/12

katekate628

Status (WTO/TWW/Benched/in process of testing or treatment):  TWW 2nd beta today. FX for at least 100. 

CD, CD/DPO (if applicable): 33/15dpo

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment? Vitamins/supplements?):  clomid, trigger, vitamin d, now progesterone 

Rants/Raves: I am thankful for same day betas at my RE. 

Questions for the group: none for now. 

GTKY: What's your favorite household hack?: vinegar for a sunburn. It's stinky but it works! 

suziq1978

Status (WTO/TWW/Benched/in process of testing or treatment): TWW I think.  Didn't start temping early enough this month to see anything and haven't been consistent with it.

CD, CD/DPO (if applicable): CD18, possibly 1DPO (if my cycles are similar to when I was temping before, but who knows)

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment? Vitamins/supplements?):  Nothing

Rants/Raves: None right now

Questions for the group: No

GTKY: What's your favorite household hack?: This one's hard, I've never been able to get anything to work as well as it's supposed to.  I've always wanted to try the one where you open a wine bottle with a shoe.  

Momifbysea

Status (WTO/TWW/Benched/in process of testing or treatment):  Benched until AF comes to hopefully be cleared for IVF cycle #3

CD, CD/DPO (if applicable): dunno, I've lost track with all the meds!

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment? Vitamins/supplements: prenatal, vitamin d, baby aspirin, will be starting IVF cycle #3
Rants/Raves: I am thankful for longer days and plenty of sun and heat lately!

Questions for the group: none for now. 

GTKY: What's your favorite household hack?: For eliminating fruit flies: vinegar in a wine bottle covered with Saran Wrap with tiny holes poked in it and fastened with a rubber band. It really works!

vlagrl29

@Momifbysea - GL on #3 - how many rounds of IVF would you do and are they still covered on your insurance?

harleyquinn0621

Status (WTO/TWW/Benched/in process of testing or treatment):  WTO

CD, CD/DPO (if applicable): CD10 

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment? Vitamins/supplements?):  natural cycle this month- honestly just waiting to see if i ovulate on my own since this is the first cycle post loss

Rants/Raves: ok long rant: i'm just at a loss with my body this week... CD1 was June 3- it was a little strange with it stopping after four days and then coming back day 5 for one day but i figured some weirdness is to be expected... it totally stopped June 9- no spotting no bleeding nothing.... DH and I had sex last night (June 11th) and i start bleeding after and have been bleeding all day today- bright red ..... so I have no idea if i'm going to ovulate this month- I have no idea how to check CM and i don't really trust OPKs because i read you can just miss the surge and get a negative even if you ovulate ..... i'm just going to do whatever this month and next month and then go in for the IUIs in August because i think my body is broken at this point  - <end of long whiny rant>  

Momifbysea

@vlagrl29 thank you as always! I will do as many rounds as are covered. I may go with cobra once we move for my husband's new job, just because I doubt a new plan would be so good. It would be worth the cost of cobra when you compare the cost of IVF, $25,500 for us each round if we didn't have insurance. At the same time, I got hit with anxiety a couple of nights ago and then after ordering the third round of meds for over $8,000 yesterday I sometimes ask myself, can I physically and emotionally do this again so soon? Am I too old? But I feel I don't have time to not right now. I think I'm the oldest in our group here and my re says each round I have a 17% chance with IVF. Not great. It's hard on the IVF boards when people talk about how many blasts they freeze or implant and I'm like dying to have anything even make it to day 5 stage! And then every month a good number of ivf'ers move on to beta testing and I start over again. Sometimes it seems a steep hill. So yeah, short answer is yes I'll keep trying til we hit our lifetime limit with insurance which is 3-4 more tries. Sorry if this seemed like a pity party, not meant to be that way, just that I have to be realistic that at my age it's harder with lower odds.:-)

Momifbysea

@harleyquinn0621 Ive had my period start after sex before, it was like it jumpstarted it. I don't really know what I'm talking about though, just trying to think what might be going on. I know you're so ready to be back to normal, that's gotta be frustrating! It sounds like you have a good plan though, give yourself a bit more time naturally before going to IUI. Thinking of you!!!

vlagrl29

@Momifbysea - I was wondering how you were affording all that.  Dang talk about a lot of money!  I think you are such a strong person for continuing to do so.  DH and I talked over the weekend and we both agree my anxiety and the stress of the financial aspect of IUI and especially IVF are not worth it to us.  I would be a freaking hot mess all the time.  We literally don't have the money for that stuff and I would be a hot mess going into debt not knowing if it would work or now.

My plan of action has changed a bit.  We are officially going on a summer vacation as a family next month to Arkansas and got a cabin.  FIL lives there so part of it will be spent with him.  The last couple years have been challenging for us.  Then come august we are going to revisit getting another mini schnauzer puppy.  I want to surprise DD with it.  DH is afraid that once we get it I'll get pregnant but he understands and I told him that ship done sank so lets just get it.  I would love to see the happiness on DDs face.  I'm just all about making our lives so happy again.  Come my annual appt in August DH will be there and we will discuss Clomid at that time, but I don't want to do it now.  I'm done living on hold every month and I'm ready to move on, but he has so much more hope than me and because of that I'm willing to give clomid a try but deep down I hope we don't have to and it happens naturally again for us.

Momifbysea

@vlagrl29 I understand wanting to make your lives happy and getting the puppy will make DD so thrilled! Watch, you'll get the puppy and then get pregnant, hey you hear of that happening all the time! I have family in Arkansas that's a beautiful state. 

Yeah, trust me we would not be able to do more than one round without insurance and honestly I don't think DH would even have agreed to one round oop, BUT we feel like since we are lucky to have this we would be remiss not to use the benefit. Of course anxiety and the physical part are no fun. I swear I'll be ready to get off this roller coaster asap!

harleyquinn0621

@Momifbysea  i know in the past towards the end of the cycle sex has started my period- it's just weird that it did that a couple of days after my period ended i called my RE's office this morning to see if they suggest i get seen or if a little bit of weirdness the first cycle is 'normal' 




also as a side note: has anyone checked into IVF abroad? my insurance only covers IUIs - no IVF coverage and i've read stories of women traveling to other countries with good results and half the cost- i just don't know where to even start researching this tho 

vlagrl29

That last anxiety issue I had is what changed everything for me. I'm just wanting to enjoy my life now. I have lots to be thankful for. We have 1 child and we are blessed to have that. My prayers are different than they use to be. Life is too short to be stressed.

not giving up cause I believe in everyday miracles I'm just being mindful and changing the way I view life.

i am usually not spotting for that long after AF. You know I still am barely? AF started last Tuesday. Maybe my mental change is changing it up lol.

Labluver2

Status (WTO/TWW/Benched/in process of testing or treatment): TWW

CD, CD/DPO (if applicable): CD22 13DPIUI

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment? Vitamins/supplements?):  I did Femera, Gonal-F injections, trigger and IUI also taking prenatal, NeoQ10,vitamin D 

Rants/Raves: 

Questions for the group: none at this time

GTKY: What's your favorite household hack?: Mint to get rid of ants

harleyquinn0621

@Labluver2   good luck! when is your beta?

livingthedream-3

Status (WTO/TWW/Benched/in process of testing or treatment):  WTO

CD, CD/DPO (if applicable): CD1

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment? Vitamins/supplements?):  BBT, OPK

Rants/Raves: I've been using the same BBT since 2012 so I ordered a new one and hope it'll help my chart not be so wacky this cycle.

Questions for the group: Nope

GTKY: What's your favorite household hack?: I organize my grocery list by zones and it's numbered to not miss a thing. 

livingthedream-3

@katekate628 FX for a great Beta! I don't see an update in this thread, did I miss it?
@suziq1978 Hope you O'd good luck this cycle!
@momifbysea Come on CD1!! Hope it's lucky number 3 for you. I'm so happy to hear you have coverage, IF is so freaking expensive.
@harleyquinn0621 I hope you do O and end up not needing IUI
@labluver2 Did you test? Have your Beta!

harleyquinn0621

ok so an IF facebook page i follow is testing out something called OvuSense... it's supposed to have a 99% success rate at predicting ovulation... it's a little pricey but based on reviews I am tempted to try it, you buy the device and then pay a monthly subscription for the app .... it's based on body temp but you 'wear' their sensor throughout the night (internally, sort of like a tampon) and it downloads the data into the app

has anyone heard anything about this??

Labluver2

BFN for me. I didn't test was scheduled for my beta tomorrow and AF showed her ugly head today. I called them and they said if its a full flow then I don't need to go in. We are taking this cycle off I need a mental break and we decided to take a mini vacation yo Massachusetts. Just me and hubby. 

harleyquinn0621

@Labluver2 i'm sorry AF showed up but enjoy your trip! 

vlagrl29

@Labluver2 sorry for the bfn. We are going on vaca too next month. Mental breaks are great. I stopped tracking my cycle.

Momifbysea

@Labluver2 so sorry for the bfn. Boo! I'm glad you're giving yourself a mental break though.

livingthedream-3

@harleyquinn0621 I haven't, but I would be very interested to hear from somebody who has tried it. I don't sleep well and don't always trust my temps. Luckily I have good EWCM and usually catch a +OPK but usually only get dotted lines on my chart, so I never truly confirm when/if I O.

@Labluver2 I'm so sorry for CD1. I hope you enjoy your mini vacation and come back to your lucky cycle.

harleyquinn0621

@livingthedream i talked to DH last night about it and i think i'm going to purchase it and try it out next cycle - it's not cheap but from what i read it may be exactly what i need... i don't temp because 1. i have a hard time waking up at the same time every morning 2. so many outside things influence my temps that they fluctuate and are not very helpful for me - this seems like it may solve for that- also if it does not indicate you have ovulated in 6 months they will refund all your money spent so i figure what do i have to lose

amberruka

So sorry for AF @Labluver2

harleyquinn0621

ugh guys i am STILL bleeding- my RE's office basically said intermittent bleeding the first few cycles post second trimester loss is normal  but i am so annoyed and so tired and have been super moody with everyone ..... i am back and forth between sad over it and just angry .. 

artemis618

Hi ladies, I'm a little late to this game, but was still on much needed vacation at the beginning of this week (during which I found out three blasts from IVF #3 were biopsied and tested, and at the end of which (the day we got home - at least I didn't have to get the news while I was at work) we found out that all three were abnormal ).  Then yesterday I returned to work to find pics of my coworker's newborn (born Monday) in my email inbox.  It's been a little bit of a rough week.

@katekate628  Congratulations!! Fx for a happy and healthy 9 months

@harleyquinn0621  I'm sorry your body's still wonky . Interesting about the ovusense - ugh, what isn't expensive about this process?  Please let us know how it goes if you try it!

@Momifbysea  Coverage for 3-4 MORE cycles is great.  We initially thought we'd just do the two for which we had coverage through my employer's insurance plan - the first was disastrous, the second was *just* encouraging enough for us to give it one more go mostly OOP (thankfully I don't have a cap on meds and hit my OOP max for the year a while ago with all this business, and my prior authorization for the meds from my last cycle was still in effect, as it *looks* like the insurance company paid Freedom almost $8900 for meds for this cycle).  We really do think it's a numbers game for us at this point (and we also don't have the time as younger ladies might) - while we could do more cycles OOP, they don't really go so well for us so we're not sure it's worth the heartbreak (the shots are the easy part relatively, right?), but the 1 normal out of 8 total tested is pretty damn scary (that's all we had make it to blast out of 36 eggs retrieved - not all mature). I hope this cycle goes better for you!

@vlagrl29  Yay for a new puppy!  We've had our new rescue (15 month old dobie/ridgeback mix, we think - sadly we didn't have time for a puppy with both of us working full-time) for a month now and she's been the greatest distraction through this last IVF cycle.  I think you already have (or had?) a dog, but I'm a first time dog owner (DH worked as a dog trainer in college) and she's such a joy.

@Labluver2  I'm sorry for your bfn - but I'm glad you have your vacation to which to look forward.

Status (WTO/TWW/Benched/in process of testing or treatment):  WTO

CD, CD/DPO (if applicable): CD2

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment? Vitamins/supplements?):  BBT (though I missed it years AM, and DH is waking me up when he gets up to run the new dog at 5AM, so we'll see how that goes), OPKs, SEX.  All the supplements...  Waiting for our phone appt w/RE next week - we want to go back to trying naturally (since it's how we got *TW* KU with our NIPT-normal little girl almost a year ago now) or maybe medicated timed intercourse to get thru more eggs at a time, but seeing the actual PGS reports has been really sobering regarding our prospects without testing . Sometimes I wonder if we're just being greedy and if we should just try to transfer our one normal (that only has a 50% chance), and hope that there's something useful in my few frozen eggs from 5 years ago for a second kid.  So many tough decisions with all this stuff.

Rants/Raves: Visiting Portland was cool (despite basically traveling to our winter in June in the northern hemisphere), but it made me appreciate the diversity of where I live.

Questions for the group:  Edit:  I though of a question.  I know not everyone here is going/considering the IVF route, but have you all heard of this Vegas Baby movie about a Dr. Sher contest?  https://vegasbabyfilm.com/  I heard about a screening for it on the radio on the way home tonight.  I also heard about this scary story when running errands a couple of weekends ago:   
https://www.revealnews.org/article/when-pregnancy-dreams-become-ivf-nightmares/

GTKY: What's your favorite household hack?:  A cleaning lady?  I know that's not helpful, but I'm not particularly handy .

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

SP128

@Labluver2  Sorry for the BFN lady.  Where in Mass are you visiting?  I live in Mass : )

Labluver2

@harleyquinn0621 I'm so sorry your still bleeding. That has got to be so frustrating.

@SP128 Gloucester, Boston, Salam and Plymouth. 

Momifbysea

I am so sorry @artemis618. As I get ready to hopefully start IVF #3 sometimes it seems like such a steep hill! Thinking of you. Thanks for your support on my upcoming cycle, will keep you all posted.

harleyquinn0621

@artemis618 i'm so sorry take good care of yourself right now- all the decisions we have to make during this is so difficult   

harleyquinn0621

i think my bleeding MAY have finally stopped- i don't trust it yet bc it's slowed/stopped before just to start again but after 2.5 weeks i hope this is it .... also- i am down a total of 42 lbs!! i'm hoping to lose another 14 lbs before starting IUIs in August 

Momifbysea

@harleyquinn0621 42 lbs?!? Go you!!! May I ask how you did it? I need to drop 20 and have been struggling.

vlagrl29

that's awesome @harleyquinn0621   @Momifbysea - I dropped all the pregnancy weight 6 years ago by going to the gym 4 days a week and eating very clean with 1 cheat meal a week.  Now I'm just a yogi for get the gym lol.

Hope you guys don't mind me popping in once and awhile.  I'm seriously not even tracking my cycle anymore.  I figure if it's meant to happen it will.  I can't stress about it anymore.  This has been the best thing for me mentally right now.

harleyquinn0621

Momifbysea said:

@harleyquinn0621 42 lbs?!? Go you!!! May I ask how you did it? I need to drop 20 and have been struggling.

i cut out all grains and added sugar- so no bread, pasta, rice etc and nothing with added sugar (and limiting natural sugar to things on the low glycemic index like berries) 

i started this Jan 1 after i found out i was pregnant to try to get myself healthier and create the healthiest environment for my son to grow- i lost 24 lbs while pregnant ...... after i lost him i continued on but also added in running and weight training  - i have a long way to go but 14 more lbs gets me to a BMI under 30 so that is my goal for august 

harleyquinn0621

i knew it was too good to be true... bleeding started again sigh 

Momifbysea

So after being up dry heaving from having to double up on a birth control dose to get on track for a cycle off due to the cyst, a clinic nurse calls me to say stop taking BCP until NEXT month because we can't do IVF in last half of July due to doctor's conference/vacation. They close the whole lab down for two weeks. So I went from being benched one month to now two months. This might not seem as big a deal except 1. We move out of state likely end of July and 2. I turn 43 in September. I'm trying to flow with it but kinda feel like the deck is stacked against me. Nevertheless, we will try a natural cycle for first time in a long time this month, starting tonight. Watch, this will actually work and my mind will be blown. Fingers and toes crossed.

vlagrl29

@Momifbysea - I'm a huge fan of a mental break I think you need it.  Who cares about age?  I've been doing so much better the last few weeks.  Don't worry about and enjoy time with the DH.  One of my goals this summer was to do more date nights with DH.  We went out last week for dinner and it was great.  I now want to try out salsa dancing with him next.  Life is too short for stress.

harleyquinn0621

@Momifbysea  good luck with your natural cycle! ...................i'm all about breaks- I got pregnant after we were told the only way we would be able to conceive was IVF and we were trying to figure out how we were going to afford it


@vlagrl29 i'm glad you're enjoying time with DH... dance lessons is something we've been talking about doing.... we just need to sign up haha



update for me: no bleeding for the last 3 days! i think i'm finally done ... 3 weeks total this month ugh hopefully July i have a regular normal cycle for my last natural cycle before IUI

Momifbysea

@harleyquinn0621 I really really really hope you're done!

Thanks you two for the vote of confidence and encouraging my break. Even if it took it being forced on me, I'll take that as a sign. We BD last night for the first time in almost 6 months without me taking drugs and it was so nice! This morning I was fumbling around to find my OPK from February and it still worked, battery not dead hooray! I'm enjoying the natural cycle.

Edited to clarify: I reread this and it sounds like I haven't had sex in six months- I meant first time without the drugs in six months, lol.

vlagrl29

That's great @momifbysea - This is probably the first month we've had the least amount of sex.  I give zero f@cks ha!  I'm just going to enjoy the last 2 cycles before we see OB end of August.  I'm 100% over timed intercourse.

Labluver2

AF showed up Sunday so today is day 3 went for baseline bw and us. Same as before femera,gonal f and trigger. I really debated continuing but I think I would always wonder what if so I'll just keep on going. 

vlagrl29

Sorry @Labluver2 - you know your limits.  Wishing you lots of luck this cycle.