TTCA35 Weekly check-in: 9/18/17

Momifbysea

Sorry I'm a day late...busy at work lately!

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

CD, CD/DPO (if applicable):

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

Rants/Raves:

Questions for the group:

GTKY: What's your best happy distraction during this whole TTC journey?

Momifbysea

Status (WTO/TWW/Benched/in process of testing or treatment): IVF #4, currently being suppressed for a cycle with BCP

CD, CD/DPO (if applicable): CD14

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment? Vitamins/supplements?): Prenatals, baby aspirin, red raspberry leaf tea, vitamin D, antioxidant diet, whole grains, no sugar or processed foods, start IVF stims Oct. 2

Rants/Raves: I'm still spotting on CD14, WTH? I emailed nurse this morning...

Questions for the group:

GTKY: What's your best happy distraction during this whole TTC journey? Honestly I love to travel so whether I'm waiting to accrue vacation time and just reading about trip ideas or planning or whether it's just a quick day trip, those things make me smile and break away from these struggles.

harleyquinn0621

Status (WTO/TWW/Benched/in process of testing or treatment):   WTO -  today is day 5 of gonal f injections for me

CD, CD/DPO (if applicable): CD7

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment? Vitamins/supplements?): IUI with injectables...also metformin, vit d, CoQ10, prenat

Rants/Raves: walgreens can't seem to get in the syringes and needles i am going to need for my progesterone injections.... i don't need them yet but i'd like to have them so i'm prepared and it's been such a pain.... 

Questions for the group: alright ladies, from the last thread you know i have concerns about my Estradiol levels but i don't know much about it so maybe someone here knows better than me.... on my baseline appointment Friday before i started injections it was 34.2 pg/ml ... i started gonal f injects that night and through the weekend and then monday had it drawn again and it was 41.1 pg/ml   and they told me to increase my gonal f dosage.... does anyone know what they are looking for with the Estradiol levels... should they have been higher by now? 

GTKY: What's your best happy distraction during this whole TTC journey?  i've been focused on getting healthy and have lost approximately 63 lbs since the beginning of the year - so my happy distraction is hiking and running in fact i read some things online about not running while on injectables and got really sad but my nurse said it was perfectly fine to continue 

Labluver2

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

CD, CD/DPO (if applicable): CD 19

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment? Vitamins/supplements?): trying to relax. Eating clean, red raspberry tea, coq10, vitamin d, prenatal

Rants/Raves:

Questions for the group:

GTKY: What's your best happy distraction during this whole TTC journey? Def my dogs and rescue work either fostering dogs or helping out at the farm taking them for walks and helping out. 

vlagrl29

Status - TWW I think - I'm CD19 and got a pos OPK a couple days ago but I think we will BD tonight just in case the egg is still hanging.

I'm taking PNV, Omega 3 fish oil, vitamin C, CoQ10, and maca.  DH is taking all that except fish oil.  I need to order some more coq10 as we ran out today.

I decided to embrace my life right now with DD in school and I went to a networking event for wedding vendors today to meet some new people.  I might be getting at least 1 new student and I just booked another wedding last night.  I figure if I'm not meant to have another baby right now I need to take advantage of all this free time I haven't had in 5 years and grow my business even more than it already is.  So that's my rave  Not really any rants that I can think of at the moment.

My distraction - my business, family, and yoga.  I feel like I'm at total peace with everything and embracing what I do have and enjoy that to the most.  It's working really well.  I told DH yesterday I'm feeling like myself again before we even started this journey.  I no longer feel anything is wrong with me and I don't feel old.  I'm in the best shape I've been in a long time and I'm going to enjoy this body I do have.

vlagrl29

kudos to you @Momifbysea - that's really impressive the changes you've made to your diet

@harleyquinn0621 - sorry I don't know anything about IUI stuff

@Labluver2 - we are on the exact same cycle day lol.  I usually have 28-29 day cycles.  AF is due at the earliest Sept 29.

artemis618

Hi ladies!  Another week...

@Momifbysea Good for you on the no sugar! That's probably the hardest thing for me, and even if it's not processed I eat way too much fruit And my b-day is in three weeks so I anticipate sugar

@harleyquinn0621  I'm sorry you're concerned about your E2.  It's frustrating that for the most part all we can do is trust our doctors since they're the professionals (although I definitely express when I have strong preferences).  For IVF at least, I think they aim for about 200 per mature follicle before trigger (although my E2 was like 5900 last cycle and I did NOT have that many eggs retrieved/mature), otherwise I think just increases between monitoring.  GREAT job on the weight loss - congrats, that's huge!

Status (WTO/TWW/Benched/in process of testing or treatment):  IVF #4 here too - had my baseline appointment and did my first shot of microdose lupron this morning.  Natural start (no OCP or luporon for the first time) means an AFC double my usual 8-10 to start (though no clue if or how I avoid a lead follicle, but we'll see).  Apparently this protocol means I start everything all at once, so all the shots (except the menopur - that was my strong preference not to add it until stim day 4/5) start tonight.

CD, CD/DPO (if applicable):  CD3

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment? Vitamins/supplements?):  Well, IVF, but also PNV, ubiquinol, vit C, D, E, low dose aspirin, NAC, magnesium, fish oil, inositol when I remember.  Melatonin (3mg) nightly during stims.

Rants/Raves:  Trying to be optimistic about this cycle - New RE, new protocol

Questions for the group:  A pen pal from the Inspire board told me that she is considering the Seed Fertility program.  I found Danica Thornberry's book on Kindle so am checking it out.  Has any if you heard of her before? (I hadn't).

GTKY: What's your best happy distraction during this whole TTC journey?  I've never had a dog before, so I'm going to go with her.  I can't believe we've had her four months already and I'm proud of the progress she's made in her training (she didn't know basic commands like "sit" when we rescued her) and socialization.  Even though she is super attached to DH and can be sort of a brat with me sometimes (18 mos = teenager).  We're planning a trip to Mammoth and then to visit FIL further north with her after this cycle.

harleyquinn0621

had my ultrasound today... looks like I have 3 follies all around 10mm and my lining is around 7mm-  so going back on Friday for another measurement

the RE said it was all good numbers but I wish I knew more to know if it really was or not lol

Edit to add:  i just went into the web portal and these are the exact numbers - 

Right Ovary: 10mm, 10mm, 8mm

Left Ovary: 11mm

I wonder if that little 8mm will catch up and mature in time to give me four

vlagrl29

I officially O'd yesterday 3 days after a pos OPK.  Surprised it is so late in my cycle.  We got BD in last night thank goodness.  Officially in TWW.

Labluver2

@harleyquinn0621 what CD are you? Normally I do 5 days femera starting cycle day 4 then gonal F for 2 days after and then bw and us I usually have follies ranging from 10-12 sometimes I'll get one a bit higher around CD 10 I then go back and continue gonAL and around day 13 Ive been getting 2 follies over 20 which is what my re likes to seem. I know everyone is different and not sure if this helps. You don't want to over  stimulate either.

vlagrl29

I'm my own RE at this point lol - I just put in a call to my OB to order a vitamin D and thyroid blood test check.

harleyquinn0621

@Labluver2 I am CD 8 today - so it is early still what CD day do you usually do your IUI? it sounds like she wants to try to do it early next week for me

@vlagrl29  you are your best advocate! 

Labluver2

@harleyquinn0621 around CD 13-15 depending on how ready my follies are and pending bw. I know last time I wasn't ready and he waneed to give it 2 more days to give my lining longer to thicken that was cd15. This cycle was 13. 

harleyquinn0621

My RE called me- my estradiol only rose to 42 (from 41 two days ago) she is adding femara 5mg for 5 days and I had to order two more gonal f pens .....she said my LH was normal...I just feel like this whole cycle is going to end up being a waste 

Labluver2

@harleyquinn0621 it's still early hopefully the femera will help. My first iui I just dId femera the second I did femera and gonal F femera cd4 -8 the I did 2 days of gonal then us/bw I had 2 good follies and he told me to trigger. The next cycle same protocol but when I went in for my follie check they still wern quite there yet so he told me to come back 2 days later so that time I was on gonal for 4 days. I think it all depends. Each cycle has been different. My husband keeps asking why they don't up my gonal dose I'm on 75IU or change something if it's not working. I tried explaining that my body's responding to it my eggs however are not. All I can do is change my diet and eat foods that supposed to improve quaality. Good luck hopefully it's just to soon and the femera combined with the gonal will help. 

harleyquinn0621

@Labluver2 thank you my first thought when i heard low E2 was that my eggs were terrible quality or that my follicles don't contain eggs at all.. but i am reading more and finding that some women just had to stim longer and then their numbers jumped... so hopefullly that's it.... i'll ask the dr more questions at tomorrow's appointment, honestly i couldn't think while i was on the phone with her to ask her a lot of this stuff

artemis618

@harleyquinn0621 Hope your appointment today went well!

harleyquinn0621

@artemis618 thank you! follies are still growing- i have one at 13 and two at around 11 now.... that seems like slow growth doesn't it? my lining was a little over 7 .......i'm still waiting on the call regarding my bloodwork ...... i'll be on 5mg of femara and 225 IUs of gonal f through the weekend..... My RE's office gave me a gonal f pen bc i only had enough through saturday and even those they loaned to me and i will be replacing with the ones that i get from freedom pharmacy today... but the one they gave me today they said was their gift to me..... so sweet of them !

vlagrl29

@harleyquinn0621- GL with everything

I had my blood taking today to check vitamin D and thyroid.  I don't suspect them to be off.  I think part of our problem was timing now that I realized I O later than I thought.

artemis618

@harleyquinn0621 Glad things are still moving along.  This is CD10 so stim day like 6-7 for you? I’ve actually never done an IUI, so I’m not sure.  But slow growth sounds better to me than too fast. I had my first monitoring appt this AM (CD6 and 4th night of stims will be tonight), and I have my largest at 12, a few at 11, and a bunch (~13) less than 10 (I’m just glad for no dominant follicle since I had no suppression before). And my lining’s already at 10 - just goes to show what an entirely different animal IVF can be (and how many more drugs I’m on than you are!  I’m on 450FSH). Yay for donor drugs!  I’m sure you’re giving them plenty of money.

Edit:  Turns out I am being slowed down (stims reduced) based on this morning’s blood work.  It’s the first time I’ve ever had my stim doses changed.  A little concerning b/c after u/s my RE told me I didn’t need blood work and to proceed w/the same dose, but the nurse had already drawn my blood so he took a look.

@vlagrl29 OPKs are a PITA, but they and temping can yield useful information!  (I have my “favorite” bathroom in downtown LA I like to use for them - although maybe pointless for me during the day as I tend to get my positives around 5pm, which is at least more convenient for business hours - not to mention that several times FF thought I ovulated on the same day I got my +, so not the best predictive value).  Hope your tests come back normal.

vlagrl29

@artemis618 that's hilarious favorite bathroom! I always do it first thing in the morning when  half awake and just hope no one comes in seeing me pee in a cup. I have my cycle down pat so I only need to use 5 a month.

Labluver2

Well girls I'm out AF showed today I'm surprisingly handled it better this time than all the others. I'm going to do one more cycle and then prob take a break. I don't want to waist time but I need a break and it will prob fall durine my vacation from work aand I don't want to spend it running to the dr. 

artemis618

So sorry to hear that @Labluver2 . Take care of yourself today.  Hopefully your next cycle will be the one, but if not a break may do you good.  Since I’ll be 40 in a couple of weeks, I probably shouldn’t have taken a break over the summer, but  we needed it.

vlagrl29

Sorry @Labluver2 didn't you just O not that long ago? 

we did NTNP for 3 months and it's what I needed. Going back into this I feel much more at peace.

Labluver2

@vlagrl29 I triggered Monday the 11th and IUI was done on the 13th. I figured I would get AF today or tomorrow. I didn't even schedule my beta. 

vlagrl29

I guess that's right.  We were on the same day but I O'd later than your IUI @Labluver2  GL with your next cycle!

Labluver2

@vlagrl29 I think I'm Def in a better mind frame or at least I'm trying to be. I'm trying to remain hopeful but realistic. I'll do a few more then we will just try on our own and hope for the best. Even if we could do ivf I'm not sure if I would take that step after going thru this. My Dr thinks it's egg quality so I'm working on eating right and doing yoga actually piyo. I've been so focused in getting pregnat that I forgot my life is pretty great with me and my husband my 6 dogs,4 cats and 2 rabbits lol. I got to focus on that and if it's ment to be it will happen. 

harleyquinn0621

@labluver2 I'm sorry    just going through this one round I'm finding out how tough IUI is- It really solidifies my decision not to move to IVF.  we will revisit the idea of  becoming foster parents and start the process Jan 2018 because it can take awhile.......if we haven't gotten pregnant by then

I started having some brown spotting last night and this morning- so who knows what the heck is going on with me... I have an appointment this afternoon so we'll see what the RE says...

vlagrl29

@Labluver2- you got a lot of fur babies!  I'm so glad we got another puppy.  It's so much better to focus on the positive.  How do they know it's egg quality?  Is there a test for that?  I feel I'm pretty damn healthy. Only way I could be healthier is if I ate all organic and became vegan.  Not willing to do that.

Something that helps me is thinking of everything I'm grateful for.  Gratitude = Abundance.  Here I am in my last 3 years of 30s and I don't want to spend them all stressed out and crying.  I haven't cried about AF coming since June.  It doesn't even phase me anymore - just like any other day.

Labluver2

@vlagrl29 all he said is bc of my age aand the fact that my amh was very low he would guess I don't have as many quality eggs left but he said he's not sayung this won't work or I can't get preg naturally if that makes sense. I'll do aaa few more and hope for the best and then go back to natural and if it happens it haappens. I've just been trying to eat clean and eat foods to increase egg quality. I do eat orgaanic some stuff bUT not all. And I could never be vegan I like meat too much. 

vlagrl29

@Labluver2 - that makes sense.  I think it is a good idea if IUI doesn't work go back to natural.  What foods increase egg quality?

Labluver2

@vlagrl29 advacodos,beans and lentele, red rasberry leaf, complex carbs such as brown rice, leafy greens basically healthy eating. I cut out chemical and processes crap eat organic when I can. I cut out processed sugar so I only eat raw honey as a sweeter in my tea in the morning. I started this before we started seeing aN RE bc I ate like crap before. I was an emotional eater and I would binge eat. I've never been heavy but Def did not eat healthy and i was a sugar addict. 

vlagrl29

my weakness is chocolate! oh goodness otherwise I'd say I eat pretty well.  For breakfast I always have oatmeal with fruit mixed in.  I have a salad at least every other day.  I don't eat super strict like I did when I was working on loosing all the baby weight from the first time.

Labluver2

Went in today for baseline and I have 6 follicas 3 on each side. Will prob start femera tonight. Trying to remain hopeful. I asked the dr today if I'm just wasiting money at this point and he said I wouldn't continue if I thought there was a reason you couldn't get pregnant. Obviously he can't say def if it will but hearing this it's stI'll can gives me a little hope aand I'm holding on to that. 

harleyquinn0621

iui was this morning and my TWW officially starts (well, 12 day wait - they are going to draw my beta on 10/09) 

my hopes aren't high for this cycle due to the low estradiol numbers so I think that will make for a pretty non stressful wait 

Labluver2

@harleyquinn0621 fx for you. 

Nurse called my progestrone is still elevated at 4.5 so they don't want me to start meds yet aand come back Monday for recheck bw and us.

vlagrl29

GL @harleyquinn0621

its been cloudy and gloomy for a couple days and is effecting my mood. I was starting to doubt the natural ttc I want to finish thru end of year. Like maybe the only way is thru meds and I'm just wasting time. Little weak moment I guess. I feel strong most of the time. I actually doubted that this would ever happen to us again.

my vitamin D and thyroid came back great. Not a darn thing off with any tests.

finishing up the TWW this week. Not feeling any different so I doubt anything happened even with EOD BD

vlagrl29

A little spotting today so AF is due in the next day or 2.  I put in a message to my OB as it's 9DPO for me and I want to make sure my LP is long enough.  I'm going to pull out the BBT next cycle to confirm my O date and compare to Septembers.

harleyquinn0621

I'm so frustrated- my RE has me on PIO until beta...tonight was my first shot and DH did it for me- it went super smooth ....when I was throwing out all the wrapping I realized my pharmacy gave me 1" needles instead of 1.5".....ugh ....I don't know if my muscle got any of it or if it all just went into my fat.....no wonder it didn't hurt .....looks like I'll be back at the pharmacy tomorrow 

vlagrl29

sorry for the frustrations @harleyquinn0621 that would be annoying

Actually I didn't start spotting yesterday it was stained underware geesh!  I still suspect AF to come this weekend though.  I don't have any symptoms so I'm going to go ahead and say I'm out.

harleyquinn0621

@vlagrl29 at 5.5 weeks the only symptoms i had were some cramping (which made me think AF was on her way) ... you're not out until she shows up! i'm still crossing my fingers for you