March 2018 IVF

frenchiemom80

@stephanienj - I did the same thing my first cycle!  I would take my numbers and compare them to other peoples & Google. Then, I'd give the run down to my DH and for safety's sake, I'd call my mom to tell her and ask her thoughts. In the end, I stressed myself out more doing that than just listening to my RE. This cycle I have tried to avoid getting the actual levels and exact sizes of the follies and I feel a bit more relaxed. This process is hard enough! Have fun shopping!  

prudence9-2

Good luck on Friday @frenchiemom80

mandurz

I see the board is hoping already. I saw a few people very close to ER already so good luck and hope those go smoothly.
For those stimming grow follicles grow!
AFM I just started BCP and will be on them for 10 days and will start stims after AF. I will likely have my ER the last week of March.

mcgeeva

stephanienj  this whole process is a mind f*ck. It totally sucks. I started cetrocide tonight and it completely freaked me out. 2 raised two inch welt that itched and I have been feeling super sick to my stomach all day. Definitely roller coaster of emotions. 

Happyin14

@mel&john2013, hi! I remember you. Thanks for the shoutout. I hope all is well with you. 

@stephanienj I was similar my first time. Getting the drugs and finally being able to DO something was so good for me. But then the over analyzing makes you crazy. Remember that follies still grow after trigger for a bit so everything has a bit more time than you’d think.  

josiepasta

@prudence9-2 hope everything goes well with your baseline appointment today!

@frenchiemom80 how did the trigger shot go last night?!

Happy 1st day of March, everyone!  This is our month!!! 

prudence9-2

@josiepasta thanks! Appt went well. Got the thumbs up to start Manpour and Gonal tonite. 

They did see less follicles than the baseline appt of my first IVF. I hope more will pop up... inspite of my age  

kyapplb

I just had my baseline appointment today. We are MFI. I have 11 folicles on one side and 14 on the other, so I start follistim tonight, but a lower dose than planned, and hcg and then they’ll check me out on Monday.

My MD said excesize is fine at this point until my follicles get full and then to limit it to nothing that is twisting my center, and nothing with a heel strike (so elliptical would be ok, bit not a tread mill since it will jostle me around.) She said high protein and low carb wouldn’t be a bad idea during ER. Of course now I’ve eaten nothing but carbs all day and I am just not in the mood to work out at all. I HATE shots and getting my blood drawn. I work in a hospital and draw blood all the time so maybe this is karma, ha!!

frenchiemom80

@josiepasta Trigger went well, thank you! I had everything laid out in advance and made sure to put my lidocaine patch on beforehand. Now its just a waiting game until tomorrow but thankfully I've had a few things to do to keep me occupied. 

@prudence9-2 It will be ok! Those guys like to play hide and seek all of the time!

Good luck March ladies!!!!

stephanienj

@frenchiemom80 - Good Luck tomorrow!

@Happyin14 - I've realized the overanalyzing made me crazy- I'm much better today, and I've realized (and kind of accepted) that what will be will be, and other than doing my shots, and taking my vitamins, there's not much more I can do or control - although, tomorrow emotions may be completely different, LOL!

@mcgeeva - I hope you're feeling better today!!!

HAPPY MARCH EVERYONE!  I hope it's a successful month for All!

AFM- Stim day 8 bloodwork and scan tomorrow morning

mcgeeva

stephanienj I feel okay for the moment but definitely super uncomfortable. About to do my shots tonight. They said I might have a few more days of meds so had to order some more today. I have 29 follies some 15 & 16 mm. I'm I will feel like a stuffed sausage in my clothes come sunday. How many more days do they think you have?

josiepasta

@frenchiemom80 good luck with ER today!  FX for good numbers and high quality!

kyapplb

@frenchiemom80 good luck today!!!!

prudence9-2

@frenchiemom80 good luck today!!!!

@mcgeeva what day of stims are you? At my last IVF I had 30 R out of which 21 M. At the end it got really uncomfortable...

AFM... last night I started the meds. Even though I had a year fillled with FETs and daily injections, I was rusty when it came to mixing Manpour and probably lost some of it in the process. 

mom2be_sarah

@frenchiemom80 good luck today!!

AFM... I have another ultrasound today. I am progressing slowly but keeping in mind that it is quality over quantity. As of now we are scheduled to do trigger shot on Monday and retrieval on Wednesday 3/7. Fingers crossed we see some more mature follicles today. Last appt we only saw 11 total.

stephanienj

@mcgeeva ; @frenchiemom80 ; @Happyin14
You ladies were all right. Thank you so much for putting me at ease.  Just got my results from this morning's scan, and all the follies on the right really popped in the past 48 hours (like doubled in size) they are all in line with the left side.  They even found 2 more this morning, I'm up to 14.  My Estrogen more than doubled, and is up over 1000 now, and my lining is trilaminar and a whopping 13mm
I go back tomorrow, depending on tomorrows measurements, I'm sure I'll trigger tomorrow or sunday.

Frenchie- I'm thinking of you today and have my fingers crossed!  
Mcgeeva- I may have to order more I have enough Follistim to get me through Sunday, but don't know if I should jump the gun and order, or hold off bc I doubt I'll be stimming past Sunday since most of my follies this morning were 14-16mm

mcgeeva

prudence9-2 I'm on day 9 of stims. I still have 29 follies and a few are at 16mm. I am hoping this is done soon. I have fluid in my lining and C-section scar which is making me super nervous. 

stephanienj Honestly I have no clue.I thought I would be closer to being done today but they think 2 or 3 days of meds more. Hoping tomorrow they say im good to trigger sunday. I ordered another follistim last night and of course we have crazy wind on the east coast and everything shut down. So looks like it wont come today but tomorrow instead. I got a talking to today about wasting meds. Apparently I suck at mixing menopur and wasted two days in a row when I pulled the mixing cap off it sprayed. I suck

josiepasta

I went in for my follow-up this morning and was surprised to find that I now have 18 "good looking" follicles!  I only had 4 follicles 2 days ago so I was absolutely shocked.  Most of them are between 15 and 18mm.  My Estradiol is up to 1609.  They said I probably won't make it through the weekend, so tomorrow they are going to have me go to their off-site office 45 minutes away to do one more day of monitoring.  I will most likely trigger over the weekend.  So excited! 

I was prescribed Lupron for my trigger shot, which I read helps prevent OHSS, does anyone else have any experience using Lupron as a trigger?  At least it's another easy shot in the stomach, instead of the butt.

prudence9-2

@mcgeeva last time I triggered on day 12. I think that I had a bunch that were over 20mm. (But not 100% sure. It was almost 1.5 years ago!)

last night I lost some of the manopur. But still injected what’s left. I hope I didn’t make a mistake by not redoing it instead

@josiepasta that’s great! For my last IVF I was also prescribed Lupron when they saw I might be having OHSS. But then, the night before trigger they lowered my Gonal and I was good to use the regular trigger. Which, by the way, is also to be injected in the stomach. 

stephanienj

@josiepasta - Great news on the follies, Grow Eggies, Grow!

@mcgeeva - I'm on the Jersey shore, so it's very windy here too to bc of this storm.  Snow and rain all day.  I've decided to hold off on ordering until after tomorrows appointment, worse case scenario, since I live an hour from the pharmacy, is that I'll just pick it up at the pharmacy on Monday.  My RE increased my Follistim on day 3, if it wasn't for the over-fill in each vial, I would have needed more by tomorrow.  And yes...those q caps really spit a lot of liquid if you don't flip it back over so the liquid is on the bottom (I too learned this the hard way, lol)

prudence9-2

@stephanienj I don’t use those cups. I just use a regular syringe. reason why I spilled last night was because I change from the big needle to the small needle. But then instead of immediately injecting I placed it on the table. So then I guess some went into the needle? Lesson learned. Won’t be doing that again!

mandurz

@stephanienj I would also suggest to call your RE and see if they have an extra dose or two. I donated what I had left after my first IVF and on my last IVF the nurses gave me a few extra doses that someone else had donated. Hey it wont hurt to ask, and if they do have some, why not try and save a few bucks. 
@josiepasta 18..! wow that sounds awesome! glad to hear things are still going well. I use Lupron as a trigger shot as well. Did not get OHSS either time I did an ER (considering my first cycle my estrogen was well over 6000 I am glad we triggered with lupron). If I remember correctly it stings a bit but not awful. 
@mom2be_sarah you are absolutely right quality over quantity! Hope things go well and you get to trigger Monday. With my last IVF I stimmed for 18 days, I felt like it was never going to end. 
@frenchiemom80  I hope things went well today! Cant wait to hear how many you got.

AFM got my meds today, I am ready to get this thing rolling. 

mcgeeva

stephanienj oh you guys are getting it good too then. I'm watching my shingles fall off all day.  Yeah the qcaps are awful so just using a needle tonight for mixing. 

stephanienj

@mandurz - Thanks for the tip, but I have insurance coverage for my meds, and wouldn't want to take those meds away from someone that could use them more than me.  I pay less for the meds than the overnight shipping. So if I have to pick them up, so be it, I can't complain about that.

@mcgeeva - Yes, it's nasty out there.  We've had gusts well over 50mph, and have tons of flood warnings!  I didn't know how to use the qcaps, so I used a needle the first night until I figured out what the caps were for, but the first night i used those, I definitely got sprayed!

frenchiemom80

First off, thank you to everyone for the luck and wishes - all of the positive energy helped! 10 eggs were retrieved!!! I'm sitting here excited, stunned and maybe a bit high from a low grade pain killer. We are doing ICSI this cycle so hopefully we will know how many fertilize by tomorrow afternoon. 
@stephanienj - That's so great to hear about your appointment! The shopping must have paid off!
@josiepasta - What a great surprise!  Are they thinking you'll trigger Saturday or Sunday?
@mom2be_sarah - I was a super slow responder and my ER's motto was quality over quantity.  You are in the right frame of mind! 
@prudence9-2 - All of these injections suck whether you are a pro or not!! My midsection is a lovely collection of green and yellow blobs. 
@mandurz - Good luck!  Are you an AM or PM injector?
@azetter1 - Those are such great numbers!

Did anyone's RE suggest a Valium an hour before the retrieval? My RE did this time I have to say it really helped take the edge off. My RE also went through a round a IVF, so maybe that's why she did it or it could be because she didn't want to hear my lame jokes.

Thank you all again. This can be such a lonely process and I'm really glad I found this board.   

kyapplb

I don’t think I have valium perscribed before egg retrieval, but they are putting me under conscious sedation for it. Then they have perscriped tramadol (i think??? i’m at work and can’t remember off the top of my head, starts with a T) to help relax me for the transfer. 
 

prudence9-2

@frenchiemom80 glad retrieval went well. FX for a good fertilization report today!

i wasn’t prescribed valium before my retrieval. Only for transfer. 


AFM... last night manopur mixing went fine. My problem the first night was attaching the small needle and then placing down the syringe instead of immediately injecting. 

mandurz

@frenchiemom80 woo hoo for 10 eggs! I do mine in the afternoon cuz it's the most convenient for my hubby. My RE tells us to do all injections before ER in the arm (weird I know but he insisted that he sees better results that way). My mom is staying with me to help out with my 2.5 yr old while I go to school and through this whole process and she has a shaky hand...it hurts when she has to do them. Plus nurse usually calls in the afternoon after blood tests so I know what doses to do. 
RE only gave Valium for day of transfer not ER. But u would assume it would help either way.

prudence9-2

Anyone else super thirsty while stimming? I don’t remember being thirsty last time around. 

stephanienj

@prudence9-2 - Yes, I'm drinking much more water than I normally do.  Even woke up a few times last night in the middle of the night just because I was thirsty

stephanienj

@frenchiemom80 - WOOHOO on the 10 eggs!  Hope you have great fertilization #s!  Yes, my Dr ordered valium for before the retrieval for me!

prudence9-2

@stephanienj good to know it’s not only me. Weird thing is I don’t remember it from last IVF... What day are you? I’m on day 3 of stimming

josiepasta

@frenchiemom80 10 eggs is great!!!  Congrats!!

I went for another follow up and then waited all day for the nurse to give me my next instructions.  My RE decided my numbers are good (19 mature follicles and Estrogen at 2500) but wants to wait and do another follow up Monday morning.  It’s fine, I guess.  Just really frustrating because all the nurses on Friday were telling me I’d be triggering this weekend.  Plus I only have enough meds for 2 more days of stims.  So ready to get my ER over with!  Argh!!! 

prudence9-2

@josiepasta that’s frustrating! Hope you’ll get the ok to trigger tomorrow. 

AFM... manopur is really painful for me this time around. I remember in my first IVF that manopur burned a little bit. But not too bad. This time around it is painful as hell!!! 

Ive seen differences in other meds for my FETs as with time the meds burns and other symptoms are worse. But this is def to the next level. 

mandurz

@prudence9-2 I totally agree with you about the menopur. In Dec when I did a cycle it hurt to much more than I remember from before. Hope it doesn't last long.

prudence9-2

@mandurz it was so painful last night. Almost unbearable. And I have high tolerance for pain. 

Any tips of how to inject to have it hurt less? 

suzycupcake

Hi ladies, I'm in the IUI thread but I've been following yours. 

@frenchiemom80 I'm dying to know how yesterday's appointment went! That's great your RE suggested that med beforehand. Mine did that when I had a hysteroscopy. It hurt like hell but I was able to push through it because of Ativan. Sounds like you have a great doctor.

@mcgeeva How are you feeling today? 

Ladies, I may have to consider IVF very soon and don't know much about it. Would you guys mind telling me why it's important to get a lot of eggs out at the same time? Is it because they don't know how many will actually fertilize in the dish?

mcgeeva

suzycupcake yep they want more so it ups your chances for having good embroyos to put back in. I was told if they take around 30 by the time they are done testing most will only have 6 at the most that are great quality to use. So they are definitely taking their sweet time to get a lot of eggs out of me. I personally feel like shit today. Sick to my stomach from the meds and I was hoping to get a call by now to know if I trigger tonight or have to wait another day. Praying they don’t say one more day my body is worn out. 

Are you doing your iui soon?

suzycupcake

@mcgeeva That's crazy! So, a mature follicle doesn't mean a good egg? I wonder if that's why the chances of natural cycle is like 20%. It's strange that our bodies don't produce good eggs every cycle. Maybe some research funding should be placed there to see why. 

I'm sorry that you feel so crappy. Fertility meds suck so I get it. I hope that you are doing something nice for yourself? I will pray that you'll be able to trigger more expediently. Fix for you!

Af just came today so we will start this cycle right away. I'm not messing around. Not getting any younger. I emailed the new clinic to let them know my cycle started even though I haven't been there yet. I'm leaving Kaiser and it just so happens that my RE also practices out of USC. Not only that but this new one has more tailored care, is open on the weekends, and is like 2 miles from us. Jackpot!

Thanks for sharing your ttc journey in your siggy. It gives women like me with pcos a LOT of hope!

teamginger13

Hi ladies! I'm a little late to the board but I'm back for IVF 3 so I hope you'll have me! I'm on a different protocol this time around - no BCP but instead am taking estrace 10 days after ovulation followed by 3 ganirelix injections THEN get AF and start stims. Anyone heard of this before? My RE also added human growth hormones which added a pretty penny to the cost of the meds but I'm down to try anything at this point as this is our last IVF before moving to DE. I begin the estrace on Wednesday so should start stimming the week of 3/12.

Anyone doing acupuncture while stimming?