May 2018 - IVF

mich_elle

I know it's the beginning of April but who likes waiting?!? Hop on the May IVF train with me!

***TW***
We have secondary IF and we're struggling TTC #2. We have IVF insurance coverage with a lifetime max benefit amount, which is the only reason we can afford to even consider expanding our family. I need to call insurance company to get specifics on benefits & RX coverage info too.
***End TW*** 

PLAN:
IVF #1 with ICSI & AH if needed; fresh day 3 transfer of 3-5 embryos.
Ideally, I'd like to push them to day 5 to do PGS testing and freeze. However, my RE doesn't think that they'll make it to day 5 and then I risk being left with nothing. 

PROTOCOL: stim for 10 days (more/less if needed)
1. Micro Flare Lupron
2. 450 Follistim
3. 20 units Low Dose HCG
These are additional meds that have been ordered for me (I'm not sure the timing of them just yet)
4. 10,000 IU Pregnyl
5. PIO [sesame]
6. 400 mg progesterone suppositories
7. 16 mg Medrol tablets
8.  2 mg Estrodial tablets
9.  250 mg Azithromycin tablets

NEXT (tentative) STEPS:
4/04 (today) CD3 so we will TTC naturally one last time (anticipated O mid-April) before closing this chapter. 
4/28 anticipated CD1=call to schedule day 3 bw, u/s & repeat SIS. Start BCP for only a few days (not to suppress my ovaries too much)
5/05 start date for stim meds, take for 10 days
5/14 trigger shot w/ Pregnyl
5/16 ER
5/19 ET

I took another bumpies advice and read through 3 entire IVF threads from start to finish (Feb, Mar. & April) & found it to be very helpful. I'm currently over on TTC 35+. So, come on in and join me...I'd love to do with this along with someone else! Feel free to follow the same format that I used above if it helps organize your info. It may be nice to use for comparison.

*Edited to add a link to the May 2018 IVF spreadsheet, if you'd like to organize your info there. Thanks @roisis & @kristimh80 for creating/sharing, respectively!*

mich_elle

@cmarieb35

amandanuko

Hi! I’m new to these boards but not IVF. Seems like there are lots of rules on these boards so let me know if I say something wrong.  

Child and Loss mentioned...
Getting ready to do my 3rd round of IVF with PGD and PGS. We are trying to avoid passing a genetic condition my husband has that our child has a 50/50 chance having. We did IVF 4 years ago and had 7 embryos that made it to blasts - 2 normal unaffected, 3 affected with 2 being abnormal and the rest we weren’t able to get readings on. We used our best normal which is my 3 y/o daughter and we did a FET in October 2017 with the other normal which ended in miscarriage at 9.5 weeks. 

We just completed IVF #2 in March and had 23 eggs, 22 fertilize and 4 make it to blasts. We are worried given our results last time that the odds are not in our favor so are going to do another round in May and bank more embryos before doing genetic testing. 

We we are completely out of pocket so we save some money doing it this way and hope we get lucky and have a healthy embryo or two when we are done. 

Protocol...
Started birth control for 3 weeks on CD2 which was 4/2. Expect to get AF around 4/26 and start stims on CD 2 or 3. Still waiting on my calendar for the rest from my nurse. Last cycle I was on 300 Gonal F and 3 vials of menupur plus Cetrotide and Lupron trigger to avoid OHSS. My estrogen levels were through the roof and I ended up getting mild OHSS anyway. 

Anyway, looking for cycle buddies even though we have a few more weeks of waiting!

mayflower513

Hi ladies!

I don’t have my details yet, I should get more on 4/9.  My history...

**TW**(child and loss mentioned)

I have a son who will be 3 in mid May.  In October of 15 I found out I was pregnant (we had had sex like twice since I had our son and were not trying whatsoever so we were shocked), and then in nov of 15 at my 8 week appt we found out it was in the tube.  Since there was a heartbeat the drug to stop the growth wasn’t given to me as an option and when they went in my tube had ruptured so it had to be removed.

Since then (well, February of ‘16 when we were cleared to try again) we have not been able to get pregnant at all so I had my remaining tube tested this last January and was told I have tubal infertility due to scarring.  We finally went to a RE and he gave the option of either trying to repair the tube or removing and going to IVF, so last Wednesday I had the tube removed and am now waiting to recover so we can start IVF.

We also have pretty good insurance and our OOP max in a plan cycle is 3,600 so we are giving it a try until the end of our plan cycle which is 10/31/18, so I’m really nervous only having 5 months to get in 2 or 3 tries to have a thb.

I should be starting 2 weeks of BCP around 5/17 and doing a fresh transfer the last week of June, but that’s all I think at this point.  I’m excited to know more next week and to have some ladies to share my journey with and follow journeys of!!

mayflower513

@sarah_fox

mayflower513

@mich_elle good luck on your last natural cycle!!  I’m sure you’ve tried it all but I know sometimes it does work on that last try so my fingers are crossed so hard for you!

mich_elle

@amandanuko Hi there & thanks for hoping on this thread! I'm sorry for your loss-it's never easy. Aww, my DS will be 3 in August! I like the idea of banking the embryos although that's just not an option for us as I'm out of time. And, ooofff, you're all OOP - I'm always amazed at people who can afford to do that! We just bought our first house and have been on one income since DS was born so money over here is extremely tight. You & I should be close bc my next CD1 should be 4/28. GL with IVF #3 & FX the embryos are genetically normal.  

@cmarieb35 Hi there-hope you don't mind me paging you here...I saw you over on one of the other IVF threads (I can't remember which since I've just finished reading all of Feb., Mar. & April!). I though I'd start a May board in case there were others like me who have bits of info about their process and wanted to vent/share now. My lil boy will be 3 in August! I'm so sorry about your loss and the tube issue. Yay for insurance and FX you get your next THB out of one of these cycles! AFM, thanks. We'll HIO one last time and then we'll need to let it go. Honestly, I wasn't ready to face that fact, but I'm so tired *literally* of TTC every month and getting nowhere. Best of luck to you!

mayflower513

@mich_elle not at all, thank you!  I was waiting for one to start

I hear you on not wanting to face the fact.  H and I both said that since we already had a kid that we wouldn’t do IVF to have another and well, here we are! Things changed when we found out we only had a 3% chance of getting pregnant with a 15-30% chance of another ectopic if we did nothing.  Hopefully we both have success!!

mich_elle

@cmarieb35 We said the same thing and here WE are too! We figured, well, I've got eggs and we've got insurance we might as well take a shot! FX for us, and the rest of this community!!

amandanuko

@mich_elle & @cmarieb35 you both are SO lucky to have IVF coverage. Where are you located if you don’t mind me asking? We are in FL and it’s not mandated coverage in our state. I’m also a SAHM so we are on one income at the moment and expenses are high. We are basically taking out loans to finance our 2nd baby

I finally got my calendar today and looks like I’ll be starting stims on 4/28 with a possible retrieval of 5/10. So in a little more than a month this will hopefully be over. I honestly didn’t find the stim meds to be bad at all but once I got AF whoa what a crash. I’m exhausted by noon. I don’t remember this last time but then again I was gearing up for a FET so I probably didn’t have such a hormone drop. 

Anyway wishing all of us the best of luck on this upcoming round!!

mayflower513

@amandanuko I know, if we didn’t have insurance covering it there’s no way we’d be able to do it.  I’m in RI - but I don’t think it’s required in any states, maybe I’m wrong?  Although MA has amazing coverage for it so maybe it is there.

thats super quick!!  It seems like my 6 week cycle is long compared to both of you and I am a little bummed my retrieval and transfer won’t be until June, but I’m grateful to have ladies sharing their experiences before me so hopefully I’ll be able to get some tips and tricks and give moral support!

amandanuko

@cmarieb35 don’t worry I’m freezing and testing and it takes 14 business days to get results so I won’t be doing my FET until mind June. So I’m right there with you! 

mayflower513

@amandanuko well misery does love company, but I’m sorry you have more waiting, too!  I am probably the least patient person on earth so hopefully you are better at waiting than I am

amandanuko

@cmarieb35 I’m not too patient either. It helps that with the next round I’ll know what to expect and can plan accordingly and try to keep myself as busy as possible. This month is the worst while on the birth control but we are going to Disney next weekend which I’m looking forward to. I think the waiting for the biopsy results will most likely send me to full blown panic so I will probably be a wreck by end of May!

sarah_fox

Hello! I'm going to be a mid-May to mid-June IVF so I'll join you ladies here. 

***TW***

We are trying for our first. I have Celiac disease which is fully managed with diet at this point and shouldn't be impacting me in any way, but other than a fluke pregnancy after 18 cycles of trying and miscarrying at 8 weeks in November 2016 we've had no luck ttc. Test have all come back normal, so our diagnosis is unexplained.  

***End TW***

Plan: 

IVF #1; fresh day 5 transfer of 1 embryo

Protocol: Starting with natural cycle. Stim for approx 10 days

Puregon 150

Menopur 75

Add Orgalutran 250 after 5 days

Trigger with Ovidrel 250

Prometrium 200mg x2, three times a day after retrieval

Estimated dates:

05/18 Anticipated CD1 = Call to schedule day 2 or 3 bw, u/s

05/20 Start date for stim meds, take for 10 days (+/-)

05/30 Trigger shot w/ Ovidrel

06/01 Retrieval

06/06 Transfer

06/19 Beta

@mich_elle thanks for starting the thread. It's nice to have other impatient ladies to wait with

@cmarieb35 thanks for tagging me!

@amandanuko sorry to hear about you loss. 

Hopefully we'll all have successful cycles and get to graduate to a BMB together!

mich_elle

@amandanuko We're in PA. DH works for Merck and I'm a SAHM too so we use his insurance. I've been battling PPA since the birth of DS and haven't been able to bring myself to return to teaching. We moved here from NJ over the summer so I'd need a new job anyway. I've fallen out of love with it TBH, especially with recent gun violence. I hear ya, money is super tight. Hopefully, some of my IVF meds will be Merck & will be either significantly discounted or free. We'll see. Oh, I'm super jelly that you're going to my favorite place on Earth: Disney! Say Hi to Mickey for me! 

@sarah_fox Hi & welcome! I'm sorry for your loss (((hugs))) but happy you found us! You're welcome-I'm so impatient!!! I think that, once the pharmacy called me to discuss my meds and setting up the order for delivery, I just had to get the May IVF board going! LOL! FX I'll get KU naturally this month and this will be all for naught...a girl can dream...right!?! Le Sigh...

amandanuko

@mich_elle that’s awesome that your husband works for Merck, hopefully you can get some meds! I totally get your point about going back to teaching... we are 15 minutes from Stoneman Douglas where the last shooting was and my husband actually graduated from there so this hit way way too close to home for us. So terrifying because Parkland is the safest place imaginable and a lot of my family lives there. I love being a SAHM. I actually went back to work when my daughter was 3 months and only lasted 2 months. I worked in luxury hotel sales and had to travel heavily and would basically never see my daughter. It was too much so we cut back on expenses and I’ve been home since. 

@sarah_fox Welcome! So sorry to hear about your loss as well. Wishing us all much luck this cycle. 

mayflower513

@sarah_fox I’m glad you found us!  I’m sorry to hear you suffered PPA.  I think as well (or PPD — idk if there is a difference, I was extremely overwhelmed and anxious), but never sought out help.  I will be extremely proactive this time because it was pretty severe for me.  I work 3 days a week (6 hours days) which is a really great balance.

@amandanuko what better distraction than Disney!  Have fun!!

mich_elle

@amandanuko OMG, that's crazy the connection you haver there. I can't anymore with the school shootings...and in a perfectly good neighborhood! WTH??? We just moved in over the summer but my cousin has been here for 11 years. Quite community, beautiful neighborhood, great schools, etc. My street is soooo quiet (we got 14 kids this Halloween...14!) Anyway, last week a repeat shoplifter pulled a gun/shot at a state trooper who was trying to stop him. The trooper shot/killed the guy in the parking lot at our local Walmart - it's like a mile from my house. Then this week they found a young guy dead in his car at the same Walmart...verdict is still out on his situation. OMG, this is MY neighborhood, MY store. This shit does NOT help my PPA at all.

@cmarieb35 PPA is postpartum anxiety and PPD is postpartum depression. I'm sure some symptoms overlap but I definitely had PPA and still do. I've gotten a bit better but it still rules my life. I'm always calculating risk. Scanning the parking lot at the store, scoping out people inside. I don't want to bring DS into post office for fear of some crazy shooting up the place. I don't want to go down that crowded aisle in the supermarket with DS for fear that someone would grab him out of my cart. I love Target but didn't want to bring DS for fear that we would need the bathroom while there (convinced that some crazy person would cause harm to people who use it due to their change in policy re: trans people. I support their right to use the bathroom they identify with but I just don't want to be caught up in any drama.) I don't want to walk around my neighborhood alone or with DS for fear that someone will grab me/him and I'll not be able to defend myself. I don't want to be around crowds or big events for fear of a shooting/bombing. I honestly do NOT know how I managed to travel to the Philippines last year with DH's whole family. My BIL joked that he was going to get a GoPro and just record me the whole trip but, it's really not funny. It sucks. I'm not "me" anymore. I met with a therapist once (and she was amazing but every visit would cost $132 and that's just not possible!). I need to go back. So I avoid, avoid, avoid as a coping mechanism but that make me feel more isolated...and depressed. We could really use another income but I just can't deal with: a) opening myself up to risk by exposing myself to others in a work place & b) leaving DS with someone else all day, 5 days a week. I'm sweating just typing this as my anxiety ramps up. 

emmasemm

Hi ladies! Good to see May is starting up already - thanks for that @mich_elle!

For those not on mobile, you can find lots of info in my Siggy. But in case any of you are on mobile then here a brief intro:
Me 39 DH 41 TTC#1 since April 2015 - so three years now
We took some time to get into an RE due to moving around, but I was immediately diagnosed with DOR July 2017 and we were fast tracked straight to IVF. We did three rounds starting last September and get very few eggs each time. Where I live in Europe PGS Testing was not possible, so we did fresh transfers on the two occasions we had embies to transfer, but both with BFNs.
The first RE was not open to adding in anything additional for clotting or autoimmune issues (I have a form of rheumatoid arthritis) - and with my age we want to do PGS testing - so we are now with a new RE in a different country and will be doing IVF as a travel patient. Due to my age and DOR we’re going to do three banking cycles, then see how many normies we have before deciding if we need more retrievals or can move to FETs. So for those of you falling into June I might be back for round 5 with you then!
I feel like a walking encyclopedia on IVF, poor response, immune and clotting protocols - so feel free to ask away.
Exact timing and protocol to be confirmed in the next few weeks - but next CD1 should be around 23rd April.

@mich_elle that’s interesting that you will start your stims so late and only start the BCP with CD1 instead of just before. Did your RE explain the rationale for that particular approach? 

@amandanuko wow looks like you get a great response to stims! I also didn’t find the stimming bad at all. The waiting to hear how many embryos are developing properly is probably the worst part for me.

@sarah_fox have you had any testing done to see if you have autoimmune issues at play with your IF? Or talked to your RE about adding in anything to deal with potential issues - eg antibiotics, steroids, Intralipids? Some REs are really skeptical but others more open. Finding one with the right balance between taking some extra precautions but also not flushing money down the toilet for no reason can be quite tricky. But in the end if your CRP and WBC count are not in the normal range, then it is likely to have some impact. Not only on implantation but also egg quality and quantity. Feel free to ask or PM if you have any questions any time.

@cmarieb35 hope your recovery is going smoothly. Does your insurance insist you transfer all embryos before they will let you do another retrieval? If they will let you keep doing retrievals to Bank embies then you should time for several rounds before end of October.

mich_elle

@emmasemm Seriously, like I was gonna wait until the END of April to start this thread...yeah right! I'd love to do the banking thing but 1) RE doesn't think mine will make it to day 5 for freeze and 2) I'm out of time being just over 42 1/2 yo. If we had started this a year ago, I totally would have been doing the same thing. GL to you though! AFM, I have no clue why she chose this protocol or the timing - this is all so new to me. I've been trying to read online about this process but it seems that every person had a different protocol so it's hard to compare! Since you seem to have a better grasp on this than me, tell me: when would you think I should start stems & why BCP before CD1? RE said my protocol would be aggressive due to my AMA, DOR, low AMH and that BCP would only be a few days so we don't over suppress ovaries. Feedback? TIA!

emmasemm

Hi Michelle. I know that feeling of the clock ticking - every month that passes stresses me!

I guess your RE is putting you on BCP for a few days from CD1 to try to stop a lead follicle developing too early, so to try to get as many of your AFC that month developing together. Which logically would make some sense. And 10 years ago using BCP to get the follies all together on the starting line before stims was the go to method. Nowadays the RE community is split - half do and half don’t. Though most who do use BCP use it for scheduling purposes really, not for lining up follies as the evidence there is really not clear cut. Starting BCP just for a few days on CD1 (rather than earlier) is probably to minimize the days you need to be on it to have “quiet ovaries” before you start, but could also be so that you have AF or a negative HPT to ensure you’re not a SS who gets KU on their last natural try before IVF!

I also assume she is starting you on stims later, as she is hoping to use the BCP to change what your CD3 is in effect, which is when most people start stimming. However I have known a few others start slightly later when doing an MDL protocol. 

Just a word of caution - MDL seems to either work like a dream for low AMHers or is your worst cycle ever. But it seems very difficult to know in advance which camp you will fall into. I do though know several low AMHers and poor responders who had very poor success on antagonist protocols and had their best cycles ever with MDL - Fx it’s the same for you!

We might try an MDL for round 5, but this time for round 4 we’re going to add in HGH and see what difference that makes - not sure where in the US you are, but that might be worth you asking about (though it’s OOP and expensive). Some states and some REs won’t use it however.

mayflower513

@emmasemm welcome!  I’m so sorry you’ve been unsuccessful so far.  Hopefully your new RE can make the changes you need!

I don’t even know what my insurance requires yet, I do know the results all have to be sent immediately.  Hopefully I will find out all of the details Monday!

amandanuko

@mich_elle that is crazy about your local Walmart! Just goes to show we should never have a false sense of security. We have even had break ins and car burglary’s on our street and we live in a gated community with security so go figure. So sorry to hear about your PPD it sounds awful and it must make everything so tough. 

@emmasemm Welcome! Where in Europe are you located and where are you doing treatment? Must be so much more economical. I wish you luck with your next round and hope that the PGS testing works in your favor. Yes, seems I responded great to the stims this cycle but we were so bummed to only have 4 make it to blasts after 22 fertilized. Only 2 are good quality so now I’m wondering if it’s a quality issue. 

@cmarieb35 yes a much needed distraction and one of the benefits of living in FL is resident rates at Disney!

emmasemm

@amandanuko We live in Germany and will go to a clinic in London this time. We looked into lots of countries and clinics, but Fx this is the one for us!
In general I see an average 25%-50% drop off rate at each step - so if you have 22 eggs, you might have 17 fertilize, 8 make it to blast and 4 normals. But that would be chromosomally normally, if you have the genetic disease to factor in then 2 normies that are not carriers would be about in the range I would expect. Though all I’ve done is look at research papers and collect my own anecdotal evidence, I’m not a one woman research study lol. Did they talk you through the kind of ratios you might expect? 
Also of course the % of normies (normies in the sense of chromosomes, not your specific genetic mutation) you should get from the blasts will depend on age mostly - how old are you?

amandanuko

@emmasemm that’s awesome will you have to travel to London or will you be monitored in Germany? So we had 23 retrieved and were told 22 fertilized, 15 progressing by day 3 and 2 biopsied on day 5 and another 2 on day 6. I’m 32 with no health issues other than hypothyroid which I’m being treated for. My husband has a mild form of osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bones) but his sperm is super healthy. We were so excited when we were told 22 fertilized because we only had 14 fertilized when we did IVF 4 years ago. However my AMH in 2014 was 3.5 and now is 1.44. But yet they got more eggs... 

They definitely did not give me percentages so I need to push them for more answers. We have been digesting all this info since we got the results last week and are definitely going to request a meeting with our RE and embryologist to find out their thoughts before we start our next cycle. 

mich_elle

@emmasemm thank you so much for your feedback-I really appreciate it! Listen, full disclosure: I hope that I will be that SS who gets KU next week and I can just cancel all of this IVF crap...but I doubt it! Thanks for the heads up re: MDL and about the HGH too. I'm in PA. My nurse explained my protocol after you questioned the timing and it got me thinking! She said that when doing PGS, we need to have “start dates" as they cannot have a bunch of patients whose embryos all need biopsying on the same day for lab safety. Therefore, they stagger the start dates of all patients doing PGS. I will call with day one to start BCP to “freeze” my cycle. It becomes like groundhog day for your body, and it keeps thinking you are early in your cycle. They use these as a place holder, to get me from CD1 one to the start date. She will see me on CD 2/3 to have me start them. This way, I'll take them for some time then come off them & start injections on your PGS start date of 5/5. So, I guess that explains it! Again, thank you & GL to you!

@amandanuko thanks. It's not been easy but I just keep it moving! 

mayflower513

I have my appt at 3:40 (EST) today to hopefully get my whole plan!!  I’ll update everyone after!

emmasemm

@amandanuko yes I will do the monitoring locally in Germany. 
You may have got more eggs for many reasons this time. But as you get older the % of normal embryos decreases, so most people would need to retrieve more eggs to end up with the same number of blasts after 4 years. They won’t be able to say exactly what the %s will be but they should give you some ranges so your expectations are realistic.
Were you hypothyroid 4 years ago? If not, ask them if they recommend anything when you come to transfer.
Its good that you can relatively easily screen out any OI embies. Did your DH have it passed down or was his as a result of a spontaneous mutation? I have a friend who has survived into her 30s with type III.

@mich_elle feel free to be a SS! Knowing one every once in a while keeps the hope well alive!
And Ok, so the BCP is really mostly for scheduling purposes. Though to be honest as they don’t know how many days each patient will be stimming for I don’t think it’s that much of a guarantee to improve their scheduling... in my three cycles I had ER on CD15, 22 and 18. So if they’d put me on BCP for a week to group me I would have screwed with their system totally hehe.
If AF comes a few days late I would recommend thinking about asking if you can skip the BCP. With your AMH and AFC I would be pretty reluctant to go on it... 
In case you don’t know it already, this link is a great repository of low AMH info
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s166/sh/4616d4b7-510f-4718-a12f-d2e0338b8ead/1e44b866aec3287db8c7b57cad758377

mayflower513

So I don’t have exact timing yet, insurance has to approve and I’m a little worried they’ll say I have to wait longer.  BUT, I start bcp CD1 which should be Sunday.  Then I do that for at least 2 weeks (depending on when insurance approves and then how I’m doing and then start stims as they see fit!  I don’t get to order meds til insurance approves and don’t know what he hasn’t me doing but Iran just the regular protocol for now.  So I could be fine a whole month earlier than I thought (with the first cycle!)

he did suggest maybe doing 2 fresh transfers (if the first one fails) to bank Bc of my insurance ending at the end of October, but we will figure that out if/when we get to that point.

mich_elle

@emmasemm wow that link is amazing!!! OMG I'll be busy reading that!

amandanuko

@emmasemm that’s great that you can do all your monitoring locally. I made an appointment with my RE and embryologist for Thursday so I’ll see what they say. No I didn’t have hypothyroidism 4 years ago and only found out about it last summer when I was doing preliminary Bloodwork before my frozen embryo transfer last fall.  I’m now on medication for it and it’s at normal levels. Apparently very common after first pregnancies. So the OI was passed down by my Mother in law who has it. There is a 50/50 chance her children would have it and both my husband and his sister have it which is why my husband felt so strongly about doing this. Luckily my husband and his sister have a mild form but still my husband has broken over 30 bones throughout his life. Every time my daughter falls or trips I’m so thankful we did this. It took forever though for them to build the test when we did this 5 years ago... almost a year. Now I hear they can do it in weeks! Your friend sounds like a fighter! 

@mich_elle my clinic also uses bcp for scheduling purposes. During my round last month they had me take it for 26 days because they had too many retrieval’s and biopsies and had to put me off a week. I was so annoyed lol. This cycle I’m only on it for 20 days. 

sarah_fox

@cmarieb35 So exciting that you have more info now! Hopefully insurance will be quick to approve!

@mich_elle I've definitely got my FX for both of us on the KU right before IVF front. I'm trying very hard not to let my imagination get too crazy hoping for the unlikely, but I know it's lurking in the back of my mind. 

@emmasemm My RE is aware of my Celiac Disease and my GE is aware of my infertility. Neither of them have seemed to think they're very related to each other, but there honestly doesn't seem to be much knowledge in the medical community about the relationship between the two. CD is a bit different from some other autoimmune conditions in that if you have completely eliminated gluten your body acts as though it doesn't have the autoimmune response, and the damage that occurred before being gluten-free heals.  My bloodwork for gluten antibodies has returned to normal, which would indicate that there is no active damage occurring, and should indicate that I'm healing or healed. I'm not sure if WBC or CRP have been tested or not. I have not been the most proactive patient historically and tend to just accept being told that things are normal or they haven't found an issue without always getting the details about what they checked. 

mayflower513

Thanks @sarah_fox!  What is encouraging is I have BCBS and they told me at my last appt that they’re one of the quicker to approve and it’s usually 10-14 days instead of 3-4 weeks - so hopefully they don’t have an issue with my doing IVF so soon after my surgery!

and FX that you and @mich_elle get KTFU and don’t need IVF after all!!  I’m sending all of my good juju both of your ways!

mich_elle

@amandanuko 26 days?!? I would have been out of my mind! FX this cycle is better for you!

@sarah_fox I'm sending you the vibes to get KU too! Ugh, dealing with IVF is such a burden but to have other health issues on top of that...boo! *IF* you need to do IVF, my FX for you that there are no conflicts with your other meds and that your body and the stim meds place nice! 

@cmarieb35 I have BCBS too although I haven't gone through this process yet so I can't speak to that. Stay tuned, LOL! FX for you too lady! Thanks for the juju, LOL!

mayflower513

@mich_elle well I’ll let you know how smoothly it goes!  The financial coordinator didn’t call me back today .  Maybe she was out.  I’ll expect her call tomorrow.

On another note, I’m almost out of my multivitamin and figure I should start a prenatal.  What is everyone taking??

madasm0530

hi everyone - i half intro'd on the April IVF board but will more than likely be May. 

this will be our first round of IVF. we're doing a fresh cycle w/ ICSI and no PGS. i'm currently waiting for CD1 to start BCPs and do our trial transfer. we still don't have our specific protocol from RE, but we should have that any day now!

@cmarieb35 - I am almost out of mine too so am interested to see what everyone else has to say!

FX for a good month 

mayflower513

Welcome @madasm0530!!

We’re not doing PGS, either.  They’ll do AH if there’s a hard shell or something but otherwise won’t and there’s no plan for ICSI but I had to sign a release for them to do it if they see fit.

I talked to my financial counselor and she said she will get immediate authorization online when she puts in for it.  Since my CD1 should be Sunday she will submit for authorization Monday (since it’s a 60 day authorization she doesn’t want to waste it before CD1) and will call me when it’s all set.  Then I call the IVF coordinator and get the meds ordered!!

Question to anyone who knows — I did see vaginal progesterone on the sheet - is this awful??  Should I be asking for PIO?

mich_elle

@cmarieb35 I've been taking CitraNatal Assure Combo Pack (1 prenatal vitamin tablet & 1 DHA capsule) for years. Honestly, I'd rather have a gummy or something. These come 5 doses/blister pack. It's annoying to peel off the paper backing and then peel off the tin foil. But, maybe I'm just tired of doing this every 5 days for the past 5 years! Awesome about getting auth right away...GL! Ugh, it's on my list of meds too! I have PIO & suppositories. I've heard that the suppositories are messy, like, feels like a bunch of lotion in your va-jajay. I've read that some users were concerned about how much prog was actually being absorbed after seeing how much leaked out. Oh, and most of the people I've read about were using *red* suppositories...so, that's fun every day to think your bleeding! As for the PIO, I'm shitting in my pants. That needle is the scariest thing I've seen. But, I've heard tips like applying a numbing cream to the injection area 45 min before helps, I've heard ice/heat helps and rubbing the are for like 10 min after the injection helps! @madasm0530 Hi there! Welcome! When is your CD1? If you want, click the link to the May IVF spreadsheet I created. It helps others keep track of where everyone is in the process. GL!

mayflower513

Thanks @mich_elle!  Is that over the counter or rx?

so wait.. you have vaginal and suppository progesterone... and PIO?  Why more than one? 

I added my stuff to the spreadsheet but had to guess on it all. I will update when I get actual dates!  Hopefully when I talk to the IVF coordinator Monday.  Crazy!!

mich_elle

@cmarieb35 The guy at the pharmacy said I have both suppositories AND the PIO! Yikes. No idea why both are needed.