TTTC Check-In August 2020

inthewoods23

Please double-check your name and confirm your Dx & Rx. Please let me know if you'd like to update your Dx & Rx! 

QOTW: What's your favorite summer meal?

Any Rants/Raves from this past week? Tell us about it!

2020 BFP Hall of Fame:

To be added to our Hall of Fame, please let us know when you are comfortable with us doing so!

PAGING:

@inthewoods23 - dx:unexplained. Rx: IVF, gluten free & dairy free diet

@chiblackhawkie - rx: IUI

@blackrose-9 - Dx: PCOS Rx: Femara

@hithertorue - Dx: Low AMH/MFI, unexplained Rx: IVF 

@2dogsmom - Dx: unexplained Rx: IVF

@sara_tory - Dx: PCOS, endometriosis, adenomyosis Rx: IUI 

@ase33 - Dx: PCOS, complex endometrial hyperplasia, amenorrhea Rx: Femara + TI 

@olivklau - Dx: unexplained Rx: IUI

@amgpg25 - Dx: Insulin Tolerance, Rx Clomid & IUI

@abarr723 - DX: PCOS, Rx Femara & IUI

@zimmie0818 - Dx polyps, Rx IUI

@Amartuso - Dx TBD 

@nina205 - RX PCOS and low morphology (hubby) Dx Fermara & Trigger

@bbrahmbhatt - Dx: unknown, Rx: weight loss, Clomid trial

@missmandyD2 - Dx: blocked tube, Rx:

inthewoods23

haha whoops I totally forgot to change the QOTW and of course I can't go back to change it. Oh well!

How's everyone doing?

DH and I talked a little about getting a 2nd opinion so I looked up who else was covered under our insurance and found another RE that is close to us. I was able to schedule an appointment for the 20th. It will be about a week before AF is due so either it's going to be a big waste because I get KU on my own this cycle, or I'll only need to wait a week to do all the baseline bloodwork. I'm assuming they will want to do that regardless of my current records with the other RE since they are nearly 2 years old. I'd also like to have DH do a repeat SA since that's also 2 years old. He's been on a multivitamin and CoQ10 since about March/April and I'm interested to see how that has affected things.

I'm really believing that if things look good with the BW and DH's SA that maybe at max we do a couple IUIs again otherwise maybe just some timed intercourse with letrozole or something. I'm also curious what their opinion is with the GF and DF diet - whether they think it's necessary or not or if it's worth continuing.

nina205

Hi All! I am so sorry I have been so MIA recently.. Been crazy at work and life!

@2dogsmom continuing on from the other board... I am so sorry to hear. Please take care of yourself and know we are thinking about you!

@inthewoods23 I am so interested to hear how the 2nd opinion goes! I am sure it is exciting to get a fresh persepctive and curious about what they think regarding the diet. 

As for me I am on day three of stims! Have my first follicle check on Thursday morning, fingers crossed. 

inthewoods23

@nina205 hope everything looks good on Thursday!

2dogsmom

@nina205 how are stims going?? Have you had the ER yet?

@inthewoods23 sorry you had to deal with AF -- so frustrating.  But I will be curious to hear how your appointment with the new RE goes!  I hope it's helpful.  Didn't you have embroys left for FET? I thought you lost the boy but still had girl embryos? Am I crazy? Have you considered doing another FET? Just curious about your reasoning ....I am rethinking so many things for myself these days since all our testing has continues to come back as good and we are still "unexplained/no reason" for IF. 

AFM I am hanging in. It's been a rough few weeks but trying to focus on the craziness that is this school year. I go back Tuesday for bloodwork to check hcg levels and then will know more about next steps. 

inthewoods23

@2dogsmom yes, we still have 3 embryos remaining - all girls. I don't want to go forward with another FET without the 2nd opinion. I know they some embryos just don't implant even though they're normal, but I know the embryo had started hatching as soon as it was thawed so I feel it should have worked. I also wonder if we didn't give IUIs enough of a chance. I feel our chances would be much better now that DH has been on a multivitamin and CoQ10 for a number of months. I'm sure his numbers are better and stronger. Glad to hear you're doing okay. Will you go into a transfer right away if your HCG is 0?

I got excited this evening as my OPK went positive (a little earlier than expected!) so DH and I need to have some fun for the next 2-3 days  he's actually furloughed this week so it's much easier to convince him to get it done in the middle of the day.

nina205

Hey @2dogsmom and @inthewoods23! Sorry I have been MIA, crazy week!

@2dogsmom I have been thinking about you.. Hoping you all can find a good next step forward. 

@inthewoods23 How many IUIs did you do again? When is your consult?


AFM I had my egg retrieval on Friday. They ended up retrieving 17 follicles of which 14 were mature and 11 fertilized. The next update is on Thursday (day 6), praying and fingers crossed for some healthy embryos. I am super nervous and can't get out of my head. I didn't have all the complications @2dogsmom experienced but unfortunately the doctors had to leave about 8 big follicles behind during the retrieval. I have a dermoid cyst (gross) and a bunch of the follicles got caught behind the cyst and they were not able to retrieve them. If we end up having to do the egg retrieval process again I think we will look into removing the cyst now (versus waiting until after children). We still experienced great numbers and I am just praying our embryos continue to grow. 

inthewoods23

@nina205 I did 3 IUIs before moving to IVF. Originally my RE said they like to do 3 before IVF but after my 3rd one they mentioned about doing a 4th. However, I've heard subsequent IUIs are less and less successful so it seemed more like a waste of time. Your numbers aren't too far off where I was - 17 were mature after my ER. Crossing fingers for a good report on Thursday! I have my consult on Thursday late morning so I will definitely report back on how it went.

nina205

@inthewoods23 Good luck! Big day for both of us! And that makes sense on the 3 IUIs, my clinic recommended the same. 

inthewoods23

@nina205 how did Thursday go? Hope you got a good number of embryos!

AFM, the appointment with the 2nd RE didn't end as positively as I had hoped. At the end we were discussing mental health and that got me in a bummed mood. I was explaining how I had an appointment with my therapist the day before and I made a connection that I seem to boil other with emotion at DH right before my FW (has happened both this month and last month). Emotions were even worse this last time and she thought I should talk with my OB or PCP about antidepressants for clinical depression. I scheduled an appointment with a PCP for Monday so hopefully I can be put on meds soon. I believe it could be playing a huge part in why we haven't been successful.

The 2nd RE is willing to move forward with redoing the baseline BW that was last done 2 years ago and to repeat DH's SA to see how that stands now. He's been on a multivitamin and CoQ10 for around 5 months. From there we will try an IUI or 2 as she said we only have a 5% chance of conceiving naturally simply because we have been trying for so long, but IUI would give us 10-12% chance. Not excited about those odds but... it's better than nothing.

I'm 10dpo today and got a BFN this morning with AF due around Wednesday so we will be able to get moving with the new RE pretty quickly.

nina205

@inthewoods23 im sorry that the appointment did not end positively but I am glad that you found a path forward. Hoping you can explore antidepressants and redo BW to get some additional answers. Did you like the new RE? Let me know how baseline testing is going!

AFM- sorry I have been MIA. I needed a few days to process. Unfortunately, we only ended up with 2 embryos and both are CC. We are still awaiting the PGT testing but it sounds like they don't anticipate either embryo to come back normal. It felt like a huge slap in the face because I kind of always viewed IVF as the "cure" and that we would be pregnant by the end of year. It now seems like these is something else going on and our road to pregnancy is going to be even harder. Not the end of the world and we are so fortunate that we can afford to do another cycle. Its just alot to take in! 

inthewoods23

@nina205 I'm sorry you didn't end up with good grades. That sucks so much. Will you be going into another cycle right away?

The new RE definitely seems nice. I didn't hear the answers I wanted to hear, but I can't expect all sunshine and rainbows. All HPTs have been negative still so just WFAF tomorrow. I'm cramping a bit today so I wonder if it's going to show up a day early again. It did last cycle . I did end up making an appointment for yesterday to talk about antidepressants with my PCP so I started taking Wellbutrin yesterday. I'm excited to see how my thoughts and feelings go as I very much prefer to feel happy and not agitated by a dirty house etc. I think getting the results of DH's 2nd SA will be the real test in how positive I feel moving forward. I'm hoping we can do an IUI or 2 before going back to my other clinic to transfer an embryo.

inthewoods23

AF showed yesterday so I have my baseline stuff tomorrow. DH's SA will be done at home and get brought in. I thought he'd be happy about that but all I got in response was "I'm right here.... so loud". Only then did I get notified that he was dealing with a headache so let's see how this goes.

nina205

@inthewoods23 How did baselines go? Haha your DH sounds similar to mine.. Glad you were able to get everything moving forward again! Must feel so great to have a plan. 

We got the most exciting news yesterday! We have TWO PGS normal embryos. I can NOT believe it! We are still going to do another egg retrieval but going from a very real zero to two was incredible. I am going to wait for my period in September and then i will start the next cycle. Unclear on ultimate timing of retrieval but i am sure i will find out more as we progress.