DEC 2020 FET&IVF

dukie001

Hi! 

I thought I would start December thread for those doing FET or IVF in December even though its still beginning of November. 

I have my FET scheduled for 18Dec that is if everything goes as planned 🙄 we all know how easily the cycle can be canceled or moved to a later date. I changed my clinics because we moved and now I have new doctor and new protocol. The whole approach is so much different from the one I got used to. I’m going from a looot of monitoring to minimal monitoring and meds. I keep my faith so we’ll see. I’m currently on BCP until 18Nov.
I already had my dose of “excitement “ when my pharmacy sent my meds by mistake to my neighbors. After finding that out from the post office I went to get the package back, since they didn’t return it to sender or post office. And they told me that they opened the box and threw everything away afterwards. 😖 I was about to 🤬them. This crazy thing happened to me before twice already in another state, that kind of luck I have 😁. Just last two times I got the meds back . So third time is a charm I guess😄. 

Anyways, I’m excited to start this process. I still need to ship my embryos from TN to MO,  hopefully they don’t get lost or delivered to a wrong address....😄

sawasap

Hey! Looks like I belong here... Originally, I was supposed to start in November but the COVID numbers are going back up so they scaled back the number of people in the clinic and I got pushed to December, since I hadn’t started anything when they made the call. 

AF showed up this morning, so I’ll be getting my date to start Estradot today or tomorrow. Implantation should be done before Christmas, barring any unusual cycle length!

This will be my first time with IVF

PrettyPalomino

Hey! First time contributor here. Also first timer in general for IVF. I’m 33, DH 34, diagnosed with male factor in June 2019. *TW* this is secondary IF, had no idea DD was a miracle (only took 5 months to conceive, didn’t suspect any issues) but we are going on 4 years of BFNs now. We had an unsuccessful round of IUI after he underwent a varicocele embolization which brought his count up to 15 mil but still had poor motility... anyway now we are going for IVF with ICSI. 

I have had a history of high AFC (34) and FSH (44) but technically no PCOS, as I had no other issues, until of course they give me patch protocol and my period doesn’t show up. Can’t believe the timing, I’ve had regular cycles my whole life, been using OPKs for 5-6 years now and I get two long cycles in a row with positive OPKs that last weeks. Anyway we scratched the patch protocol and I’m now on day 6 of provera to induce a period. CD 18 today. 

While I’m shocked at the timing of my body’s decision to shut off, I’m glad there are drugs to override these things! I’m sooo excited for day 1, although stims are going to be intense, Gonal F, Luveris, Cetratide and either Ovidrel for trigger or Lupron and freeze all, depending on how the OHSS situation is looking. 

I’m overwhelmed, trying to break this up into mini goals. I started with “let’s make it to retrieval” but clearly that’s too ambitious as I’m too busy stressing about whether or not the provera will work. I’ve been given 10mg for 10 days. Part of me wants to stop on day 9, in the hopes that we can start one day earlier heheh. Yeah. BSC has already kicked in. 

Trying to manage expectations with cancellation, with Covid and my random sudden issues, OHSS, etc. Docs already warned me it’s most likely going to be a freeze all due to Covid. I personally don’t get that, why not just do the damn fresh transfer and not have me go in a million more times for a stim’d FET. 

Anyway, wishing you all luck (as, clearly, we all need it) and I’m looking forward to learning more and getting to know you ladies! 

dukie001

@sawasap It sucks they delayed your date because of the COVID, but at least it just one month. Are you doing IVF or FET in Dec?
@PrettyPalomino It's very easy to get overwhelmed with all this IF crap. But I personally find this forum super helpful in overcoming stress and anxiety. So you are in the right place. In regard to frozen transfer vs fresh, I remember my nurse once told me that there is a higher chance of pregnancy with frozen because during IVF your lining may not get to its perfect thickness, and with FET they kind of specifically grow it make and make it trileniar. 
GonalF is intense, I started feeling follicles on second or third day of injecting it. And literally I felt them when walking or sitting a certain way. 

AFM I had a super stressful week. So my old clinic supposed to send over paperwork to new clinic, so that new clinic make a decision whether they are going to accept my embryos. So on the very first appointment we told them that we have everything with exception of my husband's infectious disease testing. It wasn't a requirement in my old clinic. So the nurse said its not a problem, he just need to do a blood test now if all is negative then they will except the embryos. So long story short, now whoever is coordinating the shipment saying that they will not accept without testing from 2017. Jeez. Plus she needed some additional paperwork... so the uncertainty was killing me. Do I need to find another clinic? Do I need to fly in my old clinic? Do I need to wait longer? So I called the new clinic yesterday and their first question was if I want to make a payment? What?!!!!  They haven't made a decision yet whether they'll do my FET yet, but they surely wanted to take my money. Anyways, I finally talked to a head nurse and she assured me that they'll do my FET and not to worry. Easier said than done. I supposed to start Lupron on 18NOV, it kind of makes it more real. I can't wait. Plus one of the side affects of Lupron on me is it makes me super energetic and my endurance goes up. Well anyways, that how it was last time I underwent FET.

PS. I went to storage yesterday and brought our Christmas tree home Probably going to set it up this weekend. We always do it super early 

sawasap

@dukie001 We’ll be doing IVF in December. I start on patches on November 29, retrieval should be mid-December (so long as my cycle is normal) and then hopefully a fresh transfer shortly after. The whole schedule is a huge question mark with COVID. What a nightmare with your clinic! This stuff is all stressful enough, you’d think the clinic would try to make things as smooth as possible for you. Worrying about 3 year old test results makes no sense to me (not that I’ve ever worked in a medical field, but still)

@PrettyPalomino Yeah, I’m not looking forward to the drugs at all. I did an IUI cycle in September and I was sooo irritable. Had to warn DH that I knew I was annoyed at nothing but couldn’t stop it. And now the doses are going to be so much higher, I feel like I’m going to be a terror

dukie001

@sawasap hopefully your cycle is normal and cooperates 
I know it easier said than done, but try to stress less. Every time I stress, and I do it quite often, my husband reminds me that I just attract bad energy. So I try to ease my mind. But...also I’ll be doing all those crazy old wife’s tricks that are on the market 🤣 like eating pineapple core or drinking pome juice 😁 

sawasap

@dukie001 Oh I know! Everyone always says to stress less... I’m definitely less stressed about it than I was near the beginning. I’m not a fan of not knowing when the retrieval is happening but just trying to roll with it! With IUI, everything moved slower than we initially thought so I’m expecting much of the same with IVF. 

For those of you who have been through it before... how bad is the egg retrieval, really? They said I will likely feel “discomfort” even with the conscious sedation and I should take the next day off work too... just looking for someone who’s done this to tell me what to expect 😆

dukie001

@sawasap My advice is to take a day off and just be a house potato. On the day of the retrieval, after the procedure I remember it was painful to walk. I took some pain meds and just slept the rest of the day. My work let me take 3 or 4 days off and just relax at home. they knew what I was going through and just good leadership I guess. Next day was uncomfortable but not painful. Did you receive your protocol already? 

AFM I’m starting Lupron tomorrow. One month until the transfer. 

car1167

@sawasap everyone’s bodies are different. I’ve gone through 2 ERs and both recoveries were different. 1st one I was surprised by how uncomfortable I was, I needed a heating pad for a good 48 hours. This latest time, I had less overall discomfort, but the drugs made me constipated so my first bathroom trip post ER was excruciating. But literally the moment that was over, I started feeling normal.

sawasap

@dukie001 Thanks! I’m going to be talking to my boss today. Retrieval should be somewhere around the 14th or so, but unsure. I think I’m going to book a bit of vacation around then and hope the timing all works out! I’m on the patch protocol, starting the first patch on November 29th. 

@car1167 Thanks for the insight! I guess I assumed there would be a “normal” for this, but considering this entire process takes into account that there are different “normals”, I should have expected that lol.

dukie001

@sawasap vacation sounds like a great idea. I’m taking one too. Granted I have much less invasive procedure than you. I just figured if it is not successful, I have time to get my thoughts  and pull myself together. And if it a good outcome, then I have time to celebrate a little victory. Anyways some time off before holidays is a good idea. 

car1167

Might be doing another ER instead of an FET. Four of my 5 embryos tested abnormal, they are retesting the 5th that was “inconclusive”. Not the Thanksgiving present I was hoping for 😞

dukie001

@car1167 sorry to hear that. This IF stuff is so emotionally draining and it sucks. I haven’t tested my embryos, I wanted to but there is so much controversy. Even perfect graded embies  don’t stick some times, and then the lower grade some times turn out to survive. Go figure 🤷🏻‍♀️. I hope your next protocol will bring you your baby ❤️

sawasap

@car1167 So sorry to hear that ❤️ I hope the retest comes back OK. 

claireloSC

@dukie001
We didn't test ours either, they said they would test however many they got and we would know the amount after the fact which was just not doable financially and I felt the same that I wasn't sure how effective the testing was. We ended up with a lot so it was the right decision for us because it would have bankrupt us at the time (retrieval was 2.5 years ago, my wife had her eggs retrieved before undergoing chemo and I am doing the FET).

dukie001

@claireloSC I saw in the other thread that you got BFP. Congrats!!! Fingers crossed for your beta. So exciting 😊 
we didn’t do the PGS testing partially for financial reasons too, but mainly because it’s inconclusive. Did they tell you the grading of the embryo they used? 

claireloSC

@dukie001
Thank you so much! If it doesn't work out we will def just start a new cycle so was checking on you December ladies as well. They didn't, but they showed me pics and taking it out of the petri dish and everything I think it was good quality from looking at it. It was actually hatching which I didn't expect to see. I asked if they picked the best one and they just said 'we had plenty to choose from!'. I also have read about the tests not necessarily being accurate and people throwing away perfectly fine embryos. Especially since my wife had cancer, we had only one shot and it wasn't worth it to lose any to us. She started chemo right after the retrieval.

PrettyPalomino

sawasap said:

@PrettyPalomino Yeah, I’m not looking forward to the drugs at all. I did an IUI cycle in September and I was sooo irritable. Had to warn DH that I knew I was annoyed at nothing but couldn’t stop it. And now the doses are going to be so much higher, I feel like I’m going to be a terror

Exact same situation here! Had 50 IU of Gonal F in August for IUI, which made me... unpleasant... and this time will be 125 IU plus Luveris plus Cetratide, followed by whatever they decide to trigger me with, progesterone, etc lol I just hope I recognize myself in the mirror at the end of this 😂

Well the provera finally did its job, I’m on CD 2,
picking up the meds and starting them tomorrow. I am so excited and slightly terrified. ER should be around Dec 5th give or take a couple of days! The nurse I spoke to today gave me a bit too much hope for a fresh transfer, trying to manage my expectations as the last nurse I spoke to said I was most likely going to be a Lupron trigger and freeze all. Clearly my chart is being interpreted differently across nurses... the doc gave me a 10% chance of OHSS, which I feel is not insignificant. I know two people who’s fresh transfers were cancelled on the “operating table” because
of the same day BW/US results, so I’m going to be conservative here and assume it’ll be a freeze all. 

Leaning on DH to do the injections as I’m a whimp, but I will for sure try to work up the courage to stab myself this time around. I want bragging rights. 

dukie001

@PrettyPalomino I was laughing reading about you looking in the mirror and not recognizing yourself...or girl...these hormones play their tricks. I’m on Lupron right now. My husband asked me this morning how many of “I hate men” ml I injected myself with 😁🤣

dukie001

@claireloSC we will be cheering for you and your embaby. Hopefully you don’t need another transfer 😉

claireloSC

Fingers crossed!

adamae1216

Hello all.  I'm currently stimming and will probably go through retrieval at the very beginning of December.  So far it's been okay.  My left ovary has an artey right next to it so they may not be able to get to it during retrieval (luckily it only has 3 measurable follicles).
 A little bit of history...I went through IVF two years ago since both my husband and I have the sickle cell trait.  That time they couldn't get to my left ovary and I only got three eggs but none made it to blast.  I was super emotional after that and gained a lot of weight.  Fast forward to now I'm in a much better place emotionally and physically and going through this process again.   I plan to stim a few times to have enough eggs to send for testing so I won't be doing an FET for a few months.  
I haven't been having any bad reactions as of yet to the meds.  I've been stimming for 6 days and add ganirelix tomorrow morning then go for monitoring again on Friday.  I'm thinking retrieval will be Wednesday or Thursday of next week but we will see.

claireloSC

Good luck @adamae1216!

dukie001

Happy thanksgiving everyone!!!

@adamae1216 welcome to this thread! Hopefully this time around you can get some good embies. 

AFM I’m starting my estrogen supplementation this Sunday. Last time I had injections Estradiol, this time around I have pills and patches. Will see how it goes. Also this time around Lupron gives me terrible headaches. Does anyone experienced this with Lupron?

claireloSC

Sorry about the headaches @dukie001! Hopefully they pass quickly. 

PrettyPalomino

GL @adamae1216! We will be going through ER within a couple of days of each other  

AFM: had my first monitoring US/BW on stim day 5, there were a couple of surprises. “Fluid in the cavity”...??? Also, 3 follicles measuring at 10mm but also 46 others hanging out in there under 9mm. They didn’t totally count me out for fresh transfer but I think tomorrow they might if the fluid hasn’t been reabsorbed or if the million follicles are all growing. Lining is at 5.4mm so far. 

As it’s my first ER, no idea how to interpret these results but im still holding out hope for fresh transfer... the meds are going better than imagined! Starting to feel pressure in lower abdomen but not painful. Also feeling mostly normal mentally, a little extra sensitive maybe.

Anyone have experience with fluid in a cavity or high follicle count?  

sawasap

@dukie001 Looks like we’re on the same schedule! Just started on my first estrogen patch this morning. Now we wait for AF and then the rest of the schedule can be set...

dukie001

@PrettyPalomino 46 follicles!?! Oh wow girl, hopefully they will mature and can be retrieved. Fingers crossed. How are you feeling? Do you feel them? I remember I literally felt them in my abdomen. 

I haven’t had fluid, so I don’t have an advice. Does your RE thinking it can be reabsorbed?

@sawasap Things are moving along. every time I add a something I feel one step closer.  

PrettyPalomino

@dukie001 I’m a follicle making machine 😂 my AFC counts in previous cycles were up there too, 38-44... this is the highest count I’ve seen. A bit unnerving, I’ve heard more is not necessarily better, maybe even lesser quality.  By stim day 3 I could feel pressure in my lower abdomen when my (tmi) bladder was full. It still feels about the same, and I’m on stim day 6! But yes can’t help but wonder how this will feel in a few days. Mostly I’m all good though! Just went for an hour long hike and no issues. 

RE: the fluid, they just said they would watch to ensure it’s reabsorbed, so it sounds like they expect it to be? But it also sounds like some sort of early onset OHSS to me...

adamae1216

Wow @PrettyPalomino that is a high follicle count.  Hopefully you have lots of nice mature eggs for retrieval.

AFM had my ultrasound this morning and I'm ready for trigger with retrieval on Tuesday at 8:40.  I'm so not looking forward to this trigger shot tonight. I had to get a Covid test today which was loads of fun.   I've been having some pinches on my left side for a few days but overall no bad side effects from the stimming.  I also found out my main RE is going to be doing the retrieval so I'm happy about that.  My husband has to give a sperm sample the morning of my retrieval.  

msldyc23

Hi Ladies, 

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving & Sending you all well wishes w/ your upcoming procedures .

AFM, 
I am moving over from the November FET. As of today, I will be doing a FET on December 8th. I had an US appointment this morning and was told my lining was at 6ish and they would like it to be over 8. My guess is they will increase my Estrace thus I'm hoping my lining has thickened up by the next US Wednesday.  

dukie001

@msldyc23 you still got almost 10 days to grow it 😉 Fingers crossed you’ll get to above 8. I’m on Estrace too, never had this protocol before. Last times I had Estradiol injections. So don’t know how the growing of lining will be. 

msldyc23

@dukie001 thnx! The nurse called & increased my Estrace dosage- Geez 🙄 I wonder if a lining can become to thick for implantation? 

When is your transfer day? How are you doing on the Lupron? I’ve been on it since 9/11. They have decreased my dosage to 5mg daily & I will finally be off of it Wednesday then the dreadful PIO medz start. 

dukie001

@msldyc23 my transfer is on 18Dec. I’m on 1mg of Lupron since 18Nov. Is it suppose to suppress? I changed my clinics because we moved to another state. So I have completely different protocol now, and I’m not sure if I like it yet. With my old clinic I had a lot of monitoring appointments prior to transfer, waaayyy more meds, more labs. Here I would have only one check up prior to FET and it makes me nervous. I’m shipping my embryos here too. 

Why did they put you on so much Lupron? 

msldyc23

@dukie001 the 18th is a great day- I suppose to have a beta check that day. What protocol and medz were you on before versus now? This is my 1st FET so I’m not sure what to expect. I told my husband to pick up a pineapple 🤣 my grandmother swears by it 🙄

The Lupron Down protocol is to prevent/ suppress me from Ovulating. I’m honestly not sure why they started me off w/ 10mg, I do know it prevented me from getting a cycle the 2nd month and I believe taking it so long caused me to have a polyp that I had to have removed via a hysteroscopy.

If all goes as planned my clinic only have two monitoring appointments prior to the transfer... if they see an issue they will have you come in more.

ladyp0tter

Hello all! So long as my Coordinator calls me today and I can get into my clinic tomorrow for Baseline, I should be having my transfer the week before Christmas. I just came off of my first failed DE cycle. This time we are considering a modified natural cycle with Femara and trigger. I am guessing that means HCG Trigger? I am awaiting confirmation of this. RE agreed to change up my plan a bit and allow me to take Lovenox. I am currently on two weeks of antibiotics in replacement of having to do a biopsy to save time.  Looking forward to talking with you ladies.

dukie001

@msldyc23 so we both will be looking forward to 18th! 

10 mg of Lupron seems a lot, I’m on 10 units which is 1ml or 0.5mg, I think my whole bottle is 14mg. Last time I was on Lupron, then antibiotics, Medrol , Estradiol injections, Endometrin vaginal inserts, Prometrium pills, and PIO, and something else I just don’t remember. Now I just take Lupron, Estrace pills and Vivelle patches, and will be doing PIO. Different doctors-different approach. Oh well, just have to trust I guess. 

Now about pineapple 🍍 girl... I’m all about things like that 😄😁. I’m getting ready to consume pineapple core and drink pomegranate juice daily. If you know any more tricks bring it on 😁 Oh, and also drinking minimum 10 glasses of water and keep feet warm. 

@ladyp0tter I was reading the other thread, and I’m so sorry about your loss. My heart goes out to you ❤️. It’s great that your body is cooperating and you are able to jump right in another cycle. Hopefully this is our month. 

adamae1216

I had my egg retrieval this morning. They were able to get 10 follicles and even got some from my left ovary which I was happy about. Fingers crossed that they all contained mature eggs.

msldyc23

@dukie001 your so right, I was on 10 units not mg🥴 well now 5 units but tomorrow is my last day on Lupron. My RE said I can take Vitamin E to thicken my lining so we shall see if it works - I started it today. I read online somewhere a good lining is between 10-16 so I’m hoping it get way over the recommended 8. 

Wow, Sounds like I’m on your last protocol, I too take Lupron, Estrace, Estrogen Patch, Baby Asprin, Medrol, Prometrium and Endometrin 🤪

Pomegranate Juice is new so I will now add that- Thanks for the extra tips- anything healthy I’m all for trying. 

@ladyp0tter I hope your doing better & your baseline appointment went well today. 

@adamae1216 congrats, 10 follicles is pretty good. It’s such an exciting time...When will they let you know how many matured & fertilized? 

PrettyPalomino

@ladyp0tter my condolences for your loss, I can’t even imagine but good for you for continuing on this journey. 

@adamae1216 fx for you!! Hope you get some good news! 

AFM; had stim day 9 U/S today, 7.8mm lining, 20 follicles between 10-19mm so far (and AFC 20+ under 9mm) which is GREAT (terrifying) but also resulted in immediate decision to freeze all with Lupron trigger. Mixed emotions, glad I likely won’t have to go through another ER again, but devastated about yet another delay. They want to do a mock cycle first to decide on medicated or unmedicated FET, so we are looking at mid-feb FET at the earliest if they can even take us. 

*TW* DD just turned 4, I’m kicking myself for not seeking treatment earlier. I feel guilty, almost negligent, for creating this massive age gap between her and her future sibling. It’s clearly not what we “planned”, I have a sister close in age to me and we are best friends; I always wanted that for DD. I need to stop obsessing over what could have been and accept whatever it is our family ends up looking like in the end. IVF gives the illusion of control, but in reality it’s still very much a crap shoot. Sorry. Rant over. 

Back to micro-goals... just need to make it to retrieval, which should be either Sunday or Monday. 

adamae1216

@PrettyPalomino that's a lot of follicles. How many more children do you want?  Are you doing a freeze all because of the fear of OHSS?

AFM 6 eggs fertilized and they are watching 2 more.  They will call me between the 6th and the 8th for a final report.  My last clinic called me the first 3 days then the 5th so waiting until day 5 for any news is different for me.  Oh well!