IF Testing & Treatment w/o 6/14

fantasyflyte

This is a place for those of us who have already started TTC, but have started infertility testing and/or treatments. You can express your thoughts, feelings, and frustrations on infertility. TTC can be a long journey naturally, then add in the difficulties associated with infertility, and it becomes a whole new ball game. The road to infertility can be lonely, frustrating, and complicated, so let's make this a place where we can vent, ask questions, and support one another. Feel free to resurrect this thread at any point in the week if you have something to say. Treat this as an ongoing conversation.

Diagnosis (if you've been):  

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA):  

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

How are things going?:  

Any questions?:  

GTKY: What's your go-to meal on a busy night?

daisy0322

Diagnosis (if you've been):  POI

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA):  WTO

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?):  I see an OB willing to help Friday and a NaPro in a few weeks. Also I had a friend offer a few embryos if we want them once we get to that point. 

How are things going?:  good! A little nervous about the doctors appoints but you ladies helped tremendously I feel much more prepared 

Any questions?:  not really 

GTKY: What's your go-to meal on a busy night?
i love this question! I love to cook.... I’m about to ramble. So in the summer I’ll do crab salad sandwiches or lobster rolls a lot as an easy go to. I also love pasta salad or flatbread pizzas. In the fall I make a lot of chilli or gumbo and we eat it all sorts of different ways for a few nights. In the winter I almost always only cook every other night because I’ll make one dinner and while it cooks or bakes I will put together a crock pot meal for the next night. Spring time I feel like I always want to eat out though because it’s so nice out and I want to eat outside on a platoon at a restaurant down town 

kiwi2628

Diagnosis (if you've been):  unexplained

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA):  WF next cycle FET

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?):  just waiting for next cycle to do a natural FET! I can’t believe it’s so close

How are things going?:  good! Getting anxious and nervous and excited 

Any questions?:  none!

Avrilmai

@kiwi2628 same boat here. I completely understand that anxiety. 

Diagnosis (if you've been):  unexplained

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA):  waiting for FET. 

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?):  hopefully an FET. Had my first appt with the RE today and already had a set back. 

How are things going?:  I’m anxious. My estrogen was high today at my baseline so I have to start BCP and delay meds/start/fet everything. I go back next Wednesday. 

Any questions?:  nope

GTKY: What's your go-to meal on a busy night? Brinner (breakfast for dinner) 

acleverusername

@daisy0322 oh wow; that's so kind of your friend to offer her embryos! Hopefully you'll get some information from your doctors and might not need them though. 

@kiwi2628 are you currently in WTO or TWW?

@Avrilmai hi! Welcome back! (I saw from your history that you were around in 2019). I just tagged you in the Newbie Intro thread so that you can tell us a bit more about yourself. 

Diagnosis (if you've been): Hashimoto's (I'm more and more convinced this is why I haven't gotten KU'ed) with a side of AMA & sperm-driven fertilization issues

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA):  WTO

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): Stim cycle #1

How are things going?: Eh, okay. Had my first monitoring ultrasound today. After 5 days of stims, my E2 is 101... lol. I guess that's good since it means that there isn't one lead follicle that's taken off. ***TW: More stats and general complaining in spoiler***

This morning I had 2 follicles on either side, measuring 8mm; and the rest (7 more) were all between 3mm-5mm. There were a total of 9 follicles. I am a bit disappointed to be honest given that I had 12 at baseline. I think that the clinic started me off on too low a dose of meds. My FSH is 13, so I feel like I would have gotten a better response with a higher FSH dose. Some of the other docs I've consulted with had said they would start me off with really high doses right away (like 450 Gonal-F) to recruit as many follicles as possible. Anyway, I will try and look beyond quantity and focus on getting the best quality. And I'm hoping the quality will be high given HGH, and all the other supplements I'm taking. Either way, any "dream" of only having to do 1 ER has completely disappeared. And also, it's looking like it's gonna be a long stim cycle... I won't start Cetrotide until Wednesday AM, and my next monitoring u/s is on Thursday AM. 

Any questions?:  Question for @keikilove: I got my NK cells blood test back and, well, I have no idea what to make of it. Here are my results (can't put it in spoiler). Also, I know that uterine NK cells are different than blood NK cells. Should I try and get those tested as well? 

GTKY: What's your go-to meal on a busy night? A stir-fry of some sorts. Just throw some veggies in with some meat. Otherwise it's takeout! 

daisy0322

@acleverusername yes really just the offer was touching. I’m sorry your ER isn’t going as well as you hoped. I’m sorry I don’t remember this for sure but you are doing IVF right? How many embryos are they wanting to create before transfer? 

@Avrilmai I do love Brinner as well 😋

@kiwi2628 that’s exciting your so close! Are you doing anything in particular to get ready? 

kiwi2628

@Avrilmai hiiiii! I remember you!

optimistgardener

@daisy0322 I'm glad your appointments are coming up soon and that you feel better about them. That's wonderful about your friend's generosity!

@kiwi2628 so excited for your FET! got my fingers crossed for you!

@Avrilmai hey there! good to meet'cha.

@acleverusername what is it about the Hashimoto's that has you feeling more sure that's what's going on? I need to read more about it. Sorry your estradiol is dragging its feet and that you're a bit disappointed in the # of follicles turning up for the party. Your guess that the initial dosing may have been off seems really plausible. I wonder if you can ask your doc about that when you get a chance? I'm rooting for you that things will start to take off soon.

AFM

Diagnosis (if you've been):  old, AMA, DOR, 1 ovary, you know the drill

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA):  BC cycle while I wait for early July start to my first ER cycle

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): preparing. i'm swallowing all the supplements, trying to learn how to be better hydrated, reaaaally missing my evening beer, jogging a lot. i've been channeling a lot of my rebelliousness into having more coffee than I probably should. I'll try to cut that out soonish.

How are things going?:  Last week I was annoyed because I still had so long to wait. My annoyance is slowly being displaced by excitement, and also of course anxiety, mostly in the form of worries that for some reason my cycle will have to be delayed again.

Any questions?:  not at present!

GTKY: What's your go-to meal on a busy night? Probably pretty much what I had this evening. Some form of pasta with a mix of available quick stir-fried veggies (i'm starting to be able to draw on my garden a bit, which is nice!), some protein (usually tofu, chickpeas, or occasionally a "veggie" sausage), a handful of whatever nuts or seeds come to hand (tonight was sunflower seeds), and a big ol' chunk of pesto frozen from my freezer. The pesto is usually homemade. I try to make a handful of big batches throughout the summer and then store it spread thin in freezer bags so i can just break off however much i want. Because I acknowledge that it probably isn't ideal to eat pasta multiple times per week, I try to switch it up by using gluten-free pasta or (most often) einkorn-based pasta, which is an ancient grain that I think tastes better than whole wheat pasta and is also really high in protein and other nutrients.

acleverusername

@daisy0322 I would like to bank all the embryos I'll need for the family size I want. In my head, that's 6 genetically tested embryos. My insurance will only cover 2 full ERs (including fertilization), so I don't really have a lot of wiggle room to "learn." Alas, really hoping that we'll get the quality with the fewer-than-desired-eggs. 

@optimistgardener Good for you for jogging! I feel like such a lazy arse atm. The only thing I do for exercise is walk my dog. Re: Hashimoto's, I had a meeting with a functional medicine doctor last week, and she walked me through how just adding T4 (Synthroid) to your body isn't enough. If the body isn't converting T4 > T3, a whole bunch of systems start to suffer. Which I can relate to, since I've had Vitamin D issues, progesterone issues, cortisol issues, and testosterone issues. I'm waiting for a new book to arrive to dive even deeper into this whole new realm. For now, I'm gonna be loading up on a bunch of new supplements so that I can balance out my systems before my transfer sometime in the fall. 

optimistgardener

@acleverusername i'm trying to get in all my jogging now because i know once i start on the injectables i'm not going to feel like running at all. no guilt re: your wanting to relax right now! you're pumping yourself full of enough hormone to justify being soft with yourself. dog-walking sounds like a perfect level of activity.

thanks for explaining the hashimoto's theory. i'm glad you're learning more about it and hopefully will be able to put some of that knowledge to use in time for your transfer.

daisy0322

@acleverusername okay yeah that makes sense. Hopefully there will be good quality for you! 

keikilove

@optimistgardener Just wanted to chime in on your thoughts from last week about the term SMBC and the feelings of not really having a choice in the matter. Yes, yes, and more yes, I feel everything you shared. It is such a weird time we live in where some of the social structures are gone where we might’ve more easily met our partners, and then combined with the focus in pursuing school, then higher ed possibly, and then building our careers. It’s so challenging to decide what might need to give, or to just throw our hands up and say “I surrender to trying to/waiting to/ have it all. I’m going to at least take X decision out of fate’s hands and make my own destiny.” I love your alternate phrase “Hopeful Moms Flying Solo”. Sounds so much more accurate.💗💗💗

@acleverusername Gah! Sorry to hear about the delays on your end. Not really delays, but you know—a longer stim cycle than you had hoped. But so great that you don’t have a lead follicle! I will be complaining about that momentarily... As for your NK cell results, I haven’t seen that version of the results before. Did Quest run it themselves or did they send it somewhere? (Sad to say, but personally I wouldn’t fully trust the results unless they were sent to ReproSource or RFU Labs-Chicago, since those two places are the expert labs where the rest of the world sends their blood to be tested.) I’m not sure how to interpret it, but based on the range they show on your results sheet, I’d guess you’re on the lower end of normal number of NK cells in your peripheral blood. As for uterine NK cells, some doctors swear that’s the only number/information that matters. My RI looks at peripheral blood cells as just as good of an indicator, although I have wondered how this might differ from what the NK cell numbers look like in my ute. Hope this rambling helps even a little!  
@daisy0322 Goad you have an appointment coming up fairly soon! Hope it goes great.🙂 On the go-to meal topic, I can only dream of a life where crab-salad sandwiches and lobster rolls are meals that are “an easy go to”. 😆

@kiwi2628 Yay that you’re getting so close! Hope AF is predictable and you can get things moving as soon as you hope too. Glad to hear you’re feeling great about things so far. 

@Avrilmai Hey there, I remember you! Welcome back! Hopefully you won’t need BCP for too long and can head towards the FET sooner rather than later. 

Diagnosis (if you've been):  RPL, RIF, HLA match w hubby leading to Elevated NK cells & activity, blood-clotting mutations, AMA, DOR 

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA): WTO/ Stimming for ER 

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?):  Currently in the first part of a DuoStim cycle. 

How are things going?: 🤯 That’s how life feels right now. Lots of complaining ensues. How life is going: 

My work is actually out of control busy, I’m having a lot of daily stress, I’m getting very little sleep again. It’s unhealthy and I’m doing my best to manage it. I will NOT sign on for this contract next summer! I’ve told MH & my siblings “Do not let me get sucked into this role next year! It’s too insane.” Basically, I’m presenting for several hours each day but the presentations aren’t ready for me to see until a day or two beforehand, and then I have to internalize them, tweak them, do all the interactive tech that’s involved in each interactive presentation, andplusalso present flawlessly. It’s a LOT. And absolutely exhausting.

How this IVF cycle is going:

On the IVF front things are also challenging. On Saturday I flew a half-hour away very early in the morning for my monitoring appointment. Dr saw fewer follicles than we’d seen at baseline (@acleverusername, I feel your disappointment on this issue), but 3 of them were 10mm so that was good that they were developing together. He saw one slightly smaller, then asked how many my RE had seen at baseline. When I told him he went digging around for more, and found one that he said was measuring at 17mm. So another lead follicle. Boooooo!! My RE received the report and asked if I’d seen the follicle, did it really look that big? I felt weird because I don’t know why the monitoring doctor didn’t notice it to start with if it was so much larger than the rest. My RE said it’s so hard to do this from afar when she isn’t doing the monitoring, and told me to take Cetrotide to hold off ovulation until I could get another monitoring scan this morning. After talking w her I had more work to do & then helped host a special event for work into the late evening. I almost missed the timing of the Cetrotide! Thankfully, the next morning some of my very good friends from college were visiting from out of town and I got to spend all of Sunday out in nature with them. So that helped bring down my stress levels quite a bit. 
This morning I got up very early for my second monitoring appointment. Welp, DRAMA.😤The place near me (well, a 45-minute drive away) said they couldn’t accept my doctor’s orders because they’re written differently than normal orders. I begged her to do it but she wouldn’t budge. Then she said I was now dipping into other people’s appointment times and I’d have to reschedule whenever my doctor sent the orders on the correct form. I was furious but had a presentation coming up in a couple hours so had to leave. A few minutes later I called from my car and asked if she could just give me the form that they do accept and share it with my doctor. She said Yes, but even if my doctor sent it right back they couldn’t fit me in until later in the afternoon or sometime tomorrow for monitoring. None of the times she offered worked because I’ve had these back-to-back online presentations for both of my jobs that I absolutely cannot miss. So that SUCKED! I then had to change my plans and instead of traveling tomorrow night I have to hustle back to my RE so she can monitor me. So right now I’m on a redeye flight to see my RE in the morning so we can find out what the heck is really going on. She had me do a 3rd night of Cetrotide tonight before my flight (did it on the ride in the car, lol, adding that to my list of weird places I’ve injected myself). I’m praying that when she does the ultrasound tomorrow that we don’t discover that we’ve completely stalled all the follies from developing with all that Cetrotide. I feel like we started it too early. If that happens I’m going to be stimming for longer than planned as well. This has been a hot stressful mess. End of rant! 

Any questions?:  Questions about starting Cetrotide too early but don’t want to get ahead of myself. Will wait to see what U/S & bloodwork show before adding any more unnecessary stress or anxiety. 

GTKY: What's your go-to meal on a busy night?  Cereal. Preferably gluten-free but sometimes I can’t help myself and go for the gluten-full stuff. 

kiki047

Diagnosis (if you've been):  PCOS, RPL, RIF, Mild MFI

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA):  CD22, not temping these days, no real signs of O either way so just in cycle limbo. I guess I could/should start tracking again. 

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?):  Also in limbo between REs. My clinic called and basically said they don't expect me to hear back for another 2-5 weeks because as of Friday (1 week after referral was sent) the new clinic hadn't even opened my file yet. We're obviously not TTA but the TI part of TTC stresses us both out so we're going to try to take the next few months to enjoy having a bit of body autonomy back, get back on track with all our supplements, etc. 

How are things going?:  I dunno, I'm having a lot of second thoughts after reading some of the reviews on the new Dr. I get that RateMyMD isn't exactly a good benchmark to use lol, but 100% of the reviews complain about insanely long wait times, being there for 2-4hrs for daily monitoring (because he likes to see every patient every time they come in). Like if our consult isn't even until August, that probably means the absolute earliest we'd be able to do anything is Sept/Oct and while I know in the grand scheme of things that's not that far away but all we do is wait. We know after 3.5 years that we're extremely unlikely to get KU on our own so this wait feels like an actual roadblock and it's giving me so much anxiety. 

Any questions?: 

GTKY: What's your go-to meal on a busy night? Lately it has been rice, gyoza, and a steamed veggie or salad. 

@keikilove I legit laughed out loud at your cereal comment. I am SO relieved it's not just me. I haven't done that in a while, but when I was single most of my late-night or pre-meeting meals were cereal and it was glorious. 

Will be back later for tags, heading into my initial consult with the Geneticist now. 

optimistgardener

@keikilove cripes, that is just a whole lot of hell right there. i am sooo sorry this is so stressful and that the closer monitoring doc has not been helpful at. all. i would have completely panicked, so good job on not panicking. i hope you have better luck when your RE finally gets a look around and that the cetrotide hasn't stalled everyone out and things start settling down a little. creepy internet hugs.

daisy0322

@keikilove ugh so stressing sorry I hope the follicles stall for you. Re cereal: i love cereal too but I always eat like half the box so I don’t buy it 😅

@optimistgardener i think that’s what we’ll do for dinner tonight! 

optimistgardener

I feel like the NY Times has been peeking over my shoulder a lot of late or something. Last month, they had an op-ed I shared here about transferring mosaic embroyos. This time, they're running an op-ed essay on pursuing IVF while single. It's short and to the point, focusing on the challenge of trying to get insurance to cover treatment when "infertility" is typically defined as failure to conceive after 6-12 months of heterosexual sex with the aim of pregnancy (typically an impossible ask when you're single or queer). I didn't even try to get coverage, since my self-purchased insurance (i'm self-employed) has a blanket policy of "NO" on all infertility-related treatment, but reading this made me furious on other women's behalf.

It also talks about the challenges of coming to this decision. I'm glad I didn't take as long as the author did, because yipes, mid-40s is a hard time to be realizing this is the only option, but i do also understand why it took her so long, considering her relationship background. Anyway, worth a read, perhaps.

laura-kay

Have any of you tried this?  Any thoughts on whether it actually has any real impact?

Pink Stork Fertility Tea, 100% Organic, 30 Cups, Mint https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B086X66TJS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_8NC5SCNY22KVM9WZVMG0?psc=1

zwink1

@daisy0322, happy to hear that you have some appointments lined up with MDs willing to help.  Lobster rolls wound delicious.  You may have to share your recipe!

@Avrilmai, so glad to 'see' you again! Sorry to hear about the set back.  Fx your delay isn't too long.  

@keikilove, omg, how absolutely infuriating for you to have to deal with that monitoring nonsense.  Completely unnecessary stress.  I really wish that sometimes these MDs/clinics would remember that this may be a regular day for them, but it's new and challenging for their patients and a little empathy would go a long way.   

@kiki047 I feel you on the RE limbo.  I had a simultaneous f*, that long!? - and then - okay, well let's appreciate this, moment when I realized how long our appt wait was going to be.  The feeling like you're just wasting unnecessary time is tough.  

I have absolutely nothing new.  However, I do have 2 questions:

So, MyChart.  My old RE's (and OB) office was a small, old school practice with paper files.  When they closed, they transferred files to a larger medical group.  My new RE is not with that group.  When I called for an initial appointment, the RN asked about records and mentioned my prior RE by name before I provided it, and then said that my records would transfer automatically.  That said, I'm not seeing anything new in MyChart.  My question is, is my inability to see records normal?  I haven't signed any release forms for the current group holding the records, so I'm just concerned that records haven't actually transferred or something and I'm going to run into unnecessary delays.  

2nd question - Does anyone have any insight on the process of moving embryos on ice from one clinic to another?  Just looking for a general idea of what sort of paperwork/timeline was involved.  

Edit - to be more specific about what exactly it is I need to move.  

optimistgardener

@zwink1 it is my experience both in dealing with my own medical stuff/moving/the like and in helping coordinate my mom's complex medical situation (she regularly receives treatment at three major hospitals that ostensibly have fully functional avenues for sharing records) that records are not always automatically transferred, even if doctors tell you that they will be. doctors are usually not the greatest at understanding the actual mechanics of the administrative systems where they work. i would follow up in friendly but regular fashion by phone with the folks at the front desk of your new clinic until such moment as they tell you that they have the records in hand. squeaky wheel and all that. and i would ask whether you should expect to see those transferred records turn up in your mychart system or no.

zwink1

Thanks, @optimistgardener!  That's sort of along the lines of what I was thinking based on prior medical experience, but my Mychart experience is limited and I didn't want to be unnecessarily obnoxious.  I'll reach out to admins on both ends just to make sure I'm not missing anything, since I definitely have the time to make sure this transition goes smoothly given our wait.  

laura-kay

Answering properly this time…

Diagnosis (if you've been):  Unexplained infertility

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA):  CD3

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?):  Natural cycle with OPK.  Looking into herbal supplements.  Deciding what to do for next steps

How are things going?:  It seems like we are almost benched.  We are still trying, but no treatment.  I guess we still have a 3% chance…

Any questions?:  1.  Same question as above - has anyone heard of any of those fertility herbal teas help?  
2.  What vitamins / supplements do any of you take?

GTKY: What's your go-to meal on a busy night?  Blaze pizza for take out.  For cooking at home, maybe some fish?  I don’t really have a specific recipe for that.

daisy0322

@laura-kay I’ve known people who say the stork tea helped regulate their cycle but that’s all I know. 

@zwink1 there’s a few versions but this is the one I made most recently- I do WW btw so it’s a WW recipe. They have a classic and a Thai one as well. 

optimistgardener

@laura-kay hey i don't really have any answers to your questions about herbal teas. I've never heard anything, good or bad, about this pink stork tea you speak of. i did briefly drink raspberry leaf tea (which is see is a component of their mix) as i had read that it can help with the follicular half of your cycle. i decided to stop taking it though when i got involved in medicated iuis and beyond, because i didn't want to complicate anything. i noticed when i was drinking it that it significantly improved my menstrual cramps, and it didn't taste terrible! but i can't vouch for anything beyond that. i'd definitely run the ingredients list past your doc, just in case.

kiki047

Finally back for tags.

@daisy0322 well hot damn, I wish crab and lobster were a go-to in our house too. Are you on the east coast? Also I've recently discovered gumbo and I want it allll the time. My MIL makes a really good gumbo. 
@kiwi2628 yay for only one more cycle. 
@avrilmai hi! I recognize you, welcome back! Sorry to hear you've already had you first setback. FX everything looks good next week so you're cleared to proceed. 
@acleverusername keeping everything crossed for you for great quality over quantity. My RE refuses to tell me AFC during retrieval cycles so we don't get too stressed over #s. I see why, but it's still stressful either way. 
@optimistgardener whee let's go July, get here faster! Also this is one of my favourite times of year when I can finally start to harvest some stuff from my garden! My radishes this year were just perfection. Now I'm sad they're gone and I have to wait for a new crop lol. What else are you growing/especially looking forward to? I don't actually really love (store bought) tomatoes but it is easily my most prolific producer in the garden and I will eat home grown. 
@keikilove ooooof, I don't know how you do it my friend. I literally don't. I was stressed just reading your update. My goodness, why do they (as in the clinics) have to make things so difficult over silly little formalities? I hope your RE is able to sort everything out and you can get back on track ASAP. As for work.... I know this contract is to help fund IVF, so I really, really hope this works for you so you don't need to take on anything like this again! Sending hugs. 
@zwink1 that's exactly it, just such an unnecessary waste. I hate that I'm just at the mercy of someone else's busy schedule. As for your Qs about moving records and embryos, I don't have experience with either but I hope you're able to get it sorted out! 


AFM, we finally got our consult date with the new REI and it isn't until August 24th, so we are officially just in limbo until then. I cried when I hung up the phone. If I work out a mental timeline in my head, we'll be lucky if we even get to a FET before Jan 2022. I'm being dramatic but I feel victimized; the trauma of IF and loss is hard enough so to know that we can't/won't be able to have a baby without help and knowing help is so far away is just... it's hard not to take it personally. "Despair" is how I'd summarize that feeling. MH is equally crushed and is trying his hardest to cheer me up by listing all the fun things we can do this summer without the stress of IVF looming over our heads but I think I'll ride this pity party bus a little while longer. My one takeaway from this is that the timing means I'll have ample time to get my 2nd dose of the vaccine well in advance of our next steps. It most definitely isn't a silver lining though, it's just one less thing to stress about. 

My homework is to touch base with my therapist again. TBH I've kind of been putting it off because it's been over a year since we last spoke and so much has happened since then... part of me just doesn't want to dredge it all up, but I know I can't just wallow in self pity either. 

zwink1

@kiki047, our initial consult is on Aug 24th too!  I scheduled the appt in mid-May, and it's a virtual appointment.  I was like wtf can possibly be taking so long that this RE is booking virtual appointments 3+ months out!?!?!  Completely unexpected.  Especially considering that our last RE didn't have even remotely comparable wait times (to be fair though, it'll be a completely different experience because this is a much, much larger practice).  It's really tough to have to deal with the enforced waiting on top of all of the other bs IF crap.  You ride the pity party bus as long as you damn well feel like it!  And I did the same thing with my vaccine too!  I was like, well, at least I don't have to worry about/figure that out now.  Such a crappy silver lining though.  

daisy0322

@kiki047 nope not on the east coast but the local store I go to has seafood flown in everyday! Tonight I made Taco Spaghetti and that was pretty quick too. 

acleverusername

@keikilove oh jeez... I am so sorry that you've got so much on your plate work wise; and that you've got all these unexpected challenges trying to get local monitoring. I really hope that your appointment today brought some positive news. Also, "he went digging for it and found another follicle 17mm"? WTF? How can you miss a follicle that big? That's so bizzare-o. Interesting about Cetrotide possibly extending your cycle. I'm starting Cetrotide tomorrow AM, without monitoring and I'm also thinking it might be too early. Anyways, sending you lots support for this coming week. You’ve got this!

@zwink1 I agree with what @optimistgardener said re: bugging both clinics until you know for sure. I basically trust no one to do their job and keep copies of records myself. It’s come in handle given home many times we’ve switched clinics. Regarding transferring your embryos, find out the transport options and also if you have the possibility of doing that yourself (I.e. renting a liquid nitrogen tank and moving it from clinic to clinic.) Otherwise, get a few quotes for the job.

@laura-kay regaining the fertility tea, it can help regulate cycles and enhance natural hormone production (same as seed cycling). But I wouldn’t say that it’s a silver bullet of any sorts. In terms of supplements, I’m taking: Prenatal, high dose of COQ10, NAD, Pterostilbene, Vit E, Selenium, Methylfolate, Vit D, Fish Oil, Vit C, Iron Bisglycinate. Also, if you look up the Oldies Re-Intro thread, you’ll see what else ppl are taking. 

@kiki047 I am so sorry you have to wait for so long until your intake appointment. Was there a cancellation list you could get added too? Also, 2-4 hours per monitoring appointment…??? That’s a lot. Do you know anyone who’s gone to this doctor? Also, totally random, is coming to the US for treatment an option for you? And as @zwink1 said, ride that pity bus for as long as you deem necessary!

AFM, I feel like a$$. I am so freaking tired ALL THE TIME! I’m having to cancel / move meetings or ask colleagues to cover for me because all I want to do is sleep. Which makes me even more in awe of how @keikilove does it. Okay, enough complaining for tonight. 

laura-kay

Just had a frustrating experience with OPK.  Since we are still debating what to do next, I decided to do OPK testing.  My first test at CD4 (I know it’s early but I just have to be in a habit) was already positive!  It made me think….maybe I was mistaken about my cycle and actually was pregnant.  

I contacted my REI and they suggested that it may be a defective package but it was worth testing.  I tested with a pregnancy test this morning and another OPK from a different package…:and it was a BFN and also a low LH level (normal amount).  Wishing it was a different result…I was practically obsessed with that last night.

optimistgardener

@kiki047 I'm so so sorry to hear about the delay waiting for an appointment with a new RE. That is so frustrating, and you're totally within your rights to feel all the self-pity. Seriously, screw waiting, it's the worst. You made a mistake when you asked about my garden because I wrote you an essay, lol:

My garden is always a mixture of victories and agonies. My radishes were great also! But they've been done for a while now. I should have done more succession planting of the radishes (I'll try to remember that for next year). Tomatoes, squash, potatoes, cantaloupe, cucumbers, tomatillos, eggplants, onions, garlic all seem to be doing well (the garlic is nearly ready for harvest! I'm so excited!). And I have a gooseberry plant that is bearing for the first time. I need to do some research on what to do with gooseberries because I'm about to have quite a lot of them on my hands. My struggle this year though has been earwigs and squirrels - the latter were more of a problem earlier in spring... they would just come in and mow my tender greens down to the soil, the little jerks. So I lost a lot of lettuce, baby kale, beets to the squirrels. And now my problem is earwigs. i'd been wondering what the heck was making lacework out of all my surviving kale, artichoke, basil (ugh, poor basil, i don't know if i'm even going to be able to make pesto this year). One night I went out with a headlamp and it was immediately apparent what was after my plants....uggggggh. The stuff of nightmares. The internet told me soy sauce and oil traps work, and indeed I am now catching earwigs every night by the hundreds, which seems to be helping. So gross. They also seem to be having a go at my pepper plants, although some varieties are doing better than others. I'm sort of disappointed about the peppers because last year was a champion pepper year.

@acleverusername oh the exhaustion! I suffered from a lot of that even just with my medicated IUIs, so I'm anticipating I'll be a total sloth on the IVF-sized doses. I have a friend who did egg retrieval last year and she said she loved how all the drugs made her feel. she was like, "I just felt like a fertility goddess, all languorous and beautiful, oozing sex hormones, lying around sleeping all the time, making eggs." We were talking on the phone otherwise I would have laughed in her face. I was like, "huh. my experience was that I felt like a bloated, grumpy, dizzy, uncomfortable, sleepy pincushion."

@laura-kay that sounds really frustrating about the OPK! Not at all what you did here, but earlier in my TTC career, I did that dumb experiment of using opks as hpts in the last couple days of my cycle, and i gave myself a couple of episodes of false hope because it turns out i can turn an opk strip lightening quick on like, 13dpo. I wonder if you also get a secondary LH surge in the latter half of your cycle (apparently fairly common) and were seeing the tail end of that?

zwink1

@optimistgardener, I cannot express enough how much I hate earwigs!  I am going to have nightmare just thinking about your garden.  Ugh. 

@acleverusername, the fatigue (and eventually the bloating) are rough!  Hang in there!  And I'm with you, I generally do not trust people to do their jobs.  I should've requested a copy of my file after our ER, but I wasn't anticipating having to make a change in care providers so it never even occurred to me.  Ah well.  Live and learn as they say. 

acleverusername

Argh, 

Today's u/s was disheartening: basically looking at 5-6 follicles at play. E2 is only 381. Current estimated ER is Wed. 

I'm really disappointed. I expressed my disappointment to my doctor and he agreed that my response is on the lowest end of what we had discussed (50-80% of AFC). Yet, he said he wouldn't necessarily make any changes to the dosage next time. So, I've emailed TEW for advice. I really think that we ought to blast my ovaries with hormones. 

daisy0322

@acleverusername oh goodness, I’m sorry that is definitely not what you were hoping for. Does your RE understand your insurance situation? I would hope for him to be more aggressive too

kiwi2628

acleverusername said:

Argh, 
. 

Oh man I am so sorry. Hoping the ones you do have will be happy matures eggs

daisy0322

I just wanted to say I met with the OB today and it went great she was very supportive and had lots of ideas. She wants to work with the NaPro doc to see if they both can work some magic and I’m so relived... all u wanted was for someone to listen to me and agree to try. 

bumblebee0210

@acleverusername. Oh man-- just popping in from the bench to say I'm so sorry-- I know that feeling and it's the worst. I hope you have a couple of good ones in there, and there is a long stretch between now and Wednesday, so hopefully your E2 will pop up a bit, and you will at least get good quality mature eggs out of all of them.

Also-- I had been in the fun position of waiting for O in a priming cycle (it finally came on day 20), and I wan thinking of you and this board's general conversation about "AF" and in my head I kept calling "waiting for Uncle Sergio". 

kiki047

@zwink1 happy to at least have an appointment buddy to sit with while we wait... 3+ months is absolutely ridiculous, and it sounds like we're in the same boat as well with moving from a smaller practice to a big one. In my head I was thinking that bigger practices mean more doctors and therefore easier access, but clearly not. I did read that the new REI likes to personally work with all of his patients, so I guess it makes sense that he's completed booked up. 
@acleverusername Oh friend, I can feel your disappointment in your words. Like kiwi said, I hope what eggies you do get are the best of the best. Quality over quantity, quality over quantity, that mantra is the only thing that got me through my cycles. AFM, from what I understand, the wait list is more of a thing for current patients who are already in treatment and will need to see him. I get it, pushing new intakes out that far helps them manage their current patient load. Especially because they also don't discharge patients until they reach 2nd tri, which is much different from most who discharge basically once they have confirmed positive betas. I've thought about turning to the US but with borders closed and all the rules around travel, and me not being able to get my 2nd dose until August, we'd be forced into the mandatory 14 day quarantine every time we went anywhere so that really isn't an option right now. Maybe once Covid isn't a thing anymore, but for now I think we'll exhaust all options here. I could still try to see if I can get in at Markham Fertility but there's no telling how long that wait is either. 
@optimistgardener Garden talk! Yesss! My garden is my happy place these days. 

Major uuuugggghhh to your earwigs. I suspect that's what is eating my turnips too. They were doing so good but my 2nd crop is also looking like just a box full of green lace. I HATE earwigs so I'm scared to even touch them to pull them up in case I just get a fistful of bugs. 
I cannot for the life of me get a beet to grow past the sprout stage. This is my 3rd year planting them, have tried a few different areas of the garden, covered and uncovered, all I get are leaves. I also should have done some more succession planting of the radishes because they were done all too soon and my beans that I planted between them aren't ready yet either so I have a gap and it feels like a waste of garden space (oh hello metaphor for my own life/cycles). 
I forgot about my garlic and definitely planted it too late. It's not going to mature in time to harvest it... any tips on what to do with it? Just eat the scapes and call it a day? I've never tried growing garlic before but one of my clients found out I also love to garden and brought me some of her favourite bulbs to plant and I tucked them away in the cellar and... yeah, definitely only found them maybe a month ago and panicked and threw it in a planter lol. It's growing, but won't amount to anything this season I don't think. 
I had to look up what a gooseberry was, I still don't think I entirely know what you'd do with it lol. Pie? Preserves? Pls keep me posted! 

I don't have a lot to update on my end except that I met with the geneticist this week and she gave me a breakdown of our PGT-A results. Basically she reiterated that it appears to be pure bad luck, the fact that we didn't see any repeat patterns is a good sign that it isn't some kind of incompatibility with MH or that we don't exhibit any signs of genetic defects, e.g. translocation of certain genes, etc. Unfortunately the lab cancelled my karyotyping test because my RE didn't write up the requisition properly and I don't qualify because they only test if you have 3 or more MCs, and I "only" technically have 2. Thankfully my geneticist thinks she can pull some strings so I had another blood draw (worst. experience. ever. My arm still hasn't recovered from that) and she'll get back to me in 3-6 months. She said she's not expecting to find anything with any clinical significance as it relates to IVF, but one added benefit of a DNA microassay is that we may find some other "bonus" information so she warned me to be prepared for that. As we all know, I'm of the mindset that I'd rather know than not know so FX. 

keikilove

@optimistgardener @zwink1 @kiki047 @acleverusername Thanks all for commiserating with me on that local monitoring fiasco. They did end up emailing me the form they want my doctor to use so hopefully it won’t be an issue next time. 

@laura-kay Sorry for the OPK fake out. That’s so frustrating to get hopes up like that and then have it be a dud test. Re: the tea, ditto what Clever said. That tea is well-researched and won’t hurt. May help. I used Vitex to normalize my cycles when I first started TTC. It lengthened it by a couple days and reduced any cramps I used to have. 

@zwink1 You seem to have gotten some great input already. Just adding my experience with files: I get copies of every o for thing so I have my own file at home. When I sent these to my Jew RE I never saw them in the online portal; only new tests done in her office show up on my patient portal. Still, if I were in your shoes, I’d call to make sure they’ve received your entire file of past records. Good luck! 

@daisy0322 Congrats on a successful  appointment! You must feel so relieved. 

@kiki047 To reiterate a message I sent you prior, I am so sorry about the delays getting to see your new RE face-to-face. The waiting in all of this is excruciating. I truly hope you’re able to get into see them sooner somehow, or that the summer flies by.// Glad to read your update about the convo with the geneticist. At least that’s one positive thing in this situation right now.❤️

@acleverusername I’m so sorry this cycle isn’t going the way you hoped. It’s wonderful that you can get input from Dr. Aimee and her stellar advice about what to do for the next round. Don’t despair—may your doctor l be able to retrieve all of them, and hopefully they will all be mature. Positive thinking is your best friend right now.💗Sending encouraging hugs! 

I’m also sorry that I’ve been MIA. I’ve been peeking in to see updates and trying to keep up but this week was too hectic and I couldn’t properly update. I had so much work
amd back-to-back meetings this week. And then yesterday I was supposed to have a lighter day and planned to get fully involved here, but some other work came up AND the exhaustion finally hit me. I actually fell asleep at my computer mid-afternoon and couldn’t wake up. Eventually crawled into bed and slept some more and woke up super bloated. Usually the meds don’t affect me until the very end, no exhaustion or other side effects, so I was glad to only have one day of it yesterday. Then MH arrived last night and gave me a shoulder rub; it was comforting to have him join me here. Feels good to be catching back up here like normal. 

So here’s the summary of this first round of IVF: 

At my second appointment with my RE (this last Tuesday) we were happily surprised to see 9 follicles, more than I usually have (5-7 is my norm). The one that had appeared to be 17mm at the monitoring doctor—the one I was afraid was a lead/runaway follicle—actually had two follicles in one (!) both measuring 16mm. So that was a super happy surprise! Most of my other follies were measuring 15-16 so a steady crop. Dr told me to double my dose of meds, take another Cetrotide to keep from ovulating, and come back next day. In hindsight, I don’t think we should’ve doubled the meds dose, because those 16mm twins grew to 23mm and 20mm overnight! The others were 14, 16, 17, 18, so not as steady as the day before. And there was also a 10 & 11 for a total of 8. I went back to the hotel with instructions for 1 more dose of stims as well as 1 more dose of Cetrotide
to keep from ovulating the larger ones,  and then double trigger shot that night. I just finished the retrieval and doctor came by to tell me she got 6. She said let’s hope they are all mature.🤞🏽 I feel very relieved that we are doing DuoStim so I don’t have to worry about just getting 6. It’s one more than we got before, so I am content. Also, they’re going to do IMSI to fertilize to get around my husband’s sub-par morphology issue. IMSI is even more specific than ICSI when selecting the sperm. I’m cautiously hopeful for these results.💕🙏🏽 💕

acleverusername

Will be back for tags later, but for now wanted to say THANK YOU for all of your support. I was (SO) pleasantly surprised to receive a phone call(!!!) from Dr. Aimee last night. We had a good chat and she said that if I were her patient, she would be recommending that we cancel the cycle. Since I didn't even know this was an option, I spent the first part of the day talking to my insurance and my clinic and ultimately just decided to do just that: cancel this cycle and start again next cycle (unless it overlaps with my current travel plans). I feel really good about this decision. The RE and I had a healthy debate about what we'll do differently next cycle, and arrived at: doing mid-luteal phase with no priming; increasing Gonal-F dosage from 225 to 300 (THAT was really hard to convince him of), and then having me come in for monitoring earlier (on Day 3 or 4). 

keikilove

@acleverusername Oh wow, what a turn of events. I’m sorry that the cycle is cancelled but happy that you’re feeling good about your decision. That is amazing that Dr. Aimee called you and gave you such sound advice. It must make your decision sit much better knowing that it is what she would recommend if you were still with her office. Considering that your insurance covers two rounds it seems like a really smart
move on your part to save those two covered rounds for when you feel more confident about the outcome. Whew! I’m just thinking about the rollercoaster you’ve been on with the selecting an RE, then getting insurance coverage, the genetic testing, all of it. FX that the next round is super successful! 

optimistgardener

@acleverusername i'm so sorry this has been such a rollercoaster, but i'm glad that you've come to a decision you're happy with and have a good plan for next cycle. i'm sure it must feel really frustrating to have had this happen, but kudos for advocating for yourself so well in your conversation with your RE. It's so wonderful that you have Dr. Aimee at your back.

@kiki047 garden talk

i am no expert on garlic because this was my first year, but my understanding is normally you plant it in the fall (octoberish around here) and it overwinters as a bulb before putting up sprouts in the spring and is ready for harvest by july. if you planted in the spring, it seems that it will likely either not form multiple cloves or the cloves that form will be fairly small (for a fall harvest). But the internet tells me some people do plant garlic in the spring, and so if i were you, i'd baby them along through the growing season and see if you can get them to do anything by the fall harvest, maybe deprive them of water for a couple of weeks when you think you're hitting your last hurrah of summer, to force them to do any last thing they might do. I'm pretty sure they'll make some kind of an edible bulb, even if small, and it's quite possible you'll be able to turn around and replant a few this fall for overwintering and another try at harvest next year. I too have a hard time with beets. I usually get a few to make a good beetroot for me, but most of them kinda just hang out being sad little dudes, so i sorta take my lumps on that front. they say sandy soil is helpful. it's amazing how much gardening is just about not getting it right and then trying again, hoping it will be different the next time. i feel like i do that a lot (i've been failing for several years running on developing a good kale crop... i eat so much of it and it does grow around here and you'd think i'd be able to get it to take in my garden, but no... it either gets eaten by bugs or it bolts before it does anything useful). Edit to add link: here's a pretty nice write-up on an alternative, which is to harvest "spring garlic" as an intentionally immature plant, like what you were suggesting: https://hellohomestead.com/how-to-plant-garlic-in-the-spring/

daisy0322

@acleverusername oh wow that’s so cool she was able to help you out! I’m so glad you are comfortable now with your care plan. That has to make you feel better ❤️