IF testing/treatment week of 12/6

gingermama29

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 favorite Christmas cookie(s)?

gingermama29

Diagnosis (if you've been):  PCOS

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA):  WTO 

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?):  Letrozole, metformin, myo-inositol, and TI

How are things going? Things are good. I had my HSG last week and it went well. My RE said everything looked great and I really didn’t experience any pain, only minor discomfort (which I’m grateful for because I forgot to take ibuprofen beforehand). I had an US right after the HSG and it was too early in my cycle for them to see signs of imminent O so I had another one this afternoon. Not much progress on my lining (it’s at 4) and I have tons of follicles on both ovaries but they’re all tiny (some of those are of course due to PCOS). My largest two follicles were 10mm so my RE wants to re-up the Letrozole with 3 pills starting today and see if that kicks my body into gear. I’m anywhere from 3-6 days from when I typically O in medicated cycles but the nurse said since that cycles haven’t been successful for me yet, they wanted to re-dose me if I was comfortable with it. I figure they’re the experts so I’m willing to give it a try.

Any questions?: Anyone else ever do a cycle where they had to do another week of Letrozole?

GTKY: What’s your favorite Christmas cookie(s)? I love sugar cookie cut outs and gingerbread cookies! Classic cookies but deservedly so! We also make chocolate peanut butter oatmeal no bake cookies (that DH calls chocolate poops 😂) and they’re delightful!

optimistgardener

thanks for kicking this thread off today @gingermama29! i'll be back maybe tomorrow or the day after with my day 5 update but for now i'm so glad your hsg was not painful! i felt terrible after we all shared our nightmare hsg stories the other week. I hope the letrozole redosing works for you!

bows22

@gingermama29 so glad your HSG wasn’t too bad! I’m glad you are doing the letrozole redosing, it’s exciting to try something different. I feel like @acleverusername maybe has done this in the past? 

Diagnosis (if you've been): unexplained,AMA,endometrial polyps/thickening

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA): TWW

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?) Clomid + IUI

How are things going? Good! I actually am feeling hopeful about this cycle which is dangerous but a nice change of pace I guess. The reason for my hope is irrational -DH’s count was much higher this time, however for the other IUIs it was over the threshold where they want it and I know that anything over that doesn’t mean anything.  But it just feels like it must be better sperm 😂

Any questions? Nope

GTKY: What’s your favorite Christmas cookie(s)? My mom makes the best peanut butter blossoms they are the perfect cookie to Hershey’s kiss ratio - and she only makes them at Christmas so I’m going to go with that. My favorite ones that I make are icing thumbprints rolled in walnuts. Salty/sweet! 

fantasyflyte

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

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA): wfaf

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): waiting to start our first medicated cycle w/IUI next cycle

How are things going?: they're going. I found out that DH's employer is changing insurance providers for 2022, which means our insurance will be changing whether we stick with his insurance or get new insurance through the exchange.

Which is super fun because, depending on if letrozole makes me ovulate earlier than normal or not, my O date, and therefore IUI date, will be flirting with Jan. 1. And no matter what insurance we have, we need prior auth for anything IF related.

Which means once I decide (probably tomorrow) what direction we're going with insurance, I'm going to have to contact the new insurance company to be like "hey how should I do this prior auth for this thing that's going to be on like the 2nd day my policy with you exists?" Best case scenario is the med makes me ovulate several days early so that the IUI can just happen between Christmas and New Year's and I don't need to worry about insurance for the procedure itself.

Any questions?: not really

GTKY: What’s your favorite Christmas cookie(s)? There's so many of them. I love peanut butter blossoms a lot, the texture the kisses have after baking is amazing. My mom's chocolate chip cookies are great, but they're kind of an all-year cookie, not just Christmas. I also love 7-layer magic bars, which I might have to make myself this week. They're (almost) all delicious!

fantasyflyte

@gingermama29 glad the HSG wasn't too bad, and I hope reupping the med gives you good results!

@bows22 I hope your optimism is warranted this cycle! I definitely feel you on the hope = dangerous side of things.

acleverusername

@gingermama29: Bows is right; I've had to take Letrazole twice this cycle and well... it's CD26 and NADA. Now, I'm probably in a slightly different situation since I'm coming off a retrieval month. But, I also remember @runningoncookies having to take 2 doses of Clomid in the first of her IUI cycles. So, it happens. Hang in there!

@bows22 I totally hear you on great sperm. I remember our 2nd IUI, the sperm was fantastic and we were elated. Plus, let's not forget about the potential placebo effect. Here's to hoping!

@fantasyflyte I hope the medicated cycle works in your favor/on schedule. But it's good to get that ball rolling vis-a-vis pre-auth just in case. Good luck; dealing with insurance is like one of my least favorite things in the world. Perhaps worse the taxes. 

Some tags from last week I didn't get to: 

@walkawaynee I'm really sorry your cycle didn't yield as many oocytes / embryos as you'd hoped; here's to hoping those 2 making it through the hunger games. Praying for those littles!

@optimistgardener anxiously awaiting your Day 5/6/7 results, whenever you get them. 

Diagnosis (if you've been): official - Unexplained; unofficial - Hashimoto's, AMA, sperm that doesn't like to ask for directions

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA): WTO... still... forever

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): Started off doing a 3rd retrieval and now pivoting to "au naturel" baby! Yeah, more on that below. 

How are things going?: Does anyone have any ute goggles around that I can borrow? I would love to know what my ovaries are up to right about now. Also, so this is probably going to be my last post to IF treatment for a while. My ovaries have somehow unionized and have gone on strike: it's CD26, I've taken 2 rounds of Letrazole (1 pill the first time; 2 pills the 2nd time) and I still see no signs of impending O. So, who the heck knows when it'll show up. In the meanwhile, I would have had to start stims today in order to have the retrieval before we leave for our Christmas holidays with my in-laws down in AZ. And at this rate, I won't be ready to start by the lab's cut-off date on 12/12, so after some hang-wringing, deep convos, MH and I decided that we're done retrievals. Not an easy decision to make, and I might revisit it if transfer #1 doesn't work, but for now, we've got a plan. The next 3 months will be focused on 1) recovery 2) losing weight 3) lots of testing ahead of the transfer: ERA, ReceptivaDx, EMMA/ALICE tests, as well as the immunology workup via Pregmune. We consulted with TEW before making this decision, laying out the information on what we have on ice, and she feels that we have the # embryos we need to have the family size we want (which is 2 +/- 1). She did acknowledge that it's really hard to go back to retrievals once you start the transfer process, but that if the first one fails, we might need to revisit that. So, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. I also feel that by doing a transfer with her, I'm getting the benefit of all the testing I'd have done if we did a transfer with my current doc, and it failed. So, overall feeling good about everything. 

So, I'll make like a bright-eyed bushy tailed newbie, and go hang out in the Dailies for a few months while H & I do it the old-fashioned way while also making those adjustments above. 

PS: update on H's testing; spoilering because not related to fertility:

EVERYONE got back to us today. UCSF scheduling called with a biopsy appointment for Jan 4, and we got a call back from Stanford after I'd submitted a request for 2nd opinion consult there late last week. So far, the latter clinic has been impressing H with their over-communication; I think he spoke to them 3 or 4 times today. Also, the specialist he's seeing at Stanford is "an internationally recognized expert in Endocrine Oncology and Surgery" so I think we scored there. This dude also has a Wikipedia page. Who does that? Lol. Anyways, will know more about that after next Wed. 

Any questions?: Nah. 

GTKY: What’s your favorite Christmas cookie(s)? It's never been a Christmas tradition in my family to bake cookies (yeah, we missed the memo) so I don't have a favorite. Also being gluten free makes it difficult to like any cookies. 

optimistgardener

still waiting for my day 5/6/7 report before i do a proper update (also i am not good at math... i think i posted on here that my day 5 report should come in on tuesday and then i spent all yesterday freaking out staring at my phone, only to discover that tuesday was in fact day 4, what is wrong with me).

meanwhile...

@bows22 i know it feels dangerous to be hopeful but hope is also like, the thing we're all running on. hope is good! embrace the hope. maybe yr's #s are the thing you need, or maybe you'll just hit the timing super right this time around.

@fantasyflyte i do not envy you that potential insurance nightmare. why is everything always such a giant pain in the a**.

@acleverusername that's a big decision re: no more retrievals but i also think you're likely right that you have enough embryos. i'll be sad if you don't come haunt the IF board occasionally though! no one ever stopped me from visiting on the regular even though i was benched for months. and you won't even be benched! hopefully though the next few months will help everything line up perfectly for the transfer. good luck with all of it. i know i for one am so jazzed to be back to my morning jogs after my long stims session, and am hoping to get back to feeling a little more like me regardless of whether i've got another retrieval to face or no. p.s. the dailies are fun. i enjoyed my brief foray over in that world.

acleverusername

@optimistgardener You're definitely not getting rid of me that easily, but I don't want to bore anyone with details of regular ol' in-and-out. :P I'll post whenever I have anything test-result wise to share! 

optimistgardener

Diagnosis (if you've been): old eggs and not many of them, scarring, some endo

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA): waiting for PGT-A

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

How are things going?: I've been dying of impatience over here waiting for word to come in on my fertilized embryos and i finally got the call this morning. Deets in spoiler but the tl;dr is that the news is middle-of-the-road.

Of the 4 that fertilized, 2 made it to blast and were biopsied on day 6. the nurse didn't have word on the embryo grading but will call me with that information later. i have been keeping myself awake for the past couple of nights wondering what the outcome would be on this news. i know it's dumb because last time around i had great blast results and still got disappointed in the testing phase, but it's so hard not to let myself get carried away at every stage. The night before last I became convinced that I might not get any blasts out of this cycle, but then reminded myself if that if they'd all arrested earlier I would have heard news. So then I convinced myself that I might beat the odds and somehow come out with 3 or even 4 surviving blasts, and then got knocked off that high horse with the nurse's call this morning. I'm such a dummy. Anyway, I should not be upset about this result, after all it's basically middle-of-the road (albeit I wish they'd been day 5). Fingers crossed one of them flips the coin toss in the correct direction.

Any questions?: nope

GTKY: What’s your favorite Christmas cookie(s)? I've been excited about answering this Q ever since @gingermama29 posted it. I see several of you are into chocolate/peanut butter varieties, and I can definitely get behind that. But ever since I was a very small child my mom has made an army of thin, crunchy, highly spiced gingerbread cookies (a liberal innovation on the old Joy of Cooking recipe, with all the spice quantities tripled plus extra fresh ginger and a spritz of black pepper), cut into a variety of shapes using the family's eclectic mix of old cookie cutters, and then decorated in brightly colored lemon icing. It takes a whole day to make them but it's 100% worth it. And it's kind of the only thing my family does that is actually super Christmasy.

walkawaynee

*Mia this week due to a family vacation*
But have been stalking @optimistgardener for an update. Middle of the road isn't a terrible place to be in this crapshoot.  Hoping you get some sleep now despite it just being the next phase of the waiting game.

optimistgardener

@walkawaynee how about you? have you heard any word yet on your embryos?

acleverusername

@optimistgardener Thanks for the update! Share the grade when you get it. FWIW, I've been sync-cycling with another forum friend (another forum) all this year (so we've had 3 stim cycles, if you don't count the fact that I've cancelled my first one). Only difference in our case is that I'm 38, she's 39.5. Her numbers are amazing out of the gate for the first 2 retrievals: 14 eggs collected, 12 fertilize, ~3-4 make it to blast. None were euploid from those 2 rounds. Then, last round, she got 7 mature eggs, ended up with 1 blast, which came back euploid. Go figure. So, yeah, this is a real numbers game. And of course, I'm the poster child for quality over quantity, esp as it relates to my first round. 

AFM, update... still no O in sight. I ended up caving and getting E2/P4 test at Quest this morning. Will get those results tomorrow AM. I just kind of want to know when I'll be ovulating so that we can DTD. Also, family is coming to visit, so... it'll have to be stealthy sex during FW. Or maybe Garage Sex à la @keikilove (thinking about you, btw!) I also got more of my Pregmune testing done; just need to do the stuff that's administered by ReproSource and that's been a huge Catch-22 game (@inthewoods23 @keikilove has that been your experience with them too?) 

Finally, quick update on H: we got both a doc appointment AND a biopsy booked for Wed the 15th!!! Thank you Stanford! WAAAAAAAY more expedient than UCSF. 

anniemarie887

@acleverusername lurking and so glad to see your husband has an appt, and quickly. 

kiki047

I am equal parts grateful but also shocked that it's Friday already because this week totally got away from me. Sorry I haven't really participated this week, I did some light lurking though! 

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

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA): WFAF   

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): ... I'm a broken record. WFAF. CD47, which I realize isn't really that long in the grand scheme of things but this could go on forever if I just leave my body to its own devices. My longest ever cycle was 61 days but that was way back when I first came off BCP after being on it for almost 15 years. Otherwise I haven't had a cycle longer than 36 days (*TW* if you don't count my MCs). 

How are things going?: I finally convinced the nurses to book me for BW and US to see what the hell is going on. My RE thinks I'm just in a holding pattern, I have polycystic ovaries that are just... chillin'. And my hormones are all over the map. He happily handed over the provera without me needing to ask for it, and also agreed to put me on BCP through the holidays so that this doesn't happen again while we're doing FET prep. I am booked for my biopsy on the 21st before they close for the holidays, which hopefully means I'll be good to go for FET before the end of January. 

Any questions?: I've taken provera twice before but *TW* once was in the context of needing help stabilizing my lining because of persistent spotting after my MC *end TW* and the other was over 3 years ago. Any advice on what to expect? I'm bracing myself for a very heavy period. 

GTKY: What’s your favorite Christmas cookie(s)? Shortbread. Which is always a favourite year-round, but there's more of it at Christmas and I just can't get enough of it. My MIL also makes these Cherry Garcia drop cookies at Christmas that are bomb-diggity amazing. 

kiki047

@gingermama29 glad the HSG went well, and I hope that second round of letrozole does the trick to kick things into high gear. 
@bows22 hey girl, that sperm count is worthy of celebration 'round these parts!! FX those are some swift and efficient swimmers!!! 
@fantasyflyte All I have to say is uggghhh insurance. I'll be keeping everything crossed for you that things happen as they should and you'll be able to get your IUI done before the end of the year! 
@acleverusername hey girl hey, so glad YH got his appts lined up and that you can hopefully put that behind you while you focus on everything else you have going on! I'm so happy that you have a plan and TEW is fully on board, and that 2022 is going to be the "Year of You" to focus on your health and moving forward. I hope so much that neither of us have to go back to doing ERs if our FETs don't work. But you know that even if you do go hang in the dailies for a while, you're always welcome here. 
@optimistgardener my (favourite) RE always used to say that we should be so lucky to be "average" in this IF game, because average people get pregnant. But of course that isn't exactly comforting when IVF is just a numbers game and we need things to be above average if we're going to try to get ahead. I will keep sending good thoughts your way for great PGT results.  
@walkawaynee hope you're having fun on vacation and it is helping to keep your mind off of the torturous wait for results. 

acleverusername

@kiki047 yay for getting blood tests done to figure out WTF is going on! And hooray for Provera, and BCP and good things to come in 2022. 

AFM, got my E2/P4 results back this morning, and looks like I actually O'ed sometime this week (E2 was 28; P4 was 7.7). And we definitely didn't DTD. Oh well. At least there's clarity as to what's happening.

I'm also excited that my psychiatrist had me start a small dose of Wellbutrin as of yesterday, which is supposed to counteract the "low libido / anorgasmia" caused by Lexapro. I've already warned H that we can expect me to become a horny / insatiable devil in the coming weeks. Lol. Hopefully by next FW, the meds will have kicked in. 

kiki047

@acleverusername LOL I hope the Wellbutrin helps, but when you put it that way a teensy tiny part of me wishes there was a liiiittle bit of viagara in there for MH too because while his libido isn't 0 anymore, it's definitely not 100 either   Rawr, go get 'em tigress! Haha all kidding aside, I really do help that a few months off will be good for you and YH to be able to actually enjoy that intimacy without as much pressure (we all know that there is always some pressure because we're never not TTC at this point). 

inthewoods23

*lurking*

@acleverusername not sure I have a really good answer for you as I eventually found out that really only 1 or 2 of the genetic tests needed the pre-auth. It was stressful finding out ReproSource doesn't handle the pre-auths themselves like I was originally told by the RI's assistant and also trying to fit in the mobile phlebotomist to have blood drawn around the time of my business trip and then telling them I needed to put it off due to covid. With the pre-auth thing finally understood I just went to Quest to have them done since I had some repeat labs needing for the RI. ExamOne keeps calling me to schedule the phlebotomist even though I told ReproSource over a week ago that they could close my case file having gotten the testing through a different avenue 🙄. I'm going to have to answer the next time and tell them I don't need them so stop. freaking. calling.


Also hi friends 👋

acleverusername

@inthewoods23 oh interesting. ReproSource told me that neither Quest nor LabCorp can do those tests. They're supposed to send out some kind of kits to me for the phlebotomist to use. Is that bogey? 

Okay, data nerds, help me figure out when I ovulated: 

11/30: E2 - 67.1 pg/mL; P4 - 0.59 ng/mL
12/3: E2 - 61.9 pg/mL; P4 - 0.60 ng/mL
12/9: E2 - 28.pg/mL; P4 - 7.7 ng/mL

I'm thinking probably Wed or Thu? 

optimistgardener

@acleverusername i'm not going to be much help in guessing O date because i don't know a lot about standard hormone levels through the cycle, but can I just say isn't it weird that our bodies can sneak up on us and do something like ovulate without our noticing when we've become like, advanced scholars of our cycle patterns?

acleverusername

@optimistgardener 1000% weird! What's worse is that Letrazole elevates LH levels, so pee strips become not super accurate. And, like, they've been somewhat darker in the last few days, but also not dark enough to make me think I'm O'ing. And also, no O pain like I have normally in Letrazole cycles without trigger. So, I don't know WTF. Anyways, I'm mostly asking because I want to input a manual O date in FF. I emailed my clinic. I bet they'll be like WTF? Lol. Nurse told me the earliest I could have a LH surge was on Wed... Yeah, right... 

@optimistgardener any update on embryo grading? 

optimistgardener

@acleverusername not yet! although part of me actually doesn't want to know at this point. knowing they're day 6 already makes me feel a little extra despondent about their chances, and i feel like regardless of whether their grading is good or bad it will throw me for a loop. like, i had good grading on my last embryos and that did not get me anywhere, but if these have a crappy grading, it's just gonna make me sadder.

acleverusername

@optimistgardener I did have 2 3AAs on Day 6. And they were both euploid. Just saying! 

inthewoods23

*lurking*

@acleverusername not sure which tests you're talking about, but Quest can do all of the ones my RI required. Although you know what... There might be some tests that CA locations can't do? I've seen some kind of note going through Quest's test directory to grab the test codes so it's easy to enter the labs needed. I do recall ReproSource would ship me a box with dry ice so that once the phlebotomist drew my blood I could ship it to ReproSource's labs

bows22

@fantasyflyte insurance sucks, but I wonder if this whole cycle will go under your old insurance if it starts while you are covered by it? Probably a good idea to call and see for sure though!

@acleverusername I love the Stanford clinic and the over-communicating! That’s pretty unheard of! I’ll be thinking of you guys next week and hope they are quick with the biopsy results too.

@optimistgardener if I remember correctly, the last person worried about day 6 embryos is now on a BMB so try not to put too much energy into worrying about that! I hope you hear about the grading soon. 

@kiki047 I’m glad that you have a plan in place for FET timing and that AF is going to be forced to show its face!! And yes to shortbread! I was just telling my mom yesterday that’s going to be the only cookie I make this year. DH and I are on diets so I don’t want to go crazy but I need to make something. 

fantasyflyte

@bows22 yeah, I think I'm going to start with the RE's financial representative and go from there. I'm sure they've dealt with this kind of thing before.

acleverusername

I redid my and MH's vitamins; generally paired everything down. All of my vitamins now fit into 1 case! Wooo! There's something profound in stopping all of the egg quality supplements I'd been taking. I've also added L-arginine for lining thickness/transfer prep. I figure taking it for a few months before transfer is a good idea.  

gingermama29

@bows22 that’s awesome about YH’s sperm count. Crossing everything for you!

@fantasyflyte oh that’s frustrating about the insurance. FX that you O early enough for it to not be an issue this cycle.

@acleverusername that had to be a difficult decision about moving towards FET but I definitely understand and agree with your thought process. Sounds like you have a good plan moving forward.

@optimistgardener I hope you hear about grading soon and it’s good news! Also that gingerbread cookies sound amazing!

@kiki047 ugh I know the pain of CD 47 with no sign of O oh too well. Glad your RE got you on provera without you needing to ask. FX that all goes well for a FET the end of January.