IF Testing & Treatment w/o 10/17

bearmomma1

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 ballgame. 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 (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched):

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

How are things going?:

Any questions?:

GTKY:  What's your favorite Halloween costume you've dressed up as?

gingermama29

I’m back!

Diagnosis (if you've been): PCOS

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): TI

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): ending it (I’m 64 days in and anovulatory)

How are things going?: I’m doing better. My break away from all things ttc was much needed. We got back from Italy on Saturday and had a great trip! I’m planning to take provera to end this cycle since it’s been 64 days with no sign of O. I’m supposed to do blood work and some genetic testing to see if we can figure out why I’ve had 4 straight losses. Next treatment cycle will be with Gonal-F, ovidrel, and Endometrin. I’m contributing weekly therapy too so hopefully my mental health will be better through this approach in treatment. I did ask my RE where we go from here if this treatment isn’t successful after a few tries and IVF was the answer. 

Any questions?: not yet

GTKY: What's your favorite Halloween costume you've dressed up as? One year at school, we did a group costume and dressed up as a pack of expo markers. Each of us was a different color marker and it was really fun and creative. 

anniemarie887

@gingermama29 welcome back! i'm so glad Italy was the break you needed and i'm hoping you get some answers from the lab work. i am a sucker for a group costume, love it. 

Diagnosis (if you've been): uncooperative uterus/RPL, chronic endometritis, secondary IF

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): benched

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): i take the last dose of antibiotics friday morning. it can't come soon enough. repeat biopsy set for 10/27. 

How are things going?: today has been a garbage can day, i just feel a little suffocated by other's peoples fertility. like i know it's a good thing that i have friends that i guess view me as a resource and a good listener... but sometimes i just don't want to. i want to be selfish and self absorbed. i also think it's hard when this stuff comes with no warning, like a little heads up, are you in a space to talk about it would be nice. 

Any questions?: natm.

GTKY:  What's your favorite Halloween costume you've dressed up as? so i love a good shop your closet moment, and one of my favorites we've done as a couple was Michael Phelps and Nicole Johnson Halloween 2016 after his last Olympics... probably resonates better seeing as I live in Baltimore which is where he is from.

gingermama29

@anniemarie887 hugs. It’s hard to be an “expert” in this area, especially as you’re living it. There is definitely nothing wrong with wanting to be selfish too. Your feelings are completely valid and understandable. 

AFM, I heard back from my RE. I’m going on Friday for bloodwork, an ultrasound, and a teach appointment for administering all my new injectables. Assuming everything is suppressed as expected, I’ll not be ending this cycle but rather just starting meds arbitrarily (I think that’s what the nurse said). I’m hoping DH can go in at the same time and do his DNA fragmentation SA. 

optimistgardener

welcome back @gingermama29! glad you had such a good time. interesting that you're going to just start the meds arbitrarily!

@anniemarie887 i have my fingers crossed so hard for a super squeaky clean biopsy.

Diagnosis (if you've been): elderly and decrepit ovary makes bad eggs, possible uterine scarring and endo

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): benched til FET

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

How are things going?: i dunno, goodish, i guess. i'm in a place right now where there's nothing i can do until i see my RE and pepper him with questions, and i've got lots of other stuff going on in my life, so most of how i'm doing is not ttgp-related. maybe that's a relief.

it turns out my two euploids are XX (day 6 4bb) and XY (day 6 4ab). I guess purely on the basis of that slightly better grading for the male embryo, I'll try that one first, but I had always had a semi-secret personal preference for a girl. now though that i'm thinking of transferring a boy, the idea is sort of growing on me. I am of the opinion that the baby's sex doesn't really matter, since kiddos will become whatever they become, but i'm still thinking about it a bit.

Any questions?: natm

GTKY:  What's your favorite Halloween costume you've dressed up as?

you guys i'm such a grouchy non-celebrator of holidays, i'm sorry!

bearmomma1

@gingermama29 welcome back! I'm glad your break was what you needed, but how exciting to be jumping back into things. Did they ever see if your cysts went away?

@anniemarie887 Horray for Friday! I'm so so hoping that your shiz is gone and you're cleared for takeoff.

@optimistgardener Ohh I can only imagine how tricky that choice is to make. I wish I had some advice on how to make that choice, but I think there's nothing I could say or do to make it easier. Either way you can't make the wrong choice though!

Diagnosis (if you've been): Evaporated ovarian reserve, LPD.

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): TI/waiting for IVF with DE

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): Nothing exciting as we're in sort of limbo. We definitely tried this cycle, but I'm not getting my hopes up with anything. Am taking progesterone just because of my spotting on 2 DPO, and luckily it stopped. I'll probably test on Sunday so I will know if I can stop progesterone. I don't have any HPT left so it's nice I won't be tempted to test early.

How are things going?: They're going. Puppies are wild. I'm exhausted from being woken up at almost 5am every day. We haven't actually made any progress with the DE route. We're supposed to watch an IVF module from my RE, and it's 75 mins long I think. We haven't attempted to watch it yet.

Any questions?: nope

GTKY:  What's your favorite Halloween costume you've dressed up as? I love the classics, and I love dressing up as a witch or vampire. Though one year, my H and I dressed up as Jimmy Dugan and Dottie from A League of Their Own. That was fun!

anniemarie887

@optimistgardener would you be open to having your RE decide and surprise you? or is the thought of that not fun? i know other people who have done that. 
@bearmomma1 puppies are so much work, but so much! we used to have two dogs, one passed in 2020, and i would love to get another but skip the puppy part tbh. 

well, cd1, here we are. my biospy is 10/27, last time the biopsy was done a monday and i had results thursday. i have no idea how this will work with the weekend, but hoping to get results monday then, which means we should actually be able to TRY this month if my biopsy comes back clear. i can't believe i'm even letting my brain look at the calendar and calculate dates, hopefully i'm not being stupidly naive.

bearmomma1

You guys, I just got an email from my health insurance provider, stating that starting in 2023 they'll be providing infertility coverage: 50% of IVF procedures. We had 0% previously. I'm not sure what exactly will be covered when going with DE's, but anything is better that nothing! The transfer, the medicines, the fertilization. Oh my. I became so emotional I cried.

gingermama29

Officially starting Gonal F tonight. I had my blood drawn today, an ultrasound, and a teach appointment for the new injectable drugs. Basically the plan is to do this treatment for as long as I want to and then we’ll move on to IVF if we’re not successful. I’m juuuust above the BMI limit for IVF so that will also be a factor for when/if we move on. Trying to stay optimistic for this though and grateful to be seeing my therapist throughout treatment.

bearmomma1

@gingermama29 horray! Fingers crossed this is the right combo. how did your first gonal f shot go?

gingermama29

@bearmomma1 it went well but I got surprised with my period a couple hours after I did the injection so we’re stopping shots until Monday. 

bearmomma1

@gingermama29 OH NO! Of f*ckin course. Im sorry. Maybe it’s better off to start fresh with a new cycle. At least you’re not waiting for long to start again!

optimistgardener

sorry i've been MIA (went to an academic conference, saw a lot of people, heard some good talks, and drank with abandon. also it's the first time i've been on a plane since before covid, if you can believe it. currently stuck in the phoenix airport and i can't say i've missed airports).

@anniemarie887 that's a good question about having the RE surprise me. I think if the embryos were equally graded i might do that but at that point i'd probably just flip a coin, tbh, and then if the transfer proved successful i'd spend the rest of my life agonizing about whether i should tell my kid how they were chosen, lol. but since the xy embryo is slightly better graded i think i'm going to go that way unless the doc has strong feelings about it.

@bearmomma1 the insurance news is amazing! this happened to me too after i'd started my new job. the first year, i was just excited to have real insurance (even though there was no fertility benefit) but then starting this last year they started covering fertility up to $25k annually +10K prescriptions, and i was over the moon. this crap is so miserable without the financial aspect, so it is a huge relief for the expenses to be more manageable.

@gingermama29 ffs the uninvited arrival of your period is the worst. i hope things go well once you restart on monday. glad the shot went well, though, and i hope the rest do as well. i have to admit i kinda love how gonal-f smells. is that weird?