CP: If you're AMA, come on in and bring advice!

BootsOrHearts · May 2012

And actually - everyone should feel to vote, even if you're not AMA.

I'm 38, DH is 37. Officially, my only diagnoses are DOR (and not severe) and uterine fibroids (which are getting plucked out next month). Unofficially, my cycles have tended towards the wonky and I'm not sure I O consistently, but I'm also not very diligent about tracking/charting so it could be user error. All my other blood work and test results (done by my RE) were all fine. Obviously my tubes are open (or at least one is) because I got KTFU once so she doesn't want to bother with HSG at this point. Our first BFP was all natural, other than using OPKs.

The reason for the myomectomy is that *possibly* that was a contributing factor to my m/c and it *could* hinder implantation also.

After the surgery, we have a few options (in poll below). IUI is covered by our insurance, but obviously IVF is not. We could swing the cost for IVF (though, wouldn't be easy and we were saving money for a pool which would have to wait Sad )

My thinking about the IVF is this - we want more than 1 child (ideally 3) so if we have embies on ice, then the clock pretty much stops ticking and we can implant them whenever we want. (Right?) But it's not cheap and it's not easy (as those going through it can attest).

On the other hand, I feel a bit weird about using any interventions if everything is more or less working. Wouldn't it be better to let things happen the natural way? There are those of you who NEED the interventions and I'm just using them for convenience and because I feel like I'm running out of time. . . maybe that's irrational though.

Any advice appreciated!

[Poll]

Ironmom2be · May 2012

It's rare to get frosties on an ivf cycle, there's no guarantee, so I voted IUI. Worth trying that first. Also, I'd push for an HSG before an IUI cycle just be sure all is clear. My $.02! GL from a 36year old!!

kiki4 · May 2012

DS mentioned....

I had an early m/c 3 months before I got pg with DS - I was 38 at the time. I wasn't charting with that pregnancy, just using OPK's. I decided to give myself 3 months of diligent charting to verify I was ovulating, and to make sure my LP was long enough (I had 24 day cycles at the time). If it were me, I would go the charting route for a couple of months, and then if you have not gotten a BFP, talk to your doctor about the IUI. Good luck!!

twotexans · May 2012

I'd go with the IUI. We're about to move that direction ourselves. Our hesitation has been cost. My medicated TI cycles are covered, monitoring u/s and all. The second we move to IUI, we are completely OOP. Since TI worked once, we are giving it a few cycles before we move forward.

I agree with PP though. I would ask for an HSG beforehand.

big_noise · May 2012

No personal experience to add to this but I think what the other ladies have said is good information. If it were me and I wanted to try natural I might give it one or two months but otherwise I'd consider the IUI. The hsg sounds like a good idea.

imwithrebel · May 2012

I would definitely go ahead with treatment rather than trying naturally. If you had only tried for a few months and then had your miscarriage it might be different, but since it had already been a year of trying, I think treatment would really help. With TI/IUI, presumably you'll be on an ovulation inducing drug (Clomid, Femara, injectibles), meaning you're more likely to ovulate 2 eggs - two chances for it to work each time. You also should ask about a trigger injection, which is a shot of HCG you get when your follicles are mature that makes you ovulate. This will make it more likely for your body to release multiple eggs rather than it just focusing on the "best" one.

I'm definitely not an IVF guru, but from my observations of other women on IF/TTTC, very few women actually end up embryos to freeze. They may have a lot of eggs retrieved, a few of them won't fertilize, and then a large percentage of them don't make it to 3 or 5 day transfer. In the end, they end up with the two embryos they ultimately implant. Many of the ones that have one or two left to freeze are not the best quality and there's concerns about how they'll survive thawing. I know I've seen at least one woman gear up to implant her frosties only for none of them to survive thawing.

I also know that a lot of the IVF women suggest an IUI cycle with injectibles before IVF. There's a lot of medication dosages to figure out and it's good to be able to experiment with them before putting all of the money into IVF.

In your situation, I would probably try 2-3 rounds of injectible IUI with trigger, but I understand this is a hard decision with AMA and DOR. Good luck!

imwithrebel · May 2012

I also forgot to mention, you may want to cross post this on IF as there's lots of ladies there who have been through IUI and IVF that would have good advice for you.

BootsOrHearts · May 2012

imwithrebel:
I also forgot to mention, you may want to cross post this on IF as there's lots of ladies there who have been through IUI and IVF that would have good advice for you.

Good idea. You think IF? Or 3T?

Ironmom2be · May 2012

BootsOrHearts:
imwithrebel:
I also forgot to mention, you may want to cross post this on IF as there's lots of ladies there who have been through IUI and IVF that would have good advice for you.
Good idea. You think IF? Or 3T?

Both! IF tends to have a higher IVF crowd (many of which went through IUIs first) 3T tends to have a higher IUI crowd. Doesn't feel like too many cross pollinate. Almost everyone who graduated from those boards heads to PAIF. That's another place you could ask for success stories? GL!

imwithrebel · May 2012

You could post it on both. I'm more active on 3T, which is more populated with people doing timed intercourse or IUI, but I also visit IF, which has more people doing IVF. I've seen multiple posts cross posted on both boards, so it is acceptable to do that. I just first suggested IF because most of the women doing IVF have previously done IUI, so they can give you a perspective from both sides.

s.alarie · June 2012

I'm sorry if this is dumb, I have no experience with this at all.

Would it be possible to do ER without IVF? Like, they do ERs all the time for donor eggs. Can you have your own saved? I guess that would kind of stop the ticking clock too, right?

CP: If you're AMA, come on in and bring advice!

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