Hi Ho, Hi Ho... IVF We Go!

KH826 · August 2013

At the request of the lovely MK (ahem, herbabymama), I am starting a new thread.

My wife and I have decided to move to IVF (see my PIP post - I know, silly!)

I am excited and nervous.

So comeon IVFers, lend me your wisdom!!!

KH826 · August 2013

Thank you! You are so awesome - I will let you know when I find out about the meds!

I am waiting for AF to start, and will be starting BCPs probably this weekend (CD2 or CD3)... so, yes, we are off to the races. As soon as my AF starts and we get the call rolling, then I will get my calendar, and we will likely have our orientation class next week...

We signed up for a package that will include the stimulation, retrieval, all monitoring in between, one fresh transfer and one frozen transfer. Plus the first 3 months of storage for our frozen embryos. Beyond that, we will be looking at additional costs and reassessing next steps...

We are thinking that we will transfer 2 embryos with the fresh transfer, but we have not completely decided yet, and we may not until we see what we get after the retrieval and the eggs are fertilized...

That's what I know so far. I have been doing lots of reading, but also trying to take some of that with a grain of salt, since my RE lovingly told me to "get off google" at our last meeting. HAHA

Manada · August 2013

We are also on the IVF train, though it will be a bit slow to leave the station as we have decided to wait until Nov to start stims - so the ER won't be until early Dec probably. H is already on BCP to control her Endo though so we are already into step 1....

Good luck. We have been delayed by the OOP costs as well as a decision to move to save $$$ this fall. But we will be right behind you on that journey!

2MamazInSeattle · August 2013

Late to the party! I've had a rough day with my extra-special post c/p AF. Oy.

So happy you're making this move KH! I did donor eggs so I'll leave the stimming and retrieval stuff to MK and ball.and.chain.

Include me when you find out your meds, even though we're doing another FET on 9/16, I have some extra of a few meds.

Interesting they are willing to transfer 2. My RE will only do that after losses or for frozen cycles. I'd dip your toe into the multiples and high risk boards for some insight into that. I loved the idea of twins (insta family) but ruled that out once I started to understand the risks. Of course lots of women have perfectly healthy twin pregnancies!

anyhow, the great thing about IVF is you know the embryo already exists and that step is a sure thing! Keep us all posted!!

KH826 · August 2013

Thanks, 2Mamaz, and so sorry to hear that you are having a rough time with AF. Hopefully today will be a better day.

Our RE said that they would be willing to put back 1 or 2 embryos. I have heard that other REs will only put back 1 (except for other circumstances, as you have noted). The only thing that I can gather is that every practice is a little bit different in terms of what they will do/be comfortable with. We will definitely be doing a bit more research and asking questions before we decide how many we want to have transfered. I understand a bit about the risks of twin pregnancy already (twins actually run on my father's side of the family -- he was a twin, my grandmother was a twin, etc.). At any rate, I am not necessarily scared of twins, but I am scared about making a pregnancy higher risk if it does not have to be. We will discuss it with our RE more in the coming weeks...

KH826 · August 2013

Thanks so much, sparkles412!

We are excited now. Still a little scared and apprehensive, but definitely excited. I have renewed hope!

As an update, AF officially arrived this AM, so I am waiting for my RE's office to call back about my BCP Rx. I will start this weekend! Never taken BCPs before, so that will be fun (and ironic) HAHA!

2MamazInSeattle · August 2013

:KH, awesome how you are thinking about things! One thing I'd make sure your RE knows is about your family history of twins. The scariest thing (and ball.and.chain and I have discussed at length since we both know people this happened to) is putting in two, having one split - and ending up with triplets. Keep us all posted!! So excited you are taking the next step!

KH826 · August 2013

My RE knows about my family history of twins - I have already shared that with her when we first got started. However, from my understanding, since it is on my father's side, it won't impact anything. Fraternal twins just come from a woman naturally producing more than one egg a cycle, and it can only be passed down genetically from a woman to her daughter. Identical twins (when the splitting occurs) is not an inherited trait, since it occurs spontaneously and can happen to anyone a small percentage of the time. I know what you are saying though. We do NOT want triplets. HAHA. We may end up only transfering 1 embryo... we will wait and see the outcome of the ER, and I will talk to my RE again before we ultimately decide.

AmandaG47 · August 2013

Sorry I'm late but wanted to say I'm excited for you KH! Good luck and lots of baby wishes for you

aud+rey · August 2013

I'm late to this, as well. We are in the midst of the IVF process. I also have some extra meds that I would be willing to send your way. We needed one extra day and it was the same for 1 day or an entire prescription, so we have plenty of extra!

We are only transferring one, but I am a unique case. When doing my hysteroscopy, we discovered I have a unicorn uterus, which is basically half of a uterus. If we transferred two and took the chance of both implanting, it would be like someone with a "normal" uterus carrying 4 babies. So, we are only transferring one. Our RE does recommend two in most cases, though.

I may not be TOO educated, but if you have any questions, please don't hesitate!

KH826 · August 2013

Thanks @AmandaG47 & @aud+rey - I appreciate the support and well wishes!

@aud+rey - when was/is your transfer? Will this be your first transfer?

We have another appointment next Monday, and I will be getting my full protocol and know what meds I will be on then. The nurse did mention that she had a few coupons for some of the Rxs that she could give us also. I will have to see what they are prescribing...

I am super nervous about injections, but I am also really excited to get started!

aud+rey · August 2013

It is our first transfer. We couldn't do a fresh transfer because of my levels being a little off (high progesterone...). We are 7 days out...next Tuesday, the 13th, is the day!

KH826 · August 2013

So exciting!

Do you know what you are transfering, then? A 5-day blastocyst? (I am just trying to use the fancy new jargon that I learned at our IVF class last night )

aud+rey · August 2013

Yes, a 5 day. We fertilized 11, but only had 10 make it to the blastocyst stage. Of those 10, 8 are rated the best they can be. (Don't ask questions there...I have no idea how they rate them!)

They retrieved 32 eggs, so we have an extra 22 frozen that we will be donating at some point.

KH826 · August 2013

That's wonderful! Sounds like an awesome outcome for an ER, from what I have heard.

Were you considered "over stimulated?" -- is that why they were unable to do the fresh transfer right away?

aud+rey · August 2013

Yes, a great outcome! Don't know if it is because I am young or if I just responded very well to the hormones.

I was over stimulated. My estrogen was right around 3,200, which was fine. They want it below 4,000 at my RE, so I was well within the realm there. My progesterone was 1.03, and my RE said that was too high. I was at risk for OHSS (Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome), so we did a Lupron trigger instead of HCG and froze all. I only had to wait one week to get levels back to normal and start the process of the FET, but it will be almost a month between retrieval and transfer once all is said and done.

KH826 · August 2013

Thanks for sharing this info. I am a little nervous about being overstimulated as well. This is something that we discussed briefly with the doctor running the class that we attended last night, and I plan to bring it up again at our nursing consult on Monday. I was told b/c I am 29 and I always responded well to oral medications (I was on Femara for 3 cycles), that there is a little bit of a risk that I might overstimulate. I hope that is not the case, but glad to hear from someone who has been through this and has had a positive outcome so far.

aud+rey · August 2013

If you do overstimulate, as long as they don't use an hcg trigger, you should be fine. You may have to freeze and do an FET, but it really hasn't hindered much with us. I had a pretty rough time with recovery from my retrieval, so I didn't mind giving my body a little bit of a break. They will monitor levels closely, though, and should be able to catch any levels that are off pretty quickly. No sweat!

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