I was checking in at my Fertility clinic a couple of weeks ago and the receptionist said when referring to our 1st IVF cycle as the time "when we'll have no life". (!) So I guess I'm asking all the ladies who have gone through IVF how much truth is in that comment?
Married for the 1st time in 2009 @ 36.
Conceived DD naturally after trying for 1 1/2yrs - born May 2012
Trying to conceive #2 since Fall 2012
Blocked right tube.
1st IVF cycle started in February 2014
Retrieval was 3/4/14 (11 eggs retrieved, 5 fertilized)
Day 5 transfer was 3/9/14 (3 emryos transferred, 2-3AA, 1-2AA)
Beta test on 3/19/14 - BFP 294
Beta test 3/21/14 - 527
Beta test 3/28/14 - 5307 Not one, but two sacs seen on ultrasound!
4/4/14 - Saw Baby B's heartbeat! Baby A was stubborn.
4/11/14 - Lost Baby A Saw and heard Baby B's heartbeat @ 154
Our EDD is 11/25/14. Can't wait to meet our turkey baby! It's a girl!
Hi - that was a really insensitive / rude comment she made. Yes, it does occupy a part of your mind (as it did with me) and it is a pain to go in for the every other day bloodwork and ultrasound and then wait for the call. But it certainly did not make me feel like I had no life.
The only time I really felt like it was controlling our life was when I had to miss the 1st bday party of my best friend's daughter - it was right around the time our ER was going to be and since it was out of town we just couldn't commit to it. I felt terrible but she completely understood.
I still did most things I normally do - with the exception of regular exercise - I just got really bloated and uncomfortable so the last thing I wanted to do was go to the gym.
Well it did consume my life... but what part of TTC doesn't really? You do have tons of appointments so your schedule is not your own. I had to do shots in the mornings and evening between certain times and so that limited my social life a tiny bit. But honestly it wasn't too different from an IUI cycle if you have ever done that. I think the hardest part for me was trying to plan for the egg retrieval as you don't know exactly what day it will be on so I had to make sure I didn't have any big work meetings scheduled etc for that time period just in case. The good news is it is just a few weeks of inconvenience and hopefully it will all be worth it in the end!
***siggy/ticker warning***
Me:36 DH:38 TTC#1 since 4/2012 Me DX: Hashimotos,Hypothyroid, DOR, MTHFR, DH: normal
IUI #1-#4 BFNs and a few cancelled cycles in the mix. - poor responder ***Suprise BFP on 6/13/13. Natural MC @6wks 3days IVF#1 and 2- Cancelled due to no response on max stimms FET 5/20- BFP 1st Beta- 641 2nd beta- 2166 Sono- TWINS!!!! Two Boys! Born January 2015 @36 weeks. Healthy and no NICU! So blessed!
I wouldn't quite go so far as to say you have no life, it's just that a lot of your schedule is not longer your own. I had a lot of early morning appointments before work and then you don't have a firm date for your retrieval or the transfer so it's all sort of up in the air and awkward if you have important things going on at work and you don't want to announce what you're doing to everyone. I remember I originally wanted to do our IVF in May but couldn't because my husband had a work commitment he couldn't get out of and we just couldn't risk the transfer being then because he was required to be there for that. I'm assuming the FET we plan on doing over the summer will be easier but same with that, we won't know exactly when the transfer will be (or if there will even be one) and I just hate having things be in limbo.
My advice with all fertility treatments is just take it one step at a time.
Kelly, Mom to Christopher Shannon 9.27.06, Catherine Quinn 2.24.09, Trey Barton lost on 12.28.09, Therese Barton lost on 6.10.10, Joseph Sullivan 7.23.11, and our latest, Victoria Maren 11.15.12
Secondary infertility success with IVF, then two losses, one at 14 weeks and one at 10 weeks, then success with IUI and then just pure, crazy luck. Expecting our fifth in May as the result of a FET.
So here's another question: Did you ladies tell your places of employment? If so, did you feel there was no way around it? If not, how difficult was it due to no one knowing?
We have our nurse teach tomorrow and I'm waiting on that before I decide. Would love to hear others experiences. I personally rather not tell anyone.
Married for the 1st time in 2009 @ 36.
Conceived DD naturally after trying for 1 1/2yrs - born May 2012
Trying to conceive #2 since Fall 2012
Blocked right tube.
1st IVF cycle started in February 2014
Retrieval was 3/4/14 (11 eggs retrieved, 5 fertilized)
Day 5 transfer was 3/9/14 (3 emryos transferred, 2-3AA, 1-2AA)
Beta test on 3/19/14 - BFP 294
Beta test 3/21/14 - 527
Beta test 3/28/14 - 5307 Not one, but two sacs seen on ultrasound!
4/4/14 - Saw Baby B's heartbeat! Baby A was stubborn.
4/11/14 - Lost Baby A Saw and heard Baby B's heartbeat @ 154
Our EDD is 11/25/14. Can't wait to meet our turkey baby! It's a girl!
If you want to give her the benefit of the doubt, you can assume that she was just trying to issue a friendly warning that you've got a challenging, time-involved process coming up. My IVF cycles didn't make me have no life, but it certainly changed a lot of "normality."
I personally did not tell my boss specifically what I was going through, only that I had some "medical issues" to take care of. She is very sympathetic and didn't inquire further. I understand some places of employment will have to know the full truth, in order to be flexible enough with the time off you'll need.
PAIF/SAIF Welcome!
Me: 42, Hubby: 35, TTC since Jan 2010. Dx: DOR due to advanced maternal age.
Also: Hypothyroidism (100mcg Levothyroxin). Positive for MTHFR (hetero-C677T), Factor V Leiden, and Fragile X (on DH side). Taking pre-natal vitamins. First natural PG 9/27/11; mc: 1/20/12 First RE visit: 8/8/12, Saline Sonogram: 8/28/12, IVF injection class: 10/11/12, add FaBB Tab for FVL, +Vitamin D. IVF #1:
10/17/12 Baseline: FSH- 9.4, E2- 24, LH- 3.7, Prog- 0.3 The u/s
showed 6 follicles in my right & 9 in my left. Rx: 150 Bravelle &
150 Menopur SQ nightly. 10/21/12: Add Ganirelix SQ every morning.
ER 10/28/12: 13 Retreived. 7 Mature. 6 Fertilized. 5 Made it to PGS. ET
11/2/12: CANCELED. All 5 came back from PGS as having "severe
abnormalities." IVF #2:
1/7/13 Baseline: FSH- 8.8, 4 follicles in my right & 6 in my left.
Rx: 150 Bravelle & 150 Menopur SQ nightly. 1/11/13: Add Ganirelix SQ every
morning. hCG Trigger 1/16/13
ER 1/18/13: 9 Retrieved. 5 Mature. 5 Fertilized. 2 Made it to PGS. ET 1/23/13:
CANCELED. All embryos (he even sent the ones not growing) came back from PGS as
having "multiple severe abnormalities." IVF #3: NEW RE! 3/1/13 Baseline: FSH- 9.6, E2- 61, Prog- 0.94, 3
follicles in my right & 4 in my left. Rx: 150 Bravelle& 150
Menopur SQ in PM. 3/7/13: Add Ganirelix SQ in AM. hCG Trigger 3/9/13 SQ. ER 3/11/13: 6R, 2M, 2F. Day 3: one 8 cell, grade 0. Five day ET 3/16/13: one
early blast, grade Fair. 3/24/13 AF came a day before beta. BFN IVF #4:(Added acupuncture to this cycle.) 3/25/13 WTF & Baseline:
FSH-11.8, E2- 56, Prog- 0.84 3/26/13 Start stims. 3/30/13 u/s: 5
follicles in my right & 4 in my left. Rx: 225 Bravelle& 225
Menopur SQ in PM. 3/31/13 Add Ganirelix SQ in AM.hCG Trigger 4/3/13 SQ. ER 4/5/13: 5R, 3M, 3F naturally. Day 3: two 8 cell, grade 0, one 8 cell, grade 2
(Scale 0-best to 3-worst). Five day ET 4/10/13: two blastocysts (the 3rd
stopped growing.) Beta 4/18/13: 2.5 BFFN. RE recommends we stop trying and
focus on living childless, due to the extremely poor quality of my
eggs. ***Decided
to stop trying and live CFNBC. I couldn't adjust. So, six months later... IVF #5: Changed RE. Going to one of the big name clinics now.
OWDU: 10/29/13. Update: HORRIBLE experience. Disgusted and distraught at their complete unprofessionalism and how much money and precious time they cost us. Sickening. Have now changed RE again. New Patient appt. 1/30/14. BFP! Out of nowhere, I got KU the old fashioned way! POAS 1/26/14 - Positive! FDLM 12/30/13. Beta #1 16dpo= 373. Beta #2 18dpo= 801. EDD 10/6/14 2/4/14 1st U/S revealed a 5wk2day sac but no fetal pole. Started 200mgs of progesterone suppositories daily 2/11/14 2nd U/S revealed a perfect 6wk1day "diamond ring" embryo with a beating heart! 138bpm! Add 1mg folic acid and 40mg Lovenox 2/25/14 3rd U/S: perfect 8w1d embryo, 178bpm. 3/6 start spotting. 3/11 10w1d U/S shows no heartbeat. Scheduling D&C. The Stork has forsaken me again. IVF #5.2: New in-state RE. Supplement priming for 1.5 cycles prior to start of cycle, including DHEA 50mg (stopped 5/15), CoQ10 200mg 2x/day, L-Arginine- 1000mg 2x/day (stopped 6/5 due to cold sore!), myo-inositol- 2g 2x/day, melatonin- 3mg, and Neevo (prenatal for MTHFR). 5/16/14 Day 2 bw cycle prior: FSH- 12.22, E2- 38.37, Prog- 1.35, LH- 9.46. 6/2/14 Day 19 bw: Prog- 23 6/12/14 Baseline: E2- 122.7, Prog- 0.4. 5 follicles in left, 4 follicles in right. Start stims: 375IU Follistim & 150IU Menopur. 6/19 Increase Follistim to 425IU, Menopur still 150IU. 6/18 add Ganirelix. 6/23 Ovidrel trigger SQ. 6/25 ER: 8R, 8M, 5F naturally. Start Medrol & Doxy. 6/26 Start Endometrin. 7/2 Start Lovenox. 7/8/14 Beta= 137.4 BFP!!! (My first from IVF!) E2- 1109, Prog- >60. Stop CoQ10, myo-inositol, and melatonin. 7/9 2nd Beta= 281.4. TSH- 2.70. Increasing Synthroid to 100mcg daily. 7/24 6w3d u/s measured 6w3d, hb: 121bmp! 8/5 8w1d u/s measured 8w3d, hb: 164bpm! Graduated from RE to OB. Now I just need to find an OB! EDD 3/18/15!
When we first began with testing and IUIs I ultimately did tell my immediate boss since I was frequently (ie several times a week) needing to come in late, step into a conference room to take a call, or work from home in the morning and then go in after the IUI. I chose to let my boss know so she wouldn't think I was interviewing, etc.
As it turns out, several months later (in Nov) the company had a change in strategy and restructured - and as a result my role as well as my entire team (including my boss) were eliminated. I am currently not working - though looking for a new job (and have some very good leads). This being said, I do not believe that my transparency impacted my job being eliminated. Prior to this point, since my boss knew, she was flexible in my scheduling meetings later in the morning, etc.
For my first IVF round in Dec, I wasn't working and while it was frustrating not to work, it did make some aspects easier (not having to go out and buy new work clothes, not having to worry about planning my work schedule around appts - though my clinic gives priority to IVF patients - lab opens at 7:20am, bloodwork needs to be done by 8:45am, and early ultrasounds are reserved for IVF patients - all great when you are working) But it would have been nice to be working as it would have provided a great distraction and keep me from obsessing (which I did at times).
It definitely is a personal decision, and it depends on how you feel about the company, your boss, and of course the type of office it is.
I get to run my own schedule at work so I didn't have to tell anyone but i had to rearrange meetings and be a bit elusive with family and coworkers. My cycle ended up getting cancelled so I didn't get to ET but my plan was just to call in sick.
***siggy/ticker warning***
Me:36 DH:38 TTC#1 since 4/2012 Me DX: Hashimotos,Hypothyroid, DOR, MTHFR, DH: normal
IUI #1-#4 BFNs and a few cancelled cycles in the mix. - poor responder ***Suprise BFP on 6/13/13. Natural MC @6wks 3days IVF#1 and 2- Cancelled due to no response on max stimms FET 5/20- BFP 1st Beta- 641 2nd beta- 2166 Sono- TWINS!!!! Two Boys! Born January 2015 @36 weeks. Healthy and no NICU! So blessed!
I only eluded to medical issues that required testing at specific times. My boss being female i did indicate it was a "hormonal" issue, which wasn't bad cause when I had to go for my laprascopoy she wasn't surprised when I took a week of work and then had to reschedule because I got the Monday before appt telling me the DR was going to be on vacation....my boss was pretty understanding about it - without knowing the specifics
Re: Comment Made @ Fertility Clinic....?!?!?
Me:36 DH:38 TTC#1 since 4/2012
Me DX: Hashimotos,Hypothyroid, DOR, MTHFR, DH: normal
IUI #1-#4 BFNs and a few cancelled cycles in the mix.
- poor responder
***Suprise BFP on 6/13/13. Natural MC @6wks 3days
IVF#1 and 2- Cancelled due to no response on max stimms
FET 5/20- BFP
1st Beta- 641
2nd beta- 2166
Sono- TWINS!!!!
Two Boys! Born January 2015 @36 weeks. Healthy and no NICU! So blessed!
I wouldn't quite go so far as to say you have no life, it's just that a lot of your schedule is not longer your own. I had a lot of early morning appointments before work and then you don't have a firm date for your retrieval or the transfer so it's all sort of up in the air and awkward if you have important things going on at work and you don't want to announce what you're doing to everyone. I remember I originally wanted to do our IVF in May but couldn't because my husband had a work commitment he couldn't get out of and we just couldn't risk the transfer being then because he was required to be there for that. I'm assuming the FET we plan on doing over the summer will be easier but same with that, we won't know exactly when the transfer will be (or if there will even be one) and I just hate having things be in limbo.
My advice with all fertility treatments is just take it one step at a time.
Kelly, Mom to Christopher Shannon 9.27.06, Catherine Quinn 2.24.09, Trey Barton lost on 12.28.09, Therese Barton lost on 6.10.10, Joseph Sullivan 7.23.11, and our latest, Victoria Maren 11.15.12
Secondary infertility success with IVF, then two losses, one at 14 weeks and one at 10 weeks, then success with IUI and then just pure, crazy luck. Expecting our fifth in May as the result of a FET.
This Cluttered Life
We have our nurse teach tomorrow and I'm waiting on that before I decide. Would love to hear others experiences. I personally rather not tell anyone.
I personally did not tell my boss specifically what I was going through, only that I had some "medical issues" to take care of. She is very sympathetic and didn't inquire further. I understand some places of employment will have to know the full truth, in order to be flexible enough with the time off you'll need.
My BLOG: www.ivfbabyquest.wordpress.com -Update - old blog.
PAIF/SAIF Welcome!
Me: 42, Hubby: 35, TTC since Jan 2010. Dx: DOR due to advanced maternal age. Also: Hypothyroidism (100mcg Levothyroxin). Positive for MTHFR (hetero-C677T), Factor V Leiden, and Fragile X (on DH side). Taking pre-natal vitamins.
First natural PG 9/27/11; mc: 1/20/12
First RE visit: 8/8/12, Saline Sonogram: 8/28/12, IVF injection class: 10/11/12, add FaBB Tab for FVL, +Vitamin D.
IVF #1: 10/17/12 Baseline: FSH- 9.4, E2- 24, LH- 3.7, Prog- 0.3 The u/s showed 6 follicles in my right & 9 in my left. Rx: 150 Bravelle & 150 Menopur SQ nightly. 10/21/12: Add Ganirelix SQ every morning.
ER 10/28/12: 13 Retreived. 7 Mature. 6 Fertilized. 5 Made it to PGS. ET 11/2/12: CANCELED. All 5 came back from PGS as having "severe abnormalities."
IVF #2: 1/7/13 Baseline: FSH- 8.8, 4 follicles in my right & 6 in my left. Rx: 150 Bravelle & 150 Menopur SQ nightly. 1/11/13: Add Ganirelix SQ every morning. hCG Trigger 1/16/13
ER 1/18/13: 9 Retrieved. 5 Mature. 5 Fertilized. 2 Made it to PGS. ET 1/23/13: CANCELED. All embryos (he even sent the ones not growing) came back from PGS as having "multiple severe abnormalities."
IVF #3: NEW RE! 3/1/13 Baseline: FSH- 9.6, E2- 61, Prog- 0.94, 3 follicles in my right & 4 in my left. Rx: 150 Bravelle& 150 Menopur SQ in PM. 3/7/13: Add Ganirelix SQ in AM. hCG Trigger 3/9/13 SQ.
ER 3/11/13: 6R, 2M, 2F. Day 3: one 8 cell, grade 0. Five day ET 3/16/13: one early blast, grade Fair. 3/24/13 AF came a day before beta. BFN
IVF #4: (Added acupuncture to this cycle.) 3/25/13 WTF & Baseline: FSH-11.8, E2- 56, Prog- 0.84 3/26/13 Start stims. 3/30/13 u/s: 5 follicles in my right & 4 in my left. Rx: 225 Bravelle& 225 Menopur SQ in PM. 3/31/13 Add Ganirelix SQ in AM.hCG Trigger 4/3/13 SQ.
ER 4/5/13: 5R, 3M, 3F naturally. Day 3: two 8 cell, grade 0, one 8 cell, grade 2 (Scale 0-best to 3-worst). Five day ET 4/10/13: two blastocysts (the 3rd stopped growing.) Beta 4/18/13: 2.5 BFFN. RE recommends we stop trying and focus on living childless, due to the extremely poor quality of my eggs.
***Decided to stop trying and live CFNBC. I couldn't adjust. So, six months later...
IVF #5: Changed RE. Going to one of the big name clinics now. OWDU: 10/29/13. Update: HORRIBLE experience. Disgusted and distraught at their complete unprofessionalism and how much money and precious time they cost us. Sickening. Have now changed RE again. New Patient appt. 1/30/14.
BFP! Out of nowhere, I got KU the old fashioned way! POAS 1/26/14 - Positive! FDLM 12/30/13. Beta #1 16dpo= 373. Beta #2 18dpo= 801. EDD 10/6/14
2/4/14 1st U/S revealed a 5wk2day sac but no fetal pole. Started 200mgs of progesterone suppositories daily
2/11/14 2nd U/S revealed a perfect 6wk1day "diamond ring" embryo with a beating heart! 138bpm! Add 1mg folic acid and 40mg Lovenox
2/25/14 3rd U/S: perfect 8w1d embryo, 178bpm. 3/6 start spotting. 3/11 10w1d U/S shows no heartbeat. Scheduling D&C. The Stork has forsaken me again.
IVF #5.2: New in-state RE. Supplement priming for 1.5 cycles prior to start of cycle, including DHEA 50mg (stopped 5/15), CoQ10 200mg 2x/day, L-Arginine- 1000mg 2x/day (stopped 6/5 due to cold sore!), myo-inositol- 2g 2x/day, melatonin- 3mg, and Neevo (prenatal for MTHFR).
5/16/14 Day 2 bw cycle prior: FSH- 12.22, E2- 38.37, Prog- 1.35, LH- 9.46. 6/2/14 Day 19 bw: Prog- 23
6/12/14 Baseline: E2- 122.7, Prog- 0.4. 5 follicles in left, 4 follicles in right. Start stims: 375IU Follistim & 150IU Menopur. 6/19 Increase Follistim to 425IU, Menopur still 150IU. 6/18 add Ganirelix. 6/23 Ovidrel trigger SQ. 6/25 ER: 8R, 8M, 5F naturally. Start Medrol & Doxy. 6/26 Start Endometrin. 7/2 Start Lovenox.
7/8/14 Beta= 137.4 BFP!!! (My first from IVF!) E2- 1109, Prog- >60. Stop CoQ10, myo-inositol, and melatonin. 7/9 2nd Beta= 281.4. TSH- 2.70. Increasing Synthroid to 100mcg daily. 7/24 6w3d u/s measured 6w3d, hb: 121bmp! 8/5 8w1d u/s measured 8w3d, hb: 164bpm! Graduated from RE to OB. Now I just need to find an OB!
EDD 3/18/15!
Me:36 DH:38 TTC#1 since 4/2012
Me DX: Hashimotos,Hypothyroid, DOR, MTHFR, DH: normal
IUI #1-#4 BFNs and a few cancelled cycles in the mix.
- poor responder
***Suprise BFP on 6/13/13. Natural MC @6wks 3days
IVF#1 and 2- Cancelled due to no response on max stimms
FET 5/20- BFP
1st Beta- 641
2nd beta- 2166
Sono- TWINS!!!!
Two Boys! Born January 2015 @36 weeks. Healthy and no NICU! So blessed!
My Ovulation Chart
Me: 41 DH: 46. We are TTC our 1st, started July '11,
3 cycles clomid with Ob,
1 cycle Tamoxifen with Ob,
Diagnosed PCOS 11/5/12
clomid, trigger & timed bd 12/12 BFN
1st clomid IUI 1/4/13 BFN.
2nd clomid IUI 2/13 cancelled didn't respond to clomid.
3/15/13 scheduled laparoscopy & on bcp.
May 10 IUI from injectibles - BFN
May 22 done with interventions it will either happen or it won't.
February 2014 No longer actively trying, but not preventing.
SURPISE BFP 4/2/2015!!!!!!!!!!
Miscarriage 4/23/15