Well here we go...

dolphin012 · February 2015

We will be starting our first ivf attempt next month. It was a big decision, but i think we are getting comfortable with it. Earlier this week we spent a day at the fertility center attending their orientation, injection class, meeting with genetic counselor, the nurse coordinating our schedule and more. It was a long day, but since we are traveling out of town it was great to have it all condensed. We are super impressed with the facility and faculty and feel in good hands. Although i am 42, i have a decent ovarian reserve (19 follicles counted and high AMH result). Our dr is optimistic she can get eggs from nearly all the follicles (eek!). This will of course give us a higher probability of finding that one good one. But worst case scenario, even if we find none of them are viable we will at least know after 1 (or maybe 2) cycles that is unlikely to happen and we can move forward with that information.

Thanks for letting me share. This is a big step and it will be nice to have additional support.

Also, if anyone has thoughts on pgs testing i would be curious to hear them. We still have to decide if want to include this in our treatment (we like the idea, but the cost is a bit daunting on top of all the other costs).

hooligans4 · February 2015

This is so exciting for you. Your follie counts is awesome. I wish you well next month. Keep us all informed when things start happening.

You may want to ask on the PG after IF board about the testing. A few of our grads did it but I'm not sure if any if them are around. The IF boards are a great source of info on all things ART.

sonpetitlapin · February 2015

Good Luck!! What a beautiful follie count you have!! I hope you only need one cycle.

dolphin012 · February 2015

Thanks ladies! Having the high count was helpful in the decision. We will get a high sample size and thus know one way or the other in 1-2 cycles. Now just hoping there are some good quality eggs in there!

I have been thinking of checking in at the IF board. Hopefully have some time this weekend. Thanks for the recommendation.

suziq1978 · February 2015

Good luck! I don't know much about IVF but I hope all goes well for you!

kindershlitz · February 2015

Good luck! Glad you have great numbers! FX for you.

2pupsnokids · February 2015

Good luck! I/we went through the IVF process in Nov/Dec of this year so if you need anything, let me know. I'm not sure what your doc says, but I found shots were easier for my husband when I was laying down. My nurses circled the lower quadrants where injections needed to be and we kept going over them in marker, which helped him too. We didn't do PG testing, so I don't know much about that though.
P.S.-My mom had me when she was 43 and I turned out okay (depending on who you ask;)

TTC: 21 Months
Husband: 41
Me: 36
3 failed IUIs
changed REs
1 failed IVF (chemical pregnancy)
13 5-day frozen embryos

efhoping2010 · February 2015

I wanted to wish you well.

I am hopefully doing IVF/ICSI #4 but with CCS and FET this spring/summer.

Your numbers so far sound great, much better than mine!

Let me know if you any questions as I sadly know a lot about IVF

dolphin012 · February 2015

Thanks for all the encouragement!

@2pupsnokids - i have done the subcutaneous shots in the stomach before and did fine with those. But just learned about the IM progesterone shot in the bum! Yikes - the needle is a lot larger and they said you want to make sure you inject in the right spot where you are *less likely* to hit a nerve! I am definitely going to have them draw the circles there so we get it right!

@efhoping2010 - what is CCS?

I will likely have more questions as we progress. My cycle will start first week of March, but i will go bcp's for about 2 weeks mostly for scheduling and logistical purposes. Start with injections around March 25.

2pupsnokids · February 2015

Dolphin-I always applied a heating pad after the shot, but my nurses were anti icing before, so I stayed away from that. I'm sure everyone does it differently, but my husband isn't the biggest fan of needles, so I always prepared those. Once he hit a blood vessel (this did not hurt, but really freaked him out and gave me a much needed laugh) so I always had a paper towel ready too. It just becomes part of the routine, so don't stress too much about it. Alcohol wipe/paper towel/ gauze pad/needle-then heating pad and ice cream. Also, try to really pick a time that works for you consistently. We found earlier (like 7) worked better for us bc progesterone made me drowsy and blood work was early in the morning, so that way I could go to sleep earlier without having to wait for a shot at 9:30. That's all I got, good luck!

thirtyninetoforty · February 2015

Don't know anything about ivf (yet) but wishing you luck!!

Teenie16 · February 2015

I don't know anything about IVF, yet. We are going to start ours on my next cycle. Best of luck to you!!!

CML11 · February 2015

***lurking
I second the heating pack (I made a 4x6 one out of rice) applied before and after, it really helps to warm up the muscle so you don't get the lumps.

If you hold the injection site and have your DH inject fast it hurts so much less.

dolphin012 · February 2015

ok, sounds like heat is better than icing - will definitely do that.

@Teenie16 - good luck to you, too! I am going to go on BCPs when i start my next cycle to slightly delay the start. Should be starting March 26th - ish with baseline u/s and injections. I just got a crash course in ivf over the last few weeks and about to send another list of question off to our nurse after this. We will have to compare notes.

KirstenAlecia · February 2015

gooood luck!!!!

efhoping2010 · February 2015

dolphin012 it is genetic testing on embryos, Comprehensive Chromosome Screening.

beingr · March 2015

deciding to dive in and start IVF was overwhelming for us. but once we decided to do it, it was like a huge weight lifted. knowing we were pulling out all the stops.

as for PGS (i'm 36, have DOR and endo) we did it. when it was all said and done (two retrievals and one cancelled cycle) we had two perfect PGS embryos. We had 5 total we tested. MENTS -- we had a FET 2/3 and lost both embryos last week -- END MENTS.

here's my thought on PGS testing, to us it was worth it. while they did not stick we had the peace of mind that we do in fact make normal embryos and that we prevented even more losses by knowing which ones were not viable. We also feel like we save some time by not using non-viable embryos, if that makes sense? hope this helps. and best of luck to you!

lastly. as for shots. my DH gives them, helps him feel like he's part of the process. I use ice before and after and do them laying down (my protocol is menopur; omnitrope; gonalF and then ganerelix the last few days). however when I a have an estrogen shot (during FET) I use a heating pad instead of ice.

2pupsnokids · March 2015

@beingr I'm sorry for your losses. I know how it is to get your hopes confirmed and be so excited, only to be crushed. I don't know about your experience, but my doctor insists in my case it was a successful failure-not that that in any way cushioned the blow, in fact, maybe the opposite-but logically, I understand what he means. As for PGS testing, shots, number of embryos you choose to transfer etc. do what is right for you. Everyone is different, so whatever feels right to you and your husband-go with that and don't look back. Good luck!

C_Girlie · March 2015

Wishing you all the luck that everything will work out & you get the BFP with the first ivf cycle

dolphin012 · March 2015

@beingr thanks for sharing your experience with pgs. It was good timing as my partner and i finally had a chance to really discuss it this weekend. That was a really good point about knowing if you make genetically viable embryos (or not).

We decided we will do the pgs testing (if we are fortunate enough to get to day 5) - definitely if we have more than 2-3. Still a little uncertain if we have only 2-3 (the number we would transfer all at once), but most likely in that scenario, too. They are hoping to get ~19ish eggs during the retrieval. So if the first ivf cycle doesn't work, knowing how many of those have good genetic material will be important information to help us decide if we will even want to try a second.

@2pupsnokids - that is a good point about getting your hopes up if the pgs testing comes back with genetically viable embryos. Good reminder that even though that would be a very good milestone to make that we still will have a ways to go.

URMySunshine77 · March 2015

All the luck to you, dolphin!

Well here we go...

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