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 ball game. 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, and treat this like an ongoing conversation.
Diagnosis (If you've been):
Cycle/CD:
Status (WTO/TWW/TTA):
What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?)
How are things going?
Any questions?
GTKY: Do you have any plans for valentines day?
*TW*
TTC 1/2012
Diagnosed : unexplained infertility
6 rounds of IUI and a MC 2/2014, rainbow twins 4/2015
TTC #3 5/2016
Restarted Fertility tx
IUI 2 rounds, baby girl 12/17
Re: IF/Testing Check-in Week Feb13th
Diagnosis (If you've been): Unexplained secondary IF, slightly low progesterone
Cycle/CD: 16/9
GTKY: Do you have any plans for valentines day?
Nah, we've never been big on Valentine's Day.
Cycle/CD: 15/ cd13
GTKY: Do you have any plans for valentines day?
@heatherdubrow Its so exciting that your lining check is finally this week! I am so excited for you to finally be in the TWW!
Diagnosed : unexplained infertility
6 rounds of IUI and a MC 2/2014, rainbow twins 4/2015
TTC #3 5/2016
Restarted Fertility tx
IUI 2 rounds, baby girl 12/17
Cycle/CD: 14/7
Also, I finally got ubiquinol at Costco, on sale, 90 pills for $27!! Cheapest I've seen.
GTKY: Do you have any plans for valentines day? Nothing this V-day, but usually we go out to dinner. We never go out to dinner, like ever, so it is usually special to me, but this year we just have too much life going on. I did get him that book I mentioned last week "How to make love to a plastic cup" and I'm giving that to him as a joke. I'm sure he won't read it, and I will. But that's okay. It can give me some perspective too.
@heatherdubrow fingers crossed for Friday for you!
@TravelingCouple I have started an IF journal where I write down how I am feeling about it for the day and it seems to help me. I also started reading a book about how to cope with IF and that is helpful as well. Adirat has it as well and I know she is farther in the book than I am and she had some good helpful hints from the book as well.
Dating 7/2008
Married 7/2014
H Type I Diabetic
TTC 1/2016
1/10/2017 initial appt with RE (all BW results WNL)
1/17/2017 SA DX Virtual Azoo (3 sperm 0%morph 0%motility)
1/18/2017 STP tubes clear
2/1/2017 initial appt with Urologist
2/15/2017 DX H Robertsonian Translocation
H is on clomid and Theralogix Supplements
6/26/17 repeat SA: 47 sperm 0% morph 13% motility
7/26/17 IVF Consult, repeat SA (4 sperm)
8/21/17 Starting IVF cycle with Donor Sperm backup
9/1/17 ER ICSI PGS: only 2 donor embryos made it to freeze
9/13/17 Started cycle for IUI with donor and clomid
9/27/17 IUI canceled for overstim
October Plan IUI with donor and low dose clomid
Dating 7/2008
Married 7/2014
H Type I Diabetic
TTC 1/2016
1/10/2017 initial appt with RE (all BW results WNL)
1/17/2017 SA DX Virtual Azoo (3 sperm 0%morph 0%motility)
1/18/2017 STP tubes clear
2/1/2017 initial appt with Urologist
2/15/2017 DX H Robertsonian Translocation
H is on clomid and Theralogix Supplements
6/26/17 repeat SA: 47 sperm 0% morph 13% motility
7/26/17 IVF Consult, repeat SA (4 sperm)
8/21/17 Starting IVF cycle with Donor Sperm backup
9/1/17 ER ICSI PGS: only 2 donor embryos made it to freeze
9/13/17 Started cycle for IUI with donor and clomid
9/27/17 IUI canceled for overstim
October Plan IUI with donor and low dose clomid
Cycle/CD: 3(after break)/ 23
GTKY: Do you have any plans for valentines day? We already did our valentines day since I'll be working.
Diagnosed : unexplained infertility
6 rounds of IUI and a MC 2/2014, rainbow twins 4/2015
TTC #3 5/2016
Restarted Fertility tx
IUI 2 rounds, baby girl 12/17
Cycle/CD: 19/6
GTKY: Do you have any plans for valentines day? we decided not to go out on the day, but will probably do a family dinner this weekend. DH and I decided to only do very small gifts so. nothing big. Though I may order pizza for dinner tomorrow night as its DH's favorite food.
Diagnosed : unexplained infertility
6 rounds of IUI and a MC 2/2014, rainbow twins 4/2015
TTC #3 5/2016
Restarted Fertility tx
IUI 2 rounds, baby girl 12/17
@heatherdubrow I'm so excited for you!
@JuneRoseRuby I'm reading that book too. I go to Dr. Domar's Center for acupuncture.
Diagnosis (If you've been): DOR
Cycle/CD: 11/20
GTKY: Do you have any plans for valentines day? H is traveling tomorrow and Wednesday so we are going out to dinner on Thursday night.
2017 - egg retrieval #1 - 3 eggs, 0 embryos appropriate for transfer; ER #2 2 eggs, 0 embryos on day 3; ER #3 1 egg 0 embryos
moved to donor egg in summer 2017; 35 eggs retrieved; 19 fertilized; 9 total embryos
Fresh transfer Dec 2017= BFP! baby boy born 8/22/18
May 2019 - surprise natural pregnancy ended in MC
Nov 2019 FET; MC at 9 weeks
May 2020 FET; BFN
July 2020 FET; CP treated with methotrexate
Oct 2020 BFP!
Take a look at my blog
@wabash15 Thanks for the hugs. I try to keep my mind clear and hopeful and focused during my workouts lately too. I know I've said it before, but I keep telling myself I am prepping my body to be as strong as possible for what comes next IF wise.
Dating 7/2008
Married 7/2014
H Type I Diabetic
TTC 1/2016
1/10/2017 initial appt with RE (all BW results WNL)
1/17/2017 SA DX Virtual Azoo (3 sperm 0%morph 0%motility)
1/18/2017 STP tubes clear
2/1/2017 initial appt with Urologist
2/15/2017 DX H Robertsonian Translocation
H is on clomid and Theralogix Supplements
6/26/17 repeat SA: 47 sperm 0% morph 13% motility
7/26/17 IVF Consult, repeat SA (4 sperm)
8/21/17 Starting IVF cycle with Donor Sperm backup
9/1/17 ER ICSI PGS: only 2 donor embryos made it to freeze
9/13/17 Started cycle for IUI with donor and clomid
9/27/17 IUI canceled for overstim
October Plan IUI with donor and low dose clomid
2017 - egg retrieval #1 - 3 eggs, 0 embryos appropriate for transfer; ER #2 2 eggs, 0 embryos on day 3; ER #3 1 egg 0 embryos
moved to donor egg in summer 2017; 35 eggs retrieved; 19 fertilized; 9 total embryos
Fresh transfer Dec 2017= BFP! baby boy born 8/22/18
May 2019 - surprise natural pregnancy ended in MC
Nov 2019 FET; MC at 9 weeks
May 2020 FET; BFN
July 2020 FET; CP treated with methotrexate
Oct 2020 BFP!
Take a look at my blog
@wabash15 I'm seriously on pins and needles for you! I hope this is it!!
Dating 7/2008
Married 7/2014
H Type I Diabetic
TTC 1/2016
1/10/2017 initial appt with RE (all BW results WNL)
1/17/2017 SA DX Virtual Azoo (3 sperm 0%morph 0%motility)
1/18/2017 STP tubes clear
2/1/2017 initial appt with Urologist
2/15/2017 DX H Robertsonian Translocation
H is on clomid and Theralogix Supplements
6/26/17 repeat SA: 47 sperm 0% morph 13% motility
7/26/17 IVF Consult, repeat SA (4 sperm)
8/21/17 Starting IVF cycle with Donor Sperm backup
9/1/17 ER ICSI PGS: only 2 donor embryos made it to freeze
9/13/17 Started cycle for IUI with donor and clomid
9/27/17 IUI canceled for overstim
October Plan IUI with donor and low dose clomid
@heatherdubrow GL with your lining check and hopeful transfer next week. I'll have my fingers crossed for you!!!
@laurad75 shooting you allow of the positivity for those three little embies!!!
@JuneRoseRuby It's so hard when they say stuff like that. My heart breaks a little for my H every time he gets too down on himself.
Cycle/CD: 15/7
Testing.
Anyway, that confusion with the emotional roller coaster that is IF made for a rough weekend. I started crying in a restaurant while having lunch with H on Fri and I literally NEVER cry in public. It was embarrassing.
I have my HSG tomorrow morning and may have to go in for labs and an ultrasound on Thurs. I guess normally she would do everything together, but my RE is out on my CD10 and she doesn't want to do anything other than the HSG earlier than that. I also have a monthly IF meeting Weds night, and it couldn't come at a better time.
Also, we still haven't gotten H's SA results back from last Weds follow up check, so that's lovely. We know they have them, so it's just annoying me now.
No.
GTKY: Do you have any plans for valentines day?
Not really, we went out Thurs and twice on Fri, so we're sort of wiped out.
Diagnosed : unexplained infertility
6 rounds of IUI and a MC 2/2014, rainbow twins 4/2015
TTC #3 5/2016
Restarted Fertility tx
IUI 2 rounds, baby girl 12/17
@laurad75 I think I will be, just need to call my insurance to find one that's covered, hopefully.
@zwink1 I'm sorry you're going through so much... Sounds like it was a rough weekend for a lot of us emotionally.
Cycle/CD: 21/2
GTKY: Do you have any plans for valentines day? We're not Valentine's people and we're spent out from Christmas and our anniversary.
Diagnosed : unexplained infertility
6 rounds of IUI and a MC 2/2014, rainbow twins 4/2015
TTC #3 5/2016
Restarted Fertility tx
IUI 2 rounds, baby girl 12/17
@zwink1 I find that IF woes hit me at weird times. I'll be coasting and feeling numb and then wham! It hits me like a ton of bricks.
Dating 7/2008
Married 7/2014
H Type I Diabetic
TTC 1/2016
1/10/2017 initial appt with RE (all BW results WNL)
1/17/2017 SA DX Virtual Azoo (3 sperm 0%morph 0%motility)
1/18/2017 STP tubes clear
2/1/2017 initial appt with Urologist
2/15/2017 DX H Robertsonian Translocation
H is on clomid and Theralogix Supplements
6/26/17 repeat SA: 47 sperm 0% morph 13% motility
7/26/17 IVF Consult, repeat SA (4 sperm)
8/21/17 Starting IVF cycle with Donor Sperm backup
9/1/17 ER ICSI PGS: only 2 donor embryos made it to freeze
9/13/17 Started cycle for IUI with donor and clomid
9/27/17 IUI canceled for overstim
October Plan IUI with donor and low dose clomid
@TravelingCouple - I can tell you are really struggling right now and it made me tear up. I have been in that spot so many times. It's exhausting. It's just so much. It's all the temping, and peeing on sticks, and chart stalking and thinking hard about every twinge and headache and feeling. And then on top of that, it's scheduling sex, and wondering if you are gonna miss it, or doing it when you don't really feel like it, and then on top of allll of that, it's also just an all-consuming thought. It never leaves your mind. It's always, always, always right there. I can't remember a life before TTC. I can't remember what I spent my days thinking of. It's so, so tiring. Seeing a therapist has helped me, and I hope it'll help you. In addition to that, I have date nights where TTC is 100% off the table. We do not talk about TTC or babies or the future, or anything that can even allude to that topic a little. It's kinda hard because now everything makes me think about TTC/babies, but we've figured it out, sorta. I wish I could give you other tips, but frankly, I still really suck at all this. It's still an all-consuming wall and I don't know how to see past it either. Hugs. This place sucks.
Cycle/CD: cycle 31/CD26
GTKY: Do you have any plans for valentines day? Probably just go eat.
Diagnoses: RPL, Endometriosis, MFI (count, morph, DNI, DNAS, multiple bilateral subclinical varicoceles), low progesterone
Check out my Infertility blog
Check out my Infertility Instagram
BFP: 15 August 2015, loss confirmed 23 August 2015
BFP: 16 November 2015, loss confirmed 22 November 2015
BFP: 18 July 2016, loss confirmed same day
BFP: 04 March 2018, loss confirmed 23 March 2018
BFP: 12 June 2018, TWINS; D&C 06 July 2018
Met with OBGYN in January 2016
Me: all clear, H: OAT
November 2016: HSG = All Clear!
January 2017: H tested again, High DNA fragmentation and stainability
February 2017: Clomid + TI + Progesterone = BFN
March 2017: Clomid + HCG + IUI + Progesterone = SA/wash: zero count on attempt #1, <1,000 on attempt #2= BFN
Varicocele Embolization- 5 May 17
December 2017 SA: Zero improvement after embolization
January IVF- 25 retrieved, 11 mature, 8 fertilized, 3 frozen day fives (3AA, 3AA, 3AA), 1 frozen day 6 (5BB), 1 frozen day 7 (3CC)
Three PGS normal (3AA, 3AA, 5BB), one inconclusive (3AA)
FET #1: 27 February 2018, 3AA & 5BB, one stuck! BFP 04 March 2018.... Loss confirmed 23 March 2018
May 2018: SHG/SIS = all clear "beautiful uterus"
FET #2: 04 June 2018, 3AA PGS normal embryo, 3AA PGS hatching inconclusive embryo.
BFP: 12 June 2018, EDD 20 February 2019
Ultrasound, 25 June 2018: There are two!
Lost Baby A 02 July 2018
Baby B not growing, D&C 06 July 2018
Laparoscopy, hysteroscopy, chromotubation: 23 July 2018: blocked right tube, heavily inflamed, covered in endo. Removed right tube. Removed more endo from uterus, tubes, ovaries. Endo remains on bladder and bowel.
ER#2 ~Jan 2019
Ok ladies, I just spoke to my RE for about 30 mins and I'm royally confused. I mean, she gave me a lot of information but I still don't know what step to move forward with. So, news to me, she said that my chart indicates possible PCOS...this is NEWS to me, and I told her so. I said that was never discussed as a possible diagnosis any other time I came in. She said that usually comes up in the original 1-hour session when we go over history, but I don't remember that being discussed. I feel like I would've remembered that. She said that PCOS is indicated based on my irregular cycles, my follicular count during my ultrasound at CD3 (I had 19 follicles which she said is high), and also my AMH is higher than normal, at 8.9... She confirmed the fact that I did not have any cysts though. This is ALL NEWS TO ME. WTH. When I had my ultra long discussion with this RE after my HSG, we were told all tests came back normal, aside from DH's slighly low morphology. And now I have PCOS? I am pretty frustrated right now. So I asked her if I've been wasting my time with just taking the Progesterone and she said that it sounded like I wanted to start with the least invasive treatment first, which is true. But I obviously would've have picked an option that wouldn't give us much of a shot if we're not addressing the issue.
So then I asked her about Femara vs Clomid, especially if I do have PCOS which I am still reeling about, and she said that one is not preferred over the other for PCOS patients. This practice tends to start with Clomid first since it's been studied longer, and then if the patient doesn't respond well to the first month (i.e. thin lining, not enough mature eggs), then we'd move on to something else. But I'm ultra confused now about whether to move forward with the Clomid or try Femara first..she said I could do either. The thing is...I can't even start all over again with another RE because this is the only one my insurance covers in a 100 mile radius. I have no idea what to even do right now. Sorry for the novel.
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I've looked for one on that site before @Bababatty and the closest one in my area is an hour away. Maybe I should consider starting my own though.
Yeah it wasn't exactly awesome @heatherdubrow. The RE did apologize over the phone as she said it should've been discussed in my primary appt. Which I did have with a different RE within the same practice. But how do I even know if I actually DO have PCOS? Is it only indicated by cysts, which I don't have..?
I have to say that the research on possible birth defects while on Femara is off-putting. And then the possible thinning of the uterine lining isn't so great with Clomid. I suppose anytime you introduce IF treatment it's not going to be a walk in the park. Sometimes I want to shake a fist at God (who I do so wholeheartedly believe in) and say "WHAT THE HECK MAN?!" I'm just feeling a bit bitter recently, sorry for always being so negative
Do you know if you had 19 follicles in one ovary or between the two? Did she say specifically what parts of your bloodwork indicated PCOS? What was your Testosterone? Did you do insulin resistance testing?
TBH... I would go get a second opinion somewhere else. You totally might have PCOS... but will you really ever be able to trust this practice ever again?
The thought of driving over 2 hours away and going through all the testing again at a new practice makes me want to cry.
If they didn't give you the 3 hour insulin test then they wouldn't know if you're IR or NIR PCOS - and the treatment is different depending on which of those you have.
Diagnosed : unexplained infertility
6 rounds of IUI and a MC 2/2014, rainbow twins 4/2015
TTC #3 5/2016
Restarted Fertility tx
IUI 2 rounds, baby girl 12/17
ETA you would know if it was the 3 hour one actually. You have to stay there for 3 hours and get poked multiple times.
@antoto No it wasn't that then. The only time I've done that was while pregnant with DS to check for GD. So, is PCOS something you have all of your life? Or something I could have developed after having DS?
As as for the fertility group, it's too bad there isn't one closer. Starting your own isn't a bad idea, but in that case I also fully support your plan to see a therapist one-on-one. Good luck!!
@antoto that is so interesting about not using clomid. Did they say why? My RE was on board with clomid or femara and I definitely trust her judgement and level of expertise. I wonder if there is new information that wasn't out there 5 years ago when I used clomid...
Cycle/CD: meh/23
GTKY: Do you have any plans for valentines day? Just a quiet dinner somewhere, we aren't huge Valentine's Day people, DH prefers random gestures throughout the year.
@TravelingCouple I don't seem to have any (support groups) close either! It's frustrating. I'm also seriously thinking about going to counseling because not liking the emotional stress. I hope you find an option soon!
Married May 2014
TTC #1: May 2015
September 2016-December 2016: Met with RE, fertility testing, diagnosis of tubal scarring, and plan of IVF
*TW in spoiler boxes*
Diagnosed : unexplained infertility
6 rounds of IUI and a MC 2/2014, rainbow twins 4/2015
TTC #3 5/2016
Restarted Fertility tx
IUI 2 rounds, baby girl 12/17
@heatherdubrow Yeah the RE said it was less likely than Clomid to create giant cysts and in his experience just tended to yield better overall results.