IF Testing & Treatment w/o 11/25

pom9207 · November 2019

@misshelen86 got it; great that the doctor is being mindful!

pom9207 · November 2019

OMG it all happened so quickly... I had a scan and bloodwork this morning on CD12, and was told to come back two days later. Butttttttt, I got a message from the RN at 1pm that I should trigger today & they scheduled me for IUI tomorrow morning at 11am. So we rushed to the pharmacy, picked up the trigger shot, and I just stabbed myself for the first time. It felt kinda unreal!

inthewoods23 · November 2019

@pom9207 aaahhh good luck tomorrow!

ashaislurking · November 2019

Lurking.
@pom9207 sending all the good vibes! Good luck!

kpearse99 · November 2019

@pom9207 happy IUI day!!!!

@misshelen86 so glad the lesson did not grow!! That is wonderful news and such a relief!

@shoogapoff happy birthday, my friend!! I hope you get spoiled! And YH’s count is AMAZING! Holy heck!

@kiki047 Yay for starting the stims!! I would think you could ask your office for a count every time.

ellieemc26 · November 2019

@pom9207 good luck!

emeraldduchess · November 2019

Good luck today @pom9207!

@shoogapoff fx for you! That's an amazing count for your H!!

@misshelen86 that's such a relief that the lesion didn't grow. Glad you got some good news.

@kiki047 hope you're feeling good on the stims. Grow follies, grow!

NYTino24 · November 2019

Good luck @pom9207!

Just had my scan on CD10 and might be triggering tonight. Not that excited - it feels so early and I haven’t even had CM, which I know doesn’t matter with IUI, but it doesn’t make me feel confident. I have a 21 mm follicle on my right and 17 and 16 on the left. She didn’t say what my lining was. We did the BD yesterday and my OPK wasn’t close to positive yet, so we will see what the BW says. Again, I can’t imagine what will happen if we use injectables - am I going to ovulate on CD 7?! I know the fact that I’m getting mature follicles is something I shouldn’t complain about and I’m lucky to have IF coverage, plus I used to get frustrated with later ovulation, but this is all so unpredictable and confusing.
PS the receptionist asked how my name was pronounced and we got into names and how I have 4 sisters with normally spelled names, including my twin and then she asked, “Are you next in line for twins? Haha... we’ll just try to get you one instead of two or three.” Um, no, lady. Know your audience. I’m crabby today.

inthewoods23 · November 2019

@shoogapoff hope this means you'll have a successful IUI!

@misshelen86 thank goodness the lesion hasn't grown. Can that cause issues even if it's not growing?

@NYTino24 FWIW, when I had done OPKs during IUI cycles they were never close to positive either. The first one I did have my IUI around the same time as my usual ovulation on CD17 but the last 2 I was triggering on CD12. With the injectables though, I don't think they will make them grow faster, but you'll have more follicles growing. Maybe I'm wrong though. I'm very curious to see how that would play out when you respond just fine the oral medication. Usually injectables are only used for IUIs when there's difficulty growing any follicles.

nitnat007 · November 2019

@shoogapoff Happy Birthday! Even though it is bittersweet, I hope you do something awesome to celebrate!

Image: https://www.iamyoursnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/original.gif

@misshelen86 That is great news about the growth! Hope that it stays that way and causes you no further delays than already anticipated at this time. Waiting is so tough, but having an end that you can focus on is good.

@pom9207 Wow that changed quick! Glad you were able to get the shot in time to make it happen. Sending you all the positive vibes for a smooth and successful iui!

@NYTino24 Trigger buddies!! I truly hope that you are not being triggered too early and that the timing will be just perfect. The follies will definitely still keep growing after the trigger though, so if you do have one or two that are right there, then your timing is good, imo. Wishing you all the luck!
And, sorry about the receptionist. That really was out of line. She should know better.

AFM scan again this morning, waiting on the call, but I have 5 follicles are all above 1.7cm, so we are good to go for trigger tonight and retrieval on Sunday morning. The 'extra' push of meds that I got last night definitely did the trick (they upped my Gonal-F to 450ml). I am ready to no longer get stabbed every day now. Feeling confident!

NYTino24 · November 2019

@inthewoods23 Yup, I know that and I wish my RE would try to press that issue with insurance or maybe I can. Trigger tonight and IUI the next two days... I don’t think they want to risk having the 17 and 16 get much bigger. FX.
@nitnat007 Well that probably means we will be beta buddies, too... but I usually know what’s up before then. Good luck!
@shoogapoff Happy birthday!!

misshelen86 · November 2019

@pom9207 Happy IUI day!

@NYTino24 I hope the timing will be just right! Sorry you’re not excited and feel it’s too early. Also, bit WTF to that receptionist. I can’t believe she would say something like that.

@inthewoods23 My RE wasn’t too concerned if it is a small dermoid. The concern is if they are large, they can cause the ovary to twist. The concern if it was growing was that it could be something malignant, so the fact that there was no growth is reassuring. I feel better that I have a lap coming up, so she’ll be able to actually see it.

@nitnat007 So excited for you!! You got this!

AFM, I have my dreaded repeat HSG this afternoon. I did not have a good experience with my last one, but at least I know what to expect.

pom9207 · November 2019

@misshelen86 fx for your HSG!

@nitnat007 glad that the extra push of medication did the trick!

@NYTino24 Yay follicles!

I didn’t get a positive OPK & my LH level was only at 11.9; but they still triggered me on CD12.

shoogapoff · November 2019

@misshelen86 I hope this HSG is not as unpleasant, and gives you clarity.

@nitnat007 Yay for follies!

pom9207 · November 2019

IUI #2 is done! I barely felt anything, which is so much better than the last IUI where I did in my OBGYN’s office. DH’s post wash number is 26M.

misshelen86 · November 2019

@pom9207 Glad things went well and YH had a great count!! FX!!

nitnat007 · November 2019

@misshelen86 Good luck! You got this!

@pom9207 Whoop Whoop! Sending you sticky vibes now. FX!

misshelen86 · November 2019

Hsg is done.. tube was open this time! He said there could be a partial blockage but it flowed through this time 🎉 I guess that means I won’t need surgery!

pom9207 · November 2019

@misshelen86 great great news!!!! So happy for you!

pom9207 · November 2019

@misshelen86 does it mean that you and YH can start treatment soon?!

misshelen86 · November 2019

@pom9207 We still need to meet with the urologist in 2 months to see if there’s anything we can do to improve DH’s count. In the meantime, we are getting things in order so we can move forward with IVF. That is our only option unless his count significantly improves in the next few months. We have an info session/counselling appointment next week so we can learn a bit more.

keikilove · November 2019

Happy day-after Thanksgiving, ladies! I’m finally jumping in here after lurking all week.

@shoogapoff🎉🎈HAPPY BIRTHDAY!🎂🎊YH’s count is amazing, but please don’t feel like any of this is your “fault”. So much of what our bodies do is out of our control, as frustrating as that is. Please try not to dwell on placing blame anywhere. You are doing your absolute best with the info you have. Praying your IUI is a success!

@misshelen86 Congrats on that wonderful news! So happy for you, what a relief! I hope the procedure was less traumatic this time too.❤️

@pom9207 Happy IUI day! YH had great post-wash numbers too. FX this one is a success!🤞🏽PS: That is AMAZING that your AMH increased, & to such an amazingly healthy number!! I *wish* that could happen to me.😊

@kpearse99 Yay for IUI with progesterone! Praying that all goes perfectly perfect for you this cycle🙏🏽

@NYTino24 Excited for you & this next IUI! I’m sorry you’re not feeling confident in it, which is totally understandable with the road you’ve been traveling. I hope that feeling dissipates as the IUI gets underway. Not sure if this story is helpful, but I’ve had two IUIs where I asked you guys about the timing because I felt so doubtful: I hadn’t had any signs at all of impending O—faint OPKs, no good CM, etc. But I did the IUI anyway because my Dr said my numbers looked perfect. She did the hCG trigger shot on the day of the IUI & both times I got absolutely blazing-on-fire OPKs the morning after, along with intense O pain. I was still doubtful of the timing and thought that the hCG in my system is what made the OPKs turn so bright/strong all of a sudden. Well, this last cycle when I was giving myself the hCG shots I tested my theory on my OPKs. The hCG in my system did NOT make the OPKs set ablaze—it gave only a strong result, but nowhere close to a blazing Peak result. This helped me feel sure that the IUI timing was great even though I hadn’t had any signs of O beforehand. I hope this helps ease your mind a bit! TW: PG/Loss

Those IUIs were successful initially, so in the end it solidified my faith that things were timed correctly.

@nitnat007 Hooray for a great follicle count!!! I’m praying that everything goes beautifully with your ER & that you can do the type of transfer that you prefer.

@kiki047 I’m so glad to hear that you’ve started your process AND that the injections aren’t as bad as you imagined! Thank goodness your fears weren’t warranted! You’re every bit the warrior we all knew you were.😊

@emeraldduchess So glad you had a refill! Hoping this cycle is a huge success for you!

Will continue to tag in the next hour.

bows22 · November 2019

@kpearse99 @NYTino24 @bluetickgal @nitnat007 @kiki047 @misshelen86 thank you all so much for your kind words and support. It honestly helped me so much to see your comments and know that it was okay for me to feel sad.

@nitnat007 so glad it’s finally go time! I won’t be around here much on Sunday but I’ll be thinking about you!

@shoogapoff happy birthday!! I hope you did something wonderful for yourself today! Also so glad those follies were on the correct side! I so hope this is your cycle❤️

@NYTino24 I’m sorry you are having mixed feelings about this IUI, and that’s an annoying comment from the receptionist

@misshelen86 that is wonderful news about your tube! I’m so happy for you!

@pom9207 so glad that your IUI went well! Did you decide yet what you are going to do about testing?

kpearse99 · November 2019

@keikilove and @NYTino24 doesn’t the trigger shot MAKE you O anyway? Even if you weren’t going to O on your own or even if you weren’t close to O? That’s always been my understanding of it. So then the timing is the IUI would be spot on from the trigger, right?

pom9207 · November 2019

@keikilove thinking of you!

@bows22 I plan to test on 12/12, one day prior to beta. DH is keeping the test strips, so I won’t be able to test early 😆

keikilove · November 2019

@meri-mac Still thinking warmly of you!💓

@feather_heather Like others have said, I’m so sorry you have to wait so long to see someone. It’s so good that you are seeking support for your mental health. This challenge of IF with TTC is not for the faint of heart and is enough to strain anyone’s mental health, regardless of their history. I’m thinking of you, praying for you, & hoping that you will find a way to be seen sooner than February. (((Hugs to you!)))

@inthewoods23 Same sentiments toward you as I wrote above. It’s wonderful that YH sought out help on your behalf; it sounds very gentle & caring the way he proposed it to you. I hope you’ve found the time to call or will find the time soon, and that you’re feeling a bit better at the end of this holiday week.

@ellieemc26 I hope the family-induced anxiety settled down for you! Your description of not being able to fully focus on you & just “zen out” during this TWW made total sense to me. Hopefully you’ve been able to do that somewhat or will be able to now that the weekend is here/holiday is over.

@emeraldduchess I’m sorry you have to wait another cycle for the next IUI, it is so frustrating. We are doing a similar plan with natural cycle this month. Just can’t afford another IUI out of pocket right now with the holidays...Praying your medicated TI is just as effective as IUI this cycle!

@mvt2003 Congrats on updating your boss on your IVF plans! So great that she was cool about it. Must be a nice weight off your shoulders! (At least *something* could finally go easy for you!)

@bluetickgal Good energy being sent your way for your medicated TI cycle as well! It is so sweet that YH is feeling great about it too. It makes sense that you’re afraid for both of you to go all in with hope, but here’s to hoping his optimism is well-justified!🤞🏽

AFM, I have a long update so going to skip the usual questions except:

GTKY: Fave Thanksgiving Dish?: I love it all on Thanksgiving, & especially the day after! So today has been a good day haha. I was especially happy that we still had lots of leftover cranberry sauce shaped like the can. Yumm!

I had my initial appointment follow-up call with the Reproductive Immunologist this week. She reviewed my copious test results: Besides my known issues of MTHFR & PAI-1 blood clotting mutations, everything is normal. *Except* my Natural Killer Cell activity, which is elevated. I’ve been feeling weird emotionally all week: increased NKCells is what I’ve suspected since my late loss last year, and I’m kinda super pissed that it took 13 months to find a doctor with true expertise to confirm it. All that time that has passed! Also a bit sad that I’ve been doing almost everything I’ve learned about it along the way to treat the suspicion of it but still not having success. But overall feeling grateful that the expert has some new ideas for treatment. Hoping & praying that the few things the RI just added to my protocol will be the golden ticket.
Another thing that has been consistently appearing “normal” on all my bloodwork is my thyroid. The RI says it’s within normal range for the average person but too high for someone trying to conceive. So we’ve added low-dose Synthroid to try to bring it under 2. I’m a bit surprised no doctor caught this but maybe they don’t realize the range needed for TTC...
The last thing was that my AMH dropped significantly since it was first tested last year. I had hoped that it would have somehow magically risen due to all these good things I’m doing for my body—ya know, the entire pharmacy I’m ingesting on a daily basis! *Sigh* Time waits for no (wo)man...... So now I am feeling anxious that I’ve got only a couple years left before I run out of the good eggs. *But I still believe we are going to have success before that happens!*
So all of the above is why I’ve been mostly MIA this week...just processing everything.

The good news! And this is for all of us who were recently questioning whether our RPL issues are from old eggs:
*TW: General talk of positive betas:

My RI said that for those of us who are able to conceive repeatedly, it is highly unlikely that our losses are due to old eggs with chromosomal defects. (My RE had recently told me this exact thing.) She said the fact that we can get to the point of a positive beta is a huge milestone, that this fact should be highly encouraging, showing that that part of the body’s system is working correctly. The challenge is figuring out why things go haywire after that. For many of us that are “Unexplained IF” or “Undiagnosed RPL” the Natural Killer Cell and Cytokines count test or Natural Killer Cell activity tests are worth pursuing. If these are elevated they can usually be quieted down with steroids and other treatments.

I will post article links about NK Cells once I’m home from traveling. Thanks for reading this novel!

NYTino24 · November 2019

@kpearse99 yes, trigger makes you ovulate within 1-2 days.

I’m so annoyed with DH - he couldn’t wait 15 minutes to leave for the charity bar crawl we were supposed to go to together and then called to let me know that it “doesn’t end until 10 and that’s it fine ” because I have to trigger between 8-10 and I should be able to do them myself by now. Dude, that isn’t the point and drinking for 5-7 hours on the day before an IUI where we only got one BD in is making your wife very angry. I had to wake him for his sample and then an hour later I called to see if he was almost home and he’s still in the office!! He says they didn’t get him in until 7:30 when his appointment was 6:45 and mine is at 8:15. I am supposed to leave any minute and shouldn’t bother since they need 60-75 minutes to do the wash. I put in a call, but I’m raging.

Update: I had to wait 3 HOURS after DH gave his sample to do the IUI. Luckily his post wash number was 67 mil

shoogapoff · November 2019

@NYTino24 I get so stressed about timing meds etc, so I can relate to that anxiety. I got so mad at MH on the day of our IUI bc he could not make himself HIO that evening like we were supposed to. We did get a +1 in, but still....I'm working so hard to time things just right. His job is comparatively easy, and that's frustrating to me.

keikilove · November 2019

@NYTino24 Sorry YH didn’t realize that this whole bar crawl scenario would upset you. I’d be furious. Sorry you had to wait so long for the IUI this morning but FX that everything ended up being timed just perfectly! Also WTH to your earlier post about your RE’s office & the whole insurance debacle. Glad they’re trying to quickly clean up that mess for you. Sorry for the headache! Really hoping this IUI is successful & all these recent annoyances can become a distant memory for you soon!

keikilove · November 2019

Here are some informative links to Natural Killer Cells & how they may affect Infertility (implantation failure, RPL). The whole idea is controversial but the articles do a good job of representing all arguments.

https://www.verywellfamily.com/natural-killer-cells-and-infertility-4177406

https://haveababy.com/fertility-information/fertility-conversations/natural-killer-cells-ivf

thankfullyamama · November 2019

Diagnosis (if you've been): PCOS

Status (WTO/TWW/TTA): WTO

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): I’ve been diagnosed via a few tests with my MD and I saw my naturopath yesterday and she’s suggested doing further testing to get to the bottom of my PCOS, I have enlarged ovaries but no cysts were seen but symptoms wise I’m spot on so we’re going to check my androgen levels and HOMo (insulin sensitivity) if my MD will agree to order the tests (I have no private insurance so to order through my naturopath or on my own would be so expensive)

How are things going?: I am happy to finally have a diagnosis. Sad that there is something. Even sadder that I’ll have to make some dietary changes (I struggled with a mild eating disorder and have finally found balance and with PCOS it’s recommended to do low carbohydrate high fat to help hormones)

Any questions?: how did you get diagnosed with PCOS/when, what were the treatment options for you all?

GTKY: what's your favorite side dish for Thanksgiving? Sweet potato casserole hands down!

I’ve been lurking and I’m sorry we are all here! But happy to have everyone here at the same time TB ladies have been a huge help for me so far in my TTC journey

pom9207 · November 2019

@keikilove glad that you are able to find more answers. Thank you for posting the links explaining NKCells; I find it super informative!

@tryingktogku sorry that you find yourself here. I don’t have PCOS so I cannot offer my experience. I hope additional tests help you find the answer and your doctor comes up with a plan for you soon!

thankfullyamama · November 2019

@pom9207 thanks!

bluetickgal · December 2019

@nitnat007 everything crossed for great results at your ER tomorrow!! 💜
@kiki047 yay for starting stims!! Glad you haven’t had too many side effects, hope that continues!
@shoogapoff yay for your IUI and the follies being on the correct side! Everything crossed for you!! And Happy late Birthday...hope you had a great day! Yeah, I’ve been enjoying the not temping...not stressing over every potential “sign” because of what my temp did or didn’t do. I’ll test in a week and see what happens!

@misshelen86 so glad the lesion hasn’t grown!! That is such wonderful news that the tube wasn’t blocked and hopefully no surgery is needed!! So happy for you! Hope the good news keeps on coming!

@pom9207 sorry for the whirlwind, but glad the IUI went well! Fingers crossed for you!
@NYTino24 ugh, so sorry for the irritating comment from the receptionist...and then the frustration/delay getting the IUI complete! But everything crossed that this is your cycle!
@keikilove thanks lady! I hate that you had to wait so long for a diagnosis you suspected...but I so hope the new treatments will be the perfect protocol for you and get you your THB! That is very interesting about the NK cells, I may see if that is something my RE would test for me!

@tryingktogku so sorry you find yourself here! I hope your doctor will order the additional tests for you! I answered your diagnosis/treatment question in the PCOS thread...sorry for the novel!

NYTino24 · December 2019

@keikilove It’s so nice that your docs are willing to explore and not just accept an “unexplained” diagnosis.
@tryingtogku I hope you’re able to follow a dietary plan without feeling too triggered.

AFM, IUI part 2 had a much lower count since we DTD last night, but it felt much less timed and I’m cool with that. Now we wait until the progesterone check in a week. Side note - I had a crazy dream last night that I was at a workout class and there was a surprise shower for someone I know. I was trying to hide tears because I felt like I didn’t belong there, but couldn’t leave because my keys were missing and then there were these mixed up puzzles and I had to assemble them to be able to leave. What a metaphor for infertility - a mixed up puzzle and missing keys.

IF Testing & Treatment w/o 11/25

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