IF testing & treatment w/o 9.7

keikilove · September 2020

@ramzlau Thank you for commiserating with me. I’m so glad that your talk with YH was able to make a difference for him. I hope he continues to keep up the healthy habits for the foreseeable future, and as long as you need him to.💗 It’s crazy to me that so many of us have these issues with our partners. Don’t they feel the weight of the financial and emotional investment?

@inthewoods Hooray for the flu shot! 😆 Never thought that would be a popular phrase lol. Like you said, glad that something good happened today! Sorry the SA results still haven’t shown up in the portal. Waiting on results is a new kind of torture that certain government agencies could add to their repertoire. Hang in there!

@acleverusername Chiming in a bit late: we DTD 3 & 2 days before our IUIs. Dr always said to BD that night after IUI, and to squeeze in the next day too if possible. I could usually feel myself O within 12-20 hours after IUI so we didn’t too much after that. Worn out!

@legallykate & everyone else who offered advice about talking w MH about MFI: thank you!!! I didn’t say anything to home. Today I was able to ask the nurse to look over my file. She said the MFI label was for insurance purposes since the last insurance rejected our request for IVF last year based on my issues. Also, she reminded me that MH had to give his sample 2 times for our current insurance, 2 weeks apart. That rang a bell!!! I had advised him to not put too much in the cup because his first sample had been good quality. I was afraid if it looked too healthy & within normal guidelines a second time that we wouldn’t get approved. So all this worrying and I’m the damn reason he is listed as MFI!😩🤪 Soooo glad I didn’t say anything to him & stress him out before his “party of one” on Saturday!

acleverusername · September 2020

@inthewoods23 hooray for the measles vaccine! When do you need to go back to check if you need a 2nd dose?

@keikilove First of all...

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/5z/gi5eduxf4hp7.gif

Also... that's great news that it's not ALSO YH that you have to worry about! But I'm sorry that you've had to stress over this for the last couple of days. Although it sounds like he could benefit from healthier eating anyways, so maybe it makes that talk even harder? I'm definitely pretty apprehensive when it comes to talking to MH about any habits of his I want him to change.

A quick update from me: H has an appointment with the urologist on 9/30. I also called our clinic and chatted with our RE's nurse asking her – if we were unsuccessful this cycle – what's next? She reviewed our clinical notes and noted that our RE only said that protocol stays the same, but she's have me come in for an u/s 1 day earlier. I then pressed her about the semen quality issue and she said she's check with our RE as to whether we still go ahead with another IUI round, or if we need to reevaluate. Anyway, she talked to the doctor and got back to me with an appointment for a consult, so obviously the answer isn't "we'll do another round as is." 🤷‍♀️Anywho, appointment is set for 14 days post-IUI, so maybe I won't need it! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻I will endeavor to be über optimistic / positive from now until then. Sigh... Sometimes I feel like I'm over-planning, but I'm a planner and find peace in going through the planning motions. Plus, everything is out of pocket for us, so I don't want to waste another IUI round if our treatment plan isn't valid anymore.

gingermama29 · September 2020

@acleverusername I'm on my second cycle off of BCP so I think if I'm not KU by the end of cycle 3 or 4 (assuming they're all around the same length), I'll call then.

@keikilove yessssss! Sending all the positive vibes for your ER this weekend!

legallykate · September 2020

@keikilove So exciting! Hope everything goes amazingly tomorrow!

@acleverusername I super hope you don’t need that consult! But it is smart of you to have it planned just in case.

@inthewoods23 Gah about the SA results. Can you call today if they still don’t show up. Yay for getting vaxxed!

[Deleted User] · September 2020

**lurking**

GL!!! @keikilove
<img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/80/srwr5a9pe0y3.gif" alt="">

<div class=" Spoiler">Idk if you already have your return flight booked, but I would just double/triple check with your doctor / nurse today about the flying part after ER. I know the procedure is quick, and it's a short flight, but I would still run it by them just to be sure. It's still surgery, flying has a risk of blood clots etc. Idk. I'd hate for you to have it scheduled only to have your doctor "ground you" when you get handed a sheet with your recovery info. 😬</div>

bluejeanbabi05 · September 2020

So I posted this morning and got a warning because the word f*ck was included *eye roll* Moderators doing the hard work to clean up the obscenity!

inthewoods23 · September 2020

Finally got the SA results...
2mL volume, 45mil/mL
65.5% motile with 56.6% progressive motility
morphology 0.9%

Well... good to know we're not in a worse position than we were 2 years ago.

ramzlau · September 2020

@inthewoods23 Ugh that morph! What’s the plan from here?

@keikilove GL tomorrow! Sending you all the best vibes and wishes!

@acleverusername We are in the same place with the urology appointment being Oct 1, almost 2 weeks after when I think our IUI will be. Hopefully neither of us need it!

AFM I had 5 follies at 7-10 mm this morning, I have a feeling we will do gonal f starting tonight, and go back Monday to see if any leads develop, hopefully not more than 3.

acleverusername · September 2020

@inthewoods23 oh man; I'm sorry about those results. The count and motility are great though! How much of a factor does morphology play?
@legallykate how's your lining looking?
@ramzlau good luck to us both!!! 5 follies sound good; c'mon no more than 3 lead follies. When did you switch to using gonadotropins over Clomid/Letrazole?

ramzlau · September 2020

@acleverusername My protocol the last few IUIs has been Letrozole or Clomid for 5 days starting CD3, then adding gonal f starting CD8 until trigger. I saw a graph the other day that had success rates for IUIs depending on protocol. Gonadotropins have the highest success rate, so I am hoping we are giving ourself the best chance we can.

misshelen86 · September 2020

@keikilove I love the circle + bloom meditations. I find them so relaxing.. they sometimes put me to sleep so I try to listen during the day so I stay awake for it. Then I listen to it again at night if I’m having trouble falling asleep. So excited you have your retrieval tomorrow!!! Keeping everything crossed for lots of eggies!!

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/hk/aanmeb0antys.gif

@gingermama29 Glad things went well with the first day back and with your annual!

@legallykate Ugh, so sorry your lining check didn’t go well. Keeping everything crossed you don’t have to cancel the cycle

Sending hugs your way

@inthewoods23 Great count and motility but so frustrating about the morphology!

@ramzlau FX you end up with 3 good follies!

acleverusername · September 2020

@keikilove thinking about you hard, and crossing everything that those 20mm follies pulled through + that the smaller follies grew adequately.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/9j/6808jlo1cyj1.gif

misshelen86 · September 2020

@keikilove Wishing you all the best today, friend!!

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/ys/ph16vcms2z7l.gif

ramzlau · September 2020

@keikilove Have been thinking of you today!

@kiki047 You mentioned being offline this week as you are on bed rest, but just wanted to say I hope the transfer went well!

acleverusername · September 2020

@misshelen86 I hope your u/s goes well today! FX.

misshelen86 · September 2020

Thanks @acleverusername!

I’ll put my results in a spoiler. I start cetrotide tonight and go back for bloodwork and ultrasound in 2 days

Left ovary had 4 follies between 6-16 (but the 16 mm might be a cyst)
Right ovary had 6 follies between 6-14 mm
E2 level was 3200 pmol/L (871 pg/ml)
Bad news is that the Dr thought it might be hard to retrieve the eggs from the left ovary because it is above my uterus. She said that hopefully as the follies grow that might pull it down. FX!

*Edited to clarify result

keikilove · September 2020

Hey friends. Thanks so much for sending me well wishes yesterday. I didn’t check the app but knew some of you were thinking of me.💗 I appreciate it!

Today I’m a bit disappointed but trying to keep my spirits up. Will share brief summary here. Specific details of ER experience/ results in spoiler. Drama & negativity. Please don’t read if you’re having a tough mental time.

TL;DR:

5 eggs collected
5 eggs mature, ICSI done on all 5
3 fertilized overnight. Just got that call this morning.

*Edited for stupid autocorrect.

So this is a very long story, but the whole process started to get extremely stressful & I began having doubts at my last BW/US appointment. I didn’t want to write about it here at that time because a) so many of us are going through treatment & I didn’t want to plant seeds of doubt into anyone else’s mind about their own cycle, and b) I’m usually very stoic about everything in my life but this IF journey has been so much drama & emotional ups and downs that I didn’t even want to share anymore dramatics.

Anyway, I had called the nurse the day before my last US/BW saying I was worried about my LH levels because I’d done an OPK strip at home on instinct & it was almost positive. (They were only monitoring my estradiol, not LH.) She said that it wasn’t possible to ovulate early on the Lupron & we would see if the Dr wanted to do an LH test the next day.

The next morning the OPK wasn’t as close to positive so I didn’t push for the LH test w the nurse. It wasn’t even mentioned to the Dr as far as I know. At that last appointment my Dr saw 7 follies, plus a few small ones that she didn’t measure. I tried to be hopeful that we would get at least 10 eggs at retrieval. The follies measured between 13-24, with most around the 21mm range. I knew some might be “overripe” by the time we got to ER even though the Dr never hinted at this.

When we did the trigger shot that night I had strong cramps all night, to the point they woke me up frequently. They continued through the next day; it felt exactly like the ovulation cramps I get every month. I was super worried I would ovulate prematurely but didn’t call the RE office because the nurse had already said it was nearly impossible for this to happen. Plus, we hadn’t done the LH test so there would be no way to know until ER anyway.

That entire day before ER was incredibly stressful. I had some super stressful legal stuff happening at work, which has been dragging on for months but that day it was hitting a climax. I squeezed in a fertility acupuncture appointment mid-day & had a short reprieve from stress & felt great! But then, out of the blue, there was suddenly lots of extended family drama (they’re being their usual jerky selves. No one knows we are doing IVF, although a few of them suspect & are smart enough to not ask); nasty texts from my youngest & very rude sister on my way to airport; I grabbed the mail on the way to airport only to open a bill from my insurance from a year ago saying they were paying my Reproductive Immunology bill of $3000 but now they’ve changed their minds & they’re no longer covering it. So that’s how the whole ER trip started.😭

Got to the hotel & did fertility yoga & fertility meditations to settle into a positive mental space. Arrived at hospital the next morning at 5:30 am for ER at 7 am. All was well. Woke up from anesthesia happy & feeling great, but was surprised my doctor wasn’t there. The nurses said this was unusual, that my doctor is always there to talk with her patients when they wake up. They had to call her to get my results; they put me on the phone with her. She said everything went “great!” but didn’t go into any detail whatsoever. ?!?! I had to specifically ask how many eggs were retrieved. She said that every follicle she aspirated had an egg in it, which was “great!” She also said I was the first patient all year who didn’t bleed during the procedure, which was “great!” Then she said she was in a Zoom meeting & had to go.

The whole conversation left me feeling very weird & rushed. I kept wondering, if we had 7 follies 2 days before, plus smaller ones that weren’t measured, why did she only aspirate 5 follicles? I know that not every follicle necessarily has an egg in it, but if I had 10 follicles 2 days earlier, and she only aspirated 5, then what happened to the rest? I wish she’d had more time to talk. I keep wondering if I really did ovulate some of the eggs in advance of ER. I know research says that it’s less than a 1% chance for this to happen, but I’ve found plenty of anecdotal stories online where this did indeed happen to people. Some lost all their eggs before ER, others lost most (like 15 or more) but were able to salvage 3, etc. I have felt very strange about the doctor not being there to talk to me in detail, and that she had to rush off the phone to get back to her Zoom meeting.

Anyway, I’m trying to be happy that all 5 follicles actually had eggs in them, and that all were mature. I’m trying to console myself with the fact that 3 out of 5 eggs fertilizing is exactly perfect and in line with the normal statistics that 60-65% of all mature eggs collected will fertilize. I’m also happy that I have had zero bleeding and only very mild pain. I haven’t needed any Tylenol—just a hot water bottle during a nap yesterday. I don’t have any bloating. I did do some walking yesterday to get breakfast w MH, etc. I expected to take the whole day off & sleep & not get any steps in, but I did end up hitting my daily goal of 10,000 steps, which was very surprising and unplanned. I felt well enough to fly home last night. Had no cramps overnight & feel physically great today. Just emotionally down.

Although they don’t usually check embryos on Day 2, they will have to check them tomorrow so that I know whether I have to fly back tomorrow night for a transfer on Day 3. That call is 22 hours away. I’m going to keep busy today & try not to think about it much more. My husband is saying to stay super positive like I have been all this time (up until a few days ago) but I feel very indifferent right now, knowing the stats about losing embryos along the way... So I’m being realistic right now & hoping for the best but feeling prepared for the worst.

keikilove · September 2020

@ramzlau I hope your scan shows the perfect number of follies tomorrow!🤞🏽

@inthewoods23 Sorry about that low morph score.☹️ That’s so odd when all the other numbers look so fantastic!

@BusinessWife Thank you so much for the advice about flying. I definitely took it to heart. I take blood thinners so usually don’t worry about clots on flights, but I did have to stop the thinners 2 nights before ER. We were going to stay overnight—in large part due to the points you brought up—but the procedure went so smoothly & I felt so well afterwards that it seemed better to just come home. So far, so good.
PS: I love that you stay involved here even though you graduated. The support feels great.😊❤️

@misshelen86 Yay!!! Those numbers are sounding very promising! I read that each mature egg contributes 400 to the estradiol level. So you can take your total estradiol number & divide by 400 to get a guesstimate of how many eggs are within those follicles. Not sure how accurate this is but I found it helpful.

ETA: @misshelen86 I meant each mature egg contributes 400 estradiol at trigger!! Not while they’re still developing. Hope I didn’t freak you out!

misshelen86 · September 2020

@keikilove I’m so sorry that you didn’t get the results you were hoping for. My heart broke for you reading your update with how much you’ve been through these last few days. I know you try really hard to be positive (one of the things I love about you!), but it’s okay to feel sad and disappointed. This journey isn’t always rainbows and sunshine. Whatever you’re feeling is 100% valid. I’m keeping everything crossed and praying hard that your 3 little embryos hang in there!

And thanks for that info about estradiol and mature eggs, I didn’t know that! ETA: Do you know if that is in pmol/L or pg/ml? The units always throw me off.

acleverusername · September 2020

@keikilove I am sorry you didn't get the # of eggs you'd been hoping for; but a 60% fertilization rate is pretty good right? Here's to hoping they make it to Day 5(or is it 7?) Will keep everything crossed that they make it.

@misshelen86 those results look pretty good! I will pray that your left ovary sinks/descends with the weight of growing follicles. Here's a link to a research article that talks about estradiol to oocyte ratio & number of follicles: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4818638/.

ramzlau · September 2020

@keikilove Sorry to hear about that emotional rollercoaster. Will be sending all good vibes for those embryos. Hope the next 16 hours goes by quickly and without the family drama.

@misshelen86 come on left ovary, get in place! Have no idea if this is a thing, but can yoga help get it in place?

inthewoods23 · September 2020

@misshelen86 hope your ovary drops so they can reach! Ugh, I can't imagine growing all those follies for them to be wasted because they can't be reached.

@keikilove ugh, I'm so sorry things didn't go that well. The process alone is tough. But the world likes to shit on us heavily when we need it the least. I'll be rooting for your embryos and sending lots of hugs your way

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