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IF testing & treatment w/o Apr 3

maggiemadeitmaggiemadeit member
in Trying to Get Pregnant

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 ballgame. 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. Treat this as an ongoing conversation.

Diagnosis (if you've been):

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched):

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?):

How are things going?:

Any questions?:

GTKY: What is a fear you have overcome or you’re working on overcoming?
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Re: IF testing & treatment w/o Apr 3

  • halfanewthalfanewt member

    Diagnosis (if you've been): unexplained 

    Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): FET

    What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): triggered last night, FET scheduled for next Monday! 

    How are things going?:super busy! Can’t wait for my spring break next week. Staying close to home and working on house projects with a couple day trips thrown in. May actually unpack the last of the boxes from our move almost a year ago 😬

    Any questions?: not that can be answered without waiting two weeks :) 

    GTKY: What is a fear you have overcome or you’re working on overcoming? Working on handstands. Don’t mind being upside down, but getting up is a mind trick! 
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  • charmedlifex3charmedlifex3 member

    Diagnosis (if you've been): AMA, blocked left tube, repeat pregnancy loss

    Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): benched until Friday. 

    What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): waiting on recovery from a d and c

    How are things going?: better! Emotionally and physically. Bleeding stopped and I tracked down to zero, then I showed signs of ovulation yesterday!!! And positive OPK. So hopefully my period in two weeks, then we are tried to clear naturally. I’d read that it can take up to 8 weeks for HCG to completely clear, and a few weeks beyond that to see your cycle return, so I’m hoping that means we won’t be stuck in limbo as long as I feared. 

    Any questions?: our doctor offered to skip the medicated cycle and go right to ivf so we could do genetic testing and avoid hopefully another loss. I know that comes with it’s  own hardships. Wwyd? 

    GTKY: What is a fear you have overcome or you’re working on overcoming? I’m terrified of cotton balls. Like. Phobia. It’s awful but also hilarious to everyone ELSE. 

    @h@halfanewt we are just starting the move process. Ugh 🤨



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  • halfanewthalfanewt member
    @charmedlifex3 good luck with the move! Ours was unexpected timeline wise, but was too good of an opportunity to pass up! Worth it, despite the lack of unpacking 😉

    For your question, such a tough call! As someone who ended up needing IVF anyway, I wish we’d skipped the medicated cycles. Too much emotional investment. A few questions, maybe - does insurance cover and have any reqs, do you have a timeline you’re aiming for, how do you do with uncertainty? 
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  • maggiemadeitmaggiemadeit member
    @halfanewt I hope the transfer goes smoothly. I’ll be thinking of you on Monday!

    @charmedlifex3 It’s great that your body is healing well. For your question, I don’t have any experience, but was given the same recommendation today. 

    Diagnosis (if you've been): RPL

    Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): Trying naturally while we do testing this cycle 

    What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): Testing, testing, testing. I will have a clomid challenge test, CD3 hormone testing, karyotyping, ultrasound, and an HSG, and my husband will get his sperm checked. I’m stressing about the timing of this testing. Of course CD3 is predicted to be this weekend when we have family coming for Easter. We’ve kept this private between my husband and I and I’m not ready to share with all of them. It’s not going to be easy to excuse myself to drive 1.5 hours away to get the testing done with 8 guests in my house without lying. Ugh. 

    How are things going?: Had our first appt with the RE today. She was lovely but it was just so overwhelming. She said IVF with PGTA was the best plan forward to avoid another miscarriage. She said our chances on our own are something like 5% each cycle with a 40% chance of miscarriage if we ever do manage to get pregnant again. I knew our chances were not good, but when she laid out the numbers it really sucked the air out of me. I understand the situation better now but I still don’t know if IVF is right for us. I have to pass the clomid challenge test before we can even discuss it, so just trying to take it one step at a time as much as possible. Hats off to all the IF warriors out there who have faced these big challenges and decisions and persevered. I just want to put on a snuggly onesie and go to bed for the next week lol. 

    Any questions?: So many. So so many, 

    GTKY: What is a fear you have overcome or you’re working on overcoming? I used to have a real fear of flying when I was younger (think hyperventilating while holding strangers hands next to me) but I managed to work through it using hypnosis therapy. 
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  • maggiemadeitmaggiemadeit member
    Does anyone know if Antral follicle count is the number on each ovary, or the number on both ovaries combined? I’m trying to sleuth my ultrasound results because I won’t see the doc again until all the testing is done. 
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  • optimistgardeneroptimistgardener member
    edited April 2023
    *lurking from deep IF land* @maggiemadeit your AFC should be the total number of follicles, but usually ultrasound results will also list results separately for both L and R ovary.
    History
    I am doing this on my own. Left ovary and fallopian tube removed due to cyst/necrosis just after birth. Right ovary and tube still purport to function.
    Began TTC in Aug '18 @ age 35
    5 or 6 (or 7?!) cycles using frozen donor sperm, ICI. All BFN
    Mar-Jun '19 IUIs, all BFN
    Began process of referral for RE in spring of '19, blood tests confirm low AMH (.54) but all else is good.
    May '19 HSG shows open tube, but ultrasound suggests fibroids
    MRI in June '19 confirms two large fibroids, one growing through wall of uterus
    In June '19 I move from California to Oregon, disrupting my insurance, referrals, etc. 5 months spent piecing it all back together.
    Nov. '19 attempted myomectomy (vaginal approach) failed. 2nd surgery using laparoscopic method in Jan '20 is successful.
    April '20 --> June '20, natural IUIs, all BFN.
    July? saline ultrasound and bubble test demonstrate open tube
    July '20 clomid cycle cancelled for thin lining
    Aug-Oct, 3 femara cycles, all BFN
    RE referral. While waiting to set up an appointment Nov-Jan,I continue with natural cycles and ICI, using a known donor, BFN...
    Jan '21 more bloodwork, AMH is worse (.30), FSH high albeit not catastrophic at 13.2. hysteroscopy all good. "looks cozy!" says the RE.
    Feb '21, injectables (menopur, novarel), iui, BFN (doc said the frozen donor sperm sample had the "best numbers she'd ever seen!")
    Mar '21, injectables, iui cancelled due to lack of follicles, converted to at home-insem. BFN
    May '21, first IVF round cancelled due to cyst.
    July '21 IVF: standard antagonist. 225menupur/225gonal-f/cetrotide/5000u trigger, AFC 7; 6 days of stims. 8 eggs retrieved, 7 mature, 5 fertilize, 4 made it to blast. 3 are 4AB, 1 is 4BB. PGT-A results all abnormal.
    Oct '21 somewhat improved AMH (.51) and significantly improved FSH (8.9). Maybe it's all the pills I swallow.
    Dec -21, standard antagonist. 225menupur/225gonal-f/cetrotide/5000u trigger, AFC 5; 11 days of stims. retrieval yields 5, 4M, 2 reach day-6 blast (4AB & 4BB). 1 low-level mosaic (chr. 3 deletion), 1 complex abnormal.
    Feb '22 FET (low-level mosaic): CP.
    May '22 egg retrieval, lupron flare protocol. HGH priming for 1 month before stims; md lupron 20/20u daily; menopur 225, follistim 225, 10k trigger after 8 days of stims; AFC 10; 13 retrieved; 10 mature; 8 fertilized. All frozen at 2PN for later thaw, grow, and biopsy.
    July '22 egg retrieval same protocol: 9 days of stims; AFC 8; 10 retrieved, 8 mature, 4 fertilized and frozen.
    Sept '22 ER same protocol: AFC 10; 12 retrieved, 11 mature, 11 fertilized.
    From the 3 retrievals, 7 survived to day 5-6 blastocyst, from which I have 2 normal embryos!
    Jan 20, Fully medicated FET, baby aspirin, dexamethasone, acupuncture, and as much woo as I can stand (which isn't very much). BFN.
    July 23, Natural FET + baby aspirin. BFN.
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  • maggiemadeitmaggiemadeit member
    @optimistgardener Thank you!! And thanks for coming to help a newbie IF friend out. I hope all is well with you. 
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  • charmedlifex3charmedlifex3 member
    @maggiemadeit I don’t know which direction we’ll go. This last loss was incredibly hard on me physically and emotionally. 
    @halfanewt my husband is working in Massachusetts and there is a state law requiring infertility coverage in full. There isn’t even a co pay. So luckily financial issues aren’t a factor. We’ve had luck with medicated cycles twice, including the loss. I don’t feel like IVF is a guarantee either. Honestly my husband is pushing for adoption at this point. 



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