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Hey Helen...I am glad to have some company. I was beginning to wonder what happened to everyone. I thought maybe everyone moved to the IVF thread. So, it is common to get your period in the middle of the IVF cycle? I think if this month is not it, we will do at least 2 cycles of follistim before moving onto IVF. I do want to talk to my RE about IVF incase we have to go that route. LM...nice to see you joining us. If we make a new thread (which I do not think is a bad idea), you just need to look for it on the list a click. Does that make sense? Mari, Anna, Debbie, Carrie, Okiejpb, Beth, Edy...how r you girls doing? I hope eveything is going well with Edy and Beth. Talk to y'all later...

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hi girls...i just got a call from the pharmacy and it looks like all the meds will cost $2345.42. is this alot? i sure think so. Lynn, i think it is common for you to start AF with the Lupron. is your IUI/follistim covered by your insurance? i wish you all the luck on your natural cycle. Okiejpb, how did your baseline u/s go today? what dosage will you be on? be sure to keep in touch. LM, what dosage were you on with the follistim and how many follies did you produce? was your ohss severe? what were your symptoms? at least you do have one good follie growing. Anna, how's the 2ww coming along? BETH-where are you? well, i had some slight cramping this morning on the left side...wondering if this is normal? and i have been having bad headaches. okay girls, sweet baby dreams and talk to you tomorrow.

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Hi girls, my 2ww is going fine. Im 90% sure that Im not pg.... oh well... what else is new. But im ok with that just because i have big hopes for IVF. Helen-what meds are going to use ? Lynn-when r u going to test. I wish u best of luck.. I have RE appm this saturday, so well see what he has to say. I will let u know.

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Helen-From what I've read, that's a pretty avg $ amount for the meds. Are they willing to work with you at all? When you get a second, you may want to check out www.freedomdrug.com and give them a call to see what they quote. This is the pharmacy that my dr's office uses. At first I was a little reluctant (more like worried), because my med's had always been covered with everything else, but this time I was going to have such a larger qty of everything. It all worked out. It may be worth it for you to get a quote from them. As for me, my baseline u/s went fine yesterday. I was hoping they'd give me a call with my e2 # (not sure why, habit I guess), but they didn't. No news is good news in this case, I guess. Nothing going on at all with my ovaries which is a good thing since that's the plan. I started my estradiol pills yesterday (2x day) and will start baby aspirin on Friday then stims on Saturday. I'll be on 3 vials a day (don't remember the actual dosage right off the bat). I am scheduled to go back again next Wednesday for another u/s. I started spotting just a tiny bit on Monday, but still had 2 bcp to take. These were 2 extra's given to me by the nurse to keep me on schedule. Since then, I have not yet started my period, but anticipate that it will come within the next couple of days. I'm excited about this month, and also at the same time want to stay as grounded emotionally as possible. My dh finally submitted his sample for a full screening and it came back sub-normal with low motility which caused me some concern. He called and spoke to them and they pretty much told him that it really wasn't anything to worry about. His motility came back just a little lower than what they like to see. They attributed it mainly to age. When he had this test done about 4 years ago, everything was excellent, but 4 years is 4 years. He's 43.

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Forgot to mention that when my dh spoke to the dr's office, they said that given his results, icsi would not be needed. He's got good quality and enough good swimmers to get the job done:) That was good to hear.

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Glad to hear some good news. My good news is AF has not shown up for duty just yet. I am not sure when or if I want to test. I am so scared to get my hopes up and do not want crushed. I keep thinking if I am not preg, AF needs to show so I can move on and call RE to begin a follistim and IUI cycle. They only thing covered by my insurance Helen is meds. The IUI, u/s and equipmwnt are never covered (which comes around 700.00) a cycle. Meds are covered and I was told certain IVF meds are covered also. Talk to y'all later.

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Lynn - What CD are you on?

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okiejpb...I am on cd 23. Last 2 months after ectopic have been 23 days. I looked on a site about using OPK's and it said to average last 4 months (but I am sure does not take issues into consideration) and that would be 29.5 days. So my thought is to really hope and pray AF does not show from 23 - 29.5 and think good thoughts and if I can make it to cd 35, do a HPT. silly I know but nothing would make hubby more proud then pregnancy without drugs or assistance of RE (I think it is that manly pride). Thanks for asking.

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hi girls...Okiejpb, i'm glad that your u/s went well as expected. we start stims on the same day. did you start AF yet? does your RE wait till you start AF before you stim or does it not matter? thanks for the info on the meds...i already paid for my meds so i'll check it out next time (if i need to, hoping this will be my only try) have you started the gainirelix yet? (which i assume is like lupron) how many vials of repronex will you be on? as for myself, i had my baseline u/s today. i'll be on 1 vial (75iu) of menopur, 5iu of lupron and i was supposed to be on follistim in the a.m. but RE lowered my dosage to 150iu follistim in p.m. only. he said i responded really well to follistim during the IUI cycles, that i don't need to be on such a high dosage. his normal protocol would be 150iu a.m. and 225iu p.m. along with prenatals and baby aspirin once daily. i hope this will be enough to produce approx. 20 follicles(eggs). that's how many he wants me to produce. :o) i don't know what my E2 levels were today...i have my next appt. tuesday. Okiejpb, will you be on progesterone injections? i saw the needle i'll be using and it is starting to scare me. the needles are about 3 in long and the gauge is thick to get the oil to disperse in my body. i'm not looking forward to this, everything else i can handle. oh and dh has to give the injections which is double trouble!!! what % was your dh's motility? i'm sure it'll be fine, especially if you won't need icsi. does your clinic transfer day 3 or day 5 blast? mine will do a day 5 transfer if my egg quality is good enough to survive. i read a site that said day 5 transfer is better. sorry girls.. i'm going on and on... Lynn, what's the news? still no AF? i'm praying right along with you for no AF this month. Anna, are you sure it's BFN? sorry to hear that sweetie. let us know how your appt goes tomorrow. i hope if you do have to start IVF, it'll be very soon. that way, we'll all go through this together. LM, how's that follie coming along? did you do your IUI yet? keep us posted on your progress. okay girls, i think i've rambled on long enough...talk to you tomorrow.

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Good Morning....I am starting cd 25 today. Still no AF so I have hope still. Had a little cramping yesterday but she still did not show so that is a plus. Helen and Okijpb...thanks for sharing your journey with us. I think any of us who are sitting on the IVF fence are glad to read what happens and different doctors approaches. I hope everyone is doing okay and I am sorry we seemed to have lost some of our posters. Hope everything is okay with them and pray for a safe pregnancy. Talk to y'all later.

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Ugh - my one follie is growing so slowly! Well.. at least the RE thinks it's growing. Tomorrow is day 26 and I have to back for another u/s. I really hope I can ovulate this cycle and at least try to conceive during this month off meds. My official IVF gameplan meeting is Tuesday. Helen, it was helpful reading about your protocol. I also responded really well to follistim. My dose started at 150 but they kept lowering it every day until finally they told me to skip the last 2 days and take nothing. My estrogen levels were monitored daily and kept under control, but with 10 follies and PCOS, I still had OHSS. It was considered mild since I didn't require hospitalization, but it was so painful to move, and it forced me to take this long month off. The follistim cycle does, however, give me hope for a good response to IVF meds. On the other hand, I know 2 woman who responded poorly to the IVF drugs, had only 5 ok embryos, and had healthly successful pregnancies. You never know! Lynn, you're in my thoughts in your 2ww!

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thanks LM....the wait is killing me but not ready for a BFN yet so I won't test.

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I just wanted you ladies to know that I am still here.. DH and I are going it alone this month and are on CD 17 so we will see... Hopefully it will be our month..if not we will try follistim and IUI a couple more times..I am really hoping we can get PG without IVF.. I am terrified of big needles and am reading that is what I have to look forward to if this doesn't work....I'm keeping my finger crossed. Lynn- I am praying for you that it happens for you..please keep us posted

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Hey Carrie...your about a week behind me. Maybe we can coach each other to wait peeing on a stick. I am trying real hard not to test early and maybe even waiting until cd 35 which would be Jan. 17 I am hoping AF stays away from the both of us. I would love to end my RE journey here. Let me know what is going on with you.

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hey girls...LM, that is one stubborn follie! :o) hopefully the stubbornness will fight its way into becoming an embie. Lynn...Yeah!!! still counting with you. don't test early, no matter what you do. this is definitely progress. Carrie, hopefully the 2ww will fly by. good luck to you this month. i'm wishing baby hopes for all you girls. today was the 1st day of stims for me. i feel like a chemist mixing sodium chloride with the menopur powder. it took me a good 10 mins because the syringe kept getting air into it. i have to use something called Q cap to get from one vial to another, then swithing it out with a regular needle. anyways, the injection itself wasn't too bad. oh, the needle for progesterone isn't 3 in. i read it wrong. it is 1-1/2x22 gauge. nonetheless, it is huge!! the pre-natals are like horse pills. never seen a pill so big. follistim isn't until tonight, that's the easiet part. Okiejpb, how are your injections coming along? hope you're having an easy time. LM, you'll be a perfect candidate for IVF if you can produce so many follies. your right about some who only produce a few follies but are successful. to me its 50/50 and it is so random on who will be successful or not. if you don't mind me asking, how old are you and how long have you been ttc? Anna, how are doing? how was your appt today?(right?) keep us posted. well girls, hope you all have a great weekend and keep in touch!!!

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Helen, you are so right. It's so much nicer to think of this follie as stubborn and perseverant. I'm really grateful for your positive perspective. Lynn, did your RE specify a day for you to go for a blood test so that you don't have to do the HPT?

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