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Helen I know it is tough...there are good days and bad. Hang in there, you know in the end it will be worth it. I had 2 follicles with the 75. DH sperm is good, I don't have PCOS or endo, tubes are fine, cervix fine..according to RE I really just need some luck. I think her idea is to try and get me a couple of more follicles without over stimulating me . I think we are going to keep trying IUI at least another 3 times. RE doesn't feel that I really need to do IVF and to be honest we really can't afford it. Insurance pays nothing. I am kinda of in the same situation as Lynn. I have been really lucky in that my RE has given me the follistim for all 4 of my IUI's. As you can image this has really helped us. We still pay quite a bit but are able to save some money. I'm sure if she keeps increasing things we might have to pay for it. Don't let things get you down to much..stay positive!!! I'll be thinking about you

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Carrie...your RE gives you the follistim drug? Count your belssings girl..the drug if not covered by insurance is 3,000.00 here in NC. My insurance paid for it in Aug 2005 when I did follistim + IUI. I have no clue why now they will not cover meds with IUI so...RE says he would rather have the follistim in me and work with us. Dh sperm is good it was just the luck thing I think yours is thinking. Helen...Good Luck tomorrow and let us know how many they transfer....this is so exciting. I can ahrdly wait to help Okiejpb thorugh all of this and then there is LM. WOW. I am wil Carrie...IVF is out of our reach. talk to y'all tomorrow

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Helen, I'm so sorry you have to go through all this waiting and discomfort, but somehow it will work out and it will all be worth it! I'll be thinking of you and wishing you all the best for your transfer. When you feel up to, please let us know how it goes. Lynn and Carrie, what CD are you on?

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Hey LM.....I am on cd 10 currently. Due to insurance garbage...I took femara this cycle and go to RE on Thursday to see if I responded. If not, insurance ussies should be clear for follistim next cycle but no IUI seeing they stopped paying for it when used with injections. Helen...I hope your transfer went well and cannot wait to hear all about it. Carrie...keep us posted in where you are in this cycle. Okiejpb...are you back from visiting? Do you know when you are beginning your cycle over again?

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Helen-feel free to express yourself and don't ever feel selfish about it. It's important to vent when needed. Hope everything went well today and that you're holding up okay. Lynn - not sure if this is an option, and since I don't know a lot about your insurance coverage I don't know if this will apply, but have you and DH thought about doing a stimulated cycle with med's only and then natural timed intercourse instead of the actual iui procedure? This is sometimes a way around insurance issues as a lot of times they will cover the diagnostic and treatment portion. If you're on the drugs to help you ovulate (which they do), then I couldn't imagine them not covering the monitoring portion (u/s and blood work) which is very important when taking these specific medications. It won't hurt to ask, unless there is an issue when natural intercourse, just in case doing it in that way isn't recommended by the RE for sperm related issues. Hope all of this makes sense. If not, I'll try to explain later.

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Okiejpb....That is what we are going to do next cycle if nothing this cycle. RE said the only reason we really needed IUI was because I was not Oing and not producing much CM let alone looking for EWCM. In Oct. I was prescribed glucophage which has foced me to O monthly and I finally know what CM looks like (sound stupid I know) but I dont recall seeing any since 2004. So I completely understand what your saying adn I understand that is where we are going if nothing this month. Thank-you very much for thinking of a suggestion. How was your visiting? Talk to y'all tomorrow

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Lynn- we have been very lucky in that our RE has given us the follistim. I know that once she ups the dose we will have to pay for it. I think she told me it was around 5-6 hundred for 600IU.That is in TX. Who knows..I just hope it works.. all of this is starting to take its toll on me. I'm only on CD 5 and started my injections today. I see RE Saturday so I'll let you guys know how things go.

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hi girls....thank you all for your support and understanding. as far as the ET, everything went well. they told me to come in with a full bladder and they gave me valum as soon as i got there to relax me. with the u/s guide, they transfered 2 AA blastocysts with one already hatching. (they gave me a picture of my 2 embies. they did do assisted hatching...they say after incubating them for 5 days, the zona(outershell) can thicken and i've also read that with assisted hatching, the more likely they will implant and your chances of getting pg are higher-we'll see) the actual transfer was a piece of cake, (so much better than IUI's) then the RE gives the catheder back to the embryologist to check under the microscope to see if they've been transfered. the RE did put a catheder into my bladder since it was so full and he collected the urine, sorry, TMI! and i laid down for about 1 hr and they wheeled me back to the car. oh and DH got to watch the whole process which was new. no pain what so ever. i'm feeling alot better today...thank you all girls. as far as the left over blasts, the embryologist will freeze some today and some tomorrow. some were still at early stages of blast. preliminarily, he thinks about 50% have developed into blasts, but will have to see the quality of those as they will only freeze the good ones. Carrie-hopefully you'll be able to get about 4 good follies for this cycle and you are so lucky that your RE covers the follistim. don't worry, luck is on your side already. and if IVF isn't an option, keep plugging away with the IUI's, and hopefully you'll get pg in a cycle or two. Lynn, are you busy bd'ng? how's charting your temps coming along? there are numerous sites that can help you with that...just google basal body temperature. i hope you're having fun for the rest of us! and the suggestion Okiejpb gave you sounds great. that's always an option. Okiejpb, so it looks like you won't be starting till late Feb or early March? is that correct? i hope you can start soon but i believe they want all the meds to be out of your system so you can respond better to the new stims. looking forward to you starting soon. LM, has AF finally showed up yet? they are never here fast enough when we want but always manages to show up early or on time when we don't want...how ironic is that? that dirty old witch!!! :o) okay girls, it looks like i've managed to ramble on again. wishing each of us only the best.

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Helen-Glad things went well yesterday. Just know that we're all sitting here waiting on pins and needles with you hoping & praying for a BFP in less than 2 weeks. Lynn-It doesn't sound stupid about the ewcm. Sometimes it's kind of questionable about whether or not it's it or not, but you really have no one around to ask....that's what makes this board so nice. My trip to visit my family was great. Glad that I took Friday as a vacation day. DH stayed at home for the weekend so that he could get a lot done, so DD and I visited my parents and sister. I feel so fortunate now that we're only a 2 1/2 hour drive away as opposed to a 4 1/2 hour flight.

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hi girls...how's everyone doing? Okiejpb-thanks, we'll know Feb.1st if this has worked or not. i don't think i'll do a hpt...just because i'll be too nervous. i've just been staying in bed ordering dh around, this is the best part of IVF. although my back hurts from just lying around. my embryologist called me this morning and it looks like i have 11 frozen blastocysts. 7 are AA or AB quality, and 4 are ok...but met the criteria for freezing so i assume it is BB. they won't freeze C or below. including the 2 that are inside me, 13 made it to blast so the embryologist said over a 50% rate means my egg qualities are good. out of the 7 immature fertilized, all made it to good looking 8-cells but none made it to blast. (he did tell me that the immature ones will be low in quality despite all his efforts). so we know that the immature eggs are not good, and don't ever transfer immature eggs even if they look great at day 3. Lynn, have you O'd yet? or are you still busy bd'ng? did you go for your appt yet? keep us posted on your progress. Carrie, how's the follistim coming along? i hope you are brewing alot of follies in your ovaries. LM, AF show up yet? how much time off work do you plan on taking when you start your cycle? you'll definitely need time off after the retrieval, especially since you have PCOS, you'll have so many follicles, you will be so sore and in pain. hopefully you won't have OHSS. and they told me complete bed rest for 2 days after transfer, only potty breaks. i've been lucky...besides the bloatedness and indigestion, it hasn't been bad. maybe i might have mild hyperstimulation. okay girls talk to you later.

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Helen...everything sounds good. I am going to be waiting on pins and needles until Feb 1st. I understand not wanting to do a HPT, I feel that way when AF is late. I go to RE tomorrow morning to see if I responded to femara. I hope everything is happening on my left side this month. No sign of EWCM but I got some CM so that is a plus. I'll report in tomorrow. Carrie and Okiejpb..how ya doing?

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Helen- I agree with you about not doing an HPT. Hang in there and be patient. Time for the beta will be here before you know it. Lynn-Good luck tomorrow. As for me, I think AF is here. Just a little bit today, but maybe more tomorrow. If so, I will call the RE to find out what my next step will be....I think it's an u/s in 14 days, but I will find out for sure.

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hi girls.... Lynn, how did your appt go? do you have a few follies growing strong? it's been awhile since you've been back to your RE right? it must be a relief to get started with some help again. hopefully the 1st time on femera will be just as lucky as your 1st time on follistim, except, this time your pregnancy will stick in the uterus, and you will carry to the full term! i'm wishing you loads of baby dust. Okiejpb, finally AF-Yeah!!! why do they have to check and see if you O'd or not? probably to see if the meds are out of your system and you're producing your own hormones? keep us posted on your cycle. i hope AF is full blown today. it sounds so weird to say that to someone who is TTC :o) Carrie & LM, how are you girls doing?

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Hey girls....I went to RE and not that great.... I do have 2 follies on the right and 1 small one on the left. That is good...responded to femara but...wrong side is working this month. I am missing right tube so......After the u/s, I asked the nurse to speak with my RE. he just so happened to be doing an ER in the next room. We waited 20 minutes and he talked to us (dh and I) for about 30 minutes. He said not to waste this cycle away. It has happened and could for us...the left tube picking up the eggs and fertilizing them over on that side. If that does not happen, then we will do one more cycle of femara and see if left is producing eggs. If nothing by March...back to follistim and no IUI's due to insurance issues. He said he is okay with no IUI's since I am on glucophage and that is helping me ovulate. So...that is my story of this morning. I am not loosing hope but.....I am not looking for anything either. Okiejpb...AF???Yeah if she is showing. Please keep us posted. Carrie and LM....where are you girls? Helen...how do you feel today? check back later.....

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Hi! I hope everyone's doing well and you're all in my thoughts. This has been a bizarre week so far - AF showed up and I was thrilled, and then today I start bcp's. Around Feb.18th, I'll start follistim and then antagon. My ER is tentatively scheduled for March 1st. Helen, thanks for your insight about time off and rest. I'm definitely going to to take days off and get a substitute teacher when the time comes. We'll see what happens!

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what days do you take follistim for ivf or iui? im about to go to my appt for consult on ivf and was just wondering so i would know if i could do it this coming up cycle...

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