Starting IVF in Aug/Sept.--Support for first timers part 2
474 Replies
isa - August 18

Elless thanks for the info. CC sending good implantation vibes to you also. stick embies stick. Here's hoping for a painfree transfer. Mega good luck with starting your stims. Twiggy glad to hear 2 good ones got tx. but sorry you were so sick. When I get to the tx stage I will also be on u/s with full bladder *yuck* so they can see exactly what he is doing. Renal u/s was ok. I ended up having it with no food no drinking 12 hours before hand (1st gal gave me wrong info) so I went in nauseaus, hungry, headachy from no food or water and very dehydrated. It took about 20minutes and she said doc should have the results in 5 working days so probably by next Friday and hopeing I will get a call that day or early the following week.

 

Mega - August 20

Isa--Good, I'm glad the renal u/s went okay except for the whole nausea from not eating. I'm glad it won't take long to get the results back. Yay, you'll have a plan soon. Thanks for your thoughts on the drinking. I only drank twice on the Lupron myself & I think drinking at the gala while you're on Lupron shouldn't be a big deal at all. Enjoy yourself! I will discuss this with my nurse, but I'm with you, 1 or 2 glasses of wine at the bachlorette party shouldn't affect things & that'll be the last time I drink hopefully for a long time! Yeah, it's hard to tell with your temps if you BD yet or not. Probably a good move if you did end up BD last night though like you planned, just in case. Now sometime though you have a slight dip (called the Ovulation dip) before your temps spike way up. I had that happen when I was charting aeons ago. Twiggy--You're back! Yay! Sounds like it went well, at least 2 embies on ice, that's great. I hope the other 2 make it to freeze too. Yikes, sorry about the bad reaction to the anthesia, I hear that's pretty common actually. But that's good that the ET went so well. CC--How many embies did you tx? Anyway, I'm thinking of you this weekend & sending you lots of implantation vibes. You too Elless, this is about the time the embies should be looking for a nice place to snuggle up. And you too Twiggy, your embies should be shopping around for a place to settle in too. Wow, 3 embie transfers in the past week or so, how exciting! Twiggy, I've heard it takes at least 10 days for Hcg to work its way out. Wow, the 28 is your Beta date huh? I'd say I'm sure it'll go fast, but 2 ww seldom do. Anyway, this is where I'm at in the cycle--I started the stims tonight. My e2 level was very low, which is good. So we'll see. Twiggy, CC, Elless, I've got a question. Did you all start your cycles with a lot of resting follies? I had 9 on 1 side, 13 on the other, & so I'm wondering then if it would reasonable to expect to have quite a few follies go on to mature then. Or am I just grasping at straws? I asked the dr who did my u/s & she said it could be a good sign but she didn't want to committ to an answer of course. Elless, CC, thanks for weighing in on the Lupron bleed. I actually ended up getting lucky & not having anything more than that tiny bit of spotting but my lining today was thin so the dr said the Lupron bleed did its duty. Well ladies enjoy the rest of your weekend!

 

isa - August 20

Mega glad to hear all was well with E2 level and hopefully resting follies is a good sign. We did bd last night but when I took temp this am and I wrote it down the 3rd # didnt write and I know my temp was 97. ? but I cant read what the number should be. It might be a 3 from memory or a 5 so I hit the thermometer to see it but I hit it too hard when I turned it on and it wiped it clear. Anyways cp is very low and feeling almost closed so I"m sure I o'd already by at least a couple days. I just hope Wed nights bd covered me. I never got a + on these dump opks so I am not going to use this brand again. Last time I used them and both months they worked but not this time. Oh well hopefully I'll never need them again anyways eh -major long shot thinking but I try.

 

Mega - August 21

Isa--Thanks! People beat the odds every day, so to speak. I think staying + is a good thing, and we're certainly hoping that you conceive naturally this cycle. But if not, you've got a good back up plan. Definitely sounds like you did O last week, I'm sure Wed's BD covered your base as it sounds like you O'ed shortly after that. I don't think missing one temp reading is a big deal, my dr always said individual readings don't matter, it's the pattern as a whole. I don't really trust OPKs myself but that could be more b/c with the PCOS they don't tend to be as reliable. How was the rest of your weekend? Relaxing I hope. How's everyone else doing? CC--Hope you're well rested from this weekend. How'd the ET go? Smooth sailing I hope. Did your DH do a good job nursing you, pampering you this weekend?

 

CC - August 21

Good morning! Mega, I also had a lot of resting follies. That was the only u/s my RE didnt do, but when I asked the tech, she said a lot of times it is an indication of how your cycle will go in relation to egg counts..Good sign! I dont know how many I had, but I saw them on the screen and I know I didnt have as many as you do. Lucky you on the Lupron bleed! Only spotting, thats great! When is your next u/s? Twiggy, so good to hear from you! Sounds like everything went well, and the 28th is only a week away! I know I say "only", Im sure for you it seems like an eternity! Elless, how are you doing? Isa, glad you are done w/ your testing..now its a wait and see again, but 5 working days to wait for an u/s result isnt so bad. I wish you the best of luck this month for a bfp, regardless! On the drinking issue..everything in moderation! I didnt really overthink the issue..If I wanted a drink or a glass of wine while stimming and on Lupron, I had one. I did drink less then I would have normally though, and stuck w/ one drink, and no more. We usually have wine w/ dinner a few nights a week, and I would only have a glass one night a week, or something along those lines. Moderation is key, IMO. My ET went well..We still had 16 embies on day 3, so we tx'd back two grade a, eight celled embies, and froze the other 14. All of ours were high quality except for 1. I learned something interesting about my clinic. They freeze, then if we need to do a FET, they thaw, and let them grow to blast. I have never heard of that before. Usually they go to blast right away and then freeze, or they do a day 3 tx, then grow to blast, and freeze. I dont think I have heard it being done any other way..Anyway-bed rest was for the birds! It was hard, its a lot of thinking time, and my mind ran away from me on more then 1 occasion w/ the "what if's"..All I can do now is wait! Hope everyone else is well!

 

elless - August 21

Mega - I am not sure how many resting follies I had. I know there were a number of them, but I think it was less than the number of mature follicles I had. Or maybe they didn't all show on the ultrasound ... anyway, it sounds like you're in great shape for a good number of quality eggs. And women with PCOS usually have a good response, right? CC - wow! 16 embryos is amazing! I'm glad you had some great ones to transfer and so many great ones to freeze! How exciting and what a relief! Isa - I am hoping for a natural bfp for you this cycle. Keeping my fingers crossed about the renal u/s results, too. Twiggy, when was your ET? I thought you were ahead of my, but my beta is two days from now (the 23rd). And I am DYING!!! I completely understand what CC means about too much time to think. I don't even have that much spare time - plenty going on at work - but the test on Wed. is all I can think about. And I can't even really evaluate my "symptoms" (which maybe is a good thing) because I know the fatigue, nausea, crankiness, and tender breasts are due to the high levels of progesterone. I've had them for over a week. My boobs have gotten huge in the last couple of days, but that could be due to impending af. At least I am not having af cramps yet, and they usually show up by now. But again, perhaps that's just due to the high level of hormones. I think af comes late with ivf. Someone help! I'm going insane!

 

Mega - August 21

CC--Wow, 2 high quality embies, that's wonderful. And all your remaining embies made it to blast--Excellent! Sounds really good. Glad you made it thru the bed rest, of course that's an awful lot of time to fill up so not surprisingly you played the what if game. Thanks for the resting follie info. I am scheduled for my next u/s on Fri., but they might move that date up a day or so too. They just moved up my next e2 check to tomorrow (instead of Wed) b/c of my # of follies, they want to make sure that my dose of Follistim is high enough according to the nurse. When I saw them on the screen Sat. it didn't look like that many to me either, just a few blobs. But then they started counting. So we'll see...I agree with you on the moderation thing. A couple of glasses of wine/or a beer or something shouldn't hurt. That's interesting how your clinic does the FETs, but then all our clinics vary slightly from eachother. I'm sure your clinic has a high success rate with FETs. With all those embies on ice, you may have your whole family now. :) When is your beta scheduled? Hang in there.

 

CC - August 21

Mega, so depending upon your E2 tomorrow, they may up your dose of stims? I would think they would wait until your u/s, even if they move up the date, but maybe Im not understanding. I always had my E2 and u/s on the same day. How many iu's of stims are you taking a night? I always loved getting my E2 and having u/s's done. Makes you feel assured that there is progress! With all my embies on ice, I hope you are right, and we do have our whole family in there! At least 1 or 2 please! I have my beta on 9-1. I spotted before all my beta's could be done during my IUI's, even though I was on progesterone suppositories. I dont know if the PIO is stronger (anyone know?) but I will be thankful and hopeful if I make it until then w/o spotting. Elless, all the spare time I had this weekend, makes me happy to be back to work today, and have my mind busy again. Im already going crazy, so I can only imagine how you are feeling! I have been doing the PIO for a number of days now, and I dont have any of what you have, except for sore nipples, which I think is left over from the HCG. Although we never know with "symptoms" I think yours sound very promising! I have had some cramps on and off since ET, and I know its too soon for anything, so I have to chalk that up to my stomach. I was sooo constipated prior to ET, that the night before, I was up for an hour in the middle of the night in agony. My RE told me to use Milk of Magnesia..it worked too well!!! So, I think I am still suffering affects from that.

 

angie35 - August 21

i read all the postings and really cannot believe all the things a woman can go through. I'm really happy to hear about all the follies and the embryos!! very nice.. keep up the good work!!! lol... I'm still in BCP phase... and going crazy because time goes by so slow.. I'll start Lupron on Wed.. any recommendations??

 

Mega - August 21

Elless, sorry I missed your post from earlier (we cross posted I think). I was wondering if more eggs could develop during the stims than just the # of resting follies. Sounds like that may have happened with you. But yes, PCOS'ers do tend to produce a lot of eggs, though not all are of the best quality. Supposedly though Metformin helps with that. I've been on Met for a long time, so I'll see. WOW, 2 days til Beta day, huh?! Amazing. I'm sure your concentration is shot, anyones' would be under the circumstances. I have to agree with CC, even though your signs are consistant with prog., I still think they sound promising. Esp. the bigger breasts. Did you get that pre-AF before? If so, lucky! :) Glad work is busy for you at least. Hang in there. CC--That's what my nurse said, that the reason they moved up the e2 check to day 3 rather than the typical 4 is b/c of the # of resting follies, they want to make sure it's high enough dose. They do that with a high # of eggs & I'm on what they consider the borderline. I'm currently on 150 iu of Follistim & I think I'm responding pretty well. But yes, I'm eager for tomorrow's appt. to find out for sure. I don't know why they don't do an u/s this time as well. I wish they did, but maybe they think it's too early?! But this should be the last appt. where I just get the e2 done, the rest should include an u/s. I don't know if PIOs are stronger per se than suppostitories but the PIO gets absorbed into the body better so I guess it is stronger in that sense. Hopefully you won't spot this time. But then that said, in an IVF cycle spotting doesn't always mean you're not pg. You could still get it with implantation. So not all would be lost IF it happened, which hopefully it won't. Angie--once you start the Lupron things start moving so much faster. I promise! :) The Lupron isn't bad, most nights it hardly hurts at all. Even though it's easy to give yourself the shot, I find it easier & less painful when DH does it. Also it's better if the needle goes in quickly. I've been pinching the skin as directed but someone else from another board suggested flattening the skin before injecting the needle. Said it's better that way. Something to experiment with I guess. So Wed., huh?! Exciting! Won't be long now.

 

CC - August 21

Mega, that makes sense now..I didnt think about E2 in relation to all your resting follies..After 4 days of stims (as of tomorrow, right) I would think an u/s would show something, although you are right, maybe they feel its too soon for one at this point, and just want the E2 check. Im trying to remember, I dont think I got my 1st u/s until I had been stimming for 6 days. Im just excited for you, and everyone beginning their journey. Im feeling a little down today, and really, I dont know why. The only thing I can come up with, is that all the "doing" is over with, and now its just waiting. Is that sick or what??!!! : )
Its not fun to go through, but I guess it goes back to the whole feeling of at least doing something, rather then nothing. Anyway-What you said about the PIO made sense. When I spotted at the end of my 2ww from my IUI's, I knew I was pregnant. The spotting came when AF was due. If I spotted earlier in the cycle, I would have had some hope, but when its at the end..I think that usually means its a bad sign. Im just hoping for us all! Angie, the Lupron shots arent bad at all, and compared to stims, they didnt hurt, or burn. Im w/ Mega, I think I found stretching the skin tight where you are going to inject was less painful. You are well on your way to your bfp!

 

Mega - August 21

CC--I would prefer the u/s too, I agree with you, I think it would show something, but I gather standard operating procedure is no u/s til day 6 or 7 of stims. I guess I can live with that. *sigh* Tomorrow will be my 4th day of stims, but the b/w will be done before I take my 4th dose of Follistim, if that makes sense. I'm sorry you're feeling down today, but if it makes you feel better it's not uncommon to feel that post ET, from what I've heard. You've been thru so much to get to this point, all the monitoring, go, go, go, & then comes what you been building up to, the ER & ET and now suddenly there's nothing to do but wait wait wait. It's stressful. Of course you'll have your ups & downs these days. Not to minimize what you're feeling. I have the feeling I will be experiencing a similar range of emotions myself in a couple of weeks. Hang in there!

 

CC - August 21

Thanks Mega, for your post. I didnt know feeling this way was "normal" or even heard of. That did make me feel a little better. As the day went on, I started to snap out of it. I guess its getting used to the 2ww again, which for me, is always a bit of a nerve wracking and somewhat negative time. Im hoping that will all change this time. Anyway-Im feeling better, so thank you! Will they let you know what your E2 is tomorrow? I had to call and get all mine, they dont call you unless there is something wrong, but that bugged me. Im an info junkie and need to know these things!

 

isa - August 22

wow CC thats fantastic that all but 1 were high grade and you have a2- -8 cells transfered. Sorry you are feeling down but I too agree with Mega that its such a change from do do do with all the shots, ER, and ET and then wait wait wait. I think it is a bit like post traumatic stress depression to be honest. Oh One thing I learned in my ivf session is that even if you spot OR full bleed before beta keep up with all meds, progesterone etc. One gal thought af came and she stopped her prog. and got her beta back and she was pg but she lost it since she stopped all the prog. support etc. So they stressed it so much to us not to stop anything until told to stop. Fertility friend told me today I O'd on Friday so we covered it by Wed night and Fri night but I also take FF with a grain of salt. It's been wrong before (verified by u/s, b/w on several months. It told me I O'd on a certain day and it was off by 2 days)Anyways I'm covered either way. Elless wow 2 days that (for me) went so fast. I can't believe you are already here (and I know for you its been a million years). I think the big boob thing is a great indicator and sending lots of positive sticky glue and prayers your way.

 

Mega - August 22

CC--Glad you started feeling better as the day went on yesterday. Hopefully today will be better for you. I can see why Isa would say post-IVF 2 WW is similar to post traumatic stress depression. (Good way to phrase it, Isa). So hang in there. I think they'll let me know the e2 # when they call this PM with my dosage, but if not I'll ask. I'm with you, I'm an info junkie also. I NEED to know this stuff. I'm also tracking this cycle in my IVF notebook, nerd that I am. :) Elless--Tomorrow's your beta! I know today will probably seem sooo long for you though. How's your DH doing? Is he excited? How are holding up? Stick embies stick. Grow boobies grow! Isa--Excellent, I'm glad you're covered with the BD irregardless of what day you O (Friday or Sun). I'd be a little leary of FF too, but a lot of people swear by it. Very good point about not stopping progesterone til your told even if you're spotting big time. I've heard stories from my clinic too about women swearing they weren't pg but having a + beta. They never shared any stories of a subsequent m/c though. How tragic. That poor woman, the guilt she must've felt. Twiggy--How are you doing? How's the 2 WW going for you? Is your home computer up & running now?

 

CC - August 22

Mega, If you are a nerd for having an IVF notebook, then so am I, because I have one too!!! Lol! It really helped me keep track of things, thoughts, feelings, E2 levels, etc! I think its a good thing to do. I didnt write in mine everyday, and in fact, I dont think I have written in there since I have had ER, but I always catch it up. Elless, can I tell you just how excited I am for you tomorrow??!!! When will you know your results? How have you been feeling? I cant wait!!! Isa, you too are in the 2ww! All you can do is keep trying and not give up. On another thread I post on, there is a bfp that was just announced yesterday. They already have 1 son who is around 3, who they were told was a "miracle" baby, due to severe male factor..They had just begun to see a specialist, but have been trying on their own for a long time..Guess she is on her way to having "miracle" baby # 2, the baby they all told was impossible to have w/o help! What a great story!

 

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