IVF vibes needed!

[drk]

Our first IVF try was cancelled for poor response before we got to the retrieval stage. This time we finally made it to trigger time for a retrieval on Friday. I''m a little anxious because I thought I''d be on the stimulation drugs for another day (and trigger tomorrow), but they told me to trigger tonight instead. I even ended up calling the doc to ask about it, and he said he''d been torn between triggering tonight vs tomorrow, but worried that we might mess things up by waiting an extra day. So despite some misgivings, I''ve decided to go along with his advice and trigger tonight, despite possibly having fewer follicles and definitely having a lower estrogen level. I don''t know if that''s good or bad.

Anyhow, this probably doesn''t make much sense to most of you, but since you all helped to get me through my anxiety-ridden few days after my exam about 1.5 weeks ago, I was hoping you could help get me through these next anxiety-ridden days-weeks. First obstacle will be seeing how many eggs are retrieved on Friday, and then how many of those are mature. Then Sat we''ll get a call as to how many ended up fertilizing, and every day or so after that we should get progress reports to see how many have developed into embryos.

After that it will be an agonizing few days till the transfer next Wed, and then some agonizing weeks after that waiting for a positive blood test and then ultrasounds. I''m sure the worry won''t end until we''ve managed to give birth.

If anyone has some PS vibes/dust/happy thoughts/prayers to offer for a good number of embryos and pregnancy to come of this, I''d appreciate them all! The exam ones were greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Kate

 

[neatfreak]

TONS AND TONS AND TONS of dust and good vibes drk!!!! Best of luck!

 

[drk]

Thanks NF! I hope that if I get lucky enough to end up with twins, I''ll manage to get through the pregnancy as well as you did with yours (I''m quite the lurker on the pregnant PS thread). It would be so nice not to have to go through this again! Hope your boys are lots of fun these days.

 

[peonygirl]

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I''m sending you all my twin vibes.

Please keep us updated. The woman who ran the multiples class we went to tonight had triplets her M3 year, which was neat. She was soooo encouraging to me about my med school plans.

 

[Kaleigh]

Oh sending tons and tons of IVF vibes, prayers and stickies your way.... Best of luck sweeite!!! I will keep my fingers and toes crossed for good measure too. Think good thoughts!!!!

 

[sweet pea]

My fingers are crossed for you! Tons of dust and good vibes headed your way!

 

[hlmr]

DrK, I think it is great that your Doc didn''t take a chance on you surgeing early (happened to me). I am sending you all my best wishes for a successful retrieval, fertilization, incubation, transfer, implantation and a strong positive beta hCG level!!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Good luck! I will be thinking of you and your little embryos this weekend!

 

[Pandora II]

The very best of luck to you and your husband.

Will be thinking of you tomorrow and over the next few weeks with all fingers (and toes) crossed for you both!

 

[Mandarine]

Kate,
Sending you TONSSS of VIBES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be thinking of you!!!
M~

 

[blushingbride]

Throwing MOUNDS of dust and GOOD vibes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck DRK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Festy]

Good luck Drk! Please keep us posted on your progress!

 

[InLuv101]

Lots and lots of IVF/Baby/Twin/Success Dust to DrK!!!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Lots of luck!!!

 

[TravelingGal]

A good friend is going through this now after 6 years of trying to conceive, so I''ve been channeling lots of positive energy to her and will definitely send some over your way!

 

[lili]

Lots of luck and googol PS dust to you.
Fingers crossed too.

 

[am04]

I'm wishing you the best of luck drk!

 

[drk]

Thanks guys! Your comments are bringing tears to my eyes. It never fails to astound me at how wonderful people on PS are. Supportive, caring, and always ready to encourage everyone else on the board. Now that my darn exams are over and done with, I hope to be back on here more often. I wish I could be of more help on the TTC thread, but find it hard to deal with other people''s fertility at times.

I''m still second-guessing my decision to go ahead with a Friday retrieval, but at this point all I can do is relax and pray for the best. One or two babies (no more) would be great. I''d be pretty crushed if this fails and we have to try again in a few months. Your comments have all made me feel a little better, and with the twin vibes from Peony and Manadarine, and the fresh BFP vibes from blushing (how awesome is it that you got the BFP just after the RE consult??), I must be set! I certainly hope so.

Tgal - I''ll be thinking positive thoughts for your friend too. After 6 years, she deserves a break!

I hope I get through the next few weeks with my sanity intact. I''d asked about going on vacation post IVF, and they''ve told me it will be a calculated risk. I''d be missing my beta HCG tests and if I were to have an ectopic pregnancy (higher risk of that with the fertility treatments), I would also miss out on the chance to have an earlier ultrasound to confirm things were in the right spot. Now I''m torn about the vacation too, even though DH and I really need some relaxing time together. I''ll have to see how much of a risk I feel like I can take.

Kate

 

[swimmer]

Pulling for you drk!

 

[nycbkgirl]

DRK- looooooots of ivf dust sent ur way ........ i know exactly how anxious u are right now..once i got the ok for the trigger...i was freakin out...i was even scared i would do the shot wrong

but it was A ok....

...plz keep us updated bc i know the 2ww (week wait) is very tough ...was the hardest part for me...we are all here for ya!

 

[natalina]

Drk- will be thinking about you and sending you lots of baby-making vibes!!!!!

 

[cara]

Date: 6/11/2009 2:11:00 PM
Author: drk
I hope I get through the next few weeks with my sanity intact. I'd asked about going on vacation post IVF, and they've told me it will be a calculated risk. I'd be missing my beta HCG tests and if I were to have an ectopic pregnancy (higher risk of that with the fertility treatments), I would also miss out on the chance to have an earlier ultrasound to confirm things were in the right spot. Now I'm torn about the vacation too, even though DH and I really need some relaxing time together. I'll have to see how much of a risk I feel like I can take.
Kate

Good luck, Dr. Kate!!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you would just be missing extra monitoring, and nothing could be done to fix anything if there were something amiss? You might get earlier treatment for an ectopic but that wouldn't really be a recoverable pregnancy, right? For me, the lack of treatable conditions would be push me to go on vacation, if I thought I'd be able to put things out of my mind enough to enjoy it. But I understand that once you know that you could have that extra monitoring information, it might be hard to go without. At least you can also pee on a stick anywhere in the world

 

[drk]

Cara (BTW, yours is the name DH wants to use if we have a girl) - I think they''re trying to tell me that the extra monitoring would allow them to give me methotrexate (a pill) to terminate the potential ectopic pregnancy and keep it from getting far enough along that I might risk tube rupture or need surgery instead. Not sure what to do. I think if we went on vacation in a couple weeks, we''d be back before most ectopics present anyhow. Decisions desicions!

NYCBKgirl - thanks for letting me know I''m not the only one who freaked out about the trigger. I spent the days on stims worried that I''d have a poor response again, and then the night of the trigger wondering if they''re making me do it too early and I won''t get enough eggs. I''m pretty sure they could have waited another day and maybe gotten more, since I had a bunch that were 17-20mm yesterday, so I don''t think they''d have gotten too aged in 24h. What was your experience like? Your twins are gorgeous, and I hope I get exactly the same outcome with this IVF! I hope it gets easier to look after them on your own as it gets older.

In 12 hours I''ll be getting up to head in for retrieval. Yikes! I pray things go well and we have good results. There''s just too much riding on this time-wise and money-wise!

Thanks everyone for the positive thoughts!

Kate

 

[icekid]

Sending you all the best, drk. Loads of PS dust!!

 

[tiffanytwisted]

Good luck tomorrow Kate!!

 

[LAJennifer]

Kate, I''ll be thinking positive thoughts for you tomorrow (today?). I''m more of a lurker on these threads, but I''ve followed your story from the beginning (ever since you bought your stone from Jonathan at GOG). I have a good feeling about this for you.

 

[drk]

I should have asked for IV vibes as well as IVF vibes!
It was an interesting experience. The nurse who came to talk to me and start my IV found out early on that I was an anesthetist. I decided to tell her since I drank a cup of apple juice this morning at 8am, more than 2 hours before the procedure, which is completely acceptable even before a general anesthetic. I didn''t want her to think I was just some idiot flaunting the rules of nothing to eat or drink after midnight.
She was really hesitant poking me for the IV, and I helped her find the vein in my elbow, but she didn''t manage to thread the catheter in properly. Then she got another nurse to try on my forearm - no success. Then I tried in the back of my hand - got blood in the needle, but wasn''t in the vein long enough to thread the catheter in. Then they got one of the doctors to come and try, who supposedly never misses, and he blew it twice. After that, we agreed to just do it with local anesthetic and a little nitrous oxide (laughing gas) if I needed it.
I was just as happy with that, since I didn''t really want drugs on board to make me feel woozy or nauseous afterwards. Dr H did try to talk me into to taking something, but I turned it all down. The local in the vagina was a little pinch, but not bad. Until the epinephrine in it hit (what people give themselves for anaphylactic reactions - it constricts blood vessels and bumps up your blood pressure and heart rate), and I got a major head rush, racing heart, felt lightheaded, and had a funny sensation in my ears. That went away in about 30 seconds, and then I felt better.
The retrieval itself wasn''t too bad after that. The right side was less painful than the left, which got a little ouchy at the end when he was aspirating the small follicles. Nothing that was unbearable by any means. My legs started shaking a little right at the end, but settled down when I steadied one of them with my hand.
He told me before he started the retrieval that he was really glad we triggered when we did, because my estrogen level really shot up yesterday after the HCG shot, and he still thinks I could be at slight risk of hyperstimulation. After the retrieval was over, he told me we got 16 eggs. We''ll get the call tomorrow that will tell us how many were mature and how many fertilized. I hope most of them did!
Now the wait begins. I''m hanging out at home with a heating pad on my belly (which is partially distracting my body from the little bit of pain in the vagina) and hoping that the two extra strength tylenol I took after the procedure will be enough to keep me comfy when the local wears off.
I hope my colleagues don''t all decide they need to ask why I have bruises all over from the IV attempts when I go to work on Monday!

Thanks so much for the support and positive thoughts. I so appreciate it!

LAJennifer - wow, I didn''t know that anyone really knew who I was on here, since I''m not the most active participant by any means. You must have a phenomenal memory. Maybe I''ll convince DH to get me something else from GOG if we ever have a kid!

 

[icekid]

drk- glad it went well and was not too traumatic. Thinking of you! Keep us updated; we are pulling for you.

 

[nycbkgirl]

DRK- i always freaked about everything! the follistim, menopur, the trigger...i mean totally kookoo

...i thought i wasnt administering anything properly and it wouldnt work! so dont worry ...u got a great outcome and im looking forward to hearing all about it!!!...i dont remember the quality of the eggs retrieved but i do remember that i was also hoping for a 5day transfer but doc called me on day 3 and said if we wait til day 5 we may end up with nothing if they dont make it...so he recommended that day coming in and transferring.,..it was a tough decision but i trusted my doc with everything! so i did the day 3 transfer and wooohooo u see the lil munchkins now

....the day 5''s did make it and i have 2 frostie "blasts"...but i didnt risk ending up losing the cycle if they didnt make it....just make sure u make that decision and talk it over with dh and doc...im soooooo rooting for u !!!! plz keep us updated

 

[dani13]

Thinking of you, drk. Sending lots of vibes/prayers!!!