The Official TTC for 6 Months or More Thread

[JGator]

Hi, Bella, sorry I never had the hysterosonogram (is that the saline ultrasound?). At my HSG my doctor recommended getting a saline ultrasound since they found a small cyst that he wanted to look at more closely. My doctor was out of town the next cycle and the cycle after that I got pregnant, so I never had the test. Hopefully, it won't be too painful for you. Do you need to take Advil ahead of time? Good luck with the new Pap. I'm sure they just didn't get enough cells, and everything will turn out fine.

 

[BrightSpot]

Jgator, thanks! The living in 2w increments definitely sucks. And it's so hard to plan anything because I'm thinking of all the Pre iui stuff, then would I need to be around for pregnancy appointments or a d&c after? Jeez. I hope all of us over here graduate soon too!

Ltl, I always like knowing what to expect as much as possible so I was happy to have more info on monitoring this cycle. Hoping you get good news later this week. 

Bella, if you're having a saline u/s I ditto jgator's suggestion to take Advil beforehand. Mine was pretty unpleasant for about a minute then totally fine & no after effects. I hope it goes well. Keep us posted.  Sorry about the repeat pap. I've heard of lots of ladies who had the same thing happened. (all was ok though)
Remind me to tell you more about the herbs soon too. (I'm short on time now)

Tammy, how are you holding up?

Hi to pave, fisher, curly & everyone else. 

Afm, very relieved about timing stuff & also a little nervous about jumping back on the ttc train. 

 

[tammy77]

Hi Girls,

Bright I'm soooo relieved to hear that this cycle isn't a bust for you! I am hoping, praying, crossing everything...you get the picture.

Pave, have you tested yet? I hope you're doing okay and that you have some positive news to share soon!

Bella, I hope your procedure isn't too painful. I'll be poking my head in over here looking for your update and I hope that everything is okay!!

Ltl, Curly, how are you doing? I'm hoping for some bfp news soon from you, Ltl!!

Jgator, thank you for the website suggestion! I signed up for the ladder website, but haven't had time to do more than that yet, lol.

I'm so sorry for the pathetically short check-in. I have been trying to ground myself enough to post a proper hello and it's just not working...I think I'm officially in panic mode. I'm a results girl. When there's a problem, I keep plugging away at it until it's resolved. I like to have control over my issues - work, etc. my answer is that if it's not happening, well that means I'm not doing enough/trying hard enough/etc. I'm also a huge planner. If we're going on a trip, I can't relax until all of the major details are in place. My Christmas shopping is almost always done before Thanksgiving, and often by October. So, yeah. I'm a planner, and I'm a control freak.

That said, nothing at all in my life feels like it's really in my control, or even remotely planned. I'm trying to find a job out in the Bay Area, but that's not something I can predict. My kids should be starting school out there on August 22nd, just over a month from now, and I can't move them until I have a job. So I feel a HUGE amount of pressure to hurry it up but am powerless to really do so. Referring back to said kids, we have several small cities to choose from, but since we don't know when we can move, we have to wait to find a place. I can't enroll the kids in school until I have a signed lease, so I seriously am just freaking out.

All of this has really shifted my focus regarding TTC, but it's still there. I'm still very aware that I'm 6dpo today. I still know that if we did magically conceive on the ONE good shot that we had, I'd be due on March 27th and that I'd love that due date. DH and I had a heart to heart yesterday because we needed a plan for our TTC future. We figured out that yes, we can make it on his salary but it will be tight. For now, it's economically more advantageous for me to work and have the girls in after school care, but if/when a baby comes then my salary would all but be eaten up with daycare and work related expenses.

So if/when I do get pregnant, I'd actually be able to be a stay at home mommy to my kids. That's something that I've always wanted, but never could have. I want SO badly for everything to fall into place for our family.

I'm sorry for rambling so much about me. The truth is, I haven't stopped reeling long enough to write out my thoughts until now. So don't feel bad if you just skimmed to the end. Getting all of that off my chest helped immensely, for now!

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Quick update as I am posting from work...

it makes 1000% difference who your Dr is as to how the hysterosonogram feels. I took 3 advil about 45 minutes beforehand, but this Dr was great so it only felt a little worse than a PAP. I was so nervous that I kept trying to clamp my knees shut so it took a few minutes for her to start, and ratcheting the speculum open was definitely not super fun, but really it was not that bad at all!

My Dr will discuss the results and treatment options with me, yada, yada, yada, but the radiologist said that I have a large polyp that is causing the bleeding.

So, at least they found something and there are possible treatment options (which would potentially stop the bleeding and increase fertility...)

I'll keep you posted...

 

[BrightSpot]

Tammy, thanks, sweetie. Big hugs to you! As if the uncertainty of the ttc process isn't enough, now much of your life is turning upside down too. This would be hard for everyone but even worse for someone who is such a planner. 
I can't blame you for feeling so stressed. I think it will all work out (this too shall pass) but the transitional period is so hard. Hoping you have great news (on many fronts!) in a few days. Crossing everything for you, lady!

Bella, I'm so glad the test went well (both comfort wise & results wise). That's a relief that they found what was causing the bleeding & that it's fixable. Even better that the fix could increase fertility! Yay!

Re: herbs, they were pretty unpleasant. Here was my drinking protocol to minimize unpleasantness:
1-pinch nose & down room temperature herbs as quickly as possible. 
2-swish mouth with glass of water & swallow
3-gargle with mouthwash. 
Make sure you have all glasses lined up at the sink before you begin as you'll really want to minimize the time that taste is in your mouth. 

Hi to everyone else. 

Afm, cd3 & just plugging away until my appointment tomorrow morning. 

 

[BrightSpot]

Well, girls, here we go again. I had bloodwork & a baseline u/s today & my first fsh shot tonight. I'm really hoping the 3rd time's the charm but I'm so nervous to be boarding this roller coaster yet again.

Hoping you lovely ladies are having a great week.

 

[pavelover]

Brightbig big hugs it's hard to get back on this crazy train! Wishing you the best for this cycle. This is your first time for fsh? The needle is so skinny I swear you can barely feel it. Since I only did it once I am no expert but if I can help at all I will.
Bella wow! I'm glad you got an answer for what was going in, and I'm happy you had a better experience this time. Hope the fix is an easy one too!
Tammy hope you are hanging in there and the stress is manageable. Wishing good thoughts on the job front.
Jgator your trip sounds dreamy...hope I can do something like that soon.


aFM well af came today CD 28- I already knew in my heart yesterday so I wasn't surprised when I saw spotting yesterday evening. I am finished with IUI . I just don't want to invest time and money when success rates (for my age and situation) are just not good. So that being said I went for a consult at the fertility center and met with a new doctor(head of the dept). He seemed knowledgeable, confident and compassionate - I think I may start an IVF cycle tomorrow! I still need to talk some more to DH and make sure we would have access to the cash (a lot of it needs to be paid in cash) so it may have to wait until next month but personally I'm geared up to start tomorrow!

 

[monkeyprincess]

Well, girls, here we go again. I had bloodwork & a baseline u/s today & my first fsh shot tonight. I'm really hoping the 3rd time's the charm but I'm so nervous to be boarding this roller coaster yet again.

Hoping you lovely ladies are having a great week.

Bright, I'm crossing everything that this new protocol is your answer. Lots of dust for you that the third time is indeed the charm!

Pave, sorry the IUI didn't work in your case, but that's great that you are able to move on to something more aggressive soon.

Thinking of the rest of you!

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Bright-I hope that this cycle has a wonderful suprise for you! Thank you for the herb tips!!! I can't wait to use them I am talking to my accupuncturist about me possibly going to the community accupuncture you recommended on the weeks I can't get down to her as it is a lot more logistically and financially feasible...it'd be fun if we crossed paths there

Went to get my PAP redone this morning, seemed totally fine. Whew!

As for the polyp...it's 2 cm+ and will be coming out in the next few weeks (we are working on scheduling the exact date). I will be THRILLED to get this out, be done bleeding (still going ) and get on with my life and TTC.

And...since this is a bling forum...aside from the intense retail therapy I have been squeezing in on my lunch breaks at work b/c I am so stressed about the polyp/PAP/general WTH is going on inside me stuff I finally took my ebay OEC "chunky" to the jeweler to be taken out of the setting I bought it in so that I can ship it to Sally to make my new pendant. Lo and behold, chunky is a .92ct, 6.5mm, G, SI2 (eyeclean/prongable inclusion near edge)! Since I thought it was a .75 and the seller said it was .8 I am pretty psyched! Hopefully by the end of the summer I'll have a new pendant and a sticky bean

Lots of dust to all my TTC for 6+ or longer peeps Here's to a summer full of sunshine, vacations, BFPs, and sticky beans!

 

[JGator]

Bright, good luck this cycle. Hopefully you will get your well-deserved sticky bean this time around. I believe the 3rd time will be the charm for you (it was for us with our RE).

Pave, good luck to you with your new doctor and IVF.

Bella, good luck with the polyp removal and herbs. Yay, for your OEC too! Bling is a great distraction.

 

[tammy77]

Happy Friday!!

Pave, I'm so sorry that AF showed, but happy to hear that you'll be able to pursue IVI so quickly! That's wonderful! Good luck and keep us posted!

Bright, I'll be thinking of you! I'm so glad that you're on your way for this cycle and praying so hard for you that the 3rd time really is a charm! You deserve it my dear. *hugs*

Bella, 2 cm seems pretty big! I hope that removing it does the trick for TTC and you have some happy news for us soon!! About your OEC, that's ridiculously cool and such a nice surprise! Congratulations and I can't wait to see the finished product!

How is everyone else doing? Curly, Ltl, come out and play!

AFM: I've managed to make it to almost 10 dpo now without testing. I'm ashamed to admit that this is a record for me. I *never* can make it past the morning of 8 DPO. So far, I've gone from "I hope that I'm not pregnant just this one month because it's already chaos" to "If it happens this month, it'll be okay" to "I really REALLY hope that this is our month because even though it'd be hard, I'd love to have a March baby and we do have a plan if it happened now". Ugh, it just hit me like a truck. So of course I can't help but symptom spot. I even perused FF charts today for the first time in ages. Reality tells me it isn't going to happen based on the previous 8 months, but then I look at the statistics of it taking 8-9mo for my age group, statistics for bfps with our timing, blah blah blah and I get 100% wrapped up in obsessing about it. So yeah, that's where I'm at right now.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Hey Tammy . I am here. Just getting though the TWW. I am debating weather or not to see one of my co-workers in her band, the show might not be until mid night, and I have to go into work to do administrative stuff tomorrow. We will see. I hear you on the testing. I bought pregnancy tests last months, but than decided not to test out my HCG and waited until I had my first serum HCG done. I think testing early makes me more anxious. I have too much anxiety how it is. I hear you on the March baby, I would love one too...we will see. Wishing you luck.

Pave - I am glad you like your new doc and hope you are able to do IVF this cycle!

Bright - I am wishing you luck this month and a sticky bean.

Bella - I am glad they found the polyp and hope that your surgery goes smoothly. 20+ days of bleeding sounds horrible.

MP, JGater, Hi .

Still waiting, pregnancy test will either be on Wednesday or Thursday of next week, it is a send out so I will know the results the day after it is drawn.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Good luck Firecracker! Lots of dust.

You too Tammy. I'd like nothing more than for you ladies to get your much deserved bfps!

 

[BrightSpot]

Tammy, I can understand a bit of ambivalence considering the upheaval in your life right now. Still crossing everything that this is your month!!

Pave, thanks. The needles aren't too bad but the other symptoms are kicking my butt. Did you have any of them on fsh?
I'm so sorry the iui didn't work. Hugs. 
That's exciting you can move to ivf so quickly though. Are you going to do it this month or next? Keep us posted on the process. (If this cycle doesn't work for us, we'll be doing ivf next month too.) Tons of dust coming your way. 

Ltl, hoping like crazy this is it for you, lady. Dust your way too!

Bella, great news all around! I'm glad your pap went well & you'll be removing the polyp soon. I'm hoping this is all it takes to get you ku already!  I hope you can see my acupuncturist too. I haven't been in a couple of weeks due to travel (she's only open Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday). That would be so fun if we ran into each other there! I can mention PS & leave my email with her to give to you. 
Great news on the oec too! I'd love one & am so impressed you scored a deal on eBay! Can't wait to see the finished product!

Jgator, thanks sweetie. I hope
so too! Thinking of you & hoping you're well. 

Mp, thank you too, hon! Hoping you & bumby are well! Read any good books lately?

Curly, fisher, how are you guys doing?

Hi to anyone I missed. Happy weekend!

Afm, I'm not loving Gonal f. The injections themselves aren't that bad (dh is doing them for me) but they've left me feeling bloated, tender in the ovary area & just generally yucky & sad.  I really hope they're working. (Of course I spent last night googling OHSS symptoms & have freaked myself out rather well.)  I go in for another u/s this morning to check then we're out of town for another few days. 

Also, mini vent if I may? So I mentioned to my best female friend, who is 8 months pregnant, that we were starting a new cycle with injections. Her response: You'll be fine. Trust me, 10 days of shots is easier than 10 days of third trimester.  Not helpful & made me kinda mad. 

 

[Jen_91909]

Hi ladies, I've been gone for months and some of you may not even know me but I just thout I'd drop in to say hello and wish everyone luck. I know this process gets painful when it drags out.

Bright, I think you may remember me! I hope this IUI works for you, you have been through enough. I wanted to tell you not to worry about ohss. I actually got ohss after my second ivf retrieval and it's quite nasty. But what I want to tell you is that ohss only comes on after trigger injections, not during the "sitmming" process, and is not nearly as common after injectible iuis as the number of follicles recruited is far lower. You will do great. It is totally normal to feel bloated and uncomfortable while on these medications. May I also say that that commen from your friend is entirely insensitive and inappropriate. People really have no idea sometimes how unhelpful they are actually being. I have been told countless times now from friends (who are mothers) that I should just be grateful and appreciate this extra time that it is just me and dh. Again, not helpful. We've appreciated it being the two of us 7 years now. And now we'd like to expand our family. So mind your own business. HA!

Pave- lots dust for your ivf cycle. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Of course, everybody's experience and response in ivf varies dramatically, but if I could be of any help please let me know.

Firecracker, fingers and toes crossed for you.

Tammy, like everyone on this thread I am not happy to see you here! I hope this is your month.

Bella, good luck on your polyp removal. Im sorry you have to deal with that.

As for me I am waiting to start my third ivf retrieval process is about a week. I never thought 6 months ago that we'd be going through this more than once, yet here we are. Long story short is I produce a ton off eggs, most of them fertilize, but then most of the embryos "arrest" between the third and fifth day in the lab. So we are in a program where we do several retrievals, get our embryos that make it to blastocyst stage tested (to see if they are chromosomally normal) and freeze and bank the "normal" ones. I'd like to not go through this process again down the road so our goal is to "bank" enough right now. This is going to be my final cycle regardless of outcome for financial reasons. We will be doing our first transfer in early fall.

 

[JGator]

Bright, that friend is totally out of line. 10 days of shots has to be way worse than 3rd trimester! Particularly for those of us who are needle averse! Thinking of you!

Jen, nice to hear from you. Good luck with your next retrieval. Hopefully, everything will work out for the best, and you will get a really strong embryo implanted in the early Fall.

Firecracker, good luck holding out till Wed or Thursday to test! I hope this is your cycle finally!

Tammy, wow 10 days without testing. Loads of sticky dust going your way!

 

[tammy77]

Hi girls,

Just a sec to post from my phone so forgive me. Bright, that was awful of your insensitive friend. Should remind her that while she may be miserable, She gets a baby for sure in a few weeks, and gets to feel it kick now, etc. There's a huge difference.

I'll come back later for a proper post, just needed to reassure you that you're absolutely right and send you a hug.

 

[pavelover]

Bright, your friend's comment stinks. Hopefully she had a momentary lapse due to hormones or something? Hugs to you though. I think I was extra tired, a little cranky, and bloated on fsh. I was most uncomfortable the day after the IUI to the point where it hurt to walk, go over bumps in the car. It totally went away when I woke up the next day. Hope that helps?

Jen welcome! Thanks for your offer for advice- I will likely take you up on it. I started my ivf cycle yesterday! I feel good about the clinic and the doc. Just hope I can remain positive and optimistic.

Hi to everyone else- I have a BBQ to get to but I had a quick question:
Anyone taking co enzyme q 10 and or dhea can u tell me the doses and do you stop it during the 2ww(dhea)? Thanks in advance.

 

[Jen_91909]

Hi pave,
My clinic has me on 600mg co q 10 per day (200mg 3x per day) and 75mg dhea (they specified to get micronized dhea- my local medical pharmacy that I get my ivf drugs from sells it, and you can order on amazon- but otherwise I don't think you can find it at a cvs or anything like that.) anyway, I take 25mg 3x per day of that. Because I have not actually done an ivf transfer yet, just retrievals, I am not sure about continuing or not during the 2ww. I personally probably would stop them when the time comes but definitely ask your doctor. I'm glad you are happy with your clinic and doctor as that makes a big difference.
What protocol are you on, do you know? Are you using lupron or no?

Jgator, thanks for your thoughts!

 

[BrightSpot]

Jen, of course I remember you!  I'm glad to see you posting again, though not glad to hear about your recent struggles. Hugs to you. I'm so sorry to hear about the embryos arresting development. Do you have some banked  that tested ok? It sounds wise to get all of the injections & retrievals out of the way at once. I'm hoping the next one goes well & you have a healthy one(s?) implanted & growing away come fall. 
Thanks for the reassurance about OHSS. That really eased my mind. I'm so sorry you suffered from that during retrieval #2 though. Was it awful? Did your doc catch it early? I hope it resolved quickly & you're feeling better now. I asked my doc & he said it was very soon to have symptoms but did cut back my dose a bit to be safe. 

Pave, congrats on starting IVF! I'm glad you like your doc & clinic & am really excited to hear about your progress. I hope your sticky bean is right around the corner. Thanks for sharing your symptoms while on fsh. So I guess it'll get worse before it gets better, eh? I'm glad to hear the bloating (& grumpiness!) is pretty common. 

Jgator, thanks for the validation. It's not so much the discomfort of injections vs pregnancy that bothered me, but that the reason I'm enduring this discomfort is because I'm hoping to finally end up where she is now (& don't know if that will happen or not). Kind of like complaining about how your big rock always gets so dirty to your friend who is dying to get engaged. It's just not nice. Thanks for backing me up!

Tammy, thanks so much for your sweet post. I knew you'd understand. Hugs. 
It's funny I was feeling a little guilty about not being as supportive as I'd like to be during her pregnancy (asking about pregnancy details, etc)  because it's just too painful to me to talk about this a lot.  Now I feel less badly about it. 
Maybe I should remind her that she definitely gets a baby at the end of the process. Me-who knows?
How are you doing? Did you test yet? Crossing everything you have good news to share soon. 

Hi to everyone else!

Afm, I had my u/s yesterday morning & doc said my ovaries looked fine & not swollen. He said it was pretty early to have symptoms but he cut my dose in half to 75iu so I wouldn't overstimulate while I'm out of town. I've been feeling a bit better today. I hope I get used to it & don't feel worse again if we need to up the dose again. 

 

[pavelover]

Jen thanks! I am not sure if I can get micronized dhea here (I'm in the Philippines) but I know I can get regular dhea here. Have to get higher dose of co q 10 today so I'll get the dhea they sell there too(at a health food store).

I know what you mean about not expecting to be where you are at- I hope you get lots of good blasts-and that time flies till you can get to transfer. I'm not really sure if my diagnosis is secondary infertility because I already have my son or diminished ovarian reserve (my AMh is pretty low but not severely low). I had an ectopic last year and took a little break, then expected things to go as before as far as getting pregnant but my body disagrees I guess. I am on the antagonist protocol - so far I'm taking gonal f and menopur- I'm not sure of the rest but I think he said he adds in a med to keep the eggs from rupturing ahead of each other?
I'm hoping this works the first time but realistic it might not- we may be moving back to the U.S. In which case I'll have to start over with a new doc but I have one picked out. I think it will be like double the price though...
Do you mind telling me how old you are? What do you know about 3 day vs 5 day transfer- I tried to do a little research and found some stuff that says people my age do better with 3 day transfer- its all a little stressful...

Hope everyone else is well- check in and update us when you can!

 

[tammy77]

Hi Girls,

It's a bad day. Temp dropped at 11 dpo, I broke down during a baptism, then my innocent 7 year old said "what happens if you don't get your period sometime" when I told her she needed to behave because pushing my buttons today was a bad idea.

I'm worn out.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Jen, just checking in with the ladies here, and I was so happy to see you had updated. Sending you lots of dust that between the three retrievals you have your forever baby waiting to be implanted this fall. You have a great attitude, and I really hope to be seeing a BFP announcement from you in the coming months.

Bright, glad to hear you are responding well so far. Boo to your friends comment. Very self-centered and insensitive. Being close to my third trimester, I can tell you that the discomforts of a normal pregnancy are nothing compared to the emotions, frustration and uncertainty associated with trying to get and stay pregnant. I'll be following closely this month and sending you all my best!

Tammy, darnit, I'm sorry you think AF is on the way again. You are at the point where I remember just feeling so defeated, so don't be hard on yourself for feeling that way. Plus, with all of the other chaos you've got going on in your life right now, it is a really tough time. I'm just so hoping that the move will be the start of wonderful things for your family, including a new little member sometime soon.

Sending my best to all of you other ladies. I hope you don't mind me chiming in once in awhile. I just want you to know that you've got cheerleaders from afar wishing you all the best.

 

[BrightSpot]

Tammy, sweetie, big hugs to you. That was totally me last month. It's so hard to stay strong & put on a happy face when your heart is breaking. Even harder at a big family event,  and one centered on a baby no less. Do you have an appointment coming up/ plan for a next step or has the plan changed a bit in light of the upcoming move? Sending tons of energy & good baby vibes your way, as usual. 

Mp, thanks for your sweet post. Part of me wondered if I was being overly sensitive about the friend comment, but thanks for sympathizing from the other side of the great pregnancy divide. Also, I can't speak for the other ladies, but it really warms my heart that you (& jgator & other ttc buddies) are still checking on us & cheering us on over here.  It helps me feel a little less left behind. Thank you. 

Pave & Jen, I don't have much info to add but I'm very interested in the IVF discussion.  Hoping you're both ktfu soon!

 

[tammy77]

Hi Girls,

Pave and Jen, I echo the others. I don't know much at all about IVF but I'm so happy that you both have the option and are moving right along with it. I hope that both of you get your much deserved bfp's very soon. Jen, keep us posted when you do your IVF cycle!

MP, thank you for chiming in and checking on us. It means a lot to me and I'm sure it does for Bright too. I remember your journey and cheering you along in my early TTC days. Thank you, I really mean it. You're wonderful.

Bright, thank you for understanding. I want so badly for this IUI cycle to work and stick for you. I sit here and try to think of what to say to convey just how badly I want you (and everyone on this thread) to have a baby but nothing I can come up with can even come close to expressing my feelings.

This process sucks, no doubt about it. At least for me, I know that I go through this same denial pattern to try to trick myself into not caring as much, but honestly it's a waste of time because eventually the breakdown is going to happen. It's just a matter of when and where.

Regarding my appointment, yes I have one on August 1st. I am going to push for an HSG and 7 dpo progesterone. I might ask for the day 3 estradiol. I did have the FSH and it was normal, so maybe not? I don't know. I know that I'm out for this month and we're moving to cycle 10, into double digits now. If I was like a million other women, I'd be in my third trimester by now, or already holding my baby. It's not supposed to go like this.

 

[JGator]

Hi, Tammy, sorry to hear you are down. I hope your appt on Aug 1 sheds some light. It does not seem to make any sense since you were able to have 2 children previously and your DH's SA checked out okay. Is your appointment with an RE? Maybe you should start researching REs in your new city. If it makes you feel any better, it took us a year to get a sticky pregnancy. I did have a MC and a chemical in between, but it was a full year of charting before a sticky pregnancy and only with the help of Clomid and a trigger shot (on the 3rd try). Good luck and hugs to you.

 

[tammy77]

Hi JGator,

I know, I'm very surprised and worried. I keep worrying that when I had my second c/s they did something wrong. I can't come up with any other explanation. DH's strict kruger morphology was only 5% and they said 'normal' is 4%, everything else was way above normal (volume was 2.7, normal is 1.5; count was 128mil, normal is 15mil, motility was 70, normal is 40) so really he's fine if all of those other things are factored in.

I'm ovulating like clockwork, nothing weird that I can see from my charts except that my LP varies a bit but I think that's influenced by vitamins. I can definitely see an approximately 2 day difference between when I take my B complex and when I don't. My temp also drops for a few days a lot of times before AF shows. Now what that actually means, I have no idea. I really hope this guy helps.

 

[tammy77]

So I did something really dumb, and the results were shocking. I messed with FF's search and input my age as the "equal to" (35) and put in greater than 8 months. The results were 60% ovulatory, 33% pregnancy and the biggest shocker was average months TTC: 20.3. I wish I hadn't done that.

 

[Jen_91909]

Jen thanks! I am not sure if I can get micronized dhea here (I'm in the Philippines) but I know I can get regular dhea here. Have to get higher dose of co q 10 today so I'll get the dhea they sell there too(at a health food store).

I know what you mean about not expecting to be where you are at- I hope you get lots of good blasts-and that time flies till you can get to transfer. I'm not really sure if my diagnosis is secondary infertility because I already have my son or diminished ovarian reserve (my AMh is pretty low but not severely low). I had an ectopic last year and took a little break, then expected things to go as before as far as getting pregnant but my body disagrees I guess. I am on the antagonist protocol - so far I'm taking gonal f and menopur- I'm not sure of the rest but I think he said he adds in a med to keep the eggs from rupturing ahead of each other?
I'm hoping this works the first time but realistic it might not- we may be moving back to the U.S. In which case I'll have to start over with a new doc but I have one picked out. I think it will be like double the price though...
Do you mind telling me how old you are? What do you know about 3 day vs 5 day transfer- I tried to do a little research and found some stuff that says people my age do better with 3 day transfer- its all a little stressful...

Hope everyone else is well- check in and update us when you can!

Hi pave,
I am 31 years old. Our diagnosis is male factor (severely low morphology). I had the antagonist protocol for my first round. I found it to be the easiest to tolerate as it is shorter from start to finish and does not require lupron... For my second cycle I had to do a "down regulation" cycle (also called long lupron protocol) which I hated because I felt crappy on lupron. They had me switch to this protocol bc I responded almost too well to the antagonist protocol and think my eggs "cooked" a bit too quickly. My doctor wanted me to be more suppressed the next time around.

As for transfers, my clinic actually stopped doing day 3 transfers a couple of years ago. Now they either transfer on day 5 or 6 always. They feel if the embryos don't make it to blastocyst (happens day 5 or 6) in the lab that they never would have turned into a successful pregnancy in the womb either. For me, I had about 15-20 embryos still growing on day 3 each time and only a few of these made it to blast... So there is a good chance that for me a day 3 transfer wouldn't have worked unless they managed to pick out a good one from that large group. I would say the longer you can wait, the more confident you can feel that the embryo(s) being implanted is strong. But, different clinic have different policies on these things.

I hope it works for you the first time so you don't have to worry about starting over after coming to the us...of course I just hope it works for you anyway!

Tammy- I am actually not so familiar with FF...so it's telling you right now that others in your situation took 20 months on average to get pregnant? Remind me, is it an RE you're seeing in August?

Mp- thanks for your kind thoughts as always! I admit I may stalk the pregnancy thread once in a while and you are looking great lady!

Bright- yes, we do have several normal embryos banked away in the freezer right now - haha- can that sound any weirder? I feel blessed for what we have. It is hard to know though what will be enough. I considered stopping after the last round but am so scared of it not working and basically running out of embryos. I pray a transfer will work the first time though.
My ohss happened after my second retrieval. I had a moderate case of it... Because I was urinating I didn't need to have fluids drained or anything. I just lied around in pain for about 4 days bloated out of control.. There is not much you can do but wait it out, drink Gatorade all day long and eat a high protein diet. It did hurt like hell though. I couldn't stand upright for 3 days and sleeping the first night was nearly impossible. But by the 5th day I woke up and the storm had passed!
How are you feeling? Better with the lower dose? When is your next u/s?

Afm, I started spotting today so should be getting my period any day now. Then it's day 3 bloodwork to make sure everything's good and onto the birth control pill for a couple of weeks. And that's about it!
I hope within a few months that none of us are left in this thread...

 

[pavelover]

Hi everyone. Sitting here waiting for my bloodwork, then onto appt and u/s to see how the meds are working thus far. Have a lot of time to kill...
Jen thanks for sharing your thoughts- and your story. You are a young in' - that's great! I read a little more today about 5 day transfers- I'm not sure what will happen here. I'm not sure they are skilled at it here as I think its something they are working on and I'm not sure I want to be a guinea pig. So we will have to see how many embryos etc and how things go.
Yeah hopefully I won't have to try any other protocols wouldn't that be great? I got some dhea and started it yesterday. Kind of late in the game but who knows maybe it will help.
So you will be on bcp for a couple of weeks and then do your transfer? Sorry I am getting your schedule confused. Hope you find this time stress free if that's possible, lol. Your experience with ohss sounds pretty intense- hope we all steer clear of this.


Tammybig hugs! I didn't plug any numbers into ff but getting statistics from an RE was really distressing and depressing honestly. That's not to say that you won't have a different (shorter time to conception). So keep taking your supplements and try to continue to think positive! Im sorry though that you (we) all have to go through this though. It really stinks.

Monkeyprincessplease check on us often! Before I started posting I read all the pages here and followed your story. If I remember correctly you went through ivf and had success on your first try, am I right? I like to keep stories like that front and center in my mind. If you have any advice or want to share experiences I am all ears! How are you feeling? I also stalk the pregnancy thread etc and love seeing those growing bellies.
Jgatorhow are you? Hope you are feeling fine

BrightHow are you feeling? How's everything working out with the travel/testing, etc? Hope I didn't scare you sharing how I felt on fsh. I'm on a triple dose now plus menopur. I don't feel much different just tired, lol. It might be better if I worked or something so I wouldn't concentrate on being tired, lol.Thanks for the well wishes, by the way.
Ltlfirecrackerhow are you? U are getting closer to beta day? Fingers and toes crossed. I tested like a maniac myself and it just brought me anxiety so don't be like me

BellamezzoHow are you? Get everything scheduled? Hope you are feeling fine and get to move past the polyp removal Lickety split.Your rock sounds awesome. I love oec's.

If I missed anyone Hi! And sorry about that. Thanks for all the support and well wishes. It's so nice to have you guys really. I didn't really share that I'm doing ivf with many people- so thanks for being here.
I'm cd 5 I guess and as I said waiting for labs/u/s and appt. Hopefully the doc will be happy with what he sees. Retrieval should be next tues or we'd depending on how things go...