Donor Conception General Chatter #8

Hi Everyone

Gargy - Yay on starting IVF soon!! Hope it all goes well!

Well as expected they did not find any sperm from DH today. I am glad we went through with the search.. least we now have closure on it. (I am sure DH is not glad at this point in time!) He is on some good pain killers so hopefully he wont feel too much pain over the next few days.

Well had another blood test and ultrasound this morning... I have 2 follicles at 1.8mm (yay!) The next biggest is at 1.3mm so hopefully a couple of these get to the 1.8mm by Friday. I go back on Friday to have another blood test and ultrasound and pretty sure I will have my trigger over the weekend and egg collection on Monday.
I will be sooo happy if they can get 4 or 5 eggs :pray: I guess it's a good sign that a couple of them have grown quite a bit over the past 2 days!
I am just going to stay positive and not worry too much about the doctors saying that I am not having a good reaction and blah blah blah. Only good positive thoughts for me!!

Tarkine - Have you started thinking of baby names? How is the pregnancy going? Are you getting a bump? Hope your not feeling sick anymore!

Chat to you all soon.....
:hug:

:hello: joy - we have started pushing around baby names - although we can't decide - my tummy popped out last tuesday - just in time for the trip to adelaide :)

Hi everyone

Never know I might be joining you here, one or two more tries with my tired old eggs then I think we are going the donor way :wiggle:

Joy...hope everything is going ok with you and you are able to trigger this weekend.

Hi Everyone

Thanks Minniemouse! Yep I am having my trigger at 9.30pm Sunday night then go in on Tuesday for egg collection! I am so glad that they never cancelled this cycle... I was worried there for a while! I have 1 big follie 2.2mm then I have quite a few that are at 1.7 & 1.6mm. The nurse said these should grow over the next couple days so I am hoping we get a few good ones! Like I said before I will be happy with 4-5, anything more will be a bonus! I am glad egg collection is happening soon... I am a little over the spray and injection. I have been taking the spray for 28 days and the injections for 18 days! I think I was taking them a bit longer cos my follies are growing quite slowly (slowly but surely!)

Hope everyone is well ;)

Hi all, sorry all, catch up will have to wait for a few days....I forgot to cancel my subscription to the poor immune club:rolleyes: and have consequently gone down in yet another screaming heap, I have a raw and really irritated throat and feel like I have been coughing razor blades and also have the start of a chest infection...I really can't believe it....and Gargy I don't need any company in here so you are more than welcome to stay away from the P.I. club OK.
Am in the middle of the feeling really lousy stage of the illness so I will be back in for a catch up when I have managed to catch myself up just a little.
The countdown has begun........5 work days to go.....(if I manage to make it back for my final week looking a little doubtful at this stage)

all the best with the trigger joy - I'm going offline for a few days had some terrible family news and will probably be heading back to adelaide this week.. take care of yourselves and your loved ones :hug:

Joy,

So glad that your follies had a growth spurt! Just looking at the time - your trigger would have been an hour ago. Hope everything continues to go well!

Tarkine,

So sorry that you have received this news. I'm sending all my best wishes to you.

Futuremum,

You are definitely welcome! Let us know if you are following the donor path.

Hello Miss MinnieMouse!!

Blizz,

The club is also running strong in the Sydney chapter. DH has viral bronchitis, my throat is also filled with razors, I'm coughing and my ears are bubbling. Grrrr - I am really over this!

However I had the call from the IVF clinic to book in, so I will be fixing this up on Monday.

Take care all!

woo-hoo on the IVF start Gargy, I am really excited for you

tarkine sorry to hear that you are facing sad news, take care of yourself and your little family
love to everybody else, will be back soon still feeling a tad lousy

Tarkine - Sorry to hear your have received bad news.... look after yourself :hug:

Well had my trigger last night. I think DH put the needle in too far cos my stomach is sooo sore where he did the injection! I have to be at clinic at 7.30am tomorrow and then collection will be at 8.30am and should be able to come home at bout 10.30am. Will let you know how it goes... Hoping they get some good little eggs.... :pray:

:hug: to everyone

Tarkine - so sorry for your bad news..take care..

Joy - BEST of luck for tomorrow...enjoy the happy juice...

Gargy - so when are you starting love?? long cycle or short one?? ie: spray or lucrin needles vs antagonist needles...too confusing for an IVF virgin huh?

Blizz - feel better ...so much sickness still around..hopefully this warmer weather will zap it outta here.

Hi Everyone

Well egg collection went very well!! I was so nervous when I went into theatre cos I have never been under anaesthetic before!
My follies must have grown over the last few days cos they ended up with 10 eggs!! They actually got 11 but one of them did not look too good so 10 it is!! So glad most of the hard work is over for me!! So we find out tomorrow how many have fertilised... fingers crossed we get good results! :pray:
I am just going to relax on the couch for the rest of the arvo... feeling pretty good just a little crampy....

Chat to you all soon
:hug:

Fantastic news Joy! Have everything crossed for you.

Minnie Mouse - have booked in for the 29th Sept. Reading the chart, I start with provera (Briggy's Girl warned me about the side effects! - I have already warned DH!). They have Agonist, Lucrin injection as well as Synarel nasal spray all in the one bracket, so I presume this happens together (?????) Yes, definitely feeling the IVF virgin!

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your precious eggs Joy but 10 is a great result well done.
I can't be a whole lot of help for you Gargy it seems so long ago that I went through the IVF cycle as all of the FET's that we had between Paige and this PG have been from the first batch.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you to sweets that you grow a healthy crop of eggs
well back to work for me tomorrow, it is a lot easier to face when you know that you are only 3 days away from being finished for good.
have just tucked Paige in for the night DH has gone back to work for the first time since we started holidays on the 1st of September (not bad for only having to take 5 actual leave days, guess that is the bonus of working shift work)
We are looking forwards to the fact that we will be at home when DH comes off shift rather than missing each other due to my work commitments.
Paige seemed a little lost tonight, think she had started to get used to having dad around all of the time.
We are getting our Laundry rennovated....yipeeeeeee, it is the one room in the house that won't change with the new rennovations (if we can ever afford to do them)
SO not only am I getting a new laundry but a new dryer and front loader washing machine as well (which is bigger than my current one, just in time for even more washing)
have picked and brought our tiles and picked the laminate colours for the bench top and cupboard doors, DH will start stripping the laundry ready for work when he gets back on Sunday arvo.
I'll have to take a before and after picture I always tend to forget to do these things till it is too late.
Well I am going to watch NCIS before I clean the kitchen and pack lunches so will be back another night.
Night all, Allie B xxxxxx

Hey Blizz,

Must have been nice for all three of you to have some time together. No wonder poor little Paige is feeling a little lost!

Laundry renovations should be really great when they are done.

Hi everyone!

Not much to report here - we both still have this horrible cough - so bad I ended up with a bad headache last night.

I am feeling so very frustrated by it all.

Wow Joy - great news...am so glad things improved so much for you. Hope tomorrows call is a goodie and lots fertilised..

Gargy - you make me laugh. I remember way back when I started. Antagonist, Lucrin and Synarel - you will do one of these...not all 3. These stop ovulation. Then you will also take either Gonal F or Puregon - these are FSH which grow the follies..
All very over-whelming for the first time...but you'll start to get it eventually. I thought it was all Japanese when I started.

Blizz - great news about the laundry - just love a new appliance..

Hi Everyone

Thanks for the well wishes!!! Well got the call this morning and out of the 10 eggs 2 were immature so we have 8 and out of the 8 we have 7 that fertilised!! We are happy with this result! So now we find out on Friday if we go in for a day 3 transfer (which will happen on Friday) or we go in on Sunday for day 5 transfer. So hoping they grow big and strong!! :pray:

Still have some cramping so another day on the couch for me...

Chat with you all soon

:hug:

That's great news Joy.

Sending growing dust your way!

Great news Joy...that's an excellent result....

Now...let's hope they all stick to the plan and grow nicely for you..

not staying for long just wanted to shout............................................. .................................................. .....2 MORE DAYS TO GO!!!!!!!!!roll on Maternity leave

ps Joy that is a great result well done sweets

Hi All, I'm a newbie although I've been following this thread for a few weeks now. I just want to say that when I'm despairing you all give me a great deal of hope (Especially Joy08 - you probably didn't know this!). My DH (35) and I (33) have been TTC to 12 months now and recently found out that he has no sperm (2 tests). I think you all know the emotions that follow that!?! We've had our first round of consults, counselling, etc at MIVF and now the sperm guru (doctor) still wants my DH to deliver a weekly sample for the next 5 weeks. We've gone from being told no chance, to maybe a chance, to again no chance after his FSH levels showed 26.9!, to maybe a chance, and to do some more tests, then probably a biopsy. We've also been advised by the doc to start making our way down the donor route simultaneously - which is a tough thing to get our heads around until we have a definitive 'no chance'.

Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get another counselling appointment for 5 weeks to start discussing the donor issues, which I think is why i've decided to join this forum. I need to talk about it and get a sense for what's in store, what the process is, what the considerations are. Do we start to put the feelers out for known donors (I think our preference), is there sufficient anon. donors in Victoria, how do you ask/choose one, how do you resolve all this against all the heartache?

I look forward to getting to know you all better over time.

Hi Lieve,

Yes, definitely remember the roller coaster of emotions that happen after you discover that DH has no sperm. Here's some hugs for you :hug:

Must be hard also not to have a definitive answer.

If you are going to go down the known donor path, then yes, I would start to put out feelers now.

Not sure what the situation concerning donors is like in Melbourne - your clinic will be able to tell you for sure.

It is hard, moving through the heartache, and some days will be better than others.

This is a great place to gain the support you need. Looking forward to chatting with you too.

Welcome Lieve to our little group, it is certainly a hard road to go down with many bumps in the road, and some times you feel like you hit the same bump over and over and over again.
We have a brilliant support base here for people facing the donor option.
like Gargy said you are more than welcome and I too send you some hugs :hug::grouphug: I do know the devestating shock of finding out you have no sperm
I wish you well on your journey and remember we are here to answer any questions that we can

Blizz...

One more day to go, la, la, la, la, la, la!!!

ooooohhhhhh don't I know it, I am sooooooooo counting down the hours and minutes, I can't remember ever feeling ths tired (or this huge)
as a bonus one of my work mates swapped times with me so I no longer have to work till 6:30pm which I am really happy about.
must be a good week....It's my birthday on Sunday as well!!!!
Hope you are feeling a little better hon I really think we both deserve a good holiday from bugs and lergies!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh well I need to climb in to bed will be able to pop in a little more reguarly soon
might be needing the adult companionship and conversation (there really is only so much Dora the explora you can take before going insane)

Thanks Gargy and Blizz for your warm welcome and cyber hugs, they were very well received. I spend countless hours reading everything I can about azoospermia, and how there are so many different reasons for this. Is anybody happy to share their backgrounds with me on this and the process followed to get to the final decision to go with donor sperm'? My husband was born with undescended testicles, only having them 'dropped' at 8 years of age. This is appearing at face value to be the root cause resulting in irrepairable damage, but I guess until further investigation we're not entirely sure, and maybe afterall it's not that important, and it does no good to look backwards (excuse my musings). Oh, and to top it off we've since found out I have pcos (apparently also quite common?!).

Blizz - congratulations on finishing up at work, it must be an amazing, exciting feeling.

Hi Everyone

:welcome: Lieve! I am glad that I have given you some hope!! It is such a shock when you find out that DH has no sperm. My DH had 2 seminal analysis - which both came back as zero sperm. He then had a biopsy which came back the same - nothing. We were then referred to a fertility clinic. He had some blood tests and it showed that his condition was not genetic, we were then given the option to do another sperm search where they looked high and low for sperm and again nothing. The clinic started me on an IVF cycle and timed DH's operation in with this in case they did find any sperm this could have been used to fertilise eggs, however this was not to be! DH's condition is called Sertoli Cell Only Syndrome - so he does not have the cells to produce sperm. We both really want a family so going with the donor option is good for us.
Like Blizz said there is a great support network within this forum - I have found it has helped me so much! It's nice to be able to chat with others in similar situations as yourself. Here is another hug for you... :hug: Oh and I have PCOS too. I kinda suspected I had it though so was not too much of a shock finding out. The doctor said on a scale of 1-10 I am about a 3. As long as I keep exercising and eat healthy then everything will be fine!

Blizz - Last day today!!! You must be so happy!!!

Well as for me the clinic called this morning and out of the 7 that fertilised we had 4 really good ones and the other 3 are a little slow but will see how they go and will find out on Sunday how they are getting on!
So we went in this morning and had 1 little embie transferred!! Was a little nervous but the whole procedure is not painful at all and was so quick!! So we are now in the TWW!! I am just relaxing for the rest of the day ;)

Hope everyone else is travelling well... chat with you all soon :hug:

oh joy, I wish you well for the dreaded TWW, don't give in to POAS (even though I have done numerous times, hee hee)


Lieve: our story and journey are pretty simple we didn't even get as far as tests or Biopsys for DH he has a genetic condition called Kleinfelters Syndrome which basically means his body doesn't and never has produced testosterone as he has an extra female chromosone in his make up so basically his testicals never developed past that of an infant so definately a big fat zero on the sperm count, we went through a period of grieving a counseller we saw explained to us that what we were going through was equivilent to the grief of losing a loved one and it took us some time to come out of the dark hole especially for DH who felt like he had let me down.
the turn around came when we saw our brilliant FS who helped put things in to perspective and DH came around quickly to the idea of using DS it is amazing how quickly your perceptions change when you are faced with no other choices and we began our IVF journey we started with IUI for 6-8 months (can't quite remember the time frame) which was unsuccessful and then moved in to ICSI my DD was the result of my first FET as the fresh transfer didn't work.
When DD was 1 we started back to try for a sibling and have had approx 7 FET one was my angel baby lost in Nov 07 and we are now expecting a DS, big brother for our little princess.
this is it pretty much in the nut shell!!!!


Well ladies it has been a bittersweet day today.....I am more than a little relieved to have finally finished work, don't think I could have worked the extra 2 weeks I was planning to if I tried.

Got home had take away chicken and vegies for tea then my SIL called me to tell me she needed to come up to see me and basically to cut a long story short, my mum was arrested and charged with shoplifting this morning!!!!!

I knew we would start seeing signs of the dimensia at some stage but was really hoping the serious stuff would be a little bit furthur away than this.

apparently she picked up 4 identical items and walked around the store picking the tags off them then went in to the dressing room and put 3 singlet type (tummy trimmers) on top of each other and another in her bag, and then went to leave the store.

My sil only found out incidentally when mum failed to arrive home in time to meet her as she had arranged and mum confessed she had been at the police station but it was "just a misunderstanding??????" My SIL went to get the whole story as mum had told her that they(the police) wouldn't allow her to call anyone (which we already knew was untrue) apparently this was the second time in 2 weeks where she had stolen something having stolen 2 pairs of knickers the week before from the same store.

The really sad thing is she genuinely can't understand that she has done anything wrong
so dad told her tonight that she would need to have somebody with her at all times when she goes in to town.

I know that the mum I have known all my life would be absolutely horrified of having done this.

Her condition basically effects the social part of the brain including the ability to determine right from wrong.....I guess I hadn't realised how hard this illness might be on not only mum but our whole family....I think I am still a little in shock.
Mum will have to go to court so I don't realy know what will happen,I just needed to vent this out in a trusted space
Well I need to go to bed and attempt to sleep as I am absolutley exhausted
love to you all Allie

Joy,

(in spooky voice) Stay away from the POAS :p

Blizz,

I'm so sorry to hear about your Mum. That will be hard - trying to make sure that someone is with her at all times.

So excited though - Angus is almost here!!! :dance:


Lieve - to answer your question (sorry this is long, but it has been a long process!!!)

Firstly me: I'd had an ovarian cyst when I was 15, which had to be removed as it was swelling. However the PCOS diagnosis was a long time coming, when I was around 25. The worst of it: I had bleeding for 10 weeks, then periods go missing for 9 months. Coupled with clueless gynaecologists, it was hard going for a while there.

However, I got a really good GP who did the glucose fasting test, and put me on Diabex, which helped a lot. I also found a great natropath who seems to have my cycles back in order. This was only in the last few years.

I came off the Pill when I was 25. Nothing happened. At 27 we started investigating, and DH did a sperm test. No sperm. Actually the FS was fairly clueless and sent him for a DNA test too - which upset DH no end. After the same FS told me that "everything is going to be fine" - something that sticks with me because of the absolute stupidity of the statement - we moved to Westmead IVF.

They did a biopsy and found that DH had no sperm in the testes either. They recommended at the time we had a donor ready - but DH was not ready. Initially he said no, no children, ever. I tried to live with this but I couldn't.

So he and I went to counselling. It took time, and there were other issues to sort out as well, but he realised that genetics did not make a father. He also did an IQ test and found out how intelligent he really was, which also helped because he decided to go to uni part time.

We were also seeing a natropath who promised to return DH's sperm. I thought it was dubious, but I gave it 6 months for DH's sake. However (obviously) it didn't work. Our new FS took one look at DH's testes and said - no, you were never going to have sperm there.

I found out later (via a comedian's spiel, of all things!) about an orchidometer - a physical representation of the testes. The commedian told us he had 'spaznuts' and one of the reasons why was because of the small testes. I went 'ah, so that's how our FS knew just by looking!'

So we started with an unknown donor in Feb 2006, using IVF. I was 35, thinking that this was going to work. Unfortunately it didn't. DH's brother then offered to be a donor, but then pulled out as he felt he couldn't distinguish between a child that was his, and a nephew/niece. Also, my BIL and his wife put so many conditions on the donation which did not agree with our philosophy (eg we were not to tell the child who their biological dad was) so we had decided not to pursue this way anyway.

We tried again in June with the unknown donor and again it didn't work. Then I had to have an operation to get rid of my gallbladder. By the time we came back to the clinic all the donors had hit their 10 family limit, and there were no more donors left.

The night before we went to the clinic, we had been out to dinner with my gay friend. He was very interested in the procedure and volunteered to help, should we need him.

We took him up on the offer and he has been a godsend. He has been put through counselling, questions about his sex life etc, all done with patience. However, the road has not always been smooth - usually because deadlines are not necessarily his priority!

We used his sperm this year in Feb, but no luck. I was devistated, because I thought it would work. However, we are about to start at the end of the month with IVF.

So that's our - very long winded - diagnosis and decision to go with a donor!

:

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I found out later (via a comedian's spiel, of all things!) about an orchidometer - a physical representation of the testes. The commedian told us he had 'spaznuts' and one of the reasons why was because of the small testes. I went 'ah, so that's how our FS knew just by looking!'

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hee, hee the urologist we visited showed us the lovely visual representation he had..... it was called 'the rosery' a selection of egg shaped balls that increased in size along the string all hand crafted out of native Tasmanian timbers....DH was pretty devestated to know that his testes had never developed past the stage of an infant.
Pretty chuffed now though as he had an operation to remove both testes and all of the nerve endings as he was in constant pain and now has testes the right size for a man his age (silicone prosthesis) who knew you could get prosthetic nuts???????

:

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the lovely visual representation he had..... it was called 'the rosery'

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It's the same thing Blizz - the rosary is it's nickname! Although very impressive that it was made out of Tasmanian timbers.

I have a sneaking suspicion the urologist DH went to probably did the same thing - but he was so traumatised by the incident of them doing a DNA test "Do they think I'm a monkey?" that he probably blocked it.

:

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who knew you could get prosthetic nuts???????

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Nope - learn something new everyday!!

Miss Blizz!!!

:happybirthday:

You sneaky person - I only saw the notice at the bottom of BB!

can't sneak anything past you Gargy, LOL

Hi Ladies

I just have a quick question for you Blizz... did you do day 3 or day 5 embie transfers? (If you dont mind sharing this info!) Just curious as I had a day 3 transfer and have been doing some research on day 3 vs day 5 transfers and I have read a lot of success stories from each of these. So just curious really!!

Sorry cant stay long but will pop back in over the next few days.....

:)

Joy, I think from memory they were day 3 embies, I don't remember staying in Hobart long from egg harvest to transfer so I reckon this would be right

Hi Lieve - the best thing I found was to read up on Donor issues - there are many complications and the best way forward is the best way for you both.

Joy - Yah!! I had blastie transfer but that was what the FS signed me up for - i think it depends on the clinic and the FS.

Blizz - happy birthday and oohh are you on mat leave now?

Gargy - go girl go!! Syneral tasted terrible and my advice is to do it quickly - press hard and quick on the spray and someone said have an orange afterwards to take away the taste!

MM- how are you travelling?

Me - I'm tired and exhausted - Adelaide was a task and a half and I'm really glad we went when we did to help out my pregnant SIL (with her active 15mth old). It was a tragedy and terrible for everyone left behind.

Take care of yourselves. xxoo

good to see you back Tarkine, hope you and your family are OK?
how are you feeling PG wise? not too much MS I hope, bet you are exhausted being away from home always does this too me not to mention stressful situations which from the sounds of it you've had recently as well.
Well I am officially up to day 3 of Maternity leave and Loving it!!!!!!! (I promise I'll stop counting after the first week) will be time for Angus's countdown then I guess, I am so much bigger this time than I was with Paige and he is really active (and quite pushy) at the moment especially when I have just settled in to bed at night.
We brought Paige a big girl trike with pedals today, she had really outgrown her baby push along bikes, also has a dora the explorer helmet which she has been proudly wearing.
We have had the plumber and the electrician do their bits for the laundry, the builder has put in the frame for the slider door and the plasterer will be here tomorrow morning at 8:30 so I won't be far out of bed tonight (didn't get to bed till after midnight last night due to helping DH put together some items that a customer had ordered), feeling like I am running on the bottom third of a tank of petrol.
have got mums court date for next month and have booked Paige in to day care DH will be working day shift.
well don't have any other news feeling a little vague, night all and take care

Blizz - bummer about your mum being caught for shop lifting

yah for mat leave!! I'm really looking forward to mine and meeting bubs - I've been waking at 4am for the past week, unable to get back to sleep properly, along with aching shoulders and hip joint I feel like I'm 90!! - maybe just preparation for bubs coming along!!
Family is ok - plodding along, loads of unanswered questions and why's at this stage.
Going off to do a buddhist meditation and see if I can at least find some peace for an hour or so..

xxoo

have been playing with my user profile have a look and tell me honestly what you think...is it too much?????? started playing with it after seeing Sarah.H's it looked cool