IVF with PGD #8

LOL Elle i was a bit confused about the Gumbo edcuit at the top of your post! Thought i'd missed something. That's really rude of the nurse to say that, I really hate how tactless people can be. GL with the rest of your jabbing!

Sunbeam - I'm sorry you had a pooh weekend, it was a good idea to go home and have some time to your self. Try to positive about what's ahead and don't think too much about what your going to do if this doesn't work. I know it's easy to say, we all do it. I would say an acupuncturist that specializes in fertility would be better, it sounds like you found a good one now tho! I hope your feeling better :hug:

Andie - I wouldn't know what to ask either, I guess the only advice i can give is to ask any questions that pop into your head while your there (no matter how small). Good luck tomorrow, be sure to tell us how you went.

AFM - Had my third and last BT today, my HCG is looking good 39903 and progesterone is looking good too. Starting to feel like it is real, but am so afraid to get too excited still. Oh ROLL ON 25/10!!

Hi to everyone else xox

Hi ladies! Just wanted to see how everyone is?
Andie how was ur appt?

Hi Girls,

Andie- How did it go do you have heaps of information now?

J. Bear - How far along will you be by the 25th, it seems ages since your BFP?

Elle -That's very interesting about the use of the Ovidrel. I often don't O on my own either and my LH is always really low still before my trigger. Minnie has been explaining to me that the LH is needed to make testosterone which is needed to make estrogen (I apologise if I have any of that info wrong, but that's vaguely what I recall). The DHEA is supposed to increase testosterone too so it will be interesting to see if it makes a difference. I usually get good numbers but big drop off, but my last donor also had very poor sperm so it will be hard to compare with this time. Do you have an EPU date?

AFM- Well it's finally here, my cycle has started, first injection was this morning 350iu (god help my poor ovaries)!!. I had a scan yesterday and FS said it was perfect, very thin lining and lots of tiny follies waiting to be stimulated. :D Famous TV person went in to see my FS before me too (won't say who) bit exciting!
I'm loving my new acupuncturist, I was there for 1 1/2 hours this morning, I came out soooooo relaxed! I'm not even minding the new herbs though they are a bit odd and smell like cinnamon and liquorish.

Sneaking in to stalk sunbeam! Yay to jabbing :) and to getting on the way. I am curious as to who went in before you now lol x

Hi all!

Sunbeam - that's great news - you are on your way! Wishing you heaps of luck!! Any hints on the celeb?! Haha!

AFM - I'm struggling a bit. It looks like a 3 follicle cycle for me and I just don't know where that leaves me. I'm really sad and disappointed. I have started injecting Cetrotide now in addition to the others and have another scan and BT on Mon. I guess I just have to wait and see what my FS says after that. I'm driving myself a bit nuts over here...

Oh Elle that's no good babe I'm so sorry. I've not heard of cetrotide,what does it do?

Thanks for the stalk Joeve I hope I get to join you soon.

hi girls,

i know i have been MIA, has taken me a while to pick myself up after the failed cycle & we have had a bad run of sickness here, the latest is i have an infected tooth that needs to come out and it is SO painful

Elle is it possible to do multiple stims before testing with pgd if your numbers are looking small ? i spoke to my fs about us doing that this week and he has agreed to me doing that 2 or 3 stims and getting everything frozen and tested at the same time.

jbear: great numbers, not too long until your scan :)

joespratt: i read your update on another thread :hug:

andie: what's happening with you ?

hi brightfuture, i hope you are going well

hi everyone else :hello:

hi ladies, hope you all had a lovely weekend.

appt went well, counsellor was not as cheesey as some of the ivf counsellors i have had in the past. one thing i learnt was that they will be able to detect which chromosome/s are abnormal within the embryo. i thought that they just told you if embryo was normal or abnormal, so that was interesting. still on the pill here, nursing & accts appts on wednesday, so hopefully will finally find out when i start jabbing/sniffing etc. still spotting, which is driving me mental. :rolleyes:

minnie - ouch, that sounds painful. i hope you have some good pain relief. i have been putting off the dentist visit for too long... im such baby, im a bit scared... :redface:

elle - how did your scan & BT go today? im sorry your last scan wasnt what you hoped. my clinic also lets you bank embryos if you get small numbers (like minnie mentioned), from memory they let you bank up to 6-7. not sure how you feel about it, but could be an option. :hug:

jbear - sounds like things are going well, best wishes for your upcoming scan.

sunbeam - yay for jabbing! im jealous, wish i was at that stage now. i find it frustrating being on the pill. how are you feeling, a few doses in?

hi to everyone else. :)

Hi Andie- I'm glad the counselling session went well. I'm 3 days in and I'm already getting twinges in my ovaries not that I'm surprised on 350iu, I'm just glad I talked FS down from 450! I can sympathise with the waiting game I felt like I was on the pill forever! I hope you get to the jabbing stage soon. Sorry the spotting is still going, that's a real nascence.
I am waiting to hear back from the clinic that does the genetic testing here to find out if they will freeze day 3 embies if we only had a few and wanted to do another stim before testing. That seems like a sensible plan to me given the cost of the testing.

Hi lovely ladies,

Hope all are travelling well & moving forward in their cycles.

Sunbeam, just read your updates & sending you :heartbeat: and :hug:

I'm going well, 10 weeks this week, I've got a GP appt next week & then ultrasound on the 1st, counting down the sleeps! I've been driving myself insane thinking something is going to go wrong so I have banned myself from too much internet & forums, and staying in positive thinking space only. But I do pop in to see how all you gorgeous people are going, and every night as I'm going to sleep I say a few little prayers for all of my friends facing IF. Sticky vibes to all!!! :pray:

Hi Bright*future I was just thinking of you this morning and wondering how things were going. 10 weeks that's fantastic babe I can't wait to hear all about your scan (hopefully by then I will be lying on the lounge PUPO). I can totally sympathise with the stressing that something will go wrong, I wonder if that ever goes away for those of us that have had losses, I hope so it will be a long 9 months if not!!
Thank you for all your hugs and prayers :hug:

Sunbeam, I'm glad you're happy with your new acupuncturist. How's the jabbing coming along? I'll be 8 weeks and 5 days on the 25th...eeek!

Andie, thanks for the well wishes! I'm sorry your still spotting I hope it stops soon and you get to start your cycle. The waiting is the worst I know you just want to get started but it will be here before you know it.

BF! Great to hear from you, I know what you mean about driving yourself insane thinking about the what if's. Look after yourself and stay positive (i'll be sending you positive vibes for you and your little one) xo

Minnie - Great to hear from you too. Sorry to hear you've had a bad run of sickness in your house, toothaches are the worst too! Hope you feel better soon.

AFM - I'm still constantly analyzing every feeling. I haven't had any real MS, just get dizzy and occasionally nauseous, so i'm worried about whats going on in there! C'mon 25 AUG.

sunbeam - did you hear back from clinic about banking embryos? had any scans to check progress in there yet?!

elle - thinking of you, hoping you're going ok.

bf & jbear - glad to hear your updates, sounds like things are going nicely for you both.

afm - started syranel yesterday, gross. forgot how much i disliked it. i have a scan on the 30th and if things look as they should, start puregon the same day. had nursing & accts appt this week too. had to put my hands over my ears and go to my happy place when discussing the costs... :o

So not good news today. While I should be 8w4d pregnant today, I just had my second scan that has confirmed, that while I (am) was pregnant, no little bubba has grown. While I have had just over a week to process this since my first scan, it was still hard to hear the news and see the scan. Was hoping against hope that the outcome would be different but I suppose deep down, realistically, I knew that the news wouldn't be good. Still hard though. Will see what life brings. I have still been blessed with my precious DD so if it's not meant to be, I am still very very lucky

wishing everyone good fortune!

Joe I am so so soooooo sorry to hear your news. Sending you lots of love and comfort. :comfort:

Joe I'm so sorry - big hugs

I'll write more later but just wanted to say I'm so sorry for your sad news, Joe. Thinking of you! And what a beautiful outlook to be thinking of how lucky you are. Wishing you even more luck in your future!

Hi girls,

Joe - I am so so sorry to hear your news, how devastating, especially after all the effort of pgd. Huge hugs sweetie :comfort:

Andie - Whoo, things are starting for you that is great news :dance:

J.Bear - OMG is it the 25th yet? It feels like it is taking forever!! (Taps fingers impatiently!!) Lol you put the 25th AUG in your post, think by then bub might be a bit over cooked :lol:

Hi Elle, BF and Minnie :hello:

AFM - I had a bt yesterday and my E2 was 2905 so they got me in for a scan and bt today (thankfully because I really did not want to have to wait till tues to find out what is going on in there). My E2 today is 4672 and I have 10 follies on each ovary all 12-14mm and my lining is at 8mm. They are a little worried as I am quite bloated and said they will call to check on me on monday and another bt on tues. FS seemed happy with everything and has left me on 350iu. The bloating is not really bothering me but the stabbing pains in my boobs I could do without, ouch!

Hi lovely ladies!

Andie - Wed is just around the corner and you''ll be jabbing before you know it! I'm glad to hear the ball is rolling (and you will be off that pill soon, too!).

b*f - Exciting!! Good job with the self-imposed ban - hard but necessary! Haha! Hopefully the 1st is here before you know it.

J.Bear - Just a few days to go! Eeeee!!

Sunbeam - Sounds great - 10 follies on each side, I would be so thrilled! I hope the bloating and boob pains (ouch!) settle. Keep us updated. What is your EPU date again? I think they must do things differently here - my EPU was dictated by scans, BTs etc (pretty much last minute - do your trigger tonight, retrieval in 2 days..). I'm guessing the different FS's and clinics have their own protocols-?!

AFM - Crazy week! I have been going in for BTs and/or scans daily. They ended up calling it as a no-go cycle for PGD fairly early on with the plan that we would go through EPU and see how we go, then freeze and do another cycle, then batch the 2 together for biopsy and PGD. Nothing seems to have gone the way I was 'planning'/expecting. I feel as though I have just been taught a big life lesson -- I really can't plan the unplannable/control the uncontrollable. It's hard to relinquish control and realise that some things are just out of my hands. I don't know if you will know what I mean, but it has been an important thing for me to realise. Sooo... EPU ended up happening today! I was so nervous and just wanted it to be over with and to know what was going on in there! Haha! Turns out they retrieved 7 eggs (at one stage, via scan, it was looking like 2-3 max so I was pleasantly surprised, even though I know it's still not the best number). So I will be talking to the embryologist tomorrow and finding out about their fertilisation. Things feel a bit up in the air now, though, because at 2-3 eggs, PGD was clearly not a good idea but what if 6 or 7 fertilise? Does anyone know the rules as to how many you can freeze and batch together with another cycle? I thought it was around 3 only, but I could be wrong. So now I don't know if it is too late to even do PGD on these little embies, as it was called off early in the cycle. How much notice do they need? Good thing I'm working on that lovely lesson of not trying to plan the unplannable! Anyway, at the moment I will marvel at the fact that we have eggs fertilising as we speak - amazing! Any experience/advice any of you have would be so much appreciated at this point. Surely I'm not the only one whose PGD cycle has been uncooperative...

Take care, ladies!

Joe - I'm still thinking of you and wishing nothing but the best for you on your journey.

Hey elle - Whoo 7 is my lucky number. I'm so glad you got more than you expected that's a nice surprise :clap:. I hope you get great fertilisation. I know what you mean it is hard to decide how many is a good number to PGD. I spoke to the scientist at my clinic yesterday and she said the Brisbane clinic will freeze on day 3 if there are not many and you want to do another stim cycle to add to them but I don't know how many is not many. FS said we won't need to do that, he is convinced I'm going to get a nice batch of eggies, but as we all know lots of eggs does not necessarily mean lots of embryos so we'll see.

PGD is different at every clinic, with mine you have to book a date with the Brisbane lab that does the PGD and when you have your date they then time your cycle to have you ready for EPU on that date. If you really had to go early then I assume the lab would just fit you in. I was very shocked that it looks like I'm right on track, IVF almost never runs to plan! My EPU is next friday.

Yes I'm sure we all understand. One of the lessons of IVF and indeed TTC all together is to give up control, lets face it we have NONE! We can eat right, lose weight, drink yucky herbs and take all our vitamins but that's it, the rest of it is down to our Drs and the TTC gods! I found it much easier to do all this once I realised that. Obviously it is easier said than done to not stress about what you can't change but when you really think about it it is such a waste of time and energy so I have learnt to be quite Zen about the whole thing which I manage most of the time (I am only human;)!) Meditation and yoga help but mostly its about learning to control, as much as possible, what you let your mind think about so you have to learn to distract it.

Let us know how your embies are going. Grow embies grow :cheer:

Joe - sorry about your loss
hugs.
Kate

hi girls,

i wrote a big post this morning and it went through ok but now has disappeared !

anyway........

elle: things have been up and down for you, how did the fertilisation go ? my clinic never said a number as such they just said i could freeze embryos from multiple cycles

andie: my tooth is still bad, probably coming out next week. When i got the pgd report they told me exactly what was wrong with every embryo (all had different problems)

brightfuture: good news on being 10 weeks, hopefully the next scan goes well

jbear: only 3 more days for you, time must seem like it is dragging for you !

joe: :hug: again

sunbeam: i have my fingers crossed for you :)

afm: i got lucrin today and will start again tonight, here we go again.......

E2 is 11200 today, will get a call tomorrow for my trigger time. No turning back now!

Ladies :D
Andie - How exciting things are moving along for you. I know what you mean about putting your hands over your ears when they go through the costs! PDG makes it so much more expensive but all worth it in the end. GL on the 30th.

Sunbeam - OOPSEY on the dates lol...OMG i'm going insane here it can't come soon enough. How are you feeling? Any news on when EPU will be?

Elle - Hope you get a 7 out of 7 Fert rate :crossfingers: Sorry if you explained already but why did they call off PGD?

Joe - Sending you love & hugs.

Minnie - Good luck with the next cycle will be checking in on how you're going.

Hi BF :) Hope your feeling good and positive and your lil one is doing it's thing and getting nice and strong.

AFM - I'm really struggling to keep it together to be honest. I have'nt had any vomiting just nauseous here and there & dizziness, everytime i'm feeing sick I feel a little reassured. But as soon as I feel normal I feel down and worried.... i'm so afraid the scan is not going to be good. *Sigh* I know that nothing will make me feel better but to see a HB on that scan. So am trying to stay away from the internet as I find myself roaming aimlessly for answers that don't make me feel any better.

J Bear - I so understand how you are feeling. I've been thinking about it and decided if I get pg I'm going to need some counselling before my first scan because I'm going to be sooooo scared! I have everything crossed for you sweetie that it is all perfect :crossfingers:
My EPU is friday morning.

Thanks sunbeam, counseling is prob a good idea. Well time will tell.

Good luck Friday - hope after all that hard work u get lots of healthy eggs.

jbear: i know the fear too, in fact if i ever get pregnant again i don't want a scan until my hcg numbers get to a certain level because i now know what i will see based on the numbers, good luck for you !

sunbeam: im excited you are nearly are EPU :crossfingers:

elle: how are you ? what happened with your embryos ?

afm: last night of the pill for me, feels like another step to getting back to epu

hi everyone else

Hi ladies,

Good luck tomorrow Sunbeam, so exciting!!

JBear, I totally understand how you are feeling. I keep squeezing my boobs to make sure they are still sore!! I am really scared about my next scan (a week exactly today I will be lying on the bed finding out our fate). I have no reason at all to think anything has gone wrong, so I am still worried. I tried to calm myself down a lot last night - if anything has gone wrong we will find out about it soon and deal with it. If everything is fine then I am causing undue stress on my baby, so I am going to choose the zen....

Big love & luck to all you other ladies!

Thank you wonderful ladies.

Well we had one of the biggest weights lifted off our shoulders today, we saw our lil bubba wigglin around and he/she has a good HB 175bpm! Phew.....Yay. We also saw the genetics counselor to talk about weather or not we want to do Amniocentesis or not. That was a confusing/interesting conversation but the counselor was really good and really reassured us that having done the PGD testing that really improves the chances of this pregnancy going to term. So we are going to have a good think about it and get back to her.

BF - Are you still doing Acu? I know what you mean, that lil voice in your head freaking out then telling you to calm down and there's no reason to think anything is wrong. I do it all the time and we are very happy now but I'm sur ein just a few days i may be freaking out again. All I try to think is it's out of our hands, to an extent of course you can control what you eat and what you do to help the pregnancy, but you can't control what happens in there. I hope you start to feel a bit more relaxed and get to enjoy the rest of your pregnancy. PM me anytime you need to chat :hug:

Sunbeam - Good luck tomorrow, will check in to see how you went. Do you have acupuncture before EPU?

Elle - Any news on your lil embies? Hope it's all going well and your feeling ok.

Minnie - It's a great feeling to be moving along and starting a cycle. Very excited for you.

yay jbear: sunbeam and i have been checking the thread for your update lol so pleased to hear everything went well ! :happyforyou: :stickyvibesgirl::stickyvibesboy:
can i ask you would consider an amniocentesis ?

J Bear I'm so Glad to hear all is well with your little bub. That must be such a relief. I hope the rest of your pregnancy goes just as perfectly.

congrats, jbear - how exciting! wishing you all the best.

sunbeam - goodluck for tomorrow, will be stalking tomorrow for updates. ;)

minnie - had my last pill this week too, we might be cycling around the same time. i am hoping to start fsh next week.

joe - i know its belated, but wanted to say i was sorry to hear your news. take care. xx

hi elle & bf, hope you're both well.

afm - stopped pill tues, hoping to start fsh next week if all looks well. starting to get a little anxious about actually getting to epu on a down reg cycle (having enough follicles), and then getting any to transfer... but i guess i will find out soon enough. :)

andie: i stopped the pill wednesday and will start injections next friday so we should be close cycle buddies :-)

Hey girls
Home now got 13 eggies. Post more later: -)

great news, sunbeam! hope you're feeling ok & have a relaxing evening planned. : )

minnie - think i'm starting injections tuesday, so definitely cycle buddies. ; )

quick question - after stopping pill did you get af/withdrawal bleed, and if so - when? i ostopped pill tues, thought I might've had af by now?

Woohoo Sunbeam!!! Your bubba is in that mix!! :)

Thanks JBear, you're a sweetie, and likewise to you if you ever need to chat. I organised some different antenatal care today and I am feeling so much more positive about everything!

Thanks ladies, yes it was a huge relief.

Minnie - The translocation of chromosomes that I have could cause sever disability. The PGD testing for us is 90% accurate so there 10% chance that they made an error or the cells tested were not a fair representation. So we are considering doing amino, I'm pretty sure we will but I have some doubts still because the counselor gave good reasons for and against it I keep running through it in my mind. Gosh it's so hard to make the 'right' choice for us!

Yay sunbeam! 13 has been our lucky number. I am hoping it is for u too. Rest up xo

BF - anytime lovely. Glad to hear you've made some positive choices that are making you feel better : )

Hi Girls,

Have been resting up in bed this afternoon, not feeling too bad at all and panadol is easing any pain (nice nurse gave me a couple of shots of pethadine at the hospital ;))

elle - I'm worried as we have not heard back from you. I hope no news is good news?

J Bear - I have acupuncture tomorrow and again on tues.

Andie and Minnie - cycle buddies whoo :D

Andie - I had spotting for 5 days before stopping the pill but I'd say af started for proper 3 days after last pill.

Hi BF :hug: go the zen.

AFM - Bit distracted with thoughts of my little eggies. I will find out fertilization rate tomorrow about lunch time then they will get shipped up to Brisbane on sunday. I hope they do well :crossfingers: Going to watch one born every minute from last night now and try to think happy positive thoughts.

Funny note - last night I dreamt I was baking with my eggs and mixing flour in with them and the sperm, I was thinking flour is probably not good for sperm but I kept on mixing anyway!!:lol:

sunbeam: you crack me up, i can picture you on the floor trying to mix everything together, funny the way your mind makes you dream these things !

jbear: hard decision for you :hug: would it have to be an amnio, could you do a cvs ?

Andie: yay for a cycle buddy, when is your epu, at this stage mine will be thursday 15th november. I usually get af about 5 days after stopping the pill so i'd say she will arrive for you this weekend