IVF with PGD # 9

Hey Ladies,

Just wanted to pop in and say I am thinking of you all. Hope you are keeping you spirits high, eating well and doing acupuncture.

Things going okay for me. 32 weeks along. Bad heart burn and back pain makes getting any sleep difficult but I figure it just prepares me for what is to come with a baby.

BF - we are having a boy but only by a stroke of luck. Our genetic condition affects boys and we were told we may have to consider just looking at female embryos, so I really think it depends on the illness.

BF and JBear hope you are travelling well and surviving the heat.

Jess
xo

I'm so so sorry, Sunbeam xx Pleeeease say yes, Donor Daddy!!

hi girls,

just updating you on my scan, i was a bit disappointed, there is only about 10 growing, the biggest being 18mm and the smallest 6mm and the rest around the 10mm, the nurse says not to worry its an early scan and there might be more next time, the oestrogen was ok so we continue on for now

jess: good to hear you are going well :)

sunbeam: more :hug: for you

andie: how long until your next scan ?

elle: how are you going with the injections ?

so sorry Sunbeam...fx donor daddy agrees to try again xx

good luck with your cycle elle

may nemo be your shining light babymama

don't give up minnimouse...it only takes one!

best wishes for everyone else travelling through this maze xx

just started our new gpd feasibility testing...just hoping it doesn't take too long to sort out...only took about 8 weeks last time so looking to cycle towards end of March

hi ladies, just thought id pop in and let you know my 12 week scan went well & everything is on track. it was quite an experience (a good one!), and we are amazed that this is actually happening. after years of infertility & ivf transfer after transfer - it's still a bit surreal but we are allowing ourselves to get a little excited now.

minnie - sorry you didnt have as many as you expected, are you on the same dose as last time? maybe it just means these ones will be top quality... ;)

sunbeam - i hope your dinner with dd goes well this week. :hug:

hi to everyone else.

Sunbeam - I'm so sorry about your embies, crossing fingers your donor is keen, how heartbreaking, I am scared of the same. xx#A

Andie - good to hear re the drugs aren't too bad, and my apologies I said Heparin but it was Clexane I was on once before, HATED it and was soooooooo bruised and battered. Those blunt needles were a b*tch.

Girls Jessir's mention of boys/girls above has me wondering, do they tell you what sex the embryo is if you ask before transfer? I wouldn't have thought so as it's probably unethical just intrigued. I don't care what i have next, I just want a healthy sticky one!

AFM - off to pick up all my drugs tomorrow, then just waiting on AF to get started on my first cycle - eeek!

Hi Girls

Just a quick update, donor Daddy has agreed to us using donor eggs. Although a beautiful woman has offered to donate to us she has just had a baby so we will see if we can find anyone now but if not we will wait till she is ready to help us. Very very relieved :dance:

great news, sunbeam. : )

alison - my clinic don't tell you the sex of the embryo (fairly sure all don't in australia...), they just put in the best looking one. i have asked them to put in the pink one before though... they just laughed... ; )

Yay Sunbeam that's fabulous news what a relief!

ha ha Andie that gave me a chuckle.......I bet they get those comments all the time. :lol:

Andie - That's wonderful news!! I'm so happy things are progressing well for you guys! And hahaha about the pink embie... :)

I have also wondered about if you can find out the gender; the information is obviously there post testing. It wouldn't make a difference to me either way but I like knowing things, haha!

Sunbeam - Awesome news!! So happy for you!

minnie - Sorry you're disappointed (I remember walking out of my first scan for my last cycle in tears - 5 follies seen). I hope you have some great quality eggs getting ready in there. :hug:

Alison - Exciting! Good luck!!

JoeSpratt - I hope the feasibility is sorted before you know it!

AFM - I have my first scan and BT tomorrow so we shall see what's going on in there. I am on 200iu Gonal f and 1 'click' of Ovidrel every 3rd day (to mimic LH) - feeling foggy with patches of feeling unwell but ok (I'm guessing it's related to hormones?!). Fingers crossed I have a better follie outcome than last time. I don't need 20, but more than 5 would be lovely. I think there was something else I was going to say but it's left me atm... Hmm... yep, definitely foggy (haha!).

***Sneaking in to let Minnie know that my last scan showed 3 follicles and I was devastated, but they got 9 eggs out of me and a BFP. The nurse at EPU said some where hiding and they had to dig around for ages. They didn't up my meds, just let me go 1 day longer than my previous 3 stims.

Also to Andie - I am so thrilled that your scan went well. You can breathe a little easier now, although now the symptoms will disappear and you will stress till the 20 week scan which will feel like ages away :)

Sneaks out***

thanks elle & vic. xx

elle - goodluck at your scan tomoz, hope it goes well.

Hi Girls - back from my appointment, they proceeded to tell me I had to pay up front today whaaat! Who carries $7,750 around, not me! So have to sort out the money and go back to pick up my cooler back full of drugs. Geez girls I didn't realise there were so many different injections.....plus I have to go back on the clexane after retrieval which I hate. She said I should expect to feel hormonal and tired, i asked about nausea because I have noticed around ovulation I have been feeling off for a day or two anyway and she said most people are fine but if that's how I am I might find it does make me feel yuk - so reading your comment Elle makes me thing I probably will, boo hoo....I hate feeling sick. Off for our counselling session and appointment with the embryologist yesterday. Gosh I didn't realise a few things could cancel the cycle, what's the likelihood of overstimulating etc? My estrogen is normal so will giving it extra cause me to overstimulate???


Update overnight : I think AF is on it's way eeek! I am however totally confused, roughly when does egg collection happen in your cycle? I know it would depend on each individual but should I expect it around the usual time I'd ovulate? the reason I ask is that my daughter starts pre-kindy soon and I worked out if it's around when I'd normally ovulate it may interfere with that? typical! I have to be with her on the first day of attendance so I'm stressing about that now!!!

Hey guys. Just wondering if any of you were thrown out by the stim cycle meds in the past? AF is the most overdue she has ever been and I am starting to think I may have had an accident :)

*Sneaking in* Alison1973 - I didn't do PGD, but 4 stim cycles. EPU day for me was CD11 from starting the first injection or CD13 from AF.

Babymama23 - Its common not to ovulate the next cycle after a stim cycle as your ovaries are having a rest or to ovulate a bit later than normal. I have had both. 1st stim - didn't ovulate the next month (frustrating as I was waiting for an FET) and then the other time I was late by 2 weeks. The other 2 stims resulted in BFP's. One missed m/c and this little bubba on board. But an accident would be so much more fun :) I hope thats whats happening for you!

Hope that helps girls xxx

*Sneaks out***

Hi Girls - picked up my bag of goodies yesterday, had our embryologist chat which I really enjoyed and then saw the psych for our pre IVF counselling session, which was not so enjoyable. She asked how I was feeling about doing this cycle (btw we're doing an ICSI cycle due to the PGD) and I said I was feeling quite confident about it and she said she didn't want me to get my hopes up so would like me to be cautiously optimistic. I was horrified and felt awful then! She said she doesn't sugar coat and statistics show that with people like me with low AMH the chances are I could get no eggs and even if I do they may not be very good ones and just to be prepared. quite honestly, now I'm feeling like what's the bloomin point then!!! Half of me thinks I might as well quit while I'm behind, the other half wants to prove her wrong. Argh not what I was expecting, I thought they would be more about making you feel comfortable and relaxed. She told me due to all my miscarriages etc I should handle it all quite well, but when I asked for coping strategies on controlling my moods on the hormones and she said there are none, you just have to ride it out. Just thought I'd get all your opinions before I stress my little head off!! Is this normal for them or am I really a hopeless case??

Sneaking in...

Alison, personally I think she has a good point. Ivf is a crap shoot. It is marketed as some sort of miracle solution but for many people, it's not. Approximately 40 percent of people will end their Ivf journey without a live baby :( It's a tough, tough thing to go through, particularly if you have to go through multiple failed cycles. The drugs mess with your emotions (I found my most recent cycle particularly hard) and there is nothing you can really do because you are not really rational iykwim :lol:
I found the best way to deal was to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Don't try to read into ANY symptom because you WILL feel pregnant in your 2WW due to the medication.

It's harsh, but I think you should listen to the counsellor. It's better to get a nice surprise than be utterly crushed by getting your hopes up.

I hope it all goes well for you :hug:

Thanks Nothing2Lose, I actually do feel that way and I said that to her, I don't expect it to work, but I am hopeful that this is my best chance after exhausting other avenues. I think I was more disappointed in the way she shot me down, I am not so silly to think I will walk out pregnant, but I would've liked to have been given a little bit more encouragement for being positive, after all, all you hear through treatment is remain positive remain positive, for once I have allowed myself to be and it's now been shot down in flames ha ha. I'll just have to take every day as it comes, like with anything else in the whole TTC journey and just like you said, hope for the best. Like I said to her, I would like to hope I get at least 2 eggs out of the collection, not expecting any more but will be an added bonus if I get more. And I'm just looking at that part for now, I will conquer this in stages, no point getting anxious or excited about the testing side as I have to get the eggs irst, then they have to fertilise etc etc. Baby steps, pardon the pun!

Hi Girls

Alison - I'm sorry your nurse was not more sensitive. I guess they get a lot of fairly naive people in who think it will guarantee them a bub but still she should have been gentler in her approach. I have discovered that the positive thinking part is not so important as we might think so don't be too hard on yourself in those times when hope fails you. I have done cycles very positive, very negative and very apathetic and found it makes no difference, the TTC gods will do as they wish! :rolleyes: Ironically my most negative cycle ever (where my old donor daddy managed less than a million sperm and I thought was a total bust) ended in a BFP. My EPU has been anywhere between cycle day 10 and 14 but if you are doing fresh PGD they will time you to fit in with the pgd date.
Try to keep your chin up and remember we are here for you when you start to lose it :hug:

Minnie- I think we will just have to be hopeful for you but remember it is quality over quantity. :goodluck::goodluck:

Babymama - My cycle is usually better after a medicated cycle but that's just my crazy body (which can do a 46 day cycle by itself no problem :wall:) I hope AF is just around the corner. I just finished with her I'll send her over.

Elle - How was the scan yesterday?

Joe - I hope your testing is ready soon.

Andie - I'm so sorry I think in all the craziness of last week I forgot to say congratulations on an awesome 12 weeks scan, so happy and so glad you are keeping us updated :dance:

AFM - Well we might have an egg donor. Not sharing any details yet I don't want to jinx anything. Anyway I'm officially not a PGDer any more but I don't know if there is a 'using donor eggs thread' so is it okay if I stay in here with you gals? Please :)

hi girls,

just letting you know im laying low because im freaking out about the next week, I'm stressed & scared !

trigger is midnight tomorrow (just as well im a night owl !) so epu is monday at midday

i'll be better with personal next week :grouphug:

Sneaks in goodluck mm xx will be thinking of you Monday

Hi girls!

Sunbeam - I am quietly excited about your news and will be looking forward to updates (that you *will* absolutely post here, because this is where you belong! No looking for other threads!).:hug:

Babymama - How are you going? Has AF blessed you with her presence yet?

Alison - I'm sorry the nurse didn't speak with a little more compassion and sensitivity. It could very well have been her way of trying to help and support you in ensuring you were taking care of yourself emotionally (if that makes sense). You sound like you have a good handle on things, though. There is nothing wrong with being positive as far as I'm concerned, as long as you are aware of and realistic about the possible outcomes.

Minnie - I completely understand. I hope everything goes well and smoothly for you! Update us when you feel up to it.:hug:

Hi JoeSpratt, Andie!

AFM - I had my scan yesterday morning and they saw 4 follicles with 1 larger one that is a little too on the large side that they think may be a cyst (:wall:). Estrogen ended up being at what the nurse said was a good level. Started Cetrotide yesterday after receiving results. Had another BT this morning and E is apparently rising well (from 2100 yest to 2800 today - can anyone tell me how that sounds? Anyone have any stats to compare? Pretty please! Those are from CD6 and CD7). I have another scan and BT in the morning so I guess it is a waiting game for me... After my scan yesterday morning, I started preparing myself emotionally for a cyst/cancelled cycle. I really don't understand why things can't go a little smoother. I guess I will wait and see and just hope for the best.

Elle- those numbers sound right on track compared to my cycles. I really hope you don't get cancelled and I have no idea why it is so ridiculously unfairly hard for some of us!! There simply is no logic to it and we can drive ourselves nuts asking why??? I hope your fat follie turns out to be just that.
Thanks for saying I can stay too :hug:

Elle - sending you all the luck that your cycle isn't cancelled. I've given up trying to figure out why some of us have such a hard time getting our babies. I am surrounded by people falling pregnant by accident or first go at the moment, instead of getting easier to handle it seems to get harder, urgh. Like Sunbeam said, here's hoping it's just a super duper googie getting nice and ripe rather than a cyst. xx

AFM - still waiting on AF before I can start. Is anyone else on here with low AMH like me? I'm curious to know if there is and you've done a cycle already how many eggs you got. I've been warned that I may not respond well to the stimulating hormones and at best I'll get 3 eggs.....at best!!! Eeeek how depressing.

Hi guys,

Sunbeam, as an alumni this is exactly where you belong :)

Minnie, good luck!!! Don't be scared, at least the waiting will be over soon!

Elle, :pray: for that juicy folly. Do they really cancel over 1 cyst? That sucks!!

Allison, I also got bummed by my fs having a downer attitude. Turns out he was spot on if not even a little optimistic, so I've decided to just take their warnings on now so if they are wrong it's a happy surprise and if they are right it's not hugely disappointing.

Afm STILL waiting for af. I keep trying to tell my uterus that little nemo is waiting and its letting the team down but it's just not listening :(

best of luck today, minnie. xx

Good luck today Minnie!

AFM - CD1 for me girls, so I can officially join you, my first IVF/ICSI cycle and already feeling nervous!!!!

Hi girls,

Quick update from me,

I got 8 eggs at epu & 6 were mature & have been icsi'd, find out tomorrow what has fertilized & also my 11 from the previous cycle will be thawed tomorrow (the scientist said they expect 60-70% will survive), then we need to get everything to day 2 & day 3 & be ok for biopsy, just trying to take one day at a time

Good news Minnie xx

that's a great start, minnie. fingers crossed over the next few days. hope you're feeling ok & resting up. xx

That's great news, minnie! Fingers crossed for you over the next few days!!:)

Hi Girls!

Minnie - any news? :)

AFM - well I started my first cycle today, bloods and scan went well, no cysts and levels all baseline. But and it's a pretty big but to start with, my FSH is very high - 19, last I heard it was 9 (12 months ago) so I guess indicative of my low ovarian reserve. So she just pre-warned me that I may not respond well to the drugs and she said I might be lucky to get 4 eggs at most, but probably 2/3. She did go on to say that stranger things have happened so they won't really know until we get there. Argh I hate my failing body!

How is everyone else doing? xx

sunbeam - i agree with elle, you should stay in this thread ;) sounds like promising news with the potential egg donor... i hope things are progressing there for you. xx (and thankyou for your well wishes!).

elle - my clinic didnt do BT's for estrogen levels, just used scans, so cant help you with stats. hope your cycle is going well now though.

alison - yay for starting your cycle! what dose have they got you on?

babymama - any luck with af yet?

minnie - not too long now & you will have your results... im sure im not the only one crossing my fingers for you. :hug:

Hi Andie - I'm on 300 units of Puregon p/day until collection. I am already bummed hearing about my high FSH, grrrr but will try and stay optimistic.

hi girls,

thanks for your support, we got 3 from 6 fertilised with the potential for some of the others to do it too, the scientist said they should fertilise after 16-20 hours and they looked at mine at 18 hours and 3 were good, so technically the others could have done it after they were looked at but the scientist said they don't look again until thursday. 9 of the 11 frostie's survived the thaw which they were happy with as they thought we might get 6 or 7, so now we wait until wednesday to see what we have to pgd

andie: hope you are travelling well :)

elle: when is epu for you, hope you are going ok

alison: thats a big dose you are on, i guess they have done that because of your amh ? i hope you surprise them all and grow lots of follicles :)

babymama: i hope you can start your fet soon (or was there a reason af was late ?)

hi to sunbeam, joe, jbear, brightfuture and jess

Great numbers minniemouse! hoping that they all get to testing with some awesome PGD results FX xx

Yay Minniemouse that's awesome I bet you're pretty chuffed with that! Oh really is that a big dose, yikes I wouldn't know! I guess you're right though, I remember her telling me they'd start at the top and if I was struggling they'd tone it down......gosh now I'm even more worried about side effects. Does anyone here get nauseous from the puregon?

Minnie: congratulations!!! So much to work with! Are those thaw rates for real tho? That scares the crap out of me :o

Alison: I did 250 which they said was "hitting me hard" so yeah it sounds alot. But seriously, the injections were painless and the only sideffects I had was a bit of bloating when I didnt drink enough or stay off my feet. Try not to stress about this part too much!

AFM: AF finally came to visit! I just worked out that if this works (pending a successful thaw, and many sticky vibes), I will be due the day of my girlfriends wedding at which I am supposed to be maid of honour....uh happy wedding present :dance:

Babymama23: Thanks so much, i'll try and remain calm ha ha, just got back from an acupuncture session, she is going to try and help me reduce my FSH, I told her do what you have to but make sure it sends signals to my ovaries to produce a good couple of eggs ha ha. That would be typical wouldn't it if you were due on your friends wedding day, but in a good way, life has a strange way of working out sometimes!

Well girls - I'm doing my first Puregon shot tonight eeek!

alison - how'd the first jab go?! im usually on around 225-250 puregon & my amh levels are within normal range, so 300 sounds like a good dose for you.

babymama - yay for af! : )

still crossing fingers for you, minnie. xx

hi everyone else.