Long Term Assisted Conception - 2009

Just a quick update from work...

Yesterday, had an appt with FS about the fibriod and protocle for next cycle. Had a scan/sono to have a better look of the fibriods and now still waiting for FS to call whether it is removable or not. ITs not big, only 7mm. The concern is not size but the position seems to on the uterus lining which potentially could affect implantation. But just by what Gnynocologist mentioned yesterday, it actually didn't look as bad, close but not exactly on the cavity. Now I am having second thought about surgery to remove it. Who knows whether it is the reason that last two cycles weren't successful. I might give it another cycle to try my luck before jump into an invasive sugery.

As for next cycle, I am going to try Antagonist cycle. So just post a new thread to gather some information there, so if any of you have anything to share, I'd love to hear from you.

:hello: to everyone and will be back for personals....

Sara - phew.. I was a little afraid that maybe I was being too brutally honest with you. I am so glad you took it in the spirit that it was delivered..and that is with kindness and gentleness from someone who is in a very similar position and truly understands..
My FS recommended 75mg. I bought the tabs in the States...not knowing we couldn't bring them in without a script and didn't declare them - really had no idea then. So I got 50 and take that in the morning and 25 at night. FYI - I have since done lots of investigating and you can bring them in from the States (sooo cheap) in person, if you have a script in your name to prove they are for personal use. So crazy..in USA they sell DHEA with the vitamins in Drugstores..and here almost illegal - go figure..
Side-effects - more energy during the day. Some sleeplessness in the first 6 weeks or so. That's about it.

CP - Antagonist cycle - have done many...am ready and waiting for any question you may have. FYI - def the best one by far..

Sam - really hope you're feeling better..

Loula - hope you're surviving the TWW..:goodluck::goodluck::goodluck:

Hi Ladies and Best Greetings,

After a couple of years of TTC my other half only just had a sperm test and we found out he has obstructive azoospermia (blockage causing zero sperm count). Sorry if you have read other of my posts in other threads about this, I won't be repetitive, but would love to hear from anyone who has looked into surgery to fix male blockages ... Of course IVF looks like our only option, which is fine with us if surgery isn't promising.

I went straight from a GP to gynae and then (after finding out about azoospermia) to a urologist (with DP of course). We would really like some answers about options. I think it would be appropriate to see an FS?? We are seeing DP's GP on Monday and I would love to have a name to ask him to refer us to.

Would any of you know of a good FS in Brisbane? We are flexible re location, though the city or eastern suburbs are better.

Thanks to all for reading and and ideas. It is great to have somewhere to go to ask for advice and discuss stuff. Best wishes to us all :)

Kate x

Hi again,

I just wanted to apologise if this forum isn't about practical stuff like asking for advice about an FS (my previous thread ...).

Wishing us all best of luck and thanks again to all for reading and any ideas.

Kate x

Hi Kate,
I have just changed FS to Dr Julie Lindstrom at City Fertility Centre Brisbane, if you Google her you will find her. As an FS she is lovely, very direct, and has some specific views on how to handle my case from here. She has been keen to get all the final blood tests done re recurrent implantation failure, is open to me taking baby aspirin (some FSs I have heard don't like it) and had some great ideas about what to try next.

I am just about to start my first cycle with her (8th cycle in total, 6th ET), and hope she lives up to her name of Lucky Lindstrom.

I don't know however how experienced she is with MFI.

I am on the Gold Coast, so don't know any other Brisbane FS. Good luck, I hope you get some other recommendations. Hugs

Hi,

Thanks a lot, Baby Dreamtime, do you know if Dr Lindstrom has any problems with "natural" IVF (where you ovulate naturally and they use the single egg)? I wonder how open to this FSs and clinics are ... Good luck, I hope she lives up to her name for you :) xx

Kate

Hi Girls - thanks for you thoughts, am feeling better physically and can get around again, but quite depressed and moody, probably just hormones, but not fun being me right now. Will be able to get out for some retail therapy tomorrow! Hi to you all.

Hi Kate and welcome,
you're welcome to ask. Just some perspective for me. My DH had a vasectomy reversal to TTC 6 years ago. In retrospect I think I wasted time not going straight to IVF. We lost 2 years of fertility trying down that road, and would have been better to go straight to IVF. Now I am nearly 42 and struggling to have a second. Not sure how old you are, and that may not be and issue with you. I asked at the time about natural cycle, and the answer was something like too hard, however would be best to ask the FS that you go and see. Probably opther girls have done that, and can advise better than me. I wish I had been to see an FS before the vasectomy reversal (I was scared and suspicious of IVF) so I could make a more informed decision rather than wasting $ and time on the reversal (we were told it had a 60% chance of working, but now I know more about the time factor, I wouldn't take those odds now).
Of course you always make the best decision you can at the time, and I very much wanted to concieve as naturally as possible then, thinking that I had a choice about it. Now I will take it any way I can!

CuddleP - just did an antagonist, sooo easy. If hadn't got the OHSS would be super happy with it. Blocking injections are a bit more expensive than synaral I found, but Oh well.

Hi Kate,
I don't know if Dr Lindstrom does natural IVF cycles. I have only read a little about this type of cycle. Is there any particular reason why you want to go the natural route? In my personal opinion, the risk of only picking up 1 egg, the chance of it not fertilising, or not growing is not worth the cost of doing the cycle, not just money wise, but the emotional side of things. The stress is significant. If you do a full stim cycle, ideally you will have sufficient number of eggs, better odds to get more embies, better odds to have embies at Day 3 or blastocyst (I would only ever do blastocyst ETs now), and potentially extras to freeze. For me, I have been on the TTC journey for over 4 years now, and I believe that doing a full stim cycle to get a good number of good quality embies is the quickest way, offering the best possible chance to achieve a BFP. Just my opinion. Good luck with what ever you decide. :goodluck:

Hi to everyone else, good luck with where ever you are in your cycles. :hello:

Hi again,

Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts. Samandpoppy, I had a chat with my wise older brother (I am 34) and his advice was along the lines of your suggestions (that is, go straight to IVF rather than fix DH blockage...). After 18 months already of TTC I don't want to wait and see if other things may work. Good luck with your continued attempts for #2 x

I am also thinking along those lines now re 'natural' cycles, thanks Baby Dreamtime. I will discuss with Dr but would only maybe try one at most ....

I have an appointment to see Dr Das, medical director and City Fertility Clinic in Spring Hill, Brisbane. Has anyone been to see him? Any thoughts?

For a really silly question, what is an FS (fertility specialist). Are they connected to the IVF clinic?? Is it the doctor you see there?? I have been to GP and gynae ...

Cheers, best to all xxx

Hi Kate,

The FS usually has their own office, and will treat all kinds of patients. They are normally associated with a clinic, Dr Lindstrom works through City Fertility Centre Brisbane also. There are normally a number of different Drs working through any one Fertility Centre. Not all of Drs patients will see the Fertility Centre, just depends on what type of treatment they are on. With an IVF cycle, you would see the Dr for cycle planning/reviews and scans, then after you see the nurses at the Fertility Centre, they review your plans, issue the meds, make sure you know what to do when, give you your protocol sheet that explains what meds to take when on what days, sometimes they arrange scans with Dr, mostly they are the first point of call for questions. You normally pay the Fertility Centre for the cost of your cycle, and pay your FS for scans and ET. With my previous FS I would only see him for a planning appointment, Day 2 scan (I was doing down reg), day 8 scan (to check follies) day 12 scan (to check follies), he would do the EPU and then 5 days later the ET. Each time after I would go see the nurses. They are really the ones that manage the whole cycle.

I hope this helps. Good luck with Dr Das. X

BabyDreamtime - where are you? I am dying to hear how your scan went today!!!

Hi Kateh..
With regards to Dr Das I can tell you that Tiggerlinda on this site was with Dr Das and she is due end of this month with a baby girl.. Her husband had a vascectomy so they would have used the same techniques you will have to use.. And Linda raves about how fabulous he is so I hope that helps.. good luck..
Good luck everyone else

Hi all :) Thanks so much Baby Dreamtime for running through who is who in the IVF process for me. I will read your post again several times I'm sure, and look forward to meeting an FS to discuss stuff with!

Thanks Lilmisshavachat re advice about Dr Das! I have to say I would be very happy to see him.

However!! Our GP (DH's lifelong GP, he is great) will most probably refer us to Dr De Ambrosis at QFG ... He will speak with him about DH's blockage and our options. I expect Dr A will say go IVF and GP will refer us to him. From what I've heard he is great, but specialises in older pregnancies and donor egg/sperm. Has anyone heard about him?? (Maybe Samandpoppy? You might know of him or be interested.) Thanks for any advice.

I hope you are all doing great wherever you are at.

Hi Ladies,

will you have me back in here!?

Another failed cycle for me! taking two/ three months to detox as i never felt better than when i did it last time and am feeling th eneed for it again, so back to NP for some serious ass kicking herbs then maybe TTC with IVF again May/ June!

look forward to catching up on everyones news

Baby dreams - so how was the scan

Loving all the new av's

X

Hi ladies!

If you are taking Loula back, can you please take me back too!!! Another BFN for me.

Really struggling this time. Think its because there were so many BFP this month in the TWW thread that I almost couldn't believe mine was negative.

Hope you are all doing well in here - will take the time to catch up this week and se what you have all been up to.

Loula :hug: very sorry to hear that. Really good that you already have a plan again - what are you doing for detox?

Sara

Oh Loula and Mollygirl :hugs: for you both ..

Loula : looking forward to your new avy


Hi Sara and to everyone I missed

AFM: AF arrived, so back to Day 1 for me, and a nice Flare Cycle ...

Hi Mollygirl and Loula,

I'm new to the forum, though not to TTC. Just found out DH has zero sperm count so starting IVF journey after about a couple of years of TTC ... Loula, I have felt that disappointment every month, but I think 2009 is my year and definitely yours! It makes such a difference to sort out what's wrong ... :D

I have been on a detox of sorts for a couple of weeks - the anticandida diet. All blood tests (?) in past couple of years shows some in my system, and my TCM (traditional chinese medicine) practitioner detected it so I thought I should deal with it. I have never been good at changing bad habits (think ex smoker until a few years ago, yuck!! And I LOVE my coffee!!!)

It's a great diet and detox. It was a bit easier because I didn't eat much wheat and sugar, but it basically cuts out all sugar for a couple of months (including fruit until second month, then you can have a bit) and wheat. Of course, not suggesting it is great for everyone but like Loula I have never felt better! It was really amazing for me to give up coffee. I had managed a week or so around ovulation previously, but this feels very different. The first couple of days were pretty yuck, but now would recommend a healthy diet to all!!