Long Term TTC & Assisted Conception - August/September 09

Nix: Thank you. I was only on 112.5 units of gonal f. When I had my very first ultrasound to see how my body acted on a natural cycle, my follie count was high (I think about 20 each side) and the FS said that he would start me out low and see how I react. I started the gonal on day 3. I was also on lucrin (10 units). We are going through SIVF (being in a small country town they're the only ones who have a nurse here and a dr who visits regularly) and they have only ever talked about day 5 blastie transfers. Having 3 out of 5 fertilise is a good result. GL with your ET today. :stickyvibesgirl:

Loops: Thank you. GL with your FS appt on the 10th.

Pinkbubba: GL with all the tests and everything. FX it brings about the positive ending you've been longing for.

Tracy: Sounds like everything is starting well. I don't know what my estrogen (sp?) levels were. All I was told is that they were good. I know my last level when they told me I was ready for EPU was 12000, but not sure what they were before that. GL with this cycle.

Onja: That's a great result :) GL with the gene testing. I'm hearing you on the constipation thing. I'm experiencing a bit a pain going to the loo and that on top doesn't help any :redface:

Tantee: Thank you. I plan on doing a whole lotta nothing on my days off next week. I have a bit of studying to catch up on, so I'll probably just lay in bed reading text books :rolleyes: GL with your FET cycle.

Wishes: GL with your exams and EPU. I think what has saved me from OHSS so far is that I've have been drinking loads of water. Great results for you so far. I know what you mean about feeling like a pin-cushion!!!

Star-bright: GL with your ET. I tried accupuncture for 6 months and found it really relaxing. I wish we could afford for me to have it now, but there is only so much money to go around......

Motherhood: That's great for your first US. FX for your BT results this arvo. GL for the rest of your cycle.

Hi to anyone I've missed.

AFM: Still feeling bloated and sore. I'm mainly now feeling a pressure type pain around my middle torso area just under my rib cage :confused: Walking & going to the loo are the most uncomfortable. I'm getting nervous waiting for the call tomorrow to let us know how our little eggies are coming along. :pray: everything is going well.

Pinkbubba - hi and :welcome: GL with everything and I hope Nov comes around quickly for you.

Tracy - Those follie results at the stage you're at sound good. Hope they grow nicely for you - FX.

Onja - Glad you didnt get OHSS. 6 biopsied - that is gr8! GL with the test and with the Crinone. The Crinone gel is easy to do , it just made me (*caugh*) constipated and a bit headachey. I took some benefibre for the constipation. As much fibre as possible and prunes are reccommended for constipation also.

Nix - sorry you're a bit sad. I suppose 3 is better than none, if you can look at it that way. I had none to freeze in the end so I really hope you get a couple to freeze. All the best for your ET today, will be thinking of you and FX.

Tantee - Hi. Enjoy your glass of red tonight and I hope you have to stop for 9 months. All the best for the ninth.:crossfingers:

Wishes - WOW - that's a lot of good follies. GL with the injections and for the 4th, hoping you get lots of good quality eggs.

Star-bright - Thanks, its only two weeks away which is good. GL with your ET. It's not bad at all really. I only had some discomfort for a moment, you'll do well. Just rest afterwards, drink plenty of H2O and enjoy your accupuncture. All the best x

Motherhood - All the best for some great results. :crossfingers: Will be waiting to hear.

Cass - thank you, only 2 weeks away - yay. I am thinking of you and hoping you get lots of good eggies. FX

wow !!!- so many newbies here.....tooooo many to remember who's doing what:wall:

Nix76 - All it takes is one!!! Cheer up you have 3!!!:clap:

Tantee - nice to see you lurking in here tooo...good luck for the 9th!

wishes - really excited for you, not long until the 4th for ET. FX for a BFP!

motherhood here i come - sounds like you have some good follies there...

cass180 - wow!! you too have some nice folly count...when is EPU (sorry, memory really bad)

Loops12 - HI babe!!! i know you are waiting to see FS on the 10th...do you think you will change your protocol. If it was up to you what would you do different?

AFM - still waiting for AF to arrive early Sept....getting abit restless waiting..other than that just trying to keeep busy and not think about it.

Nix76 - Sorry!! was just reading through past posts....are you in your 2WW? If you are i'm praying for a BFP for you!!! ( sorry about the last post...i thought your'e ET was Monday coming) oooh i've confused myself:doh:

tou guys are gonna tink i'm duuumb!!!

I realised that i am getting Cass180 and Nix76's information mixed and confused myself :oops:

I have to apologise to these ladies SORRY!! :redface:

Nix76 - Good LUck in your 2WW!!
Cass180 - ET today??? How are you feeling and good luck to you tooo.

I really hope i got it right this time.

Evening Ladies,

As promised, the results following my first US and third BT today.

So, after an anxious wait today to hear from the nurses, they finally called mid this afternoon :rolleyes:.

Ok bear in mind that I only started Puregon Injections on the evening of the 22nd Aug so technically when the BT and US was conducted it was day 6.5 :lol:. So what I saw this morning was a 5mm uterus lining, 8 Follicles on the right ovary at approx 8mm and then 10 Follicles on the left ovary with the largest at 8mm. BT results, they have upped my Puregon from 200 to 225 (Was 175 when I first started on the 22.08.09) Have another US and BT organised for next Tues.

Nurse explained to myself that the US showed the base and that everything is progressing as it should be. She also explained that at Tues US its hoped that it will show what number of Follicles we can possibly expect at EPU. Its also hoped that they will have grown more by then too and its hoped that we can possibly predict when EPU will be carried out. So now its just FX and :pray: that those little follicles grow baby grow!!!!

Nurse also explained that the BT showed that my estrogen levels have increased, not sure on the exact numbers there on that one and again, on Tues, we hope that this too will increase.

Not much else to report. All DH and I can do now is :pray::pray::pray::pray:.

Hope everyone is well. TIme to relax over the weekend hey :dance:

motherhood here i come - that's brilliant!!!
your follies are growing at the same rate on each side...this means that you have a high probability of collecting LOTS of eggs.....well done!

Morning ladies,

Update from me: ET yesterday, went well. Though I have to say it was a bit uncomfy. Yes it is like a pap smear but I dunno... bit more *icky*. I think because all my pap smears I am laying down and for ET I was sitting up in that chair thing so it seemed to feel more uncomfy. But I guess they need you on that angle so they get a good look up there. Charming I know!

They said of the 5 eggs, 2 were not mature enough which explains the 3 fert. So I now feel that is great news as I figure of the 3 that were mature enough - they all fert which is a 100% success rate! :hooray:

So we still had our 3 embys by the Friday arvo (bear in mind EPU was 8am Wednesday) we had 2 x 4 cells & 1 x 6 cell. Apparently the more advanced does not necessarily mean the better the emby. They say they put the better of the 4 cells back and we now have 2 bubcicles. WOW - never thought I would be able to say we have bubcicles!
So now it is the :2ww: DP & I were saying how we can't believe we are where we are today! It kind of feels like it has gone pretty quick so I hope I can only say that for this 2ww too!

And you girls are right - getting 5 eggs, 3 fert is great. I feel lucky to have got that as I know some don't even get there. And :crossfingers: this one sticks and we will feel even more lucky! And if it doesn't & I end up going back for another cycle then so be it - we just have to ride it out and hope for the best I guess. Gotta stay positive! :p

Motherhood - Your follies count is good and nice and even & by the sounds of it you are on the right path from the feedback they are giving you.

Emeraldstar - :ROFL: LOL - you are funny! No worries sis! I find it so hard to keep up with everyone and do personals! It's really good reading where everyone is at though! You did get it right - I am officially in 2WW now! Cass is having her ET on Monday.
I can understand that restless feeling! Its painful! Hey I noticed in your sig you mention a chemical pg.... I have seen this elsewhere but don't know what it is?

Loops - thanks - you made me realise that we really are lucky. As I said above, at least we did get some to freeze, some people don't get that so I really do feel happy. It's good to see it in that light now!

Cass - :goodluck: on Monday! Will be waiting to see your next update

Star bright - when is your ET again? Hope you are feeling more chilled out about it.

Wishes - that is a great follie count. Good that they are monitoring you well, though seems like ages to EPU but then I worked it out and that's not bad cos means trigger must be on Wed night. I only had 8 follies that we could see and got 5 eggs so I imagine with that many follies you would figure you should get a good egg count. :goodluck: for next week

Hello to all the other lovelies & I hope you have an enjoyable & restful weekend!

Hi Ladies
Emerald Star - Hi hun! Funny you ask as I just created a thread yestie asking for a bit of advice. I was asking would it be best to try normal IVF as apposed to ICSI but sounds like ICSI is the way to go. Im just really confused because I thought that ICSI was supposed to bypass all male factor issues so im puzzled as to why it didnt work and why they werent good enough to freeze etc. Was it the embryo quality??? Anyway I have FS appointment on 10th and will have lots of questions. I will let you know how we go on the 10th. Thanks so much for asking. What about you?
Don't worry about your mix up either - I get really confused too and have gotten things wrong and people mixed up - its hard with so many in here.

Motherhood - Sounds like your follies are going well and you have a few days yet so sounding very positive. All the best :crossfingers:

Nix - Well done, very :happyforyou:. I will have fingers and toes crossed that you get a BFP!! Good luck in the TWW! :stickyvibesgirl::bluedust:

MHIC- You are doing well. Grow follies grow!

Cass- I know that feeling all too well from my first cycle. I hope you feel better soon. Keep up that water intake. I love acupuncture, however, I was just saying to my mum today that if this cycle doesn't work (which it will because I am trying to be positive :pray:), I won't be able to afford to continue it. How are your embies going?

Loops-Thanks.Do you write the questions down? I always end up forgetting what I want to ask.

Nix- Thanks for the info on ET. I haven't had one yet as my first cycle was cancelled. Yay for getting bubsicles. Great news. My ET is Monday, so I guess I meet you in the 2WW thread then. ;)

AFM- As I have said, ET in on Monday :dance:. I think the thaw happens tomorrow and they will call me to say what time to go in. :pray: THe thaw goes o.k.

hi to all,

Sb :)

Hi everyone!

As you can see, this is my first post. I think I'm in the right place, but you ladies all seem so much more knowledgable and further down the track than me!

A bit about me: My husband and I have been trying to conceive (in a very relaxed way, no charting, timing or anything) for about 2.5 years, with no success. A few months ago he decided to get himself checked out - ironically, his results were fine, but *I* have a few issues! I had a laparoscopy a month ago, and learned I had some minor endomitriosis, my left tube was blocked and my right tube wasn't that great, either.

So here I am. We've been advised to start enquiring into IVF, and in the meantime keep trying to conceive naturally. My obgyn also agreed to start me on Clomiphene, but only after I asked if it was an option, so it kind of feels like he's just humouring me. I guess if your eggs aren't reaching your uterus there's no point in sending more? :)

This has all happened very fast, and I'm feeling a little dazed. I can't believe how complacent and in denial I've been - leaving it this late to try for a baby (I'm 30, he's 35 and we've been together for 10 years) and not even realising 2.5 years had slipped away while trying!

I've always considered myself to be a lucky person so I'm hoping I will be lucky again in with the Clomiphene and not have to face up to the huge effort, expense and emotion of IVF. On the other hand, I've had a fairly smooth ride in life so far (or is that just my positive attitude showing? ;) ), and I wonder if this is my first really big challenge ... and whether I'm up for it?

If there's anything I can share with you about what I've learnt or experienced, I promise I will. I hope you'll be patient with me if I'm a bit ignorant or don't have a lot to contribute to start with!

Calin

Hey everyone. Hi Calin :)

So did my ET yesterday. All went ok - you are in and out so quick! I did acupunture before and after. Anyone else doing acupuncture? My only concern is that my pains and cramps had settled in last couple of days and when I had acupunture I felt some twinges again... she was suprised when i told her as all the acupunture is about stopping any cramping etc. Dunno another way to look at it is the acupunture is to bring blood etc. to your uterus so maybe that got things err.. moving. Hopefully not too much.

Hope you are all travelling well - a few of you are coming up to ET so good luck :clap:

Onja - I have only had 1 lot of acupuncture (ever) about a week before EPU and that was just to give it a go. There is another thread under the Long Term TTC about IVF and accu - you might want to have a read in there as it is quite long (little old now some of it) but I'm sure would talk about the things you are questioning.
I am thinking about going back for some more. I am not skeptical but not in full belief either - only because I don't know enough. I think if it makes you relax that has to be good. And I figure there has to be something to it as this medicine and technique dates back such a long time.
I agree with you - perhaps it is the acu that is getting the blood flowing to where it needs to be and making your body receptive to what is going on?? Anyhow GL with it!

Calin - big :welcome:. Sorry to hear that you have found some obsticles in your path. It is such a daunting and over whelming exp when you first find out. And there is so much to know, so many questions you have - and all while you are trying to understand your and DH emotions about it.

A few thing - you are 30 he 35 - this is OK. I know its a common saying - but you are still young. It just seems like you waited for ages cos you have ben together for so long - which is fantastic!

I don't know about the stuff you talk about with you - as I am all OK - it is my DP who has some :sperm: issues. Good count, good swimmers, but they can't attach to the egg themselves - so we have NO option as it will NEVER happen naturally and had to get ICSI IVF (where they actually insert the sperm into an egg) to make the embryo.

Also I am not familiar witht the drug you asked to go on - so my ignorant response would be: it is obviously something you did some research about and feel comfy with and if your FS(your fert spec - obgyn as you said) has agreed to it then there must be some merit. You would hope that FS is not wasting your time in agreeing to it. If you have not already, google the drug you asked about and do some gd research.

As this is all new and no doubt you want to make the right decisions for you and DH, why not go to another FS and get a 2nd opinion, Doesn't mean you have to go with them, just find someone who does IVF just to hear what they say. You can always go back to your FS but at least you have comfort in the information you are learning.

Anyhow - here (Belly Belly)is a great place to be (and also in this thread) as you have noticed there is a huge amount of information and support available. if you get lost with acronyms - you know there is a cheat sheet available at the following page -

http://forums.bellybelly.com.au/foru...-acronyms.html
Best fo luck! :goodluck:

Hi Everyone!

I am new to this forum! I have read through earlier posts and found them to be very interesting, informative and supportive and I hope I can add some value too!

About me: I am married and have been ttc since Nov 07. My DH and I had BT last Dec 08and the results were normal - ie I am ovulating and my DH sperm is normal. I turned 35 two weeks ago and decided that it was time to see a FS and try IVF to help our chances of conceiving.

The FS has started me on the pill and I have an appointment with a nurse on the 9th of Sept. I have mixed feelings of anxiety, stress (not a big fan of needles :() and excitement as I start this IVF journey. I look forward to reading about your experiences and sharing mine too!

ME: 35 :heartbeat:DH:32 & Furbaby
TTC since Nov 07
IVF#1 - Sept 09

Hi girls,

I thought I would join this thread as I have just started my first IVF cycle. I have been lurking for the last week or so.

Melttc- Good to see there is another newbie, sounds like you and I will be going through things around the same time. When did you start the pill?

Onja- I am praying for you, I will be doing acupuncture also. I had my first session last week to help with lead up to ET. Did you do acupuncture during the cycle as well?

Calin- Good luck with the Clomophine, I had five cycles on it. I don?t have any problems with tubes. Fell pregnant twice but lost them both. My Chinese Doctor said that is was wrong for them to put me on it because I have short cycles and AF only lasts one day. So my issue is that my lining is too thin, a side effect of Clomophine is that it makes your lining thinner. Who knows what my FS was thinking, have changed doctors since.

Tracey-hope the results from the sat test were good.

Starbright- Good luck with the thaw today and ET for tomorrow!

Nix76- Glad you are staying positive. I am also with MIVF good to hear you had a positive experience with them.:stickyvibesgirl:

MHIC-Hope all goes well for Tuesday, looking forward to hearing your results.

Wishes-fingers crossed that all goes well for the EPU next Friday

Cass180- I will be thinking about you tomorrow, hope the embies have grown beautifully.

I hope I got all the info straight. I sympathise with Emerald Star, it is hard to keep up especially when you haven?t been in the forum from the beginning.

For the ladies in waiting I wish you all the best and that time flies. The wait between cycles and tests can be excruciating, that?s why I love reading the forums.

AFM- I have just started the Down Reg cycle. I am also seeing a Chinese Doctor. Is there anyone that used herbs during their cycle? I am a bit worried that they may interfere with the hormone injections.

I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend, I look forward to reading all of your updates.

Hi everyone,

I have not posted on this thread before, normally whinging on the Thyroid threads!

I am DAY 17 of my first IVF stimulated cycle.

I had my egg pickup on 28/08 and from an expected 18 follicles we got 15 eggs, within 24 hrs 11 had fertilised and got a call today to advise that 1x 6 cell; 1x 5 cell; 6 x 4 cells; 1 x 3 cells; 1 x 2 cells and 1 slow sucker at 1 cell. I was advised that at this stage the 2 - 6 cell ones are the ones that are doing well. So looks like we are dealing with 10 as of DAY 2 of there lil lives.

I am so majorly constipated at current and can see from way back in this thread that thankfully i am not alone! I have been hitting the prunes, apricots and now metamucil as a last resort to try and feel comfortable at least! This is my only complaint throughout the cycle to date as everything else has not really given me any bad side effects, thankfullly. I have also been drinking so many fluids to try and avoid the bloat - although my tummy has not gone down at all yet....is this normal?

I am hoping to have a day 5 transfer on 02/09 and then the dreaded 2WW. I have had 2 IUI's prior to this IVF cycle and am wondering if anyone can compare the transfer procedure between the two. I had same day cramping with the IUI transfer and am expecting the same with the embie one...

Mumma - sorry this is my 1st assisted conception so all new to me. But with the IVF emby transfer it was very similar to a pap smear. They put the calipers (sp??) up there, get a good path to the uterus while the nurse sucks up a tiny little emby in an eye dropper type thing (after you have been able to see if up on a big screen from under the microscope) and then they insert that fine eye dropper type thing up there and obviously push it out. FS gives it back to the nurse who then pushes any remaining fluid back out the 'eye dropper' to a dish under the microscope again to make sure the little emby did not get stuck. You get the all clear and it is done!

Sonya - Welcome! Good luck at MIVF - as I said so far all good for me.

Melttc - Welcome too! It is normal to feel anxious about it all. But I am sure you are in good hands. As for the needles, I don't really like them either, but if it helps - they are really small and fine and I would say for the majority of mine I didn't even feel them. I notice you are in Melbourne too - where abouts are you doing your IVF?

How is everyone travelling? Some getting excited about EPUs and ETs?

I am doing ok - now just the waiting game. My whole sleep last night was dreaming of the transfer. I realised that I was thinking too much about it so gonna let it go and ride with whatever will be :)

Mummawannabe: I sooo understand how you feel. I did everything to avoid and to alleviate constipation but :o It's all the anaesthetic they use and if you were taking panadeine after - that don't help! I also had the huge tummy and was worried I had OHSS but had a scan and all was ok except for very inflamed ovaries (I had 17 eggs). I am actually a trained Naturopath so it astounded me that even with everything I know NOTHING was helping! I basically had to wait for the toxins to work out of my system... one thing that did seem to help was eating easy to digest 'warming' foods like pumpkin soup, ginger tea, stew etc. My acupunturist said that the anaesthetic is very 'cold' to your system. I also took liver herbs to help with the cleaning out.

Many people here were telling me that everyone reacts differently - and they were right. Some people are up and running in a couple of days but I am still kinda recovering ;)