Long Term TTC & Assisted Conception - Jan 2008 #1

Happy New Year Ladies. Am back...haven't typed in a while. Currently on our 3rd Clomid cycle and after we got another BFN last month (2 days before Chrissy) I have been feeling rather low.
I guess I feel like we've failed again...not only last month but when I wasn't pregnant at the end of 2006 I told myself that was OK because we had a whole new year to look forward to (2007) and now that year has come and gone with still nothing...but I think I'm over my self pittying stage. My FS wants to see me again at the end of this cycle, which I am guessing will be to evaluate how treatment is going and possibly advance to the next stage which I'm assuming will be Clomid + IUI. Currently at Cycle day 13 and have to head back in tomorrow morning for another blood test to check for ovulation.
Am hoping this is a very "productive" year for everyone!!! :)
Ems
xxxxx

Just wanted to pop in and say a big HI!
If today is your first day back at work (like me) after the xmas break, I hope it goes well & you are not too busy for day 1.
Nothing happening in the TTC department here right now. After BFN last week, AF has arrived & I am finally off all drugs - it is so good not to be taking anything! FS wouldn't see me till 25.01.08, so we will see what comes of that appointment. I am on the hunt for a new car right now as I just sold my last one, so this is keeping my mind occupied.
Anyway, take care girls & I hope this year all of our hopes & dreams come true!

Hello! Finally i have some sunshine outside, after the flooding over the weekend!! Time to put some clothes on the line :p

Interesting to read others decisions on whether to tell family/friends... at first, i wasn't keen on too many people knowing, but DH wasn't so concerned, and as he said, this is a reality of our lives, so we can't pretend to others that all is dandy... so we have been talking about ttc, to close family and friends, and it is amazing how often it turns out that another family/friend is going through some sort of AC. However, as we are about to move onto IUI and possibly IVF, then i will def. be asking him to zip it, as this is my body that is being injected, poked and prodded, and i feel it is taking a much more personal/private step.
jbub - as you mentioned, if friends know, then in a social setting, there is much less pressure to have an alcoholic drink! I've found this to be a great benefit also. Most of my fam and friends say a genuine 'how are things coming along' and then i control how much i want to tell at the time.

emma83 - i thought the same as you re 2007.... i felt it was going to be our year, but here we are now 2008 .... :crossfingers:

lionfish - best of luck with round 2!! I'm on round 3 :thumbsup:

:hello: to everyone else, hope all are well :D tp xx

You know what they say theresep 3rd time lucky!! I believe that 8 is a special number and that means that we are all gunna get what we want in 2008!! Of course if it was 2009 I would be saying the same! LOL.
On my first IVF cycle I pretty much told evreyone family and close friends which was fine they were great and supportive and no problems but they took the BFN just as hard as we did, bless them. This time round i have told my best friends, 2 very special people and my Mum oh and the boss for the time off!. I guess I would have told more but with Xmas i havent really seen many people. take it as it comes.

Hi I think this is where I should be in this thread and probably in the older women one I will try that one next. Just turned 40.
We have been trying for 5 years (had cancer got over that but delayed me having kids was my choice) on top of that IVF started about July 06.
We have done one cycle long cycle gonal 225 low numbers in eggs but Apparently good and embryos perfect 1 FET and 1 frozen negative.

Second long cycle gonal 300 1 FET and 1 frozen positive early m/c.

Third cycle gonal 300 short cycle FET slight implantation negative (DH 2 months off smoking) too devasted to continue was going crazy) we still have 1 frozen from this cycle. DH has DNA sperm came back 43% we find this out 1 year later! Had 4 months rest being healthy, taking vitamins etc. Three months into our rest period DNA now %33 still in poor fertility range but %4 away from fair fertiliy potential.
New FS completed fourth cycle puregon 300 short cycle (different brand not this FS uses puregon). DH had to do new method 6 days ejacuation and FS says we need to have ICSI this is our first and had 2 transferred also a first also used clexane another first. FET negative Christmas eve.
After all that we have done nothing. Seems to me if we do nothing like we did in the first couple of cycles we can achieve pregnancy now science dictates what we should (6 days ejaculation and older eggs to do short cycle) and we get the worst results ever. FS will support one more cycle but I am not ready to give up yet maybe another two. Do short cycles work or do they produce inferior eggs maybe we should wait to see if DNA improves. We have made an appointment to see a scientist maybe they will make it clearer.

Hi all,

I will be trying IVF shortly and was wondering if anybody had any advise or suggestions to help with this procedure?

Am a little nervous and wanting to give every opportunity to work.

I wish everyone all the best in their endeavours in trying to conceive.

xxx Sue xxx

Hi Sue,

glad you made it in here. The best advice I can give you is not to stress, but hey, that's way easier said then done. Don't be afraid to ask questions, too and if you'd like some insight as to what's going to happen, there are some related threads at the bottom of this post.

Welcome Mini May and Sue please ask any q's you like.

Well I have spoken to my lovely FS today and all booked in for April cycle with lap in March on the 25th I know it seems like we are putting off things but April just feels right :)

Peta - I hope work was not to harsh
LF - 3rd time lucky I hope too
Mini - I would do what feels right for you
Emma - GL with BT
Therese P - It is such a small world many people I have talked to have been through the same

Minimay,

just replying to some of the things you talked about in your intro thread: I completely and totally agree that DNA testing on sperm samples should be one of the routine tests that they do before you do IVF. Even now it's not a common test undertaken, even when there have been many cycles where the embryo/s have failed to implant. I think the medical system fails couples by investigating the woman's issues so thoroughly, but neglecting further testing of the man if it's not visually obvious that there's something out of the ordinary with his sample. But we live in hope that these things change in time.

And with regards to how many cycles to do, your FS can suggest that you only do one more, but you can try as long as you want up until the cut-off age of your clinic. If you FS doesn't agree to that just go to another FS. Only you and your DH can decide something of that gravity.

Good luck and welcome to BB.

Hi Ladies,

I am just wanting a bit of information/ advice if anyone has been through this avenue before. I am currently having bloodtests done daily for ovulation tracking and am at day 15. I just called the clinic to get my results of this morning's blood work and have been told that my EST - 2700 and that my LH - 18. The lady told me that my LH is often high...and that they want me to come back tomorrow morning for another blood test, an ultrasound and a trigger injection.
Can anyone shed some light on what the trigger injection entails?

Many thanks
Ems
xx

Emma the trigger injection is just another in the IVF injection cycle it is to release the egg for EPU or ET. Good luck. It stings alittle ice is good. You are getting there well done :)

I have been lurking in this thread for the last week or so and decided that I should jump right in.

Early March 2007 I was diagnosed diabetic. Due to my diabetes I was refered to a pre-pregnancy diabetic clinic. DH and I had been TTC for about 18 months but hadn't been trying in the 6 months since diagnosis. The docs there suggested doing some basic tests so that if we had conceived in a few months that the ball was started rolling. Ultra sound came back ok, ovulation blood test ok as well. Unfortunately DH sperm test did not. He is doing another test this Friday and we have an appointment with a FS in Feb. We ave been advised that natural conception is slim to none.

So currently we are living in this limbo land.

Indie24, try and keep your spirits up. Being told that the chances of conceiving naturally are pretty slim is awful, I'm sure nearly all of us in here have been told that.

My DH's sperm is not great, the morphology is bad, but we do overcome this with ICSI. I know it's not ideal and you may not be thinking about ivf at this stage, but ICSI has been designed to overcome the problems with sperm. We are in the middle of an icsi/ivf cycle right now so feel free to ask any questions.

Anyway, I'm also new to BB but not new to the TTC, so from one BB newbie to another, hello and good luck!

RH :)

Indie24 & RH76 Welcome to BB and LTTC thread lots of info and support here sending some :bluedust: your way!

Hi everyone thanks for making me feel so welcome you are all so great. Had a sad day today but hoping tomorrow will be better. Talk soon...

Just replying to the question about whether or not people are telling friends etc about their IVF treatment.

We're just about to start our 1st cycle and have chosen not to tell people. We can't conceive naturally, but if we were able to we wouldn't be running around telling all and sundry about the details of our sex life! Plus I just can't see myself discussing the ins and outs of my cycle with my in laws.....

I guess part of it is not having to discuss with lots of people over and over again if things aren't going well. Would much rather wait until we have something exciting and positive to discuss!

Tish

welcome tish - glad you found this thread!!

Thanks TL, am glad you are all booked in and even if April seems so far away it is great that it feels right for you.
Sue - I found my first IVF cycle VERY overwelming, it really helped me to talk to the counciller that they offered at my clinic and also I wrote out a diary and I put in it each day and everything I had to do on that day, ie drugs and appointments. Then I focused day by day and tried to think about that instead of the outcome or what ifs? Hope this helps a little, Just ask as ?s and we will try to answer them.
good Luck.

As for me I have finished the PILL YAY! am waiting for AF! Come on AF.