Long Term TTC & Assisted Conception - June 2007

[briggsy's girl]

welcome Bec - hope you can find the support you need here, and that your stay with us is blissfully short!

BW - normal is GOOD!!

[Shannon22]

Good morning

BW - Congrats thats fantastic about the emby and i agree with BG normal is good! the little caterpillar is snuggling in!

BG - Hope today is a little easier!

Happymel - Good luck on thurs for DH! He is a very brave man, i dont think i could get my DH there.

Holly - Good luck with Antonia i hope you get your answers and are preggars before you know it!

Bec - Welcome! I also hope your stay is short.. my only advise is to look after yourself!

We got half our results back no blood disorders etc and everythign was clear. Now we just wait for the chromosones (3 weeks).

[S'rose]

Hey guy and gals...

I have decided to swing in and even though I am not in the AC field yet I am feeling a little bit more like needing the support of this thread. I have only been TTC about 14mths, have very recently had a Lap and am recovering well, due to see FS same date as BG - 21st June (hoping thats a good sign) for the outcome - I do know they removed endo and an area of adhesions.
Hope its ok with everyone if I pop on in here?

[happymel]

Hi S'rose i also have (had) endo and had lap last year in Nov. Was bloated for a bit but recovered fairly quick. Good luck with your FS appt- hope all goes well.
Also BG, good luck too for FS appt, feels good knowing you have something to look forward to, a plan, makes things feel bit better.
BW- you lucky girl for not having to take full 2 weeks of Crinone!!! I remember towards the end ot the 2 weeks just lots of clumps came out, it was icky grosso!! Feeling normal is good. Try relax as much as you can, and no stress (or at least not too much!!). I hope you get a BFP
Hi BecD. Good luck with the weight loss, you can only tray as hard as you can. Well done so far. I have been feeling pretty depressed for last 12 months but have kept off any sorta meds. Every month i just felt sad getting period, and then IVF is quite emotional, then m/c. DH bears the brunt of it all, i feel sorry for him at times but is so important to keep your spirits up and look forward to the future, even if it is so uncertain.
Do people thinks its kinda strange that so many people not only have one, but two or sometimes three fertility issues. Low sperm AND endo, or varicocele and PCOS. I wonder why. Doesnt seem fair.
Thanks for all the good wishes everyone!! I told DH about what Rols said about having his leg taken off would be way better!! He just went red and hid under the pillow and had a giggle. He thinks im teasing!! Only 2 more days to go woohoo!

[Lenny]

Do people thinks its kinda strange that so many people not only have one, but two or sometimes three fertility issues. Low sperm AND endo, or varicocele and PCOS. I wonder why.

Mel - i once read a post here that said something like people with one (not too major) fertility issue can conceive naturally in about 2 years, and people with 2 (not too major) fertility issues raises that to 7 years. Don't quote me but it was something like that anyway. So that's why we all have two or more!!!

BW - You are lucky with the Crinone - it is such a gross feeling when it all comes back out (You need to know this too Rols - DH got a bit of a shock!!!)

S'rose - I am pleased your lap went OK. I had stage 4 endo and adhesions and didn't even know - although looking back i wish someone would have mentioned it to me as i did have a LOT of symptoms, but i thought that was normal! Have you been told to try naturally now? We were told your chances of conceiving naturally after a lap are really high - Good luck!

Hi Bec - i hope you are successful with the weight loss, and your stay here is short.

Nic - i didn't even know you had a journal! Better find it now and get reading.

I hope your visit to Antonia goes well Holly, but i also hope you have a nice fun relaxing stay in Melbourne!

Good to see you still around Shannon. There are a few friendly faces who are MIA these days - and I miss their input and kind words. I hope some of them are still lurking...

Off to GP now as my referral has expired - gees, it's been a year already! And time to stock up on Panadeine Forte too.

[slyder]

Koatre, tell me what crinone is? I tried to find stuff about it last night but had no luck. If DW's tests all come back normal, will she still need this stuff?

[slyder]

Hi S'rose and welcome.

Bec, welcome to you as well. Keep going with the weight loss. If the 15kg loss is just to get below BMI 35 then keep going for as long as possible as the closer you get to the healthy BMI range, the more it will change your life, and not just in regards to pregnancy.

If you get sick of the gym, don't forget that you can very effectively lose weight just by walking out your front door and going for a fast walk or slow jog, or whatever it is that gets your heart rate up above 60-70% of its capacity for more than 30 minutes. That, combined with making sure your energy intake is less than your energy output (ie you burn your food energy first, then your body turns to fat stores) means that you can lose weight fairly quickly and easily. Don't let people discourage you. Weight loss is actually a damn sight easier than many people would have you believe, if you do it right. Good on you for having a go.

[Lenny]

Excuse my non-medical jargon, but i'll have a go with a laymans explanation of Crinone - please correct me where i'm wrong!

Crinone is progesterone, which your body (or your DW's!) should produce naturally in the phase after she ovulates. Some peoples bodies don't do this or need some help. I don't have progesterone issues, but my FS - (and some others do too), just give you some more support after a stim IVF cycle as they have mucked around with your body and hormones so much, that a bit more can't hurt!!
It's a gel/cream which you use in much the same way as a thrush treatment IYKWIM (if you don't - then ask DW). I got to use it for a full two weeks, and there is not enough room up there for all that stuff, and so it makes its way back out again - and it looks like cottage cheese crossed with god only knows what.
HEY, don't blame me - you asked!!!
But your DW may not need it - so maybe not a good idea to discuss with her until you know.

[slyder]

No worries, thanks for info. Nothing is too much info, it takes a lot to make me squeamish.

I gathered from a bit of reading last night that it had something to do with the luteal phase defect and prog. levels and stuff. Will find out on June 19th how DW's levels for every is I guess. Really hoping she is complications free.

As for me, I've been getting anxious and edgy about the whole thing more or less out of the blue. I keep worrying that the andrology testing is going to say that all my sperm are stuffed and not useable etc. Even though the FS said I had nothing to worry about, my case was mild (I can't see how 96% malformed is mild) and that the further testing was only to determine whether we were going to go with IVF or ICSI. The problem with me is, if I don't fully understand the ins and outs of something I get worried, but when I do have all the information I still find something else to worry about.

I could ring up for my results but I've decided not to because waiting for phone calls back drives me insane, getting info from nurses is often incomplete, and it's just easier to wait and discuss it fully on the 19th. Plus, I've decided it's good training for me to be patient during the TWW, and in general for other test results. For me, being able to stick my head in the sand temporarily is quite a new thing and something which I actually think can be quite helpful. Sometimes I think you can actually know too much. We are paying SIVF big bucks to get it right and that's why the FS spent years at Uni - to know what she is talking about. So the moral of the story is, harden the %$%* up, Rols.

[butterfly_warrior]

The reason we need luteal phase support on stim cycles is because of the trigger shot and the fact that the eggs are removed from the follicles before ovulation occurs. This means that the ovary doesn't form a corpus luteum (or 10, or 26 - which I imagine would be bad), so the body doesn't produce its own progesterone at this time.

Because of the OHSS and the fact that we weren't transferring I got to skip the crinone. AF arrived 8 days after EPU, which would have been very bad had we transferred. The crinone basically means the luteal phase will go for long enough after this. Fully medicated cycles need to have the progesterone created in some way as well, so I think it comes in there again.

With mine being a "natural" cycle (as if you can really do natural cycles when you don't ovulate without dugs! ) the body is able to produce the progesterone it needs... The one dose of crinone was (I think) just to soften the cervix and make transfer a bit easier. I didn't have any pain at all, and very little bleeding afterwards, so I guess it did something!

I do recall that I made the comment to the FS that I felt I was stuck in a rather undignified position... funny chair that has pads for your knees to go over and then reclines back and lifts up - bum hanging out in the breeze for all the world to see... The FS made the comment that this was the position that propagates the human race, what could be more dignified than that?! Perhaps if it was just me and DH, fine!

Anyway, I'm babbling... Back to the crinone... I know have it coming out with horrid brownish grey stuff - still feel like I'm stuffed full of sand. Rols, certainly don't expect to be having any action in the bedroom while your wife is on crinone! And while on the sim drugs your ovaries can get very sore, swollen and enlarged so sex can be painful then too. Basically, you can expect to pretty much completely miss out on sex for quite a while once things get underway.

Sorry for the bad news there!

BW

[slyder]

Well that sucks!

[sonya1]

hello everyone!!!

long time no chat!! (ha! HA!)

firstly

so sorry BG about AF. i was devastated when my first cycle didnt work. take care of yourself. though you seem to be such a strong woman.

BW - yippee! on the transfer....

Welcome -s'rose and becD

Rols- have been lurking for a couple of weeks and reading your interesting posts. its so refreshing and informative to hear a males point of view through the TTC journey.

ME - decided to say g'day. have been lurking and reading posts every couple of days. AF is due sometime in the next week and then i can start my natural FET cycle yippee!
DH goes to thailand (Phuket) on friday for 8 days with 4 mates. its a yearly tradition. he was hoping my AF would be here by now, just so i have FET done while he away. he was hoping to be able to tell everyone that another man got his wife pregnant while he was overseas! (he is so cute!)
im having pains in lower belly so hopefully the wicked witch is on her way to visit me. lucky, lucky me (not!) my 3 year old and i have conjunctivitis!! yay! never had it before and i swear i have lost all the eyelashes in one eye. cant really tell as i only have one and a half eyes working. my left eye is almost closed. you should see how many times i have had to correct this chat!!

rols- good luck with puppy. i have a mastiff and female dobermann and am hoping to have a male dobermann by xmas. just wating on the breeder to give us pick of an upcioming litter. i do obedience, agility and showing with my furkids... but during my cycles my poor babies have been missing out...too tired etc...

anyway

good luck girls. it feels great to burn up the keyboard again!

[butterfly_warrior]

Forgot to welcome S'Rose!

I'm sneaking on while supervising another class at school - so a bit rushed.

Welcome, and I hope you find the support you need here - it has been fantastic for me! I also hope that you won't be with us for very long and that we'll get lots of good news from both you and BG on the 21st (I hope I've remembered the date correctly!)

BW

[nic]

Welcome to Bec and Sonya (and anyone else I missed sorry!) This thread is moving fast today! Well, it is for me anyway LOL. We've had some rain and it is starting to feel like winter now..too cold to do anything today, well that's my excuse.
Gotta go, DH is awake! Be back later

Nic

[Chez67]

Hi everyone

Welcome Sonya and Bec - goodluck with your TTC journey. And Bec, good luck with losing the weight as well. I have started myself on a bit of a healthy eating/living plan, not because my FS said I needed to lose weight, but because I have decided to do it for myself and it will make the pregnancy and birth a bit easier on my body as well. I am sure you will be feeling better in yourself already having done so well in your first 4 weeks. Well done!

BW - congrats on the successful transfer and with such a healthy blastie I am sure that everything will lead to a BFP in the very near future! Lots of sticky vibes coming your way for your little one to snuggle in and do lots of growing!

To everyone else, . I have lost track of what is going on with most people, but anyone in the TWW and about to go to appointments or for tests, good luck!

Nothing exciting happening here - finished the BCP last night - yay! Hopefully my headaches will reduce as a result and I might lose some of this vagueness that is going on with me at the moment! I have no motivation at work - I am counting down the days until the long weekend. DP is taking me away for a mini-break for two nights at a secret destination - we have to come back on Sunday evening because our first scan is on Monday. I am looking forward to a break and getting away from some of the realities of everything for a while and just concentrating on us, because there hasn't been much of that lately. Although AF will probably get in the way

Hope everything is well with everyone else, and thanks for all the information about the crinone... that is coming up for me in the next few weeks hopefully

Take care all and chat soon.

Cheryl

[~BecD~]

Thanks for the warm welcome ladies.
The plan is to keep going with this as long as I can so that my BMi gets down to a healthy range, but the first hurdle is the 15 kilo mark, Im already 1/3 of the way there - YAY!

Does anyone know much about Lupus coagulants and how they affect fertility? My FS has just sent me another BT request (the 3rd one!) to confirm that I have a problem there as both other tests came back with elevated levels??? All the stuff I have found (thanks google) is scary but sketchy at best, Id like to hear it in laymans terms...

[S'rose]

Thanks to everyone for the very warm welcome.

Jo - I have had to wait almost 4wks before follow up appt post Lap so don't have any idea other than basic info supplied post-op. I think this wait is far worse than any TWW, I just have no idea how far spread the issues really were and if everything was cleared enough to try etc. Limbo land until the 21st really.

Bec - Sorry I can't help you with Lupus coags. Woo hoo for being a third of the way there, thats super ace and I hope it continues being a positive and rewarding process for you.

BW - Yay for transfer and things being normal for once. Maybe your body is finally in sync with your spirit... I hope this all comes out just perfectly for you.

Mel - So sorry you are battling depression, its a very hard one to win consistently, Super Congrats on being med free for 12mths. I am sure DH is able to handle the moods, I think we underestimate their resiliance sometimes, generally I find my DH is just relieved to be included in my feelings and thoughts.

Sonya - bummer about the conjunctivitis for you and DD, especially with DH headed o'seas to have a great time!! Hope AF's arrival is reasonably pleasant for you and FET is not too far away. (oh yeah - great name by the way )

to those I have missed, hope you are all well atm.

[Lenny]

Srose - my FS talked to me after the op and told me what he found and how the op went and sent me home with lots of nice photos of my insides - 'before and after' endo shots. They are actually quite fascinating! I did have to wait 6 weeks to go back and see him for a full run down, but at least i knew a bit. Sorry about Limbo-land, but you get used to living there - it becomes like a second home!!