Long Term TTC & Assisted Conception - June 2007

Hi There!

Just wanted to pop in and see how Ellie did today - So sorry I forgot to mention you earlier!!!
Glad to see you are doing ok and raring to go again asap!

Anney - Thanks for your post!
I have to admit, I'm a little anxious about seeing Antonia - the main reason being because I'm a little scared she may tell me she can't help me!
I just think that generally we as women have great instincts, and Antonias name and practice has just popped up so many times over the last 12 months, its like I'm not allowed to ignore it even if I wanted too!!!
I feel confident in the decision we made to fly to Melbourne, so I'm holding on to that with happy happy thoughts:D
I just know in my heart that I am destined to have a life with more little people so that keeps me happy as well!!!!

Thanks so much for your reply - Its always fantastic to hear from someone who has been there, too!!!

I hope your TTC journey is going great and you get your BFP asap!!!!

Hi to everyone else!!!

Talk Soon,
Love Holly
xxx:D

Good Morning

Ellie - :hug: thinking of you honey and can't wait to have you back in the game!

Holly - Just trust yourself and give yourself the best chance which is exactly what you are doing!

Well we saw the FS this morning and oh i love being a woman! Internal scan, pap smear and 15 vials of blood later and not even flinching which is the scary bit! When does all this become "normal"?

Anyways they are testing us for everything and anything that may explain why our embryos aren't implanting.. apart from that we go again for another IVF/ICSI cycle whenever we are ready.. it all depends on how the job works out otherwise we could be going in 3 1/2 weeks... :dance:

Good Morning!!!

Shannon - Thanks for your post, its sooo important to stay positive through all of this!
I'm very interested in whats happening with you at the moment too - Have they given you any ideas on what they're thinking in terms of why the embryos aren't implanting??
This is our problem, too - We don't seem to have any trouble getting the embryos (which I am extremely grateful for) they just don't like it once they're back in there!
What kind of tests are they doing?
Am keen to find out how you get on!
Its crazy about how you can have all of these tests done and it gets to a point where you just sit there and aren't bothered.... I have friends that get anxious for weeks leading up to pap smears that they only have to have once every 2 years!!!
Some of us are better equipped for it, I guess (either that or we don't have a choice, or know any different, hey??!!;))

I had my first pap smear when I was 9yrs when I started to have trouble & they discovered my endo.... crazy! At least none of it bothers me though!!!

Hi to everyone else - Hope your day is great today!!

Will pop back in later
Love Holly
xxx:D

Morning,

Shannon - can i asked how many ETs you have had? I guess i'm just interested to know at what point they start testing/exploring possible implantation probs. I hopefully start my next IVF/ICSI soon too. Although i did promise myself a few days ago that i would not continuously compare myself to other people!!! It's hard not to some times.

I got told about 4 months ago that i needed to have a pap smear - which is fine, i have no problem with that. But with all the drugs and especially the pill, i have pretty much not gone for a full week without spotting. This affects the tests doesn't it? I wouldn't want to have the pap smear only to find that i just have to have another one because of inconsistent results. Is there a right/wrong time to get a pap smear done?

Really looking forward to hearing how you go next week Holly. I hope we can put on some better weather for you. It's a little chilly ATM.

Thanks for letting us know about the vitex etc Sushee. It can sometimes be confusing and we all just want to be doing as much as we can to make our chances better.

Morning,

We have had one IVF/ICSI cycle and then 1 FET cycle, the FS has said that there is nothing to be alarmed at, but she just thought bcause we were young we would fall quicker and whilst we have a month or so up our sleeves we may as well rule out any possibilities. My acupunsture/chinese herbalist said he thinks im falling pregnant and then my body is aborting the baby because i am too stressed.

As for the tests the pap smear was just because i was due nothing to do with ivf, and the others were blood clotting disorders, hormone levels and they tested DH and I for antibodies and a few other things not 100% on all of them. Should find out in a couple of days.

I also called up about that job today, they havent been able to get hold of the guy that did the 3rd interview and will let me know by close of business today. :crossfingers:

Hope i answered the questions Kotare & Holly!

Shannon...I'm really interested to hear what your herbalist has said about stress...I'm convinced it's my job that's causing me to miscarry...seriously considering quitting...did he have any suggestions???

Ellie - Yep he said to quit that it would be a miracle if i fell pregnant if i keep working where i am... hence the jobhunting. He said if you fall pregnant and your too stressed your body can't deal with pregnancy and the sress and you miscarry. Not nice to hear. :)

Ok, I'm going to do my best to attempt some personals here,

Welcome Rols, Hope your stay with us here is a short one :) Goodluck to you and your DW with your FS appointment on the 19th. Have you read the book called Swimming Upstream? It has a funny chapter about sperm tests. I read it out to my DH and he had a good laugh at it. One of the other girls here has it also? BW or Summer? sorry can't remember which one of you girls got it?? Anyway, the book is not only directed towards women, but also the mans journey as well. :)

BG - OMG @ testing later and keeping us all in suspense! You naughty girl :lol: Can't wait to hear your result..

Mel , Your DH's urologist sounds umm... different?

BW - goodluck Monday! Will go check out your journal now to catch up on all your news :)

Ellie - good to hear you are feeling ok.

Holly - goodluck with Anotnia. Excuse my ignorance, but is she like Ruth Sharkey, they call her the "babymaker" here in QLD.?

BIG hello to anyone else that I missed. Sushee, are you heading to Egypt soon?

Not a lot happening here, went for my repeat B/T yesterday. Only needed one vial taken, woohoo! Just praying that it doesn't show a higher red cell count than last time..

Nic

Yep...I was so meant to hear that today. DH and I have been discussing me resigning but coz I'm in Education and have my 'permanency' it's a big deal to give up...I'm going to attempt to get leave without pay...and if not I'll have to resign and do some relief teaching...which would be fine anyway...but then I think...I'm lucky I'm in a position that I can earn ok money doing relief teaching and there's heaps of work around...then if we're doing a cycle I don't have to ask anyone for time off...which is my problem where I am now...mmmm...thinking out loud...sorry...so the permanency thing isn't really a big help anyway...time to make a decision...big chat with DH tonight I think!!! Thanks Shannon...I'm with you...bub's are more important...can get a job anytime!!!

In your circumstance Ellie, relief teaching sounds like a definite option. you are fortunate in that most people could not find work to fit around IVF, or other life dramas. If you can financially afford to ditch the job, I say go for it.

As for typical stress (ie. not I'm about to die stress) and pregnancy, I gather there are no proven links regarding miscarriage, but the risk is probably not worth it.

Hi Nic, thanks for your message. DW has ultrasound this afternoon to make sure everything is in the right place. She also had 4 vials of blood taken the other day on the first day of AF (I'm getting good at these acronyms) so they could test for something starting with F I think - some female hormone which is supposed to be floating about around that time.

Thanks Rols...and yes...you're doing great with all the acronyms...are you going to the scan? Any excuse to get out of work I say! Hope all goes well for you both today :)

Could it have been FSH, Rols? You are doing great! I'm really enjoying having a blokey perspective on things. Really appreciating the support from everyone right now... I think I'm getting myself together - feeling much, much calmer today.

BW

Hi Ellie i hope you are feeling ok. Well, everyone seems to think my job is too stressful and they are blaming that on the miscarriage- you work too long hours, too high stress job blah blah. I kind of think they are right too. I will wait to see FS next time (soonish) and then maybe just drop hours back altogether for next FET, i just want to be able to give the embryo the best chance possible. DH and i want to move down the coast for a quieter lifestyle in the next few months which will be great, but at moment live in mid of city and its just so hard to relax. And i think unless someone in your workplace has been through ivf, they dont really understand the emotional and physical demans ivf puts on your body, and just infetiloty in general. Job change sounds good for you, i hope it makes you feell happier, thats the most important thing.

Hey Mel...my DH and I did the big tree change 3 years ago...we live on a beautiful 4 acre property now...lots of trees and only 5 mins from the beach...and now that I think about it I had never fallen pregnant until we moved here! I'd taken 8 weeks off work for the big move and to settle into the new community...get to know people and stuff and we got our first BFP...unfortunately ended in ectopic...prior to the move we had never got close...mmmm...how is it that I'm justing working that out!@?! Anyways...DH and I are having the BIG talk tonight...make plan and then stick to it! Good luck with your plans...the move sounds great!

Ellie, I hadn't even considered going to the scan to be honest, and now I feel a bit guilty. My intention is to do as much as we can together, but because the scan is internal I guess I assumed there was no invite available! Just looking forward to hearing the results. She is in there as I type.

BW - glad you are on the mend. Yes it was FSH I think. Hopefully if the FS is the one doing the scan (DW things so) we may know results of that today.

Happymel, tree/sea change is the way to go, even without IVF I reckon! How anyone can live in a big city is beyond me. I want to go on a killing spree if I'm in Melbourne or anywhere like that for more than a day. Ellie's got the right idea, how awesome would that be? Trees, land, and beach - my dream (particularly if there are good diving sites nearby!) We live 15 minutes out of the nearest city in a small town, but fortunately very close to SIVF.

UPDATE: DW just rang and ovaries are all where their supposed to be and tubes and all that stuff. Apparently they can see follicles which I am told is a good thing.

What is irking me at the moment is our credit card morons. We want to up our limit so we can initially pay for the treatment, and wanted to go to 10K, from 3K. When we first got the card and only wanted 1K they offered us 8.5K, yet now, even though we are on more money they will only give us 6K. ****ers. Plus we have council rates and car rego coming up. We can afford it, but I hate debt, even if it's just short term debt. I think I need to get over it!

Oh one more thing then I will definitely go away, one your first IVF cycle, if tehy can get enough eggs and a reasonable fertilisation rate, I take it on the second cycle (assuming there is a second) they can just do a FET, which is a whole lot easier and cheaper, yes?

Rols - My DH came to the IVF scans and was quite facinated so see everything, made him feel more involved i think. yes money is a pain in the butt when it comes to IVF but yes if you have embryos frozen after your fresh cycle they tend to use these in a FET before going the whole thing and yes you will be relieved to hear it is cheaper. :)

Thanks Shannon. I better get DW to start talking nicely to her eggs, make sure they are all on the job. No point talking to my sperm as it clearly hasn't been listening.

Rols...sorry...I didn't mean to imply you should be going to the scan...my DH didn't come to internals until I had an ectopic...everything happened really quickly and he didn't really get a choice!
On the credit card thing...we just swapped ours over on one of those 'transfer over deals and pay no interest for 6 months'...just transfered the amount we had owing and applied for a higher limit...then we closed the original account...got the 10k over the phone...DH thought I was funny coz I got a pink 'virgin creditcard' which we only use for fertility stuff...might be worth considering?
Oh...and congrats on the scan results...all good:)