Columbus, Ohio X2

[lm]

Where did all the Columbus, Ohio people go?? I just registered here this morning and found that reading about the experiences at ORM really comforted me. I would LOVE to hear from some of you!

[Kelly72]

I have been posting in another Cols site. I just started my BCP last night and will be starting Lupron in two weeks. Just ordered all my meds today. Yicks, crazy how much they put you on. I am looking forward to getting on with this and the next 4 weeks of BCP and Lupron are just getting me started! I hear it goes fast though.

My DH and I have been TTC for 2.6 years. We are in the "undetermined" catagory and it is frustrating. So I hope the IVF attempt works.

Where are you in your cycle?

[lm]

Hi Kelly, I am on my third day of Lupron. I will finish the BCP's this weekend. I am glad because they make me feel a little counter productive. I went to ORM last Thursday to get my calendar....they have that I am not going to start stims until July 8th. That is a little confusing to me....Oh well.

I am unsure of what my "official" diagnosis is. I have endometreosis and had a lap done in November to clean me out. Since then....nothing good. I was on Clomid for 9 months. We did five IUI's. I did have one chemical pregnancy/ early miscarriage. My DH and I decided that it was time to move on.....so here we are. I hope this is it!!!!

Good luck with the beginning of your cycle. The BCPs do go quickly. I don't think the Lupron injections are bad at all. The anticipation of the shot was a lot worse than the actual shot. I didn't feel a thing. I am just worried about the BIG needle that goes with the progesterone. YUCK!

[Kelly72]

IM,

Glad the Lupron is going well. All my meds just arrived this am. Crazy how much stuff there it. But I am looking forward to getting on with it. I did 4 cycles of Clomid, and had no adverse side effects. Felt good for the most part. Then we moved on and did for injectable cycles with IUI with no success. I have never been preg. far as I know. Unless it was so early that I could not have known.

I am so used to the needles at this point too the Lupron injection does not even faze me at this point. I can tell you that the Prog. in oil with the IM injection does not sound fun. So much so I talked to my Dr. at ORM and we are not doing it. I am going to use suppositories with a boosters every three days of ovidrill. Not there normal practice, but said it works also. Of course if I don;t like the suppository we can change to the IM injection. The other injections (SQ) I take in my stom. as well. Very easy and pain free. Well at least I am squeeking my skin so much I do not feel it!

Please keep me posted on how you are doing. I am most nervous about the retervial, but they say it is not that bad. But I am still nervous. I am also so nervous that this will not work either. When you try for so long and nothing, it is hard to think that this will work. You know? But I am trying my best to stay positive.

[lm]

Doing okay here...anxious to move on to the "big" drugs.

What stims will you be on? Will you be on the same meds you were for your IUI cycles? Were you a good responder? I will be taking Bravelle and Menapur.(sp)

I responded so well to Clomid I just assumed I would also respond well with the injections, but then I read that your response to Clomid is not and indicator...Great. I guess that is what I am most nervous about. I want to have a good amount of high quality eggs that all fertilize so I have some to freeze! Wishful thinking.

How is your insurance coverage? Do they cover anything? Mine does not. That is what is so hard...it just adds to the pressure!

Hope to hear from you soon. LM

[Kelly72]

I will be on Bravelle and the Menapur also. Not sure the quality but I meet with the Nurse on Tues the 27th for my Sounding and to go over everything else. How was the Sounding for you? I am kinda thinking it will be like and insemination or something.

Well when I did the Injectables I was on Follistim SQ once a day, and I produced very very well. I am 33 and they said with my age everything looked good. I had asked about egg quality and they told me they can not tell until they take them out, but a good rule of thumb is if you are a "good" producer than more than likely the eggs are nice quality. I would only produce between 2 and 4 "good size" eggs for with the follistim. But you are on a much lower dose of meds cause they don't want you to produce more than that. I would not worry, you are young and if the Clomid produced well for you, you should be fine. Also the Follistim I took was just one kind of hormone, and I know doing the Bravelle and Menapur you are getting two different kinds.

As for my Insurance it does not cover anything. It did cover the Antibiotics and some of the meds like that for the IVF, but all of the Stims drugs it did not. So we are out of pocket on everything. We are used to it by now. The injectables where like $3000 per month for everything. It is crazy! I just hope this time it works.

I do think the ORM is very good, and the people know exactly what they are doing. Not to mention there success rates are better than the National average. So that does make me feel good.

Keep in touch

[lm]

Hi Kelly-
The sounding was exactly like an IUI. It took maybe 2 minutes. The female doctor did it...(Kenard???). She really didn't say anything to me at all. After that, we went and waited for the nurse. She gave us our calendar and talked to us about dates, drugs, dosages, etc. She was nice. I couldn't think of a single question to ask....now I want to know about bedrest, decaf coffee, a couple of other things. I better write them down so I can ask on July 3.

Have you heard anything about accupuncture? I was thinking of trying it....could it hurt?

Good luck at your appointment on the 27th....piece of cake, especially since you have already done several IUI.

[Kelly72]

I am looking forward to my appt tomorrow and to get my calendar organized.

I would not make a big deal of the caffeine. Just in moderation and you will be fine!

I actually did acupuncture. Dr. G gave me the name of someone and I did it while doing the IUI with injectable. It WAS NOT for me. The needles did not hurt exactly, but they did not feel good at all. I was so nervous that is made me crazy. It is suppose to relax you, but for me it was just torture. I remember sitting there thinking "I can't believe I am here doing this". They stick like 15 to 20 needles in you and then leave you for about 20 mins to "rest". Yeah right! With needles in your head, feet, legs and stomach! I do have to say, that some people love it. But I just did not at all. However I do think there are benefits in that type of medicine.

How are you doing on the Lupron? Are you still taking it? Do you take it for more than a week?

[lm]

Hi-
Lupron is easy. I don't have any real side effects, or at least none that I really notice. I haven't been sleeping as deeply as normal, but I do have a few things going on! I feel like you are on the Lupron FOREVER! I started 10 cc on June 18th. I will continue on that amount until July 8th. That is supposed to be the day I start the stims, so I will then drop to 5 cc a day. I don't think I stop taking it until the HCG shot? (when I stop the stims) I guess it is what keeps you from ovulating on your own.

I just took my last BCP yesterday, so now I am waiting for AF to arrive. I have my baseline next monday at 8:00 AM, so I will know more that afternoon! I am ready to go!!! I am a teacher and have the summer off. I thought it would be good so I wouldn't have to take any work off, but I need something else to occupy my time...maybe a little shopping!


I think you are right about the accupunture... I can't imagine enjoying all those needles? Maybe I will just go get a massage next week before I actually start the stims to just relax. I heard you weren't supposed to have massages while stimming??

Good luck tomorrow. Let me know what your calendar looks like!

[LisaB75]

Hey girls - another ORM success story here! Kelly - I have chatted with you in the past - glad to see you are on your way!

LM - welcome and good luck to you! I have a lot of faith in the ORM doctors too - even before I got my BFP I felt that way. My doc was Schmidt - but I saw all of them except for Williams. I didnt care for Dr. Kennard but she did my embryo transfer and I got a bfp so I guess I can't say anything bad about her. Grossinsky was wonderful, Friedman didn't have the best bedside manner but he is very smart and efficient (he did my egg collection and drained fluid from a hydrosalpinx I developed during the stim phase) Schmidt is my favorite - I must say. I saw him 5/8 for my official pregnancy scan and he had to turn me over to a regular OB. I was sad to leave him and I asked him if he could just see me thru the whole pregnancy - lol! He gave me a hug and said "sorry they won't let us do that".

I found the Lupron shots to be surpisingly easy too. Never felt a thing. The stim shots are very similar but they burn a little when you push the fluid in. Just make sure the alcohol is completely dry before you inject - that helps.

As for the progesterone - well, I had to get shots in my butt for 8 weeks. And they hurt - and they were WORTH IT! I had my first one on 3/30, and my last one on 5/25. They did not want to switch me to the suppositories b/c my progesterone levels were low and the shots are much more efficient. My best friend is an RN, and she did the shots for me every night (DH is deathly afraid of needles). Most of the time she did them I barely felt a prick - but sometimes they hurt like H*ll - I'm not gonna lie. I used ice packs before to numb the area and that seemed to help a little. I would do it all over again. I felt my little baby move for the first time a few days ago and it is so incredible - I can't wait for you guys to experience the same thing!

I am here for you if you have any questions at all since I just went thru the exact same protocol as both of you. Hang in there and keep the faith. I had so much negativity - I was positive I was going to get a BFN but I was obviously wrong. Don't read too much into your body's symptoms during the 2ww. I was very, very crampy and had every PMS symptom I always get - yet it turned out i was pregnant.

Ok - I always write for too long - lol! That is my personality - I am a motor mouth and I never shut up!

Have a great day!

[lm]

Wow Lisa...what a great story! I love to hear the good ones. Thanks for sharing!

Wishing you a VERY happy and healthy 9 months!!!
LM

[Kelly72]

Hi LisaB75! Great to hear from you.

Hi IM... I am on my way. Had the sounding today, and yes it was like an IUI. Everything looks good. I start Lupron same dose as you on the 2nd. Then my first ultrasound appt. is on 7/18, than hopefully start stims on 7/22 (if everything looks good). Keeping my fingers crossed. If everything goes as planned my retrieval would be around the first week in Aug and then the transfer 2-5 days after. So I am really kinda getting excited.

You are a few weeks ahead, so I am so excited to here how everything goes. My DH and I are going to injection training (again) to see how to mix the meds. I have never done that since when I did the injectables I was on the Follistim Pen. But they say it is easy. My best advice with any of the meds that in cold to get them to room temp or they sting a little. But never bad. I just pinch my stom. for my DH to give me the shot and I can even look when it goes in. Does not bother me anymore. Funny how that is.

I am not sure if I told you, I am not doing the Progesterone In Oil shot. I was afraid of it, so my Dr., Dr. Grosskinski said it would be ok to use the ovidrill to boost me. So after the retrieval I start with the Prog. Suppositories, and then on day three I get 1 shot of Ovidrill. (Makes your body produce progesterone, then every few days I take an Ovidrill shot, and take the suppository every night. Of course if my progesterone is low at all I would switch and do the shot. However Dr. G. said some places don't use the shot, they use the other method. Very interesting. But Dr. G said everything is negotiable and if I felt uncomfortable we could see if something could be changed. It is amazing they know what to do.

Anyway, IM, let me know how your first ultrasound goes and if you get the green light.

LisaB, How are you feeling? Are you at your reg Doc yet?

[racquel]

Hi All, been catching up on posts since I'm in bed and have all the time in the world ... had retrieval procedure yesterday, they got 20 eggs! 12 mature, fertilized via ICSI and 7 are good. Due to my age they're only tranferring 2 back - go in Thursday then on bedrest 3-4 days. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed!

I was VERY afraid of the intramuscular shots - started with HCG trigger with 25 gauge, 1 and 1/2 inch needle - my DH is a gem and handled it well, hardly hurt at all. My imagination was much worse. Started prog last night and that hurt a little more than I thought after the good experience with the hcg but this is a little bigger needle ... doc told us to numb with ice, rub it for awhile then put heat on, that seemed to help.

A warning to those who are on Repronex for stim - that one burns bad, try icing ahead of time or use Menopur instead if you can get it, learned afterwards that it has same effect but without the burning sensation.

By the way ... retrieval procedure was a peice of cake, except they left the catheter in for some reason and made me get to 200cc urine before they would remove, it was not fun. But I can hardly remember the feeling now, it all passes with time! I'm still pretty bloated and sore, a little paranoid about OSS but seems to be going okay.

I have the utmost respect for all of you who share your stories and inspiration through this challenging time - I find it hard to log in often but am always glad when I do make the time. Take care and best wishes to you all!

[Kelly72]

Racquel,

Good luck with those two little embies they are going to transfer. Are you an ORM patient as well? I know I will be awake for my transfer and they do not have me on a catheter. But that does not sound comfortable. I hope you are feeling better today.

Take care, and let us know how you are doing.

[racquel]

Hi - sorry I don't know what ORM stands for. I was under anesthesia and had the catheter with the retrieval but will be awake for the transfer. Not feeling great but think that's just from lying around in bed all day - I shouldn't complain!! Glad to hear your shots are going well so far - those suppositories don't sound like fun either. take care