April/May Buddies??

[CarolynB]

Em

Good to hear from you. How was your weekend with your parents?

Sorry about the weight gain. It is such a complete bummer on top of everything else. Feels like a real kick that as well as it not working that it also piles on the pounds.

I did find that some of it dropped off when I stopped taking the drugs along with a little healthy eating. I have found that drinking lots of water helped me too - guess it washes the stuff out of your system quickly??

My younger sister has an underactive thyroid and finds that she has a really hard time with her weight - only needs to look at a Mars bar to put on a few pounds. The good news is that she struggled to conceive (2 years+ for her first) as she has a very odd cycle pattern but got there in the the end (naturally) and now had a little girl of 5 and a boy of 1. Her periods can be 3/4 months apart. She must have been around your age when she had Natalie...............

Sure some of the wight will come off this month now that you are not taking any drugs at all. This will give your body a real chance to get ready for the ivf. I cannot re-call do you have the Zita West book? She has lots of tips on how to get your body ready. I did not do this for my 1st cycle as did not have a clue - I now wish that I had known and would have given it a better shot. I was still drinking when I was on injections which I now think was daft. We live & learn

I did injections rather than sniffing to down reg so you seem to have got the good deal there!!! I used puregon for stimmies. They gave it to me in a pen that I had to keep in the fridge. I found that I bruised less if I injected in my tummy rather than my leg - I also read that it can be more effective to put the stimmies in your tummy as 'closer' to the action. No idea if that is true or not but did me no harm. It must feel a little exciting to be moving forward with a plan.

Success rate for ivf is unaltered by surgery. No better, no worse. As you say, tubes are not involved.


So. I took it very easy on Sunday and felt better yesterday. We even managed to baby dance last night So that has made me feel better. It was a little hard to relax and dh was so scared that he was going to hurt me. Now we have cleared that hurdle, we need to do plenty more this week to help our chances. Reckon that I'll ovulate around Sunday. Consultant has told me that I must do HPT every month. As worried that he needs to see me straight away if anything were to happen becuse of risk of eptopic. So looking at my dates that will be HPT for me on 17th Sept if AF does not show before then. Have even been so bold as to add myself to Sept Testers thread.............

Hope that everyone else is doing ok. happy Tuesday!
Lots of Love
Carolyn xxx

[jackoa21]

Hello ladies

Em I am sorry about the weight gain. I too gained a few pounds from clomid. Once I stopped taking it I went back to normal. For me I have been frustrated because I got on the scale and I have gained 15 pounds or so since the IVF. I am sure some of it is from not smoking too. I think like Carolyn said drinking water would help to make you feel a bit better.. It would make me feel better also so I am going to make a true effort to drink as much as I should starting today.. So do they have your dates all worked out with the IVF your ticker says 25 days.. That is so exciting.. I can not wait for you to get started...

Carolyn I love your ticker it is brillant This is going to sound so funny but I have to say it "well done with the baby dancing" I am sure it was a little scary with your and DH's nerves but good job.. I am sure the HPT test could get annoying but just think your first one will be a BFP...
Ok I have a dumb question why is drinking water during the injections bad? I have to pull out my Zita west book and start reading it again.. I still have been having my tea and I know that is bad so I plan on having caffine free tea only.. Not decaf do you al think that will be good enough or truly should I not have any?

Ok so just to give some insight on how my weird brain works I have been so focused on other ladies and their cycles and so far I have seen an almost equal # of 2nd time BFP's vs BFN's after the first IVF has worked and than it was lost. So at first that scared me because i felt like my odds were not bad than of course when I got a little confident in that very sceintific factual deduction I did I got spooked the other way that what if that means it wont work. So this is the final deduction that I came too. I can not apparently try to do mathmatical calucations or let my mind wander it does me absolutly no good at all.. Ok I am done ranting now..

Dania how are you and your little bump?
Vero how are you honey and any luck on finding a good acc person
Laura we hope you are winning big in vegas

Love and hugs ladies
Love
Jackie

[veronika]

Hello ladies,

Jackie,
can you imagine I once did the same crazy thing. I went through pretty much all the posts I could find and made a list telling me my odds for a BFP after three day transfer of two embryos...it took the whole afternoon and I came up with good odds for me to get pregnant. HA. So there goes the maths and the stats and it all. I believe your chances are very good. You did get pregnant once - and this is what is supposed to happen with IVF, statistically (with a more than 50% chance) - so you have very good chances of it happening again!

Em,
nasty weight gain. I weirdly enough gained my weight after the IVF (and the meds), probably because I was sad. But at least it made me start exercising again, which I hadn't done in years.
We are definetly going for the IUIs/Clomid. I have told myself, though, that before I pay another penny for any fertility treatment I have to bring down my stress level - in other words hand in my thesis. This will be by the end of the week. Then I'll start the accu, get myself some wonderful, weight-enhancing Clomid etc. I am so looking forward to getting started again!
Darcy dog sounds like a wonderful gentleman. My dog, Pepe, is a real Pepe, he's a hairy, curly country-monster, with lovely brown eyes who chases after every rabbit and cat crossing his way. It will be quite a challenge to have him here in the city..

Carolyn,
I am excited about your baby-dancing - aren't we a funny bunch And I really like your little bunny-ticker!
Our poor DHs. They don't really get their fun for free right now, do they? ...but I think they are doing a wonderful job in being patient and undertsanding. That had to be said!

I hope you are all having/had a nice and sunny tuesday! Sending you many many hugs,

Vero

[jackoa21]

Vero we are so similar in this group. We are all a bunch of planners and we like to have all the information and than we make our calculated deductions .. I told myself afterword if I spent half the energy trying to figure out the what if's on something productive I could be a rich woman some day

I almost forgot about the puppies name. His name is going to be Graham we use to have an old english sheep dog when I was little (he was the nice dog not the little one that bit me) anyway he had the same name it is short for Graham craker (a cookie that has a ginger cinnamon flavor)

Love and hugs
Jackie

[CarolynB]

Jackie - that is funny about your 'old' dog and naming him after a type of cookie. So cute. Sure that you are really looking forward to getting your puppy now that you have chosen him. It is a bummer adding the weight but I am so sure that the benefits of not smoking really do outweigh the downside of adding a little weight. Plus the ivf drugs certainly added about 10lbs for me. You have done so well with the not smoking - how long is it now since you had one? Terrific effort. I agree with Vero that you did get pregnant and that has to be a good sign - although I know that you probably get tired of hearing people say that especially when you faced the heartache of facing the m/c so soon after the delight of the BFP. But you did clear another hurdle by having the little beanie implant for you at the end of 2ww.

Based on what I have read and was told - it is really good (reduces risk of OHSS) to keep up the 2 litres of water both before & during cycle including when you are doing injections. Have you been told something else? Keeps your system - esp liver and kidneys - in good shape.

As I understand it tea is better than coffee to drink as less caffenine. Plus decaf is better than with caffeine. If you like a cup of tea then I would say keep having your cups of tea as stress is the worse thing of all. If you can live without it then try to cut down a bit. I was drinking LOADS of coffee and lots of tea. When I cut down, I felt awful for a few days - headaches etc. But that told me that it could not have been doing me any good. I have some nice herbal teas. However, I do have other treats such as chocolate which I know has caffenine. A little of everything is fine but I try to limit my treats to things that I really really want!!!

Vero - I am an accountant so know that you can prove anything that you like with stats I did plenty of comfort eating whilst I was going through the whole ivf process. However, when I read how a healthy diet could help with the quality of eggs and chances of implantation, I figured that I had to at least cut down on some of the bad stuff. Good on you for exercising. I am rubbish on that which I know is bad...........

Get that thesis in and get yourself booked in for acu and you will be on your way very soon.

You are so right about our poor dhs. Mine was completely shattered last night and I still made him baby dance again How bad am I? He was like can't we wait 24 hours & can't I just please go to sleep. And I was like - NO!!!! Had done ovulation kit yesterday and got strong line. So guess that is my LH surge so 24-36 hours before I ovulate. Did test again today and line still showing. Guess that we are on a hat trick I know that it is awful to feel like we 'have to do it' but also cannot bear the thought of having done the op for nothing............

Em - hope that you are feeling ok sweetie and that your dh is taking good care of you

Laura - I think that you have done so well in Vegas that you have run off and left us!!!!!!!!!!!

Dania - you must let us know about how you are feeling and the little one. Do you have a scan soon or is it now 20 week scan for you?

Quite a busy day for me today. A couple of meetings with recruitment companies to talk about what job I might do next. Pretty awkward not saying anything about this lark but I just kept stum. Was asked if I had children - just said no and left it at that. Probably think hard nosed career woman - that is fine for now!!! Plus lunch in between the two meetings with a guy that used to work for me years ago. That was fun.

However, that is probably the most I have done in a single day so now feel quite tired. May be I will be the one who falls asleep and cannot baby dance this evening. My dh will probably be relieved!!!!

Take care all.

Lots of love
Carolyn xxxx

[jackoa21]

Hello all...
Carolyn I have heard the same you did about the water.. Do you seem to just do ok with it? I struggle with drinking all that I should. I am sure its like anything and it just takes practice... For me and the smoking its been 3 months I quit the day after my last ER so May 24th so even though I have cheated twice (not packs of cigs or anything but one smoke each time) so I have had 2 cigs in 3 months. I am doing ok iwth it.. I have heard that smoking can give you eggs of someone who is 10 years older so that has been my motivation.. I think you are right on the tea.. I will try to cut back but I will not cut it out totally right away as I dont want the additional stress My poor DH already had to go through my Smoking withdraws and he says that neraly killed him I think that is so funny about the hat trick.. Good for you though and you are right this is a great time so GO FOR IT

So I feel as if I got some positive information today.I phoned my doc to see what the game plan for my next attemp was. After the loss I asked if we were going to change anything this next cycle and the nurse was a little rude and said "well no it worked so why would we change anything" I was put off becuase although it worked we had 17 follies and only the 1 good egg and just with all that happened (although I was happy for the short BFP) change is not always bad. So anyway I phoned today and I started asking about using Gonal instead of Folistem and the nurse said they use both in their office but my insurance has now requested only for them to use gonal so I get a new stim med and they had already told me that for this next cycle they are going to use antrogonal (spelling) instead of lupron and no birth control pills for the cycle before.. SO the last part is today I asked if we could also do assited hatching (1000.00 extra) they said that as long as I get 3-4 eggs they will do the hatching although normally they only do it for ladies older than 35.. I am so excited. I feel like its something different and I am person who needs something to change to have it work so I am pleased
love and hugs to all
Jackie

[CarolynB]

Hey Jackie

That is terrific news. Agree with you that changing things does feel like it will make a difference to the end result. I have heard ladies on here write that if things are not altered then we should be bold and even think of other clinics so that it is great that you clinic is making adjustments. Have also read that often the 1st cycle is a 'trial' and it is hit and miss if it is successful. That the 2nd attempt, they know so much more about how our bodies will react that they can modify the protocol to suit us rather than just being a 'standard/generic' protocol. That sounds exactly what your clinic are doing for you. No wonder you are happy - you really should be

I am glad that they agreed to the assisted hatching. I have read quite a lot about it, given my age. It is certainly something that I would hope my consultant would let me do for cycle 2 in January. It must help you have even better chances than before

Do you have your dates yet? Must be quite close now if you are getting organised with all your meds etc etc

3 months with just 2 ciggies is a MASSIVE achievement for you. You should be so proud of yourself. This is going to be really helping you for cycle 2 as well

The water is hard. If I don't drink lots early in the day then I do struggle and am playing catch up in the evening and also need to go to the loo about 3 times every night which is v annoying for me & for dh. We have bought a water filter and just leave a jug in the kitchen and poor a glass everytime I walk by. I find it easier to drink lots when it is at room temp rather than from fridge. We just buy 1/2 litre bottle - and now just fill them from water jug as much cheaper - and I carry round with me all the time. So yesterday, I made myself drink 1/2 litre on walk to station just from an easy carry bottle as I went into town for my meetings. Then try to have another 1/2 litre around lunch time, another 1/2 litre around tea/supper time and maybe a glass before I go to bed. I was rubbish at drinking water 3 months ago. Like a glass a day girl. It is like everything, if you can get into a routine and feel it is doing you good then it becomes more natural and less of an effort. I do feel that it is doing me good and people have commented that my skin is pretty clear and think that might be the water??

Hope the rest of you dear ladies are doing well and will look forward to catching up on your news.

Well as fo me, I am still get a 2nd line on the ovulation kit so that is 3 days in a row. Has anyone else used them before and does that sound right? I bought a different brand to ones that I have used before and have not used for months as once they told us that my tubes were blocked completely there was no point. I think that I can re-call getting a line before for like 2 days but must say that I was surprised that it was still there today. Presume that it means that I have not ovulated yet? Any ideas/comments/thoughts would be much appreciated?

Take care dear ladies.
Lots of Love
Carolyn xxxx

[jackoa21]

Hello laides..
Carolyn thank you for reminding me that I should be proud of my self for the smokign thing.. I was beating my self up a little yesterday for having the couple. I now feel much better. I have done well and I will continue to do well
I think I will try the room temp water. I find that the cold water has been what makes it even harder so I will have to try that...I have read that water does give your skin a renewed glow and take years off.. That should be motivation for me enough. The smoking thing over the last 16 years has given me little wrinkles so maybe the water will take some of them away I can always hope right

For the OPK I thought that as long as the line was there than the ovulation was starting. I dont remember how long the line will last but If you have the line I would say keep bding (if you can)

For me and dates the plan is to go in tomorrow to get b/w to show the doc that I am not preggers and get the med to bring on AF.. I have now a really dumb crazy worry that I will have a cyst.. I think it just another thing for me to worry about.. I am hoping that the med they give me will bring on AF around the 12th or so and than I could poss do EC and ET around Sept 22nd or so..

love and hugs to all
Jackie

[LauraLou]

I wanted to post a quick hello before I leave for work. I had a wonderful time in Vegas. It was very relaxing and I really needed the break.

I went to the dr this morning for my baseline scan and lupron start. Everything looked good, so I am now officially downregging!

I will catch up this weekend on all the posts I've missed. Hope everyone is doing well.

[jackoa21]

Laura
Honey you have not missed anything the board has been down for a couple of days..
I am glad to here you had a good trip and you are on your way now...

Love and hugs to everyone
I have missed you guys

[veronika]

Just wanted to say that I am so glad to be able to log on again. I really missed you girls!

I handed in my thesis today. I am all empty tired and

I will have a big sleep now.

Hugs and Love,

Veronika

[Xrayem]

Hi guys, I thought it was my computer.....I haven't been able to get on for days! So very glad its back!

Laura - I'm so happy that you are back and that you had a lovely time in Vegas. (Everyone calls Brisbane where I live "Bris-Vegas" and I have giggled to myself everytime I hear people write about it). Wonderful news that you have started! Forgive me for asking a billion questions but this is my first IVF and I don't know what you all do yet. What do you take for downregging? I'll be taking Synarel (sniffing). Then I have a Puregon pen for stimming. Are you doing a long or a short cycle? Mine will be a short one.

Carolyn - tut, tut, tut! Already thinking of new job? You should still be relaxing and enjoying being a kept woman. Glad you are baby-dancing, hehehehe! I do have Zita's book and this last week, I have eaten soooo well. Loads of fresh fruit and veggies and my new best friends - sunflower and pumpkin seeds! We have cut down on carbs and meat and upped our fish intake. I am a big water drinker anyway, so that hasn't changed (I live in a hot country....we sweat a lot!). I am still having my one coffee a day and the odd wine when I feel like it and I plan to switch to decaf and loose the wine once I start down regging.

So far I have lost 3 kilos this week...most would have been fluid. I am pleased that I have managed it.

Vero - Hand that thesis over baby! How amazing to get to the end of such a major part of your life! You must be so pleased to get that weight off your shoulders...well done you! I have had a wonderful vision of Darcy, Pepe and Graham bouncing across a field after a rabbit, all floppy-eared and gorgeous.

Jackie - Graham is such a lovely name for a dog! I had a cat called Jeffrey - everyone used to laugh at that but it suited him so well! Well done you again about the smoking, it must not have been easy. Your heart and lungs will love you for it! Drinking your water at room tempertaure is much better for you as when you drink cold water, you have to heat it up to body temp before you can use it apparently. I can't drink cold water. I have my bottle that I carry around with me and everytime I see it I have to have a swig. It doesn't take long to get through it. I easily drink 1.5 litres at work. You get used to it to and when you don't have it, you will feel really thirsty.

We need to do up a list so I can keep track of where everyone's up to...

2 Sept - Laura: Down regging.
3 Sept - Carolyn: Ovulation!!!
12 Sept - Jackie: AF due.
16 Sept - Carolyn: Test Date.
22 Sept - Jackie: ? EC
23 Sept - Em: AF due.
24 Sept - Em: Down regging.
5 Oct - Em: ? EC.
7 Oct - Em ? ET.

Hope this all sounds about right...Veronika I couldn't find any dates in the old posts for you.

No news from me. Can't believe I have another 21 days to wait. Friends all think I'm mad as I have told them all that I will be pregnant next month. If only for 2 weeks. Technically I will have 2 darling little embryo's nestling in me for 2 weeks. I've just gotta keep them there. My best mate thinks that I am too excited about this and keeps trying to bring me back down but this will be the closest to being pregnant that I have ever known and I will cherish it. Have gone certifiably loopy.

Love to you all, Em

[CarolynB]

Ladies

I was so stressed when I could not get onto the site from Thursday evening through all day yesterday. Made me realise how much I appreciate being able to come here and what a life line it is for me.

Vero - Thesis in. You go girl. That is such a massive achievement. No wonder you feel utterly shatttered. You should feel very very proud. So when are you off to acu!!!! Ha Ha The good news is that you can really focus on getting pregnant and I am sure that not having all the stress associated with your thesis is bound to help

Laura - Glad that you had such a great break in Vegas. And now you are started. That is great. It must feel like you are really moving forward again. I so hope that this is going to be a good cycle for you. They will know so much more about you this time around from the 1st cycle. Hope down regging is not too bad. How r u doing? Any side effects or are you ok so far? You must get a ticker so we can watch your progress day-by day!!!

Jackie - Just compare the 2 ciggies that you had to the number that you would have smoked and put into your body if you had not done anything. Then the difference is the size of what you have achieved! If you think about it that way around, it seems much more positive than just to focus on the 2 that you had!!! Let us know how you got on with the doctor. I really hope that all is well and they can give you the drugs to get started. All go on our thread right now!! Thanks for the info on OPK lines. Think that I was meant to look for when it was darker than test line. I may just have been looking for any line. Fainter on Friday. So if strong line was Wed/Thursday then guess that ovulation will be Fri/Sat - YIKES!

Em - sounds like you are doing really well on the food front & the weight loss is great. I am sure that even more pounds will drop off if you are doing this well. I love fish so we eat it all the time but it is getting rather boring now!! Some days, I'd kill for a big juicy beef burger!!!! Thanks for the reasons for the water at room temperature. That makes so much sense. I also am finding it so much easier than when it is cold. I guess that is as the body takes longer to warm up and use. Shall keep going with the room temp and then a carry around bottle. Thanks for doing the list - it was starting to get hard to keep up with everything that was going on. It is great that we are all moving forward. You have loads of PMA which is great. Sure that your friends are just trying to ensure that you are balanced. I think that it is excellent that you are being so positive. It is a bit of a rollercoaster - good days and bad days - with some bumps/hurdles along the way but you are strong and you will get through it and we will be here cheering/helping you on.

We are all trying so hard - diet, water, Jackie giving up her ciggies, acu, etc etc. It has to help us next time around.

Dania - hope that all is well with you & the little one sweetie

So not much news from me. 4 weeks post-op on Monday. Last couple of days, I have started to even forget that my tummy is still sore. Then I start running around and then it hurts again!!! Meant to be able to drive after Monday if I feel like it so that will be good as will be less dependent on tube or dh.

A little bit hard to be too precise with my dates as my last cycle was 32days but the three before that were all closer to 35 days. I am pretty sure that I was more like 32 before ivf drugs. However acu guy thought that the 32 days could have been disrupted by my op. On 32 days and looking at the OPK lines then may have ovulated yesterday or today. If 35days then not til Monday! So quite a lot of baby dancing continues................. Am trying to be realistic about this month & not get too hopeful. My acu guy thought that my cycle would still be all over the place so is very focused on helping me in October and November with correct timing of acu tmt - he wants to see me just before ovulation and just before AF. However, this is the first month ever that my dh and I have ever had a chance of conceiving naturally (although at the start, we did not know that there was no chance) so it is hard not to be a bit positive/optimistic.

Trying to keep busy. Turned over our study so that it looks much more organised. Bought a printer so I can work from home and somehow seem to have got it working!!!!??? Need to do my tax return next as needs to be in by the end of this month

Have a nice weekend all. Very glad that we are all back together again!
Take really good care.
Lots of love Carolyn xxx

[jackoa21]

Hello laides..
The site being down made me feel crazy.. I could not figure out if it was me or the site.. I kept trying and trying. I really missed you guys

Vero
Congrats are being all done with the thesis...WELL DONE.. you deserve a nice nap now.. You should be very proud of yourself... So your acc appointment will be set soon

Em
Congrats on the weight loss.. I was like you and I had the odd glass of wine up until my stimms.. I think it was a great idea with the list updating. I feel like we have all been away for so long For your friend thinking you are getting too excited I have to say what I honestly belive in my opinion we can all say "we are not going to get too excited and we are going to keep things in prespective so we dont get let down" to be honest what I ended up thinking was telling myself that did not help I woudl be sad either way so I tried to go with POSITIVITY ONLY...I personal think being postive and keeping a good outlook will only make things better.. Just think you will be getting your BFP soon For the cycle I did follistem for stimming and lupron for down regging.. This cycle will be the short flare so I am looking forward to finding out what it is all about...we can learn together

Carolyn
I think you are right they look for the other line oin the OPK to be the same or darker than the test line.. So Friday and Saturday (GET to baby dancing ) Yeah for Monday and driving.. You are so independent I bet that will be such a pick me up for you. I know your acc guy wants to focus on the OCT months but I really think you should be positive and this could very well be your month

I can honestly say I have missed you all so much.. I really was at such a loss trying to figure out where you all had gone.. I am going to include my email so just incase it ever happens you can get a hold of me
jacqueline.grotkowski@oomc.com

Love and hugs
Jackie

[CarolynB]

Jackie

Great idea re-e-mail as I would so hate not to know what happened to everyone on this thread if something happened to the site. I was going to do the same & can't quite think why I didn't do it before.................

I am at carolyn.bresh@yahoo.co.uk

Cheers
Carolyn