Hiya Lola - Thanks as always for the update.....
Strange news about your estrogen....hopefully another cycle of BCPs will help.
This might be a stupid question, but if you're ovulating on your own, your tubes are fine, etc, and you're only doing IVF for the male factor, are there any other options? I.e., I've heard some are doing 'natural' insemination - where they extract the sperm, wash it, and inseminate it with your natural cycle instead. It takes more times, since you've only got one egg to shoot for each cycle (i.e., you might have to do 5 cycles to get to the same success likelihood of 1 IVF, but you avoid all the nasty hormones, etc. ) Not only that it's a fraction of the cost of IVF. You're still so young and have plenty of time and if RE says you're perfect in every other way and it's just the hormones making your cycles go haywire, maybe it's an option? Here's the 411 on this from:
http://cms.clevelandclinic.org/obgyn/body.cfm?id=189
NATURAL CYCLE INTRAUTERINE INSEMINATION:
In some cases the success rate with natural cycle inseminations is not high enough to warrant its use. However, there are many couples for whom this procedure is worth doing. When this procedure is going to be used, the couple calls the IVF Center by the fifth day of the menstrual cycle to notify us that they will be doing the procedure that cycle. The woman then uses an ovulation predictor (generally starting on day #11, depending on usual cycle length). The day the ovulation predictor changes, the couple calls the IVF Center and the intrauterine insemination is scheduled for the next day. In cases in which natural cycle IUI can be utilized, the success rate will average 12-15% per cycle and for some couples could be considerably less. Cost of this procedure is approximately $293 plus the cost of the ovulation predictor.
As for me, AF has still not arrived (I think I'm cycle day 32 or 33 now, I've lost count.....) Even stranger, I've gotten egg-white cervical mucas today (sorry if TMI). Isn't this usually a sign you're about to ovulate? OMG - how could I be ovulating at day 32 or 33???? My cycle must be really messed up. Now, strangely enough, I rarely got EWCM before, only when going through stims. My acupuncturist had us doing ovulation predictor kits (OPK) this past month to see if we might get pregnant naturally assisted by acupuncture....but I stopped using the OPKs on CD 19, since I got negatives each day and just figured I wasn't going to ovulate this month (which is very rare for me....) And now maybe I am? I'll have to use a kit later today to check (although I have no idea what comes first - the EWCM or the + OPK????) Oh, and I did a HPT on day 28, which was -ive, so I don't think it's that either, plus no symptoms.
Sorry for the long-winded rant, I'm just a bit confused here....
Lot's of positive egg dust off to you, Lola, and good wishes to everyone else!
- Suzhan
