MARCH-CYCLE BUDDIES

[nicolamark]

Coco, thats whats sp great about this site we are all so connected yet spread right round the world.... All feeling the same emotions.

And things are so different in diff. countries too. For example the USA protocol uses BCP much more than the UK....

What work do u do Coco. Wish i had time to kill at work on the net!!

Nimble, thx for your kind words!! It's a road we have to travel but never thought in a million yrs it would be us, but it is so we have learnt to live our lives with this now, and to us its normal.... x x

Sher, great to have you in my group!!! Love to you and your little girl x x

[annag]

Hi everyone!

Nicki, so sorry I haven't logged on in a couple of days. I spent the weekend in Pittsburgh with the in-laws....My MIL gave me this fertility necklace--hope it works! They are all hoping for me (as I am the only one to carry the family name with our kids)...But anyway, I canceled my saline sono today (sorry I mixed up the date-it was supposed to be today 2/12) since I was so busy at work and I couldn't get out. I just don't know how to juggle my time at work and these appointments- it's so frustrating!!! I booked it again for the 14th.

Does anybody know if this saline sonogram has to be at a certain day of your cycle? I'll be cd #14 then.

Wow, this month is filling up! Welcome to all the new March cyclers! Sorry I can't do personals, I have some laundry and dishwashing to do..

Take care guys..hope everyone has a good week.

Anna

[Sher8]

Hello Anna,

I was wondering where you were from in Ohio? My clinic is in Cleveland. I don't mean to get too personal, but tend to get this way in this forum.

Sher8

[sokru8]

Hi all
Thanks for to warm welcome!
Coco: I totally know what you mean about the weird dreams! On my first cycle I had the weirdest dreams!
Anna: What a wonderful gift from your MIL. What does your necklace look like? Im in the same position as you my husband is an only child so we are under a lot of pressure to get pregnant.
Well I am off to work!
Take Care All
Sonya

[Coco]

Hi, All,

Anna, a fertility necklace sounds like a good idea. We have a little sculpture of Kokopeli under our bed (covered in dust!) that I should probably try to re-energize. It can't hurt.

Sher8, I love to see that IVF ICSI worked for you the first time you tried it and that you have a little girl.

Nicki, I work on a computer all day, so it is easy for me to steal a few moments to check in with you guys. I think that you are right; the BCPs are pretty standard for US protocols. I will be interested to learn how long I have to take them until I begin the serious drugs. Is this what you guys call "Down Regging?" i.e., taking pills to bring everything down? I hope I don't turn into Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when I move onto the injectibles...

Coco

[pep23]

Hey girlies! I'm in the middle of a winter storm here in Indiana and am mad because my first acu appt was supposed to be today but he moved it until Thursday!! Oh well, I'm just grateful he was still able to fit me in this week. I really want to make sure I am good about going weekly as I prepare to start my injections…just 5 more days, YIKES!!!

Anyway, not too many people braved the roads to make it into work today so the office is a ghost town. Thought it would be a nice quiet time for me to log on and get all caught up with everybody. I see we have some new faces…just means more BFPs to celebrate in the near future!!!

Coco- Welcome to this thread!! I see you are in a winter wonderland as well!! We are supposed to be getting a minimum of 12 inches in Indianapolis today. Brrrrr. Yes, down regging is the time used to "quiet" your ovaries before you start to stim. I am on week 3 of BCP right now and then on Saturday will add Lupron. I'll do that for about 2 weeks before I start Follistim. I'm also a little nervous about how I will react to the injectables but excited to get going!!!! I LMAO about breast feeding the pug in a baby gown. Hahaha. Maybe it's because we all treat our pups like kids until we have babies. I know I spoil my two little wiener dogs rotten!!

Sonya- I'm sorry to hear that your first attempt was negative but I have seen so many women who get pg on the second time around. I'm really happy that you and DH have decided to give it another go. It seems like they can learn a lot from the first cycle and adjust accordingly so hopefully that will be the case for you!! Lots of baby dust your way!!

Sher- It was so great to read that your first attempt was a success. Congrats on a healthy baby girl!! I myself look forward to many sleepless nights…hopefully in about 9 months. LOL. So why is your clinic in Cleveland if you live in Pennsylvania?

Anna- A fertility necklace…think I need to get one of those!! I am seriously willing to try just about anything. As I'm sure we all are… Anyway about the saline scan, I don’t think it matters at all what cd you are on. I had to reschedule mine a week later than the original date and there was no problem. I think it's just to check the position of your ovaries and look at your uterus, etc. I'm sorry to hear work is hectic for you. Will your boss be understanding and work with you when you start your appointments? I hope so. You don't need the extra stress in your life right now! Oh and thanks for the tip about Miami Vice and You, Me & Dupree. I need to make a stop at Blockbuster on the way home since we will be shut in all night in the snow!

Nimble- I feel the same way when I see pg women. I just sigh and think…oh, how I wish it was me!! That's great news that you start stimming soon. I know it seems far but I bet it will be here before you know it. I'm getting anxious myself though so I'm not one to talk!! I can't wait until we are all going through the 2ww together and cheering each other on!! I think March is going to be a a month full of BFPs!!!

Holly- Skiing in France sounds wonderful. Although I must admit I would probably rather be nice and cozy in the lodge sipping on something warm! So have you cut out caffeine altogether? I've tried to really cut back but have not completely cut it out. I'm too much of a Diet Coke head. Same with alcohol, I let myself have a wine or so on the weekends but once I start the injections I plan to stop even that. I'm afraid there may be reactions with alcohol so don't want to chance it.

Nicki- THANK YOU!!! You are doing such an amazing job keeping up the list. I love seeing where all of these wonderful ladies are from. It is really amazing to take a step back and realize we have formed this awesome support group of people in similar situations from all over the world!! So AF should be here soon right?? I'm jigging away for you!

Denise (cookholmes)- Welcome to this thread! A 14 year old step daughter WOW!! What practice for you!! I am so sorry about your Jan cycle but I've seen so many success stories with FET. I really wish you the best of luck. Will they be changing your protocol at all this time?

Janice- Crossing my fingers for your scan this week!! Please let us know how it goes and what you find out. I really hope you can be a March cycler but if not I'm sure it will be for the best and your doctor won't start you until he knows the time is right. I know it's hard to be patient but your time will come I know it…PMA!!!

Sha- Happy to see you can start soon! I know it must have been frustrating that your cycle was put on hold for a while but it's just around the corner now!! Good of you that you and DH spend lots of time staying fit. I try to make it to the gym as much as possible but this snow lately is sure testing my dedication!!

Vicky- I hope you are having a fabulous time cruising and getting lots of R&R!! And hopefully AF doesn't show up until you are making your way back to the states!!

Shantala- Ok, no smarty pants…I shall call you Smarty Socks instead!! Haha. And don't worry, I will not be scared about acu (even though I'm a big baby too!!) I figure with all the other injections we are forced to do this should be a walk in the park!

Nerms- How was the baby shower? I'm impressed you organized it. I have a hard enough time going, let alone planning one!! I love the word nappies…in the US we call them diapers which is not at all as pleasant. I may have to adopt some of your terminology for when my wee one comes along!! So do you have your schedule yet?? I'm so anxious to hear all about it. Please let us know!!

Ok, better get back to work so I can get out of here at a decent time today. ((((HUGS)))) to everybody else!!

Love,
Steph

[nicolamark]

Af is here, and day 1 today!!!

Called clinic and Bloods for Fsh, Lh etc... can be done on day 4!!! so Friday we have the chat and then off i go...........Wahoo!!! Cant believe i am at teh start of my 1st IVF, after all this chatting and talking about it, its here!!!

Love to ya all, sorry its short!!! Strapped for time today!!! x x

[nicolamark]

THIS IS OUR GROUP



AMANDA…….. Missouri, US (age25)
ANNA……. Ohio, US (age33) PA in Cardiac Surgery
BIG WHITE HAPPY DOG (Janice)…….. Virginia, US
BRIDGET JONES…….. Surrey, UK (age45)
CARBEV aka Caroline……..Singapore
COCO…..Winter wonderland, US (age37)
COOKHOLME….California, US (25) HR for Insurance Co.
HOLLY…….. Holland
IDONVITO aka Lisa…….. New York, US
JENN…….. Toronto (age28)
JILL aka jstandlund…….. Minnesota, US (age29)
KAREN (moonk) Connecticut, US (28) Education Consultant
KARINA........ Northern Ireland
KARMA_K………….San Francisco Bay (age35)
KIA aka SHA…….. Portsmouth UK (age33) A&E Nurse
LUCY …….. West Yorkshire, UK (age26)
MANDEEQ……...London, UK
NERMS……..Middlesex, UK (age32)
NIMBLE aka Jackie…….. Surrey, UK (age38)
NICKI……..East Anglia, UK (age31) Finance Advisor
PEP23(steph)..Indianapolis, US (28)FinanceAnalyst@RollsRoyce
RAE…….. Dallas, US (age30) PA in Heart Surgery
SHANTALA……..Berkshire, UK (age21)
SHER8……Pennsylvania, US (38)
SOKRU…. N.Carolina, US (33)
VICKY…….. Florida, US (age29) Own business in real estate.




FUN STUFF…… NON-IVF RELATED STUFF THAT’S OCCURING!





NOW—Jill—On holiday in Florida!!! (returns mid Feb)
NOW-- Karma-k -- New Job offer!!!
NOW —Vicky on Cruise (returns 18th feb)
13 Feb—Karina—Birthday.
14 Feb—Valentines day.
17 Feb—Holly- Skiing holiday in France
24 Feb—Karma K -- B’day
24 Mar—Nicki and DH wedd.Anni (6yrs)
April—Karen—29th birthday this month
02 Oct—Nicki B’day!!!



WAITING FOR AF…..





NOW-Vicky - AF due




APOINTMENTS, BLOOD TESTS AND SCANS



This week some time - Big white dog--Scan
13 Feb—Nerms—Receiving IVF schedule
16 Feb-- Nicki - IVF appt for cycle plan & fsh bloods
19 Feb—Jill--Saline Sonogram
21 Feb—Karma-k – injection class
27 feb—Amanda- Trial transfer
28 feb—Karen – appt about IVF…
28 feb—Nicki—Blood results back!!!
12 Mar—Nimble—Scan
21 Mar—Nimble—Scan
23 Mar—Nimble--Scan
25 Mar—Nimble—Scan



DOWN REGGING, STIMS, DRUGS and BCP’s




NOW – shantala—Down regging
NOW—Steph—BCP’s
NOW—Coco—BCP’s
16 Feb –Bridget Jones—Down regging
17 Feb—Steph--Lupron
20 Feb—Shantala—down reg test
21 Feb—Anna—Down regging
22 Feb—Shantala—Stimms
24 Feb—Kia—Down regging
25 Feb—Nimble—Down regging
16 Feb—Amanda—Lupron
Feb—Anna-- BCP’s
Feb—Vicky—BCP’s
1 Mar—Sokru—2nd IVF
1 Mar—Big happy Dog-starting IVF… (5th Time lucky)
1 Mar-- Nerms- Stimming
2 Mar—Steph--Stimms
4 Mar—Jill- Stimms
4 Mar-- Nicki- Down regging (TBC)
MAR —Jenn—starting IVF
9 Mar—Holly—starting IVF injections
9 Mar—Amanda—Stimms
APRIL—Karina- Starting IVF in April now…..



EGG COLLECTION/ RETRIEVAL



5 Mar (ish) – Shantala—EC
12 Mar —Steph--EC
18 mar —Amanda—EC
23 Mar—Holly--EC
26 Mar —Nimble—EC
26 Mar —Kia – EC
26 Mar (ish) -- Nicki- EC (TBC)




EMBRYO TRANSFER



8 Mar (ish) —Shantala—ET
Mid- end Mar—Vicky—ET
15 Mar—Steph--ET
21 Mar—Amanda—ET
28 Mar—Nimble—ET
28 Mar-- Nicki – ET (TBC)


FET



End Feb—Vicky-- FET
March—Mandeeq-- FET
March- Bridget Jones-- FET
End Mar—Carbev—FET
End Mar—Karen—FET
End Mar—sher—FET
End Mar—Cookholme--FET




TEST DATES



Shantala 20 March (ish)
Nimble— 11 April
Nicki- 11 April (TBC)


CONGRATULATIONS!!!! BFP!!!




30th Jan= RAE!!!! Natural BFP…… Congratulations Babe!!!

PREGNANT MARCH CYCLERS- DUE DATES





RAE- October 07

[nicolamark]

Nerms, did u get your Cycle plan???

[Sher8]

Nicki -
Great, glad to hear your enthusiasm. The best you can do is stay positive and relaxed. Gooood LUCK!

Pep & Coco -
Thanks, hopefully I can spread some positive vibes. To answer your question, the clinic is only 2 hours away and great success rates. Unmatched to anywhere here in Pittsburgh. My GYNOB only works with this clinic. I personally feel they are "miracle workers" so to speak.

Sher8

[Sher8]

By the way, when I was in this chat room in 2005, it seemed there were very few people from US and most from UK. It is nice to see the room expanding and amazing that there are so many of us out there.

I will say that this message board served as a wonderful sounding board. No friend could match the commeradarie and support I received here.

Sher8

[Coco]

Nicky - that's great! You got the Green Light!

I am only five days ahead of you and Steph is maybe two weeks ahead of me. Steph, you will have to give us a play by play of what to expect. (Oh, and by the way, would you mind coming to my house to give me my shots?) Just kidding. I am going hard core, Lara Tomb Raider, woman of the 21st century, GI Jane, you name it, and we can do it.

Nicky, you are on your way!

Love,
Coco

[kia1973]

Hi all,

coco, your dream made me LOL.

cockholmes, welcome, wishing you a BFP this time

sher, welcome. sorry to here of your BNF the first time round, sending you all the luck in the world for this cycle.

Nimble, know where your coming from with Pg women, my sister-in-law is due any day now and its been so hard seeing her belly getting bigger by the day, i know i should be pleased for her but i find myself hateing her because she has what i have been longing for for so long (totaly selfish i know) i love her really and can wait for the baby to be born!! sorry for the whining. Now on a lighter note i start D/R on 24th feb but don't start stims until 13th March after my scan on the 12th. it can't come quick enough. March is going to see so many BFP!!!!!!!!!!

Nicki, the lsit is looking Brrrrrrrrill. it must take you ages updating it all the time. good news about AF, you must be so excited now.

sorry girls DH clling time to walk the Dogs, what an exciting life eh!!

catch you all soon
xxx

[sokru8]

Congrats Nicki on your BFP
You and Coco will be pin cushions in no time!!
Actually that shots are not to bad! I found doing them in my stomach was the best place! I have never been so thankful to have a little belly fat!
Sonya

[rae76]

Hey ladies - and wow, you have really been active during the weekend

Nicky, I was so glad to hear that you found a recipient! That's such a wonderful thing you're doing. And congrats on AF - it's all starting to happen now... Good luck with the bloodwork.

Great job with the list! A couple of changes for me would be great when you get the chance. First, I'm not a PA (Anna is, I guess that's where it came from ) - I'm a translator. And according to my OB whom I talked to today, my due date could be somewhere closer to October 10 but who knows....

Welcome, Shar, and I wish you the best of luck with your FET. Hopefully the tmt will work wonders this time around too!!

Welcome Sonya! What a terrible mistake on the part of your clinic - but it's good that they're trying to rectify the situation now. Good luck!

Denise, welcome to you too! Sorry to hear that the tmt wasn't successful the first time around - I have my fingers crossed that second time's the charm for you. And congratulations on your new job!

Steph, you were asking about the weather here in Texas... Well, I'd like to complain a lot since this has been a horrible winter here - more ice, sleet and snow than the previous three years combined. And of course it's not a lot - I'm from Finland so I know what real winter is like - but here it's a killer... It's just not supposed to be cold here, it's always windy and the roads are lethal when icy because people aren't used to driving in wintery conditions and do not have winter tyres. Normal winters are much more pleasant here... But hey, I know you guys are in the middle of a big winter storm so my heart goes out to you - don't get snowed in! I'd love to play in the snow, though - that's what I grew up with. Luckily we did some white frolicking in Colorado over Xmas

Coco, welcome! What interesting dreams you've got! Mine are mostly nightmares I think it's great that you're lining up "fun" appointments for your cycle so that it's not going to be just uncomfortable poking and needle pricking

Janice, great news - I'm so glad you get to go ahead with your March plans. Good luck!

Vicky, sorry I didn't catch you before you took off. Doing the anti-AF jig now...

Nimble, yeah, waiting is a b... I feel like the last couple of years have been all about waiting for something to happen - for the miscarriage and its aftermath to be over, for my body to recover enough for an operation, for the operation itself, for a post-op check-up, for yet another operation, for AF to come, for AF not to come, for the next ovulation to come, for the doctors' appointments, for the test results, for IUI scans and results, for IVF to start.... And hey, the waiting doesn't stop at the BFP Still going bonkers! Anyway, I hope you find a good way to distract yourself and IVF will be here before you know it!

Shantala, you made me smile talking about wanting to check out the size of the needles right away. That's exactly how I would have reacted too Hope they're a reasonable size...

Holly, have a great time skiing! I'm envious, both DH and I love skiing and go as often as we can. Haven't been skiing in Europe since we moved to Dallas, but I love Courchevel. Whereabouts in France are you going? Our last skiing trip was to Colorado over the holidays and it was absolutely beautiful. And apparently it's good luck for BFP - we got preg the next cycle and that's what happened the last time too - we had been skiing in Canada that time

Anna, thanks for asking, I'm feeling quite well. Gotta eat all the time though - while writing this loooong message I started feeling nauseous so had to run to the fridge for some blueberries No real m/s though, but a lot of small cramps in my lower back and stomach. Scary but hopefully harmless. You also asked about the languages - well, in theory (LOL) I speak Finnish, Swedish, English, French and German, and a tiny bit of Dutch. But the reality is that for so many years now I've only spoken (and worked in) Finnish and English, so all the other languages have deteriorated terribly... I'm sure I'll get them back some day.

I hear what you're saying about Asian food! I'm a huge fan too (and I love food in general - I'm a big eater). Also, DH lived in the Far East for five years when younger, so he's quite the connoisseur of many Asian kitchens.

Wow, that was a long list. I'll try to stay on top of things so that I don't have to post such monsters every time I'm glad you still want to have me here although we never got to the tmt and got this happy surprise. I want to be cheering you guys on all the way!! Had an u/s today, everything looks OK although it's so early that it's hard to say anything yet. OB measured 5+6 (when I thought 6+1) so the due date changed - but it was quite hard to get measurements on such a tiny thing. There was a heartbeat - oh, that's always a sight and and a sound one doesn't forget! - but it was still way too slow. OB said not to worry as it is early, but to pay attention to that next week when I meet my RE hopefully for the last time. So, all's going well but it's too early for me to let go of my worries. I do have some pains all over so cannot forget the thing even for a second, although I know I should just relax. Please baby, stay there for mommy, OK?