MARCH-CYCLE BUDDIES

[nerms]

Hi everyone....this group is sooo big now!! Holy...i don't know how i'm going to keep up!

Nicky..i'm so sorry to hear about your roof...what a headache! not to mention the extra stress! Hope everything turns out ok, my parents had the same problem at their place...thought it was coming from the bathroom, but now we think it might be related to the flat roof..which i don't think the insurance covers! Good Luck!

Nimble...are you ready??? not long before the ball is rolling!!! You'll be right behind me..looking forward to having 2ww together!

Sha..when i had my baseline scan the sonographer thought i had pcos, so i did alot of reading on it...one of the very successful ways to manage it is by using metformin...which for some reason they don't weem to do much of in the uk, but it is common in the states. From what i gather it does help to improve the quality of the eggs so i think it is a pretty good thing that the doc is putting you on it. Please don't worry as stress is not good for our mum to be! keep smiling!

Steph..how exciting!!! I'm so pleased that you've started..sending lots of baby dust your way! So is lupron used to downregg? sorry if that's a silly ques So pleased your acu went well..it's really relaxing isn't it? I was thinking that i would book in just before AF due, then when stimming, before EC, then just before and after ET....what's your plan?

Shantala...how are you hunny..been thinking of you loads...your tip in particular with sucking on a mint after sniffing...good idea...wierd though my bad taste comes about 10mins after i've sniffed..was it the same for you? It's so wierd i just want to sneeze for a good hour afterwards! Hope your blood results are ok tomorrow and you're all ok to start stimming....btw did your af come already and did they do a scan to see if lining has thinned down? Glad to hear DH is doing better and up and about...although he needs to reserve his energy...his big day is coming up soon!!

Marcia...baby shower was good thanks..lots of fun and we really enjoyed the games! esp the tasting the baby food game! Glad to hear DH's SA went well. Not long before you get started...so you are getting injection rather than sniffing is that by choice? Did you get my message about coventry...my sis lives there in allesley village...where do you live? How wierd i'm in cov quite a bit visiting her and my neices, or otherwise at my mum's in brum!

Anna..you sound in good spirits...i'm glad! Good luck with your first day with lupron!! You're more than welcome to use my dates...i'm so glad your still on track for this month...can't wait for us to cycle together! When is your surgery planned for?

Vicky..how are you? Hope youre not feeling down about the mean mean AF...hope to hear from you soon!
Rae...hello! Glad to hear everythign is ok...sory you went through the stress....i think it's all part of parenthood..they keep you worried from the moment they are concieved I can understand how it must of freaked you out! but all well that ends well hey!

Jill...great that your sono went well...i think our dates are pretty similar too..i'm maybe just a few days ahead..are you downreggin at the moment?

BJ...sorry to hear about your ext and int plumbing kept me smiling!!! (not for your misfortune of course...just your referencing)

BWHD...sorry to hear about your polyps..glad your still focussing on the positive..good luck with surgery..keep us posted!

To all you other lovely ladies..hello hope youre all well! Holly...what's the latest with you?

As for me...well started sniffing... i just want to sneeze so badly...made me feel a bit headachy and nauseous but nothing too serious...hope it's doing it's job. I have a few days off...long weekend so we were planning to go away to europe...but the weather is just so miserable..so guess what...we're booked to go to Dubai!! My friend lives out there so we're going to stay with her and enjoy the sunshine! We leave on thursday and back on monday so it's not for long but still it'll be really nice!

Ok girls better get off now been rambling for ages

HUGS!!

Nerms
xx

[rae76]

Sha, thank you for your kind words!

I don't know anything about metformin (except that many women w/PCOS take it) but I wanted to ask you about your uterine septum. Has it been operated on and does your clinic think it will factor in your treatment? I'm very interested because I've had one (caused my miscarriage) and had two operations to correct it. What's your situation?

Nicky, sorry to hear about your house trouble, sounds terrible. Any developments?

Nerms, Dubai and some sun - sounds fab! I'm envious Luckily we finally got rid of the cold, cold weather - it's 25 degrees C here today and starting to feel like spring!

Steph, glad to hear that taking Lupron is going so well for you. Your husband's help must make it so much easier to take the shots. Still no side effects? I'm rooting for all that medicine to really be working its magic right now

Welcome, Katrina!!

Shantala, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good results for you!

Oops gotta go, well hi everyone I didn't get to! Keep it positive 8I'm trying very hard too )

[sokru8]

Hi Everyone
Hope you are all doing good. I am still just waiting for the AF party to start. I just stopped for a quick moment to ask you to do me a favor...
I dont know if you have been following the "how did you tell dh the good news?" thread but there has been some controversy on wether that thread should be allowed. Some have the opinion that it is hurtful to those women who are getting bfn's. Kandice the author of the thread who is new here has said she is going to leave this site. In my opinion you should be able to start any thread you want no one is forced to read anything.. And I think the thread she started was sweet and uplifting. I myself have had a bfn only 2 months ago and clicked on that thread to feel what it would be like to tell my husband that I was pregnant. It made me feel good and let me dream a little that maybe someday it will be my turn.

Help me support Kandice so that she knows that there are women here who will support her. The thread is called "how did you tell dh the good news?
Thanks
Sonya

[annag]

Hi Ladies!

Steph, I'm glad you're not having symptoms with Lupron...I was told it gives menopausal symptoms and makes you quite emotional. What time did your clinic say to do the shots? I was told bet 3 and 7pm. I'm starting tomorrow at 10u subcu.

Rae, how are you sweetie? Sorry about your very stressful experience. I'm glad everything went well with the ultrasound. I saw how many weeks you are and I can't believe it's been 7 weeks already...wow! have a nonstressful 32 1/2 weeks more!!!!

Nicky, how's the ceiling situation coming along? I hope things are getting resolved for you. That is the last thing you and dh need right now.

Sha, I don't know much about PCOS but a friend of mine was on Metformin because of PCOS and she did IUI with injectibles and recently delivered triplets. I agree with Rae that it does improve the egg quality. So good luck! Don't read too much internet info, they'll make you crazy as it did me. Just trust your RE...

Nerms,thanks for letting me use your schedule. My sister is flying in from New York to be with me during EC and ET and I wanted to see the general dates of when she can fly. We're planning to spend the whole week in bed playing scrabble and watching movies as dh can't take the week off with me.


Jill, I'm glad your sono went well! Hooray for no polyps!!!

Sonya, I agree with your support for Kandice. I have had several BFN's with IUI and since this is my first IVF, I haven't had that experience yet (hopeful don't have to) but a BFN is a BFN and pretty devastating especially when we have no control of our bodies. But I have dreamed of those days of how to tell dh about the good news one day and loved reading the stories of those ladies with the BFP's. They are very sweet and uplifting. Hope af comes for you soon!

As for me, I had my polypectomy via hysteroscopy today. The whole procedure took 20 minutes and I was under general anesthesia and actually intubated for it. But when I woke up until this evening, I haven't had any cramps at all (well maybe some fleeting minor ones) and only have a single drop of bld (TMI!) on the pad...So I actually feel good enough to go back to work tomorrow. Thanks for all your well wishes! I'll be starting to down reg (with Lupron) tomorrow!

Hello everyone else!
Anna

[rae76]

Anna, I was thinking of you today. So happy that the procedure went well and was so quickly over!! And sounds like you didn't get many symptoms after, either. That's great! It's good that they caught the polyp and now your uterus is ready to take good care of the tiny baby/babies. Good luck with your down regging!!

And thanks for asking, I'm doing fine. Excluding the worries all's well - there's some nausea etc but I'm not complaining. So waiting for more BFPs in this thread!!

[nerms]

Hi...i'm a bit late for work but Good luck today Anna....great your op went well! The ball is finally rolling....fingers crossed all the way to a BFP!!!

Shantala...good luck with your bloods keep us posted!

Sonya...def will visit the thread...i totally agree with you.

ok better go...lots of root canal to look forward to!!!!!!

nerms
x

[katrina1]

Hi Pep,

We are the same week, that is great. Where do you live, I am in Aberdeen, Scotland. This is my first FET, after one fresh cycle. I was very lucky to produce 11 embryo's. I don't know all the lingo on this board yet - sorry.

I find the waiting the worst, waiting for the transfer, then two weeks for the results is hard.

Have you done many cycles?

Katrina*

[kia1973]

Hi ladies,

thanks all for the info on Metformin, you know what its like reading things on the net.. Info over load

Rae- my septum is nearly half way thro the uterine, i have never had it operated on, infact its never even been mentioned as something i sould consider. i have had IVF under 2 different clinic and its never been mentioned that it will be a factor during Treatment.
but now you have me thinking, i'm in work at the moment and belive me i'm off to OBs to find a SHO that can give me some light on the situation. will keep you posted.
sorry to hear that yours was the cause of your M/C, how bad was yours if you don't mind me asking.

well ladies my coffee time is up (wish i could have a coffee need the caffine to keep me going) will post again later hope your all having a wounderful day

[rae76]

Sha, mine was a little bit worse, maybe 80-90 %. But yours is sizable too, not just a heart-shaped womb. I'm very surprised that they've never discussed the option of removing it or how it can affect achieving pregnancy/pregnancy outcome!! There are HUGE differences between countries - in some places they are still debating the merits of surgeries in correcting uterine abnormalities - e.g. in Finland they don't want to be too eager to operate, as they know that it is possible to have a septum and still carry to term. However, when mine was discovered (after my miscarriage), I was told definitely and absolutely NOT to get pregnant before I've had that taken care of, as there was way too big of a risk of that happening again. As I said, there are differences between countries: here in the US and at least in Sweden they want to operate almost always when they find out, in Finland they want you to have recurrent miscarriages before they determine that the surgery is absolutely necessary (although this operation is relatively simple and quick, they still maintain that any uterine surgery is a risk, which is of course true). Before I had my operation I diligently researched the issue and decided that I definitely don't want to be subjeced to possible recurrent miscarriages, when there is a clear reason that is causing them and that can be removed!!!

Anyhow, don't panic - like I said, there are many women who carry to term with septums. I'm sure your doctors have determined that you have fairly spacious cavities - otherwise it would be madness to have IVF just to have it end badly. The biggest problem with septums is that since the uterus is divided, the baby may not have that much space and that can cause some complications e.g. premature delivery. This doesn't of course happen to everyone. Also, some doctors still claim that the embryo cannot implant itself to the septum and you should not worry about that - well, that's BS and if anyone tries to claim that they're just not up to date! Mine did and that's why I miscarried - the septum just isn't a a place where the baby can survive. We know the implantation site because after my m/c and a D&C there was still preg material left over (sorry TMI) and it was removed in surgery at the same time as the septum and the RE saw where the placenta was. So having the surgery was not a big decision for me - I knew that there was no way I'd be subjecting myself to that horror again, watching a healthy baby grow with a strong heart beat, all the while bleeding for an undetermined reson, and then m/c painfully and find out the little darling never stood a change. So I opted for the surgery, which of course may not be the chosen route for you. But I think you should definitely discuss the septum with your doctors ASAP - you're paying a lot of money to do this and they should keep you as informed as possible.

Good luck hon and again, I hope this in no way scares you. Every case is different, policies are different and attitudes are different. It's just healthy to stay on top of things so that you'll be able to make informed decisions and proceed feeling you have all the info you need!

[pep23]

Hi Ladies!!

Just popping in to check how everybody is doing today!

Marcia- Actually the injections in my tummy do not hurt one bit. I ice for about a minute beforehand and then I pinch a little skin and that's where DH does the injection. My RE said we could do either the tummy or thigh but I have more muscles on my legs so I thought it may be more painful.

Nerms- Yes, I am using Lupron to downreg. My acu schedule is to go once a week until the week of EC/ET and then that week I will have a session immediately before ET and immediately afterwards as well. The acupuncturist will come to the clinic so that's an added bonus. Today will be my last day of BCP and should start AF later this week before my base scan next week. So I'm hoping my acu appt tomorrow will being her on and not delay my schedule at all!! I'm so excited for you that you started sniffing…you are on your way!! Sorry to hear you are having some side effects but hopefully a lovely weekend in Dubai should cure that. I'm jealous!!

Rae- I'm rooting for the medicine to work magic as well!!! And DH doing the injections for me really has been a huge help. I think it helps him as well because it makes him feel more involved in the process. I'm just amazed at how well he has taken the whole thing. Maybe I should worry that he has no troubles poking me with needles?!? As far as side effects it does make me a bit sleepy but I do it right before bed so that's no prob. If that's the only side effect I get I will be thrilled! I actually have felt really good this week! I think being off caffeine and alcohol is cleansing out my system maybe? Although I do miss my morning coffee…

Sonya- I have read the thread you are talking about. I guess I can understand why some people may be upset by it but, like you said, this forum should let people express themselves freely and if people aren't interested in a topic then they should simply avoid the thread!! I myself have found the stories on that thread to be uplifting and gives me something to look forward to. I would love to be able to post on it next month after my very own BFP!!! (HOPEFULLY!!)

Anna- Soooo glad to hear that the procedure is all done and went off without a hitch. Great news! I'm glad we can be Lupron buddies!! I'm also taking 10 units each day. My clinic told me to take it right before bed time as it can cause dizziness. My first day I was too nervous to wait so I took it around 5 PM and I really felt lightheaded. Since then I have been taking it at 9 PM every night and then going to bed shortly after and have not had any problems. Whatever you do I probably wouldn't take it if you need to drive anywhere or do anything physical afterwards. As far as the emotional side effects I have been ok so far. I do have my days where I get emotional but I think that has more to do with the whole IVF process, not the medication. Good luck and keep me posted!! You will do great!

Katrina- I live in Indianapolis, Indiana. This will actually be my first cycle. DH and I have been trying to conceive about 1.5 years but it wasn't until last fall that we discovered we had male infertility. We spent the first year poking and prodding me because I guess my doctors just assumed I was the cause (I have very irregular periods) Anyway, when we got the test results back from DH we were told that the odds of us conceiving by any method other than IVF were next to impossible…so here we are!! It's been an emotional ride but I think DH and I feel pretty good about our chances and are crossing our fingers that we have beginners luck!! 11 embryos is awesome!! How many do you plan on transferring? We are planning to transfer 2, assuming we have 2 good ones to work with.

Rae- How are you sweetie? Hopefully you are relaxing and trying not to worry. I'm sure everything will be fine!! October 8th…how exciting to have a due date!!! You are on your way Mommy!!!

Sha- Happy to hear that your full house has left and you can hopefully have some quiet time to yourself!! A nice warm bath sounds like a great way to relax. Just a few more days until you start downregging! So many of us are very close together this cycle. It will be great to all share the news of our BFPs at the same time!

Well better get to work ladies. For all that I missed I hope you are having a good week!

XO
Steph

[nimble]

evening girls, how is everyone.....

shantala - oh first day of stimming - how did it go this evening? Your lucky, they made me practice on ME!! I hope it goes well for you, yr on the home straight now..... grow folies grow!!

Marcia - glad to hear DH test went well. We do forget sometimes what they have to endure and think it is quite easy for them to pop into a room, do their bit and back out again. I think its us knowning also what they are having to do sometimes is the problem. last time, they made my DH 'empty' before EC about 3 days before and he wasn't very forth coming with info about whether he had done the deed or not and told me to not to ask!

As with the water - uuumm stuggling on that one but know next week I have to 'do better' as the teacher would say. I take a 2L bottle to work and come back with a 2L bottle ...good for weight lifting practice though! I'm doing better on my wine front though I guess I know that from Sunday thats it for me so getting the last few glasses in.

Jill - Hope yr Sono and trial transfer went well. See that you have similiar dates as me, so hopefully we will be in our 2ww together and getting BFP together too

Anna - glad surgery went well and thanks for explaining abut polyps. are you still starting lupron today too?

BJ - oh dear sounds like you're also having plumbing nightmares - hope they get it sorted soon for you. See we are both from Surrey - whereabouts are you from (if you don't mind saying) i'm in windlesham.

Rae - how are you - i can only imagine how you must have felt but so glad that you saw the heartbeat - thats excellent news.

Kia - hooorraaay - empty house and peace and quiet. My god, how did you cope with 10 people - I would have gone mad..... you must have the patience of a saint. Sorry but you and Rae lost me on the Septum talk ..??

Steph - any side effects yet on lupron? See you have lined up the acu for EC/ET - I'm doing that too. Hope that the acu brings on AF for you... I'm getting excited as everyone is getting so close.

Nerms - i'm so jealous of you, I shall on the runway side of the bldg and wave to the planes as they take off tomorrow and think of you flying off to dubai.... look out for me in the big blue building!! Have a fab time, I love Dubai, but find its getting a little pricey now, so we go to Muscat instead. have you started sniffing today??

Katrina - welcome to the thread.

Nicki - any news ? Worried that you've fallen down yr hole.

Sokru - yes I also saw the thread and read a couple of posts - I agree with you that you shouldn't be afraid to post or start threads - It was very explicit with the title on what the content was likely to be about -so don't read it! Problem is sometimes, that with posts, sometimes they can be misunderstood or read in the wrong way - very hard sometimes to get the emotion side across. But shall pop over and give my support....I to have had a BFP but then lost it, but I don't begrudge others in happiness either.

As for me, collect meds tomorrow but also seeing DR about getting us on the waiting list for NHS funded tmt, little late seeing that we are on 2nd go, however just in case, we could have a back up. This is likely to be our final chance due to funding

night all
jackie x

[nerms]

hi girlies..just before i go to sleep just wanted to say goodbye..i shall miss checking the posts...and i'm sure i'll have loads to catch up on when i'm back!

Take care....think of me...i'll be sunning myself!

Nerms
x

[jstrandlund]

Well girls after listening to all of you that are having acupuncture I decided to look into it. Well I found a wellness center that does acupuncture and specializes in fertility treatments. So here goes nothing, after talking to my doctor and gathering information I have decided it is worth a try. Unfortunately my acupuncturist is booked out until March 9th. So I will be having two weeks of acupressure which is helpful just not as effective as acupuncture. I am excited to start this new adventure but I must admit even though I am not afraid of needles I am a bit nervous of starting. I figure with everything else I have been through this can not be too bad. I am hoping I find it enjoyable. If anyone has any suggestions to make it a positive experience please let me know!!
I hope everyone is doing well and your plan is on track!! Have a great evening!

[cookholmes]

I am sorry I forgot who asked...

I was not officially diagnosed with PCOS, but I was put on Metformin. I stopped taking it because it made me horribly sick and (I love carbs) so I decided that I could no longer plan my life around taking the med. But I did lose about 5 lbs while on it... (4-8 days), according to my Dr. I did not need to lose any weight. I am 5'4" 131 lbs.

[rae76]

Thanks Jackie, I'm doing fine Could have lived without this scare but hey, we have to play with the cards we've been given. So I try to stay positive and think about that heartbeat.

You were wondering about the septum thing... Well, a septum is like a "wall" dividing something (e.g. noses have septums) and a uterine septum is an abnormality of the womb where there is a wall in the middle dividing the uterus into two cavities. Sometimes the septum is partial i.e. does not go through the whole uterus and sometimes it's complete. It is something you're born with - all wombs start off as two parts and in the final developmental stages they kind of melt together. If this process is left incomplete (no one knows why), you may be left with a septum.

A septum is definitely not good for carrying babies, although it shouldn't really affect getting pregnant. Many women carry to term regardless of septums but many have great problems, so nowadays many doctors feel surgery is the way to go. Septums are rare, something like 0,5 % of women are born with a septum.The "good" thing about septums is that of all possible uterine abnormalities they are probably the easiest to fix and after a surgery the prognosis is good even for women who've had recurrent miscarriages (if indeed the cause was the septum). So it's a bummer but not the end of the world. What I found the hardest when I was diagnosed with one was that since not many women have it, it was difficult to find people to share your thoughts, experiences and fears with.

Anyhow, that was probably so much more than you wanted to know take care and I have my fingers crossed for you that you'll get on that waiting list!