May/June Cycle Buddies

[Jovigal]

AF finally arrived!!!!! I went for my base scan today. RE said everything looks good. I start stimming tonight with 6 vials of Menopur a day for 5 days then scan again next Thursday. My Lab levels were E2-57 and LH-6.3. Is that good or bad?

mommytobe - you sound like me. I'm working all of the extra hours that I can to pay this cycle. Just my menopur and antigon cost me over $2,000 today. Ins doesn't cover it. Seeing those needles do pull you into reality don't they..... good luck.

jen - that's horrible about your AF timing but it may be working out for the best for you. Enjoy your cruise!!!

TransRN - sounds like your stimming is going well. When is your estimated EC date?

Jul - I loved your dream, especially having Sarah Jessica Parker in it. I think she is great. Maybe she's sending you a good sign.. My daughter was conceived after about 11 years of trying, no fertility help except for having a brain tumor on my pituitary. I guess that was pretty aggresive though. I got pg 4 mos after the surgery. She's our miracle.

souris - good luck with downregging. Take some rest from your moving, don't overdo it!

hrobinson - sorry to hear that dh is sick. Hope he gets to feeling better soon. He's in our prayers.

shantala - sorry to hear about your dh also. Hope he is doing well.

Everyone else, I'll catch up to you later. Hope everyone is doing well today.

[My2LnT]

Hey Shantala- I feel so much better now wounds are healing nicely thanks for asking. On the list I should be stims today 4-28 > ER 5-8 & ET 5-11. Hope all is well with you and DH is feeling better.

Trans- Hope all is well with your stims. Your follie counts sound good so far WOO HOO....

Jovigal- Jiggin for ya... Hope AF comes soon

I had appt with RE and she said I looked good and everything with my sono looked well so I am on track!! I'm so happy they let me continue. So I started my Gonal & Repronex today... Yeah!!!

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Steph

[Jovigal]

Steph, hey, actually AF arrived yesterday and I start stims tonight. Looks like we'll be having ER and ET on the same days!!! Good luck with your stimming. I'm getting ready to mix mine up and poke my belly.

[My2LnT]

Jovigal- Sorry thats what I get when I try to multi-task ha ha Well lets both get BFPs I just got done doing my first one for this cycle and remember why these can be a pain in the butt

Steph

[jenn]

Hey girls!

Yea! Jen's back! That really sucks about AF showing up early!! We will be here to cheer you on in June though! How was the cruise? I forgot where you cruised to?

Tanya- those numbers sound good. It looks like you have a lot of eggs growing in there. Well done!

Steph and Jovi- Good job on starting stimms! I am not looking forward to beginning injections again. This time I will have to get 4 shots a day instead of 2.

Souris- glad you are back! How is your new place?

Shantala- glad to hear DH is doing ok! Mine is still being a baby about his foot.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. The weather is good here, but already HOT!! I sat out in the sun today in hopes of getting a little color. After about 20 minutes I gave up. It was too hot!

[jen779]

Hey Jen! The cruise was fun...got a good tan! We cruised to Puerto Rico, Grand Turks, Princess Cays, and St. Thomas. It is nice to home again! It sure was hot here today. I sat outside for about 1/2 an hour and I was sweating!!! How is everything going with your cycle?

[arizonakiwi]

My2lnT – glad everything is on track, yippie you are off and running

Mommytobe – glad you are feeling better after the opp. Isn’t it good you are able to get funding for your cycle. In NZ we are able to get 2 cycles covered by our health system funding, we had to wait 3 years to “have enough points” and then another year for our name to come up to the top of the list – but it has made a huge difference. Not long to you jump on the wagon with your meds……

Jen – welcome back, I hope you had a good time away, What a bummer about having to wait another month – but when your little darling is born you won’t be able to imagine he/she being any different than who they are. Sounds like you had an awesome trip – can I come next time ???

Tanya – yes I’m coming up behind you, blood test on the 2nd and then hopefully I can start stims that night. I cant wait to start to feel all those little twinges again it makes it seem as if something is finally happening. Looking forward to an update from you on Monday.

Souris – I hope you have setteled into your new Apartment – Say hello to France for me – I love that place!!!!

Shantala – Not long till your holiday – weren’t you going to Egypt ?? It is a really interesting place to visit - have you booked on a cruise down the Nile? I hope you’re your DH is feeling better and you have managed to get some down time over the weekend.

Julie – have a great time in NYC and good luck with cutting back on the caffine and wine. I am really missing my coffee at present also, I think it is the cooler weather that makes you crave something warm and I don’t really like hot chocolate. I also find I have really strange dreams – especially when I am down regging. PS: I found the few weeks before I started again really hard – but now I’ve started again it is a lot easier than the last 6 weeks waiting. Take care

Horbinson – Try keeping a bottle of water at your desk at work - constantly sipping way can get through a couple of litres a day. Last time I made my self some yummy non alcoholic cocktails in fancy glasses so I didn’t feel so deprived. How is your DH doing? I hope he is coming right.

Jovigal – off on your stimms – yippie !!! grow eggs grow

As for me I was sneezing this morning and managed to kink my neck in a funny way. I can’t turn it freely and it is really sore so I am trying to take it easy – DH has been tidying the house for me and I am trying to relax and hope it will go back into place again with out the need to see the chiropractor tomorrow – I find it really hard to justify sitting down and doing nothing all day.
With the meds I’m doing good, I have had no side effects except for a headache last weekend so I consider myself to be really fortunate.
Last night I had a really positive feeling about this cycle and got a really excited feeling about the fact that in 9 months we would be waiting for our baby to be born. It is the first time I have felt like we are really going to have a baby so I hope it is a good sign.
A couple of months before my DH and I got together I remember thinking about how nice it would be to be curled up on the couch with him, it was a really warm and special feeling (there was no reason to consider this a possibility at the time) but a couple of months later we started going out together and the rest is history – I am sure I am not explaining it very well but it was it was a similar feeling last night – this special, excited feeling that we were very close to the excitement of knowing our baby dream was going to happen.

I hope you all have a lovely day today and the sun is shining in your part of the world.

Love Angela

[mommytobe]

Hi Ladies,

Arizonakiwi, wow that wait is almost 3-4 years. Forgive me if i sound silly, but where is NZ? where are you in the process? I really pray that this cycle works and i get bfp because not sure how we will afford the next cycle. Did you start sitmming as yet?

Hrobinson, I hope your husband feels better.

Jovigal, Yes the meds are expensive and i am working a lot so that I can have some coverage if needed. When do you start on your meds.

Tia

[arizonakiwi]

Hi Mommytobe

NZ (New Zealand) is a country South East of Australia. It is a simalar size to California and takes about 12 hours to fly from LA to New Zealand.

I've been down regging for the last 10 days and have a blood test on Wednesday and hope to start my stimms then. EC is hopefully the week of the 14th May.

Isn't it frustrating that money plays such a large part in all this. A doctor had originally (incorrectly) told us we only had a 10% chance of success so we decided to wait on the public list because I couldn't justify spending so much money on something that has such a low chance of succeding. I hope you have success this time so you don't have to worry about $$ for next time.

I hope you have a lovely Sunday - it is almost 11pm Sunday night here and I have to get up at 5.30 am for work so I'm off to get some sleep.

Catch you later,

Angela

[TansRN]

Hey Chums!

Jen
We wont forget about you. We are here to support you girl! That is what it is all about. I am glad that you had fun but bummed that AF came early and while you were on a big boat!!! What did you get to see???

Tia
Glad that you are feeling good after your surgery! That is so great. I know what you mean about that money issue! Isnt it nuts that we even have to worry about it? I hate having to always think about it.

Jovigal
I do not know when it will be..It is estimated for May 5th. I may be triggering on the 2nd or 3rd of May. It all depends I guess on how things look....I will maybe know more tomorrow when the RN calls in the evening. I dont know about the exacts on the labs-sorry. 6 vials of Menopur a day?!?!?! Holy cow! GOOD LUCK!

Jenn
Enough about your great weather crap! LOL Just kidding. Still chilly here although it looks like a nice day out.

Angela
I am ok with that twingy feeling right now but I remember last time. I just respond that way I guess. So bloated and felt soo bad until a few days after the EC. Only a couple more days until you start your lovely shots!

[Jovigal]

I found these lab levels on the net this morning and thought they might help, they did for me.

Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) Day 3 3-20 mIU/ml FSH is often used as a gauge of ovarian reserve. In general, under 6 is excellent, 6-9 is good, 9-10 fair, 10-13 diminished reserve, 13+ very hard to stimulate. In PCOS testing, the LH:FSH ratio may be used in the diagnosis. The ratio is usually close to 1:1, but if the LH is higher, it is one possible indication of PCOS.

Estradiol (E2) Day 3 25-75 pg/ml Levels on the lower end tend to be better for stimulating. Abnormally high levels on day 3 may indicate existence of a functional cyst or diminished ovarian reserve.

Most doctors will consider any increase in E2 a positive sign, but others use a formula of either 100 pg/ml after 4 days of stims, or a doubling in E2 from the level taken on cycle day 3.

Estradiol (E2) Surge/hCG day 200 + pg/ml The levels should be 200-600 per mature (18 mm) follicle. These levels are sometimes lower in overweight women.

Luteinizing Hormone (LH) Day 3 < 7 mIU/ml A normal LH level is similar to FSH. An LH that is higher than FSH is one indication of PCOS.

Luteinizing Hormone (LH) Surge Day > 20 mIU/ml The LH surge leads to ovulation within 48 hours.

Prolactin Day 3 < 24 ng/ml Increased prolactin levels can interfere with ovulation. They may also indicate further testing (MRI) should be done to check for a pituitary tumor. Some women with PCOS also have hyperprolactinemia.

Progesterone (P4) Day 3 < 1.5 ng/ml Often called the follicular phase level. An elevated level may indicate a lower pregnancy rate.

Progesterone (P4) 7 dpo > 15 ng/ml A progesterone test is done to confirm ovulation. When a follicle releases its egg, it becomes what is called a corpus luteum and produces progesterone. A level over 5 probably indicates some form of ovulation, but most doctors want to see a level over 10 on a natural cycle, and a level over 15 on a medicated cycle. There is no mid-luteal level that predicts pregnancy. Some say the test may be more accurate if done first thing in the morning after fasting.

Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) Day 3 .4-4 uIU/ml Mid-range normal in most labs is about 1.7. A high level of TSH combined with a low or normal T4 level generally indicates hypothyroidism, which can have an effect on fertility.

TransRN - Yes, 6 vials a day. I am a VERY POOR responder. Last cycle I did the 6 vials a day and only got 1 mature egg with a total of 5 collected. I'm hoping that having my prolactin level low this time, that I'll be able to produce more eggs.

[PMApsy]

Hello ladies

Sorry if you see typos, but I am typing from my PILs keyboard in France and the keys are in weiiiiiiird places

Anyway, I just wanted to say hi Honeymoon went very very well and we saw amazing things I am sad that we won,t spend more time here in my FIL, for I really love this part of France and its surroundings, but we have already decided that we will come back soon exclusively to visit; maybe for Xmas.

I will be looking forward to reading your posts and do some major catching up on Wednesday. In the meantime, take care, and have fun

See you in a bit,

Sophie

[arizonakiwi]

Hi Sophie,

Glad you are having a good time - only a couple few days until you start down regging - you must be getting excited !!!

Angela

[TansRN]

Jovigal
What a greatresource you have provided for us! Thank you. WOW you are a poor responder!!! I hope that you can get some healthy eggs this time around! 6 vials is a lot. Have you tried different medications? Amazing....

Sophie
Glad to see that you are doing well and having fun. have a safe trip home and we miss you!

I go in this AM at 7:30 for an u/s and blood work. I am hoping that i have some good results to share later....Feels like it. LOL

[hrobinson]

Good morning ladies. It is Monday, and I have a day off school. This is a much needed break for me. I call it a sanity day:)

It was amazing as I was reading back over everyones posts, how many of us hae sick/hurt husbands. I hope they are all healing well and quickly.

Jovigal- How is the stimmin' going? Are we making it through those horrible needles?
Thank you so much for all that extra information. The first time I went through IVF I didn't know anything about numbers or where I should be when. Guess I hadn't done much research, just went in blind. So, all this information will be very helpful this time around.

Mommytobe- I am so glad that you are healing well from your surgery. Just one more kink in your life, but you sure handled it well.

Jen- Sorry that AF came early...and on the cruise to boot. It was funny that I think I was the first one to get all my dates etc. Then as I looked I was the last one to be doing anything. Now you can join me at the end of the group...I don't feel so lonely back there now:)
I am glad your cruise was great. I am hoping to someday go on a cruise.

TansRN- Looks like you have a good follie count....keep up the good work.

Jul- I hope you trip to NYC has been fun. I am sure it is amazing to see your twin nieces. Just think that will be your completed dream sometime soon.

Souris- I hope the new apartment is lovely. I know it doesn't always happen at the most convenient time, but you sure are a trooper.

Shantala- When are you going on vacation? How long will you be gone for? Where does this all fit in with your cycle?

Jenn- Did I read correctly that you are going to be giving yourself FOUR shots a day? I am not sure I could handle that. One is hard enough. What are the shots?

Arizonakiwi- I hope your neck is feeling better. Isn't it bizarre that a simple act as sneezing can cause our body to go into pain? I hope it worked itself back out so you didn't have to go to the chiropractor.
Blood test on Wednesday? I bet you are super excited:)

PMApsy- so glad that you are back from your honeymoon in France. I am sure you saw some beautiful sites. I am glad that you and DH are planning to go back soon.

Quick question to everyone...is anyone taking prenatal pills? I have read that it is important to start these several months before you begin trying to get pregnant...I haven't started them yet. I go to my obgyn in about 3 weeks so thought I would have her perscribe them then.

Well, I hope everyone else is doing good. Have a wonderful Monday!!!