AUGUST/SEPTEMBER CYCLE BUDDIES!

[Christin]

I have noticed since beginning my Lupron injections (on the 16th) that there are times that my ovaries feel really tender. Last night it was more tender than ever. Is this normal?

Also, Aunt Flow is supposed to be paying me a visit today. If she doesn't, what does that mean? Do you think that means that my body isn't responding properly, or is it normal that she doesn't come on the estimated date? I know that when I was on BCP a long time ago, I never saw Aunt Flow.

[Christin]

hellokitty
Thank you for the information and your honesty. I am so glad to have you girls, because it seems like the RE assistant doesn't like to give me all of this information. It is like I am PULLING it out of her, and am really not that sucessful at doing so.

I just really wish I had something from the clinic that told me what to expect next for me. I am sure it is all generally the same for each of us, but would love to know for sure.

Anyway, just my moment of complaining!!!

[lala]

Hi gals, how's everyone doing? Sorry for not checking in lately, but I am glad to see that your spirits are still very high. Hooray! Well, after my little incident with BCPs (taking them a little bit too long), I finally got the word to start my stimms. tonight. YEAH!!! I will be able to tell you more after I take it for a few days.

Oh, about the AF thing, in my situation, I was also wondering why my AF was late. But then, I found out that the BCP was holding it off. As soon as I was off of it, my AF came. It was also much less than usual. My doc said it was normal since the meds have been doing the suppressing of the ovaries.

Gotta go. Have a great day!

[Julieboo]

Christin, how's it going? Any visits from the Flo Fairy? I know what you mean about the RE folks not giving you a lot of info. Mine told me straight up that they have a sort of "Don't ask, don't tell" policy in that if I don't ask, they won't tell me anything.

Lala, good to see you around. Your name makes me laugh because my dad used to name every single fish he ever had Lala. I'm not sure where that came from, and I don't know what he does now that he has a whole pond full of goldfish.

But I digress...

Congrats on starting your stims! Good luck to you!

I'm going in for my U/S and baseline tomorrow. Hopefully that means I will be starting stims tomorrow or Friday.

Scary turn of events, however. I will have to give myself my Lupron shot on Friday morning because DH will not be around. Anyone here give herself the shots? How is it?

Wincing in pain ,
Jules

[Christin]

Julieboo
I haven't had a visit yet today from the Flo fairy

In terms of giving yourself your own Lupron shot. I have had to take that job away from DH. He seemed to do it too fast and it hurt me. It is SO MUCH EASIER for me to do it. This is what I do. I grab the area that I am going to poke. I place the needle where I want it, and press it hard to my skin, without letting it actually peirce the skin. Then I just close my eyes and press harder. It seems to me that if I do the initial pressing, then I don't feel anything after. Then I open up and SLOWLY press the Lupron in. It is really a piece of cake. I was scared the first time doing it, but now it is super super easy. You can do it! If I can, I know anyone can.

Christin

[lala]

Julieboo The Lupron shots are really easy to give to yourself. I have been doing it since day 1. What I do is I select an area on my tummy with the most fat (haha, it's not too difficult to find at all ), pinch it, then put the needle in as if I am throwing a dart. So far, my experience tells me that if I inject myself as if I am throwing a dart (fast and about 1.5 in away), it hurts less. A couple of times when I was being too cowardy and doing it more cautiously, I hurt more. So, that's what I told my DH to do when he needs to be the one doing the shots (i.e., HCG and progesterone). I have also asked that he starts practicing using an orange. I have read somewhere that it helps. Trust me. You can do it.

Christin Sorry to hear that your AF hasn't arrived yet. Have you been getting some spotting though? My doc said sometimes the meds make you so suppressed that all you are going to get is the spotting. But check with your doc, ok? You deserve to know every little thing that's going on with your body as a result of taking the meds. Ask them lots of questions, ok? Good luck.

[Christin]

lala
I haven't even been spotting. I feel cramps, as if it is going to start, but I have been having cramps off and on for a week now. The RE told me to call when aunt flow arrived, or on the 23rd if she didn't show up. So I am going to call first thing tomorrow morning. I haven't been worried during this process, until now. I am getting concerned about my cramping and the absense of flo.

Anyone else have/had this issue?

[hellokitty]

Hi Ladies,

Lala - It is sooo good to hear from you. Good you are on the stimming train. I made DH stop giving me my Lupron shots too. He was a little to happy to give them to me!

Christin - My first IVF, I did not get my period. I never get my period. So, the RE just made sure my uterine lining and E2 levels were okay and we started the stims. But I did get period like pains, I guess my body was trying. I hope AF shows for you or your RE lets you proceed without it. I think this is the only time we really want to see evil AF!

Julieboo - The girls are right. The Lupron shot is very easy and painless. Just make sure you can find some fat (unforunately, that is no problem for me...hahaha).

As for me, I am taking the Lupron shots and here comes the night sweats. I hate that! Does anyone else get that? It is really hot in Atlanta (around 102 everyday) so I'm really feeling those shots!

Baby dust to you all!

[Christin]

hellokitty
I am glad to hear that you had the same situation as me. I am about to call the RE now (per their request) to let them know that it has not started. I will keep yall posted.

In terms of the hot flashes, I do find that at night..like in the early early hours, I do wake up sweating, but I never thought to relate that to Lupron. Is that your situation to? I take my shots in the am. Do you think that my sweats about 20-22 hours later are from Lupron? That would be interesting to know.

Christin

[Chinamiff]

I'm also a veteran, this is my 5th IVF attempt, with 4 failures behind us, lets hope we have more luck this time.

We will be going back to UK for FET on 10th September 07.

Advise from an old one...

For the first attempt I took 2 weeks off and practically stayed in bed the whole time. The 2nd attempt I still ate well, no drink, (I dont smoke) but took a more practicle approach. the same for the 3rd and 4th. I can imagine you have all trawled through this site and to see what others have tried to make their IVF successful. The truth is no-one is the same. Although the 2 week wait can make you anxious, as long as you do what you feel is comfortable, what will be will be.

Good luck everyone.

[Christin]

Chinamiff
Thanks for your advice. Good luck on September 10th. We will be thinking about you! Please keep us posted. By the way, where abouts are you in China? I don't know the area that well, but am going to go one day!!

I have a funny China story. When I was young, I though I was Chinese (I am Italian btw). I was in a Christmas play at church, and the theme was something like "Christmas around the world" or something to that affect. Well, I was selected to represent China (not sure why, other than my dark skin and dark hair). I wore this long pink, silk dress, and my Grandma lended me her pearl earrings and necklace. From that moment on, I truly believed I was Chinese. I was probably about 6 years old at the time. Needless to say, I was very disappointed when my mom told me otherwise. Well, long story short, as a little child, I said that I would have a Chinese baby. So since DH is not of Asian decent (he Irish), I plan to adopt from China in the coming years. I have read up on the country, etc, and look forward to going to visit and bringing back our baby! So regardless of the outcome of my ICSI, I will still have a daughter from China. I have already picked out names. We like the names Lyla or Cai. Would love to adopt twins! Maybe, I will have twins through ICSI, and then we can adopt twins from China!!! Oh well, I have digressed!

Speak to you soon!

Christin

[KM0803]

Julieboo- I've also been giving myself all my injections except the first Lupron shot (DH did that one because I was nervous). It's really easy, my husband travels a lot for work and so I knew there would be times I would HAVE to give myself the injections. I think I prefer to do it myself.

Here's a question for you veterans or for those of you further along in the process than me. I'm on day 4 of stims. Should I be feeing bloated? I don't feel anything and am worried that my body may not be responding to the meds. My first scan since taking the stims is on Monday. What questions should I make sure to ask at the apt?

Thanks for your help
-Kelly

[Christin]

Good news!!! I started spotting!! I can't believe I am happy about AF I spoke with the clinic, and I am scheduled for an appt tomorrow at 9am for them to check me out to make sure things are working properly. They are also going to teach me how to use my Follistim and Menopur. I am excited about the next steps in this treatment. I don't want to get my hopes up, but I get so excited thinking about a positive outcome. How do you draw that fine line between setting yourself up for a let down, and being optomistic?

[Julieboo]

Yay, Christin! Great news. Good luck on the stims. I guess it's best to stay cautiously optimistic during this time; but I'm a pessimist, so I'm just going to assume that I'll get cancelled like last time.

Thanks everyone for the shot support. I'm giving myself the Lupron tomorrow. I will survive! And I think I'll have no trouble in the finding fat department.

Chinamiff, thank you for sharing your experiences. Good luck this time around. Fifth time the charm!

Grow follies grow! Increase levels at the correct increments, estrogens!

Julie

[lala]

Yay! Christin! Yay! I am sure that must be a relief for you now that AF is making an appearance. Make sure you ask lots of questions tomorrow when you go see the doc. Good luck! Guess what also? Me and my DH are also talking about adopting baby girl(s) from China regardless of the IVF outcome. We love to have girls in our family It's nice to hear that you are thinking about the same thing.

Welcome Chinamiff. Please keep your spirit up and stay strong. We are here for you.

hellokitty Hey, sweetie. How are you? You know, now that you mentioned about the night sweats, I think I do have that occasionally. Hmmm...but I never relate the night sweats to the meds. Maybe I should start paying more attention.

Julieboo Good luck to your first Lupron Shot tomorrow. Once you try it, I am sure you will be like, "Oh? That was it?" You will survive.

KM0803 Hey you. You know, I am going on my 2nd stimm. today. And before I started, I asked my doc when I will start feeling bloated. She said people react differently, that's why they do very close monitoring while we are on the meds. She said the majority of them will start feeling really bloated on day 5 or 6, but they may look the same from the outside. A lot of them can still wear jeans at that stage So it all depends. I am going for my first blood test and u/s this Sat since stimming and then Monday and then Wed. Oh, one more thing, she said to make sure we drink LOTS of liquids because these meds tend to dehydrate. If you find yourself urinating less and darker urine than usual, make sure you call them right away cuz then, it's likely that you will need an IV or something.

So, last night I had my first simm. shot. Because I was too chicken about the stinging effects of the meds, I applied the numbing cream before the injection. MAN! That thing worked like magic. I didn't even feel a thing!!! I strongly recommend the numbing cream to anyone who worry about pain. I am going to stick to it till the very end myself.

BABY DUST TO YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!