The Over 40 Crowd

[Love]

Hi Ladies,

Well, I've rested on the couch for 2 days so far .... I figured I'd stop in and see how everyone is doing

Hi Chriss, How are you doing? Lately I keep hearing that song on the radio by Tom Petty, "The waitin' is the hardest part"

Hi Andrea, That's nice you were able to spend some time with your nephews ... bet they are adorable ... oh, and I totally agree with recounting this episode at the right time later on

Hi Sonia, I'm sorry to hear that your cycle has been canceled ... will be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers

Hi Jen, Hope you're doing well ..... I had the PGD test ,and from what I understand, it checks the genetics (chromosomes) of the embies, it can be done on day 3 after ER ... oh, and don'tcha know that I considered myself to be PUPO right after the ET

Hi LuAnne, How are you feeling today? Wishing you all the best for you and your 2 little beanies ..... Oh, and thanks for letting me know that SIRM is so good, now I feel even more confident ... aren't you in South Jersey? ... I'm in central ... Are you having your treatment with SIRM as well?

When I arrived the morning of my ET ... My RE told me that the 2nd embie didn't develop as far as they had hope and didn't want to risk transferring it along with the blasto (which is very strong) ... I was also concerned about carrying twins since I am very petite .... so we all decided that the 1 would be good ..... oh, and we also asked my RE when he told my hubby and I the gender to say it with enthusiasm like at delivery .... he and the nurse both laughed and then he said, "IT'S A GIRL!!!! .... I can't tell you how happy I am ..... I really am just praying that I have a healthy baby ... whatever the gender was going to be .... but, now I will finally someone to be on my side ... oh, and I was also able to fit in the acupuncture before and after transfer .... I was a busy little bee that day

I wish you all the best

Sticky baby dust for all!!!!

Hugs,
Love

[LuAnne41]

HELLO EVERYONE - I HAD ANOTHER SCARE W/A BIT OF SPOTTING AGAIN LAST EVENING. I CALLED THE OB THIS A.M. THE NURSE SPOKE W/THE DOCTOR, CALLED ME BACK & SUGGESTED I GO AHEAD & COME IN FOR A SCAN, THOUGH SHE DIDN'T SEEM PARTICULARLY CONCERNED. SO........THIS WAS MY 4TH SCAN & THANKFULLY, I GOT GOOD NEWS. YOU LADIES KNOW ALL TOO WELL HOW SPECIAL A PREGNANCY IS WHEN ONE WORKS THIS HARD TO ACHIEVE IT, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE BEEN TTC FOR VERY LONG AND/OR HAVE SUFFERED A LOSS. ANYWAY, THE DOCTOR WASN'T SURE WHERE THE BLOOD HAD COME FROM, BUT SAID THAT HOPEFULLY I WOULDN'T SEE MUCH MORE. HE SAID THE INTERNAL OS OF MY CERVIX WAS NOT OPEN, THE CERVIX WAS NICE AND LONG, WHICH IS APPARENTLY WHAT THEY WANT TO SEE, AND THE BABIES WERE BOTH FINE. IN FACT, THEY MEASURED JUST A TAD BIT LARGER THAN ANTICIPATED. (ONE MEASURED 9 W, THE OTHER WAS 8W6D) HE SAID EVERYTHING STILL LOOKED GOOD; THE AMNION & CHORION WERE BEGINNING TO MERGE, WHICH IS APPARENTLY SUPPOSED TO OCCUR BETWEEN 9W & 10W. HEARTBEATS ARE ABOUT 160 BPM. SO, I JUST CONTINUE TO SAY MY PRAYERS, BOTH THAT THINGS HAVE CONTINUED TO PROGRESS WELL THIS FAR, AND THAT THINGS WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO.

LOVE
I'M IN CENTRAL INDIANA, THOUGH THE CLINIC I REC'D TREATMENT FROM IS SHADY GROVE FERTILITY IN WASHINGTON, D.C. I THOROUGHLY RESEARCHED SIRM AND EVEN HAD A CONSULTATION WITH THEM. I HAVE NOTHING BUT WONDERFUL THINGS TO SAY ABOUT THEM. THERE IS A SIRM LOCATION IN PEORIA, ILLINOIS, WHICH IS NOT TOO FAR FROM HERE, BUT I WAS WILLING TO TRAVEL, AS NEEDED TO RECEIVE CARE. SIRM HAS PIONEERED SEVERAL IMPORTANT ADVANCES IN ART, AND HAS EXCELLENT SUCCESS, EVEN WITH CHALLENGING PATIENTS. BECAUSE I PAY 100% OF ART COSTS OUT OF MY POCKET, THE CLINICS THAT OFFERED PACKAGE PRICING, GUARANTEE PROGRAMS, ETC. APPEALED TO ME, PROVIDING THEY HAD EXCELLENT SUCCESS RATES. (SIRM HAS BOTH) THE PROGRAM I ULTIMATELY SETTLED ON AT SGF WAS PRICEY, BUT ALL INCLUSIVE (EVEN MEDICATIONS). IT INCLUDES UP TO 6 FRESH IVF ATTEMPTS + ANY FET's. THE PLAN REFUNDED 100% OF MY $$$ IF NO LIVE BIRTH RESULTED. I FELT I COULDN'T GO WRONG W/A CLINIC THAT CONFIDENT. ASSUMING THIS PREGNANCY CONTINUES TO A HAPPY CONCLUSION, THEY WILL HAVE SUCCEEDED ON FRESH ATTEMPT #1. OBVIOUSLY, I WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF W/A FEE FOR SERVICE PLAN, BUT KNOWING I HAD MORE ATTEMPTS ALREADY LINED UP, IF NECESSARY, HELPED ME RELAX MORE & MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE SUCCESS.

CHRISS
I COULDN'T FIND VE WHEN I LOOKED UP TTC ABBREVIATIONS. HOW WAS IT USED?

LOVE & CHRISS
I AM PRAYING FOR YOU & YOUR LITTLE EMBRYOS.

JEN
HOPE YOU HAVE A NICE TIME AWAY & HOPE AF MAKES HER APPEARANCE SOON.

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THE KIND, SUPPORTIVE WORDS. IT IS REALLY TOUCHING & EVERYTHING SEEMS TO MAKE ME WEEPY NOW.
I AM FEELING SO-SO, OKAY ONE MOMENT, LOUSY THE NEXT. TRUTHFULLY, THE DISCOMFORT IS ODDLY REASSURING, BECAUSE I KNOW THE BABIES ARE CAUSING IT.

[jen babes]

Hi all

AF is here!!!!!!!! so have started patches and will be on them for 21 days maximum...ET will be sometime in the next 3 wks ...i am so excited ...wish i knew when but as donor is anon i wont get any info until ET. x x

LUANNE- my these t2 babes of yours are making your heart beat fast So glad that after bleed everything is A okay x x x Hope you are resting up x x

LOVE- good to hear frm you and embie on board hope little one is embedding as we speak. much love to you sweetie x x


Hi to everyone else x x it quiet on this thread just now x x Hope everye is okay x x

love jen
xxxx

[jen babes]

Bev-baby William ( Wills) born 23rd January 07 DE
Birth weight 5lb 12 oz's - 21wks old 15lbs 2 oz

Tammy- baby Andrew born 28th Feb 07 natural preg.
Birth weight 8 lb 7 oz - 4 months old 16 lb 14 oz, 26 1/4" long
6 months old 18 lb 14 oz, 27 1/2" long

Yasmina -baby Eloise born Feb. 20, 2007.
Birth weight 7 lbs 11ozs.

Anna -baby Matthew born 23rd March 07 DE
Birth weight 7lb 60zs

Big J ( TaylorJooles)- Baby Josh born ? '06 DE kiev
Aug 07 FET kiev - BFP at 5 wks sadly scan revealed a blighted ovum.
Next tmt DE Kiev...






LuAnne
5DT W/2BLASTS ON 8/26
Test Date: 7th September...BFP
BETA:4476 TWINS !!!!
1st SCAN DATE:20th sept

midwife apointment 9th oct
4th scan 16th oct @ 10wks
5th scan 5th Oct due to bleed but babies ok

Socal -htp done 5th sept positive
test date 12th sept...BFP
BETA:277

1ST SCAN:19th sept




Catharine
4 embies on board
TEST DATE: Aug. 25 BFP... had severe OHSS.
1st SCAN DATE:10th Sept singleton seen heartbeat.
SADLY Beanie has no heart beat at 2nd Scan
sending love and prayers to you and DH.

Sonia – Aug/Sept start of DE treatment
31st Aug Started meds. On transfer cycle since 8th Sept.
Next scan 17th Sept.
RE worried about lining ...cycle may be cancelled
much love to you sonia x x

SL(Lisa Dee) 41
1st wk Sept- due to start AF
Day3 of AF- have more BW, another ultrasound, and begin my injections.
cycle cancelled 14th sept x x sending much love




Chriss
1st IVf - Aug ...sadly BFN x x
2nd tmt: 10th Sept AF
12th Sept sono & bloods & started stims
ER 27th Sept...10 eggs
ET 30th Sept 4 embies on board
TEST DATE: 14th October x x good luck x x

Love
ER 27th Sept...5 fertilised eggs
ET tues 2nd Oct- i embie on board
TEST DATE:approx 12th oct ??????




Jen - Sept/oct DE tmt in Spain.
25th Aug bc pills for 40 days
AF 7th Oct then start e2 patches.
15th Oct Scan
ET???
TEST DATE:

Babyblue -Kim DE cycle
Start BC pills - September 5
Start Lupron - Sept 16
1st scan - Oct 4
EC - Oct 19 or 20
ET - Oct 24 or 25
TEST DATE: Praying for BFP - Nov 2 or 5





KAT DE cycle September/October

Amy - IVF cycle Nov / Dec

Andrea (kiwi expat) - ICSI Oct/ Nov

BIGJ- Kiev DE

Yasmina- Stop breast feeding Eloise then await AF....Start BC pills for FET ( 5 frosties ).

belly 4#2 welcome

[Catharine]

Good morning ladies-
I just wanted to give a quick update.
First, I wanted to thank everyone once again for all the support. It really means a lot to me, more than I could have ever anticipated.

Well, the tissue has been sent off for karyotyping and genetic analysis to make sure that I don't naturally carry some dominant trait that would prevent a full term pregnancy. Cross fingers that this is not the case. In 3 weeks we meet with RE to discuss our options based on genetic results. DH and I have been talking [and still are so no preemptive decisions todate] of our options. To my amazement, DH is more open to several options outside of using our own eggs and sperm This may seem odd, but he so wanted 'our DNA children' but I think he realizes after all we have gone through thus far, that having a child whether our DNA or not will be our child, that it will be a large blessing that we are praying for.

Wishing all the ladies in the 2ww all the best. Positive thoughts and lots of baby dust

Hope all those in tmt are doing well, too.

Wishing all that I may have missed all the best as they continue on their journeys.

Everyone have a Marvelous Monday.
Catharine

[chriss]

Hi Catharine,
So good to hear from you. You sound great! I'm happy to hear that your DH is open to other possibilities. Mine has opened up as well over time. My mantra has been ... "Keep my mind and my heart open." I've been trying to stick with that. Stay positive.

Jenbabes, great news! Who thought we'd ever be so happy to see AF? Hang in there, you are getting closerby the minute!

LuAnne, I'm glad to hear that things are checking out ok at the dr.'s office. It can be scary after all you've been through. It sounds like you are doing great. I keep hearing how spotting happens all the time. My sister had a few episodes with spotting and things turned out great for her. She just had her 2nd baby about a month ago. Oh and in response to the financial aspects of your treatment, peace of mind is priceless. Keep feeling good! P.S. I saw the ve abbreviation used in someone's signature(Profile).

Hi Love, how are you feeling? When do you test? It's soon... right?? Me too.

How are you Amy & Sonia?

Who did I miss? Hoping you are all well. I am on my 2ww, going crazy as usual. I started taking Yoga classes. So far I like it. I needed somthing new, I used to be an avid runner but throughout the IVF treatments, I've had to cut way down and even stop at many points. So the yoga has been helpful to keep me feeling like I am doing something positive for my body & mind. Have a peaceful day. Thinking of you all. -chriss

[jen babes]

catharine thanks for poping in and letting us know how things are going for you...I do hope you get some positive news from the RE soon x xkeep in touch and much love x x x

Chriss- the nightmare 2ww huh!!! I always find the 1st week i am positive and then the 2nd week i lose it...Faith and all....Glad your doing yoga which is fab for mind body and Spirit x x KEEP the FAITH x x x

Love when is your test date i had to guess for the list x x can you confirm please. hope your resting up ok and looking after yourself x x

for our 2ww-ers...


Much love to everyone else x x

I have had a good weekend and am happy and excited to be at this stage. pathces are fine just a headache 1st day which pain killers sorted out. Just awaiting confirmation od scan time on the 15th...Been back and forth umteen times to sort this out but still clinic haven't got message from my GP or consultant. They are phoning back toorrow. then a week after scan i should be in ET in Sunny Spain x x

love to ya all
jen xxx

[summerbaby]

Hi Catharine, so nice to hear from you again! Hope the news is good regarding your test and that nothing is wrong -- Must be a good and reassuring feeling to know that DH is open-minded regarding future options. keeping my fingers crossed for you both that you'll be parents one day soon.

JenB - in no time it'll be ET time! can imagine your growing excitement! Like chriss said, it is probably one of the only times in your life when you are truly happy that AF shows up...

any news from Kim? She must also be ready to go as well -- Good luck to you both!

chriss & love -- hope you are both keeping busy and feeling very positive! The week will be over before you know it and I hope we hear about two BFP's very soon!

Andrea - when do you begin?

Sonia - think you'll be able to /want to try again before Christmas? - perhaps we'll be cycling together at that point?

I have about 2 weeks to go till AF visits and am also looking forward just the same -- then sometime between day 8 & 12, I go in for some tests, and on day 21, ultrasound and (hopefully) beginning of long protocol...Maybe the doctor thinks optimistically that the DHEA has acted as the fountain of youth for my ovaries and is trying this long protocol, because thus far the short ones haven't yielded the greatest results...?? hope he is guessing right!

Hello to everyone I've missed!! Hope you are all enjoying beautiful autumn weather wherever you may be in the world!

xx Amy

[chriss]

It really is pretty cool that we are from all over the place. I really appreciate you guys. -chriss

[children]

Hi all,

I have missed so much of thenews from everyone due to travels and everything else. Very happy to see many positives and also very sad to see some positives turned into negatives in the end.

LuAnne, I know you must be nervous every minute, so did I in the whole process. Good to know that the twins are growing fine.

Catharine, it is nice to have other options lined up. I can relate to some extend since we are both trying for the second, but not much since my plan has changed, that is why I have not been posting much - I need some time to digest our decision.

It turns out that my DH really does not see why we wanted two children in our family. It came as a big surprise because I was constantly talking about trying for the second one ASAP and we even arranged transport of remaining frozen embryos from TX to TN which was COSTLY! Both of us have two other siblings, meaning we should be default to see a happy family with more than one child in it. I started to take BCP while in Hawaii and then he told me we need discuss about the second child scenario and eventually he convinced me that it is not good time to try for second at the moment. Sorry Catharine and Big J, I spoke too early on this topic.

Tammy, I am sorry that Andrew does not sleep through the nights consistently. It was the case to me also. Eloise sleeps through the night at very young age. However, as soon as I tell people she dose that, she wakes up in the middle of the nights - it jinxes each time! Since we had two long distance travels lately (one to France for 14 days, the other to Hawaii for 8 days), which messed up her routines completely. On the top of that, she needs to go two different daycares in the last two months – the first one, she stayed about 6 weeks, when the teachers finally figured out her eating and sleeping patterns, we took her out and put her in another daycare, which is run by our university – we did not expect to get in so soon because many of our colleagues told us that was not possible to get in without few years of waiting. We are very lucky in this sense since this is really the top one daycare and it locates across my office building. Right now, we have spent two weeks struggling with feeding her normal amount of food since she refuses to eat or drink in the daycare. In this case, you can imagine I don’t have the stone heart to wean her. I finally got her to wake up only once in the middle of the night, though. I only feed her if I determined that her food intake is too small amount, say, less than 16 oz/24 hours. Her normal food intake after 6 months of age is 20 to 26 oz/24 hours. Most of the feeding happens between 6 am to 10 pm. I don’t feed her in the middle of the night, mostly, I just comfort her by holding her to my chest, speaking to her gently to encourage her going back to sleep without sucking my nipples. Once she is quiet, I put her down to her crib without waiting to the point of her sound sleep. She whines, of course, when I put her down, but then I pat her on her back and talk to her until she is quiet – the trick is DON”T WAIT UNTIL SHE SLEEPS COMPLETLELY TO LEAVE HER ROOM. Did I tell you that she sleeps lone in her room now, by the way? My rule is that I don’t pick her up unless she cries hysterically for more than 1 minute. Also, I try not to feed her when she cries and struggles to find my breasts, which she is very good at! I try to give her some education but then I am blamed by my dear friend for not being a good mother. I have different views about that - I think it can become a bad habit if I feed her every time when she cries. Anyway, I don’t mean to give you any advice, just share the things worked with Eloise. I guess little Andrew grows faster than Eloise, he just needs more frequent feedings than Eloise. I do hope he grows out of this faster though.

Jen B, sorry my plan changes which will need you to help updating the list again. I am impressed by your beautiful pictures and did not dare to try to update myself – last time I tried, I lost all the colors of the letters.

All the best to the rest of us here!

Yasmina

[socal]

Hi Tammy,
I was reading about Andrew not sleeping through the night, and when I had this problem with my baby Luca, who is now going to be 1 year old this Thursday, my friend told me to dream feed him. It worked in about 1 week of time. He was 6 months old at the time.
I put him to bed at his usual time, 8:30 pm after nursing him. Then I would take him out of his crib at 11:30 or 12:00pm and nurse him again while he was still asleep. He would nurse for a long time and not wake up completely and then he would sleep a lot longer, and then, in a couple of days, all through the night until 7:00 am. I also would pump and give him his dream feeding by bottle, he would drink more that way, with a nipple size that had a good strong flow, and that had him sleeping completely through the night in a week. It has been that way ever since. I weaned him at 9 months and he had frozen breast milk for another 1 1/2 months after that.
Lind

[Kiwi expat]

Hi ladies- Well I'm a little hammered at the moment - Anyone following the world cup rugby? Well, the kiwis just choked again... so I'm in mourning and having a wee drop of NZ Sauvignon Blanc to commiserate (It's actually a top bottle for you wine connoisseurs out there especially the ones from Marborough which are a real find these days!) Actually, my real excuse - I have pretty bad PMT today so whilst waiting for AF to appear at end of this week, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do! (And I figured since I'll be tee totalling when I cycle soon, I can't waste such a nice bottle!)
Amy - I have my FSH tested on day 3 of this month to see if this is the go - if not, I'll wait until next month and we may be cycle buddies together! The other factor I have to take into consideration is the DHEA I've been taking. By this week it would have been 8 weeks already! Altho some docs prescribe a minimum of 4 months for the protocol to have any significant effect, which favours me cycling in Nov instead of next week. How long would you have been on DHEA by the time you cycle in Nov?

For our 2 WWers, Love and Chris - hang in there! It's amazing how they can tell the gender of the embryo before implanting. I wish that technology was legal here where I am, - how PDG testing would have simplified my life! Sometimes I fantisise about going to the States for treatment as you ladies have such a great range of options available over there which are often illegal elsewhere and overseas. It's just out of our budget unfortunately so we have to make do with the limited treatment available here which is such a shame...

Best of luck for all our Oct cyclers! Time just seems to fly now-next thing you know Xmas decorations will be up in the streets!

Big hi to everyone else!
Andrea

[summerbaby]

Thinking of you, Yasmina - sounds like you've had to make a difficult decision with your heart and mind. Wishing you well.


Andrea, by the time I hopefully start cycling in November, I'll have been taking DHEA for 4 months -- wow, can hardly believe it's been that long - Enjoy the rest of the rugby, if you can -- or at least that bottle of wine!

Hang in there love and chriss - almost there! how are you doing? what are you doing to keep busy?

Greetings to the rest of you wonderful ladies,
xx Amy

[Sonix]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all your support everyone! I read in on some other forums from time to time but I’ve never come across any threads which are nearly as sincere, kind, supportive and understanding as you wonderful ladies!

Yasmina – sorry to hear about changing plans. You sounded so ready to get started again so I can imagine how difficult it must be to suddenly have to reorganise and rethink everything. Thinking of you. Hugs.

LuAnne – sounds like your 2 beanies are progressing well. What good news that everything is OK. I hope you will be over the worst of the worries very soon and can relax more.

Hi Jen – Unfair that you should be having so much hassle just getting the scan appointment confirmed. That’s certainly not what you need right now. How comforting it is when AF turns up on time for once. So your schedule is finally falling into place and, wow, you’re nearly on your way out to Spain. Better get your suitcase packed. Wishing you all the best for you on the final run up to ET.

Chriss and Love – our brave two ww-ers. Not long to go... Sending you tons of baby dust and positive vibes. Keeping everything crossed for your little embies and that we’ll be reading some happy news from you both very soon.
Good for you starting yoga, Chriss. I find it helps me to take things easy when things get too much and I can relate to what you say about feeling you are doing something positive for body and mind. My new course started today. It means I have to leave work earlier so it stops me doing too much overtime too.

Catharine – So pleased to hear that you and DH are able to discuss other options together. Good luck for your appointment with your RE. Hope you will get some encouraging news which will help your decision making. Stay strong.

Andrea – enjoy your wine while you can. Is there any way of testing whether the DHEA is doing its job? Good luck in finding the best time to start off your new treatment.

Amy – yes, I really do hope we’ll both be cycling sooner rather than later. When do you start your next tests? I have to wait for next AF and have some tests to confirm that everything is OK to start meds on cycle day 21. At the start of the following cycle I take meds to build up my lining and when the clinic is fine about the development, the big wait for a donor and a transfer date begins. Even if AF and tests all run to schedule, that won’t be before mid December.

My big worry is that AF won’t turn up like what unexpectedly happened in June/July. At the moment I’m feeling slightly “menopausal” with the same hot flushes etc. and definitely shouldn’t be because I’m not on meds. I’m not too sure whether my hormones are messed up or whether it just that dreaded age factor. According to the clinic schedule I don’t start on the estrogen meds to regulate my cycle until the next cycle begins. Aghhh. Just wish something would start going to plan. Sorry, all this waiting is not helping my PMA.

Hello and best wishes to everyone I missed
Love,
Sonia

[children]

Hi all again,

I am posting another picture of Eloise here - she had good fun in Hawaii and she was crazily exicted when she saw the sea, so was I.

Socal/Lind,

I did dream feed Eloise when she was 7 or 8 weeks age, just starting sleep through the nights, stupid me picked up and fed her in the middle of the night, because my breasts were too full and I was also too worried about that she would be hungry at that "fast growing stage. She was keeping her eyes shut and being quiet during eating and all. Guess what, after few nights, she would wake up at exactly the same time each night to ask for food! I can not regret more for what I had done since it then took few more precious nights for me to correct that. After I got to the point that she would not be waking/eating and was sleeping through the nights, we started the traveling, using daycares, blah, blah, you know the rest.

An infant needs to go through so many things, such as growth spurts, teething, sickness (diarrhea, cold and then ear infection, in Eloise's case), it does take lot of trials and errors to learn new tricks to soothe them – in most of the cases, by the time you learn to understand them, they change again!

Amy and Sonia,

Thanks for your understanding. Yes, I have been wanting to have two children long before I was even pregnant, either by birth or by adoption. However, getting married and then having children were more of my ideas at first place. My DH is a great guy and would be perfectly happy without any kids also, although he is extremely happy to have Eloise now. Before we pursued the ivf, he was planning to adopt, if I insisted later in our life. It was I who did not agree because I had a faster ticking biological clock than his. Aayway, since I have been very happy and busy with Eloise and my job right now and decided to wait for a few months and see how life goes.

By the way, I welcome any opinions regarding this issue. I can see some good reasons to have siblings, but I start to think there are also many good reasons not to have any more kids in our life. Still pondering...

Thanks for listening, you are all so wonderful!

Yasmina