The Over 40 Crowd

[Sonix]

Hi girls

I’m still here, struggling to keep up with posting – my evenings are just too short - but checking in regularly to read and listen.

Chriss – Sorry that AF arrived but at least you know where you are and can now focus on plan B. And you’re on your way already. Wow. Good luck with your first scan on Monday. You’re doing such a wonderful job of spreading positive vibes around here. Good to have you around.

Andrea – What a difficult week you’ve had but sounds like you’re back in good spirits now and that’s what’s important. Thinking of you as you head off for your transfer. Good luck!

Hi pricecake – hope you are feeling stronger by the day. Have you made your appointment yet? I know it’s hard trying to look for answers and I’m sure you will feel better when you’ve had some more guidance. Do keep us posted on your future plans. xxx

Hi Amy – sure you’re relieved to have your plan at last. Any news from your RE yet? Hope everything runs smoothly for you over the next few days and you get off to a good start with stimming. Since we’ve been with the new clinic for DE treatment I’ve been doing my shots in the morning, according to their instructions. DH and I aren’t early risers so having less time in the morning and still being a bit sleepy probably helps us get it done faster and with less apprehension.
One morning though, after mixing the powder and solution, we forgot about getting all the surplus air out of the syringe before injecting. DH was terribly concerned for me and immediately googled for information about the effects. He ended up on various web-sites for bodybuilders(!) and suicide candidates(!!) before finding out that injecting air under the skin, even larger amounts, is not harmful. My new protocol doesn’t include shots, which makes things easier, especially in the mornings.

Catharine – so pleased to read your good news! Getting excited for you. Sending you some relaxing vibes.

My week has been a bit up and down. AF arrived on Tuesday and I was ready to start on my transfer cycle but .. yes, you guessed it… we’ve got to delay again. This time because of the clinic’s winter break mid February. Actually we were sort of expecting that so I’m quite OK about it. I’m relieved to have finally got more information on our protocol and a rough plan.

I’ll try and call in again soon. Hello to everyone and have a great weekend!

Love
Sonia
xxx

[jt - ivf at 41]

Hi Ladies,

Just thought I would pass along the news that my result today was BFN.

I thought this would be the worst news I could hear today, NO LUCK!!!

I just left the RE's office - and he has suggested that we not try IVF again with my eggs. Too many empty follicles 27,..not a good sign. In his opinion we should not try again.

He thinks if we are still wanting to procede we should go with Donor Eggs. This is not something that I wanted for VERY SELFISH reasons.

I need some time to digest all of this information all on one day. Thankful to have you all for support....

Thinking of you all - in your various stages of this journey.

Thanks again for sharing your experiences!!
xoxox

[chriss]

Joanna,

thinking of you hun. Take the time you need to heal and keep posting here. We are here to support you and we understand so much of what you are going through.

Andrea, thinking of you today. Hope the transfer went well. Good things are in store for you.


Catharine, great news that you will begin treatment next week. You are on your way. Thanks for sending those positives vibes. My follies are listening!


Sonia, good to hear from you. Sorry about the cycle delay. Sounds like you were ready for that happening. It won't be too much longer now. Your time is coing sweetie! YEAH!


Hi Amy, Any news from RE? And yes, I do some of my shots in the morning. I have to split them up. After Transfer, my DH gives me PIO in the morning because he works late some nights. Thanks for the follie wishes. I'll know more on MOnday. Nervous, of course. I am really thirsty!!! You asked if my protocol has changed at all and yes, there have been adjustments. I've been reading my fertility diet book, it's good. I'm going to look for the Zita West book that you have. Sounds like it has more info on other aspects of IVF. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.


How are you Pricecake?

Looking forward to hearing from everyone. Enjoy the weekend.
- chriss

[jt - ivf at 41]

Amy, Exciting news - you have your plan. Will be thinking of you!!! Wll get the Zita West book, thanks for the recomendation. Big Hugs!

Chriss, U light up our thread!!! I love all of your sparkles!! How do you do that?? I now understand and feel where you get your strength to try again. When I knew I was negative, I was instantly ready to try again! We went straight for our follow up to see how soon we could. Sending you lots of good thoughts - YOU are my inspiriation!


Andrea, I know it sounds crazy but enjoy your 2ww. I went crazy while on it but now wish I was still back there. Sticky baby dust xoxox


Catherine,
All the best next week! Happy Stimming!!! Love the positive vibes!! Right back at ya!

Sonia, I am now faced with the decision of moving to donor eggs. Did you have any reservations about trying this? I am interested in your thoughts,..and advice would really help. I am sendpositive thoughts your way!!! You are amazing - you go girl!!

Pricecake,
Just wanted you to know you are in my thoughts and I am thinking of you!


Big Hugs and PMA all around!!!

[chriss]

Johanna, you sound very good today. Yes, it is amazing how we can pick ourselves back up. I guess we really want this. It made me smile when you said I am your inspiration because I have felt that way so often when reading these threads. I am inspired every day by what people say. I am currently using my own eggs, but have seriously thought about donor eggs (DE). There is a donor egg thread here and I found it to be very interesting. I post on there occasionally and the girls there are great. If you are interested in reading up on donor eggs, then check out that thread and go right from the beginning. There is some cool information that may help you as you think about this option. I know that it helped me to understand it more. If the day comes when DE are suggested to me, I feel like I will be able to embrace the idea. Let me know if you have trouble finding it, but it's not hard to find. Look for "Eggheads." Have a great day. Keep positive. -chriss

[pricecake]

Hi all.....I am excited to get to the RE on Wed for our follow up appt after my first BFN....we will see what and if any changes will be made for our next cycle. I am hoping to get right back at it in late Feb.
Chriss.... how is your cycle going? Have any ideas how many follies yet? How are your numbers? What stims are you on? I was on 250 Gonal F and one vile of Menopur, both of these twice a day.
I have an appt with Dr.SR on Wed in Islip. I thought that I would go with him, since I rarely met with Sung after my first appt. What are your feelings on Dr.SR? I know he started the clinic and doesn't seem as aggressive as the others. This might be a good approach since we are dealing with the age factor. Any opinions?
JT....so sorry about your BFN...you are in my thoughts as well.

[chriss]

Hi Price...
glad you have that appointment made! Dr SR is realy great. I did some IUI's before I started IVF (I actually got pregnant from one of them) ANyway... the point I want to make is... Dr. SR was so good at IUI. I have a tilted uterus and procedures and even pap smears can be uncomfortable for me... but DR SR, no problem. He is very experienced and knows how to talk to the patients. He is very nice. The West Islip office is small and quick. It just opened up in August. You will find that no matter which office you go to some days you will be meeting with the other doctors due to scheduling, but I can really say that I like them all, I really do. So don't worry about that. They are all on the same page. I schedule my appointments at both the stonybrook office and the west islip office depending on which one has the appointment time that works for me. Good to hear from you. I don't have any follie news yet. I go in tomorrow morning for first blood and sono since beginning the shots. I do my shots in the am & pm as well. They are spread out for us wise women. Good luck on Wednesday. Now remember, write down your questions before you go. Once in that seat, we tend to forget. He will give you lots of time at consult appointment. Definately get back on here and fill us in. Talk to you soon.-chriss

[chriss]

Amy, I just ordered Zita West's book. Thanks for the tip.

-chriss

[summerbaby]

Catharine - so happy to hear you'll be hoping on board this month! sending lots of positive thoughts your way! My RE has me stopping DHEA when I start stimms, how about you? sounds like we take a similar cocktail of vitamins/supplements. I also take magnesium & zinc+selenium...almost looking forward to the shots for a little variety ..I hope to start them on the 13th...I say hope because I've been called in for more thyroid tests on Friday...please keep your fingers crossed for me that I pass...

Sonia - sorry to hear about the delay!! my RE is also away just prior to my ER, but supposedly has it timed so we can hopefully proceed with ER on 25.02. With luck, the worst of winter will be over by the time you have to travel! Nice that you are being treated without any shots this time around. Lucky you! Have you begun tmt? didn't you say you can be on your meds for up to 40 days?...40 days -- isn't the story about noah's arch something with 40 days?...and that was all about procreation of the animals, so perhaps this is a good sign for you! ...just trying to look for the positive silver lining in the midst of another delay for you!

recently read the great news from BigJ on the other thread! wow!

chriss - looking forward to hearing how your scan went today! hope you'll like the zita west book. I find it to be written in a way that gives you the feeling she is just talking to you, and talking in a way that is clear and easy to understand...it's been a good reference point for me during these months of waiting.

to Joanna - sorry to hear not only about your bfn, but about what your RE said about the quality of your eggs. Must be quite hard to get that news when you didn't expect it. If you do decide or need to talk further about DE, there are lots of women here who are here to listen and to offer advice. I wish you and DH best of luck on your journey.

pricecake - keep us posted on how things went at the RE. looking forward to having you as a cycle buddy in late Feb!

andrea - how are you? are you in the 2ww? thinking of you and sending you lots of baby dust!

hello to tammy, yasmina, luanne, jenb and anyone I might have missed!

have a nice week! xx Amy

[AMck]

Hi Ladies

I haven't posted for a while as our computer died and it took forever to sort out a new one. I also had some problems with going back to work part time...but that's all behind me now.

Anyway just wanted to say hi and to send some PMA to this fabulous thread. I was a regular poster over the last two years and found so much advice and support here. We now have Matthew who is almost 1. If any of you ladies are considering Donor Egg treatment I would be happy to help with any questions you may have. We went to IM in Barcelona. In fact if it wasn't for this website we wouldn't have gone there at all, so we have all these inspirational ladies to thank for our little cherub!

Are any of the old gang still around? Tammy, Yasmina, Kat etc.... Would love to hear from you.

Anyway will say bye for now, you brave ladies are in my thoughts and prayers
take care all, and keep the faith, dreams can come true

hugs
Anna x

[pricecake]

Hi all....Had my follow up appt today with RE since getting my BFN. It went really well, all considered. I was so afraid he was going to say it was due to poor embryo quality and that my age was a factor. But, he was right there supporting all the great numbers we had all along, and that the 5 eggs retrieved all were good quality! He said a few things that he would like to adjust in the future to increase the number of follicles, like the BC...first cycle I was on BC for almost 6 weeks straight! RE really felt it all looked excellent to try it again. I am just not sure I can go for it on the next cycle. I have big trip that I have planned for the first week of March. I have to see when AF arrives in Feb to figure out if we can get back to it on that cycle. Anyway, it was very uplifting news for us.
Amy...maybe we will cycle together....keeping my fingers and toes crossed.
Chriss.....how is your cycle going....thinking of you!
AMck.....welcome back, thanks for inspiring us! You are truly blessed with baby Matthew, congrats!

[pricecake]

Chriss....I just read your posts over on 'awaiting treatment"....I am so sorry to hear about your situation. I hope you are able to make a decision whether or not to go on with IVF this cycle....you are in my thoughts...hang in there...xoxo

[chriss]

Pricecake,
so glad that your appointment with DrSR went well. He's very nice, isn't he? I am feeling IVF crazy right now. Just trying to figure out what to do. I will see what happens at appointment tomorrow. Thanks for your support. I really feel like I need it today. Look forward to hearing from you again soon. Again, glad that consult was good news!-chriss

Hi everyone!

[Kiwi expat]

Hi ladies - just surfacing for air...thank so much for all your well wishes. And Chriss - your 'cheesy but real" bear graphic was anything but! It really made my day sweetie!

Sorry Joanna about your BFN. It's good to move on as quickly as possible as there is always something to hope for. Keep your options open - it sounds like you have quite a few good ones to think about too!

Anna - It's great to see some of the 'old gang' pop in to give us support. It is a fabulous thread don't you think!? I bet you had an amazing first Christmas with Mathew and thanks for the inspiration.

As for me - Had three grade 1 embies transferred last Sat. As it turned out we had a jamm packed social weekend but managed to slip under the radar as DH attended some on my behalf and just told everyone I was ill. None of our friends here know about this as the expat community here is soooo small (think of Wisteria lane from Desparate Housewives...)!!! Actually was quite glad to get out of one of the parties which was, of course, another baby shower...

Testing 11th Feb which is ages away. Actual date was meant to be 9th but it is Chinese New year here next week and half of Asia completely shuts down. My last clinic would have tested 10dpt3d which would be next Tuesday??? Suggested it to my new doc and she said it would be too early. I'm going to go completely nuts so I'll need all the strength of you ladies to stop me from buying those evil HPTs...

Sounds like there are quite a few ladies lining up for cycling next month. (February is only one day away - can you believe how time flies!) Best of luck in preparing for Feb for Sonia, Amy, Catharine and Joanna. And to Chriss for this month - all the best my dear!

Big hi to everyone else!

Andrea

[summerbaby]

hey chriss - what is going on? how are things? how was your appt?

andrea -- finally on the 2ww with 3 embies on board! congratuations! rest up, relax and take care of yourself while those little ones are snuggling in. Sending you positive thoughts and baby dust! will be nice to ring in the (chinese) new year with a bfp! don't you think?...

catharine, what type of protocol will you be on for this cycle? when do you start?

pricecake - glad your follow-up went well and you feel positive about beginning another cycle when the time is right. looking forward to cheering you on!

I have no new news -- only that I got called in for more thyroid tests on Friday, just as a precaution to make sure I'm still in the right range -- but still a bit concenrned I'll get cancelled for this cycle...but better to be fully informed than proceed without having the complete picture, right? Otherwise, just waiting for AF to show up at some point & looking forward to eventually posting that I've finally started stimming! --

thanks anna for stopping by to offer your support! it is greatly appreciated.

hello to one and all! have a great week! xx Amy