Feb/Mar 08 Cycle Buddies

[keita1981]

IRISH HOPE--- dh sperm is VERY good. my RE said that we don't have to do ICSI but i was so scared that none of them would fertilize. silly me, he has KU too many times for me to think that (as per RE). So my RE is going to do half ICSI and half conventional. Now, my question to you is, if one has a lot of mature eggs like 22 and you had already told your RE that you wanted ICSI, once you found out how many mature eggs you got, could you tell them NO i don't want them icsi, i just want them fertiized on their own? I hope you understand my question.

[indie_rad]

I am sooo excited (and nervous at the same time). Had my final u/s _b/w this morning. I take the HCG shot tonight and and set for ER on monday

kbat, IrishHope - good luck with ET.

stephanienj - good luck with your ER.

keita1981 - You should be able to tell them not to use ICSI if thats what you want. At my clinic they go over these options again at towards the end. For e.g originally we had planned a mix of icsi and non-icsi but when they saw that I didn't have a large number of follicles to work with, the option was revised and now we are in for all icsi.

[kbat]

Had my e/t today. My one little embryo is put back into its place. I was told that it's a "4BF" which is where it should be on Day #2. 4 is 4 cells---b is the amount of framentation. They think it should be either a or b and the F is for fair. It should be either a good or fair. So, at least it seems like it was dividing the way it should.

Now, I just have to wait for the dreaded 2ww . Go in on 3/6 for pregnancy test.

[Beaner]

We did the day 2 transfer this morning and I am wondering if these numbers sound promising?
1 embryo 2 cells, Grade A
1 embryo 6 cells, Grade C
1 embryo 1 cell no grade, however it had done a split by the time we got there and the staff were really excited

[kimbers312]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone has hypothyroidism and how you are doing with all of the hormone shots?

[stephanienj]

Can anyone explain the cell thing to me? This is the first I'm hearing about 2 cell. 6 cell etc and have no clue what that means. Thanks!

[aims327]

kimbers - I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism during all the testing for IVF. I did ok while I was on all the hormones. I had to have my medicine increased a little during the lupron shots and before the follistim shots. I was starting to feel more fatigued. It seemed to help but while stimming it was really hard to tell if it was my thyroid or the shots making me tired. My doctor just kept doing blood work to make sure my thyroid was at the appropriate level. Currently I am only on progesterone and feeling really tired but still functional. Before I started taking synthyroid, I didn't feel like I could function...just sleep. Hope this helps.

[Sue Hu]

Hi All,

I have been out of commission for about a week.. really bad cold. I have been reading posts and trying to keep up on everyone.

Courtney - thanks for making and maintaining the list. I started Lupron 2/11 and am starting stimms 2/25.

Kimbers312- I have hypotyroidism!! My RE never said anything about the shots having an effect but I was feeling a little funny recently (metabolism seemed to slow down) so I went ahead and got my TSH checked last week and am waiting for the results. What do you know?!

kbat and IrishHope - lots of luck with your ET's!

stephanienj - lots of luck with your ER!

And keeping fingers crossed for everyone else too!

Sue

[IrishHope]

kbat - thinking about you...hoping your 2WW is well worth it!! glad so far so good...

SueHu - sorry to hear about your cold. Hope you are felling better.

stephanienj - I'm w/ you on the cell thing not sure wht it all means - and s ome clinics grade them differently I think the higher the number 6, 8, 10 the better but maybe someone else can confirm I am going to ask today when we go for transfer. I think the doc or embryologist will tell us what we have/what is getting transferred.

ok off to shower and head to E/T...

Best to all the stimmers...follies grow everyday!!!

[kbat]

earlier someone asked about the embryo thing. Clinics "grade" their embryos as a sort of guide to the quality of the egg. I think that each clinic may grade differently but here's how my grades....
the number is number of cells that the embryo divides into.... The day 2nd day after the e/t a fertilized egg has begun to divide inot 2 to 4 cells. on the 3rd day after e/r, when lots of people have their e/t, it should have divided into 6-8 cell.s On 3rd day, if they are divided into 6-8 they are considered dividing normally and are considered likely to implant. On 3rd day, embryos w/ fewer than 6 celss are considered to be suboptimal, but still have te potential to implant to result in a pregnancy. (note this is the 3rd day--if you had a 2 day, and it's between the 2-4 cells, then you are still o.k)

Then they have a fragmentation category.
A) iS less than 5% fragmentation
B) is 5-25% framentation
C) is 25-50% fragmentation
D) is over 50% fragmentation

a small amount of fragmentation is normal and grade A and B is normal. Lower "grade" may indicate lower implantation of implantation.

the final category is symmetry of cells
it describes the evennes of the size and distribution of the cells in the embryo. My clinic grades them at Good , Fair and poor. . They prefer to see a good or fair, but they say that a 8 cell grade A Good embryos may not implant successfully, while every once in a while one w/ less cells (like 4 or 5) w/ worse score can make it.

They go on to say that a "rating" pretyy much is not absolute and it's always an indicator of implantation, pregnancy or health of child.

Mine was 4BF, which I was told where it should be for day 2 transfer.

I think some clinics do the opposite of what I said or do numbers. My clinic gave me a sheet that explanins the "quality" of the egg and they tell you right away what they "grade" it.

sorry for the long post

[kimbers312]

aims~

I was just asking because I have been feeling tired and a little off(hard to explain) the way I usually feel when my thyroid is off. I have had this for 8 years now. I am going to get bloodwork tomrrow because I want to make sure my levels are okay. Thyroid controls the whole hormone system so the addition of hormones(shots) might throw it off. It is just imp. to keep getting tested because low or high levels of thyroid can mess with the dev of the baby.

Just means we have to get even more blood work. Sorry if I made you worry!!! ~ kimbers

[kimbers312]

Sorry

Sue my previous posting was for you~ Aims is correct we just need to keep up with our bloodwork.

kbat- thanks for the break down about the eggs. How's the 2ww going?? We're all looking forward to the BFP posting!!!

irish and jenis- good luck today!!!

[Jill_n_Mark]

Good morning Ladies. I have not posted lately, so I thought I would attempt to play catch-up. Sorry in advance if I miss anyone. I am getting more excited as I start Lupron in 2 days...but I am stressing b/c I have yet to get my meds. I have to use a mail order pharmacy for insurance reasons and they've been very slow and told me they will ship the Lupron Monday so I have it Tuesday, but I am still weary about it...will be so close. I may go by RE office and see if they can give me box.

LB (Lisa) - so sorry to hear your cycle got cancelled. Maybe when you meet with RE on Monday, you can discuss the next cycle. You know they say that the 3rd times the charm and maybe it will happen next time! I can only imagine how you feel affter going thru this twice now and never making it to ET. Best of luck and know that we're all praying and rooting for you!

Cathann - so sorry to hear about little eggies. Take time for yourselves to get thru this emotional rollercoaster and know that we'll be here when you are ready. There is so much support here, but the best support is each other. May god be with you and DH and bless you both!

Sue Hu - hope you get to feeling better.

kbat - just remember that it only takes 1 to get a baby!

Good Luck with ET justjenis and IrishHope!

Good Luck Stephanienj with ER! In regards to the bloating...I looked about 5 months pregnant at time of my ER.

Good Luck with ER on Monday, indie_rad

Sticky baby vibes to all those in 2WW: Aims, Cornybaby, RunnerKate and Beaner

Best of Luck to All!

[Sue Hu]

kimbers312 - I am also concerned about my TSH levels.. I read that an abnormal TSH level can be the cause of miscarriage too (. And also that it can take 4-6 weeks to get back under control.. that really worries me.
Do you also have Hashimoto's disease?

Hope everyone else has dodged the flu and is staying healthy! Good luck!

Sue

[JustJenis]

Gooood Morning my hormone filled buddies!

I have GREAT NEWS!!! Well I think I understand it to be great news ROFL! If not, well poo on me. I just got a call from the clinic and my ET has been pushed to Tuesday! Seems that we now have a total of 6 embies growing strong and they want to do a 5 day blast. This is good right????

Only downfall.. Hubby can't go with me.. so I'm flying solo on this ET. Think I can drive laying down? LOL JK!

*HUGS* Happy Happy Happy!
Jenis