The Over 40 Crowd

Sonix · Post by **Sonix** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 9:04 pm

Dear Jen, so sad to read about your BFN and knowing how difficult it must be for you right now. It’s good that you have support from family, and other plans like your holiday to focus on. (like your ticker!) Thinking of you and DH and sending you big hugs. Xxx

Amy – congrats on starting stimming. How are you doing? Looking forward to your updates and have my fingers crossed tightly that your follies are developing nicely.

Chriss – all the best for your test this week and don’t give up on this cycle yet. Sounds like looking ahead has helped you through this 2ww though. Take care of yourself.

Catharine – not long now until your next scan. Wishing you a smooth journey over the next days and weeks and that you’ll soon be able to relax and enjoy it more. Please keep us posted.

I’m back to work tomorrow but will try and call in again soon, maybe on Wednesday after my hysteroscopy. I’ll be having a short-acting anaesthetic so will need to take the day off work somehow… Thanks for the encouraging words.

Hi to Yasmina, Tammy, Anna, Bev, Andrea, LuAnne and everyone else around here…

Sonia xxx

teachertam · Post by **teachertam** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 11:37 pm

Jen: I so very sorry to hear your news. A holiday is just you need to take your mind off of this past cycle. Take care.

Sonia: THanks so much for asking about my little Andrew. Andrew is very active and walking all over the house. He is not walking 100% yet, as he still crawls if he wants to get some place in a hurry. He can climb the stairs and since we have a two story house with a basement, DH had to install baby gates. Godd luck on your Wed. appt.

Yasmina: I don't think the bottle has anything to do with Eloise getting ear infections. Andrew still drinks from the bottle and has never had an ear infection. He still breastfeeds 3-4 times per day (when he first gets up, before the am nap, before the pm nap if he takes one, and before bed). Andrew has been drinking formula in additional to breastmilk since about 10 months old and now he drinks cows milk as well. My friend's daughter gets frequent ear infections and she goes to day care too. I think it has something to do with the kids passing the germs back and forth.

Catharine: I will be thinking of you on Tuesday. Good luck on your ultrasound.

Chriss: Good luck on your upcoming test. Don't give up on this cycle yet.

Hello to Amy, LuAnne, Anna, Bev, Andrea, Kat and anyone that I have missed.

Tammy

jen babes · Post by **jen babes** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:58 am

hi everyone

chriss hang in there x x x good luck x x x

catharine good luck for tomorrow x x x

amy hows the stimming?? grow follies grow !!!!x x x

Sonia good luck on wednesday !!!! its over very quicky.... i do hope you get some answers x x x good luck x x x

tmmy lovely to hear about andrew...amazing how time flies eh!!!! have you thought about siblings at all????

love to everyone else x x x

as for me am doing ok....

see i still have humour x x x

love jen x x x

summerbaby · Post by **summerbaby** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:42 pm

Hi!

jenb - glad to see you've still got your sense of humor and your summer holidays planned - sounds like a wonderful trip to rest and recouperate and have some fun.

tammy - hope all is well with you and andrew. sure he's keeping you busy exploring the house on 2 feet...so wonderful of you and the other moms to keep checking in and offering your support and advice.

chriss - all the best this week! Keep the hope alive!

sonia - good luck on wednesday and drive carefully! I think when I had that done, they kept me in the hospital for a day or two -- it seemed like overkill, but typical for germany, I guess-

catharine - take care and let us know how the u/s went.

I'm still stimming away -- can a person run out of places to poke a needle? no, I know I can't - it just seems that way...no major negative side effects and still plenty of PMA...thanks for thinking of me, everyone!

hi to LuAnne, Yasmina, andrea, pricecake, anna and everyone I might have missed!

xx Amy

Catharine · Post by **Catharine** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:55 pm

Hey everyone:D
Chriss how you doing? nearly end of 2ww?

Amy-I feel the same way at the moment with the PIO shots. Grow follies Grow.

JenB-thinking of you and DH.

Sonia-good luck tomorrow.

So, I'm back from the the U/S and so far so good. I have cautious optimism as we've been this far before. the baby is the size of a grain of rice and there is a heart beat albeit very slow

but it may have started yesterday we do not know for sure. I just do not want to get to excited yet. I'll feel better once we cross 13 weeks. I'm waiting to hear back from the RE who will give a more detailed report.

Wishing all you wonderful ladies all the best

Catharine

chriss · Post by **chriss** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 6:05 pm

BFN for me ladies I had a hunch. Well... moving onward... to new RE with a new protocol. I sound better than I feel.

Sonia, good luck with hysteroscopy on Wednesday, tell me all about it. Seems like I will be joining you on that. New RE wants me to have one as well. I'm glad that they are looking into things. How are things otherwise? How are you holding up?

We will be consulting with old RE for one last time on Thursday.(Follow-up appointment after BFN) Do you think it's ok for us to tell him we are seeking help elsewhere? He's been great to us, but new RE offers something different.

Catharine, hoping the best for you.

AMy, keep up the PMA. Wonder how many days of stimms you will have? Any clue?

Talk to you all soon. Gotta let the BFN sink in so I can move on.

Love, -chriss

summerbaby · Post by **summerbaby** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:03 am

chriss - I am so very sorry. wishing you all the best with your new RE and new protocol, hoping so much that it will bring you that bfp with your next cycle. As far as telling your current RE that you are leaving, I can't offer any advice. We had such a dismal experience at our 1st clinic, we just left and moved on and are so happy that we did. Play it by ear on Thursday and go with your gut feeling. I'm sure they realize that patients come and go for various reasons.
But for now, let everything sink in and let all that you are feeling out. Cleanse your system before jumping back in, so that you can begin again fresh and with a foolproof positive outlook.

you asked me about stimms - I'll likely be on them for 11 or 12 days, which is what I think happened last time? How about you? What was your protocol like last time?

Only one more day of work for me, then I'm off from my regular job till the 2nd week of April (hooray for comp time!) -- I still have to teach, but that is only 1 day per week...

all the best Sonia for Wednesday! take good care.

catharine, just saw your post. glad that everything is so far, so good. keeping my fingers crossed that your little grain of rice continues to grow bigger and stronger with each passing day.

LuAnne how are things with both of you?

Hi to tammy & yasmina & jenb and everyone else reading!

thanks again to everyone for all your good thoughts!
xx Amy

chriss · Post by **chriss** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:21 am

Hi Amy, thanks for response. Now DH and I are wondering if we will even go to follow up appointment with old RE. It's kinda like, "What's the point?" We are moving on. At old RE I was on stimms sometimes for 14-15 days. New RE thinks that's too long. He'd rather have fewer stronger eggs than many that are too big or too small. So hard to know what to do. I feel the same way about accupuncture, do I continue it? Who knows. Seems like as of now I will be only taking one month off between this cycle and staring up at new place. Sometimes I think we should wait, but other times I feel like I can't. Has anyone ever recommended a particular length of time to take off between cycles to you?

Glad that you have such great PMA. It will help you along the way. I do know how long you've been waiting. It's finally here. What drug protocol are you on? When is first scan? Wishing you tons of good luck. Enjoy that time off too. Do you have any plans other than IVF for the time off? Believe it or not, but my newest obsession is doing puzzles. Keeps me on the couch so I can relax.

BTW, I've been trying the zita wst detox to "cleanse" myself. I'm on day three. It's very easy to do. No white flour, sugar, etc. Eating organic veges & fruits, beans & whole grain rice. Did you ever do it? Wouldn't mind dropping a few pound too. I seem to pack it on during treatment.

Look forward to hearing your progress, so please keep me posted. Talk to you soon. -chriss

Catharine · Post by **Catharine** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:24 am

Good morning ladies

Chriss-so sad to read your post of the bfn. I was surprised to see the length of your stimms. Just shows that REs and clinics approach cases differently and each case maybe taylored to the individual's circumstances. Your new RE will bring a fresh perspective to the table. Take the time to prepare for your next round. My accupuncturist had me wait minimum 4 months. The concept being that the exogenous hormones are hard on the body and the body needs time to get back into it's rhythm before beating it up again with another tmt cycle. In addition he advises and the clinic, no chinese herbs during the tmt protocol and to cease acu after ET. This last time and the time before I waited 5 months btwn cycles. During the 5 months I was receiving acu and chinese herbs. However, in both cases I had surgeries [basically d&c] as well to make sure there were no uterine polyps that may interfer with implantation and this last one was to clean out the august fetal remnants. With each surgery they did a hysteroscopy to ensure that the lining and tubes were healthy. Not certain if this information is TMI. I hope it helps in understanding the complexity of our situations.

Amy-how you holding up? Here's some more fairy folly dust to aid in the growth of your follies

Sonia-good luck with the scan today.

JenB-How are you holding up?

So I thought I'd share how I'm feeling physically. We all know my emotions are all over the place. The PIO as difinetly slowed down the GI motility. However, I have these intense cravings [yes, they kind of started to a lesser degree and are intense now] for hot sauces. Went to an asian fusion restaurant the other day and couldn't get enough of the hot pepper sauce. Yesterday it was the extremely hot salsa bravo. I had a little bit of chip with my sauce. Crazy I know. well the good news is I'm not burning my lips nor mouth and apparently not my tumtum nor intestines

and a fortunate side effect is the cleansing of my system. DH says my body must be craving it knowing this side effect. My girlfriend says it's because I must be carrying a lil'boy. She said if I craved sour foods then I'd be carrying a lil'girl. Time will tell.

Hello to Yasmina, Tammy, Luanne, Pricecake, and everyone else I may have left off.

Wishing all well.
Catharine

summerbaby · Post by **summerbaby** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:47 pm

hi chriss - at your beta test, did they also test your estrogen and progesterone? at least if they did, perhaps your old RE can tell you what the numbers were and you can take that info to your new clinic...My RE used that info after my bfn in july to tailor my new tmt plan and testing, etc...which put me on DHEA for example.
He said with all of the testing and getting everything out of my system, that I would be waiting 4-5 months before trying again. But then my thyroid made trouble and I needed to wait a bit longer...
Although you feel the clock ticking (and I'm even older than you!) I think it is important to give your (old) body

a rest. I don't think we bounce back as quickly like the mid.20 yr olds who are also on this board...
Like your new RE said, quality is better than quantity... and attitude I think plays a big part...with a bfn so fresh, I think the worry and doubt are still too close to the surface to allow for the positive vibes to really be on top...you need to tip the scales so the "I will get pregnant" thoughts outweigh, "It probably won't work again" thoughts, especially during the 2ww...
Glad you are liking the Zita West book and are trying the detox. I carry it around like a security blanket -- reading it on the train or if I have a question. I didn't try the detox, but did cut out a bunch of things that she recommended and added what I was lacking -- I think she deals with the mental preparation quite well, too. I also find yoga to be a great way to exercise and relax and let the stress melt away...I've only had acu centered around ER/ET.

Sorry to have gone on and on -- I also 2nd all of Catharine's advice as well! She seems to have done everything right! Do hope all that spicy food is doing the trick for you!! Sounds delicious, whatever you are eating! Oh how I miss that here...

My 1st scan is on Thursday. I've been stimming with Menopur, Puregon & Decapeptyl along with taking the various vitamins and minerals...
I have no big plans while I am off -- I have a few projects in the wings that I hope to finish and get my seeds planted for spring.

One last thing --battling the weight gain is tough. After my 1st bfn, I had gained so much, I joined Weight Watchers to lose that plus what extra I was already carrying around to begin with. Slowly but surely almost all came off. Then I started a new job and couldn't exercise like I had been and have been sitting in a plateau for a while...but I have hope that I will get there...but not having that extra weight has really made the process a whole lot easier feeling -- don't know why...maybe because I just feel better about myself in general and more in control.

Sorry again for my novel today...!!!

Hello to jenb, sonia, yasmina, tammy, LuAnne & catharine!

xx Amy

Sonix · Post by **Sonix** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 5:50 pm

JenB – you’re amazing, such a strong girl. As always, posting with lots of smilies and not losing your humour. With each BFN it doesn’t get any easier so do take time to heal. Thinking of you and DH. xxx

Amy – good to see you bubbling with PMA. Is it your poor tum which is suffering from all those needles? If you are prone to bruising I can recommend “Arnika Salbe” which you can get in the Apotheke. Wishing you good luck for your first follie scan tomorrow.
2 days in hospital after a hysteroscopy does seem a bit over the top but maybe it was an operative hysteroscopy, mine was just diagnostic one. Makes me feel better about taking the whole day off work today though.

Catharine – getting close to that welcome 13-week mark soon I hope. Enjoy those spicy sauces.

Chriss – so sorry to hear that you are having to cope with another BFN. Hope that changing clinics will help you to close the door on those BFNs of the past and go forward with new confidence and a positive outlook. Doesn’t sound like you feel uncomfortable about going to your former RE so I would take the opportunity for a follow-up appointment. It might only help to strengthen your decision to move on but maybe they also have some valuable information (test results etc) that you will need to take with you or need to ask them for in the future. About whether or not to tell your clinic about moving on – that’s a difficult question and I join Amy with saying that you should play it by ear.
My clinics never specified a time to wait between cycles but with further testing, changed protocols, waiting for AF etc. it was always a minimum of about 2-3 months. If I read your signature correctly you’ve had 4 IVF cycles in about 7 months. A lot for your body to have to cope with in a short time, not to mention the emotional aspect. I know how hard the wait is but try to see it positively - you will be giving your body and the next cycle a better chance for that BFP if you don’t jump straight back onto that rollercoaster. Maybe you can find something to concentrate on like a holiday or something else you’re been postponing because of all those appointments and intensive treatment over the last months.

Like Amy (and Yasmina) I find yoga a great help – a combination of exercise and relaxation which you can also do at home whenever you feel the need to reduce stress. I can also recommend the breathing exercises, which I think Catharine has often mentioned. I took Chinese herbs last year between cycles but they interfered with my digestive system so I have settled on just acu during treatment cycles.

So there’s my two (Euro-)cents worth of advice too

– and I can underline what Amy and Catharine have said. Do keep up the faith and let us know how you are getting on.

And now for an update from me: Still feeling a little weak this afternoon, which is probably from the general anaesthetic. For me the procedure for the hysteroscopy was the same as for ER which involved getting to the clinic early, a short consultation with the doctor, a short-acting (5 min) anaesthetic given intravenously, which reduces any pain or discomfort to a minimum, and then resting for about 1 hour before a post-OP consultation.

The good news is that no abnormalities were found, everything seems to be OK and my doctor doesn’t expect anything to be found in the lab. The results will be sent to us in about a week with a recommendation on how to proceed. He was very concerned about all the delays we’ve been encountering and we discussed the DE procedure and protocols. DH keeps telling me not to speculate but it seems to me that we will soon be back to experimenting with protocols again.

I read somewhere that irregularities in cycles are in 90% of cases due to hormones, and my hormones just seem to have a very special way of reacting to – or not reacting to – the meds, which makes preparing for a DE transfer very difficult. …
Working on keeping up my PMA, I promise… One more day at work and then a 4 day Easter break here. Yippee!

Enough from me now, that was a bit long

Wishing everyone here all the best.

Love
Sonia xxx

summerbaby · Post by **summerbaby** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 12:26 pm

sonia - glad to hear that they didn't find anything and that everything looks normal. do hope the next protocol cocktail does the trick to keep your lining steadily increasing to get to and stay at the right point at the right time. When do you consult again with your clinic? Thinking lots of positive thoughts that your time will come this spring.
Thanks for the arnika tip! I've been using an arnika oil every evening to keep me nice and warm.

chriss - were you able to work out the travelling to your new clinic? I have to drive 4 hours to get to mine -- so I always lose a day there and back. It isn't always easy to work around my schedule & DH's schedule, but so far we've managed. In the end, we feel really comfortable there and think that is an important factor.

I'm back from my scan -- and we saw 16 follies -- 2 more than last try! And the lining is looking good as well. I seem to have responded well, so they've moved my ER up a day to the 26th. I have to trigger at 3:30am

on Tuesday and then I'll get to have the retrieval later in the afternoon, which is nice. Looks like my days off from work are going to be well timed, so happy about that! Can't believe it's finally happening!
Went out for Chinese food the other afternoon and my fortune read, Your plans will have success! -- I know it is just a bunch of who-ha, but I still kept it...you never know....

thanks so much to all of you for your positive thoughts and support!
hello and warm regards to jenb, catharine, andrea, LuAnne, pricecake, anna, and everyone reading along these days!

By the way Catharine, what did your doctor say about starting to run again? Must be hard for someone who is so very active to suddenly have the breaks put on --

Enjoy the long easter weekend and happy spring!
xx Amy

jen babes · Post by **jen babes** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 6:15 pm

just popped in to wish you all

amy thats fab news on your batch load of eggies good luck for the 26th x x x
sonia take time for you... you have been through so much and will be weak. good to hear that there are no problems..they just need t get the drugs right for you..that will put your mind at rest ...

Chriss lovely hugs x x x x you have been through so much and so many cycles in a row...look after yourself x x x

we are off for the holiday weekend ( af hit hard and i have been kinda low the last few days so we are off to enjoy the world) Snow is expected but will be warm in moto..my parent are due to visit for 5 days next week too so looking forward too mummy hugs x x xnever ever grow ut of them do we!!!!

ove to everyone i ave missed on personals have a good weekend x x x
jen xxxx

Sonix · Post by **Sonix** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 6:12 pm

Just calling in to wish everyone HAPPY EASTER!

Jen – hope life is treating you well and you are enjoying a fun weekend away. I’m sure you will feel better after a weekend holiday with DH, some sunshine and snow.

Hi Amy, your follie count and lining sound VERY promising! Well done. Only light snowfall predicted for Wednesday so I think you’ll be OK on the roads. Do get plenty of rest and keep drinking. Getting excited for you!!!

Thanks so much for thinking positive thoughts for me. I’m struggling a bit with that at the moment. The clinic wants us to send them the results from the lab when they come through so that next steps can be planned. So maybe they haven’t given up on me yet…

Chriss & Catharine – how are you? Hope all’s well.

My best Easter wishes to LuAnne, Tammy, Yasmina, Anna, Andrea and everyone else around.

Sonia
xxx

Catharine · Post by **Catharine** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:15 am

Good Monday Morning

Just a quick pop in to see how everyone is.

Amy- great job girl. More folly fairy dust for you. To answer your question regarding exercise,

sadly I'm to keep it on the down low. I'm not to raise my core body temperature. The ovaries are still somewhat enlarged despite very little corpus luteum

cs suppports the pregnancy, hence why I'm on estrogen patches and PIO shots. I digressed, the RE still feels there is a chance of hurting the ovaries at this stage of the game and I'm not one to challenger her position. In addition, since the pregnancy is considered 'fragile' at this stage I'm to stay on the down low till the second trimester. 'Fragile' because I'm having to use exogenous hormone therapy to support the pregnancy. So, given the circumstances as explained to me and what our goal is, to welcome a beautiful healthy being into our family, I can forgo the exercise for now. Once the second trimester starts I'll revisit the topic with my Ob.

On a separate note, work has taken a turn for the worse and DH and I have agreed that the company and therefore my bosses are no longer treating my with the professional respect that I deserve. In fact they are ignoring me altogether. No longer returning e-mails, nor phone calls. With this in view I have decided to terminate my contract early. What a load of weight off my shoulders. I will get through this current grant cycle and then move on.

Wishing everyone all the best.
Catharine

The Over 40 Crowd

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