Cycle buddies in March/April anyone?

lwalker25 · Post by **lwalker25** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:43 pm

Hi everyone! I have been sitting back and keeping up with the post, too chicken to join in :p We will be attempting IVF #2, starting stims on 3/30 and just wanted to share my story and see if I can join.

We have been ttc since 12/98, I am 31 and DH 29, tubal problems. We had our first IVF cycle in 11/07 with 17 eggs retrieved, 12 fertilized and 8 made it to blast. We transferred 2 and the remaining were pushed until day 6 and we ended up freezing 3. We ended up with a BFN from the fresh cycle with two top quality blast and we were devasted. We had a text book cycle just no implantation

We decided to go for FET in 2/08, all were thawed and 2 survived, they were graded one 4BB and one 3CB (4 and A being the best) and once again both failed to implant.

we are attempting our 2nd fresh cycle and I am scared to death about it not working again because financially this will be our last until the loan is paid (3 years). I begin stims on 3/30. Our first cycle I was 3 vials of Bravelle and on day 3 of stims I picked up with 1 vial of Menopur added to the Bravelle. We asked the nurse at our last appointment if there anything he was going to change because of the failed implantation and she told me that he changed my meds, I will be taking 2 vials of Bravelle and 1 vial of Menopur from the get go. So for now I am on BCP until 3/25, my appointment on 3/27 and I start the wonderful injections on 3/30. Good luck to everyone!!!!!!!

chelly180 · Post by **chelly180** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:46 pm

I've been hanging back just reading posts; I don't start Lupron until 4/1 so I think I'm on a similar schedule as DrJen and Irishhope. This will be my 1st IVF attempt!
I'm glad everyone has such PMA's, sometimes I get bogged down thinking about how much $$$ this is all costing. I keep telling myself that a baby is priceless, but I have tons of school debt to begin with, so I get stressed sometimes.
I hope to be posting more often!

Angram- where in Texas are you located? I am in San Antonio, I was looking for a study here but I couldn't find any.

God Bless you all!
-Michele

J&C · Post by **J&C** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:57 pm

Hey Everyone - Today my PMA is up, so I'll take that anyday. I'm in a training class this week, and so far, it's turned from a full day of training into a 1/2 day of training each day. I've been working from home the rest of the day, and I'm just thanking God for the extra time to nap and relax. I'll take that any time that I can get it!

elisabethski - After 5 years of TTC, we would be thrilled with whatever the good Lord gives us. My DH starts looking at me if I mention triplets, but I would be happy with a singleton, twins or triplets, etc. (and DH will too). Just like IrishHope mentioned, I'm really ready to be a Mom. [Anyone else struggle with Mother's Day? I can't go to church on that day, and I've really struggled with it the past 2 years. It also doesn't help that my sister has a toddler, and she's expecting #2 next month. It's been difficult to deal with emotionally.]

Neffi - Right now, DH and I have decided NOT to POAS, but I could break down Saturday morning and do it anyway.

I don't have a HPT in the house, so that helps. I'm just afraid to get the wrong answer, so I think I'd rather just know the answer on Sunday. How about you? Don't worry - I've been talking to my embies too. Nothing wrong with deep breathing, relaxing and talking to your kids.

DrJen - My RE usually discusses 2-3, irregardless of your age. He recommends 2-4 if you're 38+.

IrishHope - How many do you have to thaw? Do you have 3 to thaw right now? This is our first IVF cycle, and we currently have 1 frostie. I'm still trying to figure out how that works.

rlk - Yep, I'm almost done. I test on Sunday. I also heard that pineapple helps with implantation, but I forgot to eat some. What was I thinking????

That's AMAZING on your 18 embies....I'm so glad you're going to have plenty to work with.

lwalker - Welcome to the Board!!! This time, it's your turn.

chelly180 · Post by **chelly180** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:07 pm

This is totally unrelated to IVF, but I thought it might put a smile on someone's face.
I had some potatoes in the pantry and I decided to make mashed potatoes...they were a little old, not too old, just a little sprout here and there.
Well, they were a lot older than I thought because when I went to whip them, I ended up making a big pot of glue!!! It literally looked like that Elmer's glue paste we used to use in preschool!! I probably could have glued wallpaper with my potatoes. (I threw them out before DH saw...he would never let me hear the end of it)
I hope I make babies better than I make mashed potatoes!

angram · Post by **angram** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:44 pm

Hi Everyone! My goodness the posts are flying today, so much going on. I'm still on the wait, will go in for my b/w and u/s tomorrow..it's going to be good news!!!! Sorry, just pumping myself up a little with the PMA

lwalker - Welcome to the board and good luck.

chelly180 - I'm in Austin and there's only one fertility center here, which to me seems very odd. My RE is currently working on 2 studies; one for the long lasting Gonal F and the other is the progesterone ring.

rlk1 - 18 fighters are still a kickin', that is excellent news! I would definitely transfer 2, but I'm all about having twins (or triplets if that's what's meant to be). My RE will only transfer 2 maximum, so I really don't have a choice in the matter.

J&C - Keep the PMA, you're almost there and we're ready to hear your BFP!

Everyone else have a fantastic Wednesday evening and Thursday, I'll let you all know how my day goes tomorrow...PMA, PMA, PMA...

Neffi211 · Post by **Neffi211** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 1:09 am

Ang-- PMA!!! your appt is going to go great! Grow follies grow!

Rlk1-- hows my girl doing? Im glad to hear that your going to do 5 day transfer!

J&C-glad you have some time to relax! Its good you dont have a HPT at home. I am just to nervous to wait....I wont do it really early, but waiting for the phone call is torture!

Chelly-- cute potato story!!!!

I also hope you are better at the mommy thing. The $ thing is crappy isnt it? Like we dont have enough to worry about! It will work!!!

lwalker25--WELCOME!!!!!!

Well again...Im just sitting here....tomorrow back to work...then another three days off.

Neffi211 · Post by **Neffi211** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 1:11 am

Ang-- PMA!!! your appt is going to go great! Grow follies grow!

Rlk1-- hows my girl doing? Im glad to hear that your going to do 5 day transfer!

J&C-glad you have some time to relax! Its good you dont have a HPT at home. I am just to nervous to wait....I wont do it really early, but waiting for the phone call is torture!

Chelly-- cute potato story!!!!

I also hope you are better at the mommy thing. The $ thing is crappy isnt it? Like we dont have enough to worry about! It will work!!!

lwalker25--WELCOME!!!!!!

Well again...Im just sitting here....tomorrow back to work...then another three days off.

J&C · Post by **J&C** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 1:20 am

chelly - Welcome to the board!! This is our first IVF attempt also. I can't believe that we're almost through the entire process. After you get started, it does go really quickly.

IrishHope · Post by **IrishHope** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 12:18 pm

lwalker/chelly - Welcome! You will find lots of support here!!

J&C - you asked how many we have frozen - we have 5 frozen. 2 on Day 6 and 3 frozen on Day 5 - anyone know what the difference is? Anyway we are lucky to have some frozen and am going to really push for 3 to be put in...

Yesterday was a good day for me - today

not much PMA at the moment but it's rainy and gray in Boston!

DrJen · Post by **DrJen** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 3:30 pm

Thanks for the response about transferring 2 vs 3 embryos. I appreciated everyone's advice/info.

Neffi-Hope your day goes well! It's exciting you transferred 3. I personally would love to have twins, as would my DH. My patients are no showing this morning, so I thought I'd post--we've had horrible flooding in the Midwest--many people are unable to get to our office due to flooded roads, etc!

rlk1-Glad to hear about the 5 day transfer. If you are ready for the possiblity of having twins, I would transfer 2. My last cycle, they considered transferring 1--I insisted on 2! I will definitely transfer 2 again (I would consider 3 if my RE would do it.) as long as I have 2 that survive!

lwalker-sounds like we have a similar story. Although, we had nothing to freeze from our last cycle. I begin Lupron on March 28 and then first b/w and u/s April 11. Looks like we will by cycling together!

chelly-yes, it sounds like we are on a similar schedule! You are right, a baby is priceless. I am working extra days right now, so I can afford to take some time off for my next cycle. Looking forward to cycling together!

J&C-I'm with you on the Mother's Day thing. I was figuring out my schedule the other day. If everything goes like last cycle, I will have my beta the day before Mother's Day. I'm trying to keep that PMA, but I can't help but think how horrible it would be to get a BFN. Shame on me! I shouldn't think that way.

angram-PMA-can't wait to hear the good news from your appt today!

Hi to everyone else!

rlk1 · Post by **rlk1** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 4:05 pm

Hi all!

IrishHope: Thanks for the advice. Can you come with me to all of my appointments?!? I am the worst at making decisions!! Hopefully, we'll be able to "pick" how many we want transferred--but if the embryos don't cooperate than maybe the decision will be made for us!! We'll see. Oh, and THANK YOU for calling me young. I feel so old these days--maybe because you hear all these things about 16 year olds (JAMIE LYNN SPEARS!!) getting pregnant. Good grief. I hear you about the weather affecting your PMA. How are you doing today?

Neffi: Hey girl! I'm doing okay--thanks for asking! I'm still pretty sore from the RE--is that normal? It's definitely tolerable, but it's still hard for me to change clothes, bend over, etc. The price we pay, right?!? How's work going today? Has it been distracting you from the 2WW? Also, congrats on your frozen embryo!! That's so great!!

Lwalker: Welcome! You'll be stimming so soon-how exciting! I'm so impressed with your attitude--that you don't give up and keep trying!! Hey, and third times the charm, right?!? I know this isn't your 3rd IVF, but this will be your third transfer, right?! That will be good luck!

Chelly: Welcome to you too! You're right, IVF does impose a lot of financial stress. Do they have a shared risk program at your clinic? That can help!

J&C: It's nice that work has been light for you this week and that you've been able to relax a bit--it's good for your baby(s)!!

Angram: Good luck today at your u/s. I'm praying that all is well!!

DrJen: Wow, that is a lot of pressure to have your Beta a day before Mother's Day. But...IT WILL WORK. It'll be all the more reason to celebrate!

Nothing new here expect for a SORE BUM!!! Hmm....that sounded bad. You girls know what I mean! I called my nurse to see if I could switch to a smaller needle. We'll see what she says. Oh, I do have a question for you guys. They're having me take Estrace twice a day, but I'm so confused by that since my estrogen was already so high to begin with (2577 on day of trigger). Do you girls (or did you) take estrace too? Is that just standard? Also, are you taking baby aspirin too? They have me popping all these pills and it's making me nervous. I'm one of those people who doesn't even like to take Advil unless it's absolutely necessary...

nicaliw · Post by **nicaliw** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 4:06 pm

irishhope....the day 3 embryos are dividing cells and the day 5 embryos are already blastocyts. Blasts are more likely to end in a succesful pregnancy when transfered since about 30% of embryos don't even make it to blast. So, when we transfer embryos that are not yet blasts we take the risk that they may not even make it it blasts, thats why most RE's want to transfer 5 or 6 day blasts and will transfer higher numbers if they transfer embryos that are less than 5 days.
However, there is also the argument that some of the early embryos that didn't make it to blast in the lab may have made it to blast on the uterus. Its all quite grey.....not black and white. I think a lot of it is purely by chance. We transfered the "best looking" blasts out of 6 blasts and we ended up having one in there that had a chromosomal abnormality....so you just never know. I'm hoping that ones they froze that didn't get named the "best looking" ends up being the best quality.

suzhan · Post by **suzhan** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 4:16 pm

Hey rlk - I'm even taking baby aspirin too. I always did with all of my ivf cycles and they still want me on it now. I was a questioning it too but double checked with my ob (not like I don't trust my RE...but, you know...) Anyway, he said it's a great thing to lessen the chances of blood clots and improves implantation, etc etc...all good things, so I'm sticking with it.

Regarding the estrace, I'm not sure if it's the same thing, but with all my cycles I took delestrogen. I think there are different types of estrogen and when they're pumping us full of progesterone, they want to moderate it with ensuring we're still balanced with enough estrogen. Interestingly, I'm also on the progesterone suppositories (yuck) with this preganancy too.

So, the only thing I'm getting to miss out on is the lovely pio shots!

Neffi - still keeping everything crossed for you during the 2ww! Hope you're feeling good!

IrishHope · Post by **IrishHope** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 4:37 pm

nicaliw - thanks...it is all grey! My clinic doesn't transfer blasts in a fresh cycle...I was wondering though the difference between them being "frozen" on day 5 vs. day 6 - the embryologist just told us 2 were frozen on day 6 and 3 on day 5 and I don't know what that means...we can ask RE on Wed when we see him...

angram · Post by **angram** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 8:58 pm

Hi everyone - just got back from my u/s and we're a go to continue on to retrieval!!!

We only have 3 that will definitely be ready, but there are a few lagging that he hopes may make it to a good enough size to retrieve. We'll stim for 2 more days and then go in Sat morning for another u/s and hopefully the trigger shot for a Monday retrieval. My DH and I are beyond happy and will hopefully sleep after 3 sleepless nights of worrying. Thank you all for you positive notes and thoughts, this has been a great day! Hope all is well with everyone else, I'll type personals later.