OCT / NOV / DEC 2008 Buddies

[Kas101]

To have fun Yay !!! Thanks for making it a OCT/NOV/DEC board!!!! Now i feel really at home here - when you are all in the 2WW i should be doing my stims, and when you are all in the first few weeks of your PG i should be stressing out in the 2ww!!! Glad i will be here to bring up the rear with a BFP. Feeling very positive right now about it!!!!

NY4th Hey i did see your post to ghost and see you have stopped the DHEA.... It puts me in a real dilemma. I think i will email my RE and ask him what he thinks and i'll let you know what i've decided. Its so tough - we all want to do the best we can and with only 3 embryos last time i cant afford to make that any worse. I hoped that even a few more good embies would be the key, and i dont know that if i do nothing i will get that, but of course i dont want a whole load of testosterone coarsing through my body either - thats really not going to help!!!

Mrs cutter Take a look at the post entitled 'sticky' on the general forum. That helps understand a lot of abbreviations, but you will learn and 'decode' many as you go along, and of course we will just help you out anytime..... I saw you are will be taking Follistim - I took that with Menopur last cycle but i was a poor responder and i was only on 300 units. You will be on 450 which my RE recommended for me this cycle (but i'm now doing all completely different drugs as i had to move and so needed a new RE) so your dosage sounds great. I had no side effects and used the follistim pen to inject which is a tiny short thin needle you can hardly feel, so dont worry

Foreverlove Hey, i saw from you signature you are tubally challenged like myself (and same age) i now have no tubes so lets get our BFP's and show everyone -tubes??? ha who needs tubes?????

[to_have_fun08]

UGGGHHHH don't you hate it when you do a long post and then accidently delete it. Makes me so mad. So here I will try again.

NY4thtry - I am seeing more and more ladies say that their RE's are recommending DHEA so I would think that if it hendered eqq quality they wouldn't advise it. I guess it might all depend on the patient and what their egg quality is to begin with. At least you are still doing the antibotic treatmeant that might also help with your next cycle. Still have hope for increase chances of BFP. Are they changing your protocol around at all with this next cycle? How is your antibotic treatment going?

Kas - If you don't mind me asking, why did you have your tubes removed? Was it endo?

mrscutter - You will learn all the abbreviations in no time. I was also lost when lurking on the board. Now I do the abbreviations all the time and also catch myself trying to use them in the real world and no one knows what I am talking about. I will be doing 300u of Follistim and 75U of menopure. Last cycle I was on 225u of Follistim and 75u of menopure so hopefully I will have better luck with this cycle.

We are getting a lot of wonderful ladies on this board. Can't wait till we all get in action and start having the real fun.

cocosmomma, gina1234, babyhope1, sol1009, karenvancouverisland - How are all you doing? We haven't heard from you in a whiile.

[NY4thtry]

guven that my re is against it i am going to listen believe me i am very torn.

Yes i am on an much different protocol this time.. much higher doses follistim no menopure.. lupron and ganarelix before stimming have been on BCPs for a month.

the IV stays in until wednesay.. i am so sick of it .. and the other night i ended up with a severe allergi reactio to the antibiotic.. luckily bendryl soved it and the Dr changed the drug and I seem ok now..

what we go through

[Kas101]

to have fun i knew already that i had one bad tube - it was a hydrosalpingus meaning it was filled with fluid and so wouldnt allow eggs to travel down, but on all ultra sounds the other tube was not visible. Thats a good thing if you cant see it then its not filled or abnormal so the presumption was that the other side was great and although it may take longer to get PG as only working on 'half power' i was ovulating with no other problems and should be able to concieve. Well obviously that didnt happen (as here i am) and it was thought that sometimes a hydro tube may be preventing pregnancy by allowing fluid into the uterus, so i decided to have the offending tube removed to increase my chances.

Unfortnately during my surgery - laparoscopy and hysteroscopy (looks inside and checks out the uterus) they did the salpingectomy (fancy name for taking out the tube) and happened to look at the other one while they were there. Well they found it to be the same, and it was tucked behind a part of my bowel so it had been there filled with fluid the whole time but hiding from the ultrasounds....

Needless to say i was devastated - i went into surgery thinking yay i will get rid of this damn tube and i will be PG really soon, and came out of it tubeless with the RE saying only way now to ever get PG was IVF

I know that tube was less than useless but i did feel (as still do i guess) robbed of my necessary equipment to get PG so there will never be a surprise miracle pregnancy, i feel like damaged goods and 'broken' inside because of this, and i think thats why my PMA was so low first time around. I wont make the same mistake this time - i feel i have gone a long way to healing 'mentally' but the day i know i will be totally recovered will be the day i hold my baby in my arms ......

[karenvancouverisland]

hi everyone! wow- i'm having a hard time keeping up with posts these days..and i love to give personals to everyone...so i think i just end up avoiding a response when i don't have the time to focus...ANYWAYS..

i really relate to the DHEA dilemma..i'm staying on it against my RE"s advice. i spoke to 2 other RE (toronto and NYC) and they both use it regularly for DOR (diminished ovarian reserve/ POA- premature ovarian aging)..and that's me. so i'm not sure if i'm helping my future or wrecking it.

i'm terrified of my next cycle! i'm terrified of what i'll do if it doesn't work. i'm terried of adopting, and i'm terrified of not be willing to adopt. YIKES!!

NY4th try- sorry to hear of your struggles with IV's and DHEA decision..
chris- i relate to hating the OB's office- all those pregnant people make me sad...and often angry.
mrs. cutter- i also have to pay for treatment..some med coverage but that is running out..it's sooo hard. sometimes i think of what we could have done with the $ we've spent so far to have no baby..

hellos to kas, coco, gina, babyhope, sol, foreverlove, and wonderce also!

i'm cycling late october..some days i'm very hopeful, others not, and others i jusst block it all out.. wish everyone a wonderful weekend. karen

[to_have_fun08]

Karen - It was nice to hear from you. I guess this to everyone and not just to you. I have been on these boards for awhile and sometimes I just want to post something and not worry about personals to each and everyone. I know I don't speak for everyone on this board but in my opinoin it is not neccessary to do personals all the time so I just hope you don't feel like you have to every time you post. I really find it hard to keep up with everyone and sometimes I just feel like putting a tad bit here and there but don't feel like addressing everyone. I do want to keep up with all you great gals but sometimes it is hard to figure out what is happinging especially when you take time off from the board. Once everyone starts stimming and going through their cycle it will be really hard to keep up. So if you just want to lurk and just post every once in awhile that is fine with me. I just don' t want everyone to feel like they have to address everyone and do personal when they post. I hope I am not offending anyone, I just want to make it easier for everyone to express themselves with questions, vents, etc withougt having to spend a lot of time trying to find out what everyone is doing and where they are at before you can post your question or vent on whatever you are going through. I just have seen a couple of boards where women won't post just becuase they are not caught up with everyone and I don't think that is a prerequisite for being on this board. IVF is a hard and very emotional process with all of this I it is very hard to keep your own life on track and try and keep track with everyone else. For me I am just and IVF board junkie. It seems that I am always on this site so it is easier for me to keep up.


Sorry about the long post, I think I have had way too many beers tonight and really shouldn't be posting because I am re-typing everying because my fingers are not working. I guess that is the good part about not being in a cycle. You can drink all the beer ya want.

Chris

[karenvancouverisland]

hi chris and everyone else- chris, thanks for that ...it was nice to hear your post, and the part about the beers made me laugh..good for you! drunken-posting- i may have to try that

yea, i get caught up in worrying that i'm selfish by not keeping track of people better, but i struggle with larger threads...i want personal connections with people, but i work fulltime, am trying to have a life outside of IF...and i want my participation in these threads to feel wonderful, connected and supportive (as opposed to feeling like work)- YIKES, i hope i'm not saying anything that will piss anyone off.

this is just a thought- i wonder if we can create one of those cycle updates for those on here like you did for the other thread chris- i can help with it too (not sure how to get it started?), and we could each add brief personal info to it also (or i'm not sure if this just duplicates signatures?) - i dunno- maybe i'm talking out of my ass right now..but it's a thought towards us being more personally connected and updated with each other, minus some time.

anyways, its a beautiful sunny sunday morning where i'm at, and i've got a lovely day of fun errands booked and i'm off to have a good day and hope everyone else is too. much love, karen

[to_have_fun08]

Karen - I agree it is so much easier when we know what all the ladies have been through. Rather this is their 1st IVF or 4th cycle(Me and NY4thtry) it is nice to know so we can keep track. I also like to know the reasons why we are all doing IVF, it makes it so much easier and makes it easier to post. I can do a calender just like I did on the Aug/Sep thread. I was actually planning on doing that but was going to wait a little longer. I might try and do the schedule while I am at work tomorrow. Pass by the time a little. If everyone would put on their signature a little history about themselves that would also be good. I don't know if we could do this with the schedule becuase it might get a little busy after awhile and it would take a lot of time to update. I guess maybe we could do 2 outlines of the board. One will have everyones schedule if they are stimming, 2ww etc and another one that says a brief synopsis of everyones past. When someone joins the board they just add their personal information. Haven't seen it done before but that doesn't mean we can't do it.

I don't think it is being selfish by not keeping track. Everyone has another life besides IVF. I am on the computer all day at work. Even though I am not supposed to surf the net I do it anyway so that is why I am on here all the time. We don't want to make it seem like "work" to keep track of everyone and post personals. Just when you pop in say what you want. If you have a few minutes , do personals if you are short of time don't. As far as I know there is no etiquette to how much you have to post. Hopefully, I am not offending anyone.

Chris

[NY4thtry]

Sadly guys i started posting on 4th try this will be my 5th.. Ugh old lady of the bunch

[to_have_fun08]

UUUGGHHH so sorry you have been through so much 4thtry. I can't even say that it is an official 4th cycle for me. 2 were canceled and I have only been to Er and Et once. It all just sucks that we can't get PG even with the best of medical help. This will be the time for all of us. We will be PG by x-mas.

Chris

[Melo_P]

Hi All

I just wondered if it might be okay if I joined this thread??

I just started my second cycle of IVF and am on BCP now - and expect to start taking the Bueserlalin (follostin equivalent I guess) on Monday.

I did just want to check okay whether people minded me joining because I did already have one successful IVF and now have a 2 yr old DD??

I guess I just don't want to make anyone feel unnecessarily stressed or frustrated that I joined the thread. Maybe this is a little over sensitive - but I know that by the end of the fifth year of trying the first time around - I did kind of get p*ssed at people who had already had a baby - being on the threads. (Ooops. Maybe shouldn't confess to that!) Then again – I had reached a state of near psychosis by that point and couldn't talk to over 90% of the population at large (basically anyone who might have remotely had anything to do with anyone who was ever pregnant etc etc).


Also I DO share the "stuffed plumbing" affliction. (Looks like there are some common themes emerging!) I could really relate to your feeling of being broken KAS101 - I felt the same when found out my tubes were bung! It was kind of a relief to find out what was wrong after years of trying - but gutting to know a (fairly essential) bit of me didn't work.

But as my re pointed out (probably on the point of trying to usher me out of his office during one of my tres emotional "this is neeevvvver going to work" episodes) - those of us with blocked tubes in theory have a good prognosis for IVF! yay.

Anyway if you guys are okay with it - I would love the company and to get to know some of you on the thread. Let me know.

Heres to lots of babies in christmas stockings this year then.

M



Best

M

[to_have_fun08]

Melo_P - Welcome to the board. Personally I have no problem if you have 1 child or 5 children. IVF is still a stressful situation regardless and I welcome anyone that is going through this process. You can be a cheerleader for some of us that have never conceived seeing that you conceived your DD through IVF. I think you will be our first starting stims. YEY!!!! Wishing you the best of luck.


Chris

[foreverlove]

Hi Ladies - heres hoping for a fast, easy, relaxing week!!!

KAS that is exactly what happened to me with my tubes. The fluid was in my one tube so they removed that tube and tried to fix the other. This July I had another HSG to check on the remaining tube to see if it was blocked or filled with fluid and it wasn't so we were told to go ahead with the IVF as two years trying with one tube just wasn't working either I can relate about how you felt after having the surgery. The worst for me was when I was recovering from surgery and was down one of my best friends (who knew what I was going thru) came over and told me she was pregnant. I hate to say this but I had a hard time being happy for her. Then all she did was complain about how hard it was, blah blah blah - I just wanted to strangle her, but I put on one of my fake smiles and just listened.

I think that is great that you ladies are talking about putting together a chart, I dont know about when you stim or whatnot, all I know is that we are shooting for ER/ET the week of Dec 1 - Dec 6.

[wonderce]

To have fun 08, hi, thanks for the info on the pineapple, although I don't know about eating pineapple core. I was thinking it would be pineapple slices. Maybe I'll try the brazil nuts instead!

I hope this will be my first IVF cycle with transfer. I didn't respond as well as they wanted last time with the meds, so we tried yet another IUI. They're supposed to adjust my meds this time so I respond better. I see that you're on IVF 2 this Oct/Nov. That's very exciting! I just started the Lupron yesterday and will start the stim meds (Follistim and low dose HCG) around 10/10. They're hoping for a transfer towards the end of the month. As you know, they can't really give a definite date until closer to that time.

karenvancouverisland, I can totally relate to being scared, what to do if it doesn't work, adoption, etc. It's hard to know when to take the next step. I am worried that my DH and I are digging ourselves deeper and deeper into debt, but keep hoping this will be our one chance that works. It's so hard not to have this on your mind all the time. Sometimes I feel I obsess about it but have tried not to let it stress me so much that it affects my infertility even moreso. Hope you enjoyed your beautiful Sunday morning.


Melo P, It's motivating for me personally to hear that you had success with IVF #1 and have your DD. I love your thought of babies in Christmas stockings this year. That is all I want!

Looking forward to keeping up with you all through this board.

[to_have_fun08]

Wonderance - I was in the same boat as you on my first attempt with IVF. I had a dominant follicle and didn't respond like they wanted me too so that cycle was converted into and IUI. I was really depressed about it but I had more hope with that IUI then I did the rest because I knew I had 3 really good follies. Of course a BFN. Then I was let down again on the next go around because they couldn't suppress me. The long long journey of infertility. Good luck on stims.

As for a chart I will try and start one later. I will have to look through previous post to find out where everyone is at. More to come.


Chris