Jan/Feb 2010--Cycle Group

[moorebaby]

hi ladies! i have been reading all of the posts & following so many of you. i'm hoping to start my 2nd ivf cycle in january. i did my 1st cycle in september & unfortunately it was unsuccessful. here's my story:
i started my stim meds on september 1st. i did excellent. they retrieved 25 eggs, 20 were mature. unfortunately only 4 fertilized, which was low. usually, i was told, they like to see at least 50% of the eggs fertilize. in my case it was only 20%. the low fertilization numbers were due to my husband's sperm issues. he was born with one undescended testicle. it wasn't corrected until he was about 7 years old. this caused him to have low sperm count, morphology, & motility. so anyhow, i ended up having a 3dt with 2 great embies. 1 was a perfect 8-cell embie & the other was an 8-cell embie with slight dis-fragmentation. the other 2 ended up not making to the freezing process. i ended up getting a bfp...i cried tears of joy & happiness....i will NEVER forget that day. after that it went downhill. my beta went up by 70% & then by only 40%. then the concerns of it being ectopic started. i was a mess. it ended up being a miscarriage...i guess the best scenario out of the situation & all the possible ways it could've played out. i ended up bleeding the week of october 11th. it was extremely emotional...what is it me? did i do anything? did i not do something? then the phone call came from my re's office about what my re & the team of the other re's thought about my case. i couldn't believe my ears...."we recommend that the next time you do your ivf cycle you should combine your husband's sperm with donor sperm." NO!!! don't get me wrong...i have NOTHING against donor sperm & eggs & surrogates & adoption or anything of that sort...i think those people are saints. but for us it's not something we could do. but that wasn't even the reason i was so upset. how can they just give up on me & my dh???!!! we've only tried once & they're already talking about donor sperm. i don't know...it could be protocol for my clinic. but i do know ivf takes a few tries before it works, if you look at statistics. so they also referred my dh to a specialist urologist who specialized in male infertility. i have high hopes & beliefs that we will be successful. my dh has an appointment with the urologist dec. 1st & we also have a follow-up/consultation appointment with our re on dec. 9th to discuss our next step. i started my period last saturday & had for about 5 days...a little longer & heavier than normal, but that's probably my body getting back to normal after the miscarriage. the ivf nurse told me she's going to go ahead & order my meds so i can start in january. i will be taking a smaller dose of follistim this time since i almost overstimulated my ovaries & had a super high estrogen level. i was with the ladies in the september/october forum. i would absolutely love to join this one. everyone is so supportive & a wealth of information. good luck to everyone!!!

[J&C]

Whew - look at this thread taking off!!! I'm so glad to have everyone to talk to during the holidays.

rlk - to answer your earlier question, we're intentionally waiting until after the holidays just to take a break and relax these next 2 months. It will be interesting to see when AF arrives in January/February (I have PCOS, so it's always sporadic). We're meeting with RE on Monday to see what he suggests. We have 4 frosties. I'm hoping to transfer 3 or 4. We transferred 2 fresh embies last cycle with a BFN, so we're hoping to put in more this time, especially for a FET. With our first IVF cycle and a BFP, we transferred 3 fresh embies and have a beautiful DD.

rayofsunshine - HELLO!!!!! So glad to see you again. I agree - it's got to be our time this time.

Welcome to everyone!!!

[rlk1]

Penny2: When I wrote that line about Daddy gave me an injection in the bum....I meant like a PIO or estrogen shot....not something naughty!

moorebaby: Glad you're joining us, but so sorry to hear about all that you've been through. I think you're right in not jumping so soon to donor sperm, especially since you did get pregnant from that cycle. Looking forward to hear what they have to say at your appointments on the 1st and the 9th!

[J&C]

moorebaby - I think we were posting at the same time. So glad to see you here again too.

[bei]

hi everyone hope all of u doing good ,

U know what i cant stop myself to comeback here agin and again I just wanna say hi to my old friends
moorebaby : I m glad u r not giving up and glad to know that u joinning us , this is are time girl we will achive are dreams this time for sure.

j & c : hi agin glad to see u hear welcome to the board , remember me we were on the seo / oct cycle

[gi]

Evening ladies,

Moorebaby you are right dont give up on dhs sperm yet its Way too soon!!! Ye sound like us, j has very low sperm count about 200,000 and our fertilization rate is only 20% as well and we also had 2 mc but we are not going down sperm donor route just yet just as last resort. Sorry to hear of your m/c but we have got to remember we Can get pregnant and Will this is gonna be a lucky site xxx

Penny2 that journal sounds soooo sweet, unfortunatlely i am an awful writer and no imagination!!

bei glad to hear you and dh are back on track what makes this waiting game bearable is having a plan and dates to keep us going.

J&C wow you are allowed to transfer over 2 - here in Ireland the max is 2, i did fet last time and it was so much easier!

Arabsrcool yeah i dont think i could donate my embies either (though i dont have that prob. i dont get too many!) but its great you have some many as we never know what will happen this ivf business is sooo unpredictible!

Right gonna go and watch X Factor with large glass of wine (or maybe 2!) sorry for those i have missed but my computer is sooo slow (we live in the country) and it takes too long for me to go back and look at everones names...... i should have wrote some notes down......wait till it gets busy here i will brutal

gi xxx

[lou71]

Hi ladies,

I thought I'd jump over here since there's a new thread for Jan/Feb. I had my first IVF in late Oct. ER 10/27, ET 10/30, Beta 11/10 = BFN. I was so hopeful because we had two perfect 8 cell embies going in. I had one left over and it did make it to freeze. I purchased a 3 fresh cycles shared risk program and I have to use any frozens before going to a new fresh cycle. So in effect, I can get up to 6 chances with what I paid. If in the end, they are all BFN, we get 80% of our money back. (To take to another clinic and try again!). I thought my FET would fall in mid-december, but my clinic closes for procedures during the last two weeks in December, so I am scheduled for my FET 1/6/2010.
Currently on BCP's and starting Lupron 11/25. Baseline appt is 12/4. Vegas trip is 12/6-12/12. Can I drink in Vegas?


Moorebaby Did you have a 20% fert rate with ICSI? If not, then can you try that to increase your fert percentage instead of using donor sperm? My DH has low motility and poor morphology, but they picked out the best sperm and we had 4/5 fertilize. One didn't make it, two were transferred at day 3 (BFN), and the other one is a frozen blast and will be transferred in January. ICSI is supposed to have an 80% fertilization rate.
Good luck!

[gi]

hi girls back again!!

lou71 sorry about your bfn but you do have a frozen baby....could be the one!!!! Dont despair you can do it.
i dont know why but i felt like logging in and chatting, j is away in Scotland on a stag and i am on my own for the 1st time since the mc and i feel very sad, i cant stop crying, i even took out my scan pictures of my last baby i am just so sad. I really hope our next baby will stay with us this is so hard but yet i cant wait to go again ( i am prob a weirdo!!) oh so sorry for bringing the site down i promise i am not normally like this ( i am blaming the wine!!!!) i am going to find my PMA!!!! its out there somewhere.

gi sorry to rant and rave xxx

[rlk1]

Oh, gi. My heart is breaking for you. I'm so sorry you are going through this alone while j is away. I hope you find some comfort in knowing we (your IVF girls!) are always here for you. You've been through a lot, so you shouldn't feel bad for feeling sad. This thread is here for us to tell each other the good, bad, and ugly. We don't have to (and won't!) always be chipper.

lou71: Welcome! I think you can drink in Vegas since it's before your FET! I've never been to Vegas and am dying to go. You'll have to tell me all about it so I can live vicariously though you!

J&C: At least you get your period! I also have PCOS and I never get a period unless I'm on BCPs. I suppose there are good things and bad things about that!

Okay, off to bed. Yes, it's only 9:45pm on a Saturday night. My DH and I are SOOOOO lame!!

[moorebaby]

thank you everyone for the kind & supportive words & the warm welcome.

lou71- i feel stupid saying this, but we aren't even sure if icsi was done. we signed consent papers for icsi & assisted hatching, but now that my dh & i think about it, we aren't sure if that definitely means that they did that or they just had permission in case they decided to. that will be 1 of our questions when we go in for our follow-up/consultation appointment on december 9th.

[Penny2]

rlk- I understood what you meant when you wrote what you did! I am not the creative either but I can sure ramble on. I look back sometimes to read what I wrote and think....that doesnt even make sense! haha but it is just another way to get what we are going through out.

gi- I hope you are feeling better today. When does your DH come back? I hope soon. Yesterday I was having a sad day (nothing compared to you) but i just felt sad. My dh wants to get another puppy. I love the idea but I just dont think now is the time. It would be avail to take home the week before Christmas. That means we will only have it for a month when I hopefully start my next cycle. I told him last night I dont need that added stress. And I am afraid if we get it and realize it is a lot of stress he will want to put IVF off another month and I dont think I can do that. I cried myself to sleep last night and he couldnt understand what was wrong with me. It was just one of those days. Then this morning I wash my hair with body wash...ha...that didnt work out too well.
Anyway...I hope you are feeling better!

lou- Glad you could join us. I am surprised at how active this board is already...it is great!

arabscrool-- You are so right, we do forget how they are affected esp in my case where his sperm is the reason we are there. He has 0 normal sperm and about 2 million of them. I try not to show too much emotion towards having to do IVF, I really am "fine" with it, but when I do have my emotional breakdowns like yesterday I feel like I cant say too much about it being that we cant just have a baby whenever, I dont want to upset him anymore. I am def starting to feel the stress more this time around b/c I want that baby so bad!

Sorry if I missed anyone, I know I did. I am not the best at personals but keep trying!

Sorry for the long post ladies but thanks for "listening"

[Arabsrcool]

Hi girls! this thread is really taking off. I will have to start taking notes to keep up!

Can any of you girls tell me what expect for a FET cycle? I called and my consult is scheduled for 1/5/10.

Moorebaby,

welcome!. I would make sure they do ICSI on your next procedure. alot of sperm issues can be taken care of with ICSI. My dh had low #'s, they were bad swimmers, and morphology was so/so. My guess would be the clinic is worried about their stats, and want to up their numbers. One cycle is not enough to add donor sperm, especially since you got pg the first cycle.

gi,

hope j gets back soon. I am really sorry you had such a bad day. Its great to vent, cry or whatever here. No one expects everyone to be upbeat all the time.

Ronda

[gi]

Flying visit as very short staffed here in work!

Just to say thanks girls for your support i am feeling soooo much better now, j is back (not married yet though together 13 yrs!) it was great to shed a tear when he wasnt here as i hate upsetting him too much. Ah well its great to feel normal again (ha ha maybe i shoulnt have drunk a bottle of wine on sat night either!!!)

Penny2 can i have your little puppy instead we have 2 doggies and i would love another but i agree with you i wouldnt have the patience to train a little puppy right now, my mam has a west hyland puppy and she is a little mad yoke and hearing mam give out about constantly cleaning up poo and wee is enough to put me off!!! At least i am not the only one shedding tears over the wkend. Hope you are feeling better xxx

sorry to all i have missed may go supposed to be nursing

gixxx

[lou71]

Moorebaby-- Hmm... Our RE told us immediately that they did do ICSI and AH. If it wasn't done for you, I think it would be something your RE would be recommending going forward. Good luck on 12/9!

Thanks for the welcome everyone. I am on the Nov/Dec board and got my BFN 11/10, so I'm following those ladies along as well but feel I may need the PMA from you guys going through at the same time.

[J&C]

Hey Everyone -

We had our appointment with RE today to discuss FET. This is our first FET, so I'm excited that the schedule sounds pretty flexible. I was worried that we'd have to wait for AF to start, but it sounds like they can make that occur with prometrium anyway. I was worried that we'd have to wait until February/March. SOOOOOOooooooo I'm hoping that we'll actually get to do FET in January. Whew-hew!!! We have 4 totsicles. We're going to thaw all four and pray that all 4 make it. My body doesn't seem to do anything normal (like transfer 1 and get 1 pregnancy), so we're praying that at least 1 sticks.

Arabsrcool - We just went over the FET process today with RE. Basically, your period starts, they do u/s and b/w for a baseline. You then take a form of estrogen for 2-4 weeks, then 1 week of progesterone and do the transfer. Seems super easy compared to the entire IVF process.

How is everyone doing with the holidays? It use to be really rough on me before we had our DD. (((hugs))) for anyone who needs one.