Jan/Feb 2010--Cycle Group

[rlk1]

Hi everyone!

Okay, drumroll please.....I went to Dunkin Donuts again this morning and....I didn't yell at ANYONE!

Supergenius: 4 snowbabies is great! Are they D3 or D5? A few of us on this thread will be having FETs right around you!

Katie99: Again, you're a schedule QUEEN! The list looks great! Thanks, also, for your advice on laying OFF the bagels!
Any luck on persuading DH to hang those lights?

msmac: Welcome! We're always here if you want/need to chat if the whole IVF thing gets hard while your DH is away.

jenice: Kiss a horse's ass, huh? I suppose we'd all do some crazy things to get that BFP!

gi: how did the biopsy go?

miyaya: It must be comforting to know that the RE's have a new plan for you. What dose of HCG did they have you on before?

Penny2: 5 minutes away from your new RE is awesome!! My DH and I did the shared risk program too. Although we had to pay more upfront, I felt less pressure if it didn't work out.

lou71: Good luck on Monday---sending you LOW estrogen vibes!

Arabsrcool: Good to hear from you!! Yes, can you believe my behavior?!? Imagine what I'll do to those poor Dunkin Donut employees when I start the hormone injections!!

AFM, nothing new to report. I got the H1N1 vaccine yesterday, and it hurt like a MOTHER. I was surprised since, as IVF girls, we're no strangers to shots! Go figure!

To all that I've missed, I hope all is going well!

Talk to you later!

[Rosario]

Hope all is well around here =) Well sonohysterogram is tomorrow at 12:15pm. I am soo scared. It was very painful last time I got it done. Counting down until Jan 15 when I have my next prolactin test. If all is well I get the ok to have FET in Feb.

[Rosario]

BTW I have 2 boxes of Gonal-F ex 10.2011 and maybe 6 boxes of Cetrotide ex 05.2011. I would like to donate my meds to my fellow cycle buddies who are in serious need. I am only asking you to pay shipping cost. I know how hard it can be to be a self pay patient as I myself was during my first IVF. Please PM.

[baby hopes]

Hello to all my IVF sisters,
I just read up on everyone and would love to join this group. I am undergoing my 2nd round of IVF. First round resulted in a BFN and left me so depressed and angry. I felt my clinic just put me in a basic protocol (could not find a cause for our infertility). I felt nothing was personalized for me. Now going into my 2nd and getting so much info from the NOV/DEC and this group I feel like my head is not stuck in the sand anymore. I was originally to have my 2nd go around this month but was canceled because of clinic closure. My protocol has completely changed. I am in the process of checking my LH surge which should happen tomorrow then 10 days from that I am on a patch called Climara along with taking Ganirelix for 3 days then when I get AF I start on Gonal F and Menopur for @ least 7 days then on to Ganirelix again and estradiol. We are already going to get ICIS and assisted hatching ( DH sperm issues). Has anyone heard of this protocol? I am relieved to get the ball rolling and to have an outlet like this...... Sending BFP wishes too us all

[dodo928]

Hope all is well around here =) Well sonohysterogram is tomorrow at 12:15pm. I soo scared. It was very painful last time I got it done. Counting down until Jan 15 when I have my next prolactin test. If all is well I get the ok to have FET in Feb.

Rosario: I had one sono hysterogram 6 months ago. Believe me, I know how painful it is. The nurse gave me antibiotics for 3 days. They told me the maximum dose of Tylenol to take. I forgot how much. I know the more I's fear of, the more pain I have because I couldn't breathe. I told myself to diversify the attention. I hummed songs that I like in the whole procedure. Or, what about bring your mp3 player with you. For me, it helps! I hope it helps you tomorrow!

[dodo928]

Lou -I've always got my fingers crossed for you! as long as the cyst doesnt respond to the meds and enlarge you should be good to go. Thank God it isnt a fresh cycle w/ stims. Sending you NO cancellation vibes - from the cancellation queen myself

Thanks Katie! I sure hope you're right. Does your clinic charge you extra for cancellations? Mine charges an extra $500 cancellation fee to cover their scheduling, which makes no sense to me. I've already had to pay it once. It sucks bigtime.

Hi ladies, thanks for bringing this up! We're thinking to cancel the cycle next time if the donor's AFC is low. We didn't know there's such thing of 'cancellation fee'. I guess i need to ask the clinic next time. Thank you!

[dodo928]

Hello to all my IVF sisters,
I just read up on everyone and would love to join this group. I am undergoing my 2nd round of IVF. First round resulted in a BFN and left me so depressed and angry. I felt my clinic just put me in a basic protocol (could not find a cause for our infertility). I felt nothing was personalized for me. Now going into my 2nd and getting so much info from the NOV/DEC and this group I feel like my head is not stuck in the sand anymore. I was originally to have my 2nd go around this month but was canceled because of clinic closure. My protocol has completely changed. I am in the process of checking my LH surge which should happen tomorrow then 10 days from that I am on a patch called Climara along with taking Ganirelix for 3 days then when I get AF I start on Gonal F and Menopur for @ least 7 days then on to Ganirelix again and estradiol. We are already going to get ICIS and assisted hatching ( DH sperm issues). Has anyone heard of this protocol? I am relieved to get the ball rolling and to have an outlet like this...... Sending BFP wishes too us all

baby hopes: welcome to the thread! Sorry for the loss! I'm glad you vented out! I hope you understand doing the cycle is a huge huge thing and there's no guarantee but by chance only. The more you try, the higher the possibility you'll get a BFP. It's totally not up to you!

My last DE IVF was using both ICSI and Assisted Hatching and I got a BFN. I know that AH is needed if the egg quality or sperm quality not good and resulted the embies slow to grow or cannot make to blast or freeze. I know that AH is only good if the lab is very skillful and experience on AH. In my clinic, I know that they only do AH if patients request to transfer 1 embryo instead of 2 or 3 embryos which is very rare case. I think that's the reason why I had an BFN. In addition, AH has a higher rate of creating identical twin.

My first clinic was using a standard protocol too. They even had the RN ran the whole cycle for me instead of RE himself. I's very disappointed and moved to the 2nd one. Have you tried to go to another clinic for second opinion? [/b]

[Supergenius]

rlk1 - glad to hear you had a better DD experience. you don't want to be known as "that woman." btw, where in VA are you?

our snowbabies are actually D6 blasts; i had a day 6 transfer, since all the leader embies were only pre-blast on day 5. they will have to keep cold though - we will probably be doing a fresh cycle next. Long story short: we misinterpreted our insurance coverage, so a fresh cycle for this attempt makes more sense.

Rosario - best of luck with your Sonohysterogram. hope it goes better than your last time.

katie99 - once again, great job with the status chart!

lou71 - glad to hear you had a great time in Vegas. crossing my fingers & toes for your 12/21 evaluation.

dodo928 - hope you find something fun to do for New Years!

baby hopes - i totally get what you mean about feeling like your head isn't stuck in the sand anymore. as helpful as my clinic is, i feel like these boards really help with the overall IVF experience. we had the assisted hatching done, mainly due to my age (apparently it can be harder for embies to hatch out of older eggs).

jenice - glad to see you on this board.

[katie99]

Hi girls -

How are you all doing? I cant believe that I havent even gotten AF yet from my cancelled cyle and already, I'm checking the calendar - UGH! Let the waiting game begin! Now that I've officially been cancelled more times than i've actually made it to ER - I have a feeling that I'm going to be a nervous wreck when I get there in Feb. I have trusted my RE this past year as the word of God (almost) but this last time I really felt like I was getting lost in the shuffle. Its his own practice, so its him and 2 nurses
and 15 - 18 patients each month. Its just bothering me that I had to keep reminding him of my case particulars. I guess since this is the last try in our package, we better just hang on and hope for the best.

Lou -No, thank God, there are no cancellation fees - and more important they dont count towards your package either! Thats a first on me actually. It seems wrong to do that since I believe most cancellations are caused by a protocol that isnt working. How was Vegas?

rlk1 -Aww hon, dont feel too bad about "the bagel incident" at some point the stress of this gets to us all. Last time, I came so close to losing it at the UPS guy for it being 8pm delivering my meds, but managed to stop myself since he still had my meds in his hands.... plus the poor guy looked like he was having a worse day than me! How are you feeling after your H1N1 vacc? Nah, I lost my chance to have DH put up outside lights - theres snow & ice everywhere. Plus we have one of those neighbors up the road that puts up enough lights for everyone! You know the kind that makes traffic jams? Yeah - lots of fun


Rosario -Good luck tomorrow! I hope that all is a go for Feb. This has been a really long year for you also - hugs

Baby hopes -Welcome! - are you doing an EPP/ antagonist protocol?

Supergenius -I hope that this fresh cycle goes as well as it did last time! You'll end up with so many snowbabies! But I gotta admit to being a little envious of your ins Every time my DH has something to say about his union - I cant help myself to bring up why are we stuck with health ins without IVF coverage? I guess if one of the highers ups needeed ivf then it would change

hugs & prayers to all of us! - xoxo

[Arabsrcool]

ok I am freaking out here. One of the other girls in my office went to see fertility doc and her charges were not covered. So I called the insurance company and they said they do not have the 2010 coverage in the system yet, but infertility was not covered in 2009, so chances are it will not be covered in 2010. I am beside myself, I was led to believe that there was coverage, which is why my dh and I decided to go ahead with FET. Holy crap, what I am going to do. I have already mentally commited myself to this, started bcp's, had my infectious disease testing, and was getting excited for January. Now, I am not sure how we would ever afford it without insurance coverage. So unless I can figure out a way, I will have some meds to donate. I am so upset, I could just go hide in a corner and bawl.

To top it all off, my flaky Sister-in-law got into it today, and I basically told her off, Yeah, I know, a week before Xmas.

Ronda

[Rosario]

I can offically say I love sonohysterograms LMAO. The NP who did it was awesome. I didn't feel anything at all. I guess i shouldn't go by how my 1st experience was. Everything looked great. All i need is my PRL to go down and then I will be set to go.

[to_have_fun08]

Hi Girls --

Kate - I was so sorry to see that your cycle was canceled. If I were in your shoes I would have done the same thing. What I have learned the most in this process is that we have to be and advocate for ourselves. It is fine for most people to do exactly what their RE's say because most get PG the first or second time. After being on the roller coaster for months/years we have to think for ourselves and not let the Re's bully us into doing what they want. Because in the end, all they want is the money. Glad to see you are gonna jump right back in. I forgot, how old are you? Have you heard of HGH for infertility. I guess it is the new and upcoming thing that is supposed to help older gals and poor responders to get more eggs and better quality eggs. My RE suggested it for me if I did IVF again. Looks like there have been some really promising studies. Didn't know if you knew anything about it. have heard it is pretty expensive.

Rosario - My cycle buddy. We have been through so much. Well you a lot more then me. Glad to see that your sonohyst went well. I had one of those a couple of years ago and it was no big deal for me.

So ya want to be cycle buddies again? Whats next for me is an IUI. I am gonna stim just like I would if doing an IVF cycle but instead of doing ER, I will do an IUI. Hubby's swimmers are good so we still have a shot. I have lots of Follistim leftover form previous cycle so I figured i might try and use the drugs up, plus my insurance should pay for IUI. I am not getting my hopes up for this IUI but it is something to do while I figure out what we are gonna do next. My sister is considering on being a donor but her hubby is kind of on the fence so waiting on their answer. If my sister says yes then we will do a donor cycle March/April. If she says no then will plan on doing an anonymous donor cycle in July. So those are my plans right now.

Good Luck to all!!!


Chris

[amanda1979]

I am starting my first IVF cycle in January. Its alittle scary and excited all at the same time. After 5 failed IUI, I am emotional and mentally drained, but still hopeful. Can anyone fill me on what all the abbrevations mean? I am new and somewhat lost on the abbrevations. Baby dust to everyone

Amanda

[rlk1]

Hey all--

Just a quick post...

Rosario: So glad that the sonohysterogram went well. YAY!! Now you're one step closer to your FET!

baby hopes: Welcome! Glad you're joining us!

Supergenius: True, true. No-one wants to be "that woman"!
I'm near Dulles airport--I see you're from Baltimore? We haven't been to Baltimore in a while, but I love the harbor area! So, when is your fresh cycle "scheduled"?

Katie99: I guess there are pluses and minuses with small and large clinics. I'm sure it's annoying that, with one doctor at your clinic, you have to constantly remind him of your case. I go to a clinic that has three billion gagillion patients a year and I feel like there's NO personal attention.

Arabsrcool: Oh my gosh, that is SOOOO frustrating!!! Who did you talk to that gave you bad info? Was it someone at the clinic or someone at the insurance company? If it was someone at the clinic, maybe you can ask to speak to their manager. This was not a small mistake (you based your life around this info), and maybe they can somehow compensate for the fact that they screwed up!!

to_have_fun08: when is your IUI scheduled? My DH and I thought about involving family in our IVF journey too. I wasn't sure if I could carry a pregnancy to term, so we were thinking of using my sister as a gestational carrier. It's a very difficult decision (so many things to weigh). Let us know what happens!

amanda1979: The abbreviations can get confusing! If you click on general forum, there's an "abbreviation definition" thread! Hope that helps!

[wishfulthinking]

hi everyone,

i've not been on here in such a long time. sorry i'm not great with the abbreviations yet!! i think i'll be starting my first cycle of ivf in early feb. i've just had all my blood results back, all ok except that i'm a carrier of cystic fybrosis. i'm going to be doing egg sharing so the clinic has just contacted the woman who will be having half my eggs. providing her husband doesn't carry the gene for cystic fybrosis then we will be given a start date. its all very daunting at the moment. not sure what to expect. i've read and read all about ivf but i still worry about whats going to happen. i'm highly emotional at the moment anyway. is this likely to get worse as treatment starts??? coz i pity those around me if it does!! any info will be gratefully received. cheers Em x