Summer cycle group

[hopeforbabies]

chili- See it looks there was nothing to worry about in regards to your age. Seems like you will have several good follies to harvest from. I'll do the grow follies grow dance for you and wait eagerly for your report tomorrow. I wish I could do the accupuncture too as I have heard it really helps out with the cycle. My insurance doesnt pay for any of it and I dont think I can afford to go three times a week and pay out of pocket. Do you or anyone else know if I go once a week and then right before ER and right after ET if it will help make a difference?

Karin- I'm praying that your beautiful follie has fertilized and is looking for a place to settle! Think warm, snugglie uterus thoughts.

Tiger- Good luck today with your IUI! My first one I layed there for like an hour because the nurse forgot to come back in and tell me I could leave. Remember to take it easy today and tomorrow and that I am doing a stick embie stick dance for you and Karin!

Franny- I would count myself lucky that they dont want to give you the "stir" until Friday! I swear it gets so uncomfortable towards the end of stims and I know they just push on your ovaries for fun. Ok so maybe not for fun but jeez they should know its not pleasant and to take it easy. I think you have a good plan this cycle to not ask too many questions. Google is a very dangerous place when we are hormonal and wanting these cycles to work so badly. I am guilty of surfing myself to tears after my failed cycle this last March. I just wanted an easy answer of why we failed and what I needed to do this cycle to make it work. To answer your question I will be starting my Lupron August 17th, my first SnS is the 27th and if everything looks good my stims start the 28th. I am tentatively scheduled for my ER sometime around Sept. 6-8 and will probably be doing another 3 day transfer.

miyaya- I so wanted to take my 2 year old nephew camping with us when we went in May but I'm glad we didnt. We ended up with tons of biting knats, a scorpion, a centipede, and ants roaming our camp site. Was your son just not enjoying himself or was it too hard to keep him out of the "wildlife"? Maybe next year will be better for you guys.

Lou- Is it just you and me playing for team BCP right now? I think we need to get someone to start a list of where everyone is in their cycle. I lose track too easily without one.

Justlikehannah & amanda- Welcome!

Ashley- Hope you are ok! Did I miss something?

Ok sorry I know I still missed some of you but my thoughts and prayers are with you.

[turtle0619]

teresa i go to what is called community acupuncture. i only pay $15 per visit and i can stay as long as i want. its fantastic!! i found a few close to your area. i'm not exactly sure where you are, but here is the info...it might be worth looking into!
#
Jade Spirit Community Acupuncture
Kim Blankenship, L.Ac.
3520 E. Indian School Rd, Suite A
Phoenix, Arizona, 85018
United States
602.957.3675
Email Contact Form
http://www.jadespirit.info

Community rooms with 5 chairs and 1 table. Sliding scale $20-40 (no proof of income required) with an initial paperwork/consultation fee of $10.

Hours:

Tues. - 1:00-6:00

Wed. - 11:00-4:00

Thurs. - 1:00-6:00

Fri. - 1:00-7:00

Sat. - 11:00-2:00


Room for Health
Ron Fishkind L.Ac.
18700 N. 107 Ave Suite 32
Sun City, Arizona, 85373
United States
623*972*2141
Email Contact Form
http://www.roomforhealth.com

5 Chairs and 1 table

Hours: 8:30 - 5:00 Monday through Friday

Sliding scale from $15 to $40

[lou71]

HI Girls!!!

Karin -- I've got everything crossed for your "Golden Egg". Remember, you only need one. And singleton pregnancies are much less likely to have complications. Best of luck to you!

Tiger -- Wow! 4 follies! So excited for you. I remember your disappointment from the Jan/Feb thread when you found out your husband didn't have sperm in his sample. Now look where you are! I'm so happy you have this hope again. I'm really pulling for you girl!

Franny -- hmmm... sounds like your clinic is "customizing" your monitoring since they know you're a slow stim. BUT... I'm sending you as much positive energy as I can and I hope when you do get your u/s it's the best news yet.

Chili -- Sounds like you are progressing nicely! That's great.

Teresa (and Chili)-- I don't know who else is on BCP's... maybe Tammy? Yes, a list would be nice. I would do it but I log on at work and I don't have a lot of time and our firewall blocks "blinkies". Ugh! There are three main studies on acupuncture and IVF. The most convincing and most cited is a 2002 German study. The bottom line is that acupuncure offers most benefit when done just before and immediately after embryo transfer. Last time I was sure to go the evening before and I stopped for a treatment on my way home from transfer. I did get pregnant. There's no real proof that acupuncture at other times is of benefit. BUT, if it makes you feel good to do it, then go for it! Check out this link. http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/archive ... 07ivf.html

AFM -- My clinic called yesterday and instead of using low dose HCG, they are putting me on Menopur this time. That's a new drug for me and I'm hoping it does something good. Anyone out there have experience on a cycle without Menopur compared to one with it? I'd be interested to hear if you had a better response. I'm so excited to stim and can't wait for the 24th. These are going to be the slowest two weeks ever!

Any "tech savy" girls out there want to start a list for this board to keep track of everyone? Franny?

[miyaya]

Hey Lou~ My first IVF we did without meopur and we only got 2 eggs....one was mature. ended BFN. Second cycle, we added menopur and BAM 21 eggs retrieved. 19 mature, 9 fert. I got BFP but ended in chemical. But adding meopur obviously changed a lot for me. Good luck.

[hopeforbabies]

Franny- Thank you so much for the acupuncture list! I printed out the information and plan to check the website of the one in Phoenix. The Sun City one is a little far to travel too. I can't wait to go home and share it with my DH. The RE we have been seeing has suggested accupuncture for both last cycle and this one but all the names he gave us were too expensive. Thank you so much again as I really wanted to try and do everything I could for a successful cycle!

Lou- Thank you for the accupuncture link that you provided. It seems as if their case study did show a significant improvement to BFP outcomes. Plus seeing that it benefited you helps to prove that it is something I really should be trying. As for the Menopur I wasn't on it last cycle but they are switching me to if for this cycle. I had a bad reaction to the Repronex that they were giving me. I did have around 20 eggs last time but they weren't great quality and I wonder if that's because my body didnt like the Repronex. As far as I was told Menopur and Repronex do basically the same thing so hopefully that will mean lots of eggs for both of us.

Thanks to both of you for the information!

[karin1]

Hi Ladies!

I just wanted to comment about acupuncture. I have been doing it for a few cycles now. My first 2 IVF cycles were cancelled because of poor response before acupuncture. I started doing acupuncture and finally got to ER with 3. After my BFN, I did a natural cycle IUI last month and had 5 follicles with no drugs....just acupuncture and herbs. So I do feel like it works. My RE even asked if I were sneaking drugs. Of course this cycle was cancelled due to poor response even though I have been continuing acupuncture all along. I think that the drugs confuse my body. I go every week depending on where I am in my cycle. My guy has 25 years experience and specializes in fertility. He has thousands of thank you notes and pics of babies on his bulletin boards in his office. If I remember correctly, I did go the morning before my ET. I've been so many times, it's hard to remember. Then I think you go 5 days after and 10 days after transfer. I know that you do for an IUI. I don't know if it helps, but I feel like it has helped me. To be honest....I don't really like it. I have a needle phobia already. It's expensive and my insurance doesn't pay for it. I do it because I want to do everything I can to increase my chances. I was wondering if you guys go to someone who specializes in infertility?

Franny- Wow! That's cheap for acupuncture. Mine is $85 a visit. Wishing I lived in NH now. I'm sure that your follies are sprouting out everywhere! It's going to be like Easter! So what if you're a slow stimmer....as long as you get there! Did you get headaches on Lupron too? I was on my 2nd IVF cycle with Lupron and had a killer migraine for 3 days. I thought I might die. I had lowered my caffeine intake just a bit and thought that was it. Maybe it was Lupron. You think?

Tiger- Will you be going for acupuncture 5 days after IUI? That's what my acupuncturist recommends and then 10 days after. I hope it went well for you!

Chili- Congrats on a positive ultrasound! Lots of growing follies! Awesome! Lovin' the 'one juicy follicle'! Maybe it's the ONE!

All of you keep talking about the extreme summer heat. I am in Southern California and it hasn't been hot here yet. The temp today is 70. This week has been so gloomy...no sun and a little rainy which isn't normal. Me and my dog, Jack, are getting a little lonely. My husband commutes to Silicon Valley every week for work. He leaves on Mon and comes home Wed or Thurs. I also have an 11 yr old. Her name is Hannah and she is my niece. I have had custody for 5 years. She is in Atlanta right now with my ex-husband for 3 weeks, so it's very quiet around here. When she's gone, I don't know what to do with myself. I catch myself going to 'crazytown' looking online for answers of my infertility. Reading your stories and talking with you ladies really helps. I appreciate all of you and your honesty about your journeys.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful week! I will try to catch up on those I missed later...promise.

[lou71]

miyaya --- Thanks for sharing your experience with and without Menopur. I don't know a lot about PCOS but have heard that quantity typically isn't a problem but quality can be an issue. So I'm surprised you only got 2 your first try. But 21 is great! I don't think I'll get anywhere near that many. My first cycle I had 6 eggs, 5 mature, 4 fert, and on day 3 only 3 were left. Two transferred and one frozen = BFN. Second fresh cycle had 7 eggs, only 4 mature, 3 fert, and all 3 transferred on day 3 = BFP but I miscarried at 12 weeks. Did you have any frozen's from that cycle where you had 9 fert?

Teresa -- I see you are PCOS as well. 20 is a great number, but I'm sorry you had a quality issue. Did your RE think it was due to the Repronex? Does he think Menopur will be better for you and why? I too understand that Repronex and Menopur are pretty much the same. Yes, yes... I hope we get many good quality eggs and embies! I'm really praying for anything more than 7 this time. If I get a BFN... it would be great to have a chance at a frozen cycle because it would be sooo much cheaper and no pricey stim meds involved.

[hopeforbabies]

Lou- Yes I am PCOS which could be what contributes to my poor egg quality. My DH also has high male factor which doesn't help much either. Last cycle I think we had something like 22 eggs, 15 mature and fertilized, 2 we transfered and the RE suggested we try to get the other 13 to day 5. All 13 died and although I had a positive beta it dropped on the second beta so basically a chemical or BFN whichever way you want to look at it. My RE didn't directly say that the Repronex could have caused the poor egg quality but I basically had an allergic reaction to it. I had baseball sized welts at the point of injection that were very painful. I kept telling the nurses but no one would look at them and they just kept telling me it was normal. Well at my last SnS (which was when I had one more dose of the Repronex to give myself) I finally demanded that the RE look at them. His words "oh well that's not good!" so I figure that if the Repronex was suppose to be maturing my eggs and I was allergic to it then it couldn't have been great for my poor little eggs. I will probably ask him directly about that on the 16th when I go to resign my consent forms.

Karin- See I'm in the same boat as you with the acupuncturists that my RE wanted me to see. It was $100 for the consultation and then $75 for each visit. He wanted me to come once a week during suppression, twice a week during stims, day of egg retrieval, day of transfer, and then twice a week after transfer until the beta. No way I was going to afford that. On a side note you lucky duck! I live in Central AZ and its like 108 today! What I would give to be in the 70's or 80's right now.

[rebeccajm]

I feel like we are finally on our way and getting started. AF started Tuesday and I called RE. I will start bcp on Saturday then meet with RE to sign paperwork and learn about injections, etc. on the 21st. It looks as though I will have this first cycle done before school starts at the end of August and I am praying for good results. It's finally beginning to feel more real to me. Since this is our first IVF I have found this site to be very informative. At times I am still trying to figure out what everything means, but I think I can make sense of most of it.

I can't believe how excited I was to tell my husband that we could finally start the bcp...I never thought I would say that as we were trying to conceive a child.

Saturday we are also leaving for a vacation before everything begins. We will spend a week in a cabin by the lake. I can't wait to have a chance to relax with my husband. I often feel guilty during the summer since I don't work during the summer and he works such long hours. I decided this summer I needed more to keep me busy (not just thinking about IVF) so I have been watching my niece and nephews two days a week (ages 13, 2, and 9 months)...wow they keep me busy! I've also gone back to school to get my ESL certification. All of this has definitely helped to keep my mind off everything else.

Thanks for listening...I feel like I can't talk about all that is going on with anyone else right now. I'm just tired of hearing "give it time and it will happen" or "just relax" or "God will give you what you need."

I'm sure as I start to learn about all of the medications that I will have lots of questions. Good luck to all and I look forward to getting to know you through this board and hope that I will be able to offer the same support that I have already felt from many of you.

Rebecca

[amanda1979]

hello ladies

I had my 1st us & blood work this morning since starting the meds Saturday. I had 4 Follicles today 2 on the left and 2 on the right. I am quite disappointed I thought there would be more. The nurse said it was still early and not to be disappointed just yet. We are suppose to do egg retrieval next week and we are sitting at 4 and they aren't even mature yet. This sucks!!! We had 11 follies last time on the 1st us and they retrieved 7 with only 1 making it to transfer, so this was quite a depressing day. Maybe they will start growing before next week, but it is hard to be positive. Thanks for reading.
Amanda

[hopeforbabies]

Rebecca- LOL isnt it great the things we get excited about on our IVF journey. My DH always rolls he's eyes when I get excited that my AF finally came and I can call the RE to proudly report it. I'm glad this process is starting to seem more real to you and that you will have it completed before school starts for you. I think it is a good thing that you are staying busy during the "waiting period". Dont forget to find sometime for you to relax and enjoy yourself before all the needle pokes and SnS start!

Amanda- I'm sorry that your SnS didnt go as well as you hoped but like the nurse said hopefully some more follies will "pop" up soon. Did they increase any of your meds to encourage more follies to grow? What do they have you taking right now? My first IVF they had to keep raising and lowering my doses because first I wasn't responding well enough then I was responding too much. Try not to worry and know that we are here to lean on. When is your next SnS?

[mcfarland2213]

Hi Everyone - my work has been really busy/I'm trying to find a new job...so I'm hoping something happens sometime soon so I won't be as stressed/frustrated with work. I started seeing a psychologist which has really helped...he's really nice and he's helping me deal with everything that's going on in my life.

I need to go get my thyroid tested again so they can make sure my levels aren't too high and I just got all my drugs delivered today...I start my Lupron shots on July 17th

I'm sorry I've been MIA for a bit...I hope everyone is doing well -

Ashley

[Lauren1171]

Lou - I am on BCP also. Stopping July 16, and hopefully starting shots on July 21. My 1st IVF I was on 600 Gonal F a night and I got 12 eggs. Transferred 2 and the others were not good. The 2nd cycle he decreased my Gonal F to 450 and mixed 150 menopur. I got 15 eggs, transferred 2 and froze 5. This cycle he is sticking to the same protocol.
I am planning to try accupuncture on transfer day. It's 150 for before and after transfer. I just found out my friends sister is 32 weeks pregnant with twins, and she was seeing my RE. She told me this was her 6th try and the only one she did accupuncture with, so who knows? I figure since most of my stuff is covered by insurance what's another $150 on my credit card that is never going to get paid off!

Franny - Sorry about you caffeine withdrawal! I don't drink coffee or soda, so I guess I am lucky.

Welcome to everyone who is new. I am glad and sad to see a lot of familiar people from previous cycles. Hopefully we will all be chatting on the other side soon.

[moorebaby]

ok, so i attempted at putting the list together. now i'm going to make it nice & pretty & add some images to it.
please look it over & tell me if i have you in the right spot & if there is anything you'd like for me to add.

WAITING TO START THE JOURNEY-hopeforbabies (Teresa)- September
-klinger13 (Amanda)

BCP
-Lauren1171 (Until 7.16) (Starting injections on 7.21)
-rebeccajm (As of Saturday, 7.10)
-lou71 (An antagonist protocol starting 7.24 with Follistim 450 units and Ganirelix. ER/ET should fall the week of August 2nd.)
-JustLikeHannah

INJECTABLES FOR IVF
-mcfarland2213 (Ashley)- Lupron as of 7.17

GROW FOLLIES GROW
-amanda1979
-turtle0619 (Franny)
-chilipepperrose46

IUI

ER/ET

PUPO
-karin1 (IUI on 7.6)…..BETA ????
-Tiger04 (IUI on 7.7 & 7.…..BETA ????

CONGRATS ON YOUR BFP!!!-maggieluv- Beta: 6.30-228
-DandMe (Sonya)- Betas: 7.1-30/ 7.3-65/ 7.5- 146



-miyaya & fitzjr11- where are you at ladies in terms of this schedule?

[moorebaby]

-hopeforbabies (Teresa)- September
-klinger13 (Amanda)
-moorebaby (Ester)- August



-Lauren1171 (Until 7.16) (Starting injections on 7.21)
-rebeccajm (As of Saturday, 7.10)
-lou71 (An antagonist protocol starting 7.24 with Follistim 450 units and Ganirelix. ER/ET should fall the week of August 2nd.)
-JustLikeHannah



-mcfarland2213 (Ashley)- Lupron as of 7.17



-amanda1979
-turtle0619 (Franny)
-chilipepperrose46







-karin1 (IUI on 7.6)…..BETA ????
-Tiger04 (IUI on 7.7 & 7.8)…..BETA ????



-maggieluv- Beta: 6.30-228
-DandMe (Sonya)- Betas: 7.1-30/ 7.3-65/ 7.5- 146