The Over 40 Crowd

[chriss]

Just received this link in my home email box, so decided to pop in to say hello. Yasmina, it's been a very long time. I was on this thread a few years ago... since then moved to DE and finally had success. My two boys just turned one year. Anyone who is reading, I wish you the best. I tried for a long time with my own eggs... 6 IVF and lots of IUI. I know it eventually works for some, but for me... after so much heartache, DE was my road to success. I love my boys. I am so happy. They are the best and they are ours. We finally became a family. Our dream for such a long time. My wish for you is peace and success in finding your family... however it takes. Keep an open mind and an open heart and your dreams will come true. Happy New Year.

[margi26]

Chriss: Thanks for sharing your success and happy ending story.

AFM: Another BFN. Sigh. So discouraged. Not sure what to do next. Have an appt with RE on 1/18 and will see what, if anything he recommends. I really don't think we can afford an IVF cycle, but not sure if he will continue with IUI given we have gotten 3 BFNs in a row. This last cycle looked good with E2 high and several follies. But they did IUI at 24 hrs. instead of 36 which had me wondering. Ah, well. Any advice welcome!! Take care ladies.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

[teachertam]

Margi,

I'm so sorry to hear of your news. This infertility thing is a difficult one. I would recommend
have an HSG x-ray and doing another IUI. I got pregnant with Andrew naturally at 42 right after
having an HSG x-ray. My RE said that it increases your changes of becoming pregnant for
1-2 cycles after the procedure. It worked for us. That was after 2 failed IUI's and 2 failed
IVF's. I also recommended the HSG x-ray procedure to a 41 yr old friend of mine. She has
having trouble becoming pregnant and it worked for her too. I think it just takes more tries
for us older gals, since more of our eggs are genetically unsound.

Hello Chriss: Congrats on your twins! Boys are wonderful.

Hello Yasmina: How are you and your family doing?

AFM: We are getting very close to getting our referral for our Chinese adoption. I think
we will get it sometime next month.

Hello to Rhonda, NY, Catherine and CarolineP

Take care all,
Tammy

[NY4thtry]

Hello everyone sorry i have been so quiet.. After my last attempt to get an egg i have just been in a holding pattern. Today is day 27 so period should come any minute.. In fact i am seeing my RE this afternoon as i had a little spotting today and he isnt working over the weekend.

We had a great holiday in Brazil and now i am ready to go back at it.. Surro is ready to go. Hopefully 2011 will be our year.

All good thoughts for everyone! Marg good luck to you!!!!

[margi26]

NY4thTry: So good to hear from you! Wishing you the best of luck this cycle in retrieving eggs. Are you taking any dietary supplements? I'm just curious because I am getting advice to take things from Maca, to Wheatgrass to DHEA. Hard to know what could really help and what is bunk.

Tammy: Wow! Glad to hear that things are getting close! So exciting. And thanks for the advice/support. If we end up continuning with IUI I will push for that.

AFM: Seriously considering going abroad for IVF. SO much cheaper...anyone have any experience or knowledge--good or bad?! I am currently researching programs in Czech Republic, Costa Rica, and Greece. There are very cheap programs in India, but I don't know if I'd feel safe in India....may end up continuing with IUIs. Any knowledge in this are would be greatly appreciated.

[Jengrin]

Hi,

I'm totally new to all of this. I'm 41 years old and trying for my first time to get pregnant. This is my second marriage (first husband changed his mind about wanting to have children after 3 years of marriage). So, needless to say, while I was in my prime I didn't even try to get pregnant and was on birth control the entire time. My current husband had a vasectomy reversal so that we could start trying to get pregnant. His sperm count is low, but improving. However, the motility is not good and has not been improving. I had a fibroid tumor removed two years ago and this may cause me to need another surgery to clear out any scarring. I will find out about this on Monday. We have met with Dr. Cedars at UCSF Medical Center. Anyone have any experience with her as a doctor? We felt very comfortable with her, but now I have some questions. She did an ultrasound to find out how many follicles I have and she said that I have about 3-4 follicles. This translates to only a 20% chance of getting pregnant with IVF. We haven't even started any medication yet as we are waiting for the sonogram on Monday. I have started doing more research and am discovering there are several kinds of payment options. We have some insurance coverage, but it won't even cover one full round of IVF. Anyone have any tips? Should we stick with Dr. Cedars and finance the treatments or find another clinic that offers a refund if you don't have a baby? We live in California and are right in the middle on the Coast, so San Francisco and LA are both 4-5 hours away. Any opinions or advice about who to go to and best financing options would be much appreciated.

[NY4thtry]

Marg

a bettre question is what am i NOT taking....

A little DHEA (25 milligrams per day)
Pcynogenol 500 mg 2x oer day
Inositol 5oo mg 3x per day
Melatonin 3mg per day at bedtime
Fish oil
Bee pollen
Royal Jelly
Viatmin D
Calcium
Resveratrol
CoQ10

And a fertility Vitamin and herbs from my acupuncturist.
Bottom line is it cant hurt!! Hope this helps

[luci]

Hi Jengrin,
...i keep my fingers crossed that it will work for you, you have still a good chance if your fsh and amh are good. DE worked at the end for me, my little girl is the most beautiful thing on earth. we are moving on to #2 soon and although i know that my eggs won't work, i HAD to ask the clinic if i should have a tandem .. most probably we will end up with DE only, but over here in europe treatment costs so much less... we have no refund, but would pay for treatment with own eggs around 3.000 eur, for DE 5.500 and my friend is having embryodonation for 3.000 euros... would a tandem cycle not be an option for you?

[margi26]

Welcome Jenny! Sorry I don't know anything about your clinic options...maybe check a local site?

NY4th: How are things going? Thanks for filling me in on what you are taking. Wowzie!! I am taking a few of those. Good for you for having the control to stick with all of that.

AFM: I was seriously looking abroad until I got some wonderful news today....our lifetime cap has been removed as of 2011!!! I am back in the IVF game!! Now we just need to decide where. The clinic we are using has horrible statistics for over 40s. So I am using the SART site to try to figure who takes my insurance and where we can go...we are looking from Cali to NY!! I know that CO, CCRM center is fantastic, but they are out of network/don't bill insurance, so we are looking at other sites. I will keep you ladies posted! I am so happy to have some more hope!!

[NY4thtry]

Hi Margi

My Dr- Tortoriello at SIRM NY has the best SART rates for women over 40 in the country and I love him!!!!! let me know if you want me to make an introduction.

AFM.. ER was today got 1 mature and 1 immature.. so we will see if my 1 makes it to blast fingers crossed but not a great cycle for me...
I am going back to back though and will start again as soon as AF gets here..

Love to all

[dianeoct1982]

Hi Ladies: Me 51 DH 50. Used donor eggs, 12 weeks 2 days pregnant with twins, and everything going well in this pregnancy. Had two miscarriages since Feb 2009, and decided to switch to a differnt donor. This has been a difficult process, but certainly worth it. Are really glad we decided to keep trying.

[margi26]

NY4th: Did your embie make it to blast? I am hoping and praying that it did. Thank you so much for all your advice and suggestions regarding supplements and even RE! We have a consultation on Wednesday with SCRC that has the best #s for 42+ with 27% live birth rate from SART #s in 2008. They are comparable to SIRM with 40-41 in the 30% range which is fabulous. If things go well, I think we are going to head to CA, but if we aren't pleased after our consult, or they don't want to work with us, then I will definitely be PMing you to ask for an intro, if you don't mind. Thank you--and you are such a strong woman. I envy your tenacity. You WILL have your baby....when do you plan another transfer? How many blast do you have/wanting to transfer to surro?

Oh, and I started yoga My acupuncturist highly recommended it...I had been procrastinating for months fearing I'd make an idiot of myself. Well--I survived. And am actually sore after the first class. I might even end up enjoying it.

Jenny: How are things? Did you make a decision? Looks like we are going to be flying to CA to make a baby (I hope!!)

Take care all you strong women! And diane--thanks for sharing your miracle! Congratulations!!

[to_have_fun08]

Ny4thtry - just checking up on you to see if your embie made it to blast..


margi - good luck with your consultations. One thing to ask a new clinic is if they cycle everyone regardless of their age/diagnosis. The SART states don't account for those clinics who won't cycle everyone. Clinics can have great success rate if they pick and choose which patients will be successful so their #'s look good. If they don't feel they will be successful they will either say they won't cycle or that the person has to do donor.

[NY4thtry]

Hi guys..

no news yet .. as of yesterday day 5 it was still lagging.. so ill know something today fingers crossed.

Margi i have 1 other frozen and am going to go right into a back to back cycle.. not sure when transfer will be at this point.

Best to all

[children]

Hi Tammy, I could not find time to properly catch everyone's news up yet. I just wanted to drop you a note quickly to say HAVE A NICE TRIP TO CHINA! Have been too busy at work, and I am not a speedy reader, sorry to everyone else here. Will come back after March, promise.