FEB / MARCH 2011 Cycle Buddies!! can't wait!

[BlissfulCS]

Timber5k- Congrats on your amazing Beta and pregnancy! I had a feeling you were a runner. I am more of a distance girl but I will run an occasional 5k for fun. Actually I run all of them that come our way but am more competitive in longer runs, I stink at the 5k, my best time is right at an 8 minute mile and that hurt! I am cleared to go back to running after AF comes. By then my ovaries should calm down. I hate to tell you this, but until you are out of the clear you should skip even walking the 5k. You need those ovaries in check first. I do yoga when I am cycling and it makes me crazy, not nearly enough exercise for me but at least its something. I have ZERO experience with what happens after a BFP but I do know this, DH is totally right. I know its tough, but its just money. You can make more. Push back on the RE, but don't lose sleep over it. You will be okay. And I am CONFIDENT your pregnancy will be covered. Your insurance company has a vested interest in making sure you have a healthy pregnancy regardless of how you arrived at it.

Let DH fight the battle though. You rest and enjoy the ride.

EDIT- I did indeed decide on the Masters program. I go back to school in May. Excited about that too. I just can't get enough of financial ratios.

[trying4second]

Totsie - Congrats on the BFP!

Becca, Blissful and all the rest who did not have the news they hoped for...I went through endless IUIs, 2 IVFs, two miscarriages, and the loss of a twin before my daughter was born 16 months ago...It was a rocky and often terrible journey, but for whatever it is worth, I felt like it all brought me to her. I literally cannot imagine my life without her. She is the baby who was meant to be born and it just took her a little longer to show up and come to us. I think I would feel exactly the same way whether I gave birth or adopted...so hang in there all, because your babies are waiting and on their own clocks for arrival time. And when you meet them and hold them for the first time, all of the shots and the appointments and tears sort of blur and you just remember a long journey to a perfect ending!

[timber5k]

Timber5k- Congrats on your amazing Beta and pregnancy! I had a feeling you were a runner. I am more of a distance girl but I will run an occasional 5k for fun. Actually I run all of them that come our way but am more competitive in longer runs, I stink at the 5k, my best time is right at an 8 minute mile and that hurt! I am cleared to go back to running after AF comes. By then my ovaries should calm down. I hate to tell you this, but until you are out of the clear you should skip even walking the 5k. You need those ovaries in check first. I do yoga when I am cycling and it makes me crazy, not nearly enough exercise for me but at least its something. I have ZERO experience with what happens after a BFP but I do know this, DH is totally right. I know its tough, but its just money. You can make more. Push back on the RE, but don't lose sleep over it. You will be okay. And I am CONFIDENT your pregnancy will be covered. Your insurance company has a vested interest in making sure you have a healthy pregnancy regardless of how you arrived at it.

Let DH fight the battle though. You rest and enjoy the ride.

EDIT- I did indeed decide on the Masters program. I go back to school in May. Excited about that too. I just can't get enough of financial ratios.

Blissful - you are awesome! I love your positive attitude and I'm totally with you. I, too, had mixed emotions about IVF and I think adoption is an amazing and loving thing to do.

I recently have become more of a distance runner as well. I ran two half marathons last year and was hoping to do a full this February, but IVF got in the way. I've decided against trying for the full (probably ever), but I do see many half marathons in my future. But, 5Ks will always have a place in my heart since I've been doing them for years.

Good luck to you on the Masters program and congratulations on your achievement in being selected. Sounds like we might be in similar fields, too. Is it an MBA that you're doing?

[blairwh58]

timber5k- what a great beta!!! Congrats again.

sdtrying-when do you go back for your next ultrasound? Soon right??

bliss- I promise you as soon as you send me your address and I see you got that BFP I am sending a little blue and white one your way. And if you are ever in etown I would love to meet up for lunch. Our babies should only be a month or so apart so we could even call it a play date . Still dancing for your AF (and mine too) so best of luck.

AFM- I called the IVF nurses and left a msg this morning. I am starting to flip out that my period is now 3 days late. It wouldnt be a big deal I guess but if it keeps getting pushed back we may end up not even getting a vacation. And I would obviously much rather end up with a baby than a vacation but DH has been working so much since his residency started in July that it would suck to have his last vacation for the year taken away (last vaca he got was in Nov when we did the last IVF so we obviously didnt do anything and couldnt even go out to walk). Just wishing and I guess praying (even though Im not quite sure to who/what) that I could start my period today. To make matters worse a few wks ago we had a bad storm and tornado blow through and a contractor informed us yday that we need a new roof. Blah. So if the insurance company is ok with that we have $1000 deductible. Really...IVF #4, and a new roof? I had a breakdown and cried last night because Im getting so frustrated with my lack of a period and the fact that my body hates me.

[Pumpkin11]

HI ladies! Sorry i didnt post yesterday. i did follow but my wifi at home was down and for some reason I can only read from my phone and not respod. To quickly update you all, i am beginning to feel a little of anxiety but still mild and under control. I am trying to stay positive and know i will have bfp. Yesterday i went in for bw and u/s. i still have like 20 something follicles. my E2 is up to 1690 meaning it doubled from Monday although my gonal-f dose was dropped. so, after yesterdays bloodwork with the 1680 e2 i was changed to menopur 1cc. I went in today for an aditional u/s and the RE is the onle that is doing my u/s now by the way. he tells me that he will have to watch me closely. my follicles seem to be growing now but, my e2 has to be controlled in order for the er and et to take place. The e2 also affects our lining therefore i am a bit uneasy now. Can my follicales continue to grow and can my e2 be regulated. i have high hopes that this will work i did fertility in the past for 4 years and i cannot handle the emotional roller coaster. i will wait til i get my call back and update you all on my results. Please any one feel free to offer advice or share experiences.

Bliss - I am so proud of you! you are one strong woman. You are very lucky and consider yourself blessed to have a DH that is so open and supportive. I saw go for the BFP and the adoption you;ll have all your babies at once. Your prayers will get answered and you will have your babies, im positive!

Mamaboo- no worries about lifting your son. I know you will be relieved when you see the bfp but, remember you are closer to the BFP then from when you started. All will be fine. Think of it this way your son was lying on your tummy jusy having an early bond with the baby.

totsie - congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! enjoy every minute of your pregnancy! we've all come a long way and deserve to be elated! i am for you

timber5k - I know the ohss feeling and it sucks! However, the best advice i can offer you is that we've all been down a long road to reach our goals of having a healthy baby and NOONE or NOTHING should take away you happiness and enjoyment out of your pregnancy. Try to forget about the ohss and enjoy it. Do things that you enjoy, visit a baby store and visualize the nursery, have a prenatal massage etc.... Only do and surround yourself with things that please you and make you feel good. a pregnancy is a miracle and you are privileged to have recieved it therefore, enjoy it and live it to the foolest! the OHSS is temporary but your son/daughter is forever!

blair - any sightings of code red yet??? i come from a hispanic background and there is a home remedy that we use to bring it on which is a cinnamon stick infusion. you make a tea from it. you boil water with 5 cinnamon sticks. let the water cool down cover it with a plate and drink it. for whatever reason it has worked for me in the past. havent done it while going through fertility treatments because i never wanted to see it. lol However, any other time i have done it, it has worked.

Love to you all! I will check in later, have a good day and lets keep the PMA up for each other.

PS; i was kind of down when i started writing but i feel better already. you guys are awesome! i thank God for you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pumpkin11 (Lily)

[indigofire]

Hi all,

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been reading, but wanted to take a little break from posting.

Bliss/Becca - so so sorry for your BFN's. Please know that we are all grieving with you. Obviously not to the same extent but we're all rooting for everyone to get their BFP's soon. Whatever you choose your journeys to be, know that we're all cheering for you! Bliss we adopted our daughter 11years ago and it was the best thing we've ever done. We can't imagine life without her. Make sure when you embark on this journey that you can really trust the people who are guiding you. I worked with an amazing adoption agency in Atlanta Georgia and I live Canada, but they were amazing and I felt very safe and taken care of on our journey.

Timber - CONGRATULATIONS!!!! ANd sorry for the OHSS - take it super easy and heal yourself. Visualize all of that liquid being reabsorbed into your blood stream and peed out!

Blair - doing the dance for you!!! Whoop there it is!! Whoop there it is!! Come on AF!!! - and no your body doesn't hate you...maybe it's just telling you that it needs a little bit of a break? And breakdowns are a good way to release pent up energy..so let it flow girl!

Pumpkin - stay positive! I'm glad they're watching you very closely! That's a good sign. I'm confident that you'll be able to get lots of great eggs this cycle and great embryos! Safe ER to you! Make sure you're drinking at least a litre of gatorade a day or a litre of V8 (Sorry I"m Canadian and we measure in litres not oz...not sure of the conversion). But it's a lot. I drank 3 cans of V8 a day which was just over a litre. I didn't do the gatorade because I'm doing a low glycemic index diet for my PCOS.

You guys talking about running is having me miss it. I used to run but haven't run in a very long time. Maybe it's time to pick it up again? I've run 5 or 6 5K's, 2 or 3 10K's and one half marathon - loved it. But it's a lot of training time.

AFM - went for a lining check today. Quality is excellent but it's only 7mm, so she's adding an estrogen patch to my oral estrace and wants me back in on Friday with FET probably next Wednesday the 23rd. We agreed on transferring 2 blasts. I'm very optimistic about this cycle. She said the embryos/blastocysts were amazing quality. So assuming they survive the thaw I'll be PUPO next Wednesday. And I'm also riding the emotional roller coaster. Some days are up and some days are down. I'm just going along for the ride and try to keep reminding myself that it's all just hormones!

Thanks for all of the support ladies. You really make a huge difference for all of us!
Indigo.

[blairwh58]

Lily- I am stopping at the store as soon as I get off work and getting some cinnamon sticks to try out the theory. At this point I am pretty willing to try anything, and drinking some cinnamon tea will be easy. Thanks for the suggestion!!

indigo- Even though the lining is only 7mm it sounds like things are still on track for a successful transfer next week. How exciting!!! As for my body- it really does just hate me. Its had a "break" since Dec 15 when I started to miscarry. So i dont know about you but I think 3 months is definitely a long enough break for it to start cooperating now. Thanks for dancing in the mean time though.

AFM- Still havent heard back from the nurses but am still worried since I havent started. Now Ive even started to play mental games with myself and am worried that somehow we ended up pregnant because we didnt use a condom before I started the Lupron. That would be beyond amazing except for the fact that lupron is known to cause severe birth defects. I guess I will get a test on my way home just to verify its not that. Ive just been ready to start this cycle since Dec and I dont want it to be delayed any longer. Since I know this one is it Im just excited and anxious.

[Addy]

I had my egg retrieval today, and they got 35 eggs. They said this puts me at high risk for OHSS, so they want to freeze the embryos and do the transfer next month. Guess I am joining the April/May thread

I always seem to check this forum from my phone, so I apologize for my lack of personals.

[WeHaveHope]

I had my egg retrieval today, and they got 35 eggs. They said this puts me at high risk for OHSS, so they want to freeze the embryos and do the transfer next month. Guess I am joining the April/May thread

I always seem to check this forum from my phone, so I apologize for my lack of personals.

Wow, and I thought I had alot. I recently had my ER and had 27. I did end up with OHSS and was pretty miserable and also had to freeze all. Initialy, I was not too happy about having to freeze but my RE assured me that it would be much worse if I ended up pregnant while having OHSS. It took about a week and a half before I lost the 9 pounds I had gained after the ER but it could have been much worse. I did not have to go to the hospital nor did I have to have any fluid drained from my abdomen. So trust in your doctor. I know it is unexpected but in the end it is for the best. Trust that you will have a BFP very soon. I can tell you that I am now feeling 100% better and on my way to my FET the first week of May. Hopefuly we will be on the same timing and with good news to report. I wish you all the best of luck.

[BlissfulCS]

Blair- I looked back and saw that even though I usually have a 26 or 27 day cycle and its like clockwork, I was at 30 days the next full month after my FET (and that was a straight BFN, not chemical or mc) and then 29 days, and then 28 days. So as frustrating as it is, I think it is normal for your cycle to lengthen for a few months after taking the fertility meds and especially after a miscarriage. I know it doesn't help you get the vacation you and DH deserve, but hopefully it helps you feel better and gives you confidence that your body does not hate you. Your body is just getting good and ready to give you the support you need for a BFP. Sorry to hear about the roof. I don't miss living just outside of tornado alley and all the warnings/fear during storm season. I do miss the SAFE big Spring storms though. We get crazy winter storms here, but in the 15 years I have lived here we have had only one "tornado". It was so funny because everyone totally freaked out. They are not used to the constant warnings that we had in Kentucky. It turned out that what they called a tornado, was essentially just high winds. Sorry about everyone getting pregnant around you. I used to not be bothered by that at all, but now it is starting to get to me and DH. He actually came home and confessed to being angry yesterday when friends of ours who got married the same year we did announced the birth of their third child on facebook. We have always just kind of laughed and said..."what do I care, I don't want your baby...I want MY baby" when we see pregnant women or babies out and about. Now that we are thinking about adoption I think that coping mechanism has to change. As it turns out, we may indeed want "YOUR" baby...at least if you don't want it. Ha ha. Of course any baby we adopt WILL be our blessing and our baby.

indigo- great to hear from you and so excited for you! I knew I liked all you ladies for a reason...so many of you are runners! I would say getting back into running would be the perfect way for you to lose all the baby weight you need to put on but now is not the time to start again. I know we have all heard that as far as exercise goes, your body is capable of doing what it usually does when you are pregnant, but it is not the time to start anything new. I will never forget reading an article in Runner's World last year when Paula Radcliffe and Kara Goucher (world class marathoners) were interviewed because they were both training while carrying their first child. The had beautiful photos of these amazing bodies of elite runners who had BIG OLD BEAUTIFUL BELLIES. Paula and Kara trained together during their pregnancy. They both run well under a 6 minute mile over the course of 26.2 when not pregnant and they were complaining about running at the "slow" pace of 6:30 to 7:00 minute miles while pregnant and cutting back their long runs to 15 miles. Sheesh!!! They can run during pregnancy, but for most of the rest of us "joggers" going through fertility treatments, a few miles at an easy pace is all we should do. I also ready in "Conquering Infertility" to not do any vigorous exercise for three months prior to trying. "The Fertility Diet" on the other hand says do vigorous exercise three times a week. I went with a happy middle ground and worked out during the months I wasn't cycling and just did yoga during my cycle month.

Trying4second- your post was so sweet and and really made me smile. Thanks so much.

Timber5k- I already have my MBA. I just called my program a masters for simplicity's sake. What it really is called is CBA School. It is a three year program where bankers from all over the country come together for two weeks in May to earn what I would consider a "Doctorate in Banking". Then we break into groups and complete case studies and manage simulated banks as homework in between the in person sessions. It is very cool. I work for a super regional bank and we only send about 10 people a year (we employ about 50,000). It is quite and honor and I am anxious to go, but my main focus right now is starting our family. I'd love to do both and I know I can!

Addy- congrats to you on a great retrieval! Don't you worry about having to take a little time off. You have a BFP coming your way soon fertile myrtle!

[blairwh58]

bliss- Thanks for all the positive thoughts. I think I have just been depressed lately given the fact that ive had 3 months of not actively trying and all the recent announcements. Youre right though- my body is just getting ready for the main event which is all that matters. Im not sure whether its the lupron making my psycho or PMS or a good mix of both but ive tried starting a fight with DH the past few nights. Tonight it actually stemmed from me telling him he needs to play a more supportive and active role and read into everything involved with IVF more than he has. I guess I think since hes an MD he should know everything there is about it...but with this hes just a patient like me. Im sure as soon as I see red I will be on cloud nine but its just working through these down times. Its funny what you said about starting to say "your" baby and "our" baby...we always see people with little ones and say to each other how awesome ours will be once we have them.

Addy- What eggcellent (haha) retrieval results. I know you may be down about having to let things calm down for a little bit but you want your body to be in tip top shape for the transfer. You are more than welcome to hang out here since there are still some of us waiting, and others starting again next month. We have a such a great group here!!

AFM- making the cinnamon stick infusion to bring on AF tomorrow!!! Hoping I can either get a late appt tomorrow afternoon or one on friday. Just trying to take it day by day and know that great things come to those who wait....oh how the cliches make me laugh after all this.

[Pumpkin11]

Hi! I just got home. My e2 rose again tonthe 2000s they have not cancelled my cycle yet. Tonight I have to do 37.5 of menopur and go back in the morning for u/s and bw. I spoke to the dr and he said that within the next 48 hours he'll know if he has to cancel this cycle. I'm hoping all goes well. I'll update in the morning.

Addy - congrats on a Greta retrieval. Look at the bright side. Your uterus will be in a healthier state if you rest and you too will feel a lot better. So, enjoy the rest and u'll have your bro next month.

Blair - let me know how the tea went, you can do it a couple of days if u need to, you can also sweeten with honey or whatever you use. What day of your cycle are you on?

Pumpkin

[blairwh58]

Pumpkin- my fingers are crossed that when you go back in tomorrow you have great news and you don't have to cancel the cycle. I'm about to remove the plate and pour my tea so ill let you know how it goes. Today is cycle day 30 and day 10 of lupron. Hope it works.

[BlissfulCS]

Blair- I picked two MAJOR fights with DH during our last cycle that made me question whether or not I was worthy! Its normal, don't be too hard on yourself...and have fun making up while you can! Take it easy lady. This whole process is hard on a marriage, but for the life of me I can't imagine anything making us closer than IVF has. To have your DH hold you and tell you while you cry "I'm not a King, I don't need our baby to carry on my bloodline" is an expression of a kind of love and selflessness most women will never know. Of course, we all wish we didn't have to learn how deep our love goes this way, but it is still a silver lining!

TMI??? DH and I broke the rules for the first time in three months and "reconnected" this week even though we are supposed to wait until after AF. Lupron may be "witch" juice...but the progesterone/estrogen cocktail is "frisky" juice and I couldn't make it any longer! lol. We have been following so many rules trying to be PERFECT for this last cycle, it felt great to "go rogue" on this particular rule when we needed it most. And a little more TMI for you...AF came for me just minutes after the last time we reconnected before this cycle. So my advice...after you finish your cinnamon concoction, go do your best "baby dance" and enjoy.

[margi26]

Blissful: I am so sorry for you... (((HUGS))) to you and DH as you grieve this loss. I admire your strength and your PMA in the face of this. I think planning often helps and I think you have a great plan. Best of luck and I will be stalking you my friend!!