Cycling In 2012 Board (formerly Fall/Winter 2011-2012)

[anton]

Hi everyone!
Happy Easter!

Happy Passover!


Julia - HUGE Congratulations honey!!!! Your betas are fantastic! You did it mama! You are pregnant! I am no expert by far but I am guessing definitely more than one! I wish you a healthy and uneventful pregnancy with healthy baby/ies all the way!




Ninde- I am so sorry you are bleeding my friend, this is so unfair. But I do believe in miracles and I am going to pray you’ll get yours if not this time then the next. There is still hope. Who knows! ...you should share with your RE your concerns about the progesterone’s input in your body and see what he has to say. I find it pretty soon to bleed on day 10po and I would look more into it. I sent you a huge cyber (((HUG))) and know that I am praying for you becoming a mama.



Cyn- I am so sorry this hasn’t worked for you. I know how much you wanted this and this it’s totally unfair. On top of everything you’ve been through in your life at least this should be easier for you. Please be strong and have faith that next time is going to be IT. I sent you a big (((HUG))) honey and wish you all the best on your next step.




Leora – WOOHOO!!! For taking the last BCP! I am already doing the AF dance for you girl! You are a step closer to your BFP! And I know that a BFP doesn’t mean you’ve reach the top of the mountain but it’s the best start one can possibly wish for! You have seen that BFP one time too many and this time I am praying that that BFP will bring your miracle baby to life. I know you are scared and you have every reason to be but you need not to lose your faith! You need to focus on the positives in your life and that is David and the love you have for each other, you have a roof over your heads and families and friends that all mean well for you and last but not least you guys share the same vision and that is to create your own family. And you will honey, soon! You are both blessed to live in a place that IVF is free and you guys should cherish that too. I am one of your biggest cheerleaders here and I can’t wait to celebrate your healthy pregnancy with you!!




Sunshine- Good days are coming honey and I wish your DH finds his dream job soon! Keep being positive and you will have your family soon! Adoption is not for everyone and both need to be on the same page. Me and DH always talked about adopting, even before he got the mumps virus that damaged his sperm and this we ended up doing IVF. But accepting adoption before having your biological kids its a different story. We are not there yet, mostly because we feel that there is still hope for us to have biological babies. Maybe we are in denial and we’ll never make it with our own genes, I don’t know; but maybe if we move on to adoption right now is like giving up on IVF. And we are not ready to give up just yet. I mean, is more than passing on our genes, is living the pregnancy experience, to watch my bump grow, to live every minute of the nine months, feel my baby kicking inside and finally to experience the birth part. We have dreamed of this moment with DH SO many times and we always get emotional. To breast feed and have that extra bond with my baby. There are so many scenes and ‘unlived memories’ that is hard to give up on IVF just yet. For the moment, I feel that if we move on to adoption I will always wonder “what if all we needed was just another IVF attempt?” so we are not there yet. I hope you and your DH find a solution that makes both of you happy.



Globetrotter – What a great ER! I hope your fert report is great as well! Keep us posted! About DH’s ‘input’, like Leora said, ER is a surgery and I don’t believe the DH is allowed to be present in any country. Besides, at that time, in another room, the DH is delivering his precious ‘cargo’ in vitro! As for ET my DH was always in present except the last time which he couldn’t but came right after it to take me home. Being present at the ET is a very precious moment for the DH to be part of. It’s the moment you see a miracle happening in front of your eyes and your DH shouldn’t miss this for the world unless he can’t avoid being elsewhere. And there’s nothing to be ashamed of him being present because he is standing next to your head and you both looking at the monitor ...besides, he has seen you naked before! hasn’t he!




LauraN- How are you feeling? Tomorrow is your big day right?! I hope all your babies are healthy to transfer! How many are you planning on transferring?



Hopethisworks- Things are looking good girl! 7 its not a bad at all! after all, one can do the work!




AFM- So, I am a Christian Orthodox and this Sunday is our Easter. Both our families are coming over our place on Sunday lunch. I am really busy organising the menu, cleaning the house do final touches in the garden, paint some furniture outside and my list goes on... I think of you ladies everyday even though I don’t post and don’t read everyday your posts, I felt the need to post today and let you know that I have you in my heart and prayers. I am keeping my self pretty busy so I don't end up in la la land thinking about IVF and unemployment!!

The university has closed for 2 weeks (this one and the next) - DH University is closed too but he is busy writing a book and its like the Uni is not closed! so I am going for the second interview once they open. They have informed me that 8 people incl. myself have passed the first interview out of 1.000 candidates So I guess this is a step closer for me to get the job I went to another interview last week and they called me to go for a second (at the Anti-Cancer Organization) but I turned that down because part of the job among other things was attending funerals! And my DH didn’t want me to get depressed by attending funerals every week. Well not that I liked the idea myself. Anyway after Easter good days are coming for me! I just know it! and I can't for them!

Last Saturday my DH had a surprise for me, he arrange for a massage at home for both of us. Every a few months we he calls this Chinese guy (he is a brilliant masseur) and comes over to our house and massage both of us for an hr each. He works at this luxurious and expensive spa and he was recommended to us from friend of a friend and here we are. It was very nice and sweet of my DH to do that it was a wonderful surprise. the bell rang and I opened the door and there he was! The massage guy He told me that I’ve been through a lot already, with the job search and the IVF journey, he even wrote me this thank you card and brought me flowers and told me how much he appreciate that I take such a good care of him and everything in the house and that he is very lucky to have me. It was the best thank you card ever! I love him SO much!I wouldn't trade him for the world!

Last Sunday we went to our friend’s beach house for BBQ and all the gang of friends where there, all with their babies eccept us. It felt really awkward being there with them, childless. The oldest baby had just turned 1 and the youngest was 2.5 month old. We where the first to go and the first to leave. We had a good time and we glad seeing everybody but it was too much to digest in one visit...

I made a meat/fish/dairy/egg free menu for this week because we are fastening and I am about to burn tonight's dinner!! Have to stop writing! Now! besides DH just came home and we are watching ‘Breaking Bad’...the new series we got hooked up with! Oh! just in case you haven’t seen ‘Homeland’ please do so! I have one word for it A-m-a-z-i-n-g! We saw the first season (only one is out so far) in 4 days!

Baby dust and sticky vibes to all of us!!
anton

[kerpupples]

Leora - I have my 16 week appointment this afternoon. My doctor doesn't do the full anatomy scan until 20 weeks, but they may need to take a peek on the ultrasound today to confirm heartbeats. If so, I'm going to ask for a guess. My gut still says boy/girl....we'll see. I don't feel super confident about getting reliable info today, so DH is going to wait to come with me until the 20 week scan. Hope you are having a good Passover and enjoying some delicious Passover foods.

Patricia - I'm sorry you're going through such a discouraging time. Maybe you should post to Ghost asking about your bleeding. My impression is also that the progesterone should keep AF from coming, pregnant or not. I know low progesterone was suspect in my own miscarriage, but it wasn't low anough for me to start AF or even have any bleeding. Sending you big hugs, friend! I hope all the red stuff goes away soon.

Julia - your kitties are adorable! I'd like to get a cat but DH won't change the litter and I can't since I'm pregnant. After the twins come I may just get one anyway. Your betas are definitely high enough to indicate twins but you really can't know for sure until your u/s. Would you like twins?

Anton - a beach getaway sounds nice but rough if everyone else there had kids. I don't miss those days and I hope they end for you very soon! Have a wonderful Easter celebration.

[Ninde]

Globe: now would I be right in thinking you are a very high achieved?! 7 good eggs is terrific - honestly. And to have 3/4 border line means you may get another 1 or 2. Im crossing everything for you and hoping the fertilisation report is good.

Antonia: thank you so much. Iiits amazing the difference the support makes. Your massage sounds lovely!!! And i hope you have a lovely Easter. We can afford one more ivf I think, another €5000 will bring us up to total spend of €15,000 and i really dont think we could afford another one after tha.

Maria: are you ok?

Leora: any sign of af? Take mine!!!! Was thinking of asking them to check my progesterone on thurs with the beta? Having said that I feel they wont do a beta if/when I get a negative.

Cyn: how are you doing?

Christy: wow your mind works 100 miles a minute!! That would certainly be a big loan. How are you today?

Julia: very cute!!

Ker: thank you so much. What's really encouraging is you got pregnant after the miscarriage and hopefully after my miscarriage last time and this probable negative the clinic will be open to supporting me with more progesterone but they usually arnt keen. Would you like to know if you are having boys or girls?

LauraN: how are you?

Afm: bleeding slowing down which i presume is the natural end of af. Does anyone know if you bleed again when progesterone is stopped even if there has been a period or if that's it? Im not even sure if Saturday last would have been considered day 1 lot my period?

And finally, I will be 41 in Oct, where do people stand on what you consider the cut off safe age for ivf?

Ninde

[Lauren319]

have room for a returning guest?

[HopeThisWorksM]

Thanks Anton! We are trying to stay positive. DH is a little pissed at how some things were handled by the doctors office this time around. He's handling dealing with them now.

We're fasting this week too Kalee Anastasi!

-HopeThisWorksM

[kerpupples]

Patricia - yes, we are definitely finding out. More power to those people who want to wait until birth - I am not one of them. As far as age goes, my office manager at my last job had a healthy baby boy at 43 via IVF. I'm not sure I'd want to go much higher than that, but I think it's a very individual thing. I really hope your clinic will consider supporting you with more progesterone. When I was pregnant with DD, my second FET after my miscarriage, my progesterone was on the low side of normal but my doctor doubled the dose just to be safe.

[LauraN]

ninde- i am so sorry about all of the bleeding. i think it sucks to have to wait, do the hpt tomorrow and then let them know. you are stronger than me though, i would have already done a test. on your question of how old is too old.....i dont think there is a real answer to that question. i think that is a personal choice. i have seen women in their mid 40's popping out kids with no problems. for me, i turn 40 at the end of this month and i think part of the decision for me would be a combo of whethet my eggs were still working, how many times am i willing to put my body through this and cost. the age thing mainly comes to play for me since i have a 20 yr old and 17 yr old, and then my egg quality. the cost is the #1 factor for us right now. we habe taken out loans for all 3 cycles....it is a big hit financially, physically and emotionally. i dont know what kind of decisions we would be making right now if i hadnt had kids 100 years ago.

julia- i grew up with dogs and no cats so i am not a cat girl, but the kittens are so precious. i would be afraid that my four big babies wouldn't take too kindly to having cats around. they scare all the neighborhood cats.

globetrotter-any update on if it will be a 3 or 5 day? and did i miss the fertilization report?

afm- waiting patiently(not really) for the number that made it to 5 day sometime tomorrow. then, it will be the wait to find out how many are chromosomally normal. the transfer will be thursday at some time.

[Julia73]

Amy- I would definitely love twins +, we will, however be happy with whatever we get. I'm really hoping for a good beta tomorrow and then hopefully a great us soon after that!

Lauren-welcome back! I remember you! Wonderful to see you. Have you started cycling again?

Laura-you should post a pic of your four big babies!

Ninde- my clinic will allow ivf until age 50. I'm sure that's a case by case thing. My mother had me at 40, I would try until I personally felt led to stop, or had to stop.

Anton-thank you so much for your kind words! You're blessed with the gift of encouragement.


Afm-i'm so tired. All the time. I'm eating everything in sight and I know that has to quit. I'm totally milking the whole eating for 2 thing and the baby/ies are only as big as sesame seeds hehe! I'm crabby and aggravated a lot today. I'm sure its hormonal as a good friend suggested it was lol. And i'm not complaining..I'll take it and like it

Hope everyone is doing well.

[greekchick]

hi ladies hope you all ok?as anyone heard from baby soft how she is?and how ultra sound went?

anton---fili mou galo paska!!!

leorira---please tell me more about this test? they decided not to do the biospy but to test my period blood instead but 1 month before i do ivf again hes going to do this light scraping thing ? did u do this? did you stay in overnight? my doctor want me in hopsital for 3days for this and he will put me asleep for it..please explain to me what is the effects of this test and how will it help? thank you...x

[Ninde]

Lauren319: welcome back, how are you?

Kerpupples: thank you, I'm definately going to ask for more progesterone support.

LauraN: is it very different hinking about being pregnant this time?

Everyone else: see my previous posts to you

Ninde

[Globetrotter]

Julia73 – Beta looks good. And those kittens are so cute!

Ninde – I still not convinced it was AF… so early. Have you talked to your doctor recently? What are they saying? At my clinic, 25% of their patients is between 40-44 yrs old. They still accept patients 45yrs old+ with donor eggs. So, you have a few years ahead of you!

Leorira – I’ve hear of diva cup but never used it. People who use it seem to rave about it.

HopeThisWorksM – Good luck with your ER. There is still time between now and Thursday so hopefully those borderlines grow.

Anton – What type of job are you looking for? I am lucky enough I guess that none of our close friends have children (a perk of living in SF I guess!) But Facebook is there to remind me that 99% of people do!

LauraN - Tomorrow is a big day! I am cheering for you.

AFM - 17/18 eggs fertilized. I am amazed! My doctor said we're looking at a single embryo transfer on Saturday. I'll know on Thursday for sure. I am not too keen on transferring 1 but I'll let them make the decision... They seem to know a thing or two about IVF because the results have been good so far.

Still in pain from the egg retrieval though. I don't fit in any of my pants. I just feel like working from home with a heating pad but I can't do this with my responsibilities. How long before the swelling goes away?

[leorira11]

Christy - you dream about us? How cute No worries - I sometimes address personals to the wrong person, it's okay! -- I know we've never really met (or even talked on the phone) but I feel like I know you and you are one of my best friends. I really wish I could help...

HopeThisWorksM - ugh. I'm sorry. How many eggs have you had in previous cycles? Remember, it only takes one good one! (Lou had only a single day 3 embryo to transfer, after failed cycles with multiple perfect blasts to transfer - and she has a beautiful baby girl.) How much longer until you trigger?

Kynlee - how are you holding up? Have you had your follow up with your doctor? What does he recommend doing next?

Antonia - I totally understand why you have to stay away. It's so hard when you feel stuck not doing anything. I really hope something happens in the job-search for you soon! Congrats on being one of the 8 of the 1000 applicants -- hopefully you'll be the ONE they hire! I'm not watching "HomeLand", but lots of people say I should. Happy Easter!

Amy (kerpupples) - we got to clearly see the babies' sexes at 16 weeks. If your tech is willing to do it, you should be able to tell. Good luck and let us know! -- btw "delicious Passover food" is an oxymoron -- there ain't no such thang! I'm eating lots of fruit and potatoes....

Patricia - don't you have national health care in Ireland? You still have to pay 5,000 EUR per cycle? I have to pay co-pays, but it usually totals less than $1,000. The bleeding stopped? So weird. Let us know how POAS goes today.

Lauren - OF COURSE! Welcome back! Are you starting a new cycle soon?

Laura - I hope the PGD report was great... so stressful to wait. Do you want to know the embryos' sexes before you transfer. I find that a weird part of PGD - but it would be great to know the baby's sex even in the first trimester -- but I think it makes a BFN harder...

Julia - I think you should add a pregnancy ticker! Make one on LilyPie or whatever, then copy the IMAGE URL into your signature inside the IMG brackets... you must be 5+ weeks...

GreekChick - for me, the endometrial biopsies were just to try to improve implantation rates (my old doctor was participating in the study). I would go into the office (even without an appt), get up on the gynecological chair, the doctor would come in, put a speculum in, then thread the pipe-cleaner-like-thingy up through my cervix and scrape. I left, and went to work. Some spotting that day, and lots of cramping. Ask your doctor for more details on what he wants to do.

Globetrotter -that is a great fert rate! I think you are definitely on track for a day 5 transfer. As for how many to transfer ---- the ideal outcome is always a singleton pregnancy. I know people think that after all the treatments and IF - twins would be great, but twin pregnancy are super risky for both mom and babies. There are SOOOO many more complications with twins. SETs really are much better. In the past, when the technology was newer, they transferred more embryos. Nowadays - the odds of live birth (not pregnancy -- but actually taking a baby home) are exactly the same with SET and DET (with good quality embryos). I would go for the SET, especially with a day 5 blastocyst. Like everyone else, I want to get pregnant more than anything, but SETs really are the right thing to do, especially if your issue isn't age or egg quality (which I don't think yours is, right? Just the blocked tubes?)

AFM - officially on AF watch - even though I don't expect her until Thursday at the earliest. I'm getting nervous. I woke up and puked this morning -- of course, my first reaction was to take a HPT (which was negative of course), but I think it was just nerves and stress. And we haven't even started yet! Sometimes the anticipation is worse than the cycle.

[blueeyedreamer]

Oh my, Leora. Puking already! Bless your heart. Stress sucks. Anxiety is the worst. IVF is such a brutal process. I'm rooting for you! This time will be it.

Patricia, age is all relative to a certain point. As long as you are healthy, your eggs are good, and you are willing to take the risk, why not? I hope you are able to get some answers about this bleeding.

Antonia, I love hearing from you. Congrats on the interview process. Sounds like you have a good shot. They will love you! I understand needing time away.

Welcome back Lauren!

Greek, I'm considering asking for a biopsy and hysteroscopy before our next round.

Afm, had an awesome run tonight. Usually I have to take walk breaks but today I ran the whole 6 miles (10k almost) without stopping. That was a huge success. I set little goals along the way and used a lot of positive self talk. It's really a wonderful feeling to see so much progress. I have worked for a long time, two years I think, thru MS, IVF, endometriosis, depression, anxiety, etc to get this far. It sucks to know that others can reach these athletic goals so much faster than me, but I tell myself that it's ok. They aren't me.

We all have our own challenges. I am constantly inspired by our amazing group of women here. You all are so incredibly strong. I'm grateful to have you to share this IVF journey.

[Julia73]

Leora-what do you think if this ticker? I think I did it right!

Afm-going for my (hopefully last) beta today. Them the waiting game all day. Not fun. I'm hoping to find out when the us will be. I feel like if I can make it to that I will breathe easier. But more than likely not lol.

[HopeThisWorksM]

Triggered last night Leorira. I think we'll be ok. The DH actually got the doctor to say that if we don't get anything to transfer that he will withdraw this entire cycle from the insurance claim so we'll get another shot While that's good, right now we are just hoping this time works.
-HopeThisWorksM