Debra,
I'm surprised that your clinic doesn't want to check your ovaries on an almost daily basis before ec. How will they know what is the perfect time for the HCG shot that begins the 35 hour countdown to ec? As I understood it, the timing of that is critical. My clinic was checking me every other day until they saw what they were waiting for - then they told me the exact HOUR and minute to take the HCG shot. Said I couldn't even be 5 minutes late - had to be exact!
Your clinic and mine have very different approaches to this part. I wonder why?
Randa
Me 44, DH 40
ttc 0, went straight to IVF
1st EC = Feb 05, 5 frosties, no transfer attempt
2nd EC = June 05, cancelled
3rd EC = Sept 05, 4 frosties, no transfer attempt
4th EC/ET = Feb 06, 3 transf., BFN
5th EC/ET = May 06
My clinic is the same as Debra's. They do one scan after seven days on Puregon. I am assuming if they do not find too many follicles (God willing this will not be the case), or if something looks odd, they will perform further scans. The timing of the HCG shot relates more to the time they have me scheduled for EC. I guess it is about making my body fit in with their timetable! Each clinic seems to do things slightly differently.
I gave myself my first shot this morning......it was a breeze, don't know what I was worried about. It does seem to take a long time for the 300iu to come out though!
Cheers
Heather
Me 39+4 DH 41
4th IVF May 06 - +ve
Natural conception Sep 07
[img]http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x29/monkett/GriffinCarysSig1.jpg[/img]
Heather,
You go girl! I have yet to give myself a shot and I'm darned impressed by anyone who can do it! Seems like it would go against our human nature to push a needle into our flesh -
I can take a shot like it's nothing, but giving one - ewe!
I know, I know... better get over that, huh?
Hat's off to all the ladies out there who have and are currently injecting themselves! You are TOUGH mothers-to-be!!!! Changing guacamole diapers, cleaning bloody scraped knees, and fishing "Baby Ruths" out of the bathtub will be a cinch for ya!
I apologize if that's too graphic
Randa
Me 44, DH 40
ttc 0, went straight to IVF
1st EC = Feb 05, 5 frosties, no transfer attempt
2nd EC = June 05, cancelled
3rd EC = Sept 05, 4 frosties, no transfer attempt
4th EC/ET = Feb 06, 3 transf., BFN
5th EC/ET = May 06
Randa ... I ABSOLUTELY agree with you. There is NO WAY I could ever inject myself.
It's a pain as it really messes up all my work plans. I've got about 4 or 5 overnight meetings / trips planned over the next couple of weeks, and haven't yet figured out which I need to cancel 'cos of the injection times. I need to check with the hospital on Tues if the Buserelin has to be done at lunchtime (as I have done during the last 2 cycles), or if teatime's okay. If it's teatime, that makes it a lot easier.
Sandra x
Me 41 yrs old - dh 49 yrs old. ttc 110 yrs.
1st cycle (ICSI)....Mar 04 -ve.
2nd cycle (ICSI)....Aug 04 -ve.
3rd cycle FET........May 05 -ve.
4th cycle (ICSI) ... Feb 06 -ve
5th cycle FET ..... Feb/Mar 11
re. the shots. It seems no one has a problem with the Puregon and it's wonderful pen but perhaps the other meds need longer/thicker needles? I've been using the 0.33 x 12.7mm type which mostly just slide in.
Like Heather, my HCG is 35hrs before EC (tonight - yipee).
Hi Christine, welcome. Jump into the chat whenever you feel ready. I remember your posts from before. Good luck with your FET, the run-up is considerably easier than with a fresh cycle, so many fewer meds.
BigJ- yes Norwegians are very calm people, DF makes me feel positively hot-blooded in comparison - which can't often be said for a Brit! He's a bit pedantic and a tad supercilious at times but well worth the move to the frozen north The last place I'd lived permanently before here was Sydney so a bit of a shock!
Have a lovely Sunday girls (very overcast here)
Debra.
Hi D - move from Sydney to the frozen North..that must be lurv
I met dh when I was working in Paris - on my way to Spain and the sun but it was lurv so then I moved to Freiburg (blackforest) which was really sunny so OK then Berlin - minus a million in Winter but good middle European Summers...then back to blightly and now nth Germany - at least it's the sea-side even if we have to wear jumpers on the beach!!!!
good luck with the Jab tonight, PMA and baby dust to your follicle fairy
I had no probs with the jabs when I did IUI as they were all done with the boingy pen thing - could never have injected myself normally - you are all soooooooooo brave. (I did make dh watch though every time for the togetherness factor!!) Sand - sounds like a lot of bother for you, poor sweetie.
Love and kisses to all bigJ
POF+autoimmune+dh antibodies,5.05 DIVF IM M/c 7.5 wks, DIVF+TESE at ISIDA - son 08/06
FET ISIDA: 12.07.07 m/c 8 wks b.ovum, 17 Dec 2007- BFP triplets OMG!!!
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/1;20726;0/st/20080905/dt/6/k/7529/preg.png[/img]
Well girls, a few days away from the threads leaves a lot of catching up to do. Here goes................
Heather - Hi there . I agree with you about the injections - almost painless going in but takes a while and quite a push on the plunger to get the drug in. I think, certainly in my case, it is because the bore on the needle is so small that it takes a while. All things considered though a breeze compared to what I was expecting. Good luck with the rest.
Sandra - I'm sure you would be fine with the injecting. The thought of doing it is a squillion times worse than the real experience honest I take my buserelin in the mornings so I guess it's yet another thing that seems to differ widely from place to place. I'll be watching for your news .
Debra - all the best for your HCG tonight and the next day and a half. I'll be interested to read about your experience of EC. Thinking of you.
A quickie update.....
I've had 6th Buserelin today - so far so good. Waiting for AF any time now. As far as the chat on the scans goes, my clinic does scan on day 1 of stimms, day 6 and then day 9 or 10. More would be done if showing signs of OHSS. HCG given exactly 36 hours pre EC. That seems to be similar protocol to many of your clinics doesn't it.
Hi Everyone
Start injections of menopur on Tues. DH will be doing them, don't mind injections at all but not so keen to do them myself.
Good luck Debra, hope it works for you.
love Lisa xxxxx
I found the subcutaneous injections to be completely painless--the needles are so thin you don't even feel them (I used 27 gauge). Even the intramuscular shot in the butt, which I was using for progesterone up until two days ago, was fine. But interestingly, I started running again and the muscle where I received the last shot is killing me, much more than my other achey muscles! (I had stopped working out when I started stims, since I was worried about shaking up my precious ovaries--silly, I guess, but it was a good excuse to take a rest.)
Anyways, this is all indeed depressing and I am still dealing with the news that I'll never have a baby with my genes. But we're forging ahead with the plan to pursue an egg donor. DH got really into researching it and ordered two books, which will come soon. We have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow. The doctor says the best way to proceed is to arrange a donor privately rather than going through an agency. We need to put ads up in university newspapers and then any interested parties will contact our doctor, who will act as an intermediary so that there is full anonymity. We will need to pay about $5,000 to the donor as well as all medical and pharmaceutical costs, and a temporary health insurance policy. If nobody responds, we might work with an agency, which is much more expensive. But I like the idea of trying to find someone on campus. The amazing thing is that when a healthy young 20-something goes through the same process we do, the odds are upped to a 50%-plus success rate per IVF attempt (and 36% of the live births are twins!).
All the stuff I've read says you should give yourself time to grieve before embarking on the path of a donor egg, but I don't see the point. We've known my biological clock might be running down, and this hasn't been a total shock. Doing something about it actually helps me feel better. And a final consideration--and here's the part that I should probably see a shrink about--I've always had a lot of ambivalence about my own genes. I am a freak in my family--a liberal intellectual, competitive and a high achiever. I don't get along well with my family--they're mean people and they have lots of problems (depression--I have that too, violent temper, substance abuse, domestic abuse, hateful conservativism, obsessive cheapness, under-achieving couch potatoes). Who knows if any of this is genetic, but all I know is that my husband and his family are the happiest, warmest, most dynamic people I know. I know this sounds horrible, but in some ways this situation has resolved my fear that I will give birth to my mother, father, or brothers. Sorry if I offended anyone.
Anyways, I rambled again!
Bye,
Donne
Age: 40 me // 52 he
IUI in Oct '04--failed
IVF in Feb '05--failed
IVF with donor egg in July '05--SUCCESS!!!!!!!
Debra ... I don't know what bl**dy size the needles are, but they're toooo big to do it myself. I couldn't even contemplate it. Maci + BigJ - I can just about handle df doing it - when in fact, he's just as freaked as I am ! What a pair. Nevermind - we get through.
My place does u/s on day 1, 8 and 10 and HCG at 36 hours. Sounds about normal.
Hope your HCG goes okay tonight Debra. You said the stim hurt yesterday/Friday - it's funny because I've found it gets more painful as the shots go on. It's not as though I do it in the same place each day, but towards the end it does sting a lot more. (For those of you yet to inject I'm not trying to freak you - it doesn't hurt enough for you to worry about). It's your last one anyway - HOOOORAAAAH !!
Lisa - I start Tues too ..!
Sandra x
Me 41 yrs old - dh 49 yrs old. ttc 110 yrs.
1st cycle (ICSI)....Mar 04 -ve.
2nd cycle (ICSI)....Aug 04 -ve.
3rd cycle FET........May 05 -ve.
4th cycle (ICSI) ... Feb 06 -ve
5th cycle FET ..... Feb/Mar 11
Hi Girls - Sorry for not keeping up to date - I needed a day off yesterday and lots of fresh air
My 5 little follie are now 6 follies - one decided to turn up on the right side. But lets hope for a couple of more follies to show up with some good eggs My endo is looking really good at 11mm. I went for my final scan this morning and am scheduled for EC on Tuesday at 8:15.
Debra - looks like we will be in the same 2WW period. I also had my last Purogen on Saturday and need to do the HCG tonight at 22:30. I am a bit more nervous about this one. I need to mix myself and the needle looks a bit bigger
BigJ - I am actual an Ami married to a Brit living in Munich (a very long story). I have been living in Europe for about 10 years now - 8 in Munich and 2 years in Warsaw, Poland.
Christine - welcome!
Donna - My heart goes to you but you are a strong woman and will do what is right for you. You definitely have the right attitude and it will work out! I have stopped working out as well during stimming - and I just feel the urge to go out for a nice long run (always helps my mind I think more than my body ) btw: are you a professor at U.of Chicago?
I hope everyone is doing well and surviving the injections.
Traci
That's fantastic - not long to go now and then hopefully ....
The injection issue:
When I had my treatment I was given an auto-injector which was fantastic. DH decided to show me how to do it and being the coward that I am I found shutting my eyes, hiding behind a pillow and not actually looking was a far better solution
Then, the day came when he wasn't going to be back in time - 7.00 pm deadline approached and I was running around the house with the phone in one hand, injection ready in the other, telling him that he couldn't still be at work he had to be at home because it was TIME So, I had to do it myself - you know what, between you and me - I didn't feel a thing
When DH came home he asked how I was and I said I was just about living, the pain was terrible but I suppose I would make it - it worked, lovely flowers arrived the following day Bless him
To anyone taking the injections - good luck and fingers crossed that you have a pain-free experience.