Summer Board 2011

[LYD10]

Forgive my lack of personals but I'm on my phone outside of work and I'm a little freaked out. I got a call from my re and he said my dh has low sperm morphology at 2% and recommends icsi. He left a msg so I couldn't ask questions. I know what icsi is, but what does it do? Is it safe? Are we playing creator by picking the sperm? If the dr picks the sperm why can't the healthy sperm penetrate the egg? I know that. It is very new...and I'm just even more scared than I was before. Is there something my dh can do to increase morphology? Thanks

ICSI is perfectly safe. they simply pick the best looking sperm and insert them inside your eggs. that's how they deal with male factor (low morphology, etc). we have MF and ICSI is our only hope and has worked for us once.

[moorebaby]

WeHaveHope- I'm so sorry sweetie! I was really praying & hoping that it was due to a lost twin. I wish there was something I could do or say. I feel so bad. It is a reminder of my 1st cycle- the highest high & then the lowest low. Please take all the time you need to regroup...focus on you & DH...do whatever it is you need. Please know we are here for you! (((HUGS)))

[moorebaby]

Hi ladies! Well, I got a call from a nurse from my RE's office. B/w looks good (I'm assuming since I didn't ask for #s), so I'm good to start stimming tonight...woohoo!!! I decrease Lupron from 10u/night to 5u/night. Tonight, I start Doxycycline, which I will take 1/night & 1/morning, & Gonal-f, which I will be injecting 75u/night & 112.5u/morning. I go back for a SnS on Tuesday morning. I think ER will be no later than the 19th. I looked back at my last cycle...I started stims on a Friday also & had my ER exactly 2 weeks later. The only difference was that I was on Follistim instead of Gonal-f. So, I'm not sure how I will react to Gonal-f, but I know it's pretty much the same thing as Follistim. So, my bet is that ER will be between the 17th & 19th...maybe the 16th if I react really fast. I think the shortest time I've ever stimmed for was 11 days & the most was 14 days.

DH & I are going to hang out by the shoreline (about 40 minutes away from where we live)...walk the puppy & get some dinner outside...maybe ice cream, lol....yummy!

[moorebaby]

UPDATE NEEDED…

-tuffy4u- ER on 7.20/ET on 7.25/BETA on 8.3




-kerpupples- deciding between IUI w/ DS or another IVF
-blueeyedreamer- AF due around 8.1/then 5 weeks of BCPs/then 2 weeks of Estrogen patches/will be doing an FET at the end of September
-Yasmina710-
-Kiminsh- RE appointment on 8.16 to discuss endometrial biopsy done on 8.4
-miyaya- start mid-August after AF arrives
-kbillsy- IVF w/ DE in late August or beginning of September
-mandarae- on BCPs until 8.11/start stims on 8.15/ET at the end of August
-MadameX- on BCPs/hopefully will start meds on 8.12
-amanda1979 (Amanda)- had ER on 7.26/froze 5 embabies & have 2 frozen donor embabies/FET in October
-mcast- appointment w/ RE on 8.4/fresh cycle in the fall
-Lauren319- on BCPs until 8.10/HSS on 8.10/hopefully will start Lupron on 8.10
-teachergirl (Krissy)-
-akdelp (Kerri)- waiting for AF (hopefully by the end of August)
-BrandyB- waiting for AF & then IUI
-akdelp (Kerri)- cycling in the fall





-Sunshine1576 (Christy)- on Follistim as of 7.28/IUI maybe on 8.7 or 8.8
-nicksgam- on stims as of 7.30/ER on 8.10/ET on 8.13
-Ninde- on stims as of 8.3
-moorebaby (Ester)- on Lupron as of 7.23/on Gonal-f as of 8.5/ER should be no later than 8.19/ET should be no later than 8.24






-Lauren- ER on 7.24/ET on 7.27/BETA on 8.8
-Prayernpies- ER on 7.26/ET on 7.28/BETA on 8.9
-LYD10 (Lydia)- FET on 7.29/BETA on 8.10
-MaTina LI (Tina)- FET on 7.30/BETA on 8.12

RESULTS


-sunshine.12- BETAS: #1- 61, #2- 151
-NancyB (Nancy)- FET on 5.31/BETAS on 6.13- 465, on 6.15- 1,160, on 6.17- 2,656
-RMB- BETAS on 6.15- 143, on 6.17- 671, on 6.20- 1,808
-Alleykittie
-Dreams2009- ER on 6.14/ET on 6.19/BETAS on 7.1- 248, on 7.5- 772, on 7.8- 2,253
-easley4- ET on 6.25/BFP on HPT on 6.30!!!/BETAS on 7.5- 88, on 7.7- 220
-Kbanks- ET on 6.27/BFP on HPT on 7.3!!!/BETAS on 7.5- 151, on 7.7- 351
-JerseyGirl- FET on 6.30/BETAS on 7.9- 79, on 7.11- 135, on 7.18- 1,556
-Alwaysangel- ER on 7.5/ET on 7.10/ BFP on HPT on 7.17/BETAS on 7.19- 208, on 7.21- 512, on 7.27- 5,795, on 7.31- 22,000
-longtimerivf- FET on 7.8/BFP on HPT on 7.16/BETAS on 7.19- 428, on 7.21- 866, on 7.25- 2,549
-WeHaveHope- FET on 7.20/BFP on HPT on 7.24!!!/BETAS on 7.29- 275, on 8.2- 1,513, on 8.4- 1,238, on 8.5- 712
-Wishingandhoping- FET on 7.21/BFP on HPT on 7.26!!!/BETAS on 8.1- 980, on 8.4- 2,565, on 8.8-

Wishing you on your journey

-blueeyedreamer
-WndrGrl
-tryn4#2
-BrandyB
-fruit
-anton
-fvrogers (Felicia)



-akdelp (Kerri)

[Madame X]

Wehavehope-- Sorry this is happening it is just so upsetting especially after going through so much....

[Ninde]

Hi everyone

Madame x: Thats great you can start soon! And thank you, spotting has definately slowed down.

Sunshine: Those follicles sound great and hopefully they will know they have done quite enough work now and are big enough!

Dream2009: Its so lovely to hear some good news

Lauren: Yep, spotting seems to be calming. Because it was much less today I didn't call the nurse but if it starts again I will. I'm glad your dh liked Ireland, genuinely its a fun place (even with recession!) Where did he get to in Ireland?

Kim: How are you now after your biopsy?

Easley: Fantastic news!!!

Mandarae: I'm also doing the ICSI protocol. My husband has Multiple Sclerosis and his fertility has been seriously compromised by the drugs he has to take. They just do a little more work in the lab, but other than that its pretty much the same procedure for you for all intents and purposes. But if you wern't expecting it I can imagine you would be freaking out. But honestly, its fine (apart from more expensive!).

Fruit: How are you doing?

Wehavehope: How are you now? Have you had a chance to rest and drink some fluids? Has your RE called? I am praying freverantly for you.

Lyd10: How are you doing? That bloody progesterone sounds awful. I know I can't speak as I have no experience about this but there seems to have been a number of people who said they didn't feel anything either and they were still pregnant. I'm really hoping thats the way it is for you too.

Moorebaby: YOur evening sounds lovely!!!

Wishing: How are you?

Afm: pelvis and hip much better after Osteo Now, I'm just trying to deal with my best friend who I thought understood the whole IVF thing was important to me and who is doing her utmost to ignore its even happening! I mustn't have had quite enough water today because I have a fairly banging headache but other than that I'm feeling quite good. I have my second scan on Tue where they will measure the follicles so hopefully I will have some idea at that point if the drugs are working. I have an identical twin sister who has done a lot of IVF, only one moved to a pregnancy but she miscarried. She overstimmed twice and eventually lost an ovary due to ovarian tortion as a result of the final ivf. I've just mentioned it to my doctor and hopefully they will keep a good eye on any chance of over-stimming. By the way, can someone explain the term 'RE' to me?!

RIght, off to bed!

Goodnight everyone and sending you all really positive good vibes.

Ninde

[margi26]

Crashing again--hope y'all don't mind me dropping in regularly....

Christy: Congratulations!!! Woohoo this IUI is going great! You must be thrilled.

Ester: So excited for your start! Great AFC. I actually prefer Gonal-F. Besides being easier to administer with the pen, I seem to respond better to it, even though they say it is the same as Follistim. Who knows, though, maybe it was all in my head! Regardless this is going to be an awesome cycle for you--I know it!! Enjoy the shoreline--I am jealous.

Lydia: I see that you are hitting Crazytown hard. Remember no two pregnancies are alike. You can have "symptoms" or no "symptoms" and still be preggo....hang in there....you still have a while until beta day!

Someone asked about ICSI. Definitely no worries there--and if there is a reason for it, insurance will cover. If you are self-pay, it is a bit more expensive, but perfectly safe and sometimes the only way to insure fertilization. In fact, one of the RE's we used just did it routinely regardless of morphology--although in retrospect that does seem a bit odd.

Ninde: RE is "Reproductive Endocrinologist" And overstimming is no joke--I was hospitalized with OHSS....hopefully your RE will keep a good eye on you knowing your sister's history.

Baby Dust to all of you fabulous women this weekend!!

[Wishingandhoping]

Wehavehope- I'm so sorry that you are going through this pain right now. What is the RE recommending? I know there are no words to make this better, but please know that we are all here for you. I'll keep praying for you and your DH. (((Hugs)))

Ester- Congrats on starting stims! Your AFC sounds great!

Lyd10- Don't read too much into symptoms! That BFP is coming!

DH is saying we need to leave for dinner right now...friends waiting. Will do more personals later.

[WeHaveHope]

My dearest friends,
First of all I want to thank each and everyone of you ladies for being there for me through my darkest hours. The last 48 hours have been a rollercoaster unlike any other. I went from feeling at my highest thinking I was carrying twins to most likely loosing both. I will keep this a bit short as I am exhausted from these past few days. Not physically but emotionally and mentally exhausted. I went today for the repeat Beta and unfortunately it had gone down to the 700's. My RE and i discussed it and i will continue on my meds until Monday. This way we can feel comfertable that we did not stop the meds too early. Unfortunately, I know in my heart that the Beta will be lower on Monday meaning that I did in fact have a miscarriage of both.  My RE is certain that both embabies attached because of the elevated Beta levels. My RE is baffled as we are as we are. With a first Beta of 275 and then a second Beta of 1,513 we were sure that all was progressing. But we were wrong. My RE is not optimistic at this point. He does not believe that this is going to turn around and end in a viable pregnancy. And I agree. I felt pregnant the last two weeks. I know it's weird but I did. I no longer feel pregnant. And when I saw the two little clots I knew my pregnancy had come to an early end. I have cried nonstop the last two days. This felt like we were so close to bringing home that baby or babies we have longed for such a long time. We have decided to continue the meds until Monday. I will go in for one more Beta. If the result is what I know and feel in my heart it is going to be then we are at the end of this road. For the first time today I was able to ask questions and think about moving forward.  My RE explained that we will have to wait until my Hcg levels go back to zero and that nay take several weeks.  Then AF will presumably come and we can start the process all over again. We talked about progesterone and the vaginal suppositories and I have requested to increase to three or four suppositories per day instead of two. Maybe it was the progesterone levels. Maybe it was something else but we will never know. Hoping and praying that my babies stay with me for 9 months next time. We so much desire this. 
I don't know if any of you believe in spirits but I will share with you a story. I few years ago I woke up in the middle of the night to find a glowing white figure flying over my bed. You would think that I would have been terrified out of my mind but I was not. There was something very soothing and familiar about this light. The next day I received a phone call that a very good friend of mine had been killed the night before about the same time that I had my experience. My friend had been talking about leaving her husband for years and that night was like many nights were she was planning on leaving again. This time her husband became infuriated and shot her in the head twice from behind with her two small children in the house. I believe that she came to visit me that night. She was such a gentle sprit and that is exactly what I felt that night. I tell you this because my miscarriage was on Wednesday. On Tueday morning I told my husband that on Monday night I had felt someone kiss my cheek gently in the middle of the night. Again something that would ordinarily scare someone did not scare me. I felt like it was very gentle and loving. On Tuesday night or early Wednesay morning I woke up to a male and female figure in my bedroom. I was not frightened it was calming in every sense. They did not stay long and then visited me once more before the sun came up.  I tell you this because I believe that these were angles coming to take care of my two little angles. No one can tell me any different. I believe they visited me so that I would feel a sense of peace in my heart that my little ones were going to be taken care of. I never met them, never even felt them, but loved them with every fiber of my being and always will.

[LYD10]

Oh Margie - i am definitely in Crazytown! heck - i am the mayor of Crazytown

Christy - your results sound great! i wonder if you should convert it to ivf? simply because when they dont take the follicles out your estrogen goes even higher than when they do. so for the number of follicles you have - its safer to take them out and fertilize them outside. my estrogen tends to go pretty high. during ivf i am usually around 5000. but during my 1 iui attempt it was close to 8000. when estrogen is that high - for some people its not good implantation environment. if you convert to iui then you can freeze everything if your estrogen goes real high. anyway - just my 2 cents. but i am a FET pusher. i think its better to transfer onto endometrium not messed up by stims.

[riogirl71]

Mandarae we have two perfect children from ivf and icsi, with. That low count you need icsi or the fertilization might not occur. My dh took male vitamins and coq10 to increase his numbers.

Moore this is your lucky one!

[LYD10]

another negative HPT... my embies were thawed last thursday and there were 3 and 2 days at that time. so what is today? 8 days plus 3d embie or 8days plus 2d embie - 11 or 10 days post ovulation. its getting to the point where it should start showing up.
depressing stuff.
oh yeah and my husband just found out that his high school friend is just gave birth to kid #6. and she is 41! man, to some people it comes so easy!

[Ninde]

Wehavehope : I'm so very sorry. You are an incredibly brave woman. And what you spoke about in terms of the experience you had with your friend's spirit and the male and female energy you saw and felt I utterly get. I think all came to you to bring you some comfort in both very sad times. And I'm really glad they did.
Lyd10: how are you today?
Ninde

[mandarae]

Hi Ladies-

Wehavehope- I'm so sorry to hear about your decreasing Beta numbers. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Your story gave me some serious chills. It brought tears to my eyes. I lost my best friend in 2003 and I have hoped to get to "see" her one last time..still waiting! Stay strong.

LYD-Try to stay positive. I can only imagine how hard it must be. I'm so not looking forward to the 2ww. You're husbands friend isn't from NY is she? I know someone who just had #6 and is 41 too! Thanks for the icsi reply.

Anton- So sorry about your BFN. You always seem so energetic and positive. I hope that you continue to stay this way.

Fvrogers- Sorry to hear about your BFN

Riogirl and Margi- Thanks for the reply on icsi. It makes me feel better to see that you both have done it and have perfectly healthy children.

Moorebaby- congrats on getting started! Only 40 min. from the shoreline? I'm so jealous. Water is so relaxing and peaceful. Hope you had a nice time.

Sunshine- WTG on 6 follies! I'm new to ivf so I'm not exactly sure what everything means and what is good or bad, but happy for you!

Lauren- try to stay positive. I know it's easy for me to say, but having a pma is really important.

Easley- Congrats on a great u/s!! You must be so happy!!

AFM- I know I freaked on the icsi call. It was a serious curveball for me. So far everything had been nothing, but positive for me, until the dreaded phone call. DH and I have children via natural pregnancy so it's obvious there was never an issue before...why now? I have so many questions. He abstained for over a week..could that affect his morphology? Can they retest the day of retrieval? I know I read wayyy too much on the internet and have read about the higher percentage of abnormalities, etc. Does icsi, compared to reg. ivf, lower your pg percentage rate? I have read about a fertility blend for men, anyone try it? Sorry for the barrage of questions and if I left anyone out. I hope everyone has a great day!

[Lauren]

We- I am so sad for you I really am. I dont know what to say. I dont understand this either and I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers...

Lyd-I hear ya! so frustrating! I delievr babies and I struggle at times with it..maybe need a new job!

Morre-Hope stims went well!

AFM-I kinda have a cold...not feeling too well...head hurts nose was stuffy and kinda scratchy throat. Another BFN today...my Poor DH we were at the store and he was like babe I saw like 5 pregnant women...its a sign! I said I wish..he is so positive and i feel guilty bc Im not:( I just feel like if it had worked the POAS would be positive by now...my beta wouldve been tomorrow..ugh well if it doesnt work we are done. We've decided that...baby dust to all