Keep in touch August buddies!

[Sand]

Mia ... Do you really think there are any of us that think you are not already neurotic ? .... only joking

I, too, am on my first FET next time. I, too, wasn't happy about doing an FET rather than a fresh cycle, until we had an appointment at the hospital to discuss FETs. I must say that I feel really happy about it now. It seems that
* it will be a much easier / quicker cycle
* the embies are only as old as they were at date of EC last time
* if it doesn't work, can go again the following month (don't need to wait
3 AFs)
* once the embies have actually survived the thaw, they have just as
much chance of implanting and bedding down there, as fresh embies

... so, lets think positive Mia. I'm looking at it as an "extra", and Yes, April does sound fine ! Lots of PMA already ... PMA PMA PMA etc..

Sandra x

[Mia]

Sandra,

It is so funny. Every point you made I have made at least once in my talks with DH. So, ditto, ditto, ditto, and ditto. It is very exciting having a confirmed start date. I have spoken with DH and we agree April is a very good month to cycle.

Oh, and I am quite positive.
PMA!!!!!!

Mia

[AMITHIS]

Mia/Sandra,

Wishing you both luck in April! I will be keeping an eye out for your successful cycles.


I just got the results back from my scan and bloodwork today and things are moving along perfectly. My lining and estrogen levels are halfway there which is exactly where they should be right now. If things still look good at my appt. next Fri. then it looks like I will actually have my transfer on Jan. 26. I'm not used to things actually moving along according to schedule like this!


Staci

[Sand]

Staci..... that's really good news - that you're on schedule, and everything's going to plan. Keep up the good work, and I'll look out for your EC on 26th. I've got everything crossed for you this time Staci ...

Mia ... Yes, it's good to have a confirmed date. That's the only way I can really buckle down and plan, and be really strict with myself. I did 2 full cycles last year, and found it really hard going and tiring..... but what I didn't realise until after the 2nd cycle was how much flab I'd put on (all around the stomach). Horrible ! Of course, I've been meaning to do something about it ever since .. however, with looking after myself after the last -ve, lots on at work, ...then christmas...., a hol coming up, then treatment again in March/April (?), I've haven't really got the time ! I could do with Trace's personal trainer up here for a few weeks, to sort me out.

Sandra x

[wendy30]

Hi Ladies

Glad to hear you are all doing well,

Paige & Alicia, 12 weeks will pass in no time, its so exciting.

Staci, I am glad to hear you are on track

Mia, April sounds like a great month to go for FET.

Ellie, its great you've decided to try again.

Sand, where are you of to for your 3week holiday then?

I've not been on the board much, got fed up joining cycle groups then nothing happening, I've been injecting buserlin since 26 Nov and no joy, even doing 2 injections a day and have been since early december and womb lining is still 10mm. Got an appt on Tuesday for another scan and if nothing is happening then they will make me stop the drugs so we will then need to stop and rethink when to go again, am a wee bit fed up! Don't get me wrong FET is still, in my opinion, the best way but this is just down right frustrating!

Anyway hope you are all well.

Wendy

Speak to you soon

[Sand]

Hiya Wendy - Gosh, you must be real fed up. Injecting since 26 Nov ! You poor thing, that is such a long time, although I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that. I've fingers crossed for you that your scan tomorrow shows things are moving along. We're off to Cuba. My AF's due on the day we're due to fly back, so I'll probably be ringing the hospital from the airport to request treatment !

Good luck tomorrow !!

Sandra x

[Paige]

Staci:

Did you double your doses this week? If so, are you feeling ok?

Paige

[AMITHIS]

Hi Paige,

Yes, I've been on the increased dose for almost a week now and am feeling ok. Actually, I don't physically feel much different than I did on the smaller dose. I went in for a scan today and everything looks good so the transfer is going to be next Fri. This cycle has been so much easier than a fresh IVF. I could actually do another one of these without hesitation. A fresh IVF is a different story!

The bad news is we had to tell the Dr. today how we wanted to go about thawing our embryos. We have 7 and they are frozen in straws of 3 and 4. They are all morulas so he also wanted to know if we wanted to thaw them right before the transfer (in which case we'd have no way of knowing if they even continued to develop once they transferred them) or if we wanted to thaw them out the night before in an attempt to get them to blastocysts. Well, DH was for the latter and thought we should use the 3. I went along with that and the Dr. seemed to think it was reasonable but now I'm wondering if that is being too aggressive. I'm really worried that we'll end up with nothing to transfer. I asked if they could thaw the 4 same day and transfer them if none of the 3 make it, but they told me they couldn't. I'd have to do another whole cycle from the beginning in order to use the 4.

I'm so confused and I kind of have a sinking feeling about this whole thing!

Anyway, how are you doing?


Wendy,

How did your appt. go?


Staci

[Paige]

Staci:

Hmmmm, if you thawed the 4 out instead of the 3 embyros and they all were growing overnight, can you refreeze any that you might not put back? Or is freezing 2xs not done?
I think I'd personally go with thawing the 4, just to increase the odds of having a couple of them grow overnight and survive the thaw. Then again, your 3 might all make it overnight and grow as well! It's so hard to make these decisions.
We were really torn on whether to put back 2 or 3 embryos during my transfer. My husband said 2 and I decided on 3. It was weird because my clinic brought out pictures of the embryos....of the ones we put back 2 were 8 cell and one was 7 cell. The 7 cell had the least fragmentation, but all were good grade 1 and 2s. I'm glad we put back 3, because I swear the 7 cell embryo was the on that implanted because it's a girl. The girl embryos grow a bit slower than the male embryos. Who knows...there is no way to tell which one actually implanted. I guess the moral of the story is to go with your gut feeling or any inuition that you might have.

My fingers, toes and legs are crossed for you!

Paige

[alicia]

Staci,

These decisions are so hard! Our doctor convinced us to transfer 2 or 3 embies, even though I'm 38 and our first attempt with 3 embies failed. I wanted to go for 4, but he convinced me not to. After they thawed the 3 of them, only 2 really looked viable at all. I was beginning to doubt the doctor's advice. He had been worried about triplets. Now that I have the two boys in there, thank goodness there are not three of them! I guess he was right.

I'm suprised they freeze them in 3 and 4s. Our clinic freezes them in 2s, so it is a little more granular. We still have 2 frosties - both 7 cell.

I would probably agree to go with the 3 if it were me. You could still get twins. Even if only 1 made it through the thaw, they would still go ahead with ET, I believe. Then you would still have the 4 for a second child!

I wish you success and not too much struggle in making all the decisions that come with the territory.

Alicia

[AMITHIS]

Paige and Alicia,

Thanks for your views....both of which make perfect sense. If I was a really optimistic person, I guess I could look at it as either choice having plenty of potential to work but, after a few years of dealing with infertility, my reserves of optimism are running very low. I find myself just dwelling on every possible thing that could go wrong! I'm sure you can both relate to that.

This sounds stupid to say from someone who wants a child so badly but I'm very fearful of multiples. At the same time, I don't want to let that fear make me so conservative that I minimize my chances of having one. I know DH will push for me to put 3 (or even 4 ) back if that many were to actually make it and I would probably feel compelled to go along with him since I don't feel like we can reasonably afford to discard potentially viable embryos. I also know he is not that afraid of the idea of twins whereas I am (I guess it's the reverse situation of most couples).

I'm kind of annoyed with my clinic for a lot of things at this point. For one, as you pointed out Alicia, most clinics seem to freeze the embryos in the smallest divisions possible. I think they should have frozen the 4 as 2/2.
Paige, you asked about refreezing. Well, that is another thing I'm not happy about. They won't refreeze. I know refreezing is possible since I've read of many other clinics doing it. In addition, I still don't understand why they can't thaw the other batch for me same day and just do that transfer without going to blast if none of the first batch make it. I could swear I've read of other clinics using one straw first then moving on to the next one(s) as needed to get enough for the transfer. I just can't believe I will have to do an entirely new cycle. I suppose these are all things I should have looked into before using this clinic but I really didn't have options since it is the only one within reasonable driving distance.

Anyway, I'm sort of leaning of going with the 4 at this point so as to give myself the best odds first. I have to think it would be pretty unlikely for all 4 to survive the thaw and make it to blast....especially since they were developing more slowly than average to begin with. I also can't stand the thought of getting a phone call Friday morning telling me there won't be a transfer. Knowing me, I'll probably change my mind several more times before the weekend is over though.
I'd actually be quite happy with one good blast so maybe the 3 would suffice (see? Changing my mind already!)

Thanks again to both of you. I really can't talk with DH about this anymore as he is too frustrated with my indecision at this point!

Staci

[Paige]

Staci:

So what is your decision-making deadline? Do you have to tell the clinic by Wed or Thur am? It's A LOT to think about! Though I am glad that the FET has been much easier on you physically and mentally (mentally until this point right???). Keep us posted with your thought process....sometimes it helps just to be able to write it down.

We received 12 inches of snow last night and it's still coming down. Just in time for my daugher's 5th birthday rollerskating party today. I hope atleast a couple of the kids come out and brave the weather!

Thinking of you,

Paige

[Sand]

Staci ... My hospital's told me the same, in so much as if the embies don't survive the thaw, that's the end of the cycle.

Further embies can't be thawed for that cycle. They said this was because a second set of thawed embies would be too far behind my body's natural state, in terms of my cycle. How long can it take to thaw an embi for goodness sake ...?!

Sandra x

[AMITHIS]

Paige,

I don't miss that snow!!

Sand,

That was the same sort of reasoning my clinic gave me yet I keep reading that it only takes 20 minutes to a max. of 2 hours (when they are blasts) to thaw them. If they really wanted to, I would think they could thaw them and just have me come back later in the day. I can only think that the main reason is really just that they aren't willing to be flexible enough to alter their schedule. So frustrating!

Staci

[AMITHIS]

Well, I went over the whole thing with DH again last night and he remains convinced that we should use the 3 and go to blast. I still don't fully understand his reasoning but gathered that part of it is due to the fact that he wants to feel like we have our best chance left so we won't be too crushed if this attempt doesn't work. As far as going to blast, I think he wants to know if the problem is likely the embryos or something going on with me after they transfer them.

From my perspective (as the one who is going through the whole process!!), it makes more sense to use our best chance first because then, if it did work, we wouldn't even need to do another cycle unless we decided to try for another at some point. In addition, if we are down to super slim odds, I'd prefer to know it sooner rather than later so we can start figuring out what our next step will be and just move on.

At any rate, we are clearly not on the same page and a childish part of me just feels like going along with what he thinks is right so that I can partially blame him if there ends up being nothing to transfer this time!
From a more rational perspective, it seems like he feels really strongly about his choice whereas I'm still wavering back and forth so much that I'm starting to think maybe it's only fair to do what he wants since he at least seems to know for sure what he wants. SIGH!!

I guess, as of this moment, it looks like we'll be going with the 3 and taking them to blast. I think I just need to start getting myself mentally prepared for a phone call Friday morning telling me there's nothing to transfer. I'm glad I at least have a late morning appt. so that they'll call me. I think it would be harder actually getting there and having them tell me.

Staci