I had my baseline this morning and I have even greater sympathy for your cyst now, Lady B! (and am so happy to hear that it's shrinking!!). When the tech was doing the u/s, she somehow pinched my skin (ouch! ). After I yelped in pain, she said I have a cyst near my left ovary. (Side note: techs usually tell me nothing. Do your ultrasound techs tell you guys what they see?).
Anyway, I came home and read every cyst posting on this site, causing me to worry about estrogen levels, cyst aspiration, cycle cancellation, etc. BUT the best part was that everyone seemed to feel cysts are normal, expected, and there were several people who had BFP's on a round with a cyst involved. Then my nurse called and said that everything is fine and there is no cyst, and I'm good to start stims on Monday as planned.
I am very grateful for this site and everyone's willingness to share their experiences!!!!
Grace
Me:36 DH:37
1st IVF: BFN
2nd IVF: BFP, had a m/c
3rd IVF: FET, BFP. Baby Girl born 10/13/09!!!
I am hoping to start my next cycle w/ my next period, which shoul arrive in about 1 week. The only thing that will prevent me from starting it then is if my insurance doesn't approve me in time. I am pretty confident that I will get approved, just not sure exactly when. If I don't get approved by next week, I will have to wait until the following period, which should be around Thanksgiving. (I am pretty regular about every 27-29 days).
this will be my 5th attempt. I am really hoping that it works this go around for 2 reasons. The first reason is that my insurance only usually approves 6 IVF cycles, so I am pretty much down to the wire. the other reason is that my doctor seemed to indicate that this might be the last one she tries on me. I am hoping that I respond well w/ this round so she and the insurance company would consider a 6th one if necessary.
Some things I am doing differently for this cycle to prepare. First of all, I am trying acupuncture. I never tried this before and I find it totatlly relaxing. I am hoping that it will assist in helping make better quality eggs, which seem to be my problem--poor responder and poor quality. Since I haven't done this before I am not sure if it will help in the end, but I feel confident that it will given some "success" stories I've read about.
I am also NOT going to do Lupron, which I have usually done in conjunction w/ either Follistom or Gonal-F (my insurance dropped Follistom as of July 1, so I have to switch to Gonal-F). this time I will be taking clomid (my 3 day fsh level were borderline normal--in June at 11 and in Oct. at 11.9. I was told that it should be under 10, but I was thinking about getting yet another opinion and the person I spoke w/ said it should be under 12. I guess different clinics have different #) Day 10 in Oct after taking clomid the number was at 7.8. I will also do Gonal-F and ganerelix. So hopefully this new regiment as a whole will be better for me.
Keeping my fingers crossed that I can start in the next week or so...
To Grace35: Techs don't do my sonograms, believe it or not, my doctor does ALL of my sonograms! Anyway, it makes it nice because he does talk to me about the results immediately. It is my understanding that cysts are pretty normal (especially the kind that I had). I think it took two weeks to go down. I started my Lupron injections on October 16. Anyway, I am THRILLED that you didn't have to wait on the cyst! Good luck with everything!
To Alittlegrace: Thank you! Yes, we very well might be on the 2ww (partially) together. Here's to lots of positive thinking and BFP baby dust!
Welcome kbat! I hope you are doing well. I have to say, I was amazed (and jealous!) that your insurance will cover 6 rounds - that is just wonderful.
How is everyone doing? I started stims and have my first u/s on Saturday morning. I haven't noticed much bloating yet, which is similar to my first round. I am on menopur now also, which I find painful to give. It seems to take awhile for all that 1 cc to get through the tiny needle! I've been icing my stomach first and that seems to help.
Everyone please keep us posted on your progress!
Me:36 DH:37
1st IVF: BFN
2nd IVF: BFP, had a m/c
3rd IVF: FET, BFP. Baby Girl born 10/13/09!!!
I'm new to this forum, but certainly not to infertility stuggles. I'm 39 DH is 44, double amputee and noncompliant diabetic, which has lead to problems... We started our journey about 8 yrs ago on an attempt of AI with donor sperm and clomid all three cyles BFN. Most recently 6/06 we did IUI & donorwith BFP on first attempt with clomid, however miscarried at 7 weeke, we tried again in 10/06 with Follistim and BFN and again in 11/06 with Follistim and BFP that was a chemical pg and miscarried in the beginning of 1/07.
Presently we did a Chomid challenge in 8/07, used donor sperm/IUI and BFN. 10/18/07 we started again, this time we are going IVF. My protocol is Lupron 20 and Follistim 300, 2 times a day.
So today is CD7 and I'm going looney with all this medication, working with my insurance-- making sure perscriptions are approved, my IVF coordinating nurse is making me nuts, and I'm feeling overwhelmed and ready to just throw in the towel. Tomorrow is more blood work and ultrasound. Currently I have only two follicles one on the left and one on the right --- hoping for a couple more. Estrogen level is at 99 on CD6.
Hoping for a buddy out there who can understand all these up's and down's. And take one day at a time with me.
Welcome, cindy71268! I hope things calm down for you. Although, I understand a little. I'm worrying about the meds, too. In fact, I seem to be worrying a lot. I worry that I'm messing up the meds. I'm worrying about the outcome, etc. I'm taken aback at how much pressure I'm starting to feel about everything, even things that I have absolutely no control over.
As for my IVF nurse, she's been fantastic so far. And I am very, very thankful for that. I really hope things get better with yours!
Anyway, I just wanted to say 'hi' and to let you know that you aren't alone. Good luck! -LadyB
Well, I am still waiting for AF to arrive. I am usually pretty much on time at about 28-29 days. Wed was day 28, so I was figuring I would get AF on Wed or Thurs. Every once in a blue moon I am about 3 days late, so hoping to get AF by the end of the week-end so I can start my regiment. I have all my meds. and will be starting a different regiment this time w/ clomid starting on day 2 (although if I get AF today, may end up be day 3) then going to Gonal-F and ganerilix. No lupron this time around. At least the clomid is just a tablet.
Good luck w/ you all, and once I get AF--hopefully in the next day or so--I will jump in w/ both feet.
Thanks so much for your reply. I'm so use to quick responses, that I felt a little alone until hearing from you.
Don't worry about messing up your meds. I know it's sometimes easier said then done, because you then start to think that you forgot something or took too little of the other. Sometimes, we just need to remember to breathe and take it one day at a time-- again sometimes easier said then done.
I had my u/s yesterday and bloodwork. My estrogen is doubling I'm now at 184. My left and right follicles are nearly the same. 10x13 and 10x12 and there is one little one that we're not counting on. It is possible that friday will be the retrieval, I'll probably know more by Monday -- I hope.
Cindy: Thanks for the encouraging words about the meds. My DH has been trying to tell me to relax, but that's much easier said than done!
I'll be thinking of you. Please keep us updated on everything, especially if you learn more on Monday! *sends you lots of happy and positive thoughts*
Hi Stephanievt97! I just ice my stomach for about 2 minutes, and that seems to do the job. I am finding that this menopur shot hurts more than the progesterone did, but maybe that's just me!! Nobody else has ever mentioned that it bothers them, so please don't worry... also, I am finding that with the numbness it's getting much easier.
Cindy, welcome! I'm sorry about the slow response. What a frustrating road you've traveled. Although this isn't quite your situation, I know someone whose husband is a paraplegic and although took many tries, they now have healthy twin boys via IVF. I can completely empathize with the insurance headaches and the bad coordinating nurse. I went through 4 pharmacies before I could track down the one covered by my insurance, and we had to delay cycle one because of it. Also, my coordinating nurse is VERY nasty. She is abrupt on the phone, irritated, and answers my questions very fast. Not to mention that when she called with my first BFN, her voice was cheery and happy and of course I thought she'd say it was a BFP. I tell myself that this is a means to an end, and that it is worth it because I do believe that I am at a good IVF clinic.
Speaking of which, I am on day 5 today. I had several follies on both sides, all under 10 except 1. But my estrogen was 947!! What the?? They said that usually that means a follie growth spurt is going to happen (I hope!!). Anyone else ever have this happen? They lowered my Follistim to 200 twice/day, and menopur is still 175.
Lady B, keep us posted, and I hope all goes well Sunday!
Grace
Me:36 DH:37
1st IVF: BFN
2nd IVF: BFP, had a m/c
3rd IVF: FET, BFP. Baby Girl born 10/13/09!!!
We all have our stories of the good, bad and ugly through this process. It's nice to share with you all and have the support, I so want and need.
Although it is Saturday, I was following up with my insurance co's pharmacy to make sure they had what was needed to finish processing my persciptions. Needless to say, again they didn't. Called Dr who is on call and he called twice and just a little while ago heard from my nurse, who was upset that I called again. I just feel like no one is following up and documenting things properly. I know somehow, someway it will be resolved and I'll get what I need. It's just crazy, when you want something so badly to go smoothly that there seems to be too many bumps in the road, especially when you should be relaxed.
Anywho.... Monday I will get things straight. I hope that each of us is successful and we can share in the good of it.
Finally got AF today--3 days late, which is very unusual for me. I can relate to the insurance issues and clinic/nurse issues. I am kind of stressed out by dealing w/ the nurse(s), but my nurse in particular. I am more stressed w/ dealing w/ the people than I am w/ just doing the meds and cycle. My nurse doesn't work on week-ends. The clinic I go to has several offices around. I have to call and leave a message on my nurse's line and on the week-ends the nurse that covers is supposed to check the messages and give you a call back. Usually on the week-ends the nurses are pretty good about getting back to you quickly and I find that they are usually better than my nurse. However, I called at 12:30 today and left a message saying that I got AF and that I would need instructions and/or make an appt for bloodwork and u/s for Day 2, which is tomorrow. My office doesn't do it on Sundays, so I have to drive about an hour to do this. But I needed to know if I had to go tomorrow if it could wait until MOnday, but either way I needed an appt. As long as you get your call in by 2, you should get a call back. By about 3:45, I was getting a little nervous about not getting a callback, that I called and left another message "just in case." By about 5:10, I still hadn't heard back so I call the oncall line and get a call back w/in a few minutes. I do have to go in tomorrow for sure. I was told that they had a lot of patients, but I wonder if I didn't call the pager number when I would get a call. Then I was told that my insurance had covered the IVF part, but the ICSI/Assisted hatching part was still pending. So, the nurse proceeds to tell me if I want to start, then stop meds in a few days after I talk w/ the financial office about getting the icsi part approved, then I could do that or get wait until my next period to start--which I would probably wait until Jan b/c we are going away in Dec and then have people over for the holidays--to hectic to wait another month. My insurance usually gives me a time limit as to when I need to finish a cycle. Then I asked if I could get some sort of target date. At the other clinic, we always got a target date, which we found helpful given my husband's job. At the old clinic, it wasn't a big deal to freeze the sperm a few days a head of time, but this clinic you have to do it at the beginning of the cycle. At this stage, we don't want to do it if we don't have to because of the cost and because we are down to our last one or two cycles.... At least if we had a ballpark idea when this could happen we could look at the whole week around the date to determine how many days my dh would be available or not and determine if we should just "s*ck it up" and get frozen sperm if there were a lot of days around the target date he would be unavailable. Anyway, the nurse couldn't even do that for me. She told me to call my nurse on Monday. i don't like my nurse because she has forgotten to call me on several key occassions, and she doesn't always answer the questions I ask--feel like she doesn't either pay attention to my question or doesn't understand them b/c her answers sometimes don't make sense. Also sometimes I feel that if I am asking questions, I am bothering her. but this is their jobs, so why can't they just do their jobs well? But I wonder if the nurse I originally spoke w/ today said something to another nurse because about 10 minutes later another nurse called and asked me if I had questions and we were able to get everything straightened out (she's going to call the insurance for me b/c I guess she had patients where the samething happened got approved for IVF and not ICSI and it was just an oversight on the insurance part) and she was able to give me an approximate time frame when the e/t would happen.... I like the doctor at this clinic better, but I like the nurses at the old clinic. I wish i could have the old nurses and the new doctor.
Anyway, sorry for the long post, but it's nice to vent. I hope that this cycle goes o.k. for me. At least now, I am on my way.
). After I yelped in pain, she said I have a cyst near my left ovary. (Side note: techs usually tell me nothing. Do your ultrasound techs tell you guys what they see?). 
I hope things calm down for you. Although, I understand a little. I'm worrying about the meds, too. In fact, I seem to be worrying a lot. I worry that I'm messing up the meds. I'm worrying about the outcome, etc. I'm taken aback at how much pressure I'm starting to feel about everything, even things that I have absolutely no control over.