The Over 40 Crowd

[AMck]

Hi ladies
Just wanted to pop in and say hello. Welcome Chris to this amazing site. The ladies here are truly fantastic and kept me sane last year.

I haven't posted much lately but have been lurking and trying to keep up with all the news. Good to see you post Sonix, best of luck with your next cycle.

Anyway, PMA to all here at whichever stage of tmt you are at.....

Hello to Kat and Bev (where are you?, hope all is well)

Hi to Yasmina, Kim, Jen, Catharine, Tammy and all lovely ladies here
Keep the faith, dreams do come true

Hugs Anna x

[babyblue]

Chriss,

So nice to hear the good news you got. Sounds like things are going good. You will be in my prayers Wednesday for your EC. Sending lots of sticky baby dust your way. Grow follies grow!!

Yasmina, sorry to hear that Eloise caught a cold. Daycares are notorious for just about every cold, flu, or virus. So glad she is adapting to daycare and likes it.

Catharine, how is the 2ww going? Do you have to be bedfast for 4 days or at all? Make sure you take it easy and no stressful thoughts. Only visions and dreams of pink and blue.

Sonia, yes the E2 patches do sound much easier than the shots. Are you in the US? Your profile mentions DE abroad, so wasn't sure if you were in the US or not. Seems as though most of the ladies outside the US are using the E2 patches and most of those of us in the US are getting the shots. I'm really surprised that they are building your lining without your donor already established and started with stimms. For example, my donor will start her downregging on 8/27 and I don't start downregging until 9/16. Guess that is why there are so many REs and clinics doing this.

JenB, how have you been with your visitors? Wore out or ready to tackle the world? AF is close, I'll be jiggin for you this week. Looks like we will be two weeks apart on our AF start. Once you get started, I know that I'm not too far behind.

Have a great day everyone,
Kim

[Catharine]

Hey All-
Wishing everyone well.
2ww going well, have general abdomenal discomfort. Muscles feel weird.
not much at work happening.

trying to keep PMA.

Catharine

[chriss]

Hi everyone,

Just a quick mention, I had EC today and they were able to get three eggs. Now I wait till tomorrow to hear the news. I hope that you are all doing well. Thanks again for the great support. I couldn't do it without you. Have a geat day.-chriss

[babyblue]

Oh Chriss that is GREAT news!!! Grow embies grow!! Keep us posted as to embies and when you will do ET.

Love
Kim

[Kiwi expat]

Hi ladies - just wondering if I can crash your party...!

I'm new to the boards and have been on this ivf rollercoaster for over 3 long and rather sad years now. I'm 40 years old and received that wonderful diagnosis of 'unexplained infertility' which I've taken to interpret as just plain old age!

I have posted this question on DHEA protocols in the General forum where Amy found me lurking and she invited me here to get find more answers (hopefully!)

Even though I am really fortunate to have a great doctor, the use of DHEA is unheard of in my part of the world. But after surfing these boards and doing a bit of research of my own I've been given the go ahead by my doc and Chinese herbalist to "go for it"! Problem is, I'm not sure of the dosage of how long to take it for, and any side effects, reactions to other supplements I'm taking etc. etc. I'm hoping a few of you have had some experience on DHEA and are willing to share your protocols with me.

Specifically, how many weeks does your doctors recommend you take it for leading up to your IVF cycle? At what dosage? When do you stop it before commencing your treatment? Can you take it with Chinese herbs leading up to your cycle? Can you use it for FET cycles as well? Any successes for anyone women out there (or in your clinic) having used DHEA prior to IVF?

Any answers would be most welcome and reassuring that I'm on the right track.
cheers,
Andrea

[chriss]

Hi Andrea,
welcome to the thread. Everyone here is so nice and encouraging and we understand where you are at. We are all 40 and over. I too am curious about ways to improve response to FSH shots. Please share all that you find out.

Yesterday was EC, three eggs. Now I wait. I want to know when it is time to go to DE. Am I fighting a lost cause here? I only had four follicles and my FSH was pretty high. THis is my first IVF. My doc seems to think because I am at the max dosage for stims, I will probably respond the same if there's a next time. I want to keep trying, but is it advisable? Can it work with so few eggs at my age? I am feeling depressed. Sorry to bum you all out. I don't know where else to turn right now.

Thanks for the welcome anna. Thanks for the positive thoughts Kim. Thinking of you Catharine. How much longer do you have to wait? Have a good day everyone. I'll let you know the news when I get the call today.-chriss

[taylorjools]

Hi ladies

so good to see this thread thriving! It kept me sane and helped me get to our son Joshua by not giving up.

sadly I am now miscarrying at 8 weeks. We are disappointed but we also understand that we never saaw a fetus or heartbeat so little one was long gone to heaven before even our 5 weeks scan. The cause of this is almost certainly genetic defect, which happens, and in our case highly likely to be related to dh sperm as these frozen eggs were fertilised with ejaculate sperm and not TESE pserm as Joshua's egg was, and my body was still carrying the prgnancy ( am doing medically assisted evacuation right now ouch!) so it shows that hte protocol from ISIDA works well for me.

since we have been pregnant with each donor IVF, and the two miscarriages are totally unrelated, we are very positive and will be giving it one more shot in November with a fesh donor cycle, new donor (old one doesnt want to donate again) and most certainly only TESE sperm (dh has hich levels of antibodies in ejaulate that cause some sperm damage).

sorry to post bad news, love and baby dust to all!

ps it is good to challenge young immune systems, they showed in germany a higher level of childhood lukemia in west germany than east before the wall came down. The level in east went up after the wall come down as the lifestyle neared the western style. it has now been linked to the east german babies going into compulsory daycare resulting in more childhood stuff like colds etc, and the west german (read west in general) "over sterilised environment" as not challenging enough. it was a bbc documentary I saw once, so I take josji to as many playgrous and baby swim etc as I can! I guess with 4 dogs his immune system is pretty good! Joolsx

[teachertam]

Big J,

So sorry to hear your bad news. I'm glad to hear that you are going to try again. Take care of yourself.

Chriss: Congrats on your 3 eggs!!

Andrea: Welcome to our site.

Hello to everyone else.

Tammy

[Kat]

Hi Ladies

I'm still here, just not posting much these days, can't quite let go...

Jools - what can I say, my heart goes out to you but you seem to be doing OK and thinking about the future and I know you'll come out the other end.

Yasmina and Tammy - what lovely happy family pictures, please keep sharing

Chriss - I never got many eggs with my own eggs or with donor but still had embryos to transfer and with my first DE cycle I did get pg after transferring 2 out of only 3, so it can happen. As they say, it only takes one and you got 3 - hope you have good news re the fertilisation. The when to go to DE question is not an easy one. I was told I would have less than 5% chance with my own eggs as I responded so poorly to stims with my own eggs and after 6 cycles that was enough trying. It's not an easy decision though and took me a while to get my head round.
I'm not sure if the fact my remaining frozen embryos do not have my genes makes it easier or harder to let them go. But that decision doesn't have to be made quite yet so I still have my head stuck firmly in the sand on that one

Good to see you posting Anna - hope Matthew is thriving

Kim - re the patches and the injections - I had patches in Spain but injections in the UK so maybe it is a mainland Europe thing, who knows why they choose different means.

Hi Andrea - welcome to the site. Where are you based? I have no experience of DHEA so can't help there but I am sure someone will have some answers for you.

Jen - is that you on photobucket with a large amount of booze stacked up behind you??! If I get round to it I'll post a picture of the new slimline me on there... size 10 jeans for the first time in about 20 years! (for you US girls that's a size 6 and I am sooo pleased!)

Hi to everyone else too
Love
Kat xx

[Kiwi expat]

Hi girls - wow, alot going on here! Thanks for the welcome on board.

Chriss - in my post on the general board, I mentioned a website where I found a research paper on DHEA. It's by Barad D and Gleicher N from the Centre for Human Reproduction in New York and they did a study last year on the "Effect of DHEA on ocyte and embryo yields and cell number in IVF". Their conclusion was that there are "beneficial effects of DHEA supplementation on ovarian function in women with diminished ovarian reserve".

Go to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Key in the words DHEA and IVF and it will take you to the latest research papers

I showed this paper to my doctor and he said it was a credible source but the study was still in it's infancy (2006), and it didn't show whether the eggs retrieved were of good quality or resulted in any live births (How to dampen your enthusiasm!) Anyway, I am determined to pursue it on my own and will be the first patient in his clinic to do so. So I desparately need a bit of guidance now if any of you girls out there have any experience of this...!

Kat - I am based in Singapore at the moment and although they are pushing to become a 'medical hub' for Asia, many of the treatments everyone chats about (such as genetic testing etc) are illegal which is really fustrating. I found you can't even buy DHEA here because it is a banned steroid, so I had to go to an endocrinologist specialist (just what I need - another doctor!) to get it on prescription.

Anyway, it's great that I have some people to share all this nonsense with. Many of my friends would just 'glaze over' if I brought this up over a drink at the pub on a Friday night! Speaking of which - have a good weekend everyone!
Andrea

[chriss]

Hi everyone.

Taylorjooles, so sorry to hear your news. I know it's not easy. I'm thinking of you.

Kim,Andrea, Tam & Kat - thanks for the advice.
Andrea, keep us posted on the DHEA

Catherine, how's the 2ww? How much longer?

I got the call yesterday that two of the three eggs fertilized. We did ICSI. The transfer is set for Saturday. We can call today to see how the embryos are doing. We did the progesterone shot for the first time last night and it wasn't sooooo bad. I was so worried about it. I cried a lot yesterday but feel a bit better today. What are your personal recommendations about how to carry on after the transfer? Bed rest? How long, etc. Thanks guys. I love this thread. Good luck to everyone and have a great day. - chriss

[Kat]

Chris - well done for the 2 embryos - the bedrest recommendations seem to vary from clinic to clinic - I rested for 2 days the cycle I got pg, (when I say rested I mean I tried to rest as I don't like staying put for long)- I didn't rest the other times. Some say to carry on as normal. I think you need to do whatever you feel comfortable with, I really don't think there is a definitive answer.

Andrea - my sister lives in Singapore and I love it! So much to do and see that people don't realise, just a nice place to be. She teaches there, as does her husband. I wish I could visit her more often but I try to get there once a year, I was there in June this time round.

Have a lovely weekend everyone
Kat xx

[teachertam]

***************************
Successful Mummies Given Birth:
***************************
Bev-baby William ( Wills) born 23rd January 07 DE
Birth weight 5lb 12 oz's - 21wks old 15lbs 2 oz

Tammy- baby Andrew born 28th Feb 07 natural preg.
Birth weight 8 lb 7 oz - 4 months old 16 lb 14 oz, 26 1/4" long
6 months old 18 lb 14 oz, 27 1/2" long

Yasmina -baby Eloise born Feb. 20, 2007.
Birth weight 7 lbs 11ozs.

Anna -baby Matthew born 23rd March 07 DE
Birth weight 7lb 60zs

Big J ( TaylorJooles)- Baby Josh born ? '06 DE kiev
Aug 07 - BFP at 5 wks De Kiev... but after bleeding awaiting another scan to check for sac...sending love to ya Jules



Ladies in treatment

Catharine
4 embies on board...Now on 2ww
TEST DATE: Aug. 25

Chriss
mon 13th Aug Follies scan = 2 biggies and 3 budding follies
wed 15th follie scan= 3 biggies and 2 or 3 budding
EC=early next week 8/20? 8/21? 8/22?
ET=???

Ladies Awaiting Treatment

Sonia – Aug/Sept start of DE treatment

Jen - Sept/oct DE tmt in Spain.
Awaiting AF 27th Aug for start BC pills

Babyblue -Kim DE cycle
Start BC pills - September 4
Start Lupron - Sept 16
EC - Oct 19 or 20
ET - Oct 24 or 25
Praying for BFP - Nov 2 or 5

KAT DE cycle September/October

Amy



*****BFP's for all*****


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click the quote button to post...
edit or add posting...
delete the

at beginning and end of post...
then submit button to post. Good luck!!!!

[teachertam]

I added Andrew's 6 month numbers.

***************************
Successful Mummies Given Birth:
***************************
Bev-baby William ( Wills) born 23rd January 07 DE
Birth weight 5lb 12 oz's - 21wks old 15lbs 2 oz

Tammy- baby Andrew born 28th Feb 07 natural preg.
Birth weight 8 lb 7 oz - 4 months old 16 lb 14 oz, 26 1/4" long
6 months old 18 lb 14 oz, 27 1/2" long


Yasmina -baby Eloise born Feb. 20, 2007.
Birth weight 7 lbs 11ozs.

Anna -baby Matthew born 23rd March 07 DE
Birth weight 7lb 60zs

Big J ( TaylorJooles)- Baby Josh born ? '06 DE kiev
Aug 07 - BFP at 5 wks De Kiev... but after bleeding awaiting another scan to check for sac...sending love to ya Jules



Ladies in treatment

Catharine
4 embies on board...Now on 2ww
TEST DATE: Aug. 25

Chriss
mon 13th Aug Follies scan = 2 biggies and 3 budding follies
wed 15th follie scan= 3 biggies and 2 or 3 budding
EC=early next week 8/20? 8/21? 8/22?
ET=???

Ladies Awaiting Treatment

Sonia – Aug/Sept start of DE treatment

Jen - Sept/oct DE tmt in Spain.
Awaiting AF 27th Aug for start BC pills

Babyblue -Kim DE cycle
Start BC pills - September 4
Start Lupron - Sept 16
EC - Oct 19 or 20
ET - Oct 24 or 25
Praying for BFP - Nov 2 or 5

KAT DE cycle September/October

Amy



*****BFP's for all*****


To add any updates and keep all the colours...
click the quote button to post...
edit or add posting...
delete the

at beginning and end of post...
then submit button to post. Good luck!!!!