Aussies and Kiwis!

[BelB]

Hey Deanne,

Glad that the nausea is starting to abate, is a beautiful thing when you get that second trimester "glow"..Do you have "up the duff" by Kaz Cooke, such a fabulous pregnancy book..I loved it!..Great idea to check re. the lactation consultant situation as well, I found that a number of the midwives were lactation consultants on the maternity ward which was useful, except when they gave you conflicting advice!!..My feeling was to stick with one that you like and trust and follow their advice..

Have a good weekend everyone!
B

[missmolly]

Hi Everyone!

We got back from the Gold Coast a couple of days ago, only to be greeted with 7 degrees in Melbourne & rain!!!! We had a nice time & got lots of sun. We looked like total Melbourians up there!! Everyone was walking around at night with coats, and we had light tops on!!!

The sniffing is going ok & I go for my blood test on Tuesday & hopefully start injecting on Thursday. I have not had the side effects like I had last time - maybe its the acupuncture?????

Tiger - I am sorry to here your scan results - pretty common though. We will be true cycle buddies now, as we will most likely be injecting at about the same time. I have started on the herbal patches from Alice. When you had them, did you use them until AF arrived? Or did you keep using them whilst you had AF - I can't remember what she told me to do!!!

Heather - At least you are doing a different protocol, so things will be a little different this time around.

Something weird & spooky happened at work last night. I walked past a empty room (the bed is closed & has never been used) to find the tv switched on with Grease the movie showing. Not only was it weird to find the tv on, but all tv's have to been connected by the tv company. We called the tv company & they said it had never been connected! We found out a little later that two weeks ago a patient had died, and the body was moved into that room so the family to say their goodbyes

Have a great weekend

Missmolly

[Tiger]

Hi Bel, Heather, Deanne and MissMolly,

thank-you for your kind words.... I am sure it will be all good on Wed... but if not and the treatment is cancelled at this time, that's ok too... why? because my hubby and I have decided that upon cancellation I will fly back to him asap - so whichever way - I am ok - lucky lucky me.

Heather, new protocol sounds like a great idea. No slapping from me either - we try and we succeed. Will you be cycling in Sept / Oct ??

Deanne, African Restaurant sounds interesting. We're having a family dinner for my mum's birthday tomorrow night at our local pub. I have already decided on the meal I am having, BBQ Lamb Ribs with salad - yum.

MissMolly, Alice only gives me over night hebal patches when I see her so I take them off the day after and don't have them again until my next session. Does she give you patches to take home??? He-y, when you go in for blood test on Tue are you also having a scan done as well? I think, if I am ok to continue, we start our needles on the same day too - true cycling buddies we are .

Enjoy your Sunday everyone. Cheers, Tiger

[hlloyd]

Thanks ladies, I am actually looking forward to seeing what crazy antics the clinic come up with this time...it is quite entertaining. I think I will soon have enough material to write a Kaz Cooke style book about my battle with infertility!

Tiger, think positive. There is probably a very small chance that the cycle will be canceled and it would be so great if you and MissMolly were in this together. Wishing you all the best for great results from your scan. My DH is away all week so I can sympathise with your situation. DH used to have a job where I would be lucky to see him one weekend a month, it sucked. When he found a new job that didn't involve so much travel, I started a job that involved extensive travel and although we coordinated our trips so that one of us was always home for the pets, we barely saw each other. Could explain why we couldn't get pregnant!!

MissMolly, glad you enjoyed the Gold Coast. I am not sure that it was too warm though, this bl**dy cold front makes me think that it may actually snow up here in the not to distant future. Brrrr.

Belinda, I would lock myself in a cupboard to feed...no distractions there! My nipples are smarting just thinking about it. You poor thing. Babies should only grow teeth once they are weaned!

Deanne, how was the African restaurant? I am intrigued, tell me more. We are starved for cuisine variety here so I live vicariously through other people. On the bright side, our cooking skills have been enhanced somewhat as we have had to learn to cook a range of foods.

I have an appointment on Friday to find out exactly what a flare/boost cycle involves. I think you basically start stimming and downregging at the same time so the cycle is really short, should be less than a month from beginning to end. Not sure why the Doc has decided to go this way but I will try anything once!

The sun has come out (finally)...I might go and wash my smelly puppies before it gets cool again.

Have a great rest of the weekend.

Cheers
Heather

[BelB]

Hi all,
Heather, feeding in a cupboard is not such a crazy idea you know..I feed Annie in the same spot every feed (less novelty type distractions), though she still discovers new and amazing things in this one location..Lately it is the fabric on the couch (yep, the same couch we have been feeding on for nine months now!!), we must rip our head off the nipple (but only after stretching it as far as possible from the chest wall first) to touch and scratch fingernails along it..beautiful..I so hope I'm not turing people off breastfeeding, it really is a fabulous thing, and I think if you can do it, you should give it a good go..
Heather, your cycle sounds fast!!, would love to know the reasons for going this way and potential pluses and minuses. I reckon having it all out of the way within a month would have it's benefits..I am not renowned for my patience!!
Tiger, I like your win win attitiude, but like Heather, I agree it would be unlikely for your cycle to be cancelled at this point..
We are doing well, mum and dad have arrived today from Sydney, so is lovely to see them and have them fuss over Annie-Boo who is now pulling herself up to standing as well as crawling like a deamon (baby proofing of house is now well underway!!)
Take care all]
B

[josiemack]

Hi all

Wow, I feel like I haven't been on here for ages - flares, nipped nipples (ouch), England winning the cricket (and possibly tonight too!), double sniff and scans coming up left right and centre. Everyone sounds well, which is great.

Heather - I guess the clinic has a reason for recommending the flare cycle - while you might feel like a guinea pig, hopefully they are narrowing down to the best possible treatment for you - good luck!!

Bel - ouch - can relate to this one, particularly as I read your descriptions of the head being pulled back, a little bit quicker than the teeth release, brings back mixed memories -ouch blended with the wonder of it all.

Tiger and Miss Molly - what great support if you are cycling at the same time, fingers crossed that the acupuncture is helping and all goes to plan. Tiger - how long until you meet up with DH?

Deanne - all the best for the scan tomorrow - I loved it, it was amazing and fantastic - I couldn't believe the detail, down to fingers and toes, I'm sure it we didn't have such clear images 10 years ago.

We have our nuchal fold results back, with a 1 in 3000 chance of Down's, which is a pretty good result when you factor in age (37 at birth), so am happy to have passed another hurdle - as DP says, another tick in the right box. DD and I had a wonderful time in Tassie, stayed with Mum and Dad and had an afternoon and evening with friend and her family, including 2.5 week old twin girls. I kept saying to her 'but they're so small', but at 7 pounds each, they aren't small at all, just so dainty and delicate. Was an eye-opener for DD (9) to the realities of nappy changing, feeding etc, but they are coping really well and am so happy for them.

Well, I am at home today having a 'study' day - do I feel like doing an assignment on analysis and statistics? Couldn't think of anything worse - it is a compulsory subject that I have put off to the end, as I am not a 'maths' person at all, but will have to get on and do it - will wait for DP to get home though, as he is a scientist and understands 'maths' stuff.

Deanne - the African restaurant sounds great, how was it? We went to a Tibetan one a couple of weeks ago, most of the food was great, a lot of vegetarian dishes, including potato curry, yum.

Take care all
Jo

[Deanne]

Hi gals,

Glad to hear everyone is doing well at the moment.

The scan this morning was all good, hooray! Bub is growing nicely and definitely looks more human now - nice big head and we did make out a hand waving to us which was lovely. Saw the heartbeat (the doppler wasn't working so Dr had to check it on screen and said all was fine). DH and I are happy and relieved! We didn't get a printout unfortunately, so guess we'll have to wait for the next one (18 weeks).

Anyway I'm now looking forward to being able to tell our wider circle about being PG. I'm also going to start knitting the little one a jumper - bought the wool a few weeks ago and will finally make a start on it!

The African restaurant (Radio Cairo in Cremorne if anyone's in Sydney and wants to try it out) was really interesting. Definitely the most exotic menu I've ever seen - a mix of African, Caribbean and Asian cuisine. Between us we ordered Moroccon lamb (absolutely delicious), Cajun popcorn (shrimp deepfried and served with a hot chilli sauce), a lentil and spinach stew, a spicy sausage dish and a wickedly delicious deep-fried bread with chilli and honey drizzled over it. Not the sort of meal you'd have every week, but definitely good for an interesting night out. Well you can tell I'm over my nausea, as a few weeks ago even describing the food would have been out of the question!!

I'd better start some work - although like Josie yesterday I'm too distracted to do much today!

Cheers,
Deanne

[missmolly]

Had my blood test today (Tiger - at my clinic we only have a blood test at this stage, not an u/s). It was ok. I start my injections on Saturday - a little different to last time, where I started them the next day. I will be stimming for longer as well. Thankfully my EC no longer will be on my birthday . My scan is booked for the 29th (my birthday!!!). I guess EC will be around the 1st or 2nd September.

Tiger - Wishing you all the best for tomorrow. As you said, either way you can't lose, you either keep going with the cycle, or go back to DH (although I hope we can continue to cycle & acupuncture together )

Heather - I am also interested to here what they have to say about the flare cycle.


Missmolly

[jag]

Heh ladies - are there any kiwis on this thread?

L JAG x

[BelB]

Hi all,
Jag, I haven't seen any kiwi posts at this stage, but who knows, you might get the ball rolling!..welcome to our thread and to this fabulous site, you'll get lots of support here from women who are either on the IVF (or general fertility) rollercoaster, and those who have been through it. My story is that I am 33 and have endo quite badly. We have had a full IVF cycle and two FETS resulting in our fabulous daugher Annie, she is now nine months and truly delightful!

Deanne, you must be well and truly over your nausea by now!!, the food you desribed sounds delicious!, so glad that you're scan went well, did you get the nuchal fold translusency done as well??

Jo, glad your trip to Tassie went well, the twins sound lovely, don't know how people cope with two!!, I had a friend who had twins (no fertility treatment), she just about went spare. They are gorgeous of course, and truly the light of her life, but boy she gets tired!!

MissMolly, that sounds like everything is progressing well, good luck for injections starting on Saturday!

We're all doing well here, it was a beautiful day today in south east Qld, Annie-Boo was in child care for the day and I worked. I miss her like mad the whole day, but it's good for her, and good for me too!!

Tiger, how are you going with all that extra sniffing???

Take care all
B

[Tiger]

Hi Ladies...

just a quickie from me. I am flying back to my hubby tomorrow !!!! The supression did not work at this time so my treatment has been cancelled. I will be back here early Sept and I will probably restart on my Oct cycle.

MissMolly, I am so happy that you're right on track!! I am taking 2.5 weeks break from acu but when I get back I will get right back to it.

My next post will be from Japan! Catch ya,

Love, Tiger

[missmolly]

Tiger - I am so sorry that the your cycle was cancelled , but I'm sure getting back to DH is a great thing. Did they give you any reasons why? You just never know what is going to happen with this bloody IVF thing! I hope you are okay.

Missmolly

[Paula]

Good morning ladies,

Just thought I'd drop in and say Hi My name is Paula and i'm in Sydney. I started ivf yesterday, taking synarel and will start injections on friday. I'm on a short cycle. I've posted in another thread as well but basically I never thought I would ever even get this chance.

Last year my fsh was 80 and Tues it was 15.5. My dr is going ahead even though they would like to see it below 10. He said they had done it with women with levels of 18 and if I had a level below 18 he would try. I know my chances aren't that good but I have to take the chance.

When the nurse phoned me to tell me my level was 15.5 it was like I just won a brand new car. I was so excited!!! Then a couple hours later the fear set in. Right now i'm going in between fear and joy so it would be really nice to talk to a group of ladies who know how I feel. I was on these boards last Jan but didn't stay long because I was very confused and upset about my situation. Actually, since march I didn't get my blood tested once until tues. Anyways, to make a long story short I"m back and can't wait to talk to you all.

[BelB]

Hi all,
Paula, welcome back!!, what a huge drop in FSH, well done!!, how did you manage this?? What is the concern with high FSH?, is it something to do with the risk of OHSS? (excuse my ignorance!!)
Tiger, so sorry to hear that the cycle was cancelled (I hope that this means you didn't have to pay megabucks for it??)..You sound really happy about getting back to your hubby (you'll have to change your ticker!!)
Hope all are well
Belinda

[Paula]

Hi Belb,

Thanks

About my fsh levels going down. When I had my first level come back at 80 I had a heart attack. I decided to go to a chinese medicine dr. He put me on herbs which brought af back and dropped my fsh to 28, 27. Still this was way to high for ivf and the only option i had was egg donor. I went through some pretty emotional stuff and decided that I wasn't in the right frame of mind to proceed with anything at that point in my life. My dr advised me to stop taking the herbs because he figured they were forcing af to come every month. He wanted to see if they would come on they're own. I stopped taking the herbs and af returned every month. Last fsh was 28 and so I decided that was it. I gave up for a few months. Resigned myself to the fact that my dh and I would never have our baby. A few months r & r, I went away on vacation to China and Canada for a month. Had already quit my job for a few months. I just wanted to become unstressed. I really believe now that my fsh high levels had alot to do with stress. Anyways, Monday I had a nap and fell asleep only for about 20 mins. The strangest thing happened. I had a dream that my fsh level was down and that I needed to be tested. I hadn't been tested in months and wasn't even contemplating testing again. It just so happens monday was day 1 of af. I phoned the hospital to have the blood test. Was in the hospital Tues. Had the phone call tues afternoon and started my Syneral yesterday, due to start injections on friday. I'm worried about my chances with an fsh level of 15.5 because I know they don't like to do this with women who have an fsh level above 10, so that's my first worry. Plus i'm 40, my chances are very slim already, so that's my second worry. But through all my worries and fears and low odds my dh and myself can't not take the chance. To me a 5% chance is better than no chance at all.

ps. I forgot to say that I started a supplement from Blackmores called: Vitex Agnus and also Womens Vitality Multi. I'm including a snippet of one of the emails Blackmores sent to me.

Dear Paula

Physicians often measure blood levels of FSH as a diagnostic tool for female menopause. Elevated FSH levels generally reflect declining oestrogens levels, although FSH levels can fluctuate during perimenopause giving misleading results. FSH levels remain consistently high after the onset female menopause. The standard reference range for FSH as a measure of the onset of female menopause is 25 IU per liter.

These Foods/Herbs Enhance the Function/Production of FSH so therefore you should avoid taking them:
Korean Ginseng increases the endogenous production of FSH. Tribulus terrestris (750 mg per day) increases FSH levels in women.
Sweet Potato contains substances that stimulate the release of FSH from the pituitary gland.

These Herbs Lower Elevated FSH Levels
Chaste Berry (Vitex) inhibits the secretion of excessive FSH from the Pituitary Gland.


Side effects of excessive release of FSH within the body
Excess FSH release increases the likelihood of pregnant women bearing twins.

Normal levels:

- 2.0 - 17.7 IU/L (Follicular Phase)
- 3.5 - 16.0 IU/L (Follicular Phase)
- 3.6 - 16.0 IU/L (Midcycle Peak)
- 8.0 - 30.0 IU/L (Midcycle Peak)
- 1.8 - 12.0 IU/L (Luteal Phase)
- > 25.0 IU/L (Postmenopausal Women)


I'm not sure what OHSS is Belb, sorry I'm to new to this, i need to learn all the lingo.