The Over 40 Crowd

[teachertam]

Yasmina:

For the 1st trimester screening, they do bloodwork and an ultrasound. During the ultrasound they measure the fold behind the baby's neck. I can't remember what the procedure is called. Supposedly, this tells the likely of having a baby with downs. After we had the 1st screening, we decided to go for the 2nd trimester screening.

Regards,
Tammy

[Calicat]

Hi there, I saw a 40+ forum and thought this is where I fit in, I am 42, my DH is 47. Call me Cat if you like. I am from Illinois, but currently live in Northern CA, amidst the fires.

Yesterday DH and I had my US to determine how many eggs are maturing, and we found out we have only 3, our EC is Sunday June 29 and the ET is July 4. We are working with Dr. Christo Zouves in the SF bay area.

Have any of you ladies used the Genetic Testing? We aren't sure how the elimination works. Do they automatically eliminate eggs with markers for things or do they leave it up to you? With only 3 eggs, we don't want to have them eliminated because they have a single marker in a recessive gene (I have a marker, and I am normal, allegedly).

I really need to get back my PMA, it is slipping today.

Thanks,
Calicat

[children]

Thanks Tammy,

I remember that I read it somewhere about US to measure nuchal translucency at first trimester. Will ask the RE or Ob next time when I see them.

Welcome Calicat,

We did not do PGD, which I think is costly and ricky in damaging neighboring cells of the same embryo. We let the nature takes care of the selection process with the hope that defective embryos won't implant - this may well be my case since I had only two embryos implanted among all 15 that were transferred, the other 13 may have been genetically defective, who knows.

If your DH does not carry the same ressesive marker as yours, I would not bother to perform any PGD.

Good luck on your egg collection, fertilization, and subsequent transferring. It is not easy to keep your sanity during this ivf process but we will be here to support each other. Currently, we have Catharine and me pregnant in this thread. We are looking forward to have you joining us soon!

Yasmina

[Catharine]

Hello TGIF

Welcome CaliCat. I grew up in the SF Bay area, currently residing in Hotlanta, Ga. Good luck with the ER, fert and ET.

Yasmina-you poor thing with the morning sickness. I didn't really have much if any. My sister in-law has a theory that morning sickness occurs when the mother and baby blood types are at extreme odds to one another. I don't think there's any scientific evidence to back her theory up, but it is interesting to ponder. Have you tried ginger snaps [cookies] to calm you tummy?

At present my apetite is like that of a hummingbird; I want to eat 20 times my body weight and if I did, I'm sure I'd still feel empty, hahaha. I've been trying to load up on the fruits and veggies as well as high protein for slow digestion to 'feel full'. It's not working very well.

We did the first trimester screen U/S and then the blood work. We got the ratios back on the risk for various trisomy abnoralities and that had solidified our decision not to use the diagnostic CVS or aminocentisis. After the anatomy survey, we again declined the amnio and the AFP blood test [spina bifida marker]. For us in the long run after all we have been through, we knew we would not terminate. No matter what the outcome of the tests we knew we would love our special bundle of Joy. We also didn't do the PGD. There are some research articles out there that say PGD is only 50% predictive that it is not a definitive answer. My RE counsled against it for that and cost reasons. DH and I had done a lot of genetic marker screening before hand. Fortunately, neither of us carried a marker to be worried about. Let's just say this little girl has a lot of hybrid vigor in her favor.

So, I a P/T consulting position fell into my lap. It's not in my field of expertise but it's at least a pay check, hahaha. I'll fund my DH's gas bill for his round trip commute to/fro work, hahaha.

Wishing everyone a great weekend. All the best. Sending out lots of PMA to everyone and babydust--CaliCat


Cheers!
Catharine

[Calicat]

Thanks for the welcome,

We decided to cancel the Genetic Testing on the fertized eggs, we had ER this morning and we only had two healthy eggs too, apparently both did fertilize (we only know this because my DH melted the C-estradiol suppositories in the trunk of my car, during the 4.5 hour drive into the 98 degree Redding air, so the Dr. had to call us and prescribe a substitute pill until Wednesday, he checked on the eggs before he prescribed more drugs, they looked great). This caused us to bump the ET from 7-4 to 7-2. Very exciting!

We had two IUI cycles two years ago and this is our first IVF, when we asked the Dr. if this was going to work, he said absolutely. (I think that is called PMA!)

Catharine, Hotlanta is one of my favorite vacation areas. I have a bestfriend living in Marrietta, the Big Chicken!!!!

Congratulations on the BFPs, maybe the luck you girls have will rub off on me.

Maybe I can contribute a little, I have been pregnant, with the every moment sickness, things like real orange or lemon sorbet, breads, cereals and wierdly, cucumbers helped me a lot. Unfortunately, soon after the nausea ended so did my BFP.

Thanks for the PMA, and Babydust, we really do need it. Good luck to all of you, bye.

[children]

Hi Everyone,

Just came back from my 9wks check and the fetus was moving all 4 limbs and has a heartbeat rate at 167 bpm. I am glad the fetus measured in right size. They will do more blood work on E2 and P4 levels to decide how to continue the hormones. My RE won't see me anymore but I will see my regular ob on July 8.

We will do some non-invasive genetic screening on the first or maybe even at second trimester.

Catharine,

I wish to have your Hi spirit and appetite! I am very glad that you got your PT job as a consultant. Who cares whether or not that is your field, it pays, that is important, plus, aren't we all trained on jobs?!

I spoke too early - today I had another "food out of nose" episode right at my Clinic's waiting room. How embarrassing! Peaches are banned for now! My friends also have theories about ms, they said boys make us sicker. But when I read online, there are plenty women who are sick when pg with girls. I was sick the whole pg with Eloise, only in a milder form - I just never wanted to eat the whole time. I feel that I am having empty stomach also and always kind motivated to eat but when the meal time comes, I just hate whatever in front of me. It takes triple amount of time for me to finish a meal now, poor me, indeed!

Calicat,

Congratulations on your successful EC and EF. Good luck on your ET!

I am so sorry for your loss last time. If you don't mind my asking, did they find out the reason why? Did you have any signs early on? How far along were you then? I am nervous now since today I still saw a yolk sac which I did not see in my last pg. I assumed this indicated a delay in forming placenta - will look it up right away. My mother had two mc's in her fertile life which I am very afraid of repeating. I am also trying to decide when to tell the daycare since the waiting list is very long in my university's daycare that my daughter is currently in. I really don't WANT to tell too early, but I also NEED to tell them as early as possible. If there is a slight chance to jinx the baby, I won't risk it. I am definitely very superstitious although I should not have been - being a scientist and old and wise and all, you know.

Take care, everyone who is reading here.

Yasmina

[Calicat]

Hi there, I hope the MS lightens up. It sounds unpleasant or were the peaches coming out a childs nose? Equally unpleasant, smaller nose.

My MC was a natural pregnancy, at ten-ish weeks the baby stopped forming, but continued to grow larger, I knew there was a problem right away, ( I had a dizzy spell and then a terrible headache) but the Dr. refused to do an U/S before 20 weeks, until finally, at what seemed to be around 16 weeks, she did the U/S, I miscarried, Thanksgiving Day 2002, an hour after my husband left on a business trip. Amazingly the family dog watched over me for two days. I never saw that Dr. again and refused to pay her for the U/S she finally did too late. I never forgot that she kept saying there was a cyst on my left ovary, (I don't have a left ovary).

BTW, one of the eggs appears to have stopped dividing, they are going to wait until Tuesday before writing it off, I fear we are down to one, but won't give up on the idea of two, until they tell me for sure. Maybe it is a slow starter. My mantra has become , "It's gonna work." Have any of you seen an egg do this and still be viable?

Thanks,
Calicat

Have a good day.

[Catharine]

Hi all

Yasmina-so sorry to hear of the ms. I hope it subsides as you enter your second trimester. have you tried any of the remedies of ms: seasick wrist bands, the ms lolipops, ginger cookies? I can relate to the food not looking good for in my first trimester veggies just repulsed me. I tried to eat them but that childish gag reflex would act up. It got to the point that I told my DH to fix what he wanted for dinner and then I would eat what I could and forage for nutrients if nothing suited at the time. Funny thing, salad, I luv salads. That first trimester, the lettuce couldn't be cold for some reason, so DH would let my salads warm up to room temp. Your wee one seems to be developing right on cue with a very strong heart rate. It must have been amazing to see all the movement. I know at the 13 wk U/S [first tri-screening] seeing all the flexing was just so breath taking.

Calicat-sending you some PMA. I haven't seen what you speak of, but then maybe our clinic may not have mentioned or I've forgotten. I do know that we've had embies that at day3 are between 6 and 10 cells and that did not concern the RE, some divide slower while others faster.

For me, I'm very hungry today, in part because I ran last evening, in addition to running my football teams training session. Thankfully when I do training I'm completely worn out when I return home and am able to sleep through the night. The nights I have no training, I sleep max 4hours before waking up unable to return to a deep slumber. I joke that my body thinks I'm back at my old job at the Univ. Hospital where my work day started at 4am. Speaking of work. I started yesterday my new p/t poistion as a consultant for a specialty chemicals company , but I still have some reservations if I'm capable of the work. But as Yasmina said it is a paycheck , so I went out and bought the first few little outfits for our little peanut [big 4th July sale helped get me in the door].

Sending every one PMA and babydust

Catharine

[children]

Hi Calicat,

My embryos that have been kept frozen at 2-cell stage had also slow growth at the beginning day. The embryologist called and said he would wait until next day and see how they progress. Fortunately, they did grow into 5~8 cells next day - in the mean time, they charged additional $1000 to "culture" them for me. The point here is: some embryos do grow slower but my older clinic in SA likes them better than the faster growing ones - for example, they don't like 10-cell embryos for 3 day transfers, I had one of those and they discarded.

I had posted a hypothesis in this thread before, I said you can feel it - if you feel this cycle is going to work, it will be the case! I am glad that you have this feeling. Like they say, "all you need is one good embryo" - this is how my mind works - I had only one "good" embryo implanted regardless how many that they put back in.

Thanks for sharing and I would ditch the Dr. instantly also! My OB is also the calmer type and did not do US on me until 20 weeks - and that was all I got with him during the whole pg! He did not use US even before delivery! He checked, however, the baby's heart beat each time with a doppler and he said that was all he needed! But I don't change ob since he is highly regarded in our university's clinic and my DH likes him a lot - he said that man knows what he is doing and he does not introduce unnecessary worries to us. I kind of like him after he safely delivered my daughter though but the fact he does not do US examinations still bothers me a little!

Alright, I stop here and the most important thing for now is to have all the luck you need on tomorrow's transfer!

Yasmina

[children]

Catharine,

You run? I am impressed! I would be so worried to shake the baby out! I know this cannot happen. My RE told me that I could do 1/2 amount and intensity of the regular exercises but I stopped running since the China vacation on March, only kept swimming once a week for now. Enjoy your new job!

Calicat,

Good luck on the ET tomorrow!!!

Tammy,

Eloise did few times in a row of going to her potty chair by herself to pee and poop these days. The funny thing is that she claps each time she succeeds (because we have been doing that since she was 9 month old - she was put on the potty then) and then immediately takes the insert part to pour the content into our toilet herself. She used to want to touch her BM so we normally clean up immediately to avoid that. This apparently taught her to clean up!

Now the remaining work is to teach her how to take her panties off. She has been kept bottomless at home so far. We will try to leave her panties on to see how well she will do. Will keep you posted!

Can't resist to post one pic of her here!

[Nicolina]

Hi all --I just joined b/c I was reading all the great posts from the over 40 ladies and feel like I fit in here. I am just feeling a little discouraged after my second M/C last month. Met with my Dr. this week and she said we should do one more round of IVF with my eggs if I want --but she really recommends donor eggs after that if it doesnt stick this time. I am out of pocket now, insurance is all used up, and feeling kind of down about my prospects of carrying a pregnancy full term this time. I am not sure I want to do the donor egg route, I am just not up to figuring it out right now I guess, I keep saying I am jumping the gun contemplating it before my last IVF with my own egss but, I am just devastated thinking I may have to do it if I want a baby. I feel terrible about that too. Any positive encouragement would be lovely.
Thanks and baby dust to all!!

[Nicolina]

Me again, I also meant to ask if any one has had any success or knows of the benefits of accupuncture with regard to IVF?
Thanks again

[Catharine]

Welcome Nicolina! This is a great place to get support and advice.
As far as acupuncture, my DH and I did acu for all three cycles. My RE encouraged us to begin 2 months before tmt, We went to a chinese doctor and herbalist. He was wonderful. DH still goes for other ailments. Between our IVF cycles I went because I would be so relaxed afterwards. I would nap during the acu tmt, then go home melt into bed for another 1hour nap. It was wonderful. In addition, I was on DHEA supplements, L-arginine supplements, and eating a lot of pineapple. DHEA is bleivied to help improve the quality of the eggs, while L-arg is thought to promote blood circulation to the ovaries and pineapple is believed to make the endometrial lining sticky for implantation. Oh, yeah I had to seriously curtail my physical activities so as not to direct the blood away from the adominal area.

Yasmina-how are you? has the ms subsided yet? I thought of another tmt for ms, ginger Altoids, which can be purchased at Cost plus world market or a similar store. To answer your question on running? yes I do but not as far as I was use to many months ago. In fact I'm run/walk-ing the Peachtree road race tomorrow. More like walking because of the heat and volume of people participating. DH and I qualified for the race back in February. This is our 13th year participating. Last night I ran and felt the best I have in a long time. My Ob said not to get my hr above 150, but try to keep around 145. With precious cargo on board, I've been listening. I wonder if her low hr [143] is related to my modified exercise routine.

Hello to everyone else who stops by to read the posts. Happy Independence Day

Catharine

[children]

Nicolina,

Welcome and I did yoga (http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-4-Fertility- ... B0001ARFEI) and belly message (http://www.clearpassage.com/). I believe in almost religiously both helped me to relax and understand life better - I mean I had a state of mind like "it does not matter if eventually I wound up childless. Life would go on and I would be happy regardless." My DH strongly suggested us to go adoption route all along which also put my mind at easy - he still tells me "told you it would be easier just adopt!" whenever I complain about my MS and PIO. I also eat pineapples after ET to help implantation. In the end, happiness is what matters the most. So, my short answer to your Q is: if ACC makes you happy, go for it. If not, don't worry about it.

Catharine,

I bet everyone who passes you seeing you running with a big bump is equally impressed! I suspect that my MS has something to do with my deteriorated health condition - I used to run 3x/wk also. I honestly can feel my fat belly growing and I don't like it. Will resume some activities after I finish the scary first trimester - 4 more weeks to go!

Thanks for the MS treatment tips and will check them out. Right now, I am taking dried sugar ginger and I like ginger!

Calicat,

How are you doing? How did the ET go? Enjoy your bed resting and looking forward to your good news soon!

Hello to everyone else and happy long weekend!

[children]

Catharine,

How are you? How do you like your new job? How was your jogging race? I hope you are enjoying your pg and new PT job.

Calicat,

How are you with your 2ww? I always do HPT around day 7 post transfer since 2ww just kills me.

Nicolina,

How are you doing? Are you going for another round of ivf with your own eggs? I am sorry for your MC. It's heartbreaking. Did they ever examine the reason for MC? If that was not chromosomal defects, using your own eggs would be still a good choice. I wish we could know more to help us to make sensible decision.

I heard from NPR the other day about we now can predict the outcome of each ivf cycle for specific couple with 70% accuracy. The 4 factors are: 1) number of follicles produced, 2) the total number of embryos, 2) number of embryos survived to 8 cells stage, 3) number of embryos stopped growing after the third day.

If any of you would like to hear the story yourself, here is the link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=92204512

As for me, I had seen my regular ob yesterday. Surprisingly, w/o my begging, he did U/S on me and I saw the baby's head and four limbs again, plus a strong heart beat. Everything looked great, according to my ob. The heart beat rate was not measured but estimated between 150~160 and fetus size is 10w1D. Unfortunately, DH missed it since I did not ask him to come along because I thought that he would just have his nurse to measure blood pressure and weight as he usually did during my last pg. Well, this is certainly a change, may be he heard me somehow. We will have our first trimester screening in July 24 and will update then.

Take care, everyone, Yasmina