The Over 40 Crowd

[margi26]

NY: Don't even think that!! Of course you have our support....I think of you often. I am so glad to hear that you had a retrieval with 4 follies!! I so admire your perseverance...you are such a strong woman! I will hope and pray that you get a great fertility report.....keep us posted or PM me. Lots of baby dust my friend.

[NY4thtry]

thanks margi.. well 3 were mature and 3 fertilized so now we wait to see if they make it to freeze and for AF to start again..

[margi26]

3 fertilized is great! How many are you hoping to freeze before going ahead to transfer? Do they freeze on Day 3 if look good? Sending tons of positive energy and baby dust your way.

[becca5m]

NY, sending you good thoughts and keeping you in my prayers. I have also been struggling lately with coming here and feel guilty only coming when I need to ask for support. I just think the emotion of it all has been getting to me lately.

We are going for ET in the morning. We have 9 DE that fertilized and they were able to do biopsy on all 9. 2 of them were growing slower than the rest, but we are very hopeful with those numbers. Won't know until the morning how many total we have but praying that we are able to freeze some.

I have been a complete emotional wreck the past 2 days. No real reason, just so very emotional. DH has been a pure angel through it all and I'm so thankful.

Please, my over 40 friends, please send good thoughts to us in Indy tomorrow.

Becca

[children]

Hi everyone,

I am still here.

Rhonda-I'm sorry for your news about your Mom. Hope she is getting the best care possible. She is in my thoughts.

Tammy-I was happy for your news. It's all about the peace of mind. As I say often, making a decision is the most difficult part. Once a decision is reached, everything suddenly becomes much easier. I agree with other gals, Andrew is very lucky boy.

Catharine - wish everything is well with you. It's great to hear from you here.

NY - wish you luck with the transfer and hope this time will lead to a successful pregancy!

Margi - enjoy your twins!

CarolineP - Hi, you are always showing up at the most needed times. Thanks for hanging around here. I do too, this big family helped me so much, I do need to come back to check out from time to time.

Hi to anyone that I missed and everyone who is lurking.

Yasmina

[Tamera]

Hi Ladies,

New to the board, I am 41, DH 42 will be going through my first IFV with PGD in Sept/Oct, can anyone tell me if your odds are increased at all having had 3 biological children before? Has anyone had IVF abroad (I will be traveling to Cyprus for mine)? I feel like such a newbie to all of this and trying to understand all the different terms is going to take some time. I have PCOS, but only required 100 mg of clomid to conceive with my first child, the other two were natural, but I have been reading so much about over stimulation in women with PCOS and having to cancel treatment, so I am a bit worried. Are there special protocols a doctor makes in women with PCOS?

Thanks in advance for any advice and I'm glad I found a place where I can read about others situations. Is anyone planning to cycle in the fall?

[teachertam]

Yasmina: It is good to hear from you. I do feel that we made the right decision about the adoption. It has been 5 years since we started the adoption process. If it would have happened two years ago, I would have gone ahead with it, but now we are at a different point in our lives. Now we can travel with Andrew and he is a good traveler. We can actually enjoy vacations.

Rhonda: So sorry to hear about your mother. I will keep her and your family in my prayers.

NY: It is good to hear your fertility report. Three eggs that fertilized is good! I wish you success this time.

Margi: How are you and your little ones doing? Are you still on bed rest?

Catharine: Good to hear from you. I hope you have another baby in your future.

Caroline P: I hope everything is going well for you.

Becca: You news sounds very promising. How did the ET go?

AFM: We just got back from a week in FL and had a wonderful time. We went with a lot of my family. Andrew loved it and wanted to be back in FL two mornings this week when he woke up.

Take care all,
Tammy

[margi26]

Becca: Hope that everything went wonderfully yesterday!!

NY: Did you make it to freeze?!

Yasmina: Thank you! If I can ever get off bed rest I hope to be able to enjoy this pregnancy some. At this point things are still quite anxious with the hematoma. I wish I could speed up time! I am looking at 4 more weeks of bed rest and then I pray the hematoma is gone so I can go about a normal pregnancy!

Rhonda: I hope and pray that your mother is doing well.

Tammy: Still praying for a miracle surprise for you! Yes, I have heard all the discussions and fears about chromosomal abnormalities--but look at me? I was blessed with 2 good eggs! More than I could have dreamed of! How is Max doing?

Catharine: Thanks for all your words of wisdom. I am hanging in there...can you believe they are the size of "lemons" already?! My how they grow. I am pushing forward--but looking at another 4 weeks of bed rest ahead due to continued bleeding from the hematoma when I move around too much. Doctor was saying if it doesn't resolve things get even tricker as we approach viability. After all we have been through I am not going to do anything that will put these little ones at risk. Certainly not go back to work until it is resolved, and definitely no amnio (we have decided). My OB has just gotten a 3D/4D machine so we will get to see them on that in 2 weeks! Then the Level II u/s 2 weeks after that. Those should be fun and reassuring. Again, thanks for your support.

Tamera: Welcome!!! I will be happy to answer any questions that you have, but I would suggest that you pop over to the IVF board and join one of the threads there--or at least do so closer to the Fall when you are going to cycle. It is really nice to cycle with a bunch of women going through the same thing. Even though a lot of the women are younger, there are some over 35's and I was active over there when I was cycling at 43! I find it very helpful to get daily reassurances, explanations and support and those threads are much more active. You can also "lurk" over there for a while or even start your own "FALL CYCLE BUDDY GROUP". I know there is an active April/May group and a Summer group. Best of luck!!! And there is also a thread in this general forum that gives you all the explanations regarding the initials and terms people use.

I didn't go abroad, but we seriously considered it! We were looking at Greece and Israel, but at the first of the year, my insurance changed and removed my cap so we were able to cycle again here in US and have it all covered. On the April/May group there are 2 women--one lives in Greece and the other is Cyprus! You could maybe get some tips from them! Who knows, maybe you are even going to her clinic?

Also, I do not have PCOS, but I did suffer from hyperstimulation and it was very miserable. The RE should be very careful and monitor you nearly daily as you are being stimulated. In my case I was 41 and they "assumed" I would respond slowly, but I didn't and they retreived 28 follies with 24 eggs my first cycle! You need to be careful. Anyway, sorry if I am going on too much--really, feel free to PM me with any questions, and again, best of luck!! This is the absolute best site around!! I couldn't have made it as far as I have without these strong, supportive women.

AFM: As I have said above, I am on continued modified bed rest due to the hematoma. I have 2 appts next month, one on a 3D/4D machine and my Level II u/s at the Maternal Fetal Medicine office. I am looking forward to seeing my little "lemons" and keeping them safe this entire pregnancy whatever it takes!!! Positive thoughts and prayers welcome!! I need this hematoma to go away and stop "threatening" my little ones.

BABY DUST TO YOU ALL!!

[Tamera]

Thanks so much Margi for the great information. I will pop on over to the other thread and start reading. It would be nice to connect with the woman who is using a clinic in Cyprus as well. When I go I plan to be there for the entire treatment (full 21 days) so that I can be monitored daily, trying to give myself the best shot at this possible.

Seeing women like yourself makes me more confident that it is possible, I look forward to hanging around this board and getting to know the ladies.

[teachertam]

Margi: Thanks for asking about my Max. He is doing great. He is able to navigate his way around our house and yard just fine. Once in awhile he runs into something, bless his heart. I'm trying to work on him with command words, such as careful, up, down, etc. He is the best dog ever. He still loves to play fetch with my other two dogs. He runs with them and lets them catch the ball. Even though the vet says that he mostly sees light, I think he can see some shapes and definitely movement, as he seems to read me when I point, etc. My MIL asked me last night if I would put him down when he goes completely blind. My answer was of course.............NEVER! He is adjusting to his limited sight very well. Since he has been going blind gradually due to his genetic condition, his other senses have compensated.

I don't think there is another miracle baby in my future, as I just turned 47 last month. Thank you for thinking of me though.
My DH just turned 49 yesterday, ..........approaching the big 50.

I'm glad to hear that you and your babies are doing well. I will keep you in my prayers.

Tamera: Welcome. I do not have any experience with PCOS either. When I was trying to get pregnant the 2nd time around, I found a lot of support on a thread where women are currently cycling.

[Juli925]

Hello everyone

This is my first post and a big day, as this is ET day !!! 5 eggs retrieved and 4 embryos have fertilized.
We are so excited, but not sure what to do in regard to the number to transfer. We cannot freeze any because my DH is HIV pos. At my age (44), everything I read mentions to transfer as many as possible. We do not know the grade yet of the embryos. We will find out in a few hours. What have you all done in this regard ?

[margi26]

Juli: Congratulations first of all!! That is super! Are you doing a 3dt or a 5dt? If a 3dt I would DEFINITELY recommend transferring all 4 without a doubt. At "our age" we need all the help we can get as there is still a high chance of chromosomal abnormalities. At 3d it is really hard to tell which ones will take, and with only 4 I wouldn't think the RE would push for 5dt due to the worry about attrition.

Since hitting 41 and trying IVF, I have transferred 4-5d and gotten--ecptopic
4-3d (although 2 were of poor quality) and gotten BFN
4-3d and gotten BFP that ended in m/c at 8 weeks (likely chromosomal)
3-5day blastsocysts + 2 extra morulas=BFP with twins!!! (current)

BEST OF LUCK!!! TONS OF BABY DUST YOUR WAY!!! Let us know how they do and what you decide!

[Juli925]

Margie

Congrats with your twins !! That is awesome !!
This is our first attempt at IVF and Yes, a 3 day transfer.
I'll report back with the results....Thanks a ton for your input !!
Juli
P.S. Where can I find the "definitions" of all of the acronyms ??? (i.e. DH, etccc) LOL

[margi26]

Juli-Just go back to General Forum and look for a thread--I think the second one.."Abbreviation Definitions" Go to last page.

DH=Dear Husband

And I think today was probably not ET but, ER day for you (ET-Egg transfer; ER-egg retrieval)

And if you ever want to send a private message to someone specific, click the PM box next to their name.

Best of luck!!!!

[becca5m]

hello everyone.

ET went well. We have one hatching blast (boy) and one blast (girl). both are home where they belong and looking for a soft place to land. stick babies stick! I am probably being selfish, but I am really liking the idea of twins. But praying for at least one. We used DE and I'm really surprised that out of 9 fertilzed, we only had 2 perfect embyros. So glad we did the genetic testing and used the 2 perfect ones.

DH is wonderful and waiting on me hand and foot. I could get used to this treatment.