[BabySteps]

Here are my 1st u/s pics in another thread. They could not get a picture of all 3 at the same time for some reason.

BabySteps (Shelley) - Triple count 1/17

[Murphette]

Taka, Wannabeamom and Kay! You will find lots of support and information on this site. I agree it is hard to be in the 40+ group and the emotional roller coaster that infertility issues cause doesn't really go away just b/c your in our age group. We ended up transferring 4 embryos -- they looked great but they were a 6-cell, a 5-cell and 2-4 cell. B/c they were a little developmentally behind the RE felt comfortable transferring all 4 to give me the best chance for becoming pg. We decided to try one last time with my own eggs instead of donor eggs b/c of the long wait to get matched to a donor and the RE felt that I would have a good chance with my own eggs. My FSH is low (around 9 as well), plus since we are selfpay the cost for using donor eggs would double and we just couldn't really afford that.

My RE won't let anyone who's over 43 do IVF - the odds are just too low, so I had to do this last cycle in January as I will be 43 on February 14th. My beta day is tomorrow and I will admit that I'm feeling a bit down and discouraged today. I waited until now to do a HPT and it came out negative today. I know that it may not mean anything but still hard not to be a bit depressed about it. My DH has been great and supportive through both of my cycles, but if this one doesn't work out it's the end of my dream. I know I'll feel a bit guilty that I've put us in so much debt and have nothing to show for it. If you don't mind ladies, send a couple of prayers my way. I really feel like I could use some today.

Thanks.

[Gemmabean]

Oh my gosh! I'm am just SO thrilled to see so many of us fortysomethings here! When I joined in 2006 it felt like I was the only one over 35 here! Look at you all go! I am getting hope and strength from you. I hope you can get some from me too!

Love,
Julie

[babycowlover]

Hi Everyone-O.K., I am in! I am 41 this month and have a lot in common with all of you. I have been through an IVF cycle that was cancelled and then turned away from another clinic. I have cried till I am blue in the face and hoped and prayed, lost religion and found it again. I have not given up. I will try to keep up with all of you and keep writing as I re-enter this hopeful journey. Positive feedback and tips are always good, including financial advice. Keep those threads coming. We need them.
Lisa

[babycowlover]

Murphette-Keep your chin up. SOunds like this time may be your ticket. I understand how the expencecan get to you. We are sitting in a state with one of the highest unemployment rates and jobs are scarce. We feel stuck and broke most of the time. I will say a prayer for you. Do let us know how things go. Meanwhile, try to occupy your time with some mellow crafts or journal logging. Relax, this could be it. Good Luck!
Lisa

[taka]

Laura. thanks for the warm welcome. I am keeping my fingers crossed for you! Babycow, I'm glad you found us!

[bd711]

Hi ladies. I pop in and visit the 40+ thread occassionally, so I thought I'd speak up. I realize I'm 39, but I turn 40 in July and feel full into the 40's category in my IF experience. (also, my DP is 46, and she'll be a 40+ mom if we ever manage to make this work). We've been TTC since I was 37 - all with ART, since I don't have a male partner, and after 2 m/cs and an ectopic pregnancy, I came to the conclusion that my ovaries must've dumped the good eggies a long time ago. (and don't let the numbers trip you up - I see lots of women with FSH's in the teens that are getting pregnant, and mine hasn't gone above 7, and it's just not workin' for me). So, we're on to doing donor egg, with a transfer planned in mid-March.

I'm encouraged on this site how many women of our "generation" are able to become moms through the various paths. Some of us on this thread in fact. I hope we all join you BFP women soon!

[Kay]

Hi ladies! I am glad this is going to be an active thread. I sure need some positive attitudes around me regarding pregnancy at this age.
I know we can all give each other strength and encouragement.

Shelley- wow, you have such a trooper there in the little one who wasn't expected to implant. I'm so glad you gave him or her a chance.... now it will just thrive and grow in your love! So happy about your great news.

Can everyone share where they are at right now? If you are pg like Shelley or where you are in a current cycle or if you are inbetween cycles? This will help us to get to know one another and help us know how to suppoert one another.

I'll go first...
I am doing Lupron shots right now and I am using two estrogen patches everyother day to develop my ut lining. I am using donor eggs and should have an ET during the week of Feb 25th. So I hope I am on my way to a BFP in early March. We are in the process of deciding on how many to transfer... I think two.

looking forward to hearing abut everyone else.
Kay

[Faith08]

Hi everyone. I would like to join all of you.. I will be turning 40 in October.

I will be starting my stims next week for my 5th round of IVF, well the 1st one turned into IUI. so technically, it'll be my 4th attempt. my signature basically gives a summary of what i've been through. I am hoping and praying so hard that we get our . I've never been pregnant before. Thanks to my insurance and my husband's insurance we were able to get this far. But I think this will be our last attempt.. we have maxed out our lifetime benefit.

If we get lucky to have alot of embies fertilized, i'll have 3 transferred. We still have 1 snowbaby, just waiting to be transferred. But we decided to do another fresh cycle hoping to have more to freeze.

sorry this has become too long.. but I just want to say how happy I am to have found all of you here. looking forward to know more about all of you.

sending and to everyone

[Gemmabean]

Hello.
My name is Julie.
I'm infertile. (sometimes)

(everyone all together: HI JULIE!)

I will be 43 in April.

We have been TTC for 8 years.

In 2006 we had 2 IUIs and 4 Follistim only cycles with well-timed sex.

NOTHING.

I have been pregnant exactly THREE times that we know of. The first two resulted in chemical pregnancies.

The third was a cornual pregnancy. This means I ovulated out of one side and the embryp implanted at the opening of the other tube. It could have grown down the tube or down into my uterus. Gravity was not on my side. Fortunately my body made the decision to terminate the pregnancy and we did not have to make that decision. (The nurse said in all her years she'd NEVER seen this type of pregnancy - JUST MY STINKIN LUCK!)

Good grief!

So, the three times I have been pregnant, I WAS NOT ON DRUGS. Two times it was AFTER a few drug cycles. I asked the RE about this and he said yes, the drugs can have a lasting effect.

So here we are, no drugs, no nuthin, just the two of us waiting for another miracle.

My problem is that PCOS causes me not to ovulate regularly, though I do have a fairly regular period (well, until lately! - Wendy - my lips are SEALED!)

Drugs were supposed to MAKE me ovulate every month, but well, that just didn't seem to pan out so well. And it cost us a lot of money, out of pocket, because we aren't covered by insurance.

We cannot afford IVF, we cannot afford adoption.

Yes, life can be SO flippin UNFAIR!

Thanks my story, in a nutshell.

Feel free to ask me any questions. I've been down the road. I've read all the books. I AM an old-timer, but NOT TOO OLD TO BE A MOMMY!!!!

So I work, love my DH, and wait (not necessairly in that order).

Love to you all. OH! and I loved the "our generation" comment!!!

Love and hopes and hugs,
Julie

xoxox

[theresa0604]

Hi ladies,
I'm here to hop on the 40+ rollercoaster with you if there's room!
As you can see from my signature, ours too has been a long ride with many ups and downs. Recently I've found myself at a loss of where I belong on this forum ... I posted on the IVF forum for over a year and was part of the October cycle thread then cautiously hopped over to the July due date thread when we got our BFP the second time around but then that all changed quickly with one U/S
So here we are ... I turned 41 in December and we just met again this week with my RE. He is suggesting DE and I think that is the path that we are going to take ... at this age it's about egg quality as much as quantity and we just can't keeping making the financial and emotional investment in IVF. They have a program where you can try DE 6 times and if it doesn't work you get your money back at the end or if you decide to walk away during the process you get your money back too but it's awfully expensive. We'll figure out a way somehow to find the funds but I'm also apprehensive about the emotional investment. My RE shared that he has been told that it's not as overwhelming as IVF for many reasons - I just hope that is true. So here we are, trying to figure out when to move forward. I think I might hop over to the DE forum too but I would welcome any insight you all can lend.
I just need a place/forum to call home - don't we all!! Glad I found you ladies.

[bd711]

Hi all. I'm so glad that this thread is going. I feel like there's a whole other level of understanding this IF journey here. I'm sad we all have to be here, but if we do, I'm glad we've found a place to land.

Julie, sounds like we've taken a similar path to get here - being pregnant three times and still here waiting for #1. I have too many dates to remind me when I would have been a mom. Oi!

Theresa - I'm so glad you're joining us. I was lurking on the site through my first IVF and you and I were on the exact same schedule, so I was really aware (and excited) about your bfp and then so sad when you miscarried. I'm glad you're back and it's good to see you here. I hope we get to share happier times here. I wanted to pass on that, now that I'm heading into a DE cycle, your doctor's right that the meds going in aren't as major, but the emotions feel more complicated in spades.

Kay - You asked us to share where we are in our cycles. I feel like I'm finally getting out of "limbo" status. Our donor is just finishing her tests, etc. I start BCPs after AF (which has been unfortunately erratic since my ivf/d&c/ectopic). Then I start lupron 2/24 with an egg transfer hopefully the week of 3/24.

Have a good everyone! B

[Kay]

Faith08
Julie
theresa0604

This is great. I for one am encouraged to see that there are so many of us.

Kay

[Kay]

Just thought I would start a list of all us fabulous forty gals:

Babysteps (Shelley) wonderfully pg with triplets!!
Murphette (Laura) regrouping after sad BFN
Gremmabean (Julie) trying au natural
babycowlover (Lisa) "not giving up"
taka (Tamar) 2ww ending 2/3?
bd711 moving to ED ET around 3/24
Kay Ed cycle ET week of Feb 25
Faith08 ET Feb 21
theresa0604 thinking about ED

Hope I didn't miss anyone. If I did please add yourself on!
I am looking forward to when this will become the fabulous forty pregnancy support thread!!
Kay

[Faith08]

Thanks Kay for the warm welcome and for putting it all together for us.. It will make it so much easier to track each others activities. I do hope our 40s team gets bigger.

just wondering if you ladies have heard of FErtility Blend. I came across their website and wanted to share it with you. FertilityBlend: Optimize Reproductive Health - Home I've also learned from friend that taking B-Propolis may helps with infertility. it might be something worth looking into.

Happy Friday ladies!