[CaribbeanQueen]

Good luck with your transfer, RJ. Yes, it can happen!

Gina and Carina--I hear you on the money thing. As I said, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that ins. paid for part of our cycle. We've been saving up for our adoption (which is significant). I think that we'll keep adding to that fund since we're still planning to adopt.

Sounds like you have a hard decision, Gina... I know that getting back on that treatment treadmill is NOT fun. I didn't even want to do our 3rd fresh IVF cycle... DH basically talked me into it after all of the stuff he had been through to get ready... In hindsight, I am more than glad that we did it, but it is hard to get to that spot... My vote would be to try again. You worked so hard to make those little snowbabies. Whatever the outcome, I think that I'd rather have tried them--you know? It's agonizing, I'm sure...

[carina]

Gina,
Not that you were asking, so in all fairness you can say "who asked you!", but I agree with CQ. You should give your little snowbabies a shot. You DS took, so I would think that out of 15 at least one of the little buggers has to stick! Its too bad that we can't raise the money for treatment somehow. Got any rich uncles out there? I'd ask you to move to NJ but they don't cover cyro anyway - now if you wanted to start fresh? Just kidding I know that's crazy....

[carina]

RJ,
Yeh you can tell from some of these ladies that FET can work. Not only from this Sept go round, but a few of their 1st babies are from FET as well. I know that when my FET cycle didn't work this month I really started to loose hope, but we need to keep it alive because anything is possible.

I asked my RE a question one time & he replied "while its highly unlikely I have come to believe that anything is possible." Sadly though he meant this to both extremes. It seems like while prognoses is important it is not the end all when it comes to this baby making business. I read a story yesterday of a women who's DH had an extremely low count & morphology of 1% that conceived with IUI, then naturally! On the other hand everyday I read about people with little or no know IF issues who aren't having any luck with even the most invasive ART. So? I told my friend on the phone this morning that I think the universe is only giving out so many ART babies a month, so I had to wait my turn this month.



Me - age, 28. No known fertility issues. Passed HSG, Histeroscopy, Sono's, Ovulate, etc...

Hubby - age, 34. avg count, slightly low morphology @ 4% while 'normal' is 5%. The numbers have varied greatly throughout the years. 6M, then 67M, then 47M, now 35M, while the breakdown %'s remained the same. I almost wonder if that 6M was wrong because no others have been so low.

Oct. 2001 - TTC

Apr 2003 - Infertilty Consultation.

May 2003 - 1st IVF cycle , but resulted in an ectopic , 2, 2 day embies transferred, no leftovers

Sept 2004 - 2nd IVF cycle ! - 2, 5 day blasts transferred - 3, 6 day blastocyst leftover for freezing

June 2005 - Baby Girl Born ... 2 hour
unmedicated labor. The universe paid back for all those proj shots that day. Though it was painful it was fast & furious. Best night of my life!

Sept 2007 FET - all 3 blasts thawed - 2, 6 days blasts transferred -

Oct 2007 - 1st IUI (unmedicated) aprox 10/15

[Disneybaby05]

Carina- We are covered under Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ. I have the Direct Access plan. My Dh (also a teacher) has the NJPlus plan. It has been a Godsend throughout each go around (1st with our IUIs, then the fresh successful IVF in 05, and with covering FET)

Gina- I'm with you on the " I didn't want to get caught up in the game again" feeling, but now finding myself right smack dab in the middle of it. I've gone from "We won't try again" to "We could try IUIs or one more fresh cycle next summer"...the only thing that really stops me from doing a fresh cycle is having to subject my body to all the meds again and another retrieval ( I didn't like that last time).

AF finally arrived today and the cramps are worse than I ever remember having them. NO FUN!

[rjbishop]

Has anyone's Dr actually talked to their Dr and asked him if the odds of concieving are worse with FET than with a fresh IVF cycle?? I just went thru my first IVF cycle and got a call this past Wed with the bad news....it did not work.....I have 4 blastocyst embryos left over from my first cycle....my Dr sent me a quote of $3600 for FET......I don't have my flup appt with my Dr until Nov 8th...not sure if he's going to recomment FET at this point or not.....it's all so tiring and draining....I thought for sure my first IVF would work....I had such high hopes

[rjbishop]

I'd like to get a few opinions here from you ladies if you don't mind.....my ET was done on 09/29...BETA just came back negative a few days ago.....the retrieved 42 eggs....on the day of my ET my ovaries were still so swollen that my Dr had to make 2 ET attempts (both on the same day) because my ovaries were so big they were pushing my uterus up and therefore he could not access it to transfer the embroys. He decided at that point to put me to sleep to do the ET....thinking it would calm my nerves and muscles....I remember thinking while in the waiting room "this just doesn't feel right....I should cancel and maybe have the ET done when my ovaries are not so swollen" but I decided to listen to my Dr and let him put my to sleep to do my ET...it just felt so un natural....he did say once I was asleep my ovaries kind of moved out of the way and the transfer went smoothly once I was out...I just wonder....if my enlarged ovaries had anything to do with my failed IVF? The Dr would dissagree with this I"m sure....it does make me wonder though. I'm hoping the FET will go a little smoother as I don't have the ovaries all swollen and getting in the way this time.

[carina]

RJ,
My RE's success rates are 57% for FET & 67% for Fresh ET.

I never had over stim. ovaries, so I can't speak from experiance, but from this board you can see that many women have had their ET cancelled due to it & then followed up with successful FET cycles.

Since you have the snowbabies I think you will find that your RE expects you to use them before trying another fresh cycle + if you over stim. before maybe FET is a good idea for you anyway.

Good luck whatever you decide

Disney,
That is lovely insurance. We had that years ago when I did my 1st IVF. I still had copays, but it otherwise covered 100%. Now we have Oxford. I am grateful for the fact that thx to the NJ Family Building Act we have treatment coverage at all because Oxford otherwise would not want to cover this as I can tell because they follow by the letter of the law and nothing more. Still again lets be thankful for that!

*I really wish they would give me additional retrievals as CQ's insurance has. I really want 3 kids & with only 2 retrievals left that will take allot of luck! I am really hoping that these IUI's work!

[rjbishop]

Thanks for that info Carina....I just can't help but wonder why my Dr proceeded with the ET instead of cancelling due to my overstim.....it just makes you wonder if the overstim had anything to do with the IVF not taking.....I guess we all want logical answers...and sometimes there are none.

[mom2davis]

RJ- My IVF was canceled due to hyperstimulation. My whole belly swelled up with fluid and it was almost into my lungs. It was miserable!! Your Dr would have been able to tell if you did overstimulate by your estrogen level. We did and FET 5 months later and became PG with our son. It is very possible. The good thing about FET is that if the embryos don't make it through the freeze and thaw then they weren't good to begin with. It kind of weeds out the bad ones in some cases. Don't give up hope.

Carina- I feel like you know exactly what I'm thinking. I'm like if I spent this $ and got a baby- yeah. But to think I got nothing stinks!!! My Dh is always like spend more, make more. He really wants to try again. Let's think of an infertility fundrasier. When the nurse asked about us doing it again- she said I could forward your case to Compassionate Care or Hope can't remember the name. I said well, we're not that poor, we're just not that rich to keep at it too many times. I still need money to buy a crib and stuff.

Disney- Sorry about the cramps. Mine were real bad and then so so the next day when AF really started. After that though it was fine. I think I'm done today!! It was sad thinking there goes my baby!

Queen- Good luck with your US, we have one set of twins- so you think you'll be next?

[rjbishop]

Thanks for the encouraging words Mom2davis....to be honest with you....I don't remember them testing my estrogen levels after myER....my ER was done on 9/24 and ET was done on 09/29...no bloodwork in between there....so when would they have tested my estrogen levels??? I am also getting very impatient as my negative BETA results came in on 10/10 but I cannot see my RE until 11/08 for a flup due to him being on vacation....I am hoping the emotions get better daily....I have been a wreck the last couple of days.

[CaribbeanQueen]

RJ--I hyper-stimmed on my first cycle too. My estrogen was over 4,000 and I had almost 40 follicles as well. When I came home after my ER, I fainted twice and I had horrible, horrible abdominal pain. That night, after the second time that I fainted, I could not move (I had passed out in the bathroom). My DH said that I was "gray." He called the paramedics, and they helped to stabilize me. I should've gone to the hospital that night. When I called my RE's office the next morning to tell them what happened, they had me come in right away for a u/s. Turns out I'd had major bleeding from the ER (blood and fluid had leaked into my abdomen). It was a mess. For some reason (unknown to me and DH), we went ahead with an ET on day 3 (3 embryos). Needless to say, that was not happening at all... I was very upset by the whole thing and wondered why the RE allowed me to make so many eggs in the first place AND why he went ahead with a transfer if my uterus was not prepared to take embryos. Ugh. In hindsight, the whole thing seemed totally mismanaged... To answer your question about the estrogen level, the final # my RE uses is from the bloodwork on the day of the trigger shot. I am so sorry that you had this experience. Hopefully the consult with your RE will give you some answers.

Carina--your RE has some great stats! For my fresh cycle, our chances were just under 50%, and according to the FET stats, our chances were about 30% (RE told us we might have slightly better than that since I had already had a successful pregnancy). When are you going to try your IUI?

Gina--My Beta numbers are high, but they were last time, too... One healthy one would be great! Twins would be a double blessing! Looks like a lot of the June due date buddies are expecting twins... I just know that if everything stays on track that this will be my last pregnancy (unless some miracle cure surfaces for my DH's issues).

It was reassuring to know that we would've had two more chances at a fresh cycle, but physically and emotionally, it's so hard for both of us. I look at my DD and think that I really shouldn't ask for more. Somehow we got very lucky with this FET (I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything is still okay). I honestly don't know how I could take it if we tried fresh cycles and they didn't work.

So much to think about, I know!

[carina]

CQ~
Thank you for reminding me that my RE's have such great stats. After this failed FET you all know that I lost allot of faith, but I need to get back on that horse because my RE's do rock! And I have DD to show for it. Its amazing how easy it is to loose faith & how wondeful it is to be human because our wounds do heal ...

I had no idea that over stim. was so dangerous. I am always happy to see an IF patient become an IF parent because I personally know how long & hard of a journey it is, but holy smokes you really deserve this! I must say that I was very lucky in that my cycles were all relatively easy - even when I had an ectopic it was caught & treated right away with Methotrexate so I did not loose the tube - thx to those great RE's again & the universe! I guess what I am trying to say is that I am grateful for while the journey has been long & emotionally difficult up until now I had no idea how lucky I was that at least I was able to maintain good health throughout it (I that I will continue to be so lucky ).

I am hoping that the OPK will come up + one of these days... I am on day 13 now, so if & when I ovulate I will be doing an IUI.

[Tanya75]

Hi All,

Gina, DB and RJ sorry to hear about your news. My thoughts are with you.

Pixxi & CQ, congrats to both of you!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Just haven't been feeling well and just taking it easy. I had my transfer Oct. 5th. Transferred 2 5day Blasts. It was very hard not to HPT, but I waited. Had my first Beta yesterday, 10/15. It was only 21. I will have another one tomorrow. Not really feeling any different. Just will wait it out

[mmikowski]

Tanya, my first beta was only 21 too I was so nervous but a lot of ladies on this forum spoke up and said they also had low numbers 2 with 21 (one is now very pregnant with twins) and 1 with a number of only 14.9 and she is also very pregnant. my 2nd number doubled and my doctor and the nurse both told me the number was fine and not to worry (yeah right) just wanted to give you some encouragement becuase it meant a lot to me when i heard my 1st beta that others would say something to make me feel better. Good luck on your second it only needs to double. Also there is a website called betabase.com which has information on the number of pregnancies that occur with different beta numbers it was helpful to me.
martie

[Tanya75]

Thanks, that really does make me feel better. I have minor cramping if that's what you wanna call it, but it's all in my back. I had lost hope, but I started to look at things positively. Thanks for the words of encouragement!!!