[Disneybaby05]

CQ!!! That's quite the story, but I'm very excited for you! Can't wait to hear your news on Monday!

Gina- I'm sorry your beta was pushed back a day...ugh! Just what you want- another day to wait!

Carina- thinking ++ thoughts for you!

Kari- that is exactly how I plan to spend the day if this cycle is not successful....lots of coffee, wine and chocolate for me.

stay strong everyone!

[sunny72]

CQ, congratulations! you give me a glimmer of hope. Where you having any symptoms that in hindsight could of been pregnancy symptoms??

[carina]

I am surprisingly so OK. To be honest the worst part of my day was the fact that my DD bit some kid in playgroup this morning! Its the worst thing to go through as a parent, especially because I am a co-leader of this Holistic Mom's Group that coordinates the group. Since this was not the 1st incident I decided to take her out of the group for at least a couple of months. I think its a very noisy & stressful enviroment for her & she doesn't like it when children try to take things from her or push her around. It really suchs that she chooses to bit. All the other kids can push, hit, not share & they get away with it. But biting really gets a bad rap! Hey maybe some of you teachers can offer me some advice?

As for the following months we plan to try the natural approach this time. We've never tried it. For us that means that DH has to quit smoking, begin seeing the acupunturest, taking herbs & vitamin supplements while being monitered by our RE's for increase in count/mobilty, etc. For me I plan to submit to a postcydol (spelling?). I think it would be interesting to know if there are issues with our initial chemestry on top of his low count. Both of my grandmothers used different types of douches to conceive their children.
And as I mentioned before possibly non-medicated IUI's. If all else fails I'll try IVF again, but I will not freeze again. Since my insurance does not cover cyropreservation this cycle has cost us out of pocket 5000 where our covered fresh cycles only cost 2500, which is just the co-pays - no large sum payments as with FET for the freezing/thawing. We have decided that if there is a next time we will donate to science - hell I know that I would want stem cells available to my little girl had she ever needed them! It could mean stim cycle after stim cycle, which hopefully I will never over stim

Enough about me... I am still pulling for all of you. Congrats again to those of you who have been lucky so far (me, Gina & CQ included since we have been blessed with 1 so far) and to you all

Now I will enjoy my wine and sleep for the 1st night in many!

Me - 28 no known fertility issues
Hubby - 34 low count/mobility
Oct 2001 - ttc
2002 - Some crappy day - Diagnosed MF Infertility - 6 million sperm count
May 2003 - 1st IVF cycle resulted in an ectopic
Sept 2004 - 2nd IVF cycle BFP! - 3 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 - BFN

[sunny72]

I'm sorry for the negative Carina.

I'm sorry about your little biter too. Kids have unique ways of trying to express how they feel I guess. I'm worried about my three year old. She is somewhat terrified of other children and yesterday when I took her to a children's museum she cried when she thought she was going to be cornered by a little boy. She actually loves kids, but is scared at first at what they will do to her. She doesn't like kids grabbing things or being mean (typical kid stuff), and she just collapses into a heap and cried. Makes my heart break to see how seriously she takes it all. Such a sensitive soul.

[vermontgirl]

Congrat CQ -------- That is great news!

Carina ---- I am so sorry. I know how frustration and heart-breaking all of this is. We are still recovering from our . It is sooooo unfair.


My question: Were there any differences between Pixi's and CQ's protocol and our protocols (we both got )?

I also transferred 6 day blasts. I am just wondering. This protocol didn't feel right to me. I got AF this week....and have also had terrible pain in my upper left abdomen. I think my body is completely whacked!

I still hoping to hear about more s!!!

Crista

[PixxiDusst]

Mom2Davis (or anyone else who can answer this) - is getting a early on really an indication of twins??

Another question for all you experts who've done this before...did your RE do an ultrasound when you went in for your first Beta?

Thanks!

PixxiDusst

Me - 32, normal
DH - 43, abnormal morphology

First IVF/ICSI cycle:
7/11 - ER - 16 eggs!
7/12 - 9 fertilized!
Fresh Transfer Cancelled due to OHSS
4 Blasts are frozen
9/11 - Trigger!
9/18 - FET (2 embryos)
9/24 HPT
9/26 HPT
9/28 HPT
10/2 - 1st Beta

[PixxiDusst]

Carina/Vermont - sooo sorry to hear about your news. You'll both be in my thoughts.

Vermont - to answer your question, here's my protocol . Because I have a regular cycle, my RE decided to do a "natural" cycle transfer. I use the word "natural" loosely b/c I still had to take Estrogen, the HCG trigger shot and Progesterone suppositories (and that doesn't seem very natural to me...lol). After I hyperstimulated from my first IVF ER in July, thereby cancelling my fresh transfer (we ended up freezing four 5-day blasts), my RE told me to wait a cycle before starting the natural FET cycle. My AF started on Aug 30 (and I started taking baby aspirin again on this day) and I went in for monitoring until it was time to trigger (using Ovidrel). The same night I triggered w/Ovidrel I was told to start taking Doxycycline 2x a day for 9 days. Two days after I triggered I was told to start taking Estrace (estrogen pill) and Progesterone vaginal suppositories 2x a day. A week after I triggered I had my FET in which they transferred 2 5-day blasts (I don't know what "grade" the blasts where, but the embryologist told us they looked great).

I hope that was helpful and wasn't TMI! As this is my first go 'round with IVF/fertility treatments, I'm not nearly as knowledgable as most of the other ladies on here who've already had success. But if you have any other questions, I'll do my best to answer them .

to all!

PixxiDusst

[Disneybaby05]

Oh Carina, I'm so sorry. Sending big hugs your way. Funny you should mentioned DDs misbehaving, because I picked my DD up from her small daycare and found out she pushed one of the boys. I was shocked.....she got her 1st time out ever!

Typically, the ultrasound is done around 5-6 weeks gestation by the RE's office, not on the day they do the beta, but I guess every office is different.

Hang in there everyone!

[limey]

I can't believe it!! I gave in and tested this morning, of course I had to wait for my husband to come in from out of town, then we did it together. My beta is on Monday, and we transferred 2 -6 day blasts.

Symptoms were feeling like something has been sitting on my bladder, a little light headed and nausea at night (started 2 nights ago). Also that empty stomach, need to eat feeling.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

[vermontgirl]

Limey - Congratulations!!!!!

The success stories really really keep me going.....


----- Thanks for sharing your protocol. It is helpful for me to hear. For my cycle I started on Vivelle estrogen patches on Day 1. They increased to day 14. I guess this much estrogen "shuts" the ovaries down. On Day14 I had an ultrasound and started progesterone.

I think I would have done better if they had let my body ovulate on its own. I felt weird without the hormones. It didn't feel right. I think if we do a FET again....I may request a more natural cycle.

My body is slowly getting back to normal. I actually start my IVF soon ---- Oct. 16th I start Lupron!!
I really really hope I am not doing too much. I just had the m/c in July. Then we waited on cycle and went right into our FET.

I know some of you have children already....we are so hoping to make at least one! My mom is optimistic because we got pregnant on our first IVF cycle - even though it ended in a m/c. I hope she's right!!

Crista

[Disneybaby05]

Limey!!! Congrats on the BFP!!! So excited for you!

Can't wait to hear your bloodwork results on Monday!

Crista- wishing you lots of success for your next IVF! Oct. 16th is right around the corner!

[CaribbeanQueen]

Great news, Limey! I retested again this morning just to make sure that two lines were there... I also have my Beta on Monday... Continued best wishes!

Carina and Kari... I know that it's *so hard* to deal with a negative result. After my first two IVF's failed (and even in between), I just felt awful. I felt such an emptiness. I wanted more than anything to be a mom, and nothing we were doing was working.

I must say, though, that DH and I were truly together through everything. Since our main obstacle was male-factor, he went through just as much as I did. Before our first cycle, DH had a testicular biopsy. Unfortunately, the dr. did not give him enough meds, and he *felt* the procedure. It was horrible. I cried and cried to see him in pain like that.

The sperm that were extracted that day were frozen and used for our first two cycles (which might have explained the ) . Additionally, I hyper-stimmed on my first cycle and had some complications. Not fun.

After our second round, DH had the varicocele repair. More misery for him. We were still told that this wouldn't allow us to conceive naturally; rather, it would give us a chance for him to have a PESA on the same day of my ER.

Before we had our third IVF, DH had two serious infections as a result of his procedures. Again, more agony. I questioned if all we were going through was truly worth it. We knew that we would make our 3rd attempt at IVF since it was covered by insurance, but by that time, I was convinced that we should follow through on our adoption (we've had an approved homestudy since 2004). It was essentially DH who convinced me to go through with the 3rd cycle. After all, he didn't want to have gone through all of his stuff for nothing...

I think that several factors contributed to our success on the 3rd cycle:

1) I had been on Metformin
2) RE added Antagon to my protocol
3) DH was able to give fresh sperm on ER day
4) I had taken off 13 months between cycles #2 and #3

Still, I was surprised to get a that time. I had *no* symptoms at all.

As for this go-around, I think it's just luck, really. Our clinic's stats indicate that for my age group, there's only about a 30% delivery rate for an FET. Also, I've read that clinics like to thaw 3 or 4 embies to see which ones are the best. In our case, we only had 2 (both Day 6). One was from our first cycle, and the other was from our third cycle. I think I may have mentioned that on transfer day, the dr. wasn't optimistic about one of them, but I guess that it was good enough to put back...

My protocol: one month of BC. Started children's aspirin every day and Delestrogen every 3 days on Day 3 of my period. Started PIO 4 nights before transfer.

As for my symptoms and feelings for the past 11 days, well, it's been all over the map. To recap:
Day of transfer and day after -- cramping
Next two days -- nada
Days after that -- sore boobs; intermittent cramping
Wed and Thu [this week] -- no more sore boobs; constant cramping / some cramps feel AWFUL
Yesterday and today -- mild cramping (due to PIO, I guess)

When I was *sure* that I wasn't pregnant on Thursday, I was talking to DH about what we should do. He's so calm [which is great]. When we were scheduling our FET, we found out that our insurance would pay for two more fresh cycles since we had a successful delivery. I think that we might've pursued this (and still may, if this cycle is a bust after all), though I am honestly not sure how I would handle a if we both had to go through all of that again.

For us, we've always known that we wanted to adopt. We just thought that it would happen after we naturally had a child or two... Anyway, that's still our plan, and one day we will pick up our forever child! Yay!

Gina--you sound so calm no matter what the result. I think it's great to have plans for either outcome.

A good cry helps... And just getting back to life as usual (it's hard, I know).

Getting a is really difficult to take when you do everything you're supposed to and it's something that you really, really want. That's the thing with IVF--science sort of has a handle on it, but it's not exact. Who knows precisely what will lead to a pregnancy in one patient but not another? Most women I know who have had successful IVFs have only gotten pregnant after multiple cycles.

For those of you who will be going back to a fresh cycle, ask your RE if s/he will be changing your protocol. Ask what the RE has learned about your body/response. If the issue is male-factor, make sure that you get a second opinion and pursue those avenues as well. Mostly, just be good to yourselves and your partners...

[mom2davis]

Carina- I am so sorry- I know we can take comfort as you said that we do have one already and others would love that at this point. I too can not believe how emotional I have become this time. Enjoy the wine- I said that if I got I was going to find a seedy bar and pretend that I was still a sorority girl again.

Pixxi- A high hcg level can indicate possible twins. But it can't be it for sure. When I got pg with my son, my first BETA was on the high side for one or mid to low for two. They can't tell till the US. My RE does and US about a week after the BETA.

Limey- YEah for you girl- I'm so happy for you!!!

Disney- Your transfer was the day after mine, any feelings or urges to test?

I am feeling so unpreggo- I'm not too optimistic. I did test this morning still, I know it can still be too early so I'm clinging on to that hope. I am going to keep testing every AM until the BETA. What do I have to lose?

[carina]

Christa,
My protocol for this FET cycle was as followes ...

BC for 1 month
20 units Lupron started daily when I got my period
Delestrogen IM injections started day 3 & continued every Tues/Fri
Lurpon decreased to 10 units daily when Delestogen shots started
aprox day 14 stopped taking Lupron
aprox day 14 began daily Proj injections (1/2 cc 1st day, then 1cc every day there after)...contiued with Tues/Fri IM Delestrogen
aprox day 15 added medrol & cipro to the mix
finished up medrol & cipro day before transfer
Aprox day 20 transferred 2, excellent quality 6 day blasts that with assisted hatching
*also I used accupuncture once a week for two weeks before the transfer & right before & right after the transfer

I too think that it would have been nice to do it more naturally, especially since I have no known fertility issues.

Though we have MF DH isn't that bad off. While his lowest count was 6M his count day of ER he gave a fresh sample which was 40M! That was our second fresh cycle. Both times he gave fresh samples & both times I got BFP! The 1st cycle turned out to be an ectopic though :-( But it was a great sign as I think a miscarriage is as well.... we knew after that it could work. For one thing IVF is the ultimate semen analysis. As we did 1/2 ICSI & let my DH sperm penitrate the eggs of the other 1/2 in our second cycle & the same amount fertilized in each group. Knowing his sperm are willing to penetrate my eggs is the bases for our decision regarding future treatment.

For the 1st time my DH is going to be the patient. He is going to give my RE's a specimen next week so that we have a baseline # then he is going to start seeing the accupuncturest once a week, begin taking 60mg zinc,1000mg vit b12,l000-2000mg l-carnitine and 125mg pycnogenil. At the same time he is going to quit smoking, drinking coffee & alchohol. He has already done the whole urology work up & though he has a small varicosity the dr didn't think it was enough to explain the low count & therefore not worth oporating on. We are going to follow up with semen analysis every month & hopefully if we don't conceive on our own by then we will start NonMedicated IUI's in Jan. I think I am willing to give those at least 3 attempts before returning for IVF.

If anyone has any info regarding ways of increasing sperm count please share!

Thanks for all the support

Congrats again to

to the rest

Me - 28 no known fertility issues
Hubby - 34 low count/mobility
Oct 2001 - ttc
2002 - Some crappy day - Diagnosed MF Infertility - 6 million sperm count
May 2003 - 1st IVF cycle resulted in an ectopic
Sept 2004 - 2nd IVF cycle BFP! - 3 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 - BFN

[Disneybaby05]

CQ- glad to hear there are still 2 lines!!!

Gina- I'm sorry to hear of your results, but it could still be too early! I'm dying to test, but am going to hold out until tues. or wed. DH is buying a FRED on his weekly trip to the supermarket today. I keep thinking this FET was a bust, though, because I really remember feeling differently when I was first PG with DD....like charlie horse feelings in the uterus, hot flashes, peeing a lot, and being so emotional( I was crying tears of joy whenever someone won something on Wheel of Fortune...I knew something was up then! .....this time, I'm only peeing a lot, have sored bbs, and lots of mild cramping....however, I did cry yesterday when the bank teller didn't send out a lollipop for my daughter like she usually does....normally, I'd tell my daughter that the bank ran out and that would be that. I did say those words, but at the same time I was beginning to cry (how weird is that??!)

This is SO hard! Stay strong!