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Hi - It looks like I will be doing my IVF around the same time as you. I was supposed to do my first cycle of IVF in December but go cancelled because of a cyst on my left ovary. I just got back from the RE and the cyst is gone. So now I am waiting for a positive LH surge for ovulation, then I will be starting lupron in a week. If all goes on schedule I should be having my baseline u/s and bloodwork on the 1/12 start my stims around the 14th then the retrieval around the 26th.

I had started a topic "IVF anyone?" if you would like to chat over there you are more than welcome or if you would prefer to chat here it is fine too. Good luck to you, I hope all goes well this time and no more cancelled cycles for either one of us!

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Hi Lyly,

I was following your topic, glad to hear the cyst cleared up on its own. I agree wholeheartedly with no more cancelled cycles. I'll go reread your posts on the other topic. Glad to have someone to go thru this with me. Good luck to you too. Lets just spread the babydust around.

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I am new to this forum and to the IVF process, this is my first cycle. I am starting my Lupron on 1/5 with target egg retrieval on the 30th. I am 33, DH is 37, we've been married for 13 years. I had tubal disease, so my tubes were removed on 11/16. I have never been PG, but I have an absolutely beautiful little boy that is 6. We adopted him from Guatemala when he was 9 months old. Would love to talk with others that are going thru the same thing.

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I did the opk tonight and got a positive, so it looks like I will be starting earlier than I thought! I guess in about a week I will start the lupron. I have to call the office tomorrow and talk to the dr. I usually don't ovulate until day 16 or 17 so he wasn't expecting me to go this early, he figured by the weekend I would get a positive. But I think my cycle is a little skewed because I was on bcp and then stopped because of spotting.

Hi czrutt- Welcome! It's nice to have people to talk to that are going through the same thing. I am also 33, but my dh is 30. I have 1 dd who is 9 from a previous relationship. I have also been pg 3 times over the past 3 years, but no baby. All 3 pg's happened in the first yr and a half and nothing since. We have male factor issues and I also am high risk for miscarriage (mthfr gene mutation and antiphospholipid syndrome). I take lots of folic acid and baby asprin. We are doing IVF with ICSI. Looking foward to chatting.

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Lyly,

Great news on the opk, I know waiting to start any phase is a royal pain. We're doing icsi as well, I don't remember if I mentioned that before. We have male factor as well as my age, and my DH will have a retrieval as well as I when we go with donor sperm as backup.

Hi czrutt, nice to have you here. If I make it all the way through the process this time, it will also be my first ivf. I have never been pg before. Praying and hoping that all goes well for all of us. The emotional ups and downs can wear you out, but having this forum to talk to others in is great.

We all understand not only the physical but the emotional sides of whats happening. In most cases you can see we've all had good days and bad, but having someone/somewhere to share means alot. Others who haven't had infertility problems try to be supportive and are, but its just not the same.

I hope to get to know both of you better as we move along our journey.

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vligertwood- Are you using donor sperm as a back up if they are not able to retrieve any sperm? When do you find out if you need to use the donor? The day of your retreival or before hand? My dh is able to do it the old fashioned way, but his counts and morph are terrible.
It is almost the new year so hopefully we will all get a fresh new start and have something to look foward to holding by the end of the new year.

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Hi,

We'll know the day of retrieval. His urologist will do his procedure first, at which then they will do my retrieval. If after his retrieval they can use his sperm, they will use it, if not, we have two vials of donor sperm on standby. After which we will probably take a cab to a nearby hotel. We live an hour away from the center, so we'll be spending the night before close by and since they won't allow us to drive immediately after, we'll take a cab back to the hotel and then back again to get the car. Depending on who feels better. I think it will probably be me actually, but we'll see. Its funny I'm more worried about his surgery than mine.

We're so busy at work, it gives me less time to think about everything which is a good thing. I still need to call the replacement doctor to make sure she can cover while we're out. Its so hard when you have approximate dates

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If my dh needed surgery I am not so sure we would be going through all this! He hates all this medical stuff. Is the hotel close to the clinic you will be using? That stinks that it is so far for you, but at least you will be together. I feel the same way about the aproximate dates. It makes it so difficult to plan things out, but you never know how your body will respond and how much time you will need. I will be on the long protocol and am starting the lupron on 1/3/08 then a baseline u/s on 1/10. I think my actual start date for stims is 1/12 which puts my retreival somewhere around 1/24 if all goes as planned.

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There are about five hotels less than 3 miles down the street from the center. They say my retrieval will be the week of 1/27 and they are supposed to be mailing my new calendar any day now. My stims are supposed to start on the 19th. I still need to gather about 8 vials of menopur, but we have spent so much money lately getting everything else together and the center needs another $2,500 to replenish for the cancelled cycle. Plus I just got a $2,600 bill from the hospital for the cyst aspiration and the hystosonogram. ARRGH. I figure I've got enough time to wait on the last bit of meds. My Lupron (not the kit) is already waiting at the pharmacy for me to tell them to ship. When I asked about the Lupron, my RE's nurse told me its not a kit but is specially mixed so not to get my info online about it????

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I have all my meds ready since I got cancelled before I started the stims last time, but I am running low on the lupron. They will be shipping that to me on wednesday. They are sending me the kit. I didn't know there were different types of mixes for the lupron. I was told you either get the kit with the med, needles and alcohol wipes or just the vile. Mine comes in a vile and I just have to fill it in the syringe with the amount they tell me. Last time I was on 10 units for a week then 20 units for another week because they were trying to shrink the cyst. (Obviously that didn't help). I think I will be taking 10 units until I start the stims then I lower it to 5 units. What kind of special mix is your lupron? Do you have to mix it yourself?

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I'm not really sure, I know its coming in a vial, but my RE insisted that I had to order it from a "compounding" pharmacy. I got my calendar in the mail yesterday, It indicates that on 1/19 I go for my initial bw & us and then start 5 units of lupron that night and 5 in the am and pm, starting the follistim and menopur a couple days later. The paperwork they sent doesn't say I have to mix anything, just draw and shoot. It also indicates only to give it in the thighs. Last cycle I did all my menopur and follistim in the stomach, any reason why the thighs for lupron?

I need to do my research on lupron. The only side effect I had before was from the menopur and that was headaches, but after a week they went away.

Due to the US after my AF for this cycle I'm also taking my bcp at night and that just seems weird. I'm always afraid I'm gonna forget it since I'm used to it in the morning. I've actually considered getting up in the middle of the night and taking it and then shifting it to a morning thing over a 2 day period. Just don't know if the staff has figured a pm bcp into the schedule or not. I ended up having to change my phone appt to the 10th, I forgot I had a seminar the morning of the 9th, so I told my husband I'll need his office for a while that Thursday. Really can't understand the need for the phone consult, it seems like they are just going to go over the calendar with me.

The first nurse said to plan about an hour for it, and then when I called to move it, Lynn, the head nurse indicated that it should only take 15-20 minutes? Don't know but at this point it just seems like an added step. First time they wouldn't give us the calendar or let us know any dates until dh and I went for the injection class. 2nd time they just mailed the calendar. I don't know maybe its because we're changing from the antigon protocol to the lupron, that they need the consult? Its not with my RE its just with the nurse. Oh well, you just jump through their hoops I guess.

Enough venting for this morning, I've got a ton of paper on my desk I need to get through before he gets tired of working and we quit for today.

I'll check back later.

Vicki

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vicki -last time I did the lupron in my stomach, but I have heard it can be given as an im (intramuscular) injections as oppossed to sub q (subcutaneous). The IM injection would be the thigh or butt. So I don't know what they are having you do. My RE didn't give me a calendar last time or this time either. Las time I was going crazy because I didn't have any info prior they just called and gave the directions each time. But during one of my appointments he showed me the dates because of the cyst and time constraints with the lab closing. I know the protocol is the same so now I can approximate dates based on the start he gave me. It definitely eases some of the stress knowing more than less. I had a quick consult with the nurse last time just to review all the meds, but it was a really quick phone conversation and very informal. It sounds like they will be doing a flare protocol on you. Is that correct? I am doing the long protocol, so I will be on the lupron about 10 days before I start the stims. Anyway I got to run and get my dd's friend packed up so her parents can pick her up. Talk to you soon.

Lyly

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Hi Lyly,

I can't believe your RE doesn't give you a calendar. At least I've got an idea until we get toward the end of the cycle then its a matter of timing for the bw & us. They actually encourage us to keep track of the meds on the calendar. They've got space to update the amount of the meds and check them off as you take them. Makes it a lot easier. On my scripts they upped the number of doses for both the menopur and the follistim, but in checking my calendar, it seems as if they have me on the same amount unless things change after my bw.

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Hi Vicki- Happy New Year! How was your new years eve? I don't know why he doesn't give a calendar, it would be nice to have. I may ask on thursday when I get the results of my bloodwork and the ok to start the lupron. I do have a pretty good idea of how things will go and approximate dates since the protocol is going to be the same as the last time. I thought it would never happen with that cyst but now it is coming up so quickly!

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Hi Lyly,

Our New Years was good. We worked late didn't get out of the office until about 6:30, went home and had a party at a friends house. It was a great party, but we were exhausted and bailed early. It does seem like time is in overdrive, except when it's dragging of course, lol. Hard to believe we're already in 2008. Started taking down the Christmas trees at the house and office. Just told my dh that if this works I'm not putting the ones at the house up next year. He said thats fine as long as he gets a baby for a present.

Was your New Years good?

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Hi Vicki- I really hope your dh gets his gift! New Years was nice. Dh and I spent the night at home with my dd. This was the first year we had been home in a while. I just went back to work today after a week and a half off, so it is back to routine. I wish I had more time off. I still have so much to do; take down the tree and decorations and move 2 sets of bedroom furniture to different rooms! We moved dd's bedroom and now have to move ours and my mother's, but dh is dragging his feet. I can't really blame him, our whole bed needs to be dismantled to move it and the rest of the furniture is so heavy. It is not going to be fun, but at least my mother's furniture isn't too bad. I can't wait till it is finished and we can get the house in order. Anyway, I should get to bed. I have to get up really early and go to the lab for b/w before I go to work so I can start the lupron tomorrow night.

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Hello czrutt,

I come here once in a while also. Nice to hear you have a little boy. I am 34 and dh 43. TTC for almost 2 years, went thru 3 failed IUIs, now I am waiting for the results of my 4th IUI... if did not work we go to IVF. I am nervous, never produced more then 2 follicous, even with a lot of medication (225 of gonal-f). What medication are you on?

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Hi all- I just go the call from the nurse at my RE's office and got the okay to start the lupron. I also had her go over my calendar with me, so I wasn't going on guesswork. So here is what I know:

1/3- Lupron 10 units each night
1/10 u/s and E2 level
1/14 start stims- reduce lupron to 5 units
1/25 estimated ER date (3 day transfer)

vicki- its looks like you will be right behind me
czrutt- Are you still starting your lupron 1/5? Are you doing the long protocol?

I am so excited to start again, but nervous about getting cancelled, OHSS, and a bfn!

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Hi Lyly,

Now we don't even think about BFNs at this stage. Or at least try not to. With any luck we'll all get through this together with BFPs. It does look like I'm right behind you.

Czrutt, haven't heard from you since your first post, is everything ok?

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I still think about bfn's but at least I don't cry everytime I get my period anymore. After the last miscarriage I had a really hard time and cried everytime I got AF. It went on for months (and I mean months), not to mention when someone announced they were pg, but I am handling things much better now.

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Thanks for checking on me. I have been so busy lately, haven't had a chance to get on here. I have had a time getting my meds, but finally they are here and I start the lupron today.

Somedays I can't believe I am finally doing this. We looked into IVF back in 97', but we were poor and struggling. I never thought that I would actually go thru this, let alone the possibility of actually being pregnant. I have so many mixed emotions, I just don't know what to feel at this point. Is anyone else feel wishy-washy about doing IVF? I guess I am just afraid that it won't work and I'll be standing here with nothing. At least when we adopted I knew that I would definately have something in the end.

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Meet the wishy-washy queen. We first looked at IVF in either 94-95. Thats when we discovered my dh had an issue. Prior to that we just figured it would happen eventually. He was in school at that time and there was no way we could afford it. We had a testicular biopsy done in either 97 or 98 and found he had viable sperm in the testes but they still couldn't find a blockage to clear. I was extremely nervous about the entire IVF thing, I was much more comfortable with the idea if IUI with donor sperm. I used every excuse in the book to avoid thinking about the whole thing. Our insurance covers nothing so money was a great excuse. About two years ago, I finally got scared that if I didn't go ahead with this we would never have children. I always felt that once I decided to go ahead with it it would be simple. Now I'm scared I waited too long. We looked at adoption a couple years ago, long heartbreaking story I don't want to go into now. But if we don't succeed this time, we will go the adoption route. Glad to have you back with us.

Lyly,

*HUGS*

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Hi everyone,
if you don't mind me jumping in...
Czrutt,I've read your post and just want to tell you -you are not alone on this feeling.When we finaly decided that we want to have a baby,it turned to be that it's not up to us anymore(after a couple months of trying,then buying ovulation tests,than going for HSG and a sperm test...) Well,it's a human nature,I guess,if you get a "no" answer, you think-what do you mean no?-even if before I thought,well,if I can't,it's ok,we have each other.But my DH insisted ("when you ready"-he said),I've spent one year reserching IVF and even after we decided to go ahead,I was like,OMG,maybe it's not too late to pool out...At least if we go for adoption,we'll come back with a baby...Even when I got PG after 1st try,it was still a little something...Untill the day ( at 7ww) when I suddenly start bleeding.Only that moment I've realized,how bad I want this baby...That was a sleepless night until the u/s in the morning with my doc- and everything was ok,we saw the baby's heartbeat and from than I just fell in love with my baby and have no more wishy-washy feelings.
girls,good luck! :-*

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Vicki- thanks for the ***hugs***. I could really use them some times.

It is funny, I have met or talked to so many women who feel the same way you all do. They go through the IVF process but are just going through the motions. For me I am the one who is so determined to do this. Dh can take it or leave it. He felt like it would happen when the time is right. However after 3 pgs and then two years of nothing he now understands there are many factors involved and we need help. He has brought up adoption many times, but I just feel like we need to exhaust the possibility of having our own child before we explore that option. Even my RE recommended we go the IUI route, but I asked about IVF with ICSI and he said it was a good idea. Maybe it would be different if I didn't have such great insurance coverage, actually I know it would make a big difference. But I feel I am fortunate to have the coverage and need to take advantage while I am still semi young. I already am high risk for miscarriages and those risks only increase by the age of 35, so I feel for me it is now or never.

Czrutt- I am also afraid and have many mixed emotions. I am excited, apprehensive and scared all at once. But I feel like this is something I need to try, so I am not left with regret. At least if I do the IVF and it doesn't work , I did all I could. If I don't try and end of with nothing I don't want to be resentfull and think back with I should have, could have or what if. So here I am on the IVF journey, wherever it takes me. Either way we are all in it together! I will be taking my 3rd lupron shot tonight and go in for u/s and E2 level on 1/10 then start stims on 1/14. What about you?

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I start my first Lupron shot tonight, 10 units. I do this for 2 weeks with my suppression check around the 17th. I start my stim meds on the 19th and our target retrieval day is scheduled for the 30th. We are doing a 3 day transfer, unless egg quality determines that we need longer.

I am so glad to hear that so many of you feel as I do. I too am so excited about this and I pray everyday that the end result will be a baby. I'm just afraid of failure. It is so nice to have others to talk to about the experience that we are all going thru. Thanks for being here.
Cicily

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Cicily- how did the first lupron shot go? Do you do them yourself or does dh give them to you? I really don't find them too bad, but today I have a really bad headache. I can't decide if it is from the shots or just my sinuses. My head throbs everytime I lift it up, so I am thinking it is my sinuses, but from what I have hear it could be the shots.

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Talk to you soon.

lyly

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Lyly,

First shot was fine. My DH gave it to me. I had a gastric bypass 2 years ago and I have to take bi-weekly B-12 injections. So we are old pros at the shot giving. He gave it to me right before bed and when I woke up this morning I was sick to my stomach. Don't know if it was from the shot or something else. I'll see how tomorrow morning goes.

Cicily

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Cicily- Sorry to hear you were not feeling good. Hopefully you will be feeling better tomorrow. I think the lupron is giving me insomnia. I was driving dh nuts last night cleaning and doing laundry until 4:30 am because I couldn't sleep. Not really tired now either, but I have to try and go to sleep so I can get up for work!

lyly

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Lyly,

I was the same way last night. I burned the midnight oil doing housework also. Once I finally got to sleep, I woke up around 3 am with a massive headache. As soon as I lifted my head off the pillow, it was a major throbbing on the left side of my head. I was finally able to get back to sleep and when I got up at 7, same thing all over again. I took a tylenol, it has helped a little, but if I move my head real fast I feel like its going to exploid.

Cicily

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Hi ladies,

lyly, can I have some of you energy? We've been doing 7 days a week at work and i'm exhausted. At least the paperwork is getting done.

Still have to order my lupron, will probably get that done today. Does it get shipped on ice? I've been running taking care of pts since I started this post, so I'm gonna sign off for now and come back when things slow down a bit.

Vicki

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Vicki- If I could bottle it and send it to you I would! Sorry to hear things are so hectic for you with work. I know the feeling. The lupron doesn't need to be refrigerated until after you open it, so it shouldn't need to be sent on ice. I have to get back to work my self, so talk to you later.

lyly

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