The Official TTC for 6 Months or More Thread

[Loves Vintage]

Thanks, ladies.

Laila - There are three frozen. Doctor seemed surprised every step of the way how well things went (considering I'm 40). We transferred one. One of the three frozen is same quality as the one that was transferred. I have no idea how the other two would be graded. We really only talked about the two. My lining was a 12. I've been doing acupuncture since January. Had acupuncture immediately after the transfer. Sometimes, it just doesn't work!! I don't know if I would go into a frozen transfer immediately after this, but probably will. I kind of question all of the drugs that I've been taking so willingly. I do still think I will have another baby, but when is the super-unknown question.

Bright - Thanks so much for chiming in. I remember that you tested what I would consider late (maybe 11DPO?) got a BFN, and then a BFP the next day. I hope for the same awesome turn-of-events, but I've always been a glass half-empty sort of girl. And, sometimes, I am pleasantly surprised. And, yeah, IVF sure isn't fun!! I hate all of the appointments, which there would at least be less of for a FET.

 

[BrightSpot]

LV, that's really wonderful that you have 3 frozen embies! This cycle I waited to test until 10dpo & it was a bfn, but I got a clear bfp the next day at 11dpo. It's still so very early to test & a day can make a huge difference. Sending tons of dust your way!

If it doesn't work out this cycle, that's wonderful that a FET is an option.
In my experience, I feel that my body doesn't respond as well with a lot of meds & maybe yours is similar. You could do a completely natural FET if you want that would be so much less invasive for you & maybe your body chemistry would be different.

That said, dust dust dust for a bfp in the next few days!

Cheering the rest of you ladies on as well!

 

[random_thought]

Temp dropped this morning and AF showed I better get a refund on those wondfos...

 

[amc80]

Aww, sorry random! You should definitely email the company. Those tests were obviously faulty.

I got my AMH back- 7.8. That is really high, right?

 

[amc80]

Okay, I got the rest of my repeat loss blood work back. Negative for MTHFR and all of the other clotting tests. EXCEPT my Protein C Activity was high at 178 (range 55-140). Right on the results it says high protein c has no known clinical significance.

 

[random_thought]

Exciting night, the apartment next door caught on fire, they deposited 2 dogs and a cat and a 2 month old baby in our apartment while they got everyone out. Afterwards, C got to sit in the firetruck and push the button that lights up the lights and he got a talk from the firefighters about staying in school!

But omigoodness, that baby, I almost didn't give her back lol

 

[royalasscherlover]

Rt, so sorry to hear about AF and the false positives. When will you know more about next steps?

amc, I haven't had the more recent tests you've had so I'm no help interpreting the results. Have you discussed with your doc?

Lv, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you just tested too early and you have more positive news now. If not, that's great that you have some frozen.

choro, how did the rest of your tests go?

MP, isn't your RE appt today? Hope it goes well and keep us posted on the plan.

Interesting discussion on TSH - I looked back and mine was 2.4. It hasn't come up as an issue, but I may talk to my doctor about bringing it under 2. Otherwise, still in the 2WW and hoping for good news.

 

[JGator]

MP, good luck today at the RE appointment!

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

Temp dropped this morning and AF showed I better get a refund on those wondfos...

RT, I had some pretty serious false positive lines on Wondfos and contacted Amazon with the info. They refunded for me!

 

[pancake]

Just wanted to pop in and say, from an endocrinology standpoint - in the context of no diagnosis of hypothyroidism (biochemically +/- clinically symptomatic), a TSH of 2.4 (for example) is NORMAL. Now, in someone who has hypothyroidism of whatever cause, treatment is a "best guess" at what constitutes a "normal" T4 - the normal range quoted by labs is very wide. The literature about TSH in the higher half of the normal range and about subclinical hypothyroidism and pregnancy outcomes is NOT unequivocal although there was a recent retrospective cohort study suggesting that there was a negative association between higher normal TSH and pregnancy outcomes, however the normal ranges during pregnancy, as extrapolated from large cohorts of pregnant women, are also very broad. The evidence does NOT clearly suggest adopting the practice of universally treating women with subclinical hypothyroidism. In the setting of infertility, I understand that everyone wants to leave no stone unturned; however I would caution people, as I do patients, against trying to finesse the medical literature or Dr Google without the input of someone who does this stuff every day.

 

[amc80]

Just wanted to pop in and say, from an endocrinology standpoint - in the context of no diagnosis of hypothyroidism (biochemically +/- clinically symptomatic), a TSH of 2.4 (for example) is NORMAL. Now, in someone who has hypothyroidism of whatever cause, treatment is a "best guess" at what constitutes a "normal" T4 - the normal range quoted by labs is very wide. The literature about TSH in the higher half of the normal range and about subclinical hypothyroidism and pregnancy outcomes is NOT unequivocal although there was a recent retrospective cohort study suggesting that there was a negative association between higher normal TSH and pregnancy outcomes, however the normal ranges during pregnancy, as extrapolated from large cohorts of pregnant women, are also very broad. The evidence does NOT clearly suggest adopting the practice of universally treating women with subclinical hypothyroidism. In the setting of infertility, I understand that everyone wants to leave no stone unturned; however I would caution people, as I do patients, against trying to finesse the medical literature or Dr Google without the input of someone who does this stuff every day.

That is really interesting, thank you so much for chiming in. Any thoughts on my other numbers? I finally got all of my results in-

TSH- 2.39 (.45-4.5)
T4- 8.1 (4.5-12)
Free Thyroxine Index- 1.6 (1.2-4.9)
T3 Uptake- 20 (Low, range is 24-39%)
Free T4- .99 (.82-1.77)
Free T3- 3.0 (2.0-4.4)

 

[pancake]

Hi amc, I don't want to make any specific comments on your TFTs as it would be inappropriate to do so, but they would appear to be normal. T3 uptake is a bad test which we actually don't use at all over here (Australia). The others, as you can see, are all well within the normal range but the units of measurement in the States are different from those that we use here.

 

[split_shank]

Hi ladies! Sorry I've been MIA. It has been a hectic month. We decided to do a 75mg Femera cycle this month, and ended up producing 2 mature follicles plus others by day 10. Triggered that morning (although I felt like I was close to O'ing on my own and felt like it a few hrs after I triggered). Dr said I could use my Crinone sitting in my drawer since it couldn't hurt and he didn't want it to go to waste . Fast forward to about 10-11 DPO and I got these beauties:




What threw me off was that I used a cheapie HPT to test out my trigger on DPO 9. It was negative. So when I got the pretty good positive the next morning, I couldn't tell if my positive was leftover trigger that the cheapie didn't pick up, or if it indeed rose fast enough to catch it. I went in yesterday afternoon and my hCG was 37.7 at 10 DPO. Checking again on Friday which will be about 60 hrs after. *Quietly happy dancing*

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

Sticky healthy bean dust!

 

[JGator]

Congratulations SplitShank! Awesome looking lines!!! Sticky, healthy dust to you!

 

[choro72]

Split Shank, I'm so happy for you!!!!! Congratulations!!!

RT, goodness I'm glad your neighbours are alright.

AMC, When are you meeting your RE?

mp, waiting to hear from you!!

AFM, Hubby and I went in to the lab on Monday. I had the needles stabbed three times for my glucose test. Hubby reminded me afterwards they could have left the needle in my arm instead of reinserting each time. *Smacks head* Mental note to yell at them next time.

Anyway, I got my lab results that the testosterone level is too high. Specifically "Testosterone, Bioavailable % (calc)" and "Testosterone, Free % (calc)". I have no ideas what these are, but we'll be discussing it in May. Doc emailed me and said that exercise and metmorfin will help with this, though I want to wait and see if metmorfin is necessary. This reminded me that my testosterone was on the high side before, but I worked out a lot back then. I haven't exercised for two years so perhaps that has something to do with it.

In any case, Google tells me that this affects ovulation, which it seems like I am doing. It doesn't address the spotting. My spotting isn't bad this cycle. I think it's because HSG flushed stuff out. Tomorrow I go in for an ultrasound, so I hope we can find something there.

DH's result hasn't come back yet. Wondering if I should wean DS. Obviously scatterbrained.

 

[Clairitek]

Congrats splitshank!

 

[split_shank]

Thanks! My betas over 62 hrs went from 37.7 to 288!! Much better than last round so I can relax (paint my bedroom) this weekend. Checking levels again on Tuesday!

*happy dancing a little louder*

 

[aviastar]

Thanks! My betas over 62 hrs went from 37.7 to 288!! Much better than last round so I can relax (paint my bedroom) this weekend. Checking levels again on Tuesday!

*happy dancing a little louder*

This is so excellent! Happy Easter, indeed!

 

[random_thought]

So I have my appt with the new RE tomorrow afternoon to discuss my ginormous cyst on my ovary as well as treatment options. Praying she doesn't suggest iui right away or surgery. Just not feeling so hardcore about it all right now

If anyone is interested, here is a picture of my ovary and cyst lol

 

[royalasscherlover]

splitshank, congrats!

choro, I hope you get the rest of your tests finished soon and can come up with a good plan to move forward.

aviastar and LV, hope you are well.

rt, that's a seriously big cyst! I hope your appointment goes well/

mp, where did you disappear to?

AFM, another cycle bust, CD1 Those of you who've done IVF, how much importance did you place on the SART stats? Any other tips for choosing a clinic? I guess I really am going to have to do this. I'm so scared that nothing is going to work for me

 

[monkeyprincess]

Hi ladies, sorry I haven't been following along on the thread the past few weeks. I got busy and got out of the habit of following along, but I just wanted to check in.

SB, so sorry to hear you had another failed IUI I am sure you are beyond frustrated at this point. I do think there is a really good chance that IVF will bypass whatever it is that is keeping you from getting pregnant or at a minimum give you a lot more information about the state of your eggs and whether there are any barriers to fertilization or anything. I don't know a whole lot of about the SART stats, sorry. I only have a few clinics in my city to choose from, so I chose the one that was affiliated with my OB/GYN practice, but it also seems to be the most respected one in our region. Are you having doubts about your current doctor/clinic?

RT, ugh, so sorry to hear you had a false alarm with the wondfos. I was starting to wonder if that might be the case when they weren't getting darker or confirmed by FRERs, but I was really hoping that wasn't the case. Really hoping your appointment with the new RE went well and you feel confident with your plan going forward. And yowser, I really hope you are able to get rid of that cyst and getting your ovary back in working order. No wonder you were in so much pain.

Aviastar, still thinking about you and wishing you well!

SS, oh wow! Congratulations! I'm very happy for you. Any chance you have twins in there??? Sending good thoughts your way for a healthy pregnancy.

Choro, how are things going with you? Hope you are able to get more answers and closer to another BFP.

amc, I don't know anything about thyroids or appropriate levels, but hopefully, your doctor will help you sort through that. As far as your AMH level, it seems like it might be slightly high and possibly indicative of PCOS if I remember correctly. But I did see people posting online with much higher levels than that. Hopefully, you will be back in the running again this cycle and armed with mroe information.

LV, big hugs to you. I don't think you updated with your results, but if you were right that your IVF didn't take, I'm so very sorry. I know that with IUI and then IVF, the stakes just get higher and higher and the emotional toll must be even worse. I like your attitude that it is a matter of when, not if. I really really hope you have better luck with one of those little frozen embryos. Hang in there.

AFM, sorry for the long absence. I think I needed a bit of break, and I honestly didn't have a whole lot to contribute. I did finally have my RE appointment last week, and it went well. DH and I both had good rapport with the RE, so we felt good about moving forward with her. As suspected, she believes egg quality is likely our issue. She wasn't at all concerned with my HSG results and said it was completely normal for one tube to spill faster than the other due to spasms and structural differences. She said DH's counts seem perfectly normal as well and the white blood cells wouldn't have been an issue with an IUI, so we are left with egg quality as the likely culprit. I will be getting a repeat CD3 test of FSH and estrogen and then I will start injectables, most likely gonal f, and IUI. I should be ovulating today or tomorrow, so I guess we'll be starting the new cycle in around two weeks.

 

[random_thought]

Was told they have never seen endometriosis grow back as fast as mine has. My cyst on my ovary has not gotten smaller and if it grows 0.5cm more, they will need to remove my left ovary.

I have a 80% chance of a mandatory hysterectomy in the next 10 years to prevent it from spreading anywhere else.

If I want to have any more children, I need invasive procedures which cost money of course.

Right now, my only choices are to be on birth control which will prevent me from getting pregnant, have another surgery (the second in less than 6 months), or have an iui (for pregnancy) and then have the hysterectomy after we are done having children.

 

[split_shank]

MP, good to hear from you! Thanks! My 4 day betas went from 233 to 2,213! My friends are joking about multiples, but we'll see next Tues after US. Of course I think about it, but know that singles can be high too. And of course my mind goes to worse case scenario, because after this long what else could go wrong, right? Dr google warns me of ectopic to Downs, to just plain crazy (likely the case). Just need to get my face in some salsa and step away from the search button.

 

[amc80]

Random, ugh. What are you going to do? I would think the procedures would be covered by insurance because they are medically necessary (as opposed to IF needed)? My thoughts are with you.

 

[choro72]

shortblonde, so sorry about your IUI bust. Do you have issues with your current clinic? I don't know much about SART either, but it's something I would start with if I were to have IVF...Is there a community you can get details from? Sorry I'm not much help.

mp, so glad you're back! I hope this cycle still works somehow but fingers crossed for the next cycle!

split shank, great results! Congratulations!

RT, hugs hugs hugs. I'm so sorry to hear this. Your head must be spinning. Are you going to get a second opinion? This is just so much reality to process.

 

[random_thought]

Our plan for right now is to do the lupron for about 4 months while we save up the money. At that point we'll go ahead and do an iui. We haven't really thought ahead any further than that I keep finding myself getting into thoughts about how we'll do things if C remains an only child though, it's a whole new level of crappiness, that is for sure

 

[monkeyprincess]

Random, hugs. I'm sorry you are having to take a break and face some tough decisions. I understand this is not at all what you want, but I hope the time off is at least good for your mental and emotional health and helps you to not feel so stressed out for awhile. We have had three cycles off now (other than trying on our own), and even though I went into the break kicking and screaming, I have to say, it has been very good for me emotionally.

Choro, how are things going with you? Have you gotten any more information or come up with a treatment plan or anything?

SS, hoping you got good news at your ultrasound!

SB, LV, Aviastar, Brightlight, and anyone else, thinking of all of you.

AFM, nothing new. I will hopefully be starting an injectable cycle next week sometime depending on how long my LP decides to be. I'd love it obviously if AF stayed away, but that's not likely. I don't even know exactly when I ovulated, but I think it was last Tuesday or Wednesday. One thing I meant to mention last time I posted is what my RE said about exercise. I was telling her that I was at least 10-12 pounds heavier now then I was when I was TTC number 1 and asked if it would be a good idea for me to take off the extra weight before starting treatment again. She surprised me by saying no. She gave me some studies on how it was actually better to have a few extra pounds than too few and suggested that I limit cardio exercise for awhile. I have not been a hardcore exerciser since before I got pregnant with number 1, but in recent months, I had been getting back into a workout routine. I'm not entirely convinced I need to cut back because it's not like I'm training for a marathon or anything, I mostly speed walk or jog. Anyway, DH is insisting I follow her advice and only go on slow walks with the stroller, etc., so that's what I'm doing for now. Anyone get any similar advice?

 

[split_shank]

MP, I've usually heard/read losing 5-10 lbs helps with fertility, but I think more in a insulin sensitivity/hormone balancing situation. I agree though with you, you aren't training for a marathon or anything, and some activity can help out sanity if for nothing else.

AFM, I don't know where to begin. Other than to flat out say that I had our first US yesterday. There were THREE yolk sacs in there at 5w/2d. I.AM.FREAKING.OUT.

Follow up US in 2 weeks to check for heartbeats and development. I have been on every end of the spectrum and I know a lot can happen in the next few weeks, but I have no idea what to do.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Oh wow, SS. I was fully expecting you to say there were 2 babies based on how quickly your betas were rising and the fact you *thought* they were two follicles. But three, I don't even know what to say. I'm happy for you that you are pregnant, but also understand your mixed feelings. A triplet pregnancy is much higher risk than a single or even twin pregnancy. You are right that a lot can happen in a couple weeks this early in pregnancy, so hopefully you will get more clarity at your next appointment. Sending you good thoughts and prayers as you process this information.