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The Official TTC Thread!

Hi Swimmer,

Thanks for asking. I took 2 more tests! One last night and one this morning. Both were negative. I also took my temp this a.m., it was 97.8, same temp as the temp on the day preceding AF last month, so I am predicting AF will be here tomorrow, which means this past month would have been a 31 day cycle.

I have an appointment with a new ob/gyn next month. My current office does not do obstetrics, so I will discuss things with her.

Hope everyone is having a nice Friday. The weekend is just a few hours away!!!
 
Hi everyone, I guess that DH was right, I did just have a stomach bug. Back to cycle day one
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That''s OK, I''m sure that DH is looking forward to another week-long sex marathon this month again - gotta look on the bright side
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I never had any side effects on Gonal-F. Barely even noticed the ovaries getting bigger pre-IVF. I guess some of it was probably that I wasn't ever on suppression meds ahead of time. Anyhow, I'm wishing Melanie and swimmer good luck with the stims!

I'm wishing I had a nice little home ultrasound to check on baby. But I'm trying to not be a total nut about things, so no fetal doppler for me, I don't think. And maybe I should think of it as a good thing that I don't have access to an ultrasound at work these days - won't be zapping the bean unnecessarily, just to keep me calmer. Next ultrasound is in 11 days, and then I'll nearly be out of the woods.

Hope you guys don't mind me still lurking here. I can't bring myself to jump onto the pg thread so early on. I'm just too cautious, and have been burned too often.
 
Sending sticky vibes and positive thoughts Dr K!!!!
 
Sorry Melanie - realized I posted my IVF vibes update on here. And I wanted to write a little more on here, so I thought I''d swiftly edit my post. You''re just too quick! Thanks for the good wishes. Hope I''ll be seeing your success story very soon!

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Fisher - here's the photo I put on my other thread, in case you missed it. The little gummy bear head-on one we had of our first baby at 8 weeks 2 days was pretty darn cute too, but maybe it's nice that this one's a side-on view, and totally different. I'm dying to see how baby will look on the next one. On this one, the head is to the left, then there's a eeny arm bud, then the guts/liver (outside the belly at this point), then what I think is a shot of the little leg, probably from knee to foot. Kind of funny looking. I'm sure it will look so incredibly different next time around.

ETA - sorry, I have no brain. I forgot to add the comment to Fisher before hitting submit. How dumb can you get?
Kate
 
And sorry for the recent BFNs. I''ve been there and done that too many times to count! I''m sure many of you will have better luck in the very near future.
 
I''m sorry to hear that Vesper! I had high hopes for you. But the marathons are fun, aren''t they?
 
Sorry Vesper about the bfn, are you temping?

DrK, thanks! Great info. Love your gummybear shots! Keep on cookin!
So...what was your dosage for Gonal-f?
Melanie, yours?

Yeah, dialed it up to 75 and did the first shot last night. DH was kind enough to sterilize my tum, way to be involved. I didn't spill any! Last time w/ ovidrel I think 1/3 of it leaked out of the inject site. No comments on s/e yet, don't want to jinx myself. A question about exercise, I either swim a few miles a day or am on the elliptical for an hour every day with weights, I've read different things on exercise around iui and art...one RE told me not lift or do abs. Most recent RE said to not change my regular habits. What have you guys been told? I don't want to mess up by either exercising too much or conversely not enough...
 
Swimmer - I''m not a big exerciser, so I never asked my RE, but I doubt swimming or elliptical can do any harm. Be guided by how you feel. They don''t want you doing crazy aerobics or trampolining or anything with IVF stims, just because you could get into trouble bouncing around a lot with huge ovaries (could get ovarian torsion). They told me to do no hard exercise or heavy lifting after transfer, but I don''t know if there''s any evidence behind it.

Festy - I can''t remember the last time we BD''d, let alone marathon sessions! How pathetic am I? :)
 
Sorry Vesper on your BFN. Bleh. You had mentioned some fertility issues you discussed with the docs - are you just giving the old fashioned method a good college try or are you using some medical assistance?

Good luck on round 2 swimmer!

Melanie, your first ultrasound is today? What do they look for?

drk so glad your bean is sticking around and developing properly! Of course stay here as long as you want but I am hoping that you get to graduate to the preggo thread soon!

I'm mildly sick. Hoping for this to delay ovulation until I get home. How sad is that? But its great to be on the east coast for some summer weather - i even heard thunder a couple of times... so rare on the west coast.
 
Cara - I''ve hoped for that before too. "Let me be stressed enough at work that O holds off till DH is back from his business trip". Not that it helped ME much... :) We''ve had some crazy thunderstorms here over the summer. Latest one this morning. Massive thunder and lightening, and torrential downpours of rain. One of the rainstorms was so bad a couple weeks back that it created a gigantic (like big enough to drop at least a couple vans into) sinkhole on one of the major east-west streets at the north end of the city.
 
Aw sorry vesper that stinks. Swimmer, that's great you got DH involved. I am the type to take care of these things myself without involving DF, but I made an effort to not be that way by asking him to help me with the first one. I still find it kind of amazing that I can give myself my own shot. Makes me feel like I should have been a doctor or something (haha).

I am on 225 mg of Gonal F. I did it for 4 nights and then the ultrasound this morning. Cara they look at your follicles, and measure the ones over 12mm. They want (at least at my place) to see you have at least 3 follicles over 15mm, which are considered mature, before they will do a trigger shot. I had two just over 12mm, which I'm told is normal at this point in the process so they didn't change my dosage. They also did a blood test, I want to say for estradol but I could be totally making that up. Anyway my next ultrasound is Tuesday morning.

EDIT: DrK just saw your post right before mine and wanted to say, I swear I'm not stalking you!
 
Ruby Red grapefruit juice is MUCH better than the yellow kind.
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Thanks for the tip, Swimmer.

***
Vesper, way to have a good spirit about things. Another month of trying...

***
In totally unrelated to TTC news, I thought I''d offer this update on my mother-in-law, since so many of the members of this thread from last fall offered such support when we found out she''d been diagnosed and was in need of chemo. She completed her chemo (8 rounds) in late spring, and is doing very well. She goes to the clinic for blood checks and to run tests every other week now and about three weeks ago they did a test where they take cells from her spine and happily, they found NO signs of the return of any concerns with the cells whatsoever. So, needless to say, we''re happy and thankful and praising God to the highest.

The Drs. haven''t yet claimed it to be gone, or that she''s in remission (I think it has to be a number of months since chemo stopped to medically claim that), but we''re counting it that way. So, we''re getting ready to plan her "bye bye chemo" party, and she''s asked that she have a cake of the same make up as our wedding cake (my cousin made it). She doesn''t want wedding cake style, but the same color (purple) and the same flavors (white and red velvet). So it shall be!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!!
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Date: 8/8/2009 8:41:34 AM
Author: vespergirl
Hi everyone, I guess that DH was right, I did just have a stomach bug. Back to cycle day one
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That''s OK, I''m sure that DH is looking forward to another week-long sex marathon this month again - gotta look on the bright side
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Click to expand...
OMG, you guys - I think I was wrong - I think I''m pregnant!

Here''s the story - when I had previously posted, I had some spotting during intercourse Friday night, so I assumed that I was starting my period, since I was on cycle day 30 (11 DPO). However, after noticing the spotting only that once, there was no subsequent bleeding all day Sat. or Sun. I''m still only 13 DPO, but I decided to take a pregnancy test this morning.

After a few seconds, a FAINT blue line appeared in the window. It wasn''t as strong of a blue as the test window, but there is definitely a blue line there. I know that I wasn''t supposed to test until at least 16 days DPO, but I couldn''t help myself since I''m already on day 32 of my cycle. I plan to test again on Friday.

I read that even if the line is faint, if it is there, it means that you are pregnant, but it may just be early. Since I''m only 13 DPO, I figure I will test again to make sure in 3 days.

What do you guys think? Is even a faint line an indicator or pregnancy?

I hope it''s true, because we''ve been TTC for 10 months. This is my second cycle on Clomid, and we timed our intercourse perfectly, so I was really hoping it would happen this month ...
 
Delurking to say,

Wow, Vespergirl, that really sounds promising! I''m hoping the pregnancy test experts here can give you some tips.

But yeah, as far as I know, any line at all means the hormones are there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Date: 8/10/2009 8:16:03 AM
Author: phoenixgirl
Delurking to say,

Wow, Vespergirl, that really sounds promising! I''m hoping the pregnancy test experts here can give you some tips.

But yeah, as far as I know, any line at all means the hormones are there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I am keeping my fingers crossed! When I had spotting Fri. night I automatically assumed it was my period starting, because I never had ANY spotting or bleeding during my first pregnancy.

However, after during some research, the spotting I had may have been "implantation spotting," so that would explain it.

I was going to wait until the end of the week to test again, but I think that I''m going to buy some tests & try again tomorrow morning. I''ll keep you guys posted!
 
Date: 8/8/2009 12:07:59 PM
Author: drk
Sorry Melanie - realized I posted my IVF vibes update on here. And I wanted to write a little more on here, so I thought I''d swiftly edit my post. You''re just too quick! Thanks for the good wishes. Hope I''ll be seeing your success story very soon!
Click to expand...
What an adorable little bean!
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vespergirl, sounds very promising! I''ve read that a line is a line so it probably means you are pregnant!!
 
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Vesper, Talk about big news! How exciting! Yes, a line is a line and a line means pregnancy. The faint lines that DON'T mean pregnancy are the ones that appear after the max time alloted for the results to appear. Those are typically evaporation lines. But a line that appears instantly, is a pregnancy!! Yay!!
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****
Dr.K,

What a precious baby picture you have there! Adorable. Tell us, how often do you look at it? I can only imagine that the image is completely memorized in your mind by now.
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Congratulations again, every day must bring a little more peace.
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****
Pandora,

I'd also ready that grapefruit juice is not good for some meds. One of the medications I was prescribed for my oral surgery had a warning on it stating not to take with grapefruit juice. I'm not on any medications other than the clomid and that's only a few days a month, but I still called the pharmacist and he said there is no reaction between the two, so I was pleased to hear that. But it is good to know that grapefruit juice has interactions with some meds. I wonder why it's grapefruit juice specifically and not all citric juicies....

****
Cara,

Today I got the "all clear" from my dr. for the gum graft. I can happily resume regular brushing and use of my toothpaste again, and I'm thrilled! I do wonder how long it will take before it looks more like it's supposed to be there rather than it was just slapped on, though. The Dr. said it's different for everyone, but said mine is doing better than most, so that made me happy.

****
Vesper, post more when you take more tests and find out for sure, for sure (although I'm already pretty sure!). ETA: Just read the whole post instead of just the first part (got excited for you!!) and saw that you'd been on clomid. Yippee and congratulations!! Is your Dr. going to be able to do an early ultrasound? I've heard on here a lot of Drs. do that with clomid pregnancies to count how many babies there are.
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Congratulations Vesper! A line is a line is a line!

Swimmer, I''m also wondering about exercise. To me, swimming and the elliptical sound harmless. No impact and they''re exercises you''re used to doing. I also see pg women at my gym using hand weights. I take a boxing class that is pretty strenuous, there''s jump-roping, lots of abs, etc. Thing is, tons of pregnant women who are regulars have kept coming to class. One was jumping rope at 36-37 weeks, another was doing full-on pushups at 7 months. I guess I''ll ask the RE. I have this fear that all the jumping will derail the sperm and the egg or prevent implantation. On the other hand, I also rationalize it that the reason we''re doing IUI is most likely sperm-related, and if we can just get the egg and sperm to meet the rest will be a piece o'' cake. Stupid? Btw, congratulations on giving yourself that shot! Big accomplishment in my book.

Fisher - Thank you for the update on your m.i.l.! I''m so glad to hear that she is done. What a huge relief. I hope her scans continue to come back clean.

I could use some AF vibes. I had a long LP last month and I really don''t want to repeat that nightmare. I am sooo ready to start IUI at this point. Of course who woke up in the middle of the night for the past two nights when the cat was puking? That would be me. DH was dead to the world. I could barely speak to him this morning I was so grumpy from imagining getting up with a baby while he saws logs.
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Bad bad Monday morning.
 
Date: 8/10/2009 9:36:33 AM
Author: fisherofmengirly


****
Vesper, post more when you take more tests and find out for sure, for sure (although I''m already pretty sure!). ETA: Just read the whole post instead of just the first part (got excited for you!!) and saw that you''d been on clomid. Yippee and congratulations!! Is your Dr. going to be able to do an early ultrasound? I''ve heard on here a lot of Drs. do that with clomid pregnancies to count how many babies there are.
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Click to expand...
Hey fisher, I haven''t talked to my doc yet - I figured that I''ll take another test first thing tomorrow morning, and if it comes out positive, then I will calll them & schedule an appointment.

With my first pregnancy, which was unplanned, I found out I was pregnant 6 weeks in and the doc did the first ultrasound at 8 weeks (it was a different doctor - I was living in a different area). So, I don''t know what this one has planned yet as far as an ultrasound goes, but I''m assuming that it will be around the 8 week period - hopefully sooner!

Regarding the Clomid, I was just diagnosed with PCOS in April, because I hadn''t ovulated since November, and my ultrasound showed tons of ovarian cysts. The docs didn''t test for PCOS earlier because my DH & I already had proven fertility (unplanned pregnancy 3 years ago, resulting in beloved DS).

Once we were actually TRYING to get pregnant, though, for our second, starting last fall, no ovulation, no periods for 5 months. That''s when they finally took me seriously and diagnosed the PCOS. I did two rounds of 50 mg Clomid, and it looks like it worked on the second cycle!

Once again, I hope I''m not jumping the gun with that faint line - I will post again tomorrow once I get the results of the second test ...
 
Vesper...a line is a LINE!!!

My first line was super faint...I tested like on 13 DPO or something like that (I wasn't charting so I'm not sure the number of days). I wasn't sure it was EVEN a line but posted the picture here and it was confirmed by all the girls...I wasn't crazy and there was a line!!!!. You can try to look back on my pictures...this would have been around February 20th or so...

Good luck! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!!!!!!!!!!

ETA: I got a positive on a digital one two days after the faint line on the first test...which was the day after AF was due....or about 15 DPO.
 
vesper, that sounds promising!
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I can''t wait till you test again. When you do - maybe you should try a pink-dye test (like FRER) or a digital - just for cross-referencing. There seems to be more evap lines on blue-dye tests than other types - (very convincing evaps too) I''ve seen a lot of girls with those on Fertility Friend.

But it sounds good! Especially with the brief spotting!
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Fisher, glad to hear your MIL is doing much better!
 
Vesper, what a way to be wrong! You are KTFU! A line is a line is a line. Ways to get a false positive are bad test, bad reading of test (usually evaporation line that appears after the time window given in the instructions), or tumor. The first two can be mostly checked by taking a different test and reading it correctly. The last we'll just hope no one on these pages ever encounters. So...

That's awesome news! Congratuls to you and Vesperman.
 
YAY Vesper! How fabulous.

Festy sending you AF vibes!!!

Ladies, to the extent the exercise questions were about ivf, my "IVF Treatment Guide" says the following:

If you were already in an exercise program, we encourage you to continue. However, the medications used to stimulate the ovaries can cause ovarian cyst formation and ovarian enlargement. Therefore, we would advise you to avoid exercise activities that result in a lot of vertical movement (i.e., running, step aerobics). Other exercise activities such as swimming, bicycle riding, walking and using the treadmill or elliptical are acceptable.

However, later in the guide it has the following Q&A:

Q: How much exercise can I do after hCG? After embryo transfer?
A: No vigorous exercise until after negative pregnancy test.

I think hCG is the trigger shot that makes you ovulate. So a bit of conflicting advice. Personally, I''m going to do what I want until the trigger shot.
 
coming out of lurkdom to join TTC. i''ve found the members on here so helpful and supportive and have done research on this board about more than just diamonds ;) i can''t wait to spend hours reading all of your stories.

i''ve been married for about a year and dh and i have decided that we''re going to try for a baby. we have no clue what we''re doing (besides the obvious
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). that''s why i''m here! hopefully, somewhere along the way, i can help someone else too.

we only really tried in july and i''m not so sure i have my cycle down so besides the fun we had trying, it was a bust. here''s my current issue. dh wants to use protection this month so we don''t have a baby on his birthday. ugh...i think if we''re lucky enough to conceive, we shouldn''t be so picky! i asked him the other day if he would reconsider and he said no and i didn''t push it. i''m not sure what to do. it''s not something we have to talk today because there''s not much we can do when i have af anyway.

i have a gyn appt in october and i want to be able to go in (assuming we''re not pregnant) with a solid "chart" (for lack of a better term) so we can seek advice and guidance. not only does "skipping" august interfere with that obviously, i think it''s downright silly!

any ideas?
 
Fisher--Grapefruit juice can inhibit an enzyme in our liver called CYP3A4. This enzyme is responsible for the metabolism of certain medications in our bodies. When it becomes inhibited, the medication cannot be metabolized, or broken down and so the concentration of the med goes up. For some meds, this increase in concentration can lead to toxicity and/or increased risk for that medications side effects. The other citric juices do not do this to that enzyme and therefore does not interact with medications. I hope this helps and makes some sense, it can all be very confusing!
 
Puppmom - your DH is nuts! i arrived 6 weeks early, unexpectedly, and on my Dad''s birthday. We''ve actually loved sharing that day for the last 34 years. Chances of you getting pregnant the next cycle are maybe 25% at best, and the chance of actually having a baby on his birthday is remote. There''s only a 4% chance that you''ll have a baby on the actual due date, after all.
It strikes me as kind of selfish to say that as an adult man, you can''t handle sharing your "day of glory" with your child. Maybe I''m being a little harsh though. :)

Vesper - how about a photo of the test? We''ll be able to tell you if you''re imagining it or not!
 
All, thank you so much for the wonderfully warm welcome. DH and I spent the weekend being spontaneous (I am so not a spontaneous person), and ended up along the route for the "World''s Longest Yard Sale." We didn''t buy anything and ended up spending the rest of the weekend in Nashville, but it was really great to have a getaway just the two of us and see the spectacle of the yard sales.

Fisher - I miss my family like crazy of course. In terms of places, I really miss is Trader Joe''s. I know you have them in the ATL area, because I go there every time I get to Atlanta. There is also one in Nashville, so I stocked up on yummy food over the weekend. I used to really miss In-n-Out and Del Taco, but I don''t really eat fast food anymore so I can''t say I miss those places as much as I used to. The other thing I really miss is being able to go to the beach for the day if I want to. The beach is about 6 hrs away from us now. In terms of the Southern Accent, most of our friends are also from other places, so I haven''t really picked one up. I still have trouble understanding people with thick accents when I run into them though. On another note, I am so happy to hear about your MIL and her recovery.

Dr. K - I totally understand your caution. I really thought the MC chances were so low once you got to see a HB, but I found out the hard way that is not only the case, or is it I just get to be in one of the unlucky percentages? In any case, it is not fun to be in limbo. I have good feelings for you though, that this is going to be one sticky and perfect bean.

Vesper - Early congrats!!

Pupp - Welcome! I thought that I didn''t want to have a baby in December at first. My bday, DH''s bday, and Christmas are within three weeks of each other and I didn''t want to add another bday into the mix. But now we''re almost one year and one MC into this TTC journey, and I can assure you that I''ll take a baby any month that one is granted to me. Your DH may change his mind as time goes on. Its important to stay on the same page with you DH though. Hopefully you two will be able to compromise somehow.

In TTC news, I had my follow up to my d&c appt. today. I got a clean bill of health and the all clear to try again as soon as AF comes around. They did a PG test to make sure it was negative (it was), and I got a new script for prenatal vitamins (I had been taking over the counter ones). Dr. said to try on our own for 6 months and to come back if we''re not pg by then. Then he said he felt my mc was a chromosomal issue and he had a feeling he''d be seeing us back in 2-3 months. Here''s hoping!
 
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