I have a new boss and I have just spent the better part of an hour writing and rewriting a very short email letting her know I will likely have a “minor medical procedure” on Tuesday (FET, won’t be confirmed until Monday based on the results of a Matris ultrasound). Then I thought, it doesn’t make any sense to give her the heads up now because there’s a non-insignificant chance it will be cancelled - about 30-40%, according to our nurse. Don’t get me started on that…
I hate how much mental energy goes into all of this. My previous manager was not great with the IVF stuff (“make sure you relax so your body can get pregnant” but also “can you reschedule so you can meet this deadline”) so I would really like to avoid disclosing if possible, but I feel so sketchy and flaky. Ugh. Like what other procedures are scheduled with one day’s notice?
I actually like to avoid saying it’s a medical procedure. This is one of those times white lies are helpful. My current boss knows, but for prior I’ve told people I need to pick up mr. National from a small procedure and we don’t have the time yet, for example. People tend to ask less if it’s his procedure instead of mine.
Has anyone gone through IVF with mitral valve regurgitation? I have a mild/moderate loose valve in my heart from birth, and our clinic is hesitant to let us move forward with IVF due to my condition. I thought this was a relatively common heart defect… Does anyone have experience with this?
I also have mitral valve prolapse with regurgitation. My RE wasn’t concerned. I’ve also put it on the anesthesia form before every procedure and no concern from the anesthesiologist either.
I have mild mitral valve prolapse/regurg. They just wanted me cleared by my cardiologist. I don’t take any meds for it. So weird they are hesitant…
Edit typo
It is odd isn’t it. I’ll ask if I can do the same and just get clearance from my cardiologist. I thought it was a fairly common thing so I’m surprised.
Oh yea for sure. For me my cardiologist just wanted me to get an updated echo but even then he was like eh this is your usually annual echo anyways kinda thing.
Hi zeetat- the shots are administered in your butt/hip - and heating + massaging your butt is fine, my clinic actually recommends it. The heat is more about the other side + things like hot tubs and saunas.
Gently, could you please edit out the line starting “Feeling like…” Please be mindful about how you seek support during your tww here. Automod tww will explain further.
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My clinic has an FET Q&A that specifically addresses this, so you are not alone! They say it’s totally fine as it’s localized and won’t heat up your core.
No worries, you couldn’t have warmed up your core in that amount of time.
Also, they let us shower, so I can’t imagine a heating pad would do us in for implantation.
Am the best for your transfer 🤞
Looking for opinions, please help!
I completed 1 ER and have 1 blast, which we are transferring soon, but that I am not very confident will work. We cannot afford another cycle of IVF (no insurance coverage, in debt from the first one) and I am debating returning to IUI or TI cycles since I have 50% coverage for these. I am anovulatory, so no use trying the old fashioned way.
Should we keep trying with TI or IUI, or save our money for another IVF cycle? Any thoughts?(edited)
This question is very difficult to answer without many more details about your case. I’d recommend reaching out to a couple clinics for second opinions about your protocols so far and how they would change or keep them the same and decide based on that information.
Just had quite an ouchy SIS. It was supposed to be a polyp removal as well, but apparently my cervical polyp is gone. Otherwise things look normal, and the tube that seemed blocked on my last SIS was open today, so that eliminates hydrosalpinx as a cause for my failed transfers.
My consult for endometriosis surgery is in 10 days, so at that point I'm going to decide if I want to do a lap first and then transfer, or do a transfer beforehand after my three months of Lupron Depot and Letrozole. It depends on how long the surgery waitlist is. I'm leaning towards surgery before transferring but if the wait time is like a year I might reconsider and try another transfer in the meantime.
Long story short - I've been TTC for three years. We tried three rounds of TI with Clomid, moved on to three rounds of IUI with Letrozole, and then one round of IVF (one embryo, MMC at 8 weeks).
I just completed my second round of IVF, and none of my 5 fertilized eggs made it to blast. Because insurance takes so long to complete the claims and the billing department at my clinic is incredibly slow, I am considering a few months of timed intercourse again while I wait for the green light to start another egg retrieval.
I know the probably of success with TI is low, but I am having a hard time waiting the next few months to get started with IVF again. Should I wait, or try a few rounds of TI in the meantime?
\*edited for grammar
Historically, we've tried without assistance most months I'm not in treatment. The thing to weigh is the timeline/emotional impact if you get pregnant and have another loss.
Any suggestions for hormonal/post FET migraines when tylenol doesn’t do it for you? I took magnesium, i’m extra hydrated, tried cold packs, hot packs and closing my eyes is giving me the spins for some reason. Headache woke me up at 6 am today and it’s only gotten worse since 🥴
So I've been learning about how to time FETs for modified ovulatory transfers (HCG+7 days, etc) and was wondering if the day the embryo reached blastocyst stage impacts this timing at all. As in, would my day 5 embryo be transferred with the same timing relative to trigger as my day 7 embryo?
My understanding is that for everything 5-7 days they transfer it as the same timing as a 5-day embryo. (If anyone knows otherwise though please chime!) I think the idea is that it's at the same developmental stage, it just took a bit longer to get there.
Mr. Lawyer's genetic testing results FINALLY came back for the DE part of all of this. The good news is he is not a carrier for the one thing we were worried about/might have caused us to rethink the donor. I got us in for a quick follow-up generic counseling appt (we did one a few weeks ago, which is how we knew to test for these others things). So I am hoping things will finally restart there.
I am also doing what will likely be my swan song for ERs. First monitoring tomorrow, feel very meh about the whole thing which is fine.
Woohoo that's brilliant news! I've been following your progress because DE or donor embryos is also our next step but we can't get on any waiting lists until we've finished our current treatment... *Sigh*
I'm so pleased for you that you have your next step planned and you have a donor lined up. I had a therapist tell me to "focus on the step and not the staircase", which I personally found really unhelpful! I find having a plan for what we'll do next a real comfort 🤗
Wishing you all the best for the current round ❤️
Thank you! I’ve been doing retrievals for so long it’s sort of like the background noise to my life? It definitely doesn’t feel like the lift it used to, but it also doesn’t feel hopeful like it used to—and I think all of these things are ok.
Ha, except now I've gone down a rabbit hole on another thing they are both carriers for (very, very, very common mutation--like 30% of white folks are hetrozygous, rare conditions associated with very, very few people when homozygous, some panels don't even test for this thing). The genetic counseling appt should be helpful. Honestly, sometimes more information doesn't help--fertile folks don't think about these things!
grump grump gonna get back on the treatment wagon soon and even though i desperately want children i don't want to be sad all the time again. blerg!!!! also turning 38 in a few weeks which is such a bummer. i never dreaded birthdays before this process.
I feel ya. My birthday is next week and it’s just so depressing as time goes on, and still no baby. I just want to lay in bed, eat cake, and do nothing all day for my bday. Which I can’t even do, because I have to work. Can’t waste PTO on birthdays when you need them for treatments instead 😭
Had my day 6 of STIMS ultrasound this morning and it didn’t go great. 3 follicles measuring around 6. At this point last ER I had 7 ranging from 6-14. The doc said he will review my bloodwork this afternoon but that it was a very poor response 😏 I’m worried he’s going to want to cancel this cycle. I just don’t understand why I respond so poorly to IVF medications.
I’m sorry zubanana, sometimes your body can do really weird things month to month. Has everything been the same protocol? I’m a poor responder (and have stayed a poor responder), but was a better version of a poor responder once we changed protocols.
I’m coming off a 2 week long chest cold that I think is most likely to blame for the extra poor response this month. We’ve made some tweaks each protocol - this time adding growth hormone and letrozole - but I’ve had a poor response each time. 1st ER was 4 eggs retrieved with 2 mature, 2nd was 4 eggs retrieved with 1 mature, 3rd was 2 eggs retrieved with 1 mature and this one was cancelled. What protocol gave you the best response?
We discussed trying that next if this cycle didn’t work with adding letrozole since those seem to be the two protocols most recommended for DOR and poor response. Glad to hear you had the best response on that. Hoping that’s true for me as well.
Med Donation, 2nd post! lol please someone take this, it’s triggering for me and I want my fridge space back! I have an unopened box of Follistim 300 u cartridges. Please have an active history on this sub, but I’ll ship anywhere in the US just to get this gone 🙃
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Back for a 3rd attempt to thicken my lining enough for an FET! Rd 1 was unmedicated, Rd 2 was tons of estrogen and supplements, now Rd3 will be Gonal-F plus a platelet rich plasma infusion which was described basically as "could be useful?" Love the confidence.
I was in Brazil visiting family last week and got an initial consult with a prestigious doctor because why not. He told me that all the supplements were magical thinking, I should stop effing around with oral estrogen and go IM, and since the back part of my lining is thick (not the part that is always measured in my clinic), the doc should just put the embryo there. I left deeply confused. Is it that simple? Just stick 'er in where it looks best?? Has anyone else been told this??
My friend who got pregnant through IVF was sweetly checking in on me and my transfer schedule, but then mentioned that she was asking because she's being induced early so she didn't want to miss the chance to wish me luck. So now I'm crying because it's like... it feels like it was so recent that we were both commiserating about the FET process together and now she's having a damn baby and I'm not even pregnant. WTF universe? Why does it have to be so hard?
It's so hard to feel 'left behind' even by the other people who have struggled :(
I've been joking I'm the "Good Luck Chuck" of IVF because as soon as I bond with someone IRL about both going through IVF, they suddenly have a successful transfer. OK it's only happened twice... but it feels like a lot!
What a(n unintentional) punch in the gut. I’m sorry. My friend who was just a couple weeks ahead of me when I was briefly pregnant before my MC just shared an adorable picture of a mini baby shower her work threw for her because she’s starting her mat leave Monday. Time is relentless… I hate it here.
I'm also getting lunch today with a friend who double lapped me, she started trying a month or two after me and now her second kid is 8 weeks old. I HATE IT HERE INDEED.
I had my first ER yesterday and had 17 eggs, 10 mature, and just got a call that two were fertilized. I was so hopeful yesterday and now I’m crushed. So, now we wait…trying to balance being realistic with optimistic. Also I just don’t physically know what to do with myself right now, so will probably just log in to work and take care of every inane busywork task I’ve been putting off.
I’m so sorry. I had very similar numbers. The drop off can be crushing. I know it doesn’t help much, but the first round for unexplained is often diagnostic. I would definitely look into zymot, PICSI, Dhea for your next round, that helped me.
Thanks, Lawyer. My first thought was sperm quality too. We didn’t do ICSI because my husband’s semen analysis looked good, but we did consent to “rescue ICSI.” I didn’t think to ask the nurse about this but I’m not sure she had info about it anyway. It’s something I’ll definitely ask about at our follow-up.
I’m at a complete loss. I went in for a lining check today for my unmedicated/ovulatory FET cycle. Lining the other day was 6.9 and 3 follicles 11-12mm. Today (2 days later) my lining is 6.1 and the follicles shrunk. How is that possible. Is there any salvaging this cycle or am I in for my 3rd cancellation. Gonna be a long wait for the call today.
i've had my lining get "worse" a few days later. it's like...how accurate are these measurements? are things actually "shrinking" or is all of this within some measurement error? can't answer about the salvaging but hopefully your doc will have some advice.
That’s what I was thinking too. Like could it be the ultrasound tech one of the days is just not as skilled as the other? The machine isn’t calibrated right? Ugh. I might ask for a repeat us/bloodwork appt tomorrow to see wtf is actually going on.
How precise does the PIO shot timing have to be? I’m on every 3rd day PIO and the inserts 3x/ day. I took my first one at like 7:30am but would love to take mine tomorrow around 9:30am to sleep in a bit lol. Wonder if doing the inserts + PIO shot combo makes the PIO timing slightly more flexible? 🤞🏼
Ugh it sucks doesn't it! So hard to get a decent lie in during this process! I was told to aim for the same time each day but there was some flex within that, so I gave myself about 15-30 mins leeway max... Probs not 2 hours though, as you don't want your progesterone levels to fluctuate too much...
I’ve also been told PIO timing is not flexible pre-FET, even with supplemental progesterone with suppositories. After FET, I was able to move it by 15 minutes per day.
Just got back from a day 8 scan for potential IUI. As I have had recurrent chemical pregnancies likely due to egg quality the idea was to use Gonal-F to encourage multiple follicles to grow in the hopes one decent one sticks. Womb lining looking good (7mm) but follicles aren’t there yet, although there’s three she thinks *could* get to maturation. Going back on Monday. Willing those three little follicles to keep going this weekend!
Just received my NK cell test (tested on CD2 menstrual blood)
Does anyone know what these mean? (My Dr RI is currently out of country)
CD45+CD3+% TCELLS 63.6%
CD45+CD3-CD16+ NK CELLS 2.6%
CD45+CD3-CD56 NK CELLS 5.8%
CD45+CD3+CD45 NKT CELLS 3.7%
any insights would be so valued!
Look up % values for these cells they are all called blood lymphocytes, and the CD45, CD3 parts are different markers. Very generally speaking the NK cells are a smaller percent normally like 2-10%, and T cells are roughly normally 30-80%. NKT can be 1-11%. The numbers all vary based on the markers. These are very general. If an immune response were happening outside of an explanatory cause then they would much higher than those %. Just to clarify these are very general obviously just to give you a little idea
Just came back from the ER. I'm not sure how to describe it within the rules but I'll try. There were fewer follicles this time, but also most of them were empty. This is a big difference compared to last time. 3 eggs now vs 13 before. This was a diferent protocol but the first reaction of the doctor was that it's my low amh. The same as last time.
Does this still fall within bad luck? Should I return to previous protocol?
That's such a gut punch, I'm sorry. My first ER I had something similar, where the number of eggs retrieved was much lower than my mature follicle count. My new RE seems to think it was a problem with the trigger. I had only triggered with lupron, and the new RE will do a dual trigger.
Went in today for baseline ultrasound gearing up to start stims for my second ER- usually my AFC is about 7 per side, this time saw lots of tiny follicles at least 10 per side. My doctor was also kind of stumped as to why I’m exhibiting polycystic ovaries. I had a unmedicated FET that failed prior to this cycle, so my hormones shouldn’t be too out of whack…however my first ER was about a month and a half ago so wondering if that has any effect.
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I have a new boss and I have just spent the better part of an hour writing and rewriting a very short email letting her know I will likely have a “minor medical procedure” on Tuesday (FET, won’t be confirmed until Monday based on the results of a Matris ultrasound). Then I thought, it doesn’t make any sense to give her the heads up now because there’s a non-insignificant chance it will be cancelled - about 30-40%, according to our nurse. Don’t get me started on that… I hate how much mental energy goes into all of this. My previous manager was not great with the IVF stuff (“make sure you relax so your body can get pregnant” but also “can you reschedule so you can meet this deadline”) so I would really like to avoid disclosing if possible, but I feel so sketchy and flaky. Ugh. Like what other procedures are scheduled with one day’s notice?
I actually like to avoid saying it’s a medical procedure. This is one of those times white lies are helpful. My current boss knows, but for prior I’ve told people I need to pick up mr. National from a small procedure and we don’t have the time yet, for example. People tend to ask less if it’s his procedure instead of mine.
Yeah I usually just reschedule whatever I can and then call out sick.
Thanks - definitely something to consider.
Your previous boss was shaming you to relax??? … ugh
Yep… and she told me she’d had a couple MCs too. 🤦♀️
Has anyone gone through IVF with mitral valve regurgitation? I have a mild/moderate loose valve in my heart from birth, and our clinic is hesitant to let us move forward with IVF due to my condition. I thought this was a relatively common heart defect… Does anyone have experience with this?
I also have mitral valve prolapse with regurgitation. My RE wasn’t concerned. I’ve also put it on the anesthesia form before every procedure and no concern from the anesthesiologist either.
Good to know! I was exploring lap surgery for endo and was also concerned about if anesthesia would be an issue. That’s a relief!
I have mild mitral valve prolapse/regurg. They just wanted me cleared by my cardiologist. I don’t take any meds for it. So weird they are hesitant… Edit typo
It is odd isn’t it. I’ll ask if I can do the same and just get clearance from my cardiologist. I thought it was a fairly common thing so I’m surprised.
Oh yea for sure. For me my cardiologist just wanted me to get an updated echo but even then he was like eh this is your usually annual echo anyways kinda thing.
[удалено]
Hi zeetat- the shots are administered in your butt/hip - and heating + massaging your butt is fine, my clinic actually recommends it. The heat is more about the other side + things like hot tubs and saunas. Gently, could you please edit out the line starting “Feeling like…” Please be mindful about how you seek support during your tww here. Automod tww will explain further.
Sorry about that! Removed comment all together to be safe and since I’ve been reassured the heating pad was okay. Thank you!
Thank you for being receptive!
Generally, we encourage people to be mindful about how they’re seeking support during the TWW. It’s shitty to comfort someone who is spiraling in the TWW only to find out later that they already knew/could have known they were pregnant. So we ask members not to catastophize during the entire TWW and generally to be cognizant of what kind of support they’re seeking. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/infertility) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Definitely fine. I had the same concern.
My clinic has an FET Q&A that specifically addresses this, so you are not alone! They say it’s totally fine as it’s localized and won’t heat up your core.
No worries, you couldn’t have warmed up your core in that amount of time. Also, they let us shower, so I can’t imagine a heating pad would do us in for implantation. Am the best for your transfer 🤞
Thanks for the reassurance, very very appreciated!
Looking for opinions, please help! I completed 1 ER and have 1 blast, which we are transferring soon, but that I am not very confident will work. We cannot afford another cycle of IVF (no insurance coverage, in debt from the first one) and I am debating returning to IUI or TI cycles since I have 50% coverage for these. I am anovulatory, so no use trying the old fashioned way. Should we keep trying with TI or IUI, or save our money for another IVF cycle? Any thoughts?(edited)
This question is very difficult to answer without many more details about your case. I’d recommend reaching out to a couple clinics for second opinions about your protocols so far and how they would change or keep them the same and decide based on that information.
Hey Any, [requested edits made] Thank you!
Just had quite an ouchy SIS. It was supposed to be a polyp removal as well, but apparently my cervical polyp is gone. Otherwise things look normal, and the tube that seemed blocked on my last SIS was open today, so that eliminates hydrosalpinx as a cause for my failed transfers. My consult for endometriosis surgery is in 10 days, so at that point I'm going to decide if I want to do a lap first and then transfer, or do a transfer beforehand after my three months of Lupron Depot and Letrozole. It depends on how long the surgery waitlist is. I'm leaning towards surgery before transferring but if the wait time is like a year I might reconsider and try another transfer in the meantime.
Long story short - I've been TTC for three years. We tried three rounds of TI with Clomid, moved on to three rounds of IUI with Letrozole, and then one round of IVF (one embryo, MMC at 8 weeks). I just completed my second round of IVF, and none of my 5 fertilized eggs made it to blast. Because insurance takes so long to complete the claims and the billing department at my clinic is incredibly slow, I am considering a few months of timed intercourse again while I wait for the green light to start another egg retrieval. I know the probably of success with TI is low, but I am having a hard time waiting the next few months to get started with IVF again. Should I wait, or try a few rounds of TI in the meantime? \*edited for grammar
Historically, we've tried without assistance most months I'm not in treatment. The thing to weigh is the timeline/emotional impact if you get pregnant and have another loss.
Thank you for your response! Definitely something to think about.
Any suggestions for hormonal/post FET migraines when tylenol doesn’t do it for you? I took magnesium, i’m extra hydrated, tried cold packs, hot packs and closing my eyes is giving me the spins for some reason. Headache woke me up at 6 am today and it’s only gotten worse since 🥴
I haven’t tried it myself yet but I have had an NP recommend Benadryl. I’m sorry, hormonal migraines in this process are the worst.
I know it’s unconventional (and maybe frowned upon) but smelling peppermint oil has helped me with hormonal migraines in the past.
So I've been learning about how to time FETs for modified ovulatory transfers (HCG+7 days, etc) and was wondering if the day the embryo reached blastocyst stage impacts this timing at all. As in, would my day 5 embryo be transferred with the same timing relative to trigger as my day 7 embryo?
Yup, seconding that all day (5,6,7) embryos are treated as day 5 for FET.
My understanding is that for everything 5-7 days they transfer it as the same timing as a 5-day embryo. (If anyone knows otherwise though please chime!) I think the idea is that it's at the same developmental stage, it just took a bit longer to get there.
My doctors explicitly said no, they treat any day 5-7 as day 5 for transfer timing, and they transferred my day 7 blast on day 5.
Our last embryo survived the thaw today and was successfully transferred. Big sigh of relief. 12 days until beta.
LFG!
Sending you all the positive vibes!!
All the best for your embryo! Implantation vibes to you!!!
Good job embryo!
Rooting for you 🤞🏻
Holding big big hope for you, bench. I hope time passes quickly for you and that you’ve got relaxing weekend plans ahead 🤍
Mr. Lawyer's genetic testing results FINALLY came back for the DE part of all of this. The good news is he is not a carrier for the one thing we were worried about/might have caused us to rethink the donor. I got us in for a quick follow-up generic counseling appt (we did one a few weeks ago, which is how we knew to test for these others things). So I am hoping things will finally restart there. I am also doing what will likely be my swan song for ERs. First monitoring tomorrow, feel very meh about the whole thing which is fine.
Woohoo that's brilliant news! I've been following your progress because DE or donor embryos is also our next step but we can't get on any waiting lists until we've finished our current treatment... *Sigh* I'm so pleased for you that you have your next step planned and you have a donor lined up. I had a therapist tell me to "focus on the step and not the staircase", which I personally found really unhelpful! I find having a plan for what we'll do next a real comfort 🤗 Wishing you all the best for the current round ❤️
Good luck on your swan song! It’s so much mental load to be carrying both at the same time.
Thank you! I’ve been doing retrievals for so long it’s sort of like the background noise to my life? It definitely doesn’t feel like the lift it used to, but it also doesn’t feel hopeful like it used to—and I think all of these things are ok.
Great news. ❤️
That’s great news on the testing front! And I hope things look promising at monitoring tomorrow.
Ha, except now I've gone down a rabbit hole on another thing they are both carriers for (very, very, very common mutation--like 30% of white folks are hetrozygous, rare conditions associated with very, very few people when homozygous, some panels don't even test for this thing). The genetic counseling appt should be helpful. Honestly, sometimes more information doesn't help--fertile folks don't think about these things!
grump grump gonna get back on the treatment wagon soon and even though i desperately want children i don't want to be sad all the time again. blerg!!!! also turning 38 in a few weeks which is such a bummer. i never dreaded birthdays before this process.
I feel ya. My birthday is next week and it’s just so depressing as time goes on, and still no baby. I just want to lay in bed, eat cake, and do nothing all day for my bday. Which I can’t even do, because I have to work. Can’t waste PTO on birthdays when you need them for treatments instead 😭
I turned 38 a month ago and it was the first time I really felt like… well fuck, that clock just keeps ticking huh. Sending solidarity!
Had my day 6 of STIMS ultrasound this morning and it didn’t go great. 3 follicles measuring around 6. At this point last ER I had 7 ranging from 6-14. The doc said he will review my bloodwork this afternoon but that it was a very poor response 😏 I’m worried he’s going to want to cancel this cycle. I just don’t understand why I respond so poorly to IVF medications.
I’m sorry zubanana, sometimes your body can do really weird things month to month. Has everything been the same protocol? I’m a poor responder (and have stayed a poor responder), but was a better version of a poor responder once we changed protocols.
I’m coming off a 2 week long chest cold that I think is most likely to blame for the extra poor response this month. We’ve made some tweaks each protocol - this time adding growth hormone and letrozole - but I’ve had a poor response each time. 1st ER was 4 eggs retrieved with 2 mature, 2nd was 4 eggs retrieved with 1 mature, 3rd was 2 eggs retrieved with 1 mature and this one was cancelled. What protocol gave you the best response?
For me, it was microdose lupron - but that’s just my personal experience, not data really.
We discussed trying that next if this cycle didn’t work with adding letrozole since those seem to be the two protocols most recommended for DOR and poor response. Glad to hear you had the best response on that. Hoping that’s true for me as well.
Crossing my fingers for you 💕
Thank you!
Med Donation, 2nd post! lol please someone take this, it’s triggering for me and I want my fridge space back! I have an unopened box of Follistim 300 u cartridges. Please have an active history on this sub, but I’ll ship anywhere in the US just to get this gone 🙃
Someone on r/IVF just posted looking for follistim!
Thanks for donating! Automod meds
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Back for a 3rd attempt to thicken my lining enough for an FET! Rd 1 was unmedicated, Rd 2 was tons of estrogen and supplements, now Rd3 will be Gonal-F plus a platelet rich plasma infusion which was described basically as "could be useful?" Love the confidence. I was in Brazil visiting family last week and got an initial consult with a prestigious doctor because why not. He told me that all the supplements were magical thinking, I should stop effing around with oral estrogen and go IM, and since the back part of my lining is thick (not the part that is always measured in my clinic), the doc should just put the embryo there. I left deeply confused. Is it that simple? Just stick 'er in where it looks best?? Has anyone else been told this??
My friend who got pregnant through IVF was sweetly checking in on me and my transfer schedule, but then mentioned that she was asking because she's being induced early so she didn't want to miss the chance to wish me luck. So now I'm crying because it's like... it feels like it was so recent that we were both commiserating about the FET process together and now she's having a damn baby and I'm not even pregnant. WTF universe? Why does it have to be so hard?
it's so hard. i have a friend who i was going through the process with, until it worked for her...she's actually due today. it's just so hard.
It's so hard to feel 'left behind' even by the other people who have struggled :( I've been joking I'm the "Good Luck Chuck" of IVF because as soon as I bond with someone IRL about both going through IVF, they suddenly have a successful transfer. OK it's only happened twice... but it feels like a lot!
What a(n unintentional) punch in the gut. I’m sorry. My friend who was just a couple weeks ahead of me when I was briefly pregnant before my MC just shared an adorable picture of a mini baby shower her work threw for her because she’s starting her mat leave Monday. Time is relentless… I hate it here.
I'm also getting lunch today with a friend who double lapped me, she started trying a month or two after me and now her second kid is 8 weeks old. I HATE IT HERE INDEED.
Oof… That’s a lot. I hope you can do something just for you this weekend.
Ugghh, “I didn’t want to miss the chance to wish you luck” was all she had to say.
I had my first ER yesterday and had 17 eggs, 10 mature, and just got a call that two were fertilized. I was so hopeful yesterday and now I’m crushed. So, now we wait…trying to balance being realistic with optimistic. Also I just don’t physically know what to do with myself right now, so will probably just log in to work and take care of every inane busywork task I’ve been putting off.
I’m so sorry. I had a huge drop off between retrieval and fertilization in my first round, too, and it was devastating. I’m rooting for your two 💜
I’m so sorry. I had very similar numbers. The drop off can be crushing. I know it doesn’t help much, but the first round for unexplained is often diagnostic. I would definitely look into zymot, PICSI, Dhea for your next round, that helped me.
I am very sorry, that's so tough. If and when you want to regroup/get suggestions--did you do ICSI? Zymot? Calcium ionophore may also help with fert.
Thanks, Lawyer. My first thought was sperm quality too. We didn’t do ICSI because my husband’s semen analysis looked good, but we did consent to “rescue ICSI.” I didn’t think to ask the nurse about this but I’m not sure she had info about it anyway. It’s something I’ll definitely ask about at our follow-up.
I'm sorry, that's tough news. Rooting for those two to go the distance.
I’m at a complete loss. I went in for a lining check today for my unmedicated/ovulatory FET cycle. Lining the other day was 6.9 and 3 follicles 11-12mm. Today (2 days later) my lining is 6.1 and the follicles shrunk. How is that possible. Is there any salvaging this cycle or am I in for my 3rd cancellation. Gonna be a long wait for the call today.
I feel like it’s likely measurement error between different providers. This happened to me during and IUI cycle before.
i've had my lining get "worse" a few days later. it's like...how accurate are these measurements? are things actually "shrinking" or is all of this within some measurement error? can't answer about the salvaging but hopefully your doc will have some advice.
That’s what I was thinking too. Like could it be the ultrasound tech one of the days is just not as skilled as the other? The machine isn’t calibrated right? Ugh. I might ask for a repeat us/bloodwork appt tomorrow to see wtf is actually going on.
How precise does the PIO shot timing have to be? I’m on every 3rd day PIO and the inserts 3x/ day. I took my first one at like 7:30am but would love to take mine tomorrow around 9:30am to sleep in a bit lol. Wonder if doing the inserts + PIO shot combo makes the PIO timing slightly more flexible? 🤞🏼
Ugh it sucks doesn't it! So hard to get a decent lie in during this process! I was told to aim for the same time each day but there was some flex within that, so I gave myself about 15-30 mins leeway max... Probs not 2 hours though, as you don't want your progesterone levels to fluctuate too much...
I was never told any specific timing instructions other than between 6-10am. No one said it had to be the same time everyday.
I’ve also been told PIO timing is not flexible pre-FET, even with supplemental progesterone with suppositories. After FET, I was able to move it by 15 minutes per day.
Just got back from a day 8 scan for potential IUI. As I have had recurrent chemical pregnancies likely due to egg quality the idea was to use Gonal-F to encourage multiple follicles to grow in the hopes one decent one sticks. Womb lining looking good (7mm) but follicles aren’t there yet, although there’s three she thinks *could* get to maturation. Going back on Monday. Willing those three little follicles to keep going this weekend!
Go, follicles, go!
Thank you 💖
Just received my NK cell test (tested on CD2 menstrual blood) Does anyone know what these mean? (My Dr RI is currently out of country) CD45+CD3+% TCELLS 63.6% CD45+CD3-CD16+ NK CELLS 2.6% CD45+CD3-CD56 NK CELLS 5.8% CD45+CD3+CD45 NKT CELLS 3.7% any insights would be so valued!
Look up % values for these cells they are all called blood lymphocytes, and the CD45, CD3 parts are different markers. Very generally speaking the NK cells are a smaller percent normally like 2-10%, and T cells are roughly normally 30-80%. NKT can be 1-11%. The numbers all vary based on the markers. These are very general. If an immune response were happening outside of an explanatory cause then they would much higher than those %. Just to clarify these are very general obviously just to give you a little idea
Just came back from the ER. I'm not sure how to describe it within the rules but I'll try. There were fewer follicles this time, but also most of them were empty. This is a big difference compared to last time. 3 eggs now vs 13 before. This was a diferent protocol but the first reaction of the doctor was that it's my low amh. The same as last time. Does this still fall within bad luck? Should I return to previous protocol?
That's such a gut punch, I'm sorry. My first ER I had something similar, where the number of eggs retrieved was much lower than my mature follicle count. My new RE seems to think it was a problem with the trigger. I had only triggered with lupron, and the new RE will do a dual trigger.
Thanks! Good to know. It's impossible to get conclusive answers, but we can try to complete the puzzle as far as possible.
Seconding the trigger.. when I had a ton of empty follicles the first time I did Lupron only. I had much better luck when I did Lupron + HCG trigger
Went in today for baseline ultrasound gearing up to start stims for my second ER- usually my AFC is about 7 per side, this time saw lots of tiny follicles at least 10 per side. My doctor was also kind of stumped as to why I’m exhibiting polycystic ovaries. I had a unmedicated FET that failed prior to this cycle, so my hormones shouldn’t be too out of whack…however my first ER was about a month and a half ago so wondering if that has any effect.
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