TTC 10 plus months, part 6

[mrsden]

A friendly, supportive thread for those of us who are taking a bloody long little longer time than average to conceive.

Lisa they haven't suggested any progesterone. They have just said I might be given clomid and oestrogen. There're going to call and let me know. I thought I might ask about another 21day progesterone test? What do you think? Is it definite with a follicle that size that i will ovulate? I just hope my thick acidic mucus has not killed off all of DH's swimmers! Interestingly in one of my books it says girl sperm like an acidic environment and boys an alkaline environment. It suggests douching with dilute lemon juice/vinegar for a girl and sodium bicarb for a boy. If my douching helped I'll be having a boy!

becks I would ask for another test, it can't hurt. I hope they give you the drugs to try, hopefully that will help improve your progesterone levels, suppositories are not the best I can't say for certain about the follie and ovulating but its a good size, I had a 22mm last month and ovulated, he just said it had to be over 18mm, I know if they are about 12mm it can go either way they can grow big and release or be absorbed by the body. My fingers are crossed for you so get shagging
when they give the meds it might be worth temping just so you have a bit more an idea of what is going on

Thanks for the advice Lisa I'm going to call the hospital tomorrow and see how I go. Now off to bed for some SWI!!!

Been lurking and trying to keep up. Hi to sarlat. Confused about all these different FSH levels and probably unduly worrying about how my cycles are so different this side of 10+ years on the pill. Now shorter, much lighter and no ov pain. I'm sure it's all 'normal'. Oh and hubbie says that he really isn't sure about assisted babies, 'let's see what happens'. I don't feel I have time to see what happens sweetie! and it ain't going to happen on a couple of times a month!
Been thinking about all of you, so much happening.

teu I was wondering how you were, if you are concerned your gp should be able to organise the blood tests for you, usually days 1-3 and day 21, its your FSH and your LH oh and your E2. It can take time for men to get their heads around it all. In the nicker household we both agree all we want is a baby and if we need 'assistance' then so be it, but that is only a recent decision.

becks I hope you caught that egg

well I have today off so i'm watching kiddy tv and waiting for all my deliveries

OMG is my plumber drop dead gorgeous or what

Evening ladies,

Just wanted to quickly say hi. I?ve been away with family this past week (which was surprisingly good fun and a welcome break from ttc-related stress) and there?s so much to catch up on! New faces to welcome (hi to all), fibroid antics, ewcm shenanigans, farmyard weddings , fsh levels, and now hunky plumbers? I can?t catch up properly now as I?m on my phone, but I just wanted to wish everyone well in their various stages of ttc. I might not get much chance to post over the next week or so as we are moving house, but I shall be thinking of you all.

Hello ladies

princess Am impressed that you are sticking with your diet.
Your Farmyard wedding sounds frankly bizarre! Don't know why but I just keep thinking of the Wicker Man!

Becks I hope that you drop an eggy this month. FX!

Critter I'm thinking of your cousin's baby.
What is an reproductive Endocrinologist?
Kicking myself about not TTC sooner is a daily thing in this house too. I really feel like I have for the most part created this shitty situation

gin I hope that you are feeling brighter. I can understand your feelings about MC. Sorry also that you are going through family bollocks.

lisa How is your new floor?
I too still get spots but I have quite oily skin (with dry patches????) so maybe it's that rather than hormonal.
at hunky plumber.

Sarlat Hello and welcome. How is your stimming going?

nelly Glad that your appointment is out of the way and sorry about them springing dildo cam on you. Don't panic about heading towards Unexplained just yet, you still have some more tests to go As for your FSH result, that doesn't sound much different to mine & this wasn't considered a problem. I will dig out my results and have a look. When is your next appointment?

joycep I read that dairy is good for fertility but I am a cheese fiend so could well have read just that one article and decided that my research was complete!

DameFlamingo Hello. I have no idea about biology either. I was shown pictures of my innards after my op and they could have been showing me pictures of chopped liver for all I could tell.

beryl good luck with your move.

wine Good news about broid removal date though I can imagine that you must be bricking it too. Will you be in hospital long & will it be keyhole or a bigger incision?
Get the cashmere socks whether you will wear them or not. You deserve a treat.

All okay at this end. I am very constipated (even took the rest of the bowel clear out powder I was given for before the op which has had no effect) and am terrified of straining and popping a stitch!!! The dressings have to come off today too and I am a bit afraid of seeing what's underneath! Other than that I am still a bit sore and have a massive abdomen (look several months pregnant. Oh the irony) so no chance of wearing my jeans today which means that, big shame, I can't go to Tescos!

Where is Mrsd and lemons. Hope they are okay. lemons must be at the end of her 2ww.

Hi, hope you are all keeping well. Glad op went ok pout let's hope this brings the finger your way!
wine so pleased that you got a cancellation! Must be scary but less time to think about it I guess. Cashmere socks are an absolute must!
princess hope the wedding goes well. Must say I have a mental image of you foraging for acceptable brown food in your yellow jumpsuit! really feel like I need to take a leaf out of your and critters books with the super detox.
pout I was wondering how lemons and mrsd were too. Hope all is good ladies. Also Ladygee but not sure if that's because I've not been able to catch up much with reading or posting.
Welcome to the new ladies that I haven't said hello to.
Had my iui as planned after surge on opk. However, still had dark lines on Thursday (first one on tues) so I think it might have been done too early. Grr. Cue excessive googling of 'how long can washed speem live?'. Oh the mind fuckery! Actual procedure was fine though. Mainly due to sweetest nurse!
Sorry not to name check more. On a train with I phone! Have a great bank hol though! Xx

pout he was drop dead gorgeous talk dark handsome and foreign (Polish), maybe a suppository might help shift things i'm off to Tescos soon, the big one on the A217, I do sometimes wonder when I in Sutton if you are there too and do we pass each other without knowing, like two ships in the night :) the floor looks good and the kitchen looks great, pity I don't spend much time in there

beryl Good luck with the house move, new house, new baby :)

frannie not an expert on things but I would have thought that the sperm would last a few days, especially as its been cleaned and won't have all the crap around it. Fingers crossed you've caught that egg

well i've just had acupuncture, they want to give me another month, not sure if it is a money making ploy for them but I said yes. they seem concerned that I am down and stressed. I still feel tearful so it can't be drugs now :(

Lisa I'm sorry to hear your tearful and feeling low. Do u find the acupuncture helps? I imagine it's really relaxing?

I indulged in far far too much retail therapy today! Definitely gave me a lift though! Took my mind off my 2WW.

Hello to everybody, hope your enjoying the BH weekend xxx

becks i don't find it that relaxing to be honest, I do find it quite time consuming so will be glad when it is over, this will definitely be my last extension on the treatment. It has worked wonders on my migraines, there is nothing wrong with a bit of retail therapy

Hi everyone! I'm off to North Carolina for a week at the beach tomorrow - just what the doctor ordered. Can't wait!

lisa I'm so sorry to hear you're feeling blue. Can you distract yourself with a silly movie and a lovely bath or massage? Look after yourself, this is a really hard road and you need to be gentle with yourself. I quit acupuncture because I didn't feel it was working for me, but I know it works wonders for most women and it is very relaxing, so it probably is doing you some good.

becks good luck with your 2ww!

frannie really glad the IUI went well. Now you just need to put your feet up and let the chauffeured sperm do their thang! I am sure that it wasn't too early, some of the little blighters will be hanging about, and I've heard that getting a strong positive OPK for two days is a good thing.

pout you poor thing, I'm sorry about the soreness and the bloating. That sounds absolutely miserable. It really does add insult to injury doesn't it! Take care of yourself - and please don't blame yourself, I know it's hard but so much of this is just shitty luck and not anyone's 'fault'. A reproductive endocrinologist is basically a fertility specialist. You know how medicine in the US is really specialised? Well, basically you go to an OBGYN for your smears and in pregnancy - and you don't need to be referred by your GP, I found mine through online reviews and just rocked up - and an 'RE' for monitored clomid cycles, IUI, IVF and all that jazz. My OBGYN took a look at my bumpy, anovulatory chart (on 150 mg unmonitored clomid, my third cycle) and basically said he wanted me to see someone more clued up on fertility issues. Most people say not to even bother with an OBGYN for fertility stuff here, as they aren't specialists. Loads of people I know here in DC seem to have done IVF or IUI, and the guy I'm seeing is the same one who my landlady (she of the IVF pregnancy after years of trying) saw. Only downside is I can't see him for a couple of weeks as he is popular. My other good news is that cousin's baby is now out of intensive care and in a 'high dependency unit'.

Beryl glad you've had a happy and relaxing and distracting week off. Sounds like just what was needed!

sarlat that's great that the downregging worked. Good luck, we will be here to cheer you on!

Hello teu! I don't think we've chatted before but I recognise your name from my lurking days.

nelly I don't know much about FSH, but sometimes I wish we didn't know so much about numbers as it's so easy to get freaked out and upset by them. I try to remind myself that all that matters is that one egg and one sperm do their thing. I am sure that it is going to happen for you, by hook or by crook you are going to get there. Hope you're having a lovely time hobbling this weekend - one day I will have to figure out what the mysterious hobbling actually is!

princess thinking about you and chuckling at your comedy chicken outfit (although broderie anglaise sounds pretty glam for a chicken costume). Looking forward to hearing how the crazy wedding went!

euro you must be starting to gear up for your second IUI round.

Hello to everyone else - lemons, artemis, wine, mrsd, mrshy1, joyce, flamingo and everyone else that I've stupidly managed to miss and requisite tail feather shakes all round. I'm trotting off to get a pedicure and enjoy Cinco de Mayo (aka 'Drinko de Mayo') with a nice lime and ice water.

Hi - hope everyone is having a nice bank holiday?

Techter - I agree that some blood tests would help to put your mind at rest.

Beryl - glad to hear you had a nice week with the rellies and good luck moving house - how exciting!

Gin - sorry the first IVF cycle didn't work out. I totally understand the MC feelings for the little embies. Will you go for another cycle and if so will it be a natural cycle next time? If you don't minf me asking, why did you choose a natural cycle and what is the difference? How did you find the whole experience?

Wine - I have been reading about your ttc journey for about a year now and I must say I really admire you. Go for that Op with an open heart and cofident attitude - it will help, I'm sure.

Princess - hope the farmyard wedding was fun!

Euro - how have you been finding IUI? Do you think you may look at IVF in the future if necissary? I certainly hope you won't need it but I have been pleasanltly suprised by how straight forward the whole IVF thing has been so far.

If you asked me in January this year if I would have had IVF (after learning of bad tubes) I would have said NO - even though it is was our best chance. I worried that I was no longer a 'woman', I worried about fitting it around work and keeping it private, I worried about the ethics of it and having spare embryos, I worried that it simply might not work - and then where would I be.

But now I'm actually in it - it feels like a normal cycle (so far) with some medication and monitoring on top. I also decided that even if it doesn't work for a couple of cycles - then no, that doesn't have to be the end. It will increase my odds from 2% ish to 20 -30 % and that has to be cause for celebration. It is one option - not necissarily the last option. I hope the above helps someone else - I have struggled so badly to come to terms with needing IVF and to see that those feelings are normal would have probably helped me a bit.

So far stimming has been straight forward. I am on day 4 of stimming with 225 IU of menopur which I aim to inject at about 6pm each day. 225 IU is fairly high but as I had 9 follicles at my baseline scan they felt this was a bit low and I may need a boost. Weirdly my FSH / LH levels were fine etc. However, like most things related to TTC, it depends who you talk to. Others have said about 10 follicles is fine. Also, we vary month to month with follicle numbers. My right ovary is borderline polycytic (slightly large) but they are not overly concerned.

The injections are a bit fiddley as you have to mix vials of medication with fluid but all managable. The injections sting slightly. Had no noticable side effects. My life is better than normal as I am making an extra effort to do nice things to compensate for having to go through IVF (which so far hasn't been hard).

Will have a scan on Friday to determine how well stimming has gone so far. I am eating protein rich foods such as chicken, salmon, eggs, goats milk yoghurt and loads of omega 3 seeds, plenty of veg, fruit water etc. But also having tons of chocolate, icecream and had a sausage sarnie this morning. So not being a complete health freak.

Will have to see how the next few days go.

Good luck to everyone else that I missed. xx

Happy Bank holiday one and all.

princess how was the wedding, do tell!

becks well done on the shopping, always needed.

lemon mrsden and ladygee where are you out there? Hope all is OK.

lisa hugs. I think that for me, tearful is always hormone related. I can feel utterly shite about ttc but not weepy - its the period hormones that turn me into a leaky tap. If I threw drugs into the mix, I fear for what might happen! So I'm sure they are probably making you feel the blues. Hope they pass soon. I have never seen a hunky plumber!

critter happy holiday.

nelly you ok? I think maybe you were off to somewhere more fun some point soon, if so enjoy enjoy.

sarlet thank you for your post. these are epic journeys we are making aren't they? I found it really interesting to read about your ivf experience. I didn't realise there would be mixing of drugs. I expect mr wine will find that very interesting! I am resigned to ivf now I think but somehow wonder how I will ever arrive at feeling ok with it, so interesting to hear your perspective on how it shifts. I think I will feel so grateful to still have a womb that it will change how I feel about things.

pout how was the wound reveal? It will get better slowly. Four months on mine is starting the fade out. I took pictures at the start to remind myself for this op that it gets better! I have tried to feel my fibroid and wonder if it is the cause for tummy bloating? I can't feel it though which isn't a surprise as it is at the back.

i have had a very very busy family weekend with much looking after of babies and toddlers. I enjoyed this but now they have all gone it feels very quiet. I want one. Op a week tomorrow. I will keep brave, I will!

oh and good iui luck frannie

sorry if i missed anyone.

Hi ladies! Happy bank hols! Hope you have been having good weekends and some for those of you not on the brown diet.

wine that's great news that your op is so soon. Bring on the clean sparkly womble. And no worrying bout losing the womble. It'll all be fine. I bought cashmere socks to wear during EC! M&s do some nice not too pricey ones. For ET I wore my cheapo Primarni pink fluffy socks...

starlet Welcome! And well done with the injections. We only had to mix a few and found that a bit stressful. The pens were much easier! I didn't do natural ivf but rather mild ivf. Basically there is no down regging involved and lower quantities of gonal f. The idea is to get fewer better quality eggs and there is a smaller chance of ohss. I liked the idea of less drugs and can't see the need to down reg. I also suspected I'd be a candidate for ohss and seeing that I managed 12 eggs in the low dose think I would have been! If you have any questions at all about the procedures please do ask. I too was surprised at how ok I felt with the injections (although I made mr gin do them!)

critter hope you have a nice break!

becks yay for retail therapy. I have been indulging myself...

lisa sorry to hear you are feeling down. Big hugs. Hope having a nice weekend off has helped. Oh and you must send my your plumbers details [cue soft porno music ...]

frannie pleased to hear iui was ok and fingers crossed swimmers and egg are now doing their thang. I'm pretty sure sperm survive for several days. Has your treatment included scans?

pout it sounds like you are doing well and I hope you are feeling a bit better. Ahhh the dreaded constipation. I took some of those powders and ate a shed load of lentils and apricots to get rid of mine. It was truly hideous though (I thought I'd be trapped on the loo forever!) and something extra you don't need. Is DH back at work tomorrow? You must continue to take it easy.

princess that wedding sounds mental! Hope you had a great time. Your outfit sounded v classy :)

Hello to everyone else. On phone so difficult to catch up properly.

We spent the weekend at my friend's, with her two small kids. Was kinda dreading it, but was ok in the end and enjoyed it! Didn't feel too bitter and avoided any chat about our childlessness. On thurs evening we went for our free counselling session, which was really good! I'd def recommend it for anyone doing ivf. She must have thought I 'm a nutter though - I'm massively claustrophobic and there was this tiny, tiny lift thing, more like a carpeted wardrobe, which I refused to use much to mr gin's embarrassment! Anyway, we just spoke about the treatment, what our options are, how we both felt etc. It was pretty cathartic and made me feel like I'm not mad for feeling sad for the poor embies that we lost. She said it's positive to feel attached to them and a good thing for the treatment. Something else she mentioned was iui with donor sperm, which I have been thinking about. It'd be much less invasive and is cheaper... We'll have to see what they say at our ivf follow up appointment. I think euro looked into iui at Kings? May have to get details from her when she's back!

Anyway, need to sort out the 'healthy' carrot cake I've made from the chocolate heartache book. I'm not too good at cakes, so hoping it is at least edible...

gin glad you found the counselling helpful, I keep thinking about going back to it. The plumber was gorgeous and also good at his job, I certainly recommend him, hope your cake was yummy

Hi ladies, i hope everyone has had a good weekend or if uk based, a long weekend! Thank you for your insights on cheese and phlegm. I think it is definitely the cause but i am finding it incredibly difficult to give up. euro - i have heard that full fat dairy is good and actually recommended if you go down to the ivf route.

nelly - i?m sorry about your hospital appointment. That is infuriating that your GP said all was normal. However, am I completely wrong but don?t fsh levels fluctuate quite a lot? I have heard that some people have to delay ivf so that their fsh can come down a bit which sort of suggest they do fluctuate. I totally agree with Wine though. Most people don?t know their fsh and all these figures that are given to us do a very good job at scaring us. I ho9pe you have had a nice and relaxing weekend. What is your plan of action now and has the consultant given some advice of what to do?

pout - sorry you are still sore. These laps do sound a bit of an ordeal especially if you can?t wear jeans for several weeks .

frannie - swimmers can live for a couple of days in the washed solution ? that?s what i was told. It?s better to be too early than late though...as at least they will be lying in wait. I have my fingers crossed for you.

critter - have a great time in north Carolina. Lucky you ? sounds fab.

sarlat - i am liking your updates. It all sounds so scary to me even though i have done the self injections before with iui . Anyway i am glad everything is being straightforward. How many scans will you require over the next few weeks and when is EC likely to be?

gin - i am pleased that you found your counselling session cathartic. Did mrgin do ok with it as well? I think the thing that worries me about counselling is that it may open the floodgates and i?m not good about crying in public. Out of interest have you both discussed donor sperm? I spoke to dh about donor eggs and the conversation didn?t go down well.

lisa - at finding yourself a bit of eye candy with mr plumber.

So my boobs were really painful before ovulation this month. I know that isn?t good but not sure what it means. They are now agony. I was waiting for ovulation before i started rubbing the progesterone cream in and so it is probably some hormone imbalance. Anyway i sort of just want to crack on with things now as i have got it in to my head that i have got so many issues with hormones and bad quality eggs that time is of the essence. Nhs appointment next week. 2 months until ivf clinic.

Waves to everyone else.

Oh and mrjoy is back early as they didnt need him so that is something to be thankful for as hopefully we now get out break in June.

Hello ladies.

frannie I did laugh at your mental image of princess dressed a chicken foraging for food
I'm glad that our IUI went okay. Now the dreaded 2ww - argggh. FX for you, we are due some IUI success on this thread!

lisa I am jealous of your plumber. All my workmen are very middle aged and portly or so young, lusting after them would be very inappropriate!
I'm glad that your kitchen is looking good. I would lurrve a new kitchen. Ours is a botched makeover jobby, which we failed to notice when we viewed the house. It was only when I cleaned it & I noticed the doors had a spongey feeling that I realised it was painted wallpaper on the doors
We don't go to Sutton much, though I too wonder whether our paths meet. Our local Tesco is the Purley monstrosity where last week I found a used plaster in the mozzarella box. Boak. Cue "washing" my groceries with antibac when I came home.
I'm sorry that you are tearful at the moment. Emotion inducing drugs on top of the general TTC stress is not a good combination. Hope that you are feeling a bit brighter today.

becks Hurrah for retail therapy
How is your 2ww wait going?

critter enjoy your hols.
I'm glad that bubs is out of Intensive Care. Good news.
It's interesting about the specialisms. It does make me think it is a better way of doing things.

sarlat I'm glad that all is going well at your end. You ladies are all so brave with the injecting!

wine it's a good idea about the pictures after your op. I wish I'd done that with this house so I could see the interior transformation & feel better when the constant stream of workmen tell me what a botched building job has been done on the house over the years!
I understand your feelings about IVF. I am a bit terrified of even thinking too hard about it and think it is a case of this can't be happening to me (mind you it might not yet judging by the strict criteria!). It is encouraging to hear others experiences of it - it kind of demystifies the whole thing.

gin I'm glad that you felt that your counselling was helpful. Did your DH find it useful too?
I did chuckle at your lift thing. I am the same about escalators and struggle to even walk up a stationary one. Made for a very interesting experience in Allders one time when I honestly thought I would be stuck in Ladies Hosiery for evermore!
How was your cake. I love carrot cake but can't make it for toffee.

Hope that everyone had a good bank holiday. Mine was very dull, still taking it easy whilst trying to ignore the fact the house is a tip and desperately needs a clean Still bleeding which I wonder whether is normal. Might make some profiteroles later. I may as well indulge while I have got the excuse of the op as to why I can't fasten my jeans

Waves to everyone I've missed. Am slightly concerned that there has been no sign of mrsd or lemons. Hope that all is well with them.

x-post joycep I'm sorry that you are sore this month. Don't panic. I was going to say my boobs are sore every month but realise that it probably won't be a comfort!!
I'm so glad that your DH is home early. Good news
It's good that your appointment is coming up and you can focus on that. It seems like you have been in limbo land for a while now. I hope that things get moving for you next week!

Hello,

I'm sorry I have been AWOL. I was in the 2ww and there hasn't been anything to report and I thought it might do me some good to not think about ttc. So, I didn't check in here but now I'm wondering what I've missed.

We had our fertility clinic appointment this morning. The Dr was a bit arrogant but he seemed competent and explained things really well for us. He also didn't rush the appointment and gave us plenty of chances to ask questions. He said from looking at DH's SA that natural conception was very unlikely. He said we could wait to be very lucky but that it could takes years, and so he thinks we shouldn't waste any more time. I agree. I know he has a vested interest to say go for ICSI but being realistic, I know it isn't going to happen. So we agreed to go for it. He has given us a referral to see a genetic counsellor to have tests done for all sorts of things. One of which being the cystic fibrosis mutation which is sometimes the reason for bad sperm count. It's a bit scary thinking about what might be found out. It could take 6 weeks or so for the results so we won't start ICSI until we know those. We both have to have HIV and hepatitis tests done. I've had them done already but by law they have to be done within a few months of starting Ivf. I have to go in between days 3 and 7 to get my hormones checked. He said that my results from last time only suggest mild pcos and they weren't bad results at all. But he said it doesn't really matter if I have good or bad cycles because icsi will bypass it anyway. He thought my tsh and prolactin were a little high and so he's checking that again. He said that these being high can be a thyroid problem and he'd want to get that sorted before starting. He said that he thinks he'd put me on the short protocol which sounds much nicer than having to force the ovaries into premature shut down.

He talked a lot about the risk of over stimulation. He said that I would be at risk and they would do what they can to avoid it but it is still a risk.

I'm sorry this is a selfish post. My mind is a bit buzzy with all the information. I promise I'll catch up and post again soon.

Hi pout and everyone. 2ww not too bad only 9 days to go now. Spoke to fertility clinic today and they are going to start me on clomid and oestrogen next cycle (hopefully I won't need it!) I have an appointment next wed to discuss it all, then I'm off on holiday for 2 weeks. Won't have to SWI as the hot weather seems to get me and DH in the mood anyway. I've decided to try pre-seed and was going to try temping. Due you think it will give false results if I am going somewhere hot for 2 weeks? Hope everyone enjoyed the BH weekend.

Hello everyone. Been having a quick catch up with you all. I had my 12 week scan last week and all was well. Still in shock after being told we had miscarried. I'm 13 weeks now and feeling a little more relaxed.