579 replies to this topic

[Mrs.Ray]

Oh exciting free!!! Keep us posted!!!! Excited to hear!!! How many were they able to retrieve?

[sprbaby]

Good luck!!!

[RFree83]

9 retrieved and 7 fertilized and growing nicely. We are possibly doing a 3 day transfer tomorrow based on last cycles crappy ending. I had 5 growing nicely on day 3 but no blasts in day 5. They will call tomorrow at 9 to let me know the doctor is on board with the embryologist scheduling the 3dt.

I will update as soon as I can

[Mrs.Ray]

Wow! How's it going today? Are you doing a transfer? So exciting!!! Hope you get some great embies and some frosties too!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[TryingForOur2ndChild]

My apologies for thread crashing.... I'm not at LHSC but at FO and was looking for threads for London area in general.

 

I wanted to make a suggestion to Mrs. Ray......

My DH initally had such a low sperm count that they actually didn't give us a number... it just said less than 1 million. We also found out that his testosterone levels weren't in a decent enough level. Through vitamins alone we were able to get it up to a 1.5 million which we were happy that it could at least be given a number. His morphology along with everything else they measured was not good at all. We were instantly referred to Dr.Brock seeing as he was the only urologist that dealt with male factor issues in London area, even though he didn't have great ratings. In the meantime I started doing research on male factor doctors in our overall area and came across Dr.Jarvi in Toronto where people come from all over to see. Well before we saw Dr.Brock I had researched that clomid can sometimes increase testosterone and also bring up sperm count. I also researched that men should be tested to see if they have a UTI seeing as over 40% have no symptoms of one and it can cause unrepairable damage to their 'plumbing'. Lastly some men have a condition called retrograde ejaculation which means when they ejaculate the sperm actually go the other way and into their bladder... the only way to test this is to have them do a SA and then give a urine test right afterwards to see if there are sperm in it. Well I went armed with all this information and Dr.Brock was so old school with his way of doing things that we got absolutely no where. I showed him that my DHs testosterone is too low and even though clomid is experimental on men but they have used it for well over 8 years with success, but he still refused to at minimum treat my DHs testosterone issues which that alone can cause other long term life altering health conditions. So we went to Dr.Jarvi as a second opinion and he right away wanted to do a urine sample, which my DH had an infection with no symptoms. He also tested for the retrograde ejaculation which all was good but he right away offered us the clomid treatment. The clomid did bring his counts up to 3 million and last it was 6 million, but at the time of us doing our IVF he was at 3 million with very low morphology, but we were still able to do IVF with ICSI and tese was not at all an issue because as long as there was some sperm that they could work with that was all they needed. I also forgot to tell you that my DH had what's called testicular torsion as a kid and the surgeon botched the surgery which Dr.Jarvi caught, not Dr. Brock, so that could also have contributed to our issues of fertility. Long story short, I don't bring any of this up to possibly stress you out or upset you but rather ask if your DH has had a UTI, retrograde ejaculation and a full blood workup done before going through with this in the event it's something else that might be easily (and cheaply) treated? Also, have you thought of getting another opinion? I was warned ahead of time that Dr.Brock is old school and has not kept up with the times at all and those ratings were bang on!! He was a very nice man but night and day from what we got from the Murray Koffler clinic at Mount Sinai hospital.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to PM me. It's devistating to hear of the fertility issues we will face but I've found that empowering myself with knowledge in this area has helped through the process. Best of luck in whatever path you choose! 

[Mrs.Ray]

Thanks for the post TryingForOurFirstChild. We did do a full work up for blood work and everything was perfect except for slight elevated fsh but still with in normal range. Our count is 2mil with 1% morphology as well as a balanced translocation. We asked the RE about trying Clomid but based on hubby's bloodwork Clomid will not help those numbers. We've done two sa's. One was the regular one and another was a monash where they do a prewash for ivf. After the prewash there was zero living sperm to be able to do ivf. They think by retrieving them that there will be a higher chance of having sperm available.
We have done a lot of research in the year that we've known of this issue. We've tried all kinds of supplements but have not noticed a change. The RE believes that this is something my husband was just born with.

[TryingForOur2ndChild]

No problem Mrs. Ray.... just thought I'd pass along that info, though sounds like you guys have a game plan that works best for you two which is all that counts!!  Take care! 

[Mrs.Ray]

Thank you so much! 😄

[Mrs.Ray]

Thank you so much! 😄

[RFree83]

Let the most agonizing two weeks start now. Yesterday morning we transfered 9 and 8 cell day 3 embryos. They were very hopeful. I am just trying not to get my hopes too far up so there is less hurt if it doesn't work out.

[nicgro]

Hey Ladies, does anyone know when the clinic is closed for Christmas? I had a failed IVF in October, and I am really hoping to maybe do a FET in December (depending when clinic closes). My cycles are really long (usually 8-10 weeks) so IF possible, I would like to do this sooner rather than later. Thanks

[Mrs.Ray]

I'll keep you in my thoughts free!! Sounds like you had some great embryos!! Did they transfer two? Were you able to freeze any too? Keep your feet up and relax. Hopefully the wait will be over soon enough! ❤️

[Mrs.Ray]

So we have an appointment finally for the TESE (we think its for the procedure) from the Urologist. Dec 10th for the first one to see if they can retrieve any sperm. Slightly freaking out about it all! Hope it goes well!

 

How are you feeling Free? Will you test before the beta?

 

Sorry Nicgro. I'm assuming the clinic is closed but you would have to call and confirm that.

[sprbaby]

@nicgro

Last year they closed the same two weeks as the schools, so my guess is that the last day open will be the 19th. If anyone calls and gets an official answer, please post!

[Mrs.Ray]

Well found out Dec 10th is just a consult with the urologist for the TESE. Oh jeez. This is taking forever. We will be lucky to have ivf in the summer at this rate. 😳😳😳

[RFree83]

The do take their time with things don't they? I couldn't get in for almost 2 months after my first cycle failed. It was 5 months before I could cycle again. Totally frustrating.

Obviously really hoping this cycle ends with a BFP. If it doesn't it will probably be another 5-6 months before we can try again.

Anyway, start the countdown now, I'm sure the appointment will be here before you know it.

[sprbaby]

I asked about doing a day 3 transfer after mine all crapped out on the first cycle too (7 good looking ones on day 3 too), and Dr. H-C still wanted me to go to day 5 because "if they can't make it to day 5 in the lab, they wouldn't have made it". She put me on CoQ10 and Omnitrope instead and we got the blasts. And I also had a good long agonizing wait after my first cycle failed. My beta was right before they closed for the holidays and I couldn't get in to see her until Feb! It was worth the wait I suppose because it gave me a lot of time to think, research, and figure out where the money would come from for another round of meds! I'm so glad these FET meds were all covered - $11 total!

[Mrs.Ray]

How much CoQ10 sprbaby? I just started taking it last month just wanting to make sure when we do the ivf that I have good little eggs. I also have my dh on it for the motility issues though we aren't positive it will help.

[RFree83]

Yeah, well, ****! Negative hpt 8dp3dt. I know it's still early but it's not looking good. I was on coq10 but had to pass on the omnitrope because I couldn't afford it. Kicking myself now.

Nothing made it to freeze. Looks like my embryos just can't gets past the 3 day point. They look great on day 3 but just don't go anywhere.

What am I missing here ladies? Why can't anything get to blast?

[Mrs.Ray]

Awwwww Free give it some more time. 8dp3dt is not that far along yet and could be considered early? Fx you still get that BFP and you just have a late implanter.

I don't think your missing anything. Sounds more like maybe something missing from your protocol or meds. Maybe you need something slightly different meds? I would definitely go for the omnitrope if you don't get your BFP this cycle.

[sprbaby]

The omnitrope is expensive! My BFF was floored when I told her how much my "free" ivf still cost out of pocket. I was told to take 600mg/day of CoQ10 for 3 months, nothing fancy - Dr. H-C recommended the jumbo bottle at Costco (I'm not a member, so I just picked up a random brand on sale at Shoppers).

 

Lining check tomorrow morning, I hope everything looks good so we can go ahead with the transfer on Sunday!

[Mrs.Ray]

Hope the lining check goes well!! Our cost for ivf with ICSI is $10,000 without meds. Luckily all the medications are covered by my dh's benefits. I'm currently only taking 200 mg of coQ10. Maybe I should up it a bit.

Hoping everything is a go for transfer on Sunday!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[sprbaby]

Lining check was good, 7.5mm, so I'm all set for Sunday! Woohoo! I don't know about you, but prometrium makes me feel really lousy - tired, lethargic, unmotivated, blue, slightly nauseated and loss of appetite, I find it so hard to do anything besides lay around and watch comedies (at least the laughter will counter the blue mood). Natural progesterone makes me feel more or less the same too, so I'm not really complaining, it's all part of the process. Fingers crossed this one will work!! I just bought a year's supply of Materna vitamins, I hope I didn't jinx myself, lol!

[RFree83]

Best of luck Sprbaby. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you.

I felt pretty cruddy on progesterone but I guess it's hard to know if it's just the medication and not all of the emotions that come with the whole package.

[Mrs.Ray]

Best of luck sprbaby!!

Free! How did everything go??

I'm still waiting and waiting. Deleted all the apps and junk for ttc and now have so much free time on my hands! Lol