7723 replies to this topic

[mouse]

FWIW, it was my totally buggered cycle that worked while the "textbook" one crashed and burned.

 

Fingers crossed for you!

[Edie]

It's a crazy ole' game Mouse, and refuses to play by the rules. I'm just glad you got Little Miss Sunshine.

 

Sharlene shocked and amazed  sounds good to me. I will be cheering you on. 

[sharlene]

Edie - how are you feeling? Is it sinking in that this is real? How are the ultrasounds looking? I'm so excited for you.

[mouse]

Fingers crossed for all!

[sharlene]

Reality has set in -  not even pregnant this cycle.  Third IVF and the first negative pregnancy test.  I guess it's better to get a negative than a miscarriage in a few weeks.  Sigh. 

 

I'll let this settle and see how I feel about it in a month or two - to try again or not?  Donor eggs?  I'll go home and hug my boy extra tight tonight.

[Yearning]

Sharlene I am so sorry to hear your news. I was pulling for you and your family. I truly understand wanting a sibling for your son and wanting to experience the joy of another amazing child. Hug everyone especially tight tonight. (((Hugs)))

[mouse]

((Sharlene)) I washoping you'd be the flag bearer for us "oldies". Fingers crossed for peace of mind and the right path to open clearly for you.

[Edie]

Sharlene I am sorry, I wanted you to be my ole pregnancy buddy very very much (it's lonely out here). And you know I am going to say all the obvious things about options etc. Either way, you and your family are destined for a happy full wonderful life. Yes hug your boy tight tonight, what an angel, what a little delight. 

[Edie]

As for me, I am very sick, and that's never easy to explain to anyone. It has thrown me into a terrified abyss of doubt and fear. I know - I don't expect sympathy from ladies wanting very much to be pg, but its how things are for me today, the past week. Just getting through minute by minute, and managing overwhelming nausea. Thank you for asking, Sharlene, the scan was fine, all is good - it's just surviving feeling pretty dreadful. I hope I don't piss anyone off by saying this - it's not what I want. 

 

All good wishes to my old friends x Edie

[mouse]

((Edie)) fingers crossed things settle for you soonest!

[mouse]

And so my last kick at the can begins. Driving snow,a sick receptionist so I'm not in the system for today, racing to beat the courier, only red lights and cars looking for parking spaces crawling ahead of me. I can't find the entrance - no one on the street knows where it is. I find the street sweep and he calls someone on his walkie talkie. The crackly voice says "Over by where all the taxis wait". I walk further, around a corner, around another corner - a long line of taxis and an entrance to the building. Race up the stairs to save time waiting for the elevator and run through to reception ""Whatsit Whosit, I presume?" says the lady at the desk. Yes says I. "You've beaten the courier, take a seat and I'll draw your blood - are you allergic to latex?". I sit watching the snow drum on the window while she sticks the needle in. "There's the toilet" she says pointing across the little hallway. I go in, mostly to check if I've shaved my legs recently enough for decency, and see someone's left a tampon floating in the bowl.

 

I leave, enter the sono room, drop trou and cover with the scratchy paper towel. Cranky Dr appears and performs the scan while the lady from the desk and I fill the space with meaningless chatter. Dr says "What's your age?"  "48"  "Uh huh. And you're using your own eggs for this?"  "Um, yeah" I confirm in the smallest voice I've had all morning.  He walks out and the desk lady wordlessly hands me a gyno wipe. I dress and pay. As I'm walking to my car, a derelict walks past with a potbelly pig in a coat on a leash and asks a man for spare change. A blue pickup swerves as the driver takes a second look to see if he's really seen what he saw.

[sharlene]

Sounds like a fun morning, Mouse!  Sometimes it's the cycle that goes a little wonky that works.  Fingers crossed for you, for sure!  I think 48 is the new - nah, I hate that saying! 

 

We don't need a truckload of follicles - just a few and just one with that golden egg.

 

Keep us posted.

[Edie]

Even though it was a shocking morning Mouse, it was a very poetic description. I was there with you. Uch! Soooo well described! I hope the days have picked up greatly since there. HUgs. Edie

[mouse]

Quick update - didn't expect heaps of follies, so no surprise only 6 turned up to party. Over the cycle, this dropped to 4 as the other 2 didn't really grow. Traveled halfway 'cross the world, triggered. Expected to retrieve 1-2 eggs; got 4. All fertilized normally, developed well, and were returned (all at 8 cells with no to minimal fragmentation).

Just because I've forgotten the specifics of previous protocols and been useless when others have asked, here's what this regimen was:
OPKs everyday starting Day 10 of cycle
1 cetrotide shot, 7 days post LH surge
CD 3 onwards - 450 iu gonal-f
CD 6 onwards - cetrotide added
CD 11 trigger with 2 Ovidrel
36 hours later, retrieval of 4
Placed on crinone and estradiol (each 3 x day)
Day 3 transfer
Crinone 3 x day for the 2ww
Estradiol (Estrace) 3 x day for the 2ww
PIO 100 mg daily for the 2ww
Clexane (Lovenox) 40 iu daily for 2ww
baby asprin 81 mg daily for 2ww
E2,P4, bloodtest 4 days post transfer
Beta 8 days post transfer

[Lisa1995]

FX for you Mouse! It is great that you have 4 fertilized ones to work with.

 

I just did a natural IVF cycle and was so excited to have 2 dominant follicles. They retrieved two mature eggs yesterday and they have both fertilized, will transfer them on Sunday (fx that they are both still doing well). Will use intralipids, Lovenox and low dose ASA.

[Lisa1995]

Transfer was today, I have 1 8-cell grade one and 1 6-cell grade one on board! Grade one is the best grade at my clinic, the Dr also said they were compacting, which is a good sign. Beta April 25th!

[sharlene]

Great Lisa! Fingers crossed for you.

[Edie]

omgggggggg!!!!!!! praying for you both!!!!!!!!! xxxxxx

[mouse]

Yipee Lisa! Fingers SO crossed for you!

[Victoria]

Memories. Phew! It's been a while and I'm now 50. (I'm not known to give up easily).

 

I must say that it's hard to return to a place where there was so much hope but so much sadness for me. But my determined nature has brought me back. And I know everyone who used to visit here have moved on for different reasons. But I have returned to start another IVF journey, this time with a surrogate. I have 3 frozen embryos from my last donor cycle in 2011. So I will be posting here and I will also blog about my journey. It's already a roller-coaster journey trying to obtain a GS, but I hope the Angel Surrogate, who volunteered, (AS) will work out. Hello again to everyone.

 

[mouse]

Fingers SO VERY crossed for you Victoria!

[Victoria]

Thanks Mouse. Posting here is equivalent to keeping a diary - a public one.

 

I have 2 potential surrogates. I didn't hear from one over the weekend so I became worried that she was backing out. She sent a text this morning that she was still interested. So I'll meet her tomorrow. The other potential surrogate has met with me and she wants to go ahead. I provided her with the pre-transfer medical info/exams she has to do before we sign the contract. She said she would handle that part of the pre-FET process, but I spoke with my lawyer today and she says I should take responsibility for the pre-contract medical cost. The potential surrogate also said she did not need a lawyer, but my lawyer said I should get one for her. 

 

How am I so lucky to have two potential surrogates? I asked. I'm not afraid to beg. Going through an agency was way too expensive for me. I had another potential donor in another country, but after having difficulties getting her to US, I shifted to a local search. I asked one potential donor if she knew anyone who could help me have a child and she, to my surprise, said she would. She thought she would have to provide the eggs, too, but I told her I had frozen embryos. The other potential surrogate had been a surrogate for her friend and carried twins for her. The friend told me about her fertility journey with her friend/surrogate, so, without shame, I asked her if she could ask her friend if she could be surrogate for me. She said yes. 

 

Why am I holding on to two potential GSs? If one does not work out, I will have the other. Goodnight.   

[Victoria]

The other GS, I'll call her potential GS2, cancelled our meeting again. She wants to meet tomorrow - Friday. The irony is, I thought she would have been first to start the process with me because she knows about being a surrogate. But, she is not my friend (yet), so maybe that's the reason why she we haven't met to discuss the process yet.. 

 

In the meantime, potential GS1, has contacted the clinic and has registered to be a GS for me.

 

So thankful for everything, even for the possibility of others helping. Goodnight.

[Victoria]

 Potential GS2 will not work out. On Friday, she cancelled our meeting again to another date, so I cancelled meeting with her and told her thanks for considering.... Maybe she's having doubts. This journey is not easy. She was an angel once for someone else. She doesn't have to be an angel twice for something so harsh on her body.

 

So I'm sticking with potential GS1 - she's wonderful and she is always smiling and always willing to do what she can for me to achieve this dream. I'm happy she came in my life.

 

My partner called the medical insurance company today to have her enrolled for medical insurance for the surrogacy process. It will take about two weeks before she is fully covered. So with the wait and blood work to be done, it seems that we will transfer sometime in October or later.