Anyone want to be an August Poppy?

[Lula]

neutro -- I did 3 blasts on a 5-day transfer last time (BFN) and that is likely what I would do again. We did 3 b/c of my age (37). Our challenge is MF.

Munchkin -- thank you for the cool calendar. I can't wait to add my info.

Did any of you prior IVF'ers have any lingering PIO issues? I stopped PIO 2.5 weeks ago and I still have sore spots, and I swear that they move around.

Good luck to all poppies!

[dianne_b]

Hello Poppies...
My RE plans to transfer 2 embies 3-day. She does not feel the risk of trips is worth 3 embies. I would love twins but will be ecstatic with one. Trips should not be a concern.

Kitten - Welcome! I am doing Lupron injectible and do not have to refrigerate...I don't have to refrig any of the meds. How do we get such different information??? I am on 10u and will drop to 5u when start stims. I got a sever headache last evening. Not sure if from Lupron or not. Today, I started to get a headache but took some tylenol and went away. I am planning to track any issues that come up on med sheet. I was so nervous about the shots. Was going to have nurses at work do it. I Got Brave yesterday, did it in the belly and it was even easier today.

Has anyone ever taken Gonal-F from Serono (stim meds)? I am using that along with Luveris and RE put me on a daily baby aspirin yesterday as well. That is all I can keep straight right now.

Lula - sorry to hear about the PIO issues - where did you do the shots? How long were you on them. I was shocked to hear 8wks is the protocol I will do if we get a BFP.

dianne

[Lula]

Dianne -- My PIO shots were IM (rear-end) and DH gave them to me. Maybe he missed? Who knows.

I was on gonal-f for my ivf. I didn't have any problems on it and my dose was 375 iu.

[SpencersGirl]

Hello Poppies! I hope everyone is doing well! I am planning on transferring 2 embies although my doctor said he only wants to transfer one because of my age (i'm 24 hubbie 25)....but considering the cost I want the best chance possible. I start Lupron on the 19th. Baby dust to all!

Welcome Kitten!

[poppan]

Kitten -- I think the Lupron just needs to be below 77 degrees farenheit so a little cooler would probably work great. If you work in an air conditioned office you might not even need the cooler.

Bops -- I'm waiting for AF too. Well I guess technically I'm waiting for O and then waiting for AF, lol.

jpoo -- "We would love it if we ended up with twins...trips might be a bit much." You said it so well! That's exactly how we feel.

Dianne -- standard protocol at my clinic is *10* weeks of PIO and 12 weeks of suppositories if you get a BFP. I guess you get used to the shots because all the ladies I've known who got that far were actually afraid to stop the shots and continued to do them even after their RE told them they could stop. I have had several people secretly confess to me that they didn't stop until 13-14 weeks! I guess it's true, we're willing to do SO MUCH to have a baby. Darn kids better appreciate it when they grow up, lol!

P.S. re: refrigeration of meds -- if you look on the boxes they say what temperature range they have to be stored between. My pharmacist recommended that I refrigerate everything except for the PIO. I think I kept the hCG out as well but my house stays relatively cool so I thought it would be OK. I would just pay attention to what it says on the meds themselves and make sure you are storing them in that specific temperature range. If you live in a cooler area it's probably perfectly OK to just keep them in a cupboard.

[kitten79]

When I started PIO I think I only had to do 2 or 3 IM shots of it and then the rest was progesterone capsule suppositories...it was pretty nasty. If I remember correctly it was like 4 times a day I would have to use them and they wouldn't always dissolve so you would feel like you had a handful of pills there! What we go through!!!!! I have to say to anyone who's starting for the first time...doing the shots yourself (well not the IM ones), aren't that bad...you can do it!!! It's amazing what we can go through when you think about it! Everyone I know says "I can't believe you can give yourself a shot, I could never do that"...well I never thought I could do it either but you shockingly get "used to it". GOOD LUCK!!

[gatorsteph]

Hi ladies - I had the craziest night last night. Out of the blue my RE called me last night at about 6pm. We had spoken to his nurse last week who had mentioned that we'd likely meet this week to go over protocols and we were aiming for Aug 22 ER.

A bit of backround information on our clinic - it's a fertility clinic that's been around for a while, however they just started doing IVF. The IVF doc and embryologist came from very reputable programs, they're just new to the clinic. The clinic is part of a hospital/lg health care system. In their new IVF program we are the first to do egg donation. To complicate matter more, it's not straight forward egg donation b/c my dp is not giving up rights to the eggs, I'm just carrying her embryos and what will be our future child(ren) and it's by choice - she doesn't need someone to carry for her (although she does need IVF) and I don't need to use some else's eggs - this is just how we want to do it since either way she has to do IVF (over 12 failed IUI's w/ meds).

OK, back to the RE's phone call. So first he mentions that the company lawyers are still drafting our consents. This was the big hoop that he mentioned when they moved us from July to August but I thought it was all finally taken care of. We have the consent forms already that is titled "Informed consent for known oocyte donor without relinquishment of rights". Now he says the lawyers are drawing up other paperwork for our "unique" situation - incase we break up while I'm pregnant with her embryos. That's just crap! We've been together 6 years and are registered domestic partners (as close as we can be to married). We've also had our personal lawyer draw paperwork that outlines what our intentions are for the embryos and the intent to adopt (so that we both have equal parental rights).

The other thing that he said is that there is no anesthesiologist available for the latter part of August. Therefore he wants to move us to the first or second week of September. My DP is in grad school and took the summer off for IVF based on the recommendation of the RE who said we'd do IVF in July. She can't take the fall off as well. So I vented my fustrations with the RE who "took it like a man" and let me get everything off my chest, including a 5 minute crying meltdown (damm BCP's - I'm a wreck). I also mentioned that my DP has been on BCP's since March (originally I was pg then and she was on them for her endo with plans to do her IVF later in the year. Then when I had the m/c and we met with the RE in June about IVF, he told her to continue them). I asked him about the risk of oversuppresion since she's been on BCP's for so long.

So then he says, that there is one alternative. That he could do a different prtocol that would put us at ER around the first week of August. WTH - why wasn't this ever mentioned before. He said that this other protocol would actually be better for her since she's been on BCP's for so long. It's a protocol in which he'll stop her BCP's and let her get AF and then he'll start stims on her (no lupron) and then he'll start cetrotide for a few days (same as antagon) and then the trigger. He said he needed to work out my protocol and that he would call me later in the evening. He would work on my part from home.

He called back around 10pm (we were in a panic - do we take the bcp or not???). He said to take the bcp and to come in today at noon - I'm starting lupron today. My last bcp will be 7/16. For DP, her last bcp will be 7/17 and she'll start stims 7/23. We're looking at ER around Aug. 4th and ET around Aug 7-9?

OMG - we went from almost being postponed to holy crap, we're starting right now!!! Sorry for the long post. Thanks for listening. I'll let you know how my noon appt. goes.

[jpoo]

Holy moly Steph...that is crazy...lol. Yay for starting early though...I'm so jealous!

[bhob1]

Good for you Steph - way to stand your ground and not let them postpone you - and now you get to start the journey sooner than expected!

Keep us posted on everything! Living vicariously through you for the moment while waiting on wicked AF...(just o'd, so a little under 2 weeks to go before starting BCPs).

[SpencersGirl]

Awesome news. I can't wait to get this all over with. The wait is killing me. My dates are right around yours! Good Luck with your lupron shot tonight!