New TTC Thread

[boltfans]

WDWAurora - As daunting as the fee seems, at least you have a plan to get there and have reason to believe it will be successful. My husband doesn't want to adopt either so I know that's a battle not worth fighting.

Does your dr have any idea why fertilization is a problem? I feel like the more I research without any answers, the more I realize how little is known about fertility issues.

Skuttle - Do you know why the metformin makes you feel so bad? I mean I'm assuming it's just a side effect of the drug, but given that it should be correcting the insulin problem, I would hope it would make you feel better, not worse.

And I got a few photos of my new niece texted to me yesterday too. But here's the real kicker, while I'm staring at this newborn, I find out that my BIL was mad that it was another girl! They have a girl and a boy right now, and he wanted another boy. He was in such shock, anger, and disbelief when she came out and the dr said it was a girl that he yelled "What!?!", was unresponsive to my SIL's frantic yells to get the video camera going, and then started ranting that she shouldn't have said she thought it was a boy all this time, she jinxed it, etc. How flipping insane. He should just be thrilled he has a 3rd kid and that it's healthy (as the 1st 2 were not), but to be so disappointed that he effectively ruined the birth is ridiculous and irritating.

 

[mickeyboat]

Aurora - a former member of this thread borrowed money from her grandfather (I think) to do IVF. She is now the proud mom of a baby boy. I am sure she will tell you it was all worth it - and her grandfather thinks so too. Lots of luck to you.

 

[skuttle]

Courtney, that's great that they think it'll work! I would talk to them about the money aspect of it and she how they can work things out with y'all, and then it may seem more manageable. Since they think the problem may be with the egg actually fertilizing, maybe they can work out some sort of insurance thing with that like someone else mentioned. Also, give your DH time. You know how long it took my DH to come around to possibly adopting. I think it is harder on our guys than they let us believe. Are y'all pretty much giving up on IUI?

Bolt...it's just a side effects of the drug. The headaches have gone away since I've been taking it regularly. If I don't eat properly when I take it (mostly a problem in the morning since I'm running out of the house!), then I have the stomach problems. For a while I felt nauseous on it, but that went away after a few weeks. After you get over those first few weeks, it's not too bad. I still have bad days, but I think that's more of my fault for not eating when I should.

 

[si-am]

I am kind of like you, Aurora: my eggs are good, my husband has tested excellent, I'm ovulating every single month... no reason I shouldn't be getting pregnant, so I'm not sure IUI would be a good fit for me, either.

One of my best friends had a baby after her first try at IVF... and her husband's insurance paid for the WHOLE thing, that's the amazing part!

We currently don't have enough equity in our house, even, for a second mortgage, so I have no idea how we'd ever come up with that kind of money. Maybe either me or my husband need to find a new job with better insurance.

 

[D&DDisney]

I am kind of like you, Aurora: my eggs are good, my husband has tested excellent, I'm ovulating every single month... no reason I shouldn't be getting pregnant, so I'm not sure IUI would be a good fit for me, either.

One of my best friends had a baby after her first try at IVF... and her husband's insurance paid for the WHOLE thing, that's the amazing part!

We currently don't have enough equity in our house, even, for a second mortgage, so I have no idea how we'd ever come up with that kind of money. Maybe either me or my husband need to find a new job with better insurance.

You may want to go get a gov. job. I hear they're paying for everything.
When we did our IUIs I was 27 the first 2 times and 32 the second 2x. My cycles were like clockwork, ovulation was supurb, hormone levels perfect,DH checked out well, everything was textbook. For some reason though we didn't have success on our own. Baffles the mind. Took 4 IUIs before we got success. Not sure what was different about that last time, but - BINGO!
My advice is still be careful with how much money and faith you invest in IVF. For every success story your hear there's always another who wasn't so lucky. $15,000 per cycle isn't that big of a deal if you get pregnant, but it is HUGE if you don't. Really think about it. Pray about it and talk to a lot of people who did it.

 

[si-am]

You may want to go get a gov. job. I hear they're paying for everything.
When we did our IUIs I was 27 the first 2 times and 32 the second 2x. My cycles were like clockwork, ovulation was supurb, hormone levels perfect,DH checked out well, everything was textbook. For some reason though we didn't have success on our own. Baffles the mind. Took 4 IUIs before we got success. Not sure what was different about that last time, but - BINGO!
My advice is still be careful with how much money and faith you invest in IVF. For every success story your hear there's always another who wasn't so lucky. $15,000 per cycle isn't that big of a deal if you get pregnant, but it is HUGE if you don't. Really think about it. Pray about it and talk to a lot of people who did it.

Yeah, this is my biggest concern with IVF and why I'm not sure I'd ever elect to do it. If it worked, it would be worth it, but I can't imagine writing a check out every month (assuming we could finance it) with NOTHING to show for it. I can't imagine anything worse.

 

[7beasley]

Guys -- PLEASE check out shared risk programs if you are considering IVF!! Shared Risk means you DON'T pay if you DON'T get a baby!!! The point of shared risk is that it gives you a set number of trys for a price that is higher than a single try but if you don't get a baby you get your money back.

So - say 1 IVF cycle costs $15K -- under shared risk they may give you three cycles for $22K. If you get pregnant on the first try then you paid $7K more for the peace of mind of the "insurance" --- but if you get pregnant on the second cycle than you saved $8K! And if it doesn't work at all -- you get usually all (but a large chunk) of your money back.

Anyway -- as someone who built her family through IVF and plans to go through it again soon for a sibling for Izzy -- I just want people to know that there are options that don't break the bank and/or give you peace of mind that you won't have a huge bill with nothing to show for it!!!

Good luck!

-Nicole

 

[DisneyDreamer8]

Courtney-I would consider another IUI...maybe go to a different clinic. I can't see why they would be telling you it would be a waste of time to try again.

I was 30 with very good quality and quantity of eggs, had a bunch of tests (hormone, HSG etc.) DH had "amazing" sperm count and excellent quality (Dr's words, not mine). I ovulated normally but after a year of trying on our own nothing was happening. So I started to take clomid (more for a timing thing than to impove egg production) but after 5 cycles still nothing. No explination....the Dr called it the dreaded "unexplained infertility". Then we did a "simple" IUI (no u/s, no trigger shot, just used OPK's like a mad woman). We got lucky. But even if we hadn't the Dr said (before we started) that sometimes is takes time.

Just a thought

Allison-I'm sorry about your first try with an IUI being a bust. I hope the clomid will help you out. The side effects can be a bear but they are managable. Just make sure you inform you DH when you start taking them so he can be prepared...I know my DH appreciated the heads up

 

[skuttle]

So we had our IUI/Clomid consult today with my Dr. We'll be doing IUI this cycle with Clomid. Since I'm pretty regular, we're assuming I'm O'ing, just not a good O based on my u/s results this cycle. She normally starts with 100 Clomid but she's starting me on 50. We'll start the clomid on CD5. We'll monitor with u/s again. If I have an u/s with an awesome follicle, we'll trigger. Otherwise, we'll look at positive OPKs.

Any suggestions for OPKs? I've been using the Answer dip sticks from Walmart (30 for about $17 I think). I don't care about cost this time, I care about accuracy and easy reading, especially since I'll have an IUI possibly depending on it!! Any thoughts?

She did say that the Clomid does not replace the Metformin, so I am to keep taking it.

I'll also be doing an HSG around CD6-8. I've read how painful they are so I'm very nervous about it. I was wondering if she'd have me do that test since it seems like a standard infertility test. Since the u/s showed small follicles, she's assuming I'm having some O problems so she wants to do the HSG. Plus she said out the HSG may increase our odds. Do I need to have someone come with me for the HSG? Will I be able to drive home afterwards?

She said she'll do 3 IUI with good quality follicles. If we don't get good follicles or we don't succeed with the three IUIs with good follicles and "half way decent sperm", she'll send me to an RE to try playing around with my meds, possibly injectibles, etc. which she said is above her head. I asked if she thought we made the right decision by trying this before DH having surgery and she seemed to agree with our decision.

So that's where we are. I was really excited today, having a plan ROCKS! I can't explain the difference in my attitude since starting all of this IUI stuff. Maybe this positivity will help!

 

[WDWAurora]

HSG experiences vary greatly-mine was BAD. Are they prescribing you any painkillers beforehand? Mine gave me tylenol 3, so I had to have someone drive me and pick me up because of that. That said, tylenol 3 only has tylenol for pain relief, so it just made me loopy with the same pain relief of tylenol, if that makes any sense. DH's sister took me, and he picked me up (it was right by his work, but would have taken him forever to come get me). I definitely could not have driven myself home, but plenty of people drive themselves back to work and finish their days. I'm not sure what makes the difference, because I typically have an extremely high pain tolerance.

Good luck-hopefully you'll have the "normal" experience and be perfectly comfortable afterwards!

I'm going to get my office to send me something that states what is and is not included in the shared risk program they do. Their website isn't exactly clear. We'll most likely do that, but I don't want to have to finance, either way, if we can avoid it. Although, based on my current mental state, who knows. Both of my nieces have their baby dedications in the coming weeks-one on Mother's day, one maybe at the beginning of June? Definitely not going. I told one of them why today, because she emailed to see if we were coming. I just can't do it. I had already planned to avoid church on Mother's day. I actually did last year, too. DH went with his parents and brother (we were at his parents' house) and I slept in.

I don't think we're going to get as much for our car as I'd like, and now DH is acting like he doesn't want to sell it...which leaves us with 3 cars for the 2 of us, and the one I want to sell has over 120000 miles on it. It's paid off and everything. I'm not sure why it's sentimental to him, since it was my car when we met. Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh

Bad mood today! (Oh, and my dinner tonight was chips, dip, and cake. I just don't care)

 

[skuttle]

Courtney, I didn't ask about meds. I have to call the nurse when my cycle starts so that we can schedule the HSG. My Dr said she wants to do it before CD10, but the nurse said she schedules it between CD6-8. I don't think my DH would be able to bring me. His spring concert is in a couple of weeks so he can't miss anymore work. I'm going to ask the nurse about pain relief when I call her. I doubt my DH would be able to drive me. His spring concert is in a couple of weeks so he really can't miss work. I haven't told any of my family I'm doing this because I don't want to deal with the questions. I know my BFF said she'd take off as needed, so I may have to ask her. I keep researching it and I know that's probably a bad idea!

You have every right to have chips, dip and cake for dinner! Cope however you need to! Take all the time you need to to sort through your emotions and everything you recently learned from your Dr. Do what you need to do! And don't feel bad about it!

 

[boltfans]

So we had our IUI/Clomid consult today with my Dr. We'll be doing IUI this cycle with Clomid. Since I'm pretty regular, we're assuming I'm O'ing, just not a good O based on my u/s results this cycle. She normally starts with 100 Clomid but she's starting me on 50. We'll start the clomid on CD5. We'll monitor with u/s again. If I have an u/s with an awesome follicle, we'll trigger. Otherwise, we'll look at positive OPKs.

Any suggestions for OPKs? I've been using the Answer dip sticks from Walmart (30 for about $17 I think). I don't care about cost this time, I care about accuracy and easy reading, especially since I'll have an IUI possibly depending on it!! Any thoughts?

I've been using First Response and this past month tried the Clearblue Easy Digital test. What I liked about the First Response was that I saw a gradiant, so no line on say day 10, faint line day 11, darker line day 12, positive dark line on day 13, or whatever. Sorta made it easier to pinpoint for me. The Digital test was nice too though, cause there was no interpreting the results, either a smiley face or a blank circle. It says not to read the actual test strips, but I looked at them and had that same gradient so I imagine you could do it that way too.

She did say that the Clomid does not replace the Metformin, so I am to keep taking it.

I'll also be doing an HSG around CD6-8. I've read how painful they are so I'm very nervous about it. I was wondering if she'd have me do that test since it seems like a standard infertility test. Since the u/s showed small follicles, she's assuming I'm having some O problems so she wants to do the HSG. Plus she said out the HSG may increase our odds. Do I need to have someone come with me for the HSG? Will I be able to drive home afterwards?

Sorry, I can't help with this, but how exactly is an HSG done. I know it's a contrast xray, but don't know the actual procedure. Both of my kids had contrast xrays done (VCUGs to test for bladder/kidney reflux) and they were less than pleasant procedues, but I think that was due to the catheter. Does the HSG do that too?

She said she'll do 3 IUI with good quality follicles. If we don't get good follicles or we don't succeed with the three IUIs with good follicles and "half way decent sperm", she'll send me to an RE to try playing around with my meds, possibly injectibles, etc. which she said is above her head. I asked if she thought we made the right decision by trying this before DH having surgery and she seemed to agree with our decision.

So that's where we are. I was really excited today, having a plan ROCKS! I can't explain the difference in my attitude since starting all of this IUI stuff. Maybe this positivity will help!

I know what you mean about having a plan changing your attitude. I definitely just felt despair after all these months of trying, feeling something was wrong, and getting zero help from the dr. Just making another appt (which I have to wait another 2 weeks for ) has me feeling better cause I feel like there might be an end in sight now. I hope everything goes perfectly with this next cycle for you!

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Hi Aurora, sorry about the disappointing news. I know that IVF is a huge expense, but it has brought so many babies into the world. I'm sure your husband will come around about selling the car, and dads are happy to help when they can!


Skuttle, it sounds like you guys have a plan of action! I had that test in September, it was not fun, but doable. Just when I had enough, it was over. My doctor had me take a couple motrins or something an hour before. I didn't have to drive home, but I think I could have done it if I had to. Honestly though, I think it would be better to have a ride if possible.


I'm back from my trip, this month is blown, but it's back to the plan next month!


As always, baby dust to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[D&DDisney]

I'm going to get my office to send me something that states what is and is not included in the shared risk program they do. Their website isn't exactly clear. We'll most likely do that, but I don't want to have to finance, either way, if we can avoid it. Although, based on my current mental state, who knows. Both of my nieces have their baby dedications in the coming weeks-one on Mother's day, one maybe at the beginning of June? Definitely not going. I told one of them why today, because she emailed to see if we were coming. I just can't do it. I had already planned to avoid church on Mother's day. I actually did last year, too. DH went with his parents and brother (we were at his parents' house) and I slept in.

I don't think we're going to get as much for our car as I'd like, and now DH is acting like he doesn't want to sell it...which leaves us with 3 cars for the 2 of us, and the one I want to sell has over 120000 miles on it. It's paid off and everything. I'm not sure why it's sentimental to him, since it was my car when we met. Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh

Bad mood today! (Oh, and my dinner tonight was chips, dip, and cake. I just don't care)

Mothers day is horrible. Stay as far away from church and stores on that day as possible. To this day I still have a bad taste in my mouth about Mothers day. Even with children now I still remember that horrible feeling and think of all those who are still struggling.

Some days are just "chips, dip and cake" kinda days.

Skuttle - My HSG wasn't that bad, but I too have a high pain tollerance. I just took some Alieve about 30min before the test and it wasn't so bad. Alieve is sooooo good and really works unlike tylenol and motrin for me.

 

[DMickey28]

Skuttle - My recommendation with the OPK's is to use the Answer dip sticks OPK's or Internet Cheapies if you have time to order them. I used them every time I went to the bathroom starting CD11. Once I got close to a positive I would use the CBE digi with the smiley face to confirm a positive. Most months I would get a glaring positive with the IC's but last month I didn't and used the CBE digi and got a smiley face with what I thought was barely positive. I did get BFP but miscarried.

 

[skuttle]

One of my co-workers offered to pick me up if needed. And my BFF also offered to take off of work and come with me. She lives an hour away, though, so hopefully I can work it out without her doing that!

DMickey...that sounds like a good plan. When I started getting darker lines with the OPK, it was driving me crazy because I kept questioning if it was positive or not. I think using the sticks leading up to it is a great compromise!

 

[boltfans]

Skuttle (and anyone else), have you tried the CBE fertility monitor? I haven't but am thinking about buying one to see if it's any better than the regular OPKs I've been using. It's so pricey that I've avoided it, but when I think about what I've spent on OPks so far, I'm sure I more than paid for it already.

 

[GypsySue]

From our local news channel:

Pregnancy in a Pill?

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/19130241/detail.html

 

[WDWAurora]

I had the CBE monitor and felt like it worked fairly well. Search for the early pregnancy test website to get the best deal. That's where I ordered mine from. It was definitely easy to read and everything. Either you had one bar (nothing), 2 bars (high fertility), or 3 bars (peak fertility). Usually you have a max of 2 days of 3 bars, or even only 1 day. When I was doing the trigger shot, I would skip the 2 bars, and go straight to 3, so it was easy to see it working.

That article is interesting. I have allergies and asthma, and it scares me a little. Something to think about, though.

 

[skuttle]

Interesting article. Did you see the comment some idiot posted that if you can't get pregnant the way God intended, then you shouldn't have kids. If that is true, then it should also be true that everyone that gets pregnant is supposed to have kids and we all know that is FAR from the truth!

I haven't used the CBE. I honestly rarely ever used OPKs. I did temping for a while and then realized my cycles were pretty regular so stopped even doing that. I'm doing the OPKs for the IUI since they recommended that I do it. I bought a pack of the cheap dip sticks (30 of them) and then a pack of the digital sticks (7)...$50!! I should just get the darn CBE thing!

AF arrived today so I'll be starting my clomid on Thursday and probably have the HSG sometime this week as well. My Dr said before CD10, but the nurse said she usually schedules then on CD6-8. I'll know more on Tuesday since my Dr and her staff are off on Mondays. THis will be a busy month. Hopefully a lucky one, too!!

I don't think I've ever been SO excited to see AF. I'm also nervous, because I know we don't plan on going any further than IUI, so I sorta feel like I'm in the "home stretch." I guess DH would do the surgery if the IUI doesn't work and then we'd see how things go. But if he has decedent sperm for the IUI and it doesn't work, then I'm thinking the surgery would probably be pointless.

Courtney...have you and your DH made any decisions about where to go from here?