INFORMAL GKU IF THREAD *5/30*

[easilyunamused]

This check-in is meant for anyone on GKU who has hit the 1 year mark of TTC (6 months if you’re over 35), has an infertility diagnosis, or is going through IF testing/treatment. It is meant to be a place for people to share and ask any questions who might not participate on 3T/IF and who would like the company of others going through the same experiences.





If you would like to participate, please send cateyes a PRIVATE MESSAGE or TAG her with your info and she will add you on. This will be posted every Monday. If you have any suggestions or would like something added, please feel free to post.

QOTW: What summer year really stands out for you?

[easilyunamused]

Figured I'd start this since not many are around for the holiday.

Not much going on with me. I finished that medicine Saturday night, and am just waiting for cd1. Hopefully it will be soon because I'm on cd13 right now and I've been bleeding and spotting this whole time. I'm over it. Also, this med is making me feel pms symptoms x20. I hope that it does its job because I never want to take it ever again.

QOTW: The summer of 2008 really stands out for me. I took a road trip across the country for a music festival, went to Miami, my grandma passed and me and MH started dating. Some other crazy stuff happened as well, and it's stands out as a really adventurous summer and a summer of really learning what I am made of.

[ironbaby]

It's been a rough week. I started my period on Thursday and called the RE to get my script for Clomid. They called me back while I was on a work call. I called again, left another voicemail and waited. Called again Friday, another voicemail. I never got a call back. I had to call the after hours line Saturday to get the on call doc to send in my script. It was a debacle and very stressful. My doc will be getting an earful about their inability to return calls.

I'm also nervous that H will be out of town CD 16-17, and I don't know how Clomid will effect my ovulation this first cycle. I typically O days 18-21. Can anyone weigh in on if Clomid shortened your FP?

QOTW: I spent one summer living in the Dominican Republic on a public health study abroad. It was amazing and eye-opening.

[easilyunamused]

ironbaby, I can commiserate with lack of communication with the re clinc. I'm always feeling like I'm hounding them to get my scripts in.

As for the clomid, my ovulation was always all over the place. The first time I took it, I didn't trigger until cd23. Second time I triggered on cd12. When is your monitoring appointment? Maybe worse case scenario he gives his sample to freeze?

[teachermomtobe]

Thanks for starting easilyunamused! I forgot today was Monday LOL. Also, I don't recall, what meds are you on?
ironbaby, I didn't O at all before Clomid. My 3 cycles on Clomid I O'd on CD19, CD16, CD13. It got shorter each month.

I have betas on Thursday. This is our last cycle before IVF and I am feeling oddly optimistic about this cycle. I don't know why.

QOTW: Summer 2004: It was my first summer home from college so lots of good times with friends, some of us went camping. Also, my grandmother died that summer and my mom was spending a lot of time with her at the hospital so I was picking up all the chores around the house.

[jense927]

ironbaby without meds I O same as you 17-22 typically. On clomid and letrozole I was ready to trigger on CD10 and CD11 not sure if this is normal or not though. That sucks about the back and forth with the RE. Honestly the time sensitivity of fertility treatments is really what is so stressful for me and it has really taken its toll. Hugs to you.

I am on CD11 of my first letrozole cycle. After last cancelled cycle my largest of the 4 follicles was 19mm. I didn't get a pos OPK until 5 days after that which RE said is odd. She said some people don't have mature follicles at 18-22 which is the protocol for triggering. Mine might be mature at a larger size. So we are waiting until we see a 20mm before triggering. Yesterday I had a 16 and 17. Today was a 17 and 19. I will go back again tomorrow to see where they are at. The good thing is that it is just those two this time that are over 10mm unlike last cycle..

ETA qotw: summer of 2004 for me as well! It was also my first summer home from college and we partied all summer didn't matter what day of the week it was. Lots of house parties. It was fun.

[easilyunamused]

teachermomtobe, it's called norethindrone. It's supposed to help thin my lining I guess.

FX this cycle is it and you won't need to do IVF!

[wannabmama]

Hope the meds do the trick easilyunamused !
ironbaby my cycles were about the same on clomid; I'm a pretty poor responder, though, fwiw.
GL teachermomtobe fx for your betas!
Hope this cycle goes well @jense and the later trigger helps.

I'm WTO in natural cycle. Hoping timing works that we can do IVF in July. We have to schedule around a trip my mom wants me to driver with her and my gma to my gma's lake house. If timing works just right I can do it. It's probably the last time my gma will get to her lake so I want to make it work, but an extra month stresses me out. It's already been so long. My body loves to mess with me so I can't imagine it would ever actually work...but maybe.
QOTW: oh so many great summer memories! I'll say the year I moved to Boston. It was a fresh start for me, after law school and ending a 5 year relationship, I lived in the city with my dog, worked in a bar, I had a law job lined up that wouldn't start for almost a year but I knew was there (and I was being paid a stipend). It was largely carefree (once I took the Bar exam...that month was memorable for doing nothing but studying but it was kind of fun and crazy) I went to the beach almost every weekend. I dated a ton, hung out with just me and the dog a lot, it was perfect mix of independence and time with friends. And so much hopefulness.

[kayladawn91]

Hey ladies! Not much going on here, just WTO. Getting impatient to see whether this cycle works out or if I'll be having an SHG done next cycle.

QOTW: Definitely Summer 2012 when we got married.

[kayladawn91]

easilyunamused sorry for the symptoms associated with this medication. Hope cd1 comes for you soon.

ironbaby that's super frustrating. Sorry your RE office can't do a simple call-back.

teachermomtobe FX for you!

jense927 I hope this cycle goes well for you

wannabmama I hope the timing works out for you!

[thechickencoop]

easilyunamused I hope for you sake that your CD1 comes soon!

ironbaby sorry about the phone tag. Maybe they were short-staffed because of the holiday weekend...? I don't know...reaching I guess.

teachermomtobe Oh man. Everything crossed.

[thechickencoop]

So I am on day 3 of Crinone this cycle and doing ok besides being EXHAUSTED. But that I can deal with, not the nausea, diarrhea, headache, just awfulness that I experienced last cycle. BUT, that all didn't start until after my 4th day on progesterone so....we'll see what tomorrow brings.

DS also asked me the other day when I was going to grow a baby :/

[teachermomtobe]

thechickencoop, Glad the Crinone is better so far. FX it stays that way. That must have hurt when your son asked you that even though you obviously know it came from a place of innocence.

[kleigh]

I hope it's ok to pop in for some support and feedback:

ironbaby I think Clomid works a little different for everyone (or in some cases not at all)..

Before Clomid, I'd O anywhere between CD9 and CD19 with a consistent 12 day LP every month.

Every cycle I took Clomid I was ready and triggered CD12, O'd CD13, and IUIs CD13 + 14 - no exception. My LP went to 14 days each cycle. For me, it was clock work but that's not always the case.

I agree in seeing if H can give a sample to be frozen.

Good luck pretties... I am rooting for yous behind the scenes xoxo

[ironbaby]

May 30, 2016 17:11:48 GMT -5 easilyunamused said:

ironbaby, I can commiserate with lack of communication with the re clinc. I'm always feeling like I'm hounding them to get my scripts in.

As for the clomid, my ovulation was always all over the place. The first time I took it, I didn't trigger until cd23. Second time I triggered on cd12. When is your monitoring appointment? Maybe worse case scenario he gives his sample to freeze?

I have monitoring on CD 12. Depending on what they think at that point, we will make the call on freezing. Since it's the 1st time on Clomid I have no idea what kind of response/timing I'm looking at.

[daisy818]

First cycle on Clomid - looks like I ovulated on CD16 (Sunday), which is pretty consistent with my normal cycles (waiting for temps to confirm). Had an ultrasound on Sunday morning and hadn't ovulated yet, but had one follicle that he said was ready to go. So frankly not sure that the Clomid did much of anything - one egg on my usual day. I know that maybe it will be a "better" egg, but eh, who knows. It's not that I was hoping for a ton of eggs, but two would have been great.

Also was supposed to have a post-coital check on Sunday (since I had a positive OPK on Saturday) but DH had a panic attack about the pressure to perform with the Clomid and such and things didn't so much work out. At least we got in one time on Friday so we aren't totally out this cycle.

QOTW: Probably summer 2013 - first summer dating DH, we got engaged, and then bought our house. Eventful summer!

[kawaiikitsune]

easilyunamused Thank you for starting today! So sorry that the meds are making you feel so crappy. FX CD1 comes soon.
ironbaby What an exhausting debacle. Glad you were finally able to get your prescription.
teachermomtobe Crossing all the things for you this cycle!
jense927 Glad to hear you aren't over-responding this cycle. FX for good measurements tomorrow!
wannabmama FX your body cooperates and you are able to make the trip with your mom & grandma.
kayladawn91 FX for this cycle!
thechickencoop So glad the Crinone is working out better for you this cycle. FX it doesn't take a turn after day 4.
kleigh Hai, good to see you! How have you been feeling?
daisy818 Bummer that it seems like the Clomid didn't make much of a difference. Sorry to hear YH had some performance anxiety.


AFM, haven't called my gyn's nurse to set up my hysteroscopy yet. This period was pretty brutal the first four days and even though yesterday was supposed to be the last day, here I am today still bleeding. WTF ute? Other than that, just waiting to schedule my hysteroscopy. Hoping I can get in done before next cycle.

QOTW - Summer of '99. My cousin and I stayed in his room practically the whole summer, beating Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time. We were fueled almost entirely by Mountain Dew and utter frustration at the Water Temple. It was the best!

[kleigh]

Oh hello there kawaiikitsune !!! I'm feeling well physically, just mentally have some rough days - I don't trust my body; just trying to hang in day by day.

Edit grammar

[ironbaby]

easilyunamused, that medicine sounds terrible. FX CD1 arrives soon. What's next for you?

teachermomtobe, I have everything crossed for you!!

jense927, thanks for the info. Sounds like the letrozole is working better for you. Are you doing IUI? Hope it goes well!

wannabmama, I hope the timing works out for the trip with your grandma. That sounds really special.

kayladawn91, FX you O soon.

thechickencoop, I really hope the crinone treats you better. Those side effects sound awful.

kleigh, thanks for the info! Amazing how differently everyone responds. I am hoping for a slightly shorter FP, and I will be calling soon to check on freezing and when we'd need to make the call.

daisy818, I'm sorry for the underwhelming response and missing out on the post-coital test. We dealt with some anxiety issues on my H's part too, intermittently, and it's hard for both of us. Hugs.

kawaiikitsune, I hope you can get your test scheduled. I'm sorry your period has been so rough!

ugaqueencity, I hated that waiting period. I hope it flies by for you!

[easilyunamused]

jense927, hopefully your follies are ready to trigger today!

wannabmama, I hope the timing works out for the trip and for the IVF cycle. I hate that we have to rely so much on what our bodies decided (or not decide) to do.

kayladawn91, FX this cycle works!

thechickencoop, I noticed my symptoms weren't as intense the second time as well. 

ironbaby, FX the timing will work out. I thought that clomid would give me a 28 day cycle. I was wrong. lol And once cd 1 happens (hopefully today!), I will go in for cd3 baseline and then hopefully will get started on IUI #3. 

daisy818, I felt pretty let down with clomid as well. Only one follicle each cycle so far, and only this last cycle did I ovulate on cd14. I also wanted at least two eggs! FX this it the one! Sorry YH had some stagefright. For all that we go through as women, men seem to get more in their heads about doing the one thing that helps get us pregnant. 

kawaiikitsune, sorry about the bad period. I have been on mine for 2 weeks now, so I feel your pain. That makes me interested though, because when my lining was thick and filled with fluid on cd4, I bled for a few days after that. I don't recall having a period for that many days in years. Maybe when you get underway with testing and treatment, you might have some answers if it happens again. FX you can get your hysteroscopy scheduled quickly.

ugaqueencity, good luck with the next cycle! How many TI cycles are you thinking you'll try before moving on?

[kawaiikitsune]

It's funny you mentioned that easilyunamused , because every transvaginal u/s I've had has shown my lining to be very thick. Granted I was in my LP both times but my RE noted that it was unusually thick, even for where I was in my cycle. I'm really hoping for some answers when I have my hysteroscopy.

[easilyunamused]

May 31, 2016 9:54:27 GMT -5 kawaiikitsune said:

It's funny you mentioned that easilyunamused , because every transvaginal u/s I've had has shown my lining to be very thick. Granted I was in my LP both times but my RE noted that it was unusually thick, even for where I was in my cycle. I'm really hoping for some answers when I have my hysteroscopy.

Apparently it can be hard for an embryo to attach to your lining if it is too thick. I've ask how my lining was a couple times, because I was worried about it thinning, and they always said "good". But I guess it was measuring at a 6 last cycle, but not still filled with fluid. That is what made them think to put me on these meds. 

Bodies are so incredibly weird. lol

[easilyunamused]

May 31, 2016 10:06:08 GMT -5 ugaqueencity said:

easilyunamused , we're thinking 2 but are waiting to see how I respond to meds first. We're completely out of pocket for all treatments so trying to balance not doing (and paying for) treatments we don't need and not wasting time/rounds of Clomid

That makes sense, I am sorry your insurance doesn't cover anything:( Hopefully you respond well! 

[jense927]

ironbaby the plan is to do IUI.

My follicles were 17 and 21 today. They wanted me to trigger tonight and IUI Thursday but I asked for it to be pushed out a day. I also have had some blood in the lining so she is concerned about that too. I have still been spotting so that is probably the cause. Going back tomorrow to check on follicle size and the fluid. Ugh just never ending...

[daisy818]

May 31, 2016 10:06:08 GMT -5 ugaqueencity said:

easilyunamused , we're thinking 2 but are waiting to see how I respond to meds first. We're completely out of pocket for all treatments so trying to balance not doing (and paying for) treatments we don't need and not wasting time/rounds of Clomid

I feel you on that balancing act - we're OOP for all treatment as well, so I'm really really hoping that Clomid + TI will work. I may do as many as 4 TI cycles (and I guess there is always Femara...). Moving on to more expensive treatments while DH is still unemployed is super stressful to even think about.

[thechickencoop]

@yaga sorry you had to have that conversation; I wish people would just mind their own business