Informal GKU IF WEEKLY CHECK IN-11/1

[cateyes]

GKU IF WEEKLY CHECK IN


Hey ladies-Lots has changed here-we got permanent/long-term placement of my 2 nieces this weekend and so I was settling them in and did not have a chance to update the check in!! I apologize as I know there were lots of big things happening last week! I will try and get it updated later this week (maybe tonight) and put it here but for now let's do an informal checkin!!!


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 are 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 or IF who would like the company of others going through the same experiences.





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


QOTW-When you were a kid, what did you want to be and are you that now?

[mustloveerica]

Hi everyone and happy November!

Not a ton going on here. Sitting at 5dpiui#2. Not feeling hopeful at all. DH met with a urologist last week. They went over history and concerns and what not. He is going to have a repeat analysis done and then we'll go from there. DH wants to wait until I get my period to schedule it because he is still hopeful. Then we will likely take a cycle off and not waste our time with more IUIs until we see an improvement in his numbers. DH is interested in any lifestyle changes that may help. He does not smoke, drinks very minimally (a beer with dinner), loves coffee and junk food and hates working out. He wants to feel like he is doing something tho. Does anyone have any suggestions other than eating healthier and working out?

QOTW: I always wanted to be a vet. I should have done it and I'm honestly not sure why I didn't. I'm a consulting engineer in the construction industry now. I hate my job and the plan is for me to eventually quit to stay home with our children.

ETA: H has been taking vitamin c, l-carnitine, co-q10 and a multi vitamin ever since his last SA in May came back with poor numbers. However they don't seem to be helping to improve things.

[mrsjene]

After all of the drama of last week, I'm finally approved for IVF #2. Injections are supposed to start tonight. I'm feeling a little weird about it though because CD1 was yesterday, but it's just been super light. I've had all of my period symptoms (migraine, cramps, etc.), but SUPER light. I'm kinda hoping it gets heavier today so I'm not sitting here worried that it's not the real thing because lately I've been feeling like if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. GAH.

QOTW: I wanted to be a lawyer, but now I'm in HR. I guess I know a lot about employment law though? I actually did consider going to law school a few years ago, then decided I didn't want more student loans.

[Evelyn3]

Thanks for checkin cateyes hope everything went well with your nieces this weekend

mustloveerica I'm keeping some hope for you FX
I think I have read a lot that CoQ10 can help but otherwise I don't know much on the subject.

AFM not much to report. Somewhere in the TWW of a natural cycle, I have chosen not to track anything or look at anything. We will see.

QOTW: I had always wanted to be a vet too. Not sure why I never ended up there, partly because of the number of useless euthanasias - I think I would have trouble handling it.

[mustloveerica]

Nov 2, 2015 8:51:35 GMT -5 Evelyn3 said:

Thanks for checkin cateyes hope everything went well with your nieces this weekend

mustloveerica I'm keeping some hope for you FX
I think I have read a lot that CoQ10 can help but otherwise I don't know much on the subject.

AFM not much to report. Somewhere in the TWW of a natural cycle, I have chosen not to track anything or look at anything. We will see.

QOTW: I had always wanted to be a vet too. Not sure why I never ended up there, partly because of the number of useless euthanasias - I think I would have trouble handling it.

Thanks Evelyn3! I should add he is taking vitamin c, l-carnitine, co-q10 and a multi vitamin and has been since his first SA came back questionable last May. They don't seem to be helping :-(

[goldenlove3]

Good morning ladies. I'm 4dpi today for IUI#6. I'm feeling stupidly hopeful because the third time worked last time. I had 3 follies, good lining and good numbers from H for this cycle. I'm even doing this crazy pineapple core thing which I've never done in over 2 years of trying. My beta is scheduled for the 13th at 15dpi but I don't think I'll make it that long. H's birthday is on the 11th so I'll be testing early.

QOTW: I honestly don't remember wanting to be anything as a kid. I never really thought about it back then. I'm an engineer working in automotive.

[mustloveerica]

mrsjene I'm glad you got your approval! My sister just started law school. She was a stay at home mom but she was having a lot of anxiety and depression. She is 36 and she is sooooo happy to be out in the world. She loves that she chose to go back to school for something she always wished she had done.

[mugster]

cateyes, that is a huge change in your life! I hope that the adjustment is going well and that your nieces settle in quickly.
mustloveerica, does he take a multivitamin? does he take coq10? upping the antioxidants can also help.
mrsjene, is this a withdrawal bleed? I think it is normal for it to be very different from your usual.

QOTW: I mostly wanted to be a teacher of some kind, or maybe just an expert in anything. I would take notes on drills in soccer and lacrosse camps for when I was a coach, and I always thought I knew how to do things better than the adults in my life. I still do. I just failed to talk my RE's office into letting me get my betas a day early.

[wannabmama]

cateyes exciting! Good luck settling in!
mustloveerica I've also heard about CoQ10, I bought some for my H to try to get him to try it. I've also heard zinc? Anyone else hear anything about that?
mrsjene if I could go back and skip law school I would in a heartbeat. I just paid my loans off but we will be paying H's for 10 more years...sigh.
AFM, waiting for IUI, hopefully this week. Second u/s showed a 12mm follie so going back Wednesday. Pretty much the worst day possible for my IUI would be Friday so I'm pretty sure that's exactly what's going to happen.
QOTW: I wanted to be in politics or run a restaurant. I'm a lawyer. I hate my job with a burning passion. I think I could like being a lawyer in a different setting but my current job is sucking my soul. (But has great health insurance for IF, so I try to appreciate that at least.)

[mrsjene]

Nov 2, 2015 8:59:20 GMT -5 mugster said:

cateyes, that is a huge change in your life! I hope that the adjustment is going well and that your nieces settle in quickly.
mustloveerica, does he take a multivitamin? does he take coq10? upping the antioxidants can also help.
mrsjene, is this a withdrawal bleed? I think it is normal for it to be very different from your usual.

QOTW: I mostly wanted to be a teacher of some kind, or maybe just an expert in anything. I would take notes on drills in soccer and lacrosse camps for when I was a coach, and I always thought I knew how to do things better than the adults in my life. I still do. I just failed to talk my RE's office into letting me get my betas a day early.

Um, probably? Honestly, totally going to sound like a newbie here, I guess? I mean, I just came off the pill last Tuesday after being on it for over four weeks. Before I started IVF, I hadn't been on birth control in seven years. So, it's entirely possible you're right. 

And here is where I sound like newb even more: Does a withdrawal bleed still count?

[youdontsay]

Good morning everyone, I'm on mobile and can't tag but I'm LTing like crazy!

AFM: nothing to report since Friday, I go in for BW on Sunday and they'll call me that day to let me know if I need to start injections again. I'm not as excited as I was last cycle, I just want to get it over with. MH is meeting with the urologist Wednesday so we'll see how that goes.

[joy]

Nov 2, 2015 9:09:27 GMT -5 mrsjene said:

Nov 2, 2015 8:59:20 GMT -5 mugster said:

cateyes, that is a huge change in your life! I hope that the adjustment is going well and that your nieces settle in quickly.
mustloveerica, does he take a multivitamin? does he take coq10? upping the antioxidants can also help.
mrsjene, is this a withdrawal bleed? I think it is normal for it to be very different from your usual.

QOTW: I mostly wanted to be a teacher of some kind, or maybe just an expert in anything. I would take notes on drills in soccer and lacrosse camps for when I was a coach, and I always thought I knew how to do things better than the adults in my life. I still do. I just failed to talk my RE's office into letting me get my betas a day early.

Um, probably? Honestly, totally going to sound like a newbie here, I guess? I mean, I just came off the pill last Tuesday after being on it for over four weeks. Before I started IVF, I hadn't been on birth control in seven years. So, it's entirely possible you're right. 

And here is where I sound like newb even more: Does a withdrawal bleed still count?

Haha. Yes.

I'm mobile or I'd explain the science of withdrawal bleed vs. period. But, their end results are the same.

[mugster]

Nov 2, 2015 9:09:27 GMT -5 mrsjene said:

Nov 2, 2015 8:59:20 GMT -5 mugster said:

cateyes, that is a huge change in your life! I hope that the adjustment is going well and that your nieces settle in quickly.
mustloveerica, does he take a multivitamin? does he take coq10? upping the antioxidants can also help.
mrsjene, is this a withdrawal bleed? I think it is normal for it to be very different from your usual.

QOTW: I mostly wanted to be a teacher of some kind, or maybe just an expert in anything. I would take notes on drills in soccer and lacrosse camps for when I was a coach, and I always thought I knew how to do things better than the adults in my life. I still do. I just failed to talk my RE's office into letting me get my betas a day early.

Um, probably? Honestly, totally going to sound like a newbie here, I guess? I mean, I just came off the pill last Tuesday after being on it for over four weeks. Before I started IVF, I hadn't been on birth control in seven years. So, it's entirely possible you're right. 

And here is where I sound like newb even more: Does a withdrawal bleed still count?

Ha, yes, it is a withdrawal bleed since you've been on birth control. It definitely counts, it is the only kind of bleed you could have unless you waited till after you ovulated again and got your period. I think you are golden.

[mrsjene]

joy and mugster Oh, thank fucking god. I was having flashbacks to when I ovulated through the pill, had weird bleeding, then had to be put on Provera.

:::newb moment over:::

[rooskie]

wannabmama - I've been told that DH should be taking zinc by a random nurse practitioner. It's just getting him to remember it all...

AFM I've been spotting since Friday and am ready for AF already. I talked to my GYN's office last week and they are going to do our testing then send it to the RE's office so hopefully they can cover some with insurance. I'm suppose to hear back today about insurance stuff and then schedule my HSG and DH's repeat SA when AF starts. My first RE appointment is 11/25 so just in time to spend all day of Thanksgiving with the inlaws.

Edit for question. I wanted to be a vet or something with Chemistry until I realized I would have to cut animals open. I started college with a major in Accounting and added a double major of Finance. I work in manufacturing accounting now and love it.

[wannabmama]

rooskie interesting...might add that to H...it's not a bad thing during cold season anyway right, ha!
MH avoids taking anything, but I'm pulling out the guilt about the 800 appts...not to mention shots...I'll be enduring. He can take a stupid pill once a day.

[rooskie]

Nov 2, 2015 9:42:19 GMT -5 wannabmama said:

rooskie interesting...might add that to H...it's not a bad thing during cold season anyway right, ha!
MH avoids taking anything, but I'm pulling out the guilt about the 800 appts...not to mention shots...I'll be enduring. He can take a stupid pill once a day.

Yeah. H took it last year and then it got warm out and he was all "I don't need this to stay healthy". We had a long discussion after his SA came back.

He actually asked me if I needed to keep taking extra vitamin D last night since I take a PNV. Um yes I'm extremely deficient and got told I need it while TTC.

[easilyunamused]

Good morning ladies!

I wish my consult was sooner then the 30th. I'm having RE nightmares at this point. I'm also regretting my decision to not temp this cycle too. I have no idea what's going on, I haven't even had ewcm like I normally do and I'm on CD26, which would be a very late ovulation. The waiting game continues.

I wanted to be a news anchor, then a paper journalist, and went to school for radio dj broadcasting. I am not in that field now, which I regret a bit. But my life would be so different if I presued that more.

[Evelyn3]

Nov 2, 2015 8:59:57 GMT -5 wannabmama said:

cateyes exciting! Good luck settling in!
mustloveerica I've also heard about CoQ10, I bought some for my H to try to get him to try it. I've also heard zinc? Anyone else hear anything about that?
mrsjene if I could go back and skip law school I would in a heartbeat. I just paid my loans off but we will be paying H's for 10 more years...sigh.
AFM, waiting for IUI, hopefully this week. Second u/s showed a 12mm follie so going back Wednesday. Pretty much the worst day possible for my IUI would be Friday so I'm pretty sure that's exactly what's going to happen.
QOTW: I wanted to be in politics or run a restaurant. I'm a lawyer. I hate my job with a burning passion. I think I could like being a lawyer in a different setting but my current job is sucking my soul. (But has great health insurance for IF, so I try to appreciate that at least.)

+1 to the zinc now that you mention it, it's coming back to me

So is something about pomegranate ...

[butlerfan]

Ok this is going to be long and kind of very dear diaryish (sorry in advance)...

I have called the other clinic/hospital-because I haven't been there before we have a bunch of pre-visit paperwork to fill out, release of medical records that they will review then we can set up an appointment to figure out what we need to do if there is anything to help us/try before we would do IVF (if we do it that is)

We bought CoQ10 for H to start taking in hopes that it helps his numbers but we shall see.

We also had a meeting with our pastor on Sunday where we discussed many things-the fact we have been trying and haven't had success, that we have done testing, do we even want to do IVF, do we foster/adopt (she has done both so understands that process and could help there with connections along with been there/done that and the feeling/stress that goes with it), discussion on the stress/pressure from H's family (and many inappropriate comments they have made about having kids) that makes us not want to talk to them based on prior history. She know them and has history with them so gets where we are coming from and is willing to talk to them and then also be a mediator to discuss issues we have been having with them so we can discuss everything.

We also talked about talking to my mom since she doesn't know we have been trying either but I feel like I can tell her and get her support. We talked about needing to do this appointment(s)/testing at the other clinic to find out if yes, the only option is IVF or no, there is something we can do to help. We discussed do we want to do IVF at all-is it worth the risks, success rate, etc. I think until we get numbers I/we can't make a decision of what to do. If the chances are good we may do it but we may not.

We may decide to start looking at fostering and/or adopting and then do IVF later based on how expensive it is.

I do feel that she helped us at least know what the next steps/path is at this time (subject to change). I need to have this appointment and know for sure that IVF is the only thing we can do and that the other place isn't being stupid/not helpful/assholes, etc. Also, I've started spotting so it's going to be CD 1 very shortly and I don't think that is helping my emotions by any means.

This was really long and rambling and I feel like I should just delete and not state all the above but I won't.

[wannabmama]

butlerfan, I'm sorry you're going through all of this. I think it's great that you are taking your time and looking at the options. It's nice that you have a neutral person, in a sense, who you can talk to. Especially where it sounds like not only does she have personal relatable experience, but she knows some of the family dynamics at play. I know it sucks to even have to think about the options, but as I often remind myself, we have to deal with the cards we are dealt. All we can do is the best we can with the information we've got. You can never know every contingency or what the outcome will be from every choice. There's a lot of blind faith involved. I hope you at least get more info from the other clinic that might help. Good luck and hugs to you!

[rooskie]

Hugs butlerfan.

[butlerfan]

cateyes hope it goes well with your nieces and you can get them settled in quickly.

[mugster]

butlerfan, you are fine, no worries. It is good to be thinking about all of those things. I think you should definitely have a consult with the new RE so that you have a full picture of what you are looking at. But, thinking about the end goal -- what is it that you really want/need can be very clarifying. IVF is not fun, very expensive, and certainly not the only answer to growing your family.

[getzystark]

SPOILER: Click to show

cateyes, squeeee!!! Fx your nieces' transition goes as smoothly as possible.

mustloveerica, I'll do my plug for acupuncture related to men's fertility. There's definitely some research that shows it can improve semen count and quality. Not everyone's cup of tea however. I don't have any anecdotes unfortunately. www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282%2805%2900591-1/abstract

mrsjene, glad that IVF drama is over. Crossing ALL THE THINGS for this round.

goldenlove3, all the things crossed that this is it!

wannabmama, fx the timing works out for this IUI.

youdontsay, hugs.

rooskie, fx insurance pays for as much as possible!

AFM, just waiting for Friday, where I have my pre-study physical. Next week is busy with CD1 and my BIL's wedding (I swear, I seem to bleed the day of every wedding EVER). I've had to rearrange my patient schedule which is a giant PIA, but oh well!

QOTW: I wanted to be a music teacher. Miss Dean was my favorite teacher ever and I wanted to be just like her.

[butlerfan]

mrsjene FX that this works for you this cycle and that you finally got approved. And yes as other people have posted it does sound like a withdraw bleed which does count.

[emilie]

thanks as always for the checkin cateyes! hope things go smoothly for your nieces.
mustloveerica hugs. eating healthy and working out are the two biggest lifestyle changes a person can incorporate. hopefully it will make a difference for your H.
mrsjene yay for getting approved. best of luck this week.
Evelyn3 fx for you!
goldenlove3 best of luck! I did the pineapple core thing a couple cycles ago. can't hurt, right?
wannabmama sorry that you hate your job hope all goes well with the IUI this week!
youdontsay best of luck with the bloodwork, and hope you take it easy this week.
rooskie best of luck! hopefully by the end of the month you'll have some answers.
easilyunamused I agree, waiting sucks can you use OPKs?
butlerfan huge hugs. all of the decisions and options involved with IF can be so stressful. it's good that you're taking the time to think everything through with YH and your pastor. maybe you could use the next month or two, while you're waiting for YH's next SA, to mull it over and see what your gut tells you.
getzystark bvest of luck with your physical!

AFM, still hanging out in the TWW with some sweet BFNs to show for it. I have a long LP so CD1 will probably be the end of the week, and then I'll go in for my AFC and to pick up my meds for IUI #1. Excited and a little bit nervous!

QOTW: I wanted to be a doctor. I work in the movie business, so yeah, just a little different.

[easilyunamused]

emilie, I do have OPKs but I have never detected my surge. I gave up using those, but I might just use one tomorrow and see what it does.

[dke2010]

I start letrozole tonight. It's my 3rd medicated cycle, but 20th ttc. I talked to the nurse at my RE's office this morning. She wanted to know if we were doing TI or IUI this cycle. DH and I really aren't sure. Money isn't really an issue because we still need to use up the money we put in our health savings account before the end of the year. I guess the only thing holding me back is the golf ball sized endometrial cyst on my ovary. It may be causing my IF, but there's no way to know. My RE doesn't think we need to do surgery at this point. What would you do?

As a child I always wanted to be a teacher and a mom. I got my degree in Early Childhood Education, but never taught full-time before becoming a SAHM.

[joy]

Nov 2, 2015 14:58:41 GMT -5 dke2010 said:

What would you do?

I would do IUI.  My RE said I could do timed intercourse, but he was very negative about the possibility of success since we had tried so long with no success.

If money isn't an issue, then IUI all the way.  You can do timed intercourse at the same time, too.