Trying to conceive/Planned parenthood/Assisted Reproduction Chat thread.

carolinespring

meggysmom wrote: »

Hello all,can I please join in on the thread.Just a little info on myself.I am 31 and have a 3 year old little girl.We have been ttc #2 since dec 2010.I had a lap and dye plus d&c on feb 6th 2012.Found 2 spots endo one on plevic wall one on right ovary plus 4cm cyst on right ovary and right ovary was glued to pelvic wall.Dye passed freely throught the tubes although a little fluid came out first which doc said they would expect.Anyone else have this and what did your doc say?
Anyway I got my period 2 days earlier after the surgary which was great as could get cycle back to normal quick.We did try this cycle although ovulation happened 2 weeks after surgary and although we tried it was not very comfortable for me.Had my post op and doc said I should not have tried this month and let myself have one cycle 1st-oops.Anyway af due tomorrow and I feel her coming on!!Last night my OH was away working and I was thinking about the fact that again we were going to have a negative month.I had calmed myself down and told myself it's only one month since surgary and to not expect it straight away.Then I got a phonecall saying my sister in law just found out she was pregnant.I am delighted for her.Her son is almost 3 and she is a few years older than me and it's great.But I have to admit I am feeling guilty this morning as after phonecall I grabbed a box of tissues and had a good cry.Today I'm feeling very down.I think this is the best place for me to vent as I'm sure a lot of you girls will understand.

Its always going to be hard when someone tells you that they are pregnant. Nothing wrong with a cry, I ahve lost count of the number of times I cried my eyes out but you have to stay positive and as you said yourself its ony 1 month after your op and give it time.

Its also inportant not to let TTC take over your life. Get out and plan nice things with your husband and little girl for over the long weekend. See a movie, have a coffee, go for a walk and just enjoy life. Try not to be a couple just about TTC, have date nights. Even if its just curled up on the sofa with a glass of wine of hot chocolate, a time when you dont talk for the evening about TTC and just be the couple that fell i love. I think its also really important to have sex "as a couple, for just fun" and not just for TTC. Far to often the sex is just timed and I feel for the marrage you still need to let loose and just enjoy each other.

The big thing is to believe it will happen for you and I have no douth it will. Its hard but look after yourself and be kind to yourself. Treat yourself to long baths and face packs when your little girl is gone to bed. It is aslo so much harder to deal with when OH is away.

I won't bore you with my story but at times it is a killer but I am making myself stay positive and get out and do normal stuff and enjoy the life I have and hopefully one day I will have a beautiful baby to add to my amazing life that I have with my husband.

Caroline xx

meggysmom

thanks carolinespring for the reply,sometimes all I need are words of encouragment and a kick up the butt....my mood has already lifted and I remain hopeful.I wish you the best in your journey also and everything works out for you.We have a great month planned meeting up with old friends and a weekend away so I am hoping to destress and enjoy our little family we have now,life is precious in all it's forms.

yellow hen

Hi meggysmom, hope you're doing ok. I totally get a upset/jealous/angry when I see friends and family falling pregnant but it is just my way of dealing with things and none of it is intended really.

I'm 3months since my lap and dye now and I have to admit that my ovaries still pain me sometimes. I am more aware of their presence now then I ever was before. Just to warn you also that your first period this month could be a heavy one.

I think I'm out. I have dull aches down low that I usually associate with AF and ever such a tiny amount of brown mucus early so i reckon that AF will be here in the morning. I am going home to bed and not getting up until tomorrow...I need the evening to be miserable. I'll pick myself up and move on after that.

iguana

meggysmom wrote: »

Hello all,can I please join in on the thread.Just a little info on myself.I am 31 and have a 3 year old little girl.We have been ttc #2 since dec 2010.I had a lap and dye plus d&c on feb 6th 2012.Found 2 spots endo one on plevic wall one on right ovary plus 4cm cyst on right ovary and right ovary was glued to pelvic wall.Dye passed freely throught the tubes although a little fluid came out first which doc said they would expect.Anyone else have this and what did your doc say?

Did they remove the endo during the surgery? I had a lap in early January which found 3 spots of endo on my right ovary and the surgeon lasered them off as part of the same surgery. I was told to give that cycle a miss in order to let myself recover (a lap goes from a minor surgery to a major surgery if they remove the endo during it) and we were told we could try again in February. After over a year of trying unsuccessfully I got pregnant straight away last month.

Apparently endo growth, especially on an ovary, over stimulates your production of prostagladins which has a double negative effect on fertility. One, they can make it harder for the egg to be picked up by the fallopian tube because they mess up the hormone signals. And two, if you do happen to conceive an excess of prostaglandins make your uterus hostile to embryos and leads to chemical pregnancy or early miscarriage. Removing the endo growths stops the excess production and makes it easier to get pregnant and maintain it.

As well as that a fertility specialist I saw, at the Napro clinic, told me that endometriosis is an auto-immune disease and that generally means your endorphin levels are lower than normal. Lower endorphins correlate strongly with fertility problems so increasing your endorphins can also help you to get pregnant and maintain it.

meggysmom

yellow hen wrote: »

Hi meggysmom, hope you're doing ok. I totally get a upset/jealous/angry when I see friends and family falling pregnant but it is just my way of dealing with things and none of it is intended really.

I'm 3months since my lap and dye now and I have to admit that my ovaries still pain me sometimes. I am more aware of their presence now then I ever was before. Just to warn you also that your first period this month could be a heavy one.

I think I'm out. I have dull aches down low that I usually associate with AF and ever such a tiny amount of brown mucus early so i reckon that AF will be here in the morning. I am going home to bed and not getting up until tomorrow...I need the evening to be miserable. I'll pick myself up and move on after that.

Hi again yellowhen,looks like we are both on the same cycle and feeling a bit low today.My af is just around the corner(a matter of hours i'd say),so we will probably be feeling similar but as you said we will pick ourselves up and move forward.It's frustrating.Are you planning on moving to clomid?Do you have to be scanned while you are on it?I wonder if you like me ovulates every month and have a clockwork cycle,what are the benefts of clomid?

meggysmom

iguana wrote: »

Did they remove the endo during the surgery? I had a lap in early January which found 3 spots of endo on my right ovary and the surgeon lasered them off as part of the same surgery. I was told to give that cycle a miss in order to let myself recover (a lap goes from a minor surgery to a major surgery if they remove the endo during it) and we were told we could try again in February. After over a year of trying unsuccessfully I got pregnant straight away last month.

Apparently endo growth, especially on an ovary, over stimulates your production of prostagladins which has a double negative effect on fertility. One, they can make it harder for the egg to be picked up by the fallopian tube because they mess up the hormone signals. And two, if you do happen to conceive an excess of prostaglandins make your uterus hostile to embryos and leads to chemical pregnancy or early miscarriage. Removing the endo growths stops the excess production and makes it easier to get pregnant and maintain it.

As well as that a fertility specialist I saw, at the Napro clinic, told me that endometriosis is an auto-immune disease and that generally means your endorphin levels are lower than normal. Lower endorphins correlate strongly with fertility problems so increasing your endorphins can also help you to get pregnant and maintain it.

thanks for the info.I never knew this.Yes endo was removed plus cyst.Right ovary had glues itself to pelvic wall also which would explain the ovulation pain.Af pain was never really an issue for me although 1st af after lap was awful.Brilliant to hear you news.It gives us all hope.When I went for my post op my doc said we would not call this diseased(ovary) as there was just one small patch on right ovary and one on pelvic wall.He did say because of this it secretes fluid which is hostile to egg and sperm and the lap and dye was like a clean out of all the fluid.I should not have put so much pressure on myself so soon after surgary.I will hope and pray for a better outcome in the coming months.Any idea on how to increase my endorphins?I will do some research now as not really sure what it is

yellow hen

meggysmom wrote: »

Hi again yellowhen,looks like we are both on the same cycle and feeling a bit low today.My af is just around the corner(a matter of hours i'd say),so we will probably be feeling similar but as you said we will pick ourselves up and move forward.It's frustrating.Are you planning on moving to clomid?Do you have to be scanned while you are on it?I wonder if you like me ovulates every month and have a clockwork cycle,what are the benefts of clomid?

We are due to move to clomid next cycle but we talked this eve and have decided to have one more cycle where we throw caution to the wind (or at least ignore the ttc mania that takes over!).

I do ovulate on my own and since the surgery, I'm pretty regular and predictable. I understand that clomid in our case, can strengthen the follicle and therfore the egg? Someone else here might give a more scientific explanation though

meggysmom

thanks,all the best to you,i think I would feel the same as you and have a go for another month or 2.My fingers are crossed for you.Have a glass of wine(or tea) and relax.Tomorrow will be a better day.Keep in touch.....

iguana

meggysmom wrote: »

Any idea on how to increase my endorphins?I will do some research now as not really sure what it is

In general an exercise routine will increase your endorphins. There is also a medication which will do it which the prescribe in the Napro clinic. It's called low dose Naltrexone and you take it at night and it shuts off your endorphin (opioid) receptors so in the morning your brain produces extra as it's been fooled into believing it needs to. My doctor there put me on it and want me to stay on it for the first trimester as they find it reduces miscarriage rates.

Neyite

yellow hen wrote: »

We are due to move to clomid next cycle but we talked this eve and have decided to have one more cycle where we throw caution to the wind (or at least ignore the ttc mania that takes over!).

I do ovulate on my own and since the surgery, I'm pretty regular and predictable. I understand that clomid in our case, can strengthen the follicle and therfore the egg? Someone else here might give a more scientific explanation though

I was told at my clinic that Clomid would strengthen the egg, and I would have a stronger ovulation because of it. I was skeptical to be honest, as I knew from bloods that I ovulate on my own, every single month. But I was willilng to give it a try before moving onto treatment at twice the cost.

They do say that after 3-6 months if you have not gotten pregnant on Clomid then its more or less a waste of time and certainly after 3 months they were ready to move me onto other meds as my prescription came in the door but I got my BFP so returned the prescription to them. I had two full cycles on Clomid+Pregnyl (trigger shot) and it worked the second go.

Welcome Meggysmom
You'll find great support here - just like I did when I started posting on this thread. Its great for the days you need to just wallow a bit without someone who hasnt a clue about the difficulties of TTC giving you stupid advice.

yellow hen

Neyite wrote: »

I had two full cycles on Clomid+Pregnyl (trigger shot) and it worked the second go.

hi Neyite, at what point are you offered Pregnyl? I was just offered 50mg of clomid for three months. And meggysmom to answer your question, yes I will be scanned and have bloods taken around cd21 I think.

10dpo today, AF due today or tomorrow. I'm a bit crampy, backache, skin slightly breaking out and Im STARVING! All symptoms of AF really Im not testing, she'll either arrive by tomorrow of she won't. How's everyone else? It's quiet here lately, I think all the action has moved to the pregnancy thread:)

Edit to day, I just almost got sick from the hunger I think! This has happened me before but I dont think I ever got excited before at the prospect of being sick..bring it on

meggysmom

yellow hen wrote: »

Neyite wrote: »

I had two full cycles on Clomid+Pregnyl (trigger shot) and it worked the second go.

hi Neyite, at what point are you offered Pregnyl? I was just offered 50mg of clomid for three months. And meggysmom to answer your question, yes I will be scanned and have bloods taken around cd21 I think.

10dpo today, AF due today or tomorrow. I'm a bit crampy, backache, skin slightly breaking out and Im STARVING! All symptoms of AF really Im not testing, she'll either arrive by tomorrow of she won't. How's everyone else? It's quiet here lately, I think all the action has moved to the pregnancy thread:)

Edit to day, I just almost got sick from the hunger I think! This has happened me before but I dont think I ever got excited before at the prospect of being sick..bring it on

oh my fingers are crossed for you please god:)mine started this morning as I knew it would so here we go again for another month...keep us posted.

meggysmom

Welcome Meggysmom
You'll find great support here - just like I did when I started posting on this thread. Its great for the days you need to just wallow a bit without someone who hasnt a clue about the difficulties of TTC giving you stupid advice.[/QUOTE]

thanks you, it's good to talk to people who you know understand..

meggysmom

iguana wrote: »

In general an exercise routine will increase your endorphins. There is also a medication which will do it which the prescribe in the Napro clinic. It's called low dose Naltrexone and you take it at night and it shuts off your endorphin (opioid) receptors so in the morning your brain produces extra as it's been fooled into believing it needs to. My doctor there put me on it and want me to stay on it for the first trimester as they find it reduces miscarriage rates.

thanks for the info,I take complete B vitamin,evening primrose oil,folic acid and flax seed in my porridge,yoghurts and salads.I eat a diet of mainly fish,veg and poultry and have a 30 min walk 5 times a week.Not sure if there is anything alse I should be doing.I don't want to get to up tight about it all,but at the same time I would like to know I am doing all I can.

Neyite

yellow hen wrote: »

hi Neyite, at what point are you offered Pregnyl? I was just offered 50mg of clomid for three months. And meggysmom to answer your question, yes I will be scanned and have bloods taken around cd21 I think.

10dpo today, AF due today or tomorrow. I'm a bit crampy, backache, skin slightly breaking out and Im STARVING! All symptoms of AF really Im not testing, she'll either arrive by tomorrow of she won't. How's everyone else? It's quiet here lately, I think all the action has moved to the pregnancy thread:)

Edit to day, I just almost got sick from the hunger I think! This has happened me before but I dont think I ever got excited before at the prospect of being sick..bring it on

My prescription for Clomid and Pregnyl came together - along with paying for the scans each cycle. So, I'd get my prescription filled for the above, take the clomid days 2-5 (I think?) then around CD 11 would get a scan to see how the follicles were doing. If there were more than 2 mature ones, the cycle got cancelled (June) so you would not inject the Pregnyl and the clomid dose was adjusted down for the following cycle.

July for me I was on 2x50mg Clomid, down from 5x50mg, and the scan showed mature follicles. We returned for the nurse to show us how to inject the pregnyl. That cycle didnt result in the BFP

August the same dose of Clomid, then the scan showed one immature and two mature follicles so we were told to inject on CD 11 or 12 (cant remember) that resulted in the pregnancy when I tested on CD28. Initially twins but had the MMC on one. The other is kicking lumps out of me as I type

Our clinic was very insistant on scanning while on clomid - you can get overstimulated, or it may work too well and you have too many mature follicles than is safe to proceed with. Are you getting scanned while on the Clomid?

yellow hen

Neyite wrote: »

Our clinic was very insistant on scanning while on clomid - you can get overstimulated, or it may work too well and you have too many mature follicles than is safe to proceed with. Are you getting scanned while on the Clomid?

Thanks neyite, yes I will be getting scanned. I think we'll leave it until next month and have one final cycle on our own.

meggysmom

Neyite wrote: »

My prescription for Clomid and Pregnyl came together - along with paying for the scans each cycle. So, I'd get my prescription filled for the above, take the clomid days 2-5 (I think?) then around CD 11 would get a scan to see how the follicles were doing. If there were more than 2 mature ones, the cycle got cancelled (June) so you would not inject the Pregnyl and the clomid dose was adjusted down for the following cycle.

July for me I was on 2x50mg Clomid, down from 5x50mg, and the scan showed mature follicles. We returned for the nurse to show us how to inject the pregnyl. That cycle didnt result in the BFP

August the same dose of Clomid, then the scan showed one immature and two mature follicles so we were told to inject on CD 11 or 12 (cant remember) that resulted in the pregnancy when I tested on CD28. Initially twins but had the MMC on one. The other is kicking lumps out of me as I type

Our clinic was very insistant on scanning while on clomid - you can get overstimulated, or it may work too well and you have too many mature follicles than is safe to proceed with. Are you getting scanned while on the Clomid?

I presume with napro clinic dublin or galway it is private.Can you claim for anything on vhi?Or how much per cycle scans and consults included does it cost if you don't mind me asking?

Neyite

It was in Brooklawn Fertilty Clinic. I'm barred from Napro because I'm not married (the hussy that I is!)

The exact treatment I got was Ovulation Induction with Timed Intercourse.

It was €300 per month (€100 for a cancelled cycle) but that excluded the pregnyl /clomid costs and included as many scans as you needed per cycle. Clomid I think was less than a tenner, but the injection was dearer - I think the meds came to under €50. If they give you Ovitrelle instead of Pregnyl, it is over the Drugs Refund limit so you need to register with the pharmacist to avail of that.

The initial fertility work up with the consultant was €200 + €100 for the semen analysis on the same day. I think the follow up appointment in June was less - mabye €150 or €100?

It was as a private patient all the way - VHI dont cover any fertiltiy treatment however my MRI & HSG were claimable as they were gynae /neuro issues strictly speaking rather than fertility treatments.
I claimed back 20% of medical costs through my tax though.

IF OI didnt work, our next step with the clinic was IUI which I believe would be €600 to the clinic plus meds (which would have been over the €120 mark, so would have paid €120)

meggysmom

thanks neyite for all this info,i'm hoping I won't need it but it is good to know if we do,looks like I would be barred from napro too-ha who knew,I realised that after doing a little reading on it....i'm in monaghan so I guess it's Dublin or Newry for me for closest clinic if needed!!

iguana

meggysmom wrote: »

thanks for the info,I take complete B vitamin,evening primrose oil,folic acid and flax seed in my porridge,yoghurts and salads.I eat a diet of mainly fish,veg and poultry and have a 30 min walk 5 times a week.Not sure if there is anything alse I should be doing.I don't want to get to up tight about it all,but at the same time I would like to know I am doing all I can.

While I'm sure the thing that made the biggest difference for me conceiving was probably the surgery, the month I conceived was also the month I started exercising a lot more. I didn't do it in order to help ttc, my main motivation was to lose the weight I'd put on during the time my endo was at it's worst as I had become very sedentary. I started doing the Couch to 5k programme which is a phone app that gently introduces you to jogging. I found after I'd been doing it for a week I really started to love it and decided to keep it up with a goal of doing the Dublin Marathon in October.

The idea was to distract myself from ttc by having a goal I could only achieve if I failed to get pregnant. I didn't know then but the jogging would have increased my endorphins a lot and could have played a part in me getting pregnant. I do walk my dogs for an hour everyday but that would not have increased my endorphins by much as you have to get you heart rate in order to do that.

FunkSoulSista

Hi all, just to give you an update, I dropped a sample into the doc today to test and unfortunately it came back negative. She said that most likely the egg did not take and I could be getting a very bad period in the next few days. She also said that there is a very very slim chance that the HCG is just slow to increase so things may still be happening although she did stress this was unlikely. So I have to wait and see if my period arrives and if it has not by Tuesday I have to drop another sample into the doc.

I feel a bit silly that I got so carried away, I just presumed that once the Clear blue said I was pregnant then that was that but it there is so much more involved. Lesson learnt for me anyway.

Tis a wee bit of a downer but we'll be grand, just need to pick up and try again!


Thanks so much for the support from all, this forum is a god send for a lot of people I can tell!

Nicky987

FASt- very sad and disheartening, keep that chin up x

yellow hen

Oh dont feel silly FSS, you did what would come naturally to all of us. You deserved to feel excited, I'm only sorry that this happened to you now.
Have a cuddle with your OH and take time to let you head deal with things. x

Digs

Sorry to hear that FSS :(x

Goodne

Sorry to read your news FoukSoulSista; hope the next few days are easy on you

crazy cat lady

FunkSoulSista wrote: »

Hi all, just to give you an update, I dropped a sample into the doc today to test and unfortunately it came back negative. She said that most likely the egg did not take and I could be getting a very bad period in the next few days. She also said that there is a very very slim chance that the HCG is just slow to increase so things may still be happening although she did stress this was unlikely. So I have to wait and see if my period arrives and if it has not by Tuesday I have to drop another sample into the doc.

I feel a bit silly that I got so carried away, I just presumed that once the Clear blue said I was pregnant then that was that but it there is so much more involved. Lesson learnt for me anyway.

Tis a wee bit of a downer but we'll be grand, just need to pick up and try again!


Thanks so much for the support from all, this forum is a god send for a lot of people I can tell!

Was it a urine sample? Doctors tests are a lot less sensitive than over the counter ones so may not pick up early hcg levels. It was over a week after I got my positive that my doctor was able to confirm the pregnancy on one of her tests.

If you're not bleeding and cramping, and unless you have had two blood hcg tests which have shown decreasing levels, then don't give up hope.

I will be keeping my fingers crossed that all is well

stickybean

Hi girls, would love to join in the baby making train with ye! I had my first OPK this month - the dreaded AF is due on the 18th, no real symptoms, bit of tiredness and some minor cramping but not feeling very lucky

Fingers crossed xxx

Also was just reading a few posts - sorry to hear your news FSS - I hope the doc got it wrong, but if not i'm sending you babydust xxxx

dublinlady

Thinking of u f.s.s - keep some hope yet, it's very difficult situation tho

FSS don't feel silly! There isn't anyone here who wouldn't get excited with a clear blue positive. I just find it strange that you haven't had a bleed. If your period doesn't arrive, maybe consider an internal scan?
Big hugs to you xx

yellow hen

I'm out. horrible witch came during the night. I am now in the dilemma as to whether we should start clomid this month or delay it one more. I want to start it as I feel it gives us more chances but if it fails, I feel it will be devestating and that is a defeat which I would rather delay. any thoughts?