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kiwi / 501 posts
@NorthStar: Saying a prayer for you right now!! Also, praying for safe travels!! Let us know how everything goes!
kiwi / 501 posts
Alright ladies! I need your opinion! Crinone gel or Progesterone Injections? The gel is so expensive! Is it worth it? My pharmacy only has a coupon that I can use up to 4 times, but after that it's the full amount! If I'm on it 2 times a day, that will only last me a month! What do y'all think??
pomegranate / 3809 posts
@Winnie13: I hate needles, so I would definitely choose the gel. But then other people can't stand the gross buildup/discharge, so they'd take an injection. If you can stand the needle and it's cheaper, I'd just go for that. Functionally, I think they are equivalent.
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@Winnie13: I would choose the injections. I work outside of the home and wouldn't be comfortable with the suppositories and any potential leakage. Just ice before the shot and it's really not that bad. Sadly, you get used to it quick and I found they weren't even as bad as the arm blood draws I was getting all the dang time. Good luck with whatever you choose!!
@NorthStar: good luck today!!!!!!
persimmon / 1132 posts
@Winnie13: Another vote for Crinone but it's so personal. It's like choosing between two crappy-however-essential things so take your pick!
I would have had to self-administer the PIO. I could have done learned how to do it, but the Crinone was available to me. If you order from IVF Pharmacy (overseas pharmacy) you can pay about $5 an applicator which isn't so bad ($10/day for me).
TMI but pregnancy for me has involved lots of discharge. I've been wearing a liner since early in the 1st tri, so maybe Crinone makes the discharge happen from the get-go rather than a little later (but I don't know what others experience in that department, so who knows).
kiwi / 702 posts
Hi all I've been reading along for a while and thought I'd jump in as I'm having a FET this Thursday. I've been through several cycles and have an amazing daughter from a fresh cycle 2 years ago. I had a failed FET in April with no explanation so I'm pretty nervous this week. One thing I'm particularly nervous about is the lifting restriction. It's so hard not to pick up my daughter and I could barely wait a few hours after my transfer to pick her up last cycle! Anyone with LO's at home and advice on this?
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@Amorini: No pregnancy discharge for me. Oh, except for the constant random bleeding I had until 14 weeks. But that's another story. And I probably would have chosen the suppositories over PIO if I had to do the injections myself. No way. I went way out of my way most days to ensure my husband could do the injections for me.
@Mrs. Pajamas: Good luck with your FET! Are these frozen embryos from the same batch that gave you your daughter?
honeydew / 7463 posts
@Winnie13: so I had to do both...at the same time. Personally, if I had to choose, I would take the crinone.
While the shots aren't that much harder, they are more prep/work. It's a process. The crinone is like putting in a tampon a couple times a day and the occasional "clean out". I didn't find the leaking to be too bad, it was sort of just like heavy discharge. (Gross, but true). I just wore a liner.
And easier to travel with those than the whole arsenal of stuff you need for injections.
I was able to inject the PIO on my right side myself. But the left side my husband had to do, so that was another factor I found annoying. Crinone was just me.
One issue with the shots (and maybe I was on them longer than average? I have no idea, I was on them until I was 11 weeks along) was that I felt like I was running out of injection spots. I was alternating sides each day but it still was tender and I felt like the little area where I was comfortable doing them was just full of little pin spots. So it eventually got frustrating and a little painful.
My main issue with the shots is that I have nerve damage from the PIO shots. I was doing PIO Jan and Feb 2014 and still, May/June 2016, I have sensitivity as it heals. It started out as two numb "bands" down my outer thighs/hips. Then as the nerves healed it became a constant crackling/burning sensation. And now it still feels bruised. I mean, was it worth it? Yeah, of course. But if I could avoid it again I would!
honeydew / 7463 posts
@Mrs. Pajamas: welcome and good luck on your upcoming FET!
@NorthStar: Good luck today!!!
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@SweetiePie: I can't believe that your PIO spots are still hurting years later!! I was wondering how long this would last. I am still numb on the top skin layers, but sometimes someone will bump into my and OMG it hurts so bad. Other times, randomly at night, the pain just comes on. And still when I try to run, its too painful because my hips jiggle (yea, i've got a little chub there) and it just hurts too much. Bummer to think I could have this for years to come.
honeydew / 7463 posts
@agold: yep, I can't believe it either!
I'm so bummed at the prospect of doing it allagain
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@SweetiePie: I'm bummed at the prospect of doing it again, also! I'm already expecting my natural TTC for #2 efforts to fall short again and plan to be back at the RE pretty darn quick after this baby is born. Will you need to do an egg retrieval again, or do you have frozens waiting?
honeydew / 7463 posts
@agold: I had 13 retrieved and 8 made it to PGD testing. 6 were abnormal, 1 was inconclusive and 1 is my now son
We just tested my inconclusive and found out a couple weeks ago it's also abnormal.
So I've got nothing. I'm sort of ok with being 1 and done due to our circumstances. If we could just have sex and make a baby I'd be more keen on another.
My husband firmly wants another and is putting on the pressure. So I may do one retrieval and hope for the best. I don't want to do round after round if it's pointless.
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@SweetiePie: Oh, got it. Now I remember your situation. Sorry I forgot. We are committed to doing one more cycle to try for #2, and that's it. I will not do round after round because money and stress.
persimmon / 1132 posts
@Mrs. Pajamas: Good luck for later this week! I didn't have a LO #1 to deal with post-transfer (well, I had 50lb puppy ... but that's a bit different...) but some ladies on here will no doubt chime in.
@agold: Ack! Comparing discharge! So sorry you had bleeding but I'm glad that has now passed. My sister (au naturelle pregnancies) had the similar discharge issues and wore liners, so who knows.
@agold: @SweetiePie: I've had nerve damage in the past (not IVF related) on an outer extremity and learned that it takes usually 6 months for nerves to regrow on hand and feet. It had all of the same sensitives you describe -- numbness, then shooting pains and then burning, bruised feeling. It was probably a year until it felt completely normal. The change in sensation, I was told, was a sign that nerves were regrowing (any sensation = good). Maybe pregnancy (and the belly shot location) slows that down? My acupuncturist says, post-pregnancy, that the belly area is like sinkhole for all of IVF's hormonal craziness so I wonder if that just contributes to the slow recovery from nerve damage. Hmmm.
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@Amorini: "Comparing discharge!" I never even wore panty liners. I hate those. I just ruined about 10 pairs of good underwear. Once the initial bleed was done, it was just days of spotting that actually only reached the wiping stage. Gross. Sorry. TMI. I'm done.
And thanks for explaining what you know about nerve regrowth. My PIO injections were in my backside/hip area, not stomach. I'm hoping the issues resolve soon. Probably just in time for me to start IVF #2~
persimmon / 1132 posts
@agold: Hahaha! I miss chatting and comparing notes with you about all of this fun stuff.
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@Amorini: I miss chatting with you, too!! Once an IVF girl, always an IVF girl! I met a girl this weekend who knew about my IVF (through chatty husbands) and she has twin IVF boys. It was nice to chat with her about it all, especially since we really haven't told anyone else in real life that we did IVF. (except, apparently husband told one of his friends.)
honeydew / 7463 posts
@agold: There are so many ladies and stories and embryos to keep track of here I often forget what everyone's story is, it's hard!
@agold: @Amorini: Yeah, mine were in my backside/hip too. I think I read (or was told, it's been a while) that it's the knots from the oil that put pressure on the nerves? Or something? It's fuzzy.
But yeah, so crazy that I'm 2.5 years in from the shots and I still have mild residual effects. Heck, you get nerve damage from a c-section too. So my incision is still wonky 20 months later. Still numb in some spots, tender in others. I was told that nerve damage can take years! (Clearly it's true!)
pear / 1881 posts
Quick update here because I'm SO sleepy from the Valium. Transferred an almost expanded blast. Took a bit to get the catheter in because my bladder was not quite full enough. Oops! I'll include a pic in a second.
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@NorthStar: Holy expanding embryo!!! Looks like a winner! Praying this all goes great for you!
ETA: enjoy the Valium. I wish I had some right now.
pomegranate / 3764 posts
@NorthStar: Whoa, what a textbook emby! Delightful!
@agold: hahaha, me too!
@Amorini: I'm with you. Discharge up the wazoo.. or out of it, I guess. *barf*
persimmon / 1132 posts
@agold: Yeah, there is only so much IVF sharing that the uninitiated can really handle. Haha! Glad you found a friend IRL. My doula did surrogacy and so at least kinda gets the part from transfer forward. My husband told all of his workmates about IVF so cat's out of the bag with his coworkers, too.
@NorthStar: Beautiful blast! Wishing you many sticky thoughts!!!
@jaguar: Haha! Totally barf!
kiwi / 501 posts
@agold: @PurplePumps: @Amorini: @SweetiePie: Thank you girls for your suggestions!! When it comes down to it, I could do either if the price is right (that sounds awful, but it's true) I think we (I mean me) are going to brave the PIO!
@NorthStar: Beautiful!! Praying!!
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@Winnie13: If I were faced with the decision, I probably would have chosen PIO for cost savings purposes, too. Let me know if you need any tips! Its still so fresh in my mind. I will just offer these quick tips though - warm the PIO in your hand while youre icing with the other hand. It helps the oil go in easier. And then have your husband massage the shot spot after the shot for a few minutes or as many minutes as he or you can stand. Its so important for helping prevent nasty and painful oil clumps from forming. I only had one oil clump form and it was when husband didn't massage the area. Good luck! Really, its not horrible and you will get used to it.
honeydew / 7463 posts
@agold: @Winnie13: I would actually keep my heating pad by my bed and once it was warm, I wrapped the syringe in the heating pad while I did some other short-ish task like getting my coffee or whatever.
I actually never iced because I didn't think it hurt and I actually thought maybe icing it made the site cold and more likely for the oil to coagulate? But that was my own weird logic, no idea if it's true.
Then after the shot I massaged and laid on the heating pad while I did my makeup and watched a little tv. I never watch tv in the morning before work so it was my treat to myself
I continued to randomly massage the spot throughout the day when I thought of it.
But with all that I still had nerve damage so, I dunno.
pear / 1881 posts
@agold: @jaguar: @SweetiePie: @Amorini: thank you! Hoping third time is the charm!! ☘ I had a whole day planned of relaxing, including acupuncture and movies. Of course, daycare gets strep. So, trying to see if I can bring DD to my appointment. Ugh
grapefruit / 4045 posts
@SweetiePie: I did pretty much the same as you. And I thought the same about icing. I did it mostly as a crutch. One time I was in a bind and had to do the shot without ice. It was fine. Massaging is a must though. Even if only for a minute. As for laying on the couch, YES! Twice a day I had to just lay still for a small extended period of time. Sooooo nice.
@NorthStar: darn day care strep! I am really hoping for the best for you and am so excited!
kiwi / 702 posts
@agold yes we had 7 embryos (all 5 day blasts AA or AB) to freeze from the cycle that produced my daughter. So now we have 6 left and are transferring one tomorrow. I'm a nervous wreck.
@Northstar love your photo! Thinking lots of good thoughts for you. Glad I'll have someone else in the 2ww with me.
pear / 1986 posts
@NorthStar: Looks amazing!! Congratulations!
@Winnie13: We've mainly done PIO (and by we, I mean DH has done every injection ). I don't ice or heat. I just stand on the leg opposite of the injection with as much of my weight as possible (relaxing the other butt muscle) and then do massage a bit afterwards.
@Mrs. Pajamas: Wishing you a great transfer tomorrow!!
AFM: I'm almost done with my meds (except the Lovenox, which I am really starting to dread every single night) and am 10w1d today! Heard the heartbeat last week (very early with the Doppler) so I have relaxed a little bit. Sad still whenever I see anything about twins, but glad to know that things are going well with this little babe.
kiwi / 538 posts
@NorthStar: Delurking to say good luck!!! FWIW my 2nd transfer involved a lot more relaxation and avoiding stress than my 1st one and it was successful :).
kiwi / 501 posts
@GreenThumb: Thank you! DH will be giving all of mine as well!! So exciting about the heartbeat! Yay for almost being done with the meds! I think it's healthy to feel that way. It was a loss and that can't be forgotten. Praying for you!
pear / 1881 posts
@Mrs. Pajamas: Thinking of you today for your transfer!!! Keep us updated on how it went
@GreenThumb: I'm so happy for you that you are almost out of the first trimester! I do think that it is perfectly normal to have those feelings about the baby you lost and in most likelihood, you will always have them.
AFM - 2 days post transfer. Last night about 9pm, I had what I can best describe as a lightening bolt twinge in my abdomen. I have no doubt that it was my embaby and hopefully, it was starting to make itself comfortable.
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