As far as the food, I probably won't be able to stay away from everything, but will try to cut out the really bad stuff and see how it goes. I'll also ask my RE on Wednesday to see what they recommend. Oh, and hanging out in the pool sounds so awesome! Are there any restrictions with getting wet down there, if you know what I mean? 
It hurts now! Its all bruised! Like a blood bruise. I don't know how I didn't notice it until just now. But it wasn't there this morning. Oh my gosh it hurts. Major delayed reaction. 
But at least I will have off the next few days.
- at least it's over though right? Yea for tomorrow!
. In other news, I'm having an endometrial biopsy, saline hysterogram, and mock transfer on Monday!This thread has been closed by the original poster.
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@NorthStar: I have tried to change my diet, but sometimes I'm a glutton who loves to eat. Here's what I've been able to do though - cut out red meat, white rice, caffeine and alcohol. (I've had two glasses of wine in the past months or so when out with friends to avoid unnecessary speculation.) I've also tried my best to avoid butter, white flour and sugary drinks in general. I have been eating a lot of chicken, tuckey meatballs, hummus, lentil soup, spinach salads, citrus fruits. BUT, i have such a weak spot for gold fish snacks and skinny cow ice cream bars. Ugh. Anyhow... I just googled all of this and I'm trying to not put too much weight into the diet issue. Am I really not getting pregnant because I've had too much white rice and barbacoa from Chipotle? Pfft. That's how I feel about it!
My egg retrieval is scheduled for Wednesday! Yikes and yippe! I have to do my trigger shot sometime tonight.
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@agold: exciting! Good luck!
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@AmeliaBedilia: Thank you so much! I'm really feeling uncomfortable today so I'll be happy to get this show on the road. How are you doing?
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@agold: 11DPO, AF due Thursday or Friday, beta is Friday. I'm feeling anxious. Next cycle
I'm out of town during most of the fertile window, so I will be more disappointed than usual (if that's possible). -
@AmeliaBedilia: I can absolutely imagine how you are feeling. I was in your shoes not to long ago. And intensify all those feelings times 5 when you are doing an IVF cycle. But taking one cycle off won't be too bad. Your body can relax. Will your husband be with you wherever you will be? If not, just try not to stress. I had to wait a really long time (like 60 or days) in between the two IUIs that I did because of weird dumb body circumstances. The waiting is tough but it caused me to relax overall and just sort of throw my hands up.
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@dookie32: Wow, 29 is great! Good luck with these next few days. I hope things align so that childcare is a non-issue. You mentioned that you have quality issues (sorry can't remember now) -- is that based on your FSH or m/c, if you don't mind me asking. I am just curious because for me, they are predicting decent numbers at ER but also high attrition. My FSH is borderline high (9.8) but my AMH is ridiculously good/high (can't remember now, but 6-7?) so they think I have a bunch of teeny follicles that might grow once stims start. My AFCs in the countable size range are always 10, which they say is "normal for my age." (So tired of my age being such a downer for REs.) Anyway, glad things are tracking / cooking so well and hope they will continue to.
@agold: You are almost there! Good luck with the trigger! Did you say they mixed and administered the Pregnyl? Or just mix and you have to self-administer? Anyway, GL! I love your attitude about all of this and, when I get down about how I'm feeling (more below), you ladies and your sparkling attitudes really lift me.
@AmeliaBedilia: OMG... Testing is right around the corner. Sending lots of love, luck and prayers!
@NorthStar: No special diet, but I have concentrated on organic, whole foods and have only really small quantities of sugar, caffeine or refined / processed stuff -- like one coffee and pastry a week. DH and I have been doing this with gusto since January so I feel good about that. In the past, I had to do an elimination diet without gluten, sugar, dairy to test for food allergies. It was difficult and I felt unhealthy and exhausted from the super restricted food sources. I personally feel like dairy (full fat, organic, raw milk) is super good for us ladies who are ttc, but I can't always tolerate it. There are lots of studies indicating caffeine and refined sugars reduce fertility so I think those are really good ones to eliminate (or, you know, cut out of everyday meals). If you have no problems with gluten and dairy, then I think eliminating them is overkill and just source them from the best possible sources. Just my two cents!
I had a hard day. My period still has not come and I don't think it will. The nurse said to not sweat it and they will just check my lining at my Wed us to make sure I can continue with the plan for stims starting Friday. But man, do I ever feel EFF-ED up already. I'm super bloated, retaining water like crazy and very irritable. I can't fit into my normal pants for work very well. And the hormone party has not even really started! WTF is going on? I wish it were just PMS and AF would come and make it all better, but it's a different kind of crappy that I feel. Sorry for complaining.
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@Amorini: You don't need to apologize for complaining. While I haven't gone through exactly what you've gone through, we've all been through enough to have a pretty good idea. It's so hard- physically, emotionally, financially. I appreciate the prayers. I'm trying to keep my hopes down, but I'm getting nervous. I'm so tired of disappointment! My niece was born a few days ago, and that makes everything even harder. It's so hard to fake excitement when you're dying inside for a baby.
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@Amorini: Complain away, lady! It helps to get out here on HelloBee so we can try to be "normal" in real life. I like your two cents on the diet issue. As for waiting for a period, I feel that agony.. I really hope you don't have to do any waiting and that you can just proceed with stims on Friday. Please update here on Wednesday because I'll be thinking about you!
I'm sorry you feel like your age is a downer for your RE. I feel like me wanting to do a fresh embryo transfer is a big downer for everyone at my RE's office.
As for my pregnyl, I brought it to my doctor's office today. I was lame and thought they would give me the shot. They just mixed it all up for me and now I have it discretely hanging out in my office fridge. I'll take that and ganirelix at 10:30 pm sharp. I'm going to take wedneday and thursday off of work. If I feel okay on thursday (finger's crossed), I plan to float in my pool with my hubs all day long.
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@agold: yay!!! You are so close! I cannot wait to hear how it goes
As far as the food, I probably won't be able to stay away from everything, but will try to cut out the really bad stuff and see how it goes. I'll also ask my RE on Wednesday to see what they recommend. Oh, and hanging out in the pool sounds so awesome! Are there any restrictions with getting wet down there, if you know what I mean? @AmeliaBedilia: How are you feeling or have you been temping? I've been rooting for you and hope this cycle works. It's so hard not to get your hopes up or even down too much. I completely get it. I was really hping these last 3 IUIs would work, but had a feeling that we'd be approaching IVF, which we are.
@Amorini: my acupuncturist said that full fat dairy was fine, but I think that I'm lactose intolerant, so figured that I should cut it out (esp if my body doesn't like it). I know that I'll have treats every so often, but will do my best to cut out what I can
Maybe I missed something, but if you haven't started stims yet, why are you so bloated already?!
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@AmeliaBedilia: @agold: thanks, ladies! @NorthStar: yeah, I don't know! I told my nurse and she said nothing. I'm going to ask again Wed when I go in. I'll update...
So after the rant and some after-dinner relaxation, I feel pre-AF crampy! Bring it on.
@agold: GL with the trigger and ER! Hope you aren't too achey after and you can enjoy your days off!
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@NorthStar: I haven't been temping since we started monitoring. I've had all kinds of side effects from ovidrel, prednisone, and cabergoline. I've been abnormally warm for two days, more nausea and very jittery today,but all these could be caused by something else.
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@agold: Ugh yes it's totally the needle for the Ganirelix! It seems kind of thick and I've had a hard time getting it in as well. You can't really jab it in like the other ones and it seems to hurt more afterwards. I'm definitely feeling a bit uncomfortable but it's not bad enough that I can't go though my regular day. I'm running out of energy to be angry so I guess that's a plus :). Yea for retrieval on Wednesday! Good luck- can't wait to hear your results. Let me know how bad the trigger is- I'm dreading it :(!
@northstar: Since I started BC, I quit caffeine and alcohol just because I figured it avoiding those chemicals would help reduce my reactions to the hormones. Other than that, I've just tried to eat healthy like I usually do and really limit sweets (which is hard for me- especially when I'm stressed). My general philosophy is everything in moderation so I've allowed myself a cheat now and then.
@AmeliaBedilia: Hope this week goes by fast for you- every part of this process is so hard.
@Amorini: I don't really remember my exact numbers from testing (I think my AMH was also in the 6-7 range) but the assumption is that it's a quality issue since 2 of my last 3 MCs were blighted ovums and there are no other glaring issues. I know my dr was confident in getting a lot of eggs from retrieval but they didn't get into the nitty-gritty of sizes. I'm just worried that there will be a lot but a majority of them will be crap! You might have mentioned this before- are you planning on doing PGD?
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Wanted to pop my head back in here to let you girls know i'm thinking of you. Sending positive happy wishes to everyone in all stages of their waiting. xx
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@YogiRunner: Have you had an ultrasound yet?
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@NorthStar: Hahaha. I didn't even think about not getting wet "down there"!
I will for sure ask tomorrow. As for your diet, there is no reason you should be hungry or stressing out over the food. I hope you can figure out what you want to eat so that you are comfortable. @Amorini: I hope AF started! And after-dinner relaxation is my favorite time of the day!
@dookie32: Hi! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks the ganirelix needle was awful. As for the trigger shot, turns out the cap covering the needle is very deceiving. The actual needle for the pregnyl/hcg was tiny, sort of like the follistim needle! And it was a quick easy injection. I did the ganirelix first so it was nice to have an easy peasy needle to follow it since I usually try to do easiest first. I didn't feel anything unusual from the trigger shot. Why are you dreading it?!?! Im uncomfortable but still working and whatnot. I did stop working out about three days ago, but that doesn't mean much.
@YogiRunner: Hi there! So glad you popped in. Can you remind me where you are at with things?
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@AmeliaBedilia: @agold: My first ultrasound is tomorrow! More excited than nervous. I'll be 7 weeks on Thursday. Trying to be really, really positive although some days it's hard. The morning sickness is real so I'm going to count it as a good sign.
Thinking sooo many good thoughts for you guys. You've got this.
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Sorry guys, went awol for a bit - sitting around on forced waits is my arch nemesis, and I can't even express how frustrated I am.
Sounds like your jabbing is going well... tail end now ladies, you can get through this, you can get through anything!
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@agold: this thread has been moving very fast but wanted to wish you lots of luck for your transfer tomorrow!
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@dookie32: Oh my gosh! I take it back about the trigger shot!!!
It hurts now! Its all bruised! Like a blood bruise. I don't know how I didn't notice it until just now. But it wasn't there this morning. Oh my gosh it hurts. Major delayed reaction. @bloved: Thank you so much for the well wishes! I'm really excited to get going on this. I'm stuck at my office probably until late.
But at least I will have off the next few days.
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@agold: Was your shot intramuscular? That's why I'm nervous- I haven't done one of those before. And the needle with my HCG is 1 1/2 inches so a lot longer than the one for my nightly shots. Oh well it is what it is. Sorry about the bruising
- at least it's over though right? Yea for tomorrow!
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@dookie32: Hi! My trigger shot was not intramuscular. It was a tiny stomach shot. For some reason I thought the needle was going to be huge and it wasn't. It didn't cause me any problem when I was doing it. Just now, about a few hours ago, did I notice the nasty bruise/owie on my stomach. It hurts. I'm still at work which sucks but am so looking forward to having a few days off, even if it means having a small surgery.
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@agold: good luck, lady! I'll be thinking of you all day. FX-ed for a smooth and abundant retrieval.
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@agold: Good luck today!!! So exciting! FWIW, my advice is that quantity is great of course, but don't worry too much about that number, because quality is really what's important - and it's true that you only need ONE (I saw the heartbeat of my one good blasty today!!) And my saviors that day were a heating pad, coconut water, and bad TV. Hope it goes well!!
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@YogiRunner: So happy for you!
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Holy crap guys - we might get IF treatment coverage through our insurance! My DH let his HR in Colorado know about the Massachusetts mandate for coverage and it looks like not only could we have coverage moving forward (hello fresh cycle!), but they might even reimburse us for the two failed FETs that we've had in the past year as well as a whole host of bloodwork, u/s, etc! Wow, that would be amazing. Keep your fingers crossed! We've already paid out of pocket for a fresh cycle and 4 FETs, so I feel like our time has come
. In other news, I'm having an endometrial biopsy, saline hysterogram, and mock transfer on Monday!@agold: So excited for you! Hope all went well today!!!
@YogiRunner: Congratulations! So amazing to see the HB for the first time!!
@dookie32: Sounds like you are getting close to ER, right? When will you go back for anything monitoring appointment? Exciting!!
@AmeliaBedilia: Hope you are feeling better today and Friday comes really fast for you! All this timing stuff is so hard. I always feel like I'm planning for the next cycle and something always gets in the way…
@Amorini: Getting pretty close now, right? Are you excited to start stims? How are you feeling?
@jaguar: Hoping things move along as fast as possible for you. I hate the waiting game, too! We haven't even had a chance since the last CP in early May. And sign of AF?
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@GreenThumb: omg!!! That is so unbelievable!! Wow! Props to your husband for talking to his company about it.
I'll catch up on everyone else tomorrow, but we had our nurse, doctor, and financial consult today, as well as std panel and mock transfer! Whew..the re seems very positive about our chances and we will go all in for the attain program. So 3 fresh and 3 frozen and if it doesn't work, our money back. Glad to have this part behind us and will wait for af to begin birth control. The best thing about today? I don't have to do pio, but will be doing etrace (like a suppository) instead. Whew. Although, that hcg needle looks nasty!!!
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@NorthStar: Wow, that is a great update! I'm sure you are anxious to get started! It always feels so good to be making progress.
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@GreenThumb: That's great news- especially if they end up reimbursing you! Our state is mandatory coverage and it's been amazing how much has been covered. My monthly rates went up a lot this year but it's been worth every penny.
@YogiRunner: Congrats!!! I hope everything is uneventful over the coming weeks. Is your morning sickness just nausea or is it worse?
So thankfully I was given the go-ahead to trigger tonight for retrieval Friday. I'm just so relieved- it's getting pretty miserable up in here. As of today I had 35 measurable follicles and 14 are over 18mm- my body is really digging these hormones :). I'm obviously in the OHSS danger zone so I'm pounding Gatorade and salty food like it's my job. For my trigger I only did a small amount of the HCG and another shot an hour later of Lupron. HCG wasn't fun- yikes you really feel that needle the entire time it's in- but it's over. I'm getting excited for ER- I feel like all of this misery is going to pay off finally.
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@dookie32: wow I can't believe how many follicle you have! I am sure you will be so relieved when the retrieval is done! Glad you got to trigger!
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@GreenThumb: that's awesome that you might get coverage. Nj is a mandatory coverage state and I have been SO grateful for that!
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@GreenThumb: Awesome for the insurance!
I'm spitting lightly. I'm pretty sure I'm out. I have a trip I must go on, DH isn't going, and now it falls CD11-CD15.
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@AmeliaBedilia: oh no! I'm so sorry, hun..
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@GreenThumb: Thank you! After everything it took to get here, I almost still don't believe it. Pregnancy after IF is weird. Great news about your coverage! Such a win.
@dookie32: Thanks! It's getting to the point where I'm going to have to tell my boss, because the nausea/dizziness/exhaustion is now pretty constant and it's super hard to get through our long intense meetings. Luckily I can keep most things down, it could definitely be worse. BTW holy follicles, girl!!! Wowza!
@AmeliaBedilia: I'm so sorry to hear this. Are you sure you're out? Do you know your next step after this upcoming cycle? I know you're anxious about IVF, but know we're here rooting for you and able to answer any questions about the process. If you end up going through it, they'll monitor the crap out of you and adjust meds, learning a ton about how your body operates along the way. And success rates are much higher than IUI. Just trying to give you a little bit of a silver lining - so many hugs.
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@YogiRunner: I'm waiting to hear back if I should do anything this cycle since I'll be traveling. Probably IUI after that and possibly IVF. I'm really scared I won't have good eggs. My AMH was 0.27, but I'm 35, FSH 6 (one on day 3, once after femara), and my last follicle count was about 15.
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@Amorini: @YogiRunner: @GreenThumb: Hi girls! Thank you so very much for your well wishes! My egg retrieval went very smoothly. Once the anesthesiologist slipped me a mickey, I was out within minutes. I don't even remember being wheeled into the surgery room. Bummer was that my viens are shot. But he blasted my skin with some numbing cream so I didn't hardly feel the IV going into the side of my lower arm. My husband was still there at the time so I pinched his thumb. Too bad I have the nastiest bruise on my arm now. So my tummy has hurt a bit yesterday but I slept most the day. Water, a heat pack and a few viccodins have saved the day. 11 eggs were retrieved. Later yesterday my doctor called and said 10 were good, and one was "degenerate." Ha. The word made me laugh. This morning my RE called to say that 7 were fertilized and moving along great and the jury's still out on 2 of the embryos. The remaining one embryo because a degenerate like the 11th. So I'm down to 7 for sure, and possibly 9, embryos. I won't hear back until Satruday morning when my 3-day-transfer is tentatively scheduled to occur. But I'm praying all day every day that I can make it to a 5-day-transfer. In any event, PIO shots start on Saturday, along with an estrogen shot that I will need to take every three days. I'm trying not to freak about it. I'm eating extremely healthy and staying upbeat. One bummer - the doctor said no pool! Darn it. So i'm heading over to my mom's to hang my feet in while my husband gets to do the most relaxing floating.
But I've been feeling amazingly well considering how sick I was when I went through the retrieval 5 or so years ago when donating to my sister. Thanks again for your well wishes! I'm hoping for at least 6 embryos when all is said and done. @dookie32: I'm so excited for your retrieval tomorrow! Let me know if you have any quesitons. You are doing FET right? So if you get OHSS then its not like it will mess up the fresh transfer. Still, it will suck. Good luck to you no matter!
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@agold: Glad it went well. I hope they all continue to grow!
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@agold: glad all went well! Hope your embabies continue to grow. If you do wind up with a three day transfer though, it is not necessarily a bad thing. I've had two five-day transfers that were failures and my to three-day transfers were my successes! So I am a big fan of the three-day transfer
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@agold: It sounds like everything went wonderful! Good thing you checked on the pool
sucks that you can't enjoy floating in it, but you can still relax along side it and start to recuperate. @dookie32: Good luck tomorrow! I hope everything goes well
Can I get your ladies thoughts on something? I received my prescription yesterday and I'm wondering if I should order the full amount of Gonal-F / Follistim. They have me stimming at 225 iu/day for 10 days. They prescribed me 3 - 900iu pens. Doesn't that seem like a lot? I've read on other boards where they only order 2 pens and then order the 3rd, if needed. What have you done and what do you think?
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@GreenThumb: hey, so great to hear your update! GL with all your procedures on Monday. I'll be thinking of you. I start stims tomorrow. To be honest, I'm pretty scared about how my body will feel. Just Lupron alone is kicking my ass really hard!
@YogiRunner: Yay that you got to hear a heartbeat! Amazing! So excited for you! Please feel free to give updates and keep popping your head in!
.@AmeliaBedilia: I'm really sorry about AF. Really sucks! Sending hugs and prayers for a silver lining in all of this. In the meantime, I hope you can focus on your amazing work trip and things outside of IF! Hey, you might be moving into your new house sooner than you think! It sounds amazing!
@dookie32: Hey, lady! Good luck with your retrieval tomorrow and steering clear of OHSS! Wow - you have squirreled away some follicles up there these last couple weeks. Can't wait to hear how it all goes! Gulp, I think I'm next in line! Just remembered that I never answered your question if we are doing PGD. We aren't. I asked our RE but she said there was no reason to do it based on a borderline FSH. (I've had no BFPs, thus no miscarriages.) DH's karyotyping was normal, too. I guess we just hope all we are dealing with is MFI!
@agold: Hope all went well! Thinking of you!
AFM, these Lupron days of menopause-like symptoms have been total and complete hell. I've had every side effect plus a period (finally, it came, well, sort of!) but it was the worst multi-day migraine, the worst cramps, the worst nausea, and the dreaded hot flashes have been constant. So....that's why I am a bit freaked out what Hcg and Follistim will do to me. I'll still be on Lupron, but half the dose. I was going to start with 300 IU of Follistim but the RE upped it to 450 (!!!!!) because I had one less follicle than at my baseline (was 11, now 10) and my E2 was less than 5....so time to pull out the big guns, I guess, and get the hormone party started.
Despite (or perhaps due to) these surprisingly rough last few days, I feel mentally prepared now for this process. I know why I'm doing this and I know it's the right path for me and DH. There have been some really cool reminders of that these last few days... .
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@agold: I had started my update hours ago on my phone and didn't see your update! So glad it all went so well and that you're feeling good and there are a good number of embies growing away! Bummer about the pool but I guess you'll survive. Hope the shots are a piece of cake and only scary in your head. FX-ed!
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