Travel and Infertility « Hellobee Boards

Hi ladies,
You may not remember me, but I am a veteran of the infertility boards and am blessed with a son after 3 rounds of IUIs and 3 rounds of IVF. We are ready to proceed with another IVF round in March/April to try for #2.

The doctor has recommended that we do timed intercourse with Ovidrel for the next two months prior to that. Unfortunately, it looks like I am going to be travelling for work during one ovulation week and have to go to my good friend's 40th birthday weekend during the other one (DH cannot go on either trip). So we are going to miss out on the last two "natural" tries before IVF (and we haven't really been trying too hard the last few months lol). My question to you is whether you would push back IVF in this circumstance or just go ahead with it. From an ultrasound, my endometriosis appears to be very much there. I am almost 37 years old, and my eggs are of poor quality due to the endo, which is why it took us so many IVF tries. So I am reluctant to push IVF back, but I also don't want to do it if it's unnecessary. I can't cancel the work trip, and my friend would never forgive me for missing his birthday trip. Ugh.

Mrs Green Grass
pomelo / 5628 posts

Jan 21, 2015

I probably wouldn't push it back. How many times have you tried timed intercourse without it working? But then what is two months in the grand scheme of things. In the end I think it depends on your specific IF issues and whether you think it's possible to conceive without IVF. It sure does happen, but the majority of people that I know have had to resort to IVF again.
raintreebee
pear / 1531 posts

Jan 21, 2015

@Mrs Green Grass: We've basically haven't tried any TI since having the baby, but probably had good timing at least a couple times although I wasn't charting or anything (I got my period back early at 5 months PP and LO is now 12 months old). It doesn't seem possible for me to conceive naturally do to all of the interventions it took the first time and the fact that the endo is still there. But who knows.
ShootingStar
coconut / 8472 posts

Jan 21, 2015

I wouldn't push it back. How far off will your trips be from when you can BD? I know it's optimal to do it right at the end, but sperm does live for several days. If you can BD within 4 or 5 days of O I'd go for it. If not, just skip the TI cycles and go right to IVF.
tequiero21
honeydew / 7968 posts

Jan 21, 2015

If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't push back ivf, if you are ready! Especially since it took multiple tries and your endo is still there. Good luck! Hope it's easier this time around!
spaniellove
honeydew / 7916 posts

Jan 21, 2015

I remember you of course. Is there a specific reason the RE wants you to try TI? It happened to work for us but we had a unique situation and our RE was able to demonstrate that there were no barriers to conception that required IVF. In your case the endo seems like enough of a barrier that I'm not sure if Ovidrel alone can overcome that.
meganmp
persimmon / 1420 posts

Jan 21, 2015

I wouldn't push it back, due to all of the circumstances. !
raintreebee
pear / 1531 posts

Jan 21, 2015

@meganmp: @tequiero21: @ShootingStar: Thanks ladies!

@ShootingStar: Good point re: might as well try even if the timing isn't perfect, although from my calculations that will likely be at least 2-3 days from ovulation.

@spaniellove: hi! I don't think he is particularly hopeful, but thought it was a little aggressive to jump immediately to IVF. The timed intercourse plan was basically to help us get the timing perfect since it is difficult to do that with a baby, lol. It's not too costly for us, so I thought we might as well do it.
GreenThumb
pear / 1986 posts

Jan 21, 2015

I agree with everyone… I wouldn't push it off.
elchalten
olive / 64 posts

Jan 21, 2015

I wouldn't push it back if you are mentally ready, and by that I mean as ready as one can be. Who doesn't hope to get that last minute BFP prior to IVF.
Why does your RE want you to try TI?
ineebee
pear / 1580 posts

Jan 21, 2015

If I were in your situation, I probably wouldn't push it back. But I could totally understand why someone would. To think that the IVF might be unnecessary is a tough thing to deal with, but for me, I think that getting things going would outweigh the other factors.
sarac
pomelo / 5093 posts

Jan 21, 2015

@raintreebee: I had different but also big infertility issues. We spent three years trying naturally for a third, before I gave up. Which is, of course, when it happened out of the blue. Point being - I wouldn't push back the IVF. If you're serious about wanting a second, I'd just go for it.
PurplePumps
pomegranate / 3809 posts

Jan 21, 2015

I wouldn't push it back either. If all the TI and IUI's didn't work before, I wouldn't see missing a few cycles of TI as a show stopper for IVF. Can I ask why the doctor would recommend TI, if it took 3 IVFs cycles to be successful the first time, why would he/she believe that TI would work now?
BSB
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts

Jan 21, 2015

IF IVF was successful in the past, I wouldn't push off the IVF timeline for baby #2. You've tried IUIs and they didn't work. The only reason I can think of is to try to save money because IUIs or TIs are cheaper than IVF cycles. So happy to see you around these parts again but also sad that you have to. Please keep us posted on what you decide!
sweetooth
nectarine / 2705 posts

Jan 21, 2015

Hi there! Totally remember you and I'm so excited for you to try again for baby #2! I agree that if you are mentally "there" and ready to proceed with IVF, then I wouldn't push it off. But, here are a few more things that I would consider if I was in your shoes...those of us that have dealt with infertility know you can't choose when you get to have a baby. But, what if you do get pregnant right away? Would that result in another December baby? Does it matter to you if you have another newborn in the winter months? Two month in the grand scheme of things isn't that long and it would push back your due date to Spring. I also have to say, that I don't think it's a terrible idea to have a few TI cycles that give you a glimpse of your insides and give your doctor a better feeling for the timing. I always feel like timing is such a huge part of this, and TI would be a lot less stressful on your body than multiple IVF cycles. Just sharing my thoughts...
raintreebee
pear / 1531 posts

Jan 21, 2015

@sweetooth: Hi! Good points. Another winter baby would be tough in some ways (omg did I ever feel cooped up), but it actually is best for my work schedule because I'd get the most time off (I wouldn't have to return to teaching until August of the following year). So that's part of my consideration, along with my baby fever.

Thanks everyone! Can I just say how great it is to "see" familiar and new faces of infertility? I've missed this community and still feel a part of it even though I am now "on the other side."
FliegepilzHut
pomegranate / 3533 posts

Jan 21, 2015

Nothing to add, but I'd say carpe diem, especially if a winter baby is good for your schedule! Sending good wishes and lots of luck!
raintreebee
pear / 1531 posts

Jan 21, 2015

@PurplePumps: @elchalten: I think he just wanted to not be too aggressive jumping straight into IVF since we haven't really been trying. And thought he could help us out with the timing by doing ultrasounds/ovidrel. His only hope is that pregnancy somehow ameliorated my endo in a way that we can't detect on the ultrasound. I also may have given him the impression that I wanted a month or two before going to IVF.
brady80
kiwi / 589 posts

Feb 12, 2015

@raintreebee: can I ask what you ended up doing? We were going to start IVF (for baby#2) this month but our timing doesn't work because of a planned trip. We just had two failed FET and I hate to "waste" a month. I emailed my nurse to see if we could do IUI this month. I ovulate on my own, so I'm wondering if we could do an unmedicated cycle. Waiting to hear back from her but would love to hear what you ended up doing. The IVF waiting game sucks!
raintreebee
pear / 1531 posts

Feb 12, 2015

@brady80: I hear you! My husband actually ended up going on the trip with me (his work freed up a tad), but then we totally screwed up TI because the clinic thought I wouldn't ovulate until I got back. I ended up ovulating while there, and with 8 other people in the house, we didn't get the job done. So frustrating! Next month, I am projected to still be ovulating during my nearly week long work trip. Ugh. I think, however, I am going to go straight into IVF after that. My husband thinks we should do a couple more natural tries first, but our road to our first child was so long and hard that I don't think there is much of a point to it.
If I had had the option, I would have done an unmedicated IUI this month. That was the plan but my body didn't cooperate. So sorry about the failed FETs. I'll be rooting for you. If you aren't lucky this month, do you plan to do a fresh cycle next month?
brady80
kiwi / 589 posts

Feb 12, 2015

@raintreebee: ugh! sorry.
yes. we'll start our next fresh IVF in march, but the retrieval will take place in May because I do a patch protocol the cycle before, which is super annoying!! I'm going to be coming back from vacation the day I will need my baseline, so we are out for this round! we went straight to IVF the first time, so we never did IUI. I'm not even sure it would work at all but it feels better than nothing!
raintreebee
pear / 1531 posts

Feb 12, 2015

@brady80: got it. I'll be starting my antagonist protocol at the end of March so we'll likely overlap!

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