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Amyjoy- I spent most of my 2 pregnancies suking on Jolly rancher Candy and eating saltine crackers, maybe that will help. As far as being overweight and the doctors comments I know what you mean. I am trying to take some off before we try another cycle. My Re told me my weight had alot to do with the amount of meds it took for my follies to grow. I don't know. I have read some posts of people heavier then me and they needed less meds. Guess its all a crap shoot. Anyway goodluck with m/s. Let us know how the appt with the ob/gyn goes

JasJules- I was on an average dose with all my meds. I think it depends on how hard it is to stimulate your ovaries. And if the Dr. does get rude (which he's never been), I will find a plus-size friendly Dr. I think it will be okay though. There's nothing to do about it now, I pregnant already!

Amyjoy, I'm new to this site and new to injectables. Can I ask a personal question? How many follicles and what size were they?? I'm on day 5 of Gonal-F.

Never mind, I read back and found out. I'm CD 13, have one follie 16, two 15, one 14, two 12. No trigger yet, but am worried that this is TOO many follicles. I too have PCOS, but hubby SA great at 185.

I'm so new to this, what are the rules on follicle size and O?? I'd be okay with twins, but any more would be a disaster. I'm wondering if I should bail? DH is already freaked out about the whole thing.

Thanks Amyjoy, I feel better with your comments. My Dr was never rude be he did refer to the need to lose to improve my chances. With your success I feel much better. I hopefully will be ready to try again by January. I am definitely doing IUI this time bd on demand is too stressful

gatornurse- no questions are too personal going through all this! :) This last cycle we did I had 2 follicles that were about 18. I think both of those fertilized. I had a 17 and two 15 I think at time of trigger. My Dr. said that any of those could have fertilized and he's seen a 15 fertilize. Remember that no matter how many follicles you have, NOT all of them are going to release. we did a few rounds with clomid and after a failed cycle I called the Dr. and said I want to be more aggressive and I didn't care about the risk of multiples. He said okay and I did the Gonal-F. I only did about 6 days of injections and I was ready to trigger. I think it's really up to you if you want to abandon this cycle. I did research in multiples and I found women who take Gonal-F: 80% are singletons, 15% twins, and 5% triplets or more. I was also watching a special where a lady had 5 babies on CLOMID! And the chances of multiples is much lower on clomid. So, go figure. Now, Dh had a count of 135 when we did this last IUI (his highest ever) and I'm sure that had something to do with it. They usually trigger when 2 or more follicles is at 18. I think I covered your questions and then some! :) Oh, as far as more than twins, have you thought about selective reduction? Definately a conversation to have with the hubby and the Dr. Triplets or more are very high risk for you and the babies. It's really a personal decision. Good luck. Are you doing IUI this cycle?

JasJules- I would say the timed intercourse is more stressful. A few times I tried to spice things up and we would giggle. But, the job got done. This last time I was so tired I was just like, okay let's do this so I can go to bed!!! The IUI wasn't stressful for me, but Dh hated giving samples. He had to give 5 samples in all - he counted on Saturday when we were in the office waiting for our last u/s with the RE. Silly boy!

Thanks Amyjoy! Went this am, and had 3 that were 18, the other three were 16 or 17. RE will call later today to give advise, but I'm pretty sure we aren't going to go ahead with this cycle. I'm positive DH won't cooperate even if I still wanted to do it! Not comfortable with selective reduction, and I'd have to travel 8 hours away to do it (none in area). This is only my 5th month trying, maybe I'd be more willing to gamble if I'd been at it longer. Thanks!

Gatornurse-Just to give you some more info so you canthink about things. On my last cycle of gonal-f I had 2 follies at 19 2 at 18 1at 17 and 1 at 15. Unfortunately it was unsuccessful. My husband has a great count and as my RE called it, donor quality sperm. So you see as scary as it may sound to have so many large follies, they definitely do not always fertilize. My RE felt this amount would give us a good chance. My 1st cycle of clomid I had 1 at 19 and got pregnant, unfortunately miscarried at 7 weeks. Anyway, good luck, I hope I have not confused you more. Lord knows it can be scary at times but hopefully it will endle in a beautiful bundle of love.

It's been a while since anyone posted here...is there anyone interested in being a support system for Gonal-F users?

Hi BondletMom
I am going to be starting my 2nd ivf cycle. I am on a microdose flare protocol. I had 5 folllies with my last and they all fertilized on their own and were transferred on day 3. Unfortuntaley I did not get pregnant, so we are going for round 2, Yey!! I will be giving myself 450 units of Gonal F per day. Are you nervous about the shots? What types of questions do you have. I'd love to offer my support!!

Hi BondletMom and Lucky7prays welcome to the gonal thread.

BondletMom- are you doing gonal-f with IUI? I used gonal-f over the summer. Unfortunately it failed but I responsed great to the gonal-f. I had lots of follies but now we have a male factor problem and are moving on to ivf with ICSI for this upcoming cycle. You can look back to some of the earlier postings in this thread to get more info. or just ask. I will be happy to be of any support.

Lucky7prays- I am about to start my first ivf cycle after 4 cycles of clomid and 1 gonal-f (all failed). Right now I am on BCP and will be starting lupron next week. Where are you in your cycle? I do not have my exact FSH start date yet. The RE ordered all my meds yesterday and I should get them this am. I am waiting for the RE to call with the exact protocol What is a microdose flare protocol?

Hi lyly14
I too am on BCP. I finish my last pill on 11/11 and then rest for 2 days, then start Lupron on 11/14,
I'm not sure about how many different protocols there are. I know I am on the most agressive one b/c I have a low ovarian reserve. I only made 5 follies last time. They all fertilized on their own and were transferred, but it didn't take :-[
Today I had my mock transfer and biopsy. They do this to take measurements of your uterus for the actual transfer. Also a little piece of your lining is taken for a biopsy.
Well keep me posted. Good luck!!

Hi lucky7prays- I just found out I will be starting the Lupron on 11/16 but I do not stop BCP until 11/20. I go in for my first u/s and bloodwork on 11/23 then start gonal -f on 11/26. All these medications seem so confusing. I am familar with the gonal-f and ovidrel, but I feel a little overwhelmed with when and how to do the rest (lupron, repronex, medrol, progesterone in oil , progesterone capsules, doxicylcine- i think i spelled that wrong). I already did my mock transfer, but no biopsy. I have heard that they do that to increase chances of having the embryos implant. Supposedly the body feels like the spot they take the biopsy from was injured and you get more blood vessels and stuff forming to heal it. It makes it an ideal place for the embies to stick. Did you have the biopsy done last cycle?

Hi, ladies. I am on my first cycle of Gonal-F w/IUI so am new to all of this. We did 2 IUI's using Femara w/no success. RE had me on 75iu Gonal-F every other day and I made 4 good follies, unfortunately 3 were on the left (no tube) and 1 on right was too small I think to catch up and ovulate. So next cycle I increase my dosage with the hope of getting lots more follicles on my right side. So far shots have been a piece of cake thanks to super tiny needle and more fluff in the midsection than I care to think of. ;)

lyly14 - may I ask what male factor issues your dh had? I always wonder if my dh's #'s are really OK like the RE says (60% motility, 25-50mil count, 35% morphology). Unfortunately dh had numerous SA's done at a standard lab that reported morphology in the 90%, then it went to 80%, and the one SA done at RE's office was 35%. I freaked out!!! But a nurse said that SA's from standard labs are not to be trusted, that the 35% is more accurate and nothing to worry about as she rarely sees anything above 40%.

I'm so glad this thread is here. I'm ready for AF to arrive and to see what next cycle brings.

Bondletmom- My dh's SA was just overall bad. He had a total count of 13.9 mil and either 3% or 6% normal morphology. I can't remember all the rest but I know it was poor. It sounds like your dh is ok. As far as the morphology some labs use different criteria and it can vary greatly. When do you expect AF? Are you going to do another cycle right away?

Af should arrive next Sunday and yes, we're beginning another cycle immediately. I tend to ovulate every other side like clockwork so I'm "due" for the right side - the good side! I'm hoping the low dose of med that my RE has me on does wonderful things as far as the # of follicles.