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Hi Shansy,

You deserve to enjoy it! So do just that!!! I am so happy for you and also for the rest of us. Every time we hear a bfp, it means there is hope in the process. I don't test until Monday the 28th. 18 dp retrieval, 13 dp transfer. I am being a negative nelly with a bad attitude. I appreciate your kindness. All the positive words are so helpful. When negative thoughts come up, I read them over again. Everyone here is so helpful and so kind, don't know where I'd be without you!

Asunflower: Thanks. Thanks for your time and I appreciate your encouragement! We gotta keep the faith!

Everyone have a wonderful Tuesday!

Shansy - congrats on your BFP. I feel very positive for you that you will have a beautiful baby in no time.

I have just gotten thru my 48 hours of pure boredom and now I am up and moving a little more. My 3-day transfer was on Sunday. They implanted an 8-cell and 7-cell embryo. I was very encouraged to see that they had split again. Pregnancy test is scheduled for the 31st. It is so helpful to read everyone's post about their experiences during the high anxiety 2ww. I feel pretty positive today. I hope I can keep up the good thoughts for another 2 weeks.

Girls,
Shansy! Congrats on the result! I am happy for you and with you!!
CollenC, hang in there! Take it easy and enjoy your resting time =)
As for me, I am taking my time right now. After 3 failed IVFs within 1 1/2 year I might be taking 1 year break due to many factors, but specially trying to see if there is a way to improve my follicles when they are stimulated. I would have a better chance if I have more follicles when ovaries are stimulated in a high dosage.
So I will try accupunture, chinese herbs, and pray hard to seek God's will. Since my dh's jr. =) sperm motility is almost zero I think at least I have to have "strong" eggs in order to get good results.
One of the best things is that my dh is with me in all this process. When the result is negative we cry together and have each other's shoulder to be comforted.
Our parents also play an essencial role as well.
blessings to you all!

Hey Shansy hope you are doing well and good luck on Friday. I have lots of positive vibes from your posts.

Colleen Glad to hear you are recovering nicely. Does your clinic recommend 3 days bed rest? Mine is very casual about the whole post ET and I would rather err on the side of caution so was wondering what other REs advise.

Catherine Hang in there you are almost to the goal line and I am really hoping for another positive! I know how the stress of that tail end of the 2ww is the worst but try not to let it get you too down.

As for me I am still taking my Lupron but am very nervous about when AF will show. I am always irregular and tend towards long so I am concerned I still have a while to go. I am not on BCP and I think that makes it more predictable, and I have read that taking Lupron for longer than 2 weeks effect egg quality. At 38 I am already walking a pretty tight line on the quality issue and do not think so it I need to be adding factors that are detrimental to the little buggers. I am on day 7 now so I am trying to pretend that AF will start any day now but leave it to her that the one time I really need her she will be a no-show – no manners that one!

Coco: I do not know how much help I can be with the allergies but I will try. I too have had all the environmental allergies along with asthma and have been taking the shots for the last 5 years. That has really helped and my Dr always confirmed that I could get pregnant any time during the shots. The only thing to remember is to tell your allergist ASAP when you know you are positive because they can not increase your dosage during a pregnancy. Meaning you can continue the shots but at “maintenance” level with no increases.
As to the bee sting/Epi pen issue I am at a total loss. I had not been stung by a bee in 10 years so when I was stung in July and had the systemic reaction I was a little shocked. Dr said I needed to get tested and when that came back with a strong positive allergic reaction to bee venom he said I was in real danger of dying from my next sting. No big deal - carry the Epi pen and meds and it would be easy to deal with…until I told him about the IVF. Dr asked me to postpone IVF until he could do enough bee immunology to get me to a level that if I were to be stung while pregnant I A. would not die and B. would not need the Epi pen. He said if pushed he could get me there in 6-8 weeks. Because I am 38 I really did not feel that I had the 8 weeks to waste thus I have chosen to go ahead with the IVF and take things one day at a time. If I get pregnant he says I am risk as I will still need the Epi pen to survive a possible bee sting and the Epi pen would has a very high probability of terminating the pregnancy or if not could still damage the fetus. Does not seem like there any good options so like I said I will cross my bridges when and if I come to them. Hope this helps and if not feel free to ask a question although your allergist will likely be a far better source of info and answers than me.
I hope your consult went well and maybe your RE was also able to shed some light on this – let me know if he says anything different. My RE was very calm about the allergy issue when I first brought it up but I have not seen him since that last Allergy Dr appt. Sorry I did not see your post till today (after your consult) so I do not have questions to offer. I know my first meeting I was a little like a deer caught in the headlights and had some questions but since then I seem to come up with a dozen a day. My suggestion is read the posts here - what the girls offer on this site is amazing and also the medical posts and the questions will just come to you. Feel free to ask us but also write them down for next RE meeting and then hit him up for answers too. II hope the consult was good and that this new RE is better than your last experience – a Dr should never mock a patient that is completely unacceptable.

Talk to y’all later, hope everyone stays well

Lila - my RE suggested 48 hours bedrest post ET. I don't really know if this is standard or not but it would have been tough to sit still much more than that.

Did or does anyone out there have extensive bloating even 5 days past ER? Is this normal? Does it subside or should I go into the blimp business?

Colleen

oops, one more question. Has anyone taken medrol? Is this used to reduce bloating?

ColleenC-

I was on bedrest for 3 days following the ET...it was hard, I was only allowed to get up to use the bathroom. Just be careful not to go up and down stairs and take it easy on yourself. Try to enjoy some down time. :) Also, I did and still do have extreme bloating...it looks as if I am six months pregnant already! The nurse told me that this is completely normal and your bloating will last about a month if you are to get pregnant otherwise it will subside. I just weighed myself each day to see if I was gaining weight b/c you want to be careful about ovarian hyperstimulation. My situation has been weird- I weigh 3 lbs. less in the morning than when I weigh at night, but I have not gained any extra weight. Yes, I also took Medrol. Are you doing ICSI? I think they use it in this case, but I forgot to ask my nurse what it was for- at that point I was on so many things I couldn't keep my mind straight! ;)

Well, good luck to you, let us know how you are doing!

Hello everyone!

My, my--school is getting ready to begin here, so I get into classroom stuff and I am suddenly way behind on the gossip here! Holy activity girls! :)

Congrats to you shansy! I am eager to hear your numbers on Friday. Why are they making you wait so long between tests? I was under the impression that beta numbers should double every 48 hrs and that most people are tested in that time frame, but it sounds like your RE is making you wait longer. Is this your general experience?

Lila--I was on 36hrs strict bedrest, then low-grade activities the next 48 hours. I know there are different schools of thought out there about this topic--some research indicates that there is no significant pregnancy rate based solely on bedrest after ET. Maybe your RE is of that school? I agree w/you--err on the safe side. Also, my RE told me that you will not generally start a period until days 12-14 of lupron; they also advised me to call if 14 days passed and AF was a no show as they would change the protocol. I wouldn't worry yet--I know when I was on the lupron I was SURE I would start late (I'm also on the late side generally), and I started on day 12.

CPape and ColleenC--I am thinking of you and I"m eager to hear how things play out for you. CPape, I really related to many of your posts--while I know I am the founder of our mantra "Positivism", I very easily fall into a negative mindset. For me, it is a defense mechanism because the thought of a bfn becomes easier to stomach. To get past the negativity, it helps me to think about other aspects of my life and look forward to other events that will happen regardless of whether or not I'm pregnant, like a vacation, fall activities I enjoy, etc. I'm not sure if I'm being real clear here, but I wanted to let you know you are certainly not the only one who feels negative or anticipates a negative response--look at all the negative responses we have all received! God will not give you more than you can handle, so know that you are strong enough to shoulder this experience in it's entirety. Keep venting through this site--we can all relate!

Asunflower--How is the school year shaping up? I can't remember if it was you or another person who said they were actually relieved to go back after having a bfn because it gave you something else to throw yourself into, but I agree wholeheartedly. While it is definitely harder to schedule things during the school year, I prefer doing treatments then because I have other things to worry about and I don't focus so heavily on every little aspect of fertility treatments. It just seems to consume me in the summer.

Can anyone believe how long this thread is? It is very meaningful to me that we have all stayed in contact this long, through failed and successful cycles. Keep up the strong support! Do you think there is a cutoff and we'll just have to begin another one?

Talk to you soon!
Holly by Golly

Holly By Golly,
Into all the wonderful meetings this days. You are right about missing the gossip too! 3 girls pregnant! Imagine that! It will help for me to cycle when I am working as well to keep my mind off of it!


Hope all is well with everyone!

Shansy- Keep us psoted!

CPape- Stay positive! It is not over til it is over!

Shansy good luck with your test today! I am thinking lots of positive thoughts and numbers for you.

Catherine you are almost there (I think you test on Mon - yes?) Do something fun this weekend and the time will fly.

Colleen hope you are getting lots of rest and relaxation. Think about it how often are we given permission to take things as slow and easy as possible. I know the wait is tortue but enjoy the rest if possible.

Holly and Sunflower hope you have lots of great kids this year. Your jobs are so amazing and wonderful!

Diana and 44 haven't heard from you in a while hope you are both doing well.

Hi girls,

I don't know if I am feeling a little emotional because of all of the hormones that I am taking or because of my pending pregnancy test for tomorrow, but my feelings are a little hurt. Not one person, besides Shansy has wished me good luck for Friday!!! I don't guess it's a big deal. Just concerned.

Kim

Hey Kim - my mistake I was trying to post a quick one this morning for all the upcoming tests since I will be away tomorrow and I think I was rushing too much. I am so sorry and of course wish you all the best of luck for the test tomorrow. I will think high beta thoughts for you tomorrow as well. And please accept my apology!
I really hope tomorrow is a super great day for you and DH.

Kimberly,
Sorry I missed your post and I don't have much time these days, but thank you for the reminder I didn't pay attention that it this coming Friday that you have your appointment.
Special prayer for you today!
Be calm and get the strength from the Above! We are with you and most important, HE ALWAYS IS!
Waiting for the good news!

Shansy - Thanks so much for your response regarding the bloating issue. It's nice to know that something that feels so abnormal is normal (if that makes any sense!). And yes, we did have icsi done. We have male factor infertility so that was our only option. I will be thinking of you tomorrow and wishing you the best.

Holly - thanks also for your kind thoughts. I am going through the same positivism/ negativism cycle that you had described. I kind of want to be ready for whatever happens, but it is really tough to do that. I was feeling pretty good until I read some of Dr. Smith's posts regarding what seems to be his massive disagreement with 3-day transfers (which I had). We were down to 7 embryos and only two of them were 8 cell on day three so my RE made the decision to go ahead with the 3-day transfer with the two best embryos. I did turn out that another three made it to blast on day 5 which they then froze. I really trust my RE and feel that the practice is run very well, so I guess I just have to go with my gut and know that not every fertility doctor is out to make a buck with 3-day transfers. My 2ww is now down to 1ww. Hopefully my positivism outweighs the negativism. It is kind of funny (and scary) that my pregnancy test falls on my first day back to school (if I hadn't mentioned before, I am a teacher). That has me nervous. I don't want my students to think that I am a high-anxiety psycho on the first day.

Kim - I am so sorry that I missed your earlier post regarding your pregnancy test tomorrow. I think that I speak for all of the women on this thread that we hope for you nothing but good news tomorrow. Please keep us informed.

Colleen

Ladies,

I'm terribly sorry for sending that post. After I hit he send button wanted to get it back. I know everyone wishes for the best for everyone that's why we are here. I am just very emotional and wish tomorrow was over with. I think that I am taking it too serious because I can't get my husband to go to the dr with me for the test!! He's addicted to work.

Again.... I am soooooo sorry and will let you all know how it goes tomorrow.
Continued Baby dust to everyone!!
Kim

Kim,
Just saw your post! Hope you get great news tomorrow! I started back to school this week so things have been crazy!

Shansy- Good luck tomorrow too!