Anyone been through IVF

[tara]

I forgot to answer the important questions. My RE was completely separate from my CF doc. I went to a local RE called Northern California Fertility Medical Center (NCFMC) near Sacramento, CA. I did bring copies of my PFTs to the RE before we started my cycle. That was about it, other than list my meds for him too. The RE referred me to a peri, but I just went there for u/s's. I had a regular OB, also recommended by my CF doctor long before I got pg. Between OB appointments and peri ultrasounds and non stress tests (I had twins), and weekly visits to the gestational diabetes team, and the CF team, and my CF doctor.... there were loads of appointments during the last two months. It literally was a full time job. I stopped working at 20 weeks, and never went back. Now I'm on SSDI since my health is poor enough to qualify. I'm still able to care for the twins though, they are 2.5 years old now.

Tara

 

[elizab]

Dear Tara, Kelly, Julie and Nicole (hope I haven't missed anyone!),

It's so good to have a gang to talk to about all this. Kelly - have you started your IVF cycle yet? I'm starting my down-regulator shots in 5 days! (Tara - yes it is a cycle suppressent but not Lupron, it's called Buserelin, I assume it's something similar)

Re your questions Kelly:

I'm attending a centre in Dublin, Ireland! They have communicated a bit with my CF centre but only really at the start when I had a laparoscopy before starting IUI and to check my general health.
Had 4 rounds of IUI last year with no joy so moving on to IVF. The only issue there's been so far is the cervical mucus, all else checked out well so hopefully that bodes well for the IVF.
Re meds I alternate Colomycin and Tobi nebulised every month, also Ventolin, Flixonase and Serotide inhalers and Ursofalk for my pancreas plus Adek and Caltrate supplements.
As far as I know none of these will interfere with IVF meds.

I work full-time so doubt I could rival you for compliance though I'm pretty good.

Doing standard IVF - my husband tested negative for CF gene.

My FEV1 is approx 60%.

Anyway will message again later in the week when I've started the injections. Am also doing IV antibiotics this week so that by the time I get to EC and ET I'll be in my best possible shape. Have been assured there's no problem doing the down-regulators and IVs at the same time.

Talk to you all later,

Elizab

 

[elizab]

Dear Tara, Kelly, Julie and Nicole (hope I haven't missed anyone!),

It's so good to have a gang to talk to about all this. Kelly - have you started your IVF cycle yet? I'm starting my down-regulator shots in 5 days! (Tara - yes it is a cycle suppressent but not Lupron, it's called Buserelin, I assume it's something similar)

Re your questions Kelly:

I'm attending a centre in Dublin, Ireland! They have communicated a bit with my CF centre but only really at the start when I had a laparoscopy before starting IUI and to check my general health.
Had 4 rounds of IUI last year with no joy so moving on to IVF. The only issue there's been so far is the cervical mucus, all else checked out well so hopefully that bodes well for the IVF.
Re meds I alternate Colomycin and Tobi nebulised every month, also Ventolin, Flixonase and Serotide inhalers and Ursofalk for my pancreas plus Adek and Caltrate supplements.
As far as I know none of these will interfere with IVF meds.

I work full-time so doubt I could rival you for compliance though I'm pretty good.

Doing standard IVF - my husband tested negative for CF gene.

My FEV1 is approx 60%.

Anyway will message again later in the week when I've started the injections. Am also doing IV antibiotics this week so that by the time I get to EC and ET I'll be in my best possible shape. Have been assured there's no problem doing the down-regulators and IVs at the same time.

Talk to you all later,

Elizab

 

[elizab]

Dear Tara, Kelly, Julie and Nicole (hope I haven't missed anyone!),

It's so good to have a gang to talk to about all this. Kelly - have you started your IVF cycle yet? I'm starting my down-regulator shots in 5 days! (Tara - yes it is a cycle suppressent but not Lupron, it's called Buserelin, I assume it's something similar)

Re your questions Kelly:

I'm attending a centre in Dublin, Ireland! They have communicated a bit with my CF centre but only really at the start when I had a laparoscopy before starting IUI and to check my general health.
Had 4 rounds of IUI last year with no joy so moving on to IVF. The only issue there's been so far is the cervical mucus, all else checked out well so hopefully that bodes well for the IVF.
Re meds I alternate Colomycin and Tobi nebulised every month, also Ventolin, Flixonase and Serotide inhalers and Ursofalk for my pancreas plus Adek and Caltrate supplements.
As far as I know none of these will interfere with IVF meds.

I work full-time so doubt I could rival you for compliance though I'm pretty good.

Doing standard IVF - my husband tested negative for CF gene.

My FEV1 is approx 60%.

Anyway will message again later in the week when I've started the injections. Am also doing IV antibiotics this week so that by the time I get to EC and ET I'll be in my best possible shape. Have been assured there's no problem doing the down-regulators and IVs at the same time.

Talk to you all later,

Elizab

 

[hopeforever601]

Thank you so much for answering my questions. My DH and I go in for our all day meeting on April 24th. I am already on birth control and will begin everything hopefully that day. We have an hour meeting with the doctor, psychologist (this is standard I am told) 2 hour shot class, and then I will have a pap smear and he will give a sample ect. We also will be tested for STDS ect that day. I am really excited but nervous at the same time. I guess that is normal protocal. I have the cf thing with thick mucus as well as abnormal uterine bleeding where I seem to spot alot and have constant bleeding. I had my cervix frozen with the hope that would help and when they checked me again said that my lining was really thin and that my body had too low of estrogen to make the bleeding stop so they put me on birth control pills (whick knock on wood seemed to help somewhat)!

Can I ask a few more questions:
1) What does the lupron do? I have heard you will get your period while on it but why not just stop bcp pills to get a period why the need for lupron? How many days are you normally on it?

2) Are you on lupron with the Gonal F? Can you explain the difference between the lupron and Gonal-F?

3) Did you continue on the cycle of Tobi that month or stop it completely while on supression/growth of the folicoles?

4) What day did you put the embryos back on 3? 5?

5) Did you experience any symptoms during the two week wait?

6) Why do they put you on PIO for ten weeks if you are pregnant?

7) Can all these drugs harm a baby?

8) What side effects did you experience from the injections?

9) How common is OHSS? What are the symptoms?


Sorry for all the questions!

Kelly

 

[hopeforever601]

Thank you so much for answering my questions. My DH and I go in for our all day meeting on April 24th. I am already on birth control and will begin everything hopefully that day. We have an hour meeting with the doctor, psychologist (this is standard I am told) 2 hour shot class, and then I will have a pap smear and he will give a sample ect. We also will be tested for STDS ect that day. I am really excited but nervous at the same time. I guess that is normal protocal. I have the cf thing with thick mucus as well as abnormal uterine bleeding where I seem to spot alot and have constant bleeding. I had my cervix frozen with the hope that would help and when they checked me again said that my lining was really thin and that my body had too low of estrogen to make the bleeding stop so they put me on birth control pills (whick knock on wood seemed to help somewhat)!

Can I ask a few more questions:
1) What does the lupron do? I have heard you will get your period while on it but why not just stop bcp pills to get a period why the need for lupron? How many days are you normally on it?

2) Are you on lupron with the Gonal F? Can you explain the difference between the lupron and Gonal-F?

3) Did you continue on the cycle of Tobi that month or stop it completely while on supression/growth of the folicoles?

4) What day did you put the embryos back on 3? 5?

5) Did you experience any symptoms during the two week wait?

6) Why do they put you on PIO for ten weeks if you are pregnant?

7) Can all these drugs harm a baby?

8) What side effects did you experience from the injections?

9) How common is OHSS? What are the symptoms?


Sorry for all the questions!

Kelly

 

[hopeforever601]

Thank you so much for answering my questions. My DH and I go in for our all day meeting on April 24th. I am already on birth control and will begin everything hopefully that day. We have an hour meeting with the doctor, psychologist (this is standard I am told) 2 hour shot class, and then I will have a pap smear and he will give a sample ect. We also will be tested for STDS ect that day. I am really excited but nervous at the same time. I guess that is normal protocal. I have the cf thing with thick mucus as well as abnormal uterine bleeding where I seem to spot alot and have constant bleeding. I had my cervix frozen with the hope that would help and when they checked me again said that my lining was really thin and that my body had too low of estrogen to make the bleeding stop so they put me on birth control pills (whick knock on wood seemed to help somewhat)!

Can I ask a few more questions:
1) What does the lupron do? I have heard you will get your period while on it but why not just stop bcp pills to get a period why the need for lupron? How many days are you normally on it?

2) Are you on lupron with the Gonal F? Can you explain the difference between the lupron and Gonal-F?

3) Did you continue on the cycle of Tobi that month or stop it completely while on supression/growth of the folicoles?

4) What day did you put the embryos back on 3? 5?

5) Did you experience any symptoms during the two week wait?

6) Why do they put you on PIO for ten weeks if you are pregnant?

7) Can all these drugs harm a baby?

8) What side effects did you experience from the injections?

9) How common is OHSS? What are the symptoms?


Sorry for all the questions!

Kelly

 

[tara]

Hi Kelly,

I'll try and answer some of your questions. Other's are free to correct my responses if you see something wrong.

1. Ok, the BCPs are given to ensure there are no leftover follies from a previous cycle. The Lupron basically shuts down the bodies reproductive system by inhibiting GnRH (gonadotropin releasing hormone) Without GnRH there is no FSH or LH (follicle stimulating hormone to grow eggs and luteinizing hormone to ovulate) This controls the environment since you'll be receiving FSH from an outside source (Gonal-F or Follistim) and the ovulation is triggered typically with a shot of HCG. (human chorionic gonadotropin) Typically the lupron dose starts 7 days before your scheduled period (scheduled by the BCPs of course) and then when the stims are started (usually w/in days 2-6 of starting your period) the lupron dose may be cut in half.

2. Yes, you could be on lupron and Gonal-F at the same time. As explained above, once you start the FSH drugs you will probably reduce the lupron injection.

3. I used inhaled Tobi every other month during IVF. I don't remember if I was inhaling at the time of my IVF cycle. I don't think I would have stopped just because the cycle was going on. (it was 3 years ago, sorry! I don't remember)

4. We transferred 4 embies on day 3. I was hoping for a blastocyst (5 day) transfer, but my RE felt it was better to put the embies back sooner rather than later because they were not "excellent". Hence the large quantitiy transferred as well. As a general rule, most RE's transfer no more than 2 embies. We only had 5 to choose from. We put back the 4 strongest ones and ended up with twins.

5. About 6 days post transfer I felt very ill one mid-morning. Come to find out I was pregnant and it was a low blood glucose reaction. I became diabetic immediatley after becoming pregnant. It did go away after pregnancy, but I still have blood sugar lows often. Another symptom during my 2ww was really sore boobs. More sore than I had ever felt before. And this lasted several weeks. Long after I knew we were pg.

6. I thought of PIO as my "safety blanket". Progesterone is typically created by the fetus after 10 weeks. Before that time, it comes from the follicles themselves. It is thought that aspirating the follicles can reduce the amount of naturally occuring progesterone in the uterus environment. Also, Lupron itself can decrease the amount of progesterone in your body. The shots aren't that bad, it's worth it in the end!

7. Not sure about the harmful effects of all these hormones on the baby. I've never heard of any ill-effects. But I never asked.

8. I had soreness and redness from my sub-q stim shots. I had bruises and welts from my IM PIO shots on my bum. I don't recall any hormonal changes in my mood or anything.

9. I'm not sure about the percentage of patients with OHSS. I don't think it is too common. Most RE's will adjust a cycle if they find you to be at risk. I know high estrogen has something to do with OHSS too. The symptoms are bloating, weight gain, painful/fullness feeling in the abdomen. I'm sure there are other symptoms. Julie...didn't you have OHSS?

Hope some of this helps. Gotta run! Twinnies are up from their nap now.

Tara

 

[tara]

Hi Kelly,

I'll try and answer some of your questions. Other's are free to correct my responses if you see something wrong.

1. Ok, the BCPs are given to ensure there are no leftover follies from a previous cycle. The Lupron basically shuts down the bodies reproductive system by inhibiting GnRH (gonadotropin releasing hormone) Without GnRH there is no FSH or LH (follicle stimulating hormone to grow eggs and luteinizing hormone to ovulate) This controls the environment since you'll be receiving FSH from an outside source (Gonal-F or Follistim) and the ovulation is triggered typically with a shot of HCG. (human chorionic gonadotropin) Typically the lupron dose starts 7 days before your scheduled period (scheduled by the BCPs of course) and then when the stims are started (usually w/in days 2-6 of starting your period) the lupron dose may be cut in half.

2. Yes, you could be on lupron and Gonal-F at the same time. As explained above, once you start the FSH drugs you will probably reduce the lupron injection.

3. I used inhaled Tobi every other month during IVF. I don't remember if I was inhaling at the time of my IVF cycle. I don't think I would have stopped just because the cycle was going on. (it was 3 years ago, sorry! I don't remember)

4. We transferred 4 embies on day 3. I was hoping for a blastocyst (5 day) transfer, but my RE felt it was better to put the embies back sooner rather than later because they were not "excellent". Hence the large quantitiy transferred as well. As a general rule, most RE's transfer no more than 2 embies. We only had 5 to choose from. We put back the 4 strongest ones and ended up with twins.

5. About 6 days post transfer I felt very ill one mid-morning. Come to find out I was pregnant and it was a low blood glucose reaction. I became diabetic immediatley after becoming pregnant. It did go away after pregnancy, but I still have blood sugar lows often. Another symptom during my 2ww was really sore boobs. More sore than I had ever felt before. And this lasted several weeks. Long after I knew we were pg.

6. I thought of PIO as my "safety blanket". Progesterone is typically created by the fetus after 10 weeks. Before that time, it comes from the follicles themselves. It is thought that aspirating the follicles can reduce the amount of naturally occuring progesterone in the uterus environment. Also, Lupron itself can decrease the amount of progesterone in your body. The shots aren't that bad, it's worth it in the end!

7. Not sure about the harmful effects of all these hormones on the baby. I've never heard of any ill-effects. But I never asked.

8. I had soreness and redness from my sub-q stim shots. I had bruises and welts from my IM PIO shots on my bum. I don't recall any hormonal changes in my mood or anything.

9. I'm not sure about the percentage of patients with OHSS. I don't think it is too common. Most RE's will adjust a cycle if they find you to be at risk. I know high estrogen has something to do with OHSS too. The symptoms are bloating, weight gain, painful/fullness feeling in the abdomen. I'm sure there are other symptoms. Julie...didn't you have OHSS?

Hope some of this helps. Gotta run! Twinnies are up from their nap now.

Tara

 

[tara]

Hi Kelly,

I'll try and answer some of your questions. Other's are free to correct my responses if you see something wrong.

1. Ok, the BCPs are given to ensure there are no leftover follies from a previous cycle. The Lupron basically shuts down the bodies reproductive system by inhibiting GnRH (gonadotropin releasing hormone) Without GnRH there is no FSH or LH (follicle stimulating hormone to grow eggs and luteinizing hormone to ovulate) This controls the environment since you'll be receiving FSH from an outside source (Gonal-F or Follistim) and the ovulation is triggered typically with a shot of HCG. (human chorionic gonadotropin) Typically the lupron dose starts 7 days before your scheduled period (scheduled by the BCPs of course) and then when the stims are started (usually w/in days 2-6 of starting your period) the lupron dose may be cut in half.

2. Yes, you could be on lupron and Gonal-F at the same time. As explained above, once you start the FSH drugs you will probably reduce the lupron injection.

3. I used inhaled Tobi every other month during IVF. I don't remember if I was inhaling at the time of my IVF cycle. I don't think I would have stopped just because the cycle was going on. (it was 3 years ago, sorry! I don't remember)

4. We transferred 4 embies on day 3. I was hoping for a blastocyst (5 day) transfer, but my RE felt it was better to put the embies back sooner rather than later because they were not "excellent". Hence the large quantitiy transferred as well. As a general rule, most RE's transfer no more than 2 embies. We only had 5 to choose from. We put back the 4 strongest ones and ended up with twins.

5. About 6 days post transfer I felt very ill one mid-morning. Come to find out I was pregnant and it was a low blood glucose reaction. I became diabetic immediatley after becoming pregnant. It did go away after pregnancy, but I still have blood sugar lows often. Another symptom during my 2ww was really sore boobs. More sore than I had ever felt before. And this lasted several weeks. Long after I knew we were pg.

6. I thought of PIO as my "safety blanket". Progesterone is typically created by the fetus after 10 weeks. Before that time, it comes from the follicles themselves. It is thought that aspirating the follicles can reduce the amount of naturally occuring progesterone in the uterus environment. Also, Lupron itself can decrease the amount of progesterone in your body. The shots aren't that bad, it's worth it in the end!

7. Not sure about the harmful effects of all these hormones on the baby. I've never heard of any ill-effects. But I never asked.

8. I had soreness and redness from my sub-q stim shots. I had bruises and welts from my IM PIO shots on my bum. I don't recall any hormonal changes in my mood or anything.

9. I'm not sure about the percentage of patients with OHSS. I don't think it is too common. Most RE's will adjust a cycle if they find you to be at risk. I know high estrogen has something to do with OHSS too. The symptoms are bloating, weight gain, painful/fullness feeling in the abdomen. I'm sure there are other symptoms. Julie...didn't you have OHSS?

Hope some of this helps. Gotta run! Twinnies are up from their nap now.

Tara

 

[hopeforever601]

THank you Thank you thank you! You guys who have had babies are my heros. You will never realize how much this means to me answering all my questions about the ivf cycle...

1) For those with babies, how often do you do treatments and how do you work your children around your treatment times?

2) What do you do for treatments? VEST? CPT? Percussr?

Kelly

 

[hopeforever601]

THank you Thank you thank you! You guys who have had babies are my heros. You will never realize how much this means to me answering all my questions about the ivf cycle...

1) For those with babies, how often do you do treatments and how do you work your children around your treatment times?

2) What do you do for treatments? VEST? CPT? Percussr?

Kelly

 

[hopeforever601]

THank you Thank you thank you! You guys who have had babies are my heros. You will never realize how much this means to me answering all my questions about the ivf cycle...

1) For those with babies, how often do you do treatments and how do you work your children around your treatment times?

2) What do you do for treatments? VEST? CPT? Percussr?

Kelly

 

[mom2lillian]

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://jnhfamilyblog.blogspot.com/
">http://jnhfamilyblog.blogspot.com/
</a>

It looks like your questions were answere pretty well and about what I woudl have said. You can look at bottom of my blog and it shows what I did for IVF. One thing is I had ALOT of mood swings with the drugs and lupron gave me horrid headaches. OHSS causes abdominal swelling (I looked 5 months pregnant the day after my beta) bloating, dizziness, electrolyte imbalance, fluid in lungs and alot more if sever. If your estrogen starts getting too high, I think over 1000 or you have more than 20 follicles you are at risk and it generally only occurs with a BFP.

 

[mom2lillian]

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://jnhfamilyblog.blogspot.com/
">http://jnhfamilyblog.blogspot.com/
</a>

It looks like your questions were answere pretty well and about what I woudl have said. You can look at bottom of my blog and it shows what I did for IVF. One thing is I had ALOT of mood swings with the drugs and lupron gave me horrid headaches. OHSS causes abdominal swelling (I looked 5 months pregnant the day after my beta) bloating, dizziness, electrolyte imbalance, fluid in lungs and alot more if sever. If your estrogen starts getting too high, I think over 1000 or you have more than 20 follicles you are at risk and it generally only occurs with a BFP.

 

[mom2lillian]

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://jnhfamilyblog.blogspot.com/
">http://jnhfamilyblog.blogspot.com/
</a>

It looks like your questions were answere pretty well and about what I woudl have said. You can look at bottom of my blog and it shows what I did for IVF. One thing is I had ALOT of mood swings with the drugs and lupron gave me horrid headaches. OHSS causes abdominal swelling (I looked 5 months pregnant the day after my beta) bloating, dizziness, electrolyte imbalance, fluid in lungs and alot more if sever. If your estrogen starts getting too high, I think over 1000 or you have more than 20 follicles you are at risk and it generally only occurs with a BFP.

 

[mom2lillian]

Kelly

FIrst few weeks it was hard for me to figure out. Someone told me make a list of what to do during day and check off as I got it done like physio breathing treatments etc. that worked.

I am diong vest currently. I do vest 30min2xday tobi zopenex pulmozyme and gym 1/2 hour a day during week. My husband has to be a big help to take her to and from daycare so I can do morning treatments and gym then in evenign while I do vest again.

 

[mom2lillian]

Kelly

FIrst few weeks it was hard for me to figure out. Someone told me make a list of what to do during day and check off as I got it done like physio breathing treatments etc. that worked.

I am diong vest currently. I do vest 30min2xday tobi zopenex pulmozyme and gym 1/2 hour a day during week. My husband has to be a big help to take her to and from daycare so I can do morning treatments and gym then in evenign while I do vest again.

 

[mom2lillian]

Kelly

FIrst few weeks it was hard for me to figure out. Someone told me make a list of what to do during day and check off as I got it done like physio breathing treatments etc. that worked.

I am diong vest currently. I do vest 30min2xday tobi zopenex pulmozyme and gym 1/2 hour a day during week. My husband has to be a big help to take her to and from daycare so I can do morning treatments and gym then in evenign while I do vest again.

 

[tara]

Hi Kelly,

My standard treatment routine is nebs twice a day and vest once a day. Of course when I get sick, the nebs and vest increase.

When the twins were real small I found that I was feeding them a lot and I usualy found time for my nebs while I was breastfeeding or pumping. (and/or bottle feeding) Now that they are older, I typically do my morning treatment while they watch TV with me in bed for an hour (I have xopenex, plumozyme, HTS and Tobi plus the vest) My evening treatment gets done about 12 hours later, once the twins are in bed at 7pm. Most days (for the last year) I sneak in an afternoon treatment before our nap. Yes, OUR nap! I nap when the twins nap, that's the rule. It doesn't matter how many dirty dishes are in the sink or how badly the laundry needs to get done. I am "resting" when the twins are resting. That's how I try and stay healthy.

I think the hardest part for me was the newborn stage. It's just a 24x7 cycle that starts over 3 hours after you started it the first time! (not 3 hours after you finish) Diapering, feeding, burping, swaddling.... Once they started sleeping longer periods at night it got much better. I love sleep!

I couldn't do ANY of this without a hands on husband. He barely gets in the door most days and he is all over taking care of the kids with me. We don't have "jobs" around the house, we just do what needs to be done. He helps out a lot! It's whoever has their hands free!

I've been much sicker in the last year, than ever before (for me). So my husband has done a lot for me and the kids. He works outside the home, I'm on social security disability. If you think you qualify for disability now, before pg, get that app going! Once you are pregnant there is a bias not to award the status. It sucks, but it's true. I applied when I was 20 weeks. I just hit a wall and my doctor always said, when you're ready, we need to pull you out of work. Unfortunately for me it coincided with my pregnancy, so it looked like I just wanted to "get paid" to stay at home. I wish! I made much more money before I quit working, thank you very much! LOL! It's just smarter for me to not be exposed to those germs right now. And daycare. What a breeding ground for germs! For a normal family it wouldn't be such a big deal, my kids will get over the colds, but in my current state of health the smallest cold seems to send me into pneumonia. My twins are fairly healthy, from not going to daycare. But that is also a choice we made. Wether I was sick or not, I was not going to work when we had kids. Both DH and I come from SAHM families. It just made sense to us.

Sorry for the ramble. I could go on for days. I just love talking about myself. LOL!

Tara