Trying to stay hopeful (while not getting my hopes up) since November 2008
(Click to See My Fertility Chart)
Saturday, September 11, 2010
September 11, 2010
I know it's been 9 years, but I still want to recognize the significance of this day and take time out from my small concerns to pay tribute to those whose lives were lost. I was here in NYC on that day, and I will never forget.
I lived in NYC then, was at work in midtown when everything happened (and my husband was working down on Wall St, god I was terrified about his safety and of course no cell phones worked). It was the most horrible, horrible day, and so were the weeks afterward, with all of the memorials and sadness and fear.
I'm 35, DH is 50. We have been TTC #1 since November 2008. So far we are in the "unexplained infertility" category. We failed IUI #4 in March 2010, and, after a 4 month break from treatments, we had our first (unsuccessful) IVF in Aug/Sept 2010. We are now hoping to get into an IVF study (free IVF!) in Nov/Dec 2010.
May 2009: Spoke to my OB/GYN about TTC for 6 months with no luck. He gave me clomid prescription and told me he'd refer me to RE if we didn't have success after a few months.
June 2009: First clomid cycle, unmonitored. Pain and cramping at ovulation. I decided that I would see a fertility specialist sooner rather than later - I have had cysts before and was afraid that maybe that's where my pain was coming from. BFN
July 2009: Met with RE. HSG test = all clear. SA = all good. Did another clomid cycle (100mg/day for 5 days), this time monitored. Ovidrel trigger, progesterone suppositories. Thin lining (found out later). 2 follicles, one 20.7mm, the other 15.6mm. Triggered on CD12. Beta was positive at 9dpo (HCG=9), negative at 12dpo (HCG=2). I think it was a false positive due to the HCG trigger, and doing the beta so early (!?). My RE said "I don't think so, but anything's possible." End result - BFN
August 2009: Cyst on my ovary; doctor said we'd have to skip a cycle (we tried naturally, BFN).
September 2009: First femara (5mg/day for 5 days) cycle (clomid caused visual disturbances), IUI#1. Ovidrel trigger, progesterone suppositories. Thin lining (found out later). 2 follicles: 18mm and 21mm. Triggered CD13. Had pain and cramping in the days after ovulation. Doctor said this was probably just "strong ovulation." BFN
October 2009: Took cycle off due to travel.
November 2009: Supposed to do IUI#2, but RE prescribed month off and "estrogen priming" to "quiet things down" before doing injectables next month. Tried on our own - BFN.
December 2009: IUI#2 with injectables (gonal-f), ovidrel trigger, prometrium. Thin (6.5mm) lining. 15 follicles over 10mm on CD9, and 5 that are between 15-16mm (after 6 days of 150iu gonal-f); considered switching to IVF, but instead triggered on CD10, IUI on CD12. BFN
Dec 2009-Jan 2010: 10 days of BCPs to shrink leftover follicles
January 2010: IUI #3 with injectables (gonal-f), estrogen patch CD2-15, ovidrel trigger, endometrin. Good lining this time (9.5mm). Started at 75iu of gonal-f/day (CD4) instead of 150iu and ended up having to stim for 14 days to get a mature follicle (the last 3 days at 112.5iu/day). One mature follicle at 24mm. Other smaller follicles were 12mm or smaller. Trigger CD20, IUI CD21. Short LP (12 days). BFN
February 2010: IUI #4 with injectables. BFN.
March 2010-July 2010: 4 un-medicated cycles before we move on to IVF. All BFNs.
August-September 2010: First IVF cycle. Start lupron (10 units) on cycle day 21, then "lupron period," then stims starting on CD3. 150 units gonal-f, 2 vials menopur per day (lupron down to 5 units/day). Stim for 10 days, trigger CD12, retrieval CD14. 17 eggs retrieved, 14 mature, 6 fertilized normally. On day 3 we have 4 embryos left and we transfer 3 "fair to good" quality embryos (one 6 cell and two 5 cell). BFN
It was such a terrible day:( I had to give myself a little shake this morning when I realized that it's been 9 years.
ReplyDeleteI lived in NYC then, was at work in midtown when everything happened (and my husband was working down on Wall St, god I was terrified about his safety and of course no cell phones worked). It was the most horrible, horrible day, and so were the weeks afterward, with all of the memorials and sadness and fear.
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