How’s it going? Give a check in!

[Jalapeñomel]

Waiting for my period so I can start my ERA. I wonder if I have to wait an entire cycle before transfer.

[turboteal]

Hm, I think it might depend on the lab doing your testing and how quickly they get results back to you. If they take more than a couple weeks I would guess they wouldn't be ready for a transfer on your very next cycle, since they would use the info from the testing to determine if they need to change your med regimen, right?

[fela]

Got all my labs and saline so I done, meds ordered, consents signed so now just waiting on my next cycle to start the frozen transfer.

I really should be trying to lose more weight before the transfer, but instead I’m drinking and eating all the things you can’t when you’re pregnant. Oops.

[Jalapeñomel]

Oct 28, 2020 3:28:21 GMT -5 turboteal said:

Hm, I think it might depend on the lab doing your testing and how quickly they get results back to you. If they take more than a couple weeks I would guess they wouldn't be ready for a transfer on your very next cycle, since they would use the info from the testing to determine if they need to change your med regimen, right?

Yeah, they said I can do it back to back, so I’m guessing it’ll go just like my regular cycle.

[doggielover]

I just finished my last provera pill last night. I took it for 20 days straight mainly because I knew I'd be on a business trip when CD1-5 hit so I just took it another 10 days. I get home tomorrow so I don't care if my cycle starts since I WFH. I expect this to be bad through taking it for that long. Normally 10 days doesn't force a cycle so we'll see.

If I can get a cycle I'll then start meds for FET. I'm unsure how many to transfer though. I have 5 embryo's that were frozen on day 3 and my RE said he'd approve 4 of them at once which I'm not going to do. I'm thinking of sacrificing my worst grade to transfer with my best grade. I know grades me absolutely nothing.

[pinkpeony08]

I repeated my immune blood work 6 weeks after having a small amount of endometriosis removed. The labs wasn’t dramatically different. Currently, the plan is to try again, that the endo was causing localized inflammation that is now improved even if the labs aren’t better. I restarted the medications to help my immune labs.

I’ve been freaking out on and off all week, uncertain if we should just be done or if it’s worth trying again. I can’t tell if it’s just any extra stress with all the political stress, being short staffed at work for the last 6 months plus the pandemic stress (I’m in a hot spot and work in healthcare though not with covid patients), or if it’s a sign I’m done. Or if it’s just from prednisone. But obviously need to make some kind of decision.

[Jalapeñomel]

Oct 29, 2020 15:05:27 GMT -5 pinkpeony08 said:

I repeated my immune blood work 6 weeks after having a small amount of endometriosis removed. The labs wasn’t dramatically different. Currently, the plan is to try again, that the endo was causing localized inflammation that is now improved even if the labs aren’t better. I restarted the medications to help my immune labs.

I’ve been freaking out on and off all week, uncertain if we should just be done or if it’s worth trying again. I can’t tell if it’s just any extra stress with all the political stress, being short staffed at work for the last 6 months plus the pandemic stress (I’m in a hot spot and work in healthcare though not with covid patients), or if it’s a sign I’m done. Or if it’s just from prednisone. But obviously need to make some kind of decision.

I know this feeling all too well. We thought we were done last year, and then something happened and we’ve decided to do it one last time. #nothelpful

[pinkpeony08]

Nov 1, 2020 9:29:20 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Oct 29, 2020 15:05:27 GMT -5 pinkpeony08 said:

I repeated my immune blood work 6 weeks after having a small amount of endometriosis removed. The labs wasn’t dramatically different. Currently, the plan is to try again, that the endo was causing localized inflammation that is now improved even if the labs aren’t better. I restarted the medications to help my immune labs.

I’ve been freaking out on and off all week, uncertain if we should just be done or if it’s worth trying again. I can’t tell if it’s just any extra stress with all the political stress, being short staffed at work for the last 6 months plus the pandemic stress (I’m in a hot spot and work in healthcare though not with covid patients), or if it’s a sign I’m done. Or if it’s just from prednisone. But obviously need to make some kind of decision.

I know this feeling all too well. We thought we were done last year, and then something happened and we’ve decided to do it one last time. #nothelpful

Helpful to at least know I’m not alone! I’m hoping for some improvement in the next week after election results come in, but realistically things may be worse rather than better.

[msmerymac]

I met with the reproductive immunologist! Finally. I have a follow up call with her when my blood work comes back in a few weeks, but her initial observation based on my ultrasounds were that my uterine blood flow is too low. This might be caused by my hypertension, it might be because of the formation of the main blood vessel, or it could be a hormonal issue, which she'll know more about once she sees my blood test results. I told her about the development with my last (fourth) loss - development was behind until, at the 10 week appointment, growth was at 8w3d and there was no longer a heartbeat. It just sort of slowly fell off the development chart. My first loss followed a similar trajectory, although my beta was low on test day and then the development never really got better. She said that could definitely be a sign of blood flow that's not strong enough to support placental development.

I have some other medical issues going on right now, so I'm working on that, too, with my regular doctor. But this has already been really helpful.

She wants me on 1000 mg of Vitamin D and 400 mg of Vitamin E per day in addition to my current supplements. She also wants me on 100 carbs or less per day (which is fine, and I expected that), and wants my BMI under 30, which is tough and a long-term goal, but I will start working on it. 30 minutes of exercise 5x per week will help with that goal as well as the uterine blood flow in her estimation.

BECAUSE this is so long term, we're going to move forward with signing up for a surrogacy agency in December/January, knowing they have a matching waiting list of 6-10 months anyway. But if I can work on getting into a good space there's a possibility I could attempt to carry for a second child if we still have embryos after surrogacy.

[pinkpeony08]

Nov 3, 2020 11:12:08 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

I met with the reproductive immunologist! Finally. I have a follow up call with her when my blood work comes back in a few weeks, but her initial observation based on my ultrasounds were that my uterine blood flow is too low. This might be caused by my hypertension, it might be because of the formation of the main blood vessel, or it could be a hormonal issue, which she'll know more about once she sees my blood test results. I told her about the development with my last (fourth) loss - development was behind until, at the 10 week appointment, growth was at 8w3d and there was no longer a heartbeat. It just sort of slowly fell off the development chart. My first loss followed a similar trajectory, although my beta was low on test day and then the development never really got better. She said that could definitely be a sign of blood flow that's not strong enough to support placental development.

I have some other medical issues going on right now, so I'm working on that, too, with my regular doctor. But this has already been really helpful.

She wants me on 1000 mg of Vitamin D and 400 mg of Vitamin E per day in addition to my current supplements. She also wants me on 100 carbs or less per day (which is fine, and I expected that), and wants my BMI under 30, which is tough and a long-term goal, but I will start working on it. 30 minutes of exercise 5x per week will help with that goal as well as the uterine blood flow in her estimation.

BECAUSE this is so long term, we're going to move forward with signing up for a surrogacy agency in December/January, knowing they have a matching waiting list of 6-10 months anyway. But if I can work on getting into a good space there's a possibility I could attempt to carry for a second child if we still have embryos after surrogacy.

I’m glad you saw her, hopefully she will have some answers for you. For me, just having answers was a relief regardless of the path forward.

[Jalapeñomel]

Nov 3, 2020 11:12:08 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

I met with the reproductive immunologist! Finally. I have a follow up call with her when my blood work comes back in a few weeks, but her initial observation based on my ultrasounds were that my uterine blood flow is too low. This might be caused by my hypertension, it might be because of the formation of the main blood vessel, or it could be a hormonal issue, which she'll know more about once she sees my blood test results. I told her about the development with my last (fourth) loss - development was behind until, at the 10 week appointment, growth was at 8w3d and there was no longer a heartbeat. It just sort of slowly fell off the development chart. My first loss followed a similar trajectory, although my beta was low on test day and then the development never really got better. She said that could definitely be a sign of blood flow that's not strong enough to support placental development.

I have some other medical issues going on right now, so I'm working on that, too, with my regular doctor. But this has already been really helpful.

She wants me on 1000 mg of Vitamin D and 400 mg of Vitamin E per day in addition to my current supplements. She also wants me on 100 carbs or less per day (which is fine, and I expected that), and wants my BMI under 30, which is tough and a long-term goal, but I will start working on it. 30 minutes of exercise 5x per week will help with that goal as well as the uterine blood flow in her estimation.

BECAUSE this is so long term, we're going to move forward with signing up for a surrogacy agency in December/January, knowing they have a matching waiting list of 6-10 months anyway. But if I can work on getting into a good space there's a possibility I could attempt to carry for a second child if we still have embryos after surrogacy.

It seems wrong to say this is good news, but having someone notice something may be causing an issue is promising.  The unexplained IF is THE WORST. 


I keep thinking I should do the low carb, as many IF docs seem to recommend it.  What's the thought behind it?

[msmerymac]

Nov 3, 2020 20:11:41 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Nov 3, 2020 11:12:08 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

I met with the reproductive immunologist! Finally. I have a follow up call with her when my blood work comes back in a few weeks, but her initial observation based on my ultrasounds were that my uterine blood flow is too low. This might be caused by my hypertension, it might be because of the formation of the main blood vessel, or it could be a hormonal issue, which she'll know more about once she sees my blood test results. I told her about the development with my last (fourth) loss - development was behind until, at the 10 week appointment, growth was at 8w3d and there was no longer a heartbeat. It just sort of slowly fell off the development chart. My first loss followed a similar trajectory, although my beta was low on test day and then the development never really got better. She said that could definitely be a sign of blood flow that's not strong enough to support placental development.

I have some other medical issues going on right now, so I'm working on that, too, with my regular doctor. But this has already been really helpful.

She wants me on 1000 mg of Vitamin D and 400 mg of Vitamin E per day in addition to my current supplements. She also wants me on 100 carbs or less per day (which is fine, and I expected that), and wants my BMI under 30, which is tough and a long-term goal, but I will start working on it. 30 minutes of exercise 5x per week will help with that goal as well as the uterine blood flow in her estimation.

BECAUSE this is so long term, we're going to move forward with signing up for a surrogacy agency in December/January, knowing they have a matching waiting list of 6-10 months anyway. But if I can work on getting into a good space there's a possibility I could attempt to carry for a second child if we still have embryos after surrogacy.

It seems wrong to say this is good news, but having someone notice something may be causing an issue is promising.  The unexplained IF is THE WORST. 


I keep thinking I should do the low carb, as many IF docs seem to recommend it.  What's the thought behind it?

Insulin resistance. I'm also on metformin, and it's a better diet as metformin doesn't like sugar/carbs, and neither does diabetes, although I'm not diabetic. It's basically a diabetic type of diet, though. Also, for me, my BMI is north of 35, so I think it might have the benefit of weight loss. I know I definitely do better with fewer carbs.

[pinkpeony08]

Jalapeñomel - she also thinks less carbs and more exercise helps with inflammation. One of the things she checks for is PAI-1 gene, which is a potential clotting factor. Metformin decreases PAI-1 value as well. She put me on metformin despite having a BMI of 19. She didn't say 100g of carbs for me but recommended 30 minutes of exercise a day and lower carbs, if that's helpful. I am on a gluten free and dairy free diet because it helps some with inflammation.

[Jalapeñomel]

So much estrogen. So much estrogen! Lol