In Vitro (IVF)

Hello all,

This is a wonderful forum with lots of emotional and knowledge sharing. I am going to have my frst round of ivf soon and would like to know if I can talk to someone in the connecticut area who has undergone ivf. I would appreciate if someone can respond. That will be a big boost for my confidence and will give me some courage.

Thanks,

Sammy.

Hi Sammy,

Welcome to the board.  I am not in Connecticut (I'm in Alabama), but I know that there are some ladies up in the northeastern states.  This is a very supportive board and you can feel free to ask anything and we'll sure try to help. 

Good luck with your IVF!

Hey Sammy, welcome to the board.

I'm not from Connecticut but I just wanted to say hey and welcome you.

I wish you much luck and success with your IVF cycle, feel free to ask questions and get support from all over!

Hi Cilla and Nita,

Thanks for you quick responses. Hope to get some help and support from you guys.

Things i have been thinking about are-

1. How do you know your doctor is on the right track and is not missing anything ?

2. I have PCOS and I want to know if my sugar level is right, but the nurse never called me and they still are not telling me the numbers and say all is OK.

Did any of you have this feeling anytime in your treatment. I had 3 IUI cycles and all were BFN. I like the doctor but just wanted to know how do you think he is doing the right thing?

thanks,

Sammy.

Sammy -

Prior to doing our IVFs, my doctor did several tests. They did an HSG to check out my tubes, they did blood tests to measures hormone levels, they did a sonohysteroscopy to look at the lining of my uterus and of course semen analysis (and bloodwork) on DH to check out his swimmers, etc. I think that they did some other tests too. I don't ovulate regularly, and the doctor thought I might be borderline for PCOS. We also found out that DH had a low count and that was affecting us as well. What they find out from all those tests should give them a good idea of how to help. That said, sometimes the IVFs turn out to be learning experiences as well. Sometimes they have to change protocols in order for you to get a good response. My third cycle eliminated one of the suppression drugs because it was working too well on me and that is the cycle that we got pregnant. For some, it works on the first try.

As for finding out your numbers, sometimes you have to explicitly ask "what is my whatever number?" The first cycle I did, I didn't ask a lot of questions. I was still pretty overwhelmed. It wasn't until the middle of that cycle when the nurse told me that my E2 (estradiol) numbers were low and that we had go a few more days on stims that I finally started getting proactive and asking, "what was the E2 today?" When I didn't ask questions, usually all I got was "everything looks okay, here's your med schedule..." Ask questions, like "what is this doing for me?" At least at my clinic, I know that they were very open to explaining things to me. It does give you a much better feel of control to know what or why something is happening.

My best advice is to ask lots of questions.

Good luck!!!!