I am still in shock. I feel like I've won the largest jackpot in the world. DH and I have been ttc#1 for about 2 years. It's unexplained infertility. I had very irregular cycles so my RE put me on clomid 1 year ago. That didn't work so we tried IUI. First IUI with just clomid was unsuccessful.

The second IUI with injectibles,
clomid and hcg shot.
My u/s showed 4 good seized folicles.
On cd17 had IUI.
Yesterday, 18dpiui I had a positive beta of 1361.
Does anyone know if this is too high?
I was spotting from 12dpiui until today.
It finally stopped so I can relax a little.

What I did differently was put all my faith in God.
I prayed everyday and thanked him.
I know God's timing is perfect and I waited for his timing.
Have faith and it will happen to you.

Bless everyone on this board
and may you all have this beautiful blessing very soon.

Baby dust to all.
Jonni

I had my first IUI November 10th and I'm pregnant!!!
Five weeks and a day!!!
My EDD is August 2, 2001!!! Yay!!!
This site has been wonderful
in helping me get through this,
like a great friend!!
Thanks everyone!!
Victoria

Hello to my TTC friends

I'M PREGNANT!!!!!!

Yep, we did IVF last cycle & it worked. I've already had two betas & the first was 830, and the second was 2000. The numbers are pretty high, so my ultrasound next week will tell if both embryos are still there!!! At my calculations, I will be entering my 5th week tomorrow!!!!

Thank you all for the love & support you have shared with me throughout this TTC journey!!! I pray that we all have our prayers answered this year!!!!!

I love you all!!!!!

Love, Kara

IVF IUI Discussion Board
Sunday, 18 February 2001, at 11:37 a.m.
Okay girls..things have finally slowed down a little so here are my details...
(m and vlong)

This was the one month that, from the beginning, I was sure things didn't work. Every IUI we've done before this one, I had some glimmer of hope that it would work but this time I had NO hope at all!! This was our 8th IUI and we had just about decided it was going to be our last. I took Follistim injections and only had one mature follice. At IUI I had 48 million sperm but only 27% motility. I started feeling crampy at about 10dpIUI and had some brownish spotting at 11dpIUI. I was sure af was here!! So sure I called and cancelled my beta for that Thursday which was 15dpIUI. (I just couldn't handle a negative on Valentine's Day - it's my anniversary too) Well...my spotting went away that Tuesday and I didn't have anything else that Wednesay. So I decided when I woke up on Thursday, if I hadn't gotten af and there was no discharge at my cervix, I would take the one HPT I had. There was nothing so I took it and within one minute I had a faint line. I rushed around home trying to get ready and rode out to my husband's work and showed him - we both sat there saying "Do you believe it or not?" I guess we were both too scared!! So anyway I called back to my RE's office and told them I had a +HPT and they told me to come in at 11:30 - so dh and I took off for the one hour ride to Chattanooga. When we got there I asked Trudy (the lab girl) how accurate HPT's were. She said if they were dark, really acccurate, it's when they were faint that she'd seen false positives, so that really bummed dh and I out because mine was faint. She said it would be a couple of hours before my HCG and progesterone numbers were in but she could do a quick yes/no for $25 more so we told her to go ahead. She takes dh and I down to this little room and tells us to wait there. So the whole time we are waiting we are convincing ourselves it's a false positive. Dh was so sweet...he was like "I'm worried about you if it's negative!!" Anyway..a little bit later (seemed like forever - was only about 20 minutes) Trudy, our nurse (Debbie) and the other two doctor's nurse (Andrea) all walked in there with these really solemn looks on their face - Debbie says "I hate those home pregnancy tests!" When I looked at Trudy she was trying her best not to crack up laughing and I said "Is it positive?" Debbie was like "It's positive - you're pregnant!!" Dh just busts into tears and starts hugging me!! I was laughing and crying at the same time!! When I looked back up at Trudy, Debbie and Andrea, Andrea had tears just rolling down her face. All the way back home dh and I were silent - if we looked at each other we just busted out laughing!! I think shock had set in!! We had been trying for 2 1/2 years this month and I think we had finally decided we would just never have children. Debbie called me at work later that day and my HCG was 383 and my progesterone was 54.8. They took me off of my progesterone support.

I have thanked God everyday since we've found out that He's let this miracle happen to us and I've changed my prayer now from "Please let us get pregnant" to "Please let this pregnancy go safely." I have high blood pressure as it is so we've been kind of worried about that, but after I go to Chattanooga tomorrow for b/w I have an appointment with my internist to change my medication to something that is completely safe for the baby so I know they will keep a close watch over me.

I want to thank everyone on this board for EVERYTHING!! The comfort, the support and the tears you share with everybody. I know I've shared quite a few with others!!! I would also like to say NEVER give up because it can happen!!!!

Rhonda and pumpkin, IUI success, EDD 10/27/01

Saturday, 24 March 2001, at 11:25 a.m.
I'm Pregnant!!!!!!!!
Posted By: Meesh, +++++Beta!!

I can't believe I'm typing that! My Beta yesterday came back at 263!! RE said that was strong. He said "how would you feel if both embryos took?" Wow! I'm just so in shock right now, like it's too good to be true. I actually got to find out right away at the Re yesterday, because of my hyperstim, they wanted to work my blood right away (they were very close to admitting me to the hospital) so they told me to lie down in one of the rooms and wait. One of the nurses peeked her head in and said she bet her paycheck I was pg! She said people dont' hypersitm like that and not be pg. Then I started crying. Sure enough, the RE came in and said Congratulations! More crying! I asked if I could be alone in the room and I got down on my knees and could not stop thanking God for this miracle! Oh, I'm crying right now!

I feel so lucky and truely blessed that God has let me be pregnant. I also feel so blessed that at the support and prayers that my friends, family, and you wonderful ladies here have given me. I've even had total strangers ask me my name and say they're putting me on their prayer list. It was just less than two months ago that dh and I knelt in front of the Church and gave our infertility to God. Then people from the congretation came by and laid their hands on us and prayed that we would have a child. I guess He can't ignore a huge church full of people! But really, I know that this was just His chosen time. I feel like I'm starting to ramble, so I'll go for now. Thank you all again for being there for me and everyone else on this board. I hope and PRAY that you all get your +++ soon!

Love,
Meesh

Posted by: SallyF, age 32, TTC #1 since June '99, mild endo.,
2nd IUI/clomid success, EDD 12/6/01, 7+ weeks

This will probably be really long, sorry! We tried to concieve for almost 2 years. After the first 6 months or so I read TCOYF and began charting. After 10 months I went in to my gyn for my annual exam. He is an older man who told me temping was a waste of time. He couldn't possibly understand how important it was for me to get the disappointment earlier by seeing my temps drop, before jumping the gun & doing a HPT. Anyway, he did lots of blood work & scheduled a HSG at the hospital. It wasn't as painful as I had expected, maybe because they couldn't really get the catheter all the way in to the uterus. When it was over, the guy who did it informed me that my uterus was severely retroflexed and he said, "This may effect your pregnancies or your ability to get pregnant." He didn't know not to say something this vague to a woman who is in the fragile state of TTC. I was too stunned to even ask any questions, I just wanted to get dressed & go home. On the internet I found some things that said a retroflexed uterus is common and no cause for concern, and other things that said it oculd be caused by endo., PID, etc. so of course I was very worried. It took forever, at least a month, for the X-rays & report to be sent from the hospital to my gyn. In the meantime I had a endometrial biopsy that was so painful that afterward I thought, "Maybe I should adopt!" The good news was that the results from the biopsy were normal. When my gyn got the results from the HSG, he said that there was a bend that began at the end of my cervix, causing my uterus to be retroflexed. Also, there was something showing up in one of my tubes that needed to be investigated further, another source of worry for me. At this point I was referred to an RE, who was much more sensitive & responsive, who scheduled a Lap right away.

I had to go outside of my insurance for the RE because the wait for a new patient appt. at the RE who accepted aetna was 4 months. No way was I going to wait that long to find out what was wrong with me. I was extremely depressed during this time. Whenever I heard about someone else being pg I would burst into tears. The RE quoted me a price for the lap but ended up doing a hysteroscopy as well, so the whole procedure cost us about $2000 out of pocket, live & learn. During the lap, the RE saw no problem with my cervix, uterus, or tubes, but found mild endo. He prescribed 2 months of lupron depo shots, which forced me to take a break from TTC. That was a good thing.

I realized that my cup was really half full rather than half empty, and started enjoying life again. After the 2 months off I was back on the TTC bandwagon again, trying to improve my diet & taking FSO & EPO. I switched over to the aetna RE in the interest of saving money. I started taking clomid in Jan. of '01, right after I'd had LASIK surgery. That month I had some blurred vision, which in hindsight was probably from the LASIK rather than the clomid, but anyway had to discontinue clomid after only 2 doses & cancel IUI that month.

The next month I did fine with the clomid & had the 1st IUI. I was trying so hard to be positive & optimistic. I was pretty devastated when it didn't work. Around this time I had 2 revalations. One was finding this website. The other was a book called Conversations With God, an uncommon dialogue, book 1, by Neale Donald Walsch. I am not a religious person, I don't go to church, but this book helped me so much. The main premise is that everything we do either stems from fear or from love. When you let go of your fears & worries, all your thoughts, words, & actions come from love. Also, when you pray for things you don't have (like a baby), that implies that your life is lacking, & you perpetuate your own state of wanting something. When you are thankful for all that you have, & truly enjoy life, good things are more likely to come your way. This is an oversimplified explanation of the book, but it helped me let go of all the stress & trust that everything would work out according to God's plan.

Before my 2nd IUI in March I was told that the clomid was thinning my lining too much & that the next month I would need to supplement clomid with some injectibles. They postponed the IUI for a day in hopes that my lining would thicken. Incidentally, I had begun taking RR & baby aspirin that month after reading about them on this website. I kept telling myself "My lining is thick & healthy," & "I choose to be fertile, therefore I am fertile." Lo & behold, about 9 days after the IUI I began having symptoms. I felt "flushed" & warm, & began waking up in the middle of the night with cramps that felt more like severe gas pains than like af cramps. I had the "fluttering" sensation that I have heard people describe, & also a sharp pain sometimes when I would shift or sneeze or cough. Also I had/have major constipation & some insomnia. I was alternately irritable & teary, & having vivid crazy dreams (not baby related though) & remembering them all. I had implantation spotting (brown) from about 11-15 dpIUI. On 11 & 12 dpo I got a faint positive with a generic HPT that didn't show up right away. At 12 dpo I had the positive beta. My temps never went triphasic but remained high. Now I am 7+ weeks, & we heard the heartbeat at our 1st ultrasound this week. I am so excited, glad I can share this with all of you since I am not telling many people other than family until I hit the 2nd trimester.
My only regret is that I didn't find this website sooner.
GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!!!!!!!! KEEP THE FAITH!!!!!!!!! = )
SallyF

I really doubted that I would ever be able to do this,
I had written stories in my mind each month and now
that it is time I don't know what to say!
My ttc story really begins in the early 90's
with my former husband ( I will not say dh!)
We ttc'd for a year with no luck and then
found out he had vericoceles (sp?)
so he had surgery, all went well,
but after 3 more yrs. of ttc'ing nothing happened.
We did the post coital, hsg and clomid -
same story - everything looks good.
Well, when the marriage broke up I just assumed the only reason
I didn't get pg was b/c it wasn't 'meant to be'
God didn't want me to have a child with the j___!
Yes, there is still some bitterness there!
In late '96 I met my soul mate. He had a vasocetomy
and that was fine with me. I was so in love that
I was willing to give up my dream. But he wouldn't hear of it.
In Sept. of 98 I did the clomid challenge to see
if it was even possible b/c by then I was 41.
Everything checked out good.
They said I had the hormones of a 26 y/o!
So dh had a v/r in Jan. of '99
( before we were even married!)
It was a success, we had sperm by Mar.
though a little low. Numbers looked good by June
and we started the clomid game. On my first cycle of
clomid we also did a post coital that was not so hot
so we began a long series of IUI's, seven to be exact.
I did 3 clomid IUI's, 2 clomid & part stim IUI's cycles
( stims on days 3,5,7 &9 along with the clomid)
and then we did 2 full stim injections IUI cycles.
Everything was perfect except I did not get pg.
We did have one cycle due to cysts and
I had one cycle cancled due to low E2.
In April after my first full injectable cycle
( IUI #6) we got a + beta! It came back at 22
and they warned me unless it was late implantation
it probably wouldn't make it. Three days later
my beta was 21 so I knew I would m/c.
We lost our angel on May 5th, 2000.
We decided we wouldn't do anymore
IUI's after #7 and were going to give up
but then I talked dh into doing "one" IVF w/ DE.
At my age we felt if we had to spend the big,
big bucks then we might as well increase our
chances by going donor. Oh, I forgot,
in between we decided to adopt and it fell
through b/c birth father refused to give up his rights.
Our donor was perfect. She stimed slowly about
11 days of injections but in the end they retreived 26 eggs.
In the meantime I was taking estrace. 2 mg every 12 hours
at first then 2 mg. every 6 hours,
then 2 mg alternating with 4 mg.
every 6 hours and then on the day
of aspiration I took 4 mg. every 6 hours
and I am continuing on that dose today.
I went in for b/w and u/s on cd3 and
then again on cd9. My lining was already thick,
so I didn't need to do anymore u/s.
My donor however started going in every other day
from day 9 to cd14 when she had her Hcg.
She had " oodles of eggs" but I was expecting
in the range of 15-18 and they got 26! Of the 26,
25 were mature. It was at this time that
I started my PIO shots. We then did ICSI
b/c dh had recently done a hampster test
( which my clinic insists on before doing
IVF and we found out we did have a bit of
a male factor after all. Of the 25 eggs
that were ICSI'd 24 made it through the
process. We were elated! Then 18 of those
fertilized with hope more might follow the next day,
but they did not. 2dp retrieval we had 15 grade 4
( the best) eggs: 7 four cells, and 8 2 cells and
then two 4 cells grade 3 and one 2 cells grade 2.
Our second fert. report was not detailed,
we only knew that we still had 15 eggs ranging
from 2-6 cells still all grade 4's.
B/c of our volume of good quality eggs and the past
performance of our donor it was then decided
to go to blast. They took a peek at the eggs
five days after retrieval and they still weren't
ready so we did a 6 day transfer.
When we arrived and we in our gowns and
found out our perfect cycle stopped.
We found out that of the 15 good ones only 4 made it,
it didn't appear that the rest were going to make it,
that we had even more of a male factor after all.
so they transferred all 4 embies. We had one grade D
( the best) one grade C ( most common)
and two grade B blastocysts.
The idea here was that the two less viable blasts
would increase the odds of one or both
of the good quality blasts to " make it".
I was schedule for 4 days of bed/couch rest.
On the 3rd day which would have been one week
after fertilization I felt a serious electrical zap
in my lower abs. The next day I felt another one.
And the following day I felt a third one only
this time it wasn't as sharp.
I still have no idea what it was,
but I believe it was implantation.
By the time I was off bed rest I began to feel
some very mild cramping. And I starting
having heartburn which I NEVER have.
To keep myself busy I made my frig into a baby board.
I had a letter from my donor in the middle.
It started out "Dear Mommy and Daddy to Be,"
then I had a friend I met from this board IVF twin's picture,
my nieces IVF quad's picture and my sister's
"too high FSH you'll never have another baby"
baby's picture on the frig all surrounded
with many prayers of hope and faith.
I had so many people praying for me that
I really felt lots of peace plus I had
joined a Mind/Body Class and was doing a
daily relaxation tape. My beta was scheduled
for 11 dpt. On 8 dpt I did my first hpt.
I did it that early so when I saw nothing
I would know it was too early and I got a
faint but INSTANT line. I did another one
the next day and the line was wider
but still faint. On 10 dpt I did one more
but it was a less sensitive test. It wasn't faint,
but not as dark as I had hoped.
While this gave me great hope I was afraid
of a chemical pg again. On 11 dpt my first
beta was 126, I was in heaven,
my second beta was on 14 dpt and
the number jumped to 767! We thought twins!
Then on 16 dpt transfer I was told that beta #2
was wrong and it really was 512 and that beta #3 was 1,261.
Could be a healthy singleton or maybe twins?
We thought we would know today when I had my first u/s.
It showed a singleton measuring 6mm and measuring
5 weeks 1 day ( it should be 5 weeks and
5 days but they told me not to worry, it was so early)\
IT also showed 2 shadows that were explained as blast
" wanna be's" They were lots smaller and cloudy.
BUT we also were warned that they could be embryos
just farther behind in growth and that next week's
u/s could possible show more than a singleton.
So we wait once more. This has become a saga
( guess I figured out what to say!) and I
need to stop ( if you have read THIS far)
I just want to say never give up hope,
if I can get pg you all can.
The most important thing I did
this last time around was to get rid of
my fear of being childless and had total faith.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart,
you have been wonderful ttc sisters and
I will send you all many
+++ prayers and dusting if you need them!
God can grant us all miracles!
Love and hugs!
LoriLori