No Pea In The Podcast

A weekly podcast about one woman's escapades in infertility. E-mail me at nopeainthepod@hotmail.com.

The Podcasts

Thu, 20 November 2008
November 20, 2008-Infertility Podcast
Thu, 20 November 2008
November 20, 2008-Infertility Podcast

A boring update from me. But boring is good right now. No drama, everything is good. I think going through infertility got me used to the crazy ups and downs of life. But I like boring and predictable now. I update you all on Q and S’s 6 month appt: they are huge. I also talk about my feelings on immune issues and infertility. In the end, I make a plea for you all to leave me some comments on the directions this podcast should go. I can’t podcast super frequently so I want to make the most out of each episode. Thanks to all of you who have continued to listen.

Direct download: Episode110_11-20-08.mp3
Category: Twins after IVF -- posted at: 8:35 PM
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About me:

TTC since March 2005

  • Irregular and long cycles after 15 years of the pill
  • DH has 1-5% morphology
  • I have a short LP and low progesterone
  • Cl0mid doesn't help much (did 3 rounds, all with 10-11 day LPs)
  • Stim like a grandma despite very low FSH. 1st injects cycle cancelled due to drop in E2. 2nd cycle they upped me too quickly, stimmed too fast, and couldn't do IUI due to travel.
  • Change doctors/clinics
  • Lap or IVF? Decide to go to IVF.
  • First IVF cycle (June 2006), stim like a grandma again and E2 drops. Proceed anyway. Get 14 eggs and 10 embryos. Put back 3 grade A's on day 3, none to freeze. Start AF early as per usual. BFN.
  • RE does some immune/recurrent pg loss testing because he doesn't think I should stim like a grandma. Come back with APAs and ATAs. He thinks I have some autoimmune reactions against stims. We add steroids.
  • Second IVF cycle (October 2006), stim worlds better. In fact, I slightly overstim and have to coast. Don't get AF early. Still BFN. But 4 make it to freeze.
  • Consult Reproductive Immunologist and find out more autoimmune issues: NK cells and Anti-ovarian antibodies, which explain my problems stimming.
  • Consult endocrinologist about ATAs. Diagnosed with Hashimoto's. Found nodule on thyroid. Ultrasound reveals that it's big and needs to be biopsied.
  • First FET cycle (January 2007), easy cycle. Not expecting much.
  • Thyroid biopsy comes back as possibly cancerous. Need to have surgery.
  • BFP on HPT at 13dpo on FET. Beta only 30 at 14dpo. HPTs don't get much darker. Beta < 5 at 18dpo.
  • Break for thyroid surgery (not cancer).
  • Period and O pain gets worse each month after each IVF. Demand a lap.
  • Lap (March 2007) reveals Stage 3 endo all over everything and both tubes are now blocked.
  • 2 months of lupr0n dep0t.
  • Third IVF cycle-Part 1 (started on lucky 7/7/07). RE put me on a dose of stims that was way too high. I stimmed too quickly and was cancelled.
  • Third IVF cycle-Part 2. Going on now. Hoping for a slower stim and a lot of good embryos (don't we all?). Amazingly, IVF#3 gave me a BFP.
  • Betas:
    • Beta at 14dpo: 180
    • Beta at 17dpo: 527 (DT 46.5 hours). Progesterone up to 48.
    • Beta at 19dpo: 902 (DT 62 hours)
      Progesterone at 60.
    • Beta 21dpo: 1677 (DT 54 hours)
      Progesterone still at 60.
    • Beta 23dpo: 3420 (DT 47 hours)
      Progesterone dropped to 16. Back on PIO.
    • Progesterone 25dpo: 40.
  • Ultrasounds:
    • U/S at 5w5d: 2 babies with 2 HBs
    • Bleeding at 7w: U/S still shows 2 babies
    • U/S at 7w5d: SCH found (cause of bleeding) and babies still with HBs. One measuring 7w4d and 1 at 7w1d.
    • U/S at 9w (and first OB appt): SCH gone and got to see babies squiggling around. Both had hearts beating away.
    • U/S at 9w5d (release from RE): Babies look good with HBs but still measuring slightly behind (9w1d and 9w0d).
    • NT scan at 11w5d: Risk of genetic abnormalities is only 1:990 for each baby. Yay! NT scan took forever to do because the babies were moving around so much.
    • 13w appt with OB: Uneventful, quick scan of babies. Both hearts still beating away.
    • 17w appt with OB: Another uneventful appointment. Quick scan of babies. Tried to see genders but they weren't cooperating.
    • 18w level II u/s: Everything looks great. We're having a boy and a girl!
    • 24w Viability! never thought I'd get here. Still have a long way to go but very excited to be here. Had an u/s but didn't get a lot of good shots. Baby boy is 1lb12oz (67%tile) and baby girl is 1lb6oz (39%tile). Doc not worried about girl being smaller. Good news is my cervix is 60mm long! A world record. :) Glucose, Iron, and TSH all normal at this visit.
    • 28: Great u/s today. Both babies are measuring in the 50th%tile. Boy is 3lbs and girl is 2lbs 14 oz. Cervix still holding strong at 45mm. Babies are definitely getting cuter and chubbier.
    • 32w: Another growth u/s. Both babies are about 4.5 lbs. Getting big and cute!
    • 34w: Diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. Spilling protein and BP is up. Doc puts me in the hospital for monitoring. I am there for 6 days, released for 1 day, and then readmitted.
    • 35w2d: Start contracting regularly at 10am. By 10PM, more contractions and water breaks.
    • 35w3d: Q (5 llbs 11oz) and S (5 lbs 6 oz) arrive via breech extraction. No c-section and no NICU time.