Hi everyone. I'm 32 y/o and it's been almost 12 years since my pouch surgery. TTC for a little over 2 years and have found out that the adhesions from my surgeries are severe and have my repro organs all tied up. Last year was really tough, I went in for laproscopic surgery to take care of my L tube that had fluid in it (hydrosalpinx) but ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks, had 2 major surgeries, was sent home on IV nutrition and was off work for 3 months. I've spent the last year recovering both physically and mentally. My RE said the adhesions were so bad and nothing was where it belonged. He said my only option was IVF and it was a long shot. I was devastated. When I went back to him to get the final word a few months ago he said he would not do IVF on me because my ovaries where not where they belonged and he couldn't harvest my eggs. Again I was devastated but decided to go for a second opinion at a a major teaching hospital. The Dr. I saw was part of the team that did the first successful IVF in the US. He said I was a perfect candidate for IVF, that getting my eggs may be tricky but he is confident they will be able to do it. I'm happy but also scared, I've been preparing myself to hear sorry, we just can't do it. I've done much more research on adoption than IVF. I don't know when I will be starting my first cycle. I have to go to an orientation class in 2 weeks, I have so many questions but I guess they will be answered then. It is hard to get to excited, I know it is not a sure thing and I don't want to get my hopes up. Also I struggle with chronic pouchitis and keeping my weight up. I want to be pregnant so badly but I worry about my health and how it will effect the baby. I haven't been off antibiotics since everything happened last year. Right now my health is good and I am working toward weaning off. It is very comforting to know there are pouchers out there who have been through this and are on the other side with their beautiful healthy babies, I hope one day I can join that group and offer words of comfort to someone in my shoes. Thanks ladies.
-Lisa

Hi Lisa, I really can't answer any of your questions or give you any advise, mostly because I'm a man, and don't have a clue.
I just wanted to say I'm glad you went for a second opinion and found a Dr. that seems to be a little more familiar with this procedure.
I wish you all the luck in the world and hope you achieve everything in life that you want. Living with these different types of inflamatory bowel disease's isn't fun, and I pray the next post I read from you is about being pregnant.
Best wishe's, Craig

Lisa, IVF is scary under the best of normal circumstances, so it is no wonder you are nervous. I've been there...we were actually half way through a home study to adopt because I didn't want to go through more medical stuff when we changed our minds and decided to give IVF a try (largely due to a bad social worker who made us feel adoption was a less than 50% chance for us - we've since been reassured otherwise, but went the IVF route).

You'll learn most of what you need to know at your patient education meeting, but my advice would be to take extra precautions to avoid Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome; one of the major side effects of OHSS is dehydration, obviously an issue for us. Plus, it hurts like the dickens (I had a very mild case and I wouldn't want to know what a severe one was like).

Find out from your clinic the following things:
1. Do they do progesterone post transfer and do they do suppositories/gel or progesterone in oil which is an intramuscular injection? How long would they do progesterone after a positive pregnancy test? THere is conflicting evidence on whether or not this helps prevent miscarriage, but most of the clinics in Boston do some form of progesterone support post transfer.

2. What type of protocol will you be on and how closely will you be monitored?

3. Do they recommend 3 day transfer or blast transfer (5 days)? Blasts are stronger and more likely to implant, but if you don't have a lot of embryos, you might not want to take the chance of bringing them to 5 days.

4. How many embryos do they recommend transferring? Anything more than three should scare you. Two is pretty standard, but there is increasing research that shows overall success rates transferring just one are equal to transferring multiples.

The daily shots don't hurt. I know its hard to believe but they don't. Just pinch the skin for about 20 seconds before the shot and you'll be fine. The needle is so small you won't believe it. I do recommend sitting down the first few times you do it though because it is a weird feeling to stick yourself in the belly.

I did 2 fresh IVF cycles and one frozen. First fresh we got 20 eggs, 8 fertilized, we got 2 eight cell 3 day embryos and one 7 cell 3 day embryo. We transferred the 2 eight cell and got pregnant with Alex who is just over 2. We froze the 7 cell.

I did my frozen cycle in May 07 and did get pregnant but miscarried.

My second fresh cycle is when I had OHSS. We planned to do a 5day transfer and it ended up being a day 6 transfer becuase of the OHSS symptoms. We again got 20 eggs. 10 fertilized and 4 survived to day 5. We froze three and I got pregnant with my day 6 hatching blast. I'm due July 23rd but will deliver a few weeks earlier by scheduled c-section.

Having children is a leap of faith, no matter how you do it, so just jump in and hold on for the ride. If you think you are scared now, just wait till you have a baby. It is fear like you have never known - is he healthy, is he breathing, is he gaining enough weight or too much weight, is he happy, am I interacting enough or too much, and so on and so on. But it is also joy like you have never known - my two year old will run up to me, throw his arms around my legs and say "hi Mommy" for no reason at all throughout the day. Well worth the journey and you'll forget about it once you have your bundle of joy. After all, I did the shot routine twice...

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

HI Lisa.....I started my first round of IVF 3 months after after an obstruction surgery. I too was so scared, but so wanted a baby. I really have to recommend acupuncture. I know, I was really sceptical too...having gone through acupuncture with UC and seeing no results, I was very reluctant. My IVF Dr. actually recommended it. I started about 1 month before the cycle and I got pregnant the 1st try with twins! I now have 2 beautiful twin girls. I continued with it for the whole pregnancy and I'm still doing it for help with breastfeeding.
I recommended it to a coworker who had done 3 rounds unsuccessfully and she did acupuncture on the 4th and got pregnant.
I had a high white blood cell count and my IVF DR. wanted to put me on all these immunosuppressants before the cycle started, I didn't do that and only did acupuncture and tea she gave me and the WBC count went down.......since you are paying so much for IVF I totally think it's worth it.....think positive. Adoption is a wonderful option as well-I plan on adopting for our 3rd kid-once I can actually think straight again-twins are a lot of work! Good luck

Laura,
How old are you girls? What RE did you use. I grew up in Sf but live in Arizona now but willbe coing to Sf for IVF in April. I'm using Dr. Zouves in daly city.

Hi Lisa,

I am currently pregnant with twins after my first IVF attempt in December '07. I had "unexplained" infertility and TTC for over 3 years with 2 unsuccessful IUI's. Anyway, when I went in for my IVF consult, the doctor told me that I was a perfect candidate. Even though my tubes were clear, she said that adhesions from the surgeries could be around the ovaries and preventing the eggs from reaching the tubes. She even said that my ovaries might not be where they are supposed to be but that would not be a problem. She said that they have creative ways of getting to them and to not worry about it.

I am glad that you went for that second opinion. Good luck with your decision.

Oh Lisa I cried reading your post.You are so deserving of having a baby and one day you will have an angel in your arms to hold and love.All you have to do is trust in God believe me when I say this Lisa because I`ve been there.It took seven years and prayers that would incircle the earth a million times over but we are now the proud parents of 2 healthy boys and 2 stunning daughters,14,13,11 and 8.I remember praying for us to be pregnant and then the exact opposite praying that 4 were enough,lol.Trust in Him with all your soul Lisa and He will get you through this.I can`t wait for you to come back here and announce the joyous news to all of us of your impending miracle.Have faith sweetheart.I pray that God bless you and your hubby on this quest and that a positive outcome insues.Take care.
P.S. Our problems were not associated with U/C or Crhons but were just as traumatic.

Ladies thank you so much for you advice and good thoughts. Jill thanks for the good questions, I do know that they do progesterone post transfer, I think only for a few days and I don't know in what form but I will find out. Also they do 5 day transfer and no more than 2 for me, we might just do 1, I'm really torn about that. I know I will start with Sub Q lupron injections but he was talking so fast that he lost me after that, guess I will find out at the class. They monitor very closely and are all about preventing OHSS.
Did anyone here decide to transfer just one based on your own health issues?
I am feeling a little better about things, I know that this is something I need to do, I would regret it if I didn't try. It is the heart break I will face if it doesn't work that really scares me so I am hesitant to get my hopes up. At the same time I want to have a positive attitude and jump into this whole heartedly it is quite the emotional struggle as you all know. Thank you to everyone who posts here and offers so much great support, advice, comfort and hope. Congratulations to all of you who are pregnant now I hope you are feeling good and stay healthy throughout, keep us all posted.
-Lisa

HI LIsa, I am not sure if you will get this message, but just thought I would say I comepletely understand what you are going through, as I have hit the similar barriers myself in the last week and have been completely devastated. I guess as women we consider fertility as a birthright, and when its so compromised you feel ripped off. I just though I would comfort you by reminding you how young you are, and that you still have plenty of time to try. I am sure it will work out for you. My obs. was saying this week she's seen much older women succeed in a similar situation.
So goodluck trying, and try to keep the chin up!