I tried to get pregnant a few years ago and was diagnosed with pcos. I'm losing weight right now and my partner and I plan on trying again in a few months. Any other rainbowed cysters out there ttc? I'm interested in knowing from what source you get your sperm.
__________________ Glucophage XR 1500 mg
Age: 31 Partner: 33
Slow, steady weight loss
Have lost 40 lbs-need to lose 30-40 more
Been trying now for almost 2 years (God, is it that long? No wonder I am crazy!).
We started out using a sperm bank, having it shipped from CA on dry ice, and doing inseminations at home, but that got more expensive than we could handle, and trying to guess when I was going to ovulate and have it shipped within 5 days of that....well, you can imagine how maddening it was.
Then I used fresh sperm from a known donor ( a very good friend of mine). But that was just as much of a pain time-wise, if not financially, due to the fact that he lived 3 hrs away and had no car. I would have to try to predict when I would ovulate (again, with PCOS, you know how hard this is) and take off work for a couple of days to drive up there and stay so we could inseminate 2 or 3 times while I thought I was fertile.
Finally I got my gyno to refer me to an RE and I had to wait to get in, so I stopped TTC for a few months. The RE has a sperm bank across the street from his office, so we are using that now, as my donor was a big pothead and also drank frequently, so I am not sure how good his sperm were. (Just a note: I haven't heard from him since I told him I was going to the RE and asked if he still wanted to try to be our donor.)
We did a total of 3 at-home frozen-sperm ICI's, 4 at-donor's-house fresh-sperm ICI's, and 4 medicated,(Clomid and injectibles), monitored IUI's at the dr's office (which, by the way, is 2 hours from here).
Currently, we are just about broke, so not TTC for a few months. We are waiting for the insurance approval to have an HSG done. The dr doesn't want to do anything until he does the HSG. He also wants to test to see if I have poor egg quality, since they got me to ovulate beautifully, but still no pg. The last cycle, I didn't even respond to the injectables. My estradiol on cd 13 was like 32.
Sorry that was so long. What's your TTC story? Glad there are others out there.
My partner and I have been talking about TTC but have not started anything formally yet... however I would really love to have an active group on here to discuss this with.... is anyone else out there trying or thinking of TTC?
__________________ Jennifer in Seattle
Currently taking Actos, Armour, Byetta and a bunch of topical acne medications!
Oh, I wish I had found everyone when we were TTCing!Fortunately, for us, I'm now 16w pregnant and due in November. Really Amazing.
Our TTC journey...since New York state has a law, IUI/ICIs and all related ultrasounds etc. are covered by insurance. We didn't know this for the first IUI (I had called the insurance company dozens of time and just got lucky w/ one guy who knew what was going on) so we paid for it all the first time ($1,500 here) but the rest was all paid for. We got our donor sperm from the California Cryobank. I thought the folks at the bank were really helpful, professional, and kind. We shipped three vials of sperm and used one for each IUI. I got pregnant on the third try.
I took 50mg of clomid each time and used a HCG trigger shot to finally get me to ovulate. I did ovulate each time but after the first time we took a break for Thanksgiving and Christmas and then AF didn't come to I had to induce AF w/ provera. An emotional rollercoaster.
Oh, yeah, I also went off the pill and onto Glucophage about 4 months before we decided to try. I stayed on the gluc until 10wks when my doctor told me to stop. I had lost some weight the year before low-carbing but was at a standstill. The gluc did not help me loose weight at all, but I do think it did help regulate my cycles.
My partner and I really wanted to do the ICIs at home, but NYC doctors are so malpractice paranoid that I couldn't find anyone to sign off on the sperm bank's form saying that it was okay to ship to home. Also, we didn't want use a known donor.
Best of luck to all of you and your partners. Excitement!
Kelly
__________________ Me-35, dp-31
Maeve Louise 11/21/04
5lbs. 5oz. 17.4 inches
3wk appointment - 7lbs. 7oz and 19 inches!
IUI 2/23
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Just wanted to mention that fertility treatments (like IUIs etc) are state mandated in a lot of states to be covered by insurance, so definitely check into that, BUT... and this is a problem for many... if your health insurance provider (i.e. your employer) is what they call self-insured, they are not subject to the state mandate, and thus can decide for themselves whether tehy want to cover it or not. Since it is one of the biggest cost drivers in health care cost (they assume fertility tretament is followed by pregnancy complications) it is usually the first benefit they drop after self-insuring. (unfortunately teh same goes for benefits being available for same sex partners in Mass now... the self insured can pick and choose, ugh!!!! it bothers me!!!)
Just thought I'd bring that up when someone is researching teh insurance side of things. Other than that... BABYDUST to all of you!!!
oh and congrats Kelly, I am due Nov. 25th. :-) isn't the second trimester grand?
Yeah, the insurance thing stinks and something that everyone really has to spend some time looking into so you get the right answers.
Zebra - congrats to you, too! 2nd tri is much better and thank goodness because I wasn't getting any work done b/c of fatigue!
Seattle - we used frozen and yes, were a little worried about the effectiveness but we really had no choice. We both agreed we didn't want to use a known donor for a ton of reasons - both personal and logistics - so we went with frozen sperm. Good Luck!
Kelly
__________________ Me-35, dp-31
Maeve Louise 11/21/04
5lbs. 5oz. 17.4 inches
3wk appointment - 7lbs. 7oz and 19 inches!
IUI 2/23
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In my opinion, it might make a difference how it is collected and stored, but if done appropriately, I don't see how it would make it less effective.
However I can't recommend one way or the other, as I have no comparison, but being a bi-cyster, I went with the non-frozen alternative.
Oh and just as Kelly mentioned, I too was on gluc for about 4 months before I got pregnant. It helped me a lot to regulate my cycle and loose weight, and even better, it definitely helped me through the first trimester regulating my bloodsugar. (I am struggling now that I had to go off of it). What I am trying to say is, that with it I all of a sudden had a much better idea of when I was fertile, and including temping, I actually was able to tell when I would ovulate. Not sure if that helps, but thought I'd mention it.
With your story Anna, I am sure you have tried all sorts of thing. But don't give up hope! I am proud of your determination! And I hope you fin dteh resources to keep trying!
I was wondering if anyone was using any fertility clinics that are "catering" to the rainbow community? Maybe sharing some helpful resources might be good? I know everyone is all over the place, but if you have a recommendation maybe we can share it here.
I used FarifaxCryobank and got their IUI-ready specimens and paid cash cuz I have no insurance at this time. They were professional and helpful and very open to ALL my questions, and I have lots of those.
I also used Femara 10 mg daily, days 5-9 and Pregnyl shot on day 13. It worked the second try and here I am, awaiting my first prenatal check. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Lynn
any rainbowed cysters ttc? 
