Well, it also serves a dual purpose for me- high cancer risk genetically so full tubal removal is a very good idea for me. Since I’m likely to go to my c section anyway, may as well yank ‘em.
ETA interestingly reccs are now changing that any abdominal surgery a woman undergoes after she’s done having children, she should be offered a full tubal removal, because a couple large studies have found early detection methods didn’t really help so our best intervention is removal. I think NHS already updated this guidance this year, unsure who else.
Unexpected early positive OPK and ovulation pains at CD9/10. Temp didn’t decide to rise until CD14. No idea what’s going on there but at least did manage GOF on both positive OPK days, though none before or after.
A week from today, I turn 42, which I remember noticing on all the IVF charts as the age at which using your own eggs starts to have so low a chance that I no longer thought it would be worth the cost in my income bracket.
On my birthday, my mom will also turn 62 and plans to retire at the end of the year. She plans to sell her little fully paid off house since she lives with my sister now anyway and divide the proceeds four ways between herself and her three children. It will likely sell for somewhere between $150k-$200k.
I was talking with Swan about it and I think once that happens, we’re going to try donor eggs after all with my portion of the money. He doesn’t want to let go of the dream of his own genetic offspring yet if there’s an avenue there.
I skimmed a few websites, but focused on egg donor or double donor clinics:
Short answer is “probably not”.
Long answer is “success rates tend to be high with differences inconsistent from study to study due to the nature of science, but overall negligible”.
Factors worth considering:
Fresh or frozen eggs?–fresh is far more likely to be successful due to the differences between freezing an egg and freezing an embryo. (ETA: this is only about success in getting embryos or getting as many embryos–once you have embryos from fresh or frozen eggs, there’s little to no difference on a per-embryo basis). some programs have guarantees for how many eggs you get/how many should produce a high quality embryo/how many tries you get for a particular cost
Timing–can be difficult to match up a fresh egg donation with a fresh embryo transfer, delays with the egg donor’s progression can force changes or delays to the embryo transfer protocol, which may or may not be a problem depending on the protocol. if there are travel considerations, there could be extra expense or stress with changed travel plans. matching a frozen egg fertilization with a fresh embryo transfer is easier, but that goes back to the fresh vs. frozen egg question.
Thawing–this is mostly the main risk for frozen embryo transfer, and fails can happen. typically after a successful thaw there’s no difference compared to a well-timed fresh transfer
Embryo quality–the predominant overriding factor on the embryo/transfer side
I’ve never used Inito but I’ve heard it’s a bit predatory. Pretty much anything that claims it can get people pregnant faster raises red flags for me. For people who are already timing insemination well (any of the three days leading up to ovulation), devices like Inito aren’t going to make a difference.
And for people who aren’t currently timing well, using basic ovulation tests like the easy@home ones (or anything that measures LH) combined with tracking basal body temperature is going to be a lot more cost effective than something like Inito.
Hm. I think the idea is measuring PdG is supposed to be instead of basal body temp.
If one’s periods are regular, I’d say they barely need to track at all (calendar schedule is fine). Also if they have enough drive to try every other day for long periods.
Since mine were not, I did LH and temp. But with an irregular sleep schedule and having a hard time remembering anything when I woke up, my thermometer readings were all over.
I was really glad I found ovusense (sensors stays inside all night). But the sensor was $100ish and the subscription was 35/mo or 280/yr. And it was invasive/disruptive to use for weeks on end.
If I could have replaced it with similar data from more advanced dipsticks at a similar price, I would have.
Bottom line I don’t think it’s exploitative to offer a useful service at a higher price point that some people don’t need because the cheaper service is sufficient for them. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it does help many people get pregnant sooner by giving them more actionable data/predictors, even if it didn’t work for me.
FWIW I do believe I was detecting ovulation better with ovusense and better able to time trying, I just had more underlying issues. And having confidence we had timed it right gave me confidence to seek help.
The dipstick aspect is very appealing to monitor hormones when not trying to get pregnant too. My actual peeve with something like this is that theyre all pregnancy focused and i know thats the marketing but damn wouldnt it be handy if i could use this to go to my GP and say “look my estrogen is low thats why im depressed lets do something about it” and not have to get a dozen blood tests to show the hormone is low for me (because low for me may not be low for other people).
I’m with ya. I want at home testosterone tests for my PCOS. So I could catch it when it starts to inch up, not when it hits the stratosphere and my back breaks out
Yes! Man i wish we could test everything by dipstick. I hate blood tests and have been avoiding checking my thyroid for months even though i have the doctor note because its a blood test.
On actual babymaking: Ponder and I are going to organise a session with a trauma counsellor. I am hoping this makes us both more comfortable with whatever decision we make after that (whether its “more stuff to do before making a decision” or whatever)
To clarify, as far as I can tell the product itself seems fine, but it’s the marketing that I have issues with (especially the “get pregnant faster” line).
I do think there’s a lot of benefits to tracking cycles, beyond trying to conceive.
Appointment today to check I’m OK to stop BCP before stims. And of course my ovary had to be a troll and grow a giant “follicle” (determined to be a cyst by bloodwork). (I suppose it’s the C in PCOS but really? Now? Did it have to? )
We are now all good to go, all paid up, prescriptions sent (need to order).
This is terrifying and feels like (a) it’s going to go horribly wrong and/or (b) like I’m doing something wrong? I suppose most important things feel this way.
Oh noooo I’m sorry about the cyst! I had a transfer delayed by one and I’d never had any problems with those before. Mine cleared right up so for a smooth resolution for you.
Are LH strips worth the trouble with PCOS? Now that I’m on steroids/ at a higher body weight my cycles are irregular again. I used to be within ~1 week window so it was close enough to regular for timing purposes.
If I am able to time better on my own I can avoid long trips into the city to monitor ovulation.
I think it depends on the type/presentation of PCOS? If your normal LH values are low enough, it should be indicative of ovulation (every time I had an LH peak I had a period 2 weeks later). But some people have baseline high LH so they are at/close to a positive normally, and it might be hard to tell. The quantitative ones (premom) are helpful I think, over the regular ones.
But also none of my docs believed my LH testing results. So if you need to convince them, I dunno.
PS if you haven’t tried inositol (ovasitol) I highly recommend!
so our best intervention is removal. I think NHS already updated this guidance this year, unsure who else.
