Advise on SO-IUI vs IVF?

[mummywannabe]

Rurucat,

Sad news for me today, my project has been confirmed and i called your friend's dad and last min he says he not free.. *sighs*.. i told my husband worse come to worse drop the project cause i don't want to feel stress because shortage of manpower and surely in the end during my 2WW need to work to help him....

 

[joyyy]

hahah, oh yea hor, no food and drinks for 6 hrs hor, then how to full bladder? oh gosh...
My gynae shld be ok with it, cos she told RuRu Cat the decision is hers to make, she's allright with it.

hmmm...really difficult to decide hor. I know abt the inserting of the tube for drawing out the urine. I had it done during the hospital stay, and I 'busted' the tube twice...was real painful and my urine kept dripping. This type of thing seldom happen, but happened to me, I say I very dao mei in the hospital lor. I was having a case of very bad retching (vomit but nothing came out) due to antibiotics allergy, it was so bad that I busted part of tubes (they call it 'bubble') connecting the bladder, twice after it was put in. In the end, they decided to remove the bladder tubes from me. Reg the 'pumping' in of water, I have no idea that is feasible, sounds scary though.

 

[felixcat]

sam,

sorry to hear abt yr er experience. it sounds very scary. that's not very common isn't it? so far, rurucat, joyy n haze1ine didn't feel anything during er leh. did you ask yr gynae?

17 follicles! well done! hope to hear more good news tomorrow.

 

[haze1ine]

Hi Sam!
How come u can stil feel? Mus be pretty scary leh... I slept thru leh... didn't feel a thing n nv wake up til they push me outside n woke me up!

But it's over liao lah.. wot's imp is u've got a good no. n u rest well. Hope u hv a good no. fertilised!

I stil thk u shd monitor ur OHSS symtoms... aft wot me n joyyy went thru... thk better be careful than sorry lor!

Take ur protein drink if u can't stomach eggwhites now! Jiayou hor!

 

[haze1ine]

joyyy
I hv had bad retching for that 2 days aft ET leh... I felt so terrible! Want to vomit but cannot.. til my stomach muscle hurts n cramp so bad cos stil raw aft ER mah. *sigh* My tastebud jus got killed aft that. Only returned these few days.

It's really scary lor... I keep telling my DH I want to die leh! haha

 

[haze1ine]

felixcat
I rem reading another lady at the IVF forum also said she can feel the ER process... but I really dun feel anything leh. Me, Ruru & Joyyy all had ours done at Mt E.

I rem I ask my gynae again, if I can feel anything. He said dun worry, nothing. Jus sleep peacefully...

 

[mummywannabe]

haze1ine, felixcat,

Ya my ER only mild sedation and they keep waking me up cause my breathing is to low and the alarm keep ringing and they need to wake me up in case i stop breathing..Basically the whole procedure is a torture for me.. Oh ya furthermore they do not use General anesthesia only mild kind.. Dunno why la, did ask for GA say cannot..

Actually i do not have any appetite... i can't really eat and drink.. still feeling a bit naeseous from the drug..

Are you all on Dydrogesterone after ER? I need to take them from tonight onwards..

 

[joyyy]

hi Sam,
sorry to hear abt the painful ER process...rest well ok. Got 17 eggs, that's good, n no OHSS, double good news. Which hospital u did ur ER?

 

[mummywannabe]

joyyy,

I'm with Care@SGH Dr Hema.

 

[felixcat]

sam, haze1ine,

do you think it's because sgh more careful so don't use so much anesthesia, unlike private hospital?

i've had it once before, remember i threw up after i woke up.

 

[mummywannabe]

felixcat,

I really don;t know good or bad la... but i really dun wish to go through it again... I know i cried until rather "cham" like that ...After the whole thing i can still ask my DH did i scare my gynae or not and he laugh at me..

 

[haze1ine]

sam
I was taking this antibiotics... 1 day b4 ER actually... to prevent infection.

Also use progesterone inserts 1 day b4 ET...

Dun worry.. u rest well now ok? Maybe really cos u ain't breathing properly, that's why they worried.

I ask b4, they said GA not necessary. Cos one wil be discharge aft a few hrs so light sedation is enuff.

 

[haze1ine]

sam
Doesnt mean to scare u but be prepared for ET hor.. the bladder thing... I thk it's more torturing leh.. to me.

Somemore I thk we all on hormone injections, more emotional. Ppl ask only how u're feeling.. u cry buckets liao, cos u start to thk abt the things u've gone thru.. lik we ourselves so pitiful like that. *sigh*

 

[mummywannabe]

haze1ine,

I was given 4 antibiotics tablets to take at one go right after ER.. than nothing already lor..only progesterone tabs..

 

[joyyy]

Sam,
just curious, why ur breathing becomes too low? how come like that de leh??

hmmm...ya, mine's done at mt.e, had light sedation, didn't feel a single thing wor, during the ER. I was told I had bled during the ER, but by the time I woke up, no more bleeding or pain le.

 

[mummywannabe]

haze1ine,

They will call me to confirm ET tomorrow.. And they gave me instructions for ET to be full bladder but i told them when i did the trial Cannulation, my doctor says no need to be full bladder so she said at least got some water can already..

 

[mummywannabe]

joyyy,

I don't know ... My Dh says my breathing is about 97 when awake than when i almost doze off it fell to 70 plus so they need to wake me up, and a few times my DH doesn't wan to wake me up, wan to let me sleep but the nurse wake me up...

 

[haze1ine]

sam
hmm.. strange leh. Suppose to let u sleep mah... why wake u up leh?

If dun ned full bladder, then good lor! At least u dun hv to go thru wot I've gone thru.

Wonder if SGH does their ER that way.. maybe u can ask ur gynae why nex time.

 

[haze1ine]

Ladies
Gonna go prepare dinner.. my roasted duck!

I'll login 2molo again.. rest well everyone!

 

[ah_kat]

Hi ladies,
Wah - today quite bz this thread hah...yeah, 2day end of my 2ww but I don't think I am testing...dilemma leh - on one hand I saw brown heavy spotting last sun and it stopped after I started back on utrogestan, then on the other hand I test -ve on Tue...so very scared now..tink i will wait a few more days and see how lah...

 

[ruru_cat]

Hi Joyy,

Woah, your stay in hosp is a really hair-raising experience leh. I really really hope that u strike jackpot asap man!

Oh, Dr Yap said the best time to do a natural FET is the 2nd cycle after the ER op. So your menses come for this cycle right? The next cycle can put your honey bunnies back to your womb liao

Just nice for CNY gift to your HB.

Hmm, regarding consultation fee, ehh.. u mean for the regular visits to scan the follicles before ER op iz? If that is what u mean, then you paid already, the $1500 incl consulation + scanning. And since u never do your ET op, your natural cycle FET scanning + consultation visits are "free" as the $1500 package incl all the way to final BT. So Dr Yap charges very reasonable prices right?

Hi ladies,

I think I know why Sam have feeling during the ER op, this is because she is not sedated thru' GA whereby the anesetist (don't know how to spell, sorry!) has to be present (like in Mt E cases). I think it is considered a special request in SGH and KKH but it is a norm in private hosp leh. The ER op in private hosp charges the IVF patient for the anestethist without asking whether we want one or not.

Yah, Dr Yap says it is up to me want to be sedated or not. Regarding the sedation procedure, we need to fast (no food and drink) 6 hours before the FET op, so the nurse told me that if my op is in the morning, then I cannot pee when I wake up. I got asked Dr Yap if really cannot tahan and pee in the morning then how? She says got 2 options - 1 is to put me on drip, the 2nd one is to do reversal cathedrization. She prefers the 2nd option as it is faster. Put on drip, have to wait a while for the bladder to fill up.

 

[ruru_cat]

Hi Hazeline,

Glad ur OHSS is subsiding already and that you have closed the 1st week of your 2ww already. Jia You!

 

[mystyy]

Joyyy and haze1ine,

i was put on drip during ET since my bladder was empty. and because of that, my procedure took a little while longer. around 40mins. will post a pic of 1st ET and 2nd ET this weekend, then u will be able to see the difference of full and half-full or empty bladder. when bladder is full, ur uterus will be straightened coz the bladder is pushing it down and thus would be easier for the doc to insert the embryos and put them in a nice position.

With what Ruru mentioned abt reversal cathedrization, i didn't go through that, as my doc decided to wait for my bladder to fill up.

Oh ladies, I am falling sick just 4 days after i start work. When i was on those jabs and medication, i was super fit! now, I am getting flu.

btw, u ladies mentioned abt eys @ paragon being expensive. Any other recommendation aside from that? Sat will be my first appointment.

 

[sunny33]

joyy,
thank you so much.. I think things were not really sinking in that much.. but I was more in shok yesterday...

RuRuCat,
thank you so much for doing research on DHEA! Im for sure getting my hands on DHEA... just dont know what dosage and which one is good to get now...

Ladies,
I was crying and feeling depressed after I came home...

surprisingly Dr PC Wong was very calm and caring and explained to me what may have gone wrong and what my next steps are...
Honestly, was really scared to face him because I had to go see him alone and wasnt sure if I can take his way of cut throatness at my state...

But, really... he was kind today... but.....

when he said, "how your IVF turned out was unexpected because there were enough follicles and it was surprising that there was only 1 mature and 2 inmature eggs.. "

he also said that my fsh says that I am not out of ovarian reserves since by gonal-f stimulation the follicles started to come out...

But the comment he made about my age was what was just shocking..... was expected.. yet.. kind of made me feel like I should give up...

he said, because there are so little to go on (only 1 mature egg) he cannot say what was bad the sperm of the egg.. but since the 1 mature egg did not firtilize, generally speaking it could be that the egg is no good.. and the age could be the reason for this IVF to not work...

If he says my age is the problem...... then what can I do? nothing much........then????

but I felt later that, because of my age shouldnt have he done a protocol that doesnt surpress my hormons too much?.. didnt it kill the eggs that was there????????

He said that I can start the next cycle in Januray... with a short protocol.. the cetrotide protocol..

when I came home and read about that specific protocol.. it said that the numbers of eggs that can grow decrease...................

I am so confused...... if I didnt have enough last time.... doing the protocol that creats less eggs?????................... I dont understand.. or maybe the cetrotide protocol is different from the one in the book?????..(which I hope.... it is different..)

Im just really comfused.. and... upset....

the cetrotide protocl at NUH what he explained is that, from the 2nd day of my AF start on 450iu gonal-f and after a week to start with cetrotide and gonal-f for another week....

Have any of you ladies have heard of this type of protocol??? does it increase possible eggs???

so sorry........... for just writing down questions after questions.. but, Im confused... and upset.... and dont have a clue to where to head to next.....

 

[mummywannabe]

Hi Sue,

Remember the lady i told you that the eggs was not growing? She was on Lucrin 10cc instead of the usual 20cc which i had or even 50cc some ladies had.. She had it for a shorter period to control her hormones and had 450IU of Puregon than follow by GOnal F and Puregon.. I think thats why it helped her eggs grow and got 14 eggs.. She is ard 30 plus.

 

[mummywannabe]

Hi all,

So far so good.. Had a really long nap.. Just now not much appetite but now feeling hungry ...The pain also going away slowly, not as painful as just now...but i feel a bit sore at the vagina when standing up issit normal?

Im still so scared about the results tomorrow... I really hope my embbies are doing well...*Pray Really Hard*

 

[felixcat]

morning ladies!

Sam,

waiting to hear yr good news! you must really start to sleep earlier you know.

rurucat,

cannot pee in the morning even if you choose sedation for et? that's quite tough isn't it? will it leak when you're under sedation? quite paiseh rite? if not, that means when you wake up, bladder is still very full and have to hold for at least another 2 hrs? xiao liao.

ah kat,

hv you done yr bt?


haze1ine,

oic. i will check if dr foong is doing icsi and assisted hatching or not.

 

[jules9893]

Hi all,
Just an update from me,
Went to see Dr Marianne yesterday, and I have decided to do IVF via ICSI since my DH sperm is so low.
I have sign all the documentation, my procedure will only be done on Jan / Feb.. But mostly January... as it is full for these year.
Will try to make babies manually first...

Paid the $203.30 for counselling and paperworks.

Doctor did told me to lost my weight a bit... as i told her that i took clomid and the jab causes me putting on 1 to 2 kg.

Mostly almost all of you, will graduate 1st!!!

Good luck for all....

 

[jules9893]

Oh yeah,

Btw about the prices in KKH is around $7K to $9K..

But after subsidies from govt, we only paid $1K to $2K.

No wonder, people are goind for IVF rather than SO-IUI.

And guess what there are some gynea doctor, doing IVF too...

 

[felixcat]

sue,

we are the same age i think. dr xia (tcm doc) told me that at our age, we don't need much supression. the 1st stage of suppression will sort of put you in a state of menopause. so the older you are, the lesser suppression you need since we're already quite close to that state already. haha. normally, the younger ones may need more than 14 days lucrin/suprefact injections.

i don't know abt cetrotide protocol. the cut off age for ivf is 42-45 so we are still below 40 mah, should still hv chance, especially when he says you're not out of ovarian reserves.

i really think you should seek a 2nd opinion. even though dr pc wong has been very kind to you this time, seems you're still doubting his suggestion for yr next step. there's no harm to see another gynae for a 2nd opinion, maybe then you can find out more available options for you?

think it would be difficult to get an earlier appt at kkh with dr sf loh. maybe you want to consult a private gynae. 1st consultation is ard $80 plus i think. you don't need to go to them for the ivf treatment but maybe just hear what they hv to say?

i was wondering, how come there's no interest free installment for ivf treatment. there's always interest free installment for other stuff like household items, jewellery, etc. shouldn't the bank tie up with the private clinics? then private clinics will also get more biz mah. heehee.

 

[jules9893]

sue,

for Dr SF Loh, is appointment is full till next Feb / Mar next year.

I tried to change to Dr SF Loh yesterday but the nurse told me its full.

So stick to my gynea Dr Marianne.

For your information,
IVF in KKH who register as at yesterday will only be doing their IVF treatment starting end of January / Feb 09

 

[felixcat]

ju,

good that you've made the decision. will you be doing anything to prepare yrself since you'll only start Jan?

 

[felixcat]

mystyy,

found below in another thread:

Both of the Chinese physicians are recommended by a Chinese physician(from China) from Eu Yan Sang.

Dr Tan Kian Sing
TCM Healthcare Medical Centre
433 Clementi Avenue 3
#01-266
Singapore 120433
Telephone: 68723237

Currently Dr Tan Kian Sing is the Head of Infertility Department in Singapore Chung Hwa Medical Institution. He holds a doctorate degree(PhD) in Traditional Chinese Medicine from renowned University from China. He has his clinical training in TCM hospital in China for some years. He is an expert of solving male problem. If you hubby has low sperm count or poor quality of sperm, Dr Tan will definitely able to help.


Dr Tan Siew Buoy
Chief Physician
Infertility Unit
Singapore Thong Chai Medical Institution
50, Chin Swee Road, Thong Chai Building,
#01-01, Singapore 169874 Tel: 67336905

Dr Tan Siew Buoy is currently the head of Infertility Unit in Singapore Thong Chai Medical Institution. She holds a doctorate degree(PhD) in Traditional Chinese Medicine from renowned University from China. She has his clinical training in TCM hospital in China for some years. She is an expert in solving female problem for conceiving a baby. She is a very patient and a good listener.

i've seen dr tan k s but it's super difficult to get an appt n waiting time is long. that means it's difficult to arrange for twice weekly acu. but if you are able to see him during office hours, it would be easier.

 

[haze1ine]

Morning Ladies!
I'm feeling much better today.. less bloated. Stil got that terrible backache though when I wake up.

ah kat
Good luck to u hor.. u mean u spot then stop? Hmm.. maybe got chance leh...

ruru
actually I nv really get to enj my ww2 leh... was feeling miserable for the past wk. But so fast.. nex thurs BT liao leh. *sigh* Hv to face to truth lah then, bopian.

sue
I too agree with felixcat n thk u shd stil seek a 2nd option b4 u decide wot u want to do nex. U try check n c if there's any gynae, who has high success rates with older women.

sam
I dun feel pain down there leh.. jus cramp at my sides n my stomach muscle hurts.. and terrible backache.

And yes.. pls do try n rest at the normal hrs more lah. Ur body timeclock really upside down leh.

Thk u shd be hearing from SGH soon.

Ju
Glad u've set a new n exciting New Year Resolution nex yr! Do take good care of ur health now so ur body wil be in good condition then!

Mystyy
haha.. maybe u allegic to work lah.. so long nv work liao. Nvm... tahan for a while.. u're going on ur trip soon.

felixcat
do hv a good talk with ur gynae... cos I thk ur side do hv some things that's not available elsewhere. so make good use of that!

 

[sunny33]

felixcat,
thank you so much...
I think you are right, I shall consider a second oppinion will talk to my hubby about it...

if the lady you know was on lower suppression drug... and had more eggs...
maybe the cetrotide protocol maybe the right way to go.. since there will be no suppression drugs used at the begining...

However, there is a catch.. although I will be on less injection date.. this protocol cost more... the nurse was telling me cetrotide is more costly than superfact (the medicen I was using to supress the hormons)

yes, I am still below 40years..

Julliana,
thank you for the information regarding Dr Loh.. I think if it is so crowded will have to consider other places...

How is the Care@SGH? would anyone know the situation there?

 

[mummywannabe]

Felixcat,

*hugz* Thanks for the encouragement..

Been feeling rather emotional and also get worried easily.. *sighs*

Haze1ine,

Actually its been like that for years already so it had become a routine...So i think if i really switch it will be a change and afraid it will be worse, so now i just sleep whenever i feel tired.

 

[mummywannabe]

Ladies,

My embroylogist called 3 mins ago, she said actually yesterday retrieved 16 instead of 17...and all are are mature eggs but she told me that only 12 are fertilised, will only get to know their grading tomorrow and see how well they grow.

My transfer is schedule on D5 on Next Tuesday at 7.30am...

Finally i manage to ask them what about sat/sun who look after the embbies and she said dun worry they will be there to look after them and will give me a daily report from now.. What a relief..

 

[haze1ine]

sam
hmm... do try n get more rest then.

I thk u mus be very fair... cos ppl usually suntan.. u 'moontan' only! haha

sue
sam is at care@sgh...

 

[felixcat]

sam,

i feel like you're like a baby.

babies actually sleeps in the day time and wakes up in the nite when they're in mummy's womb. so when they are born, we will need to set routine for them so that they know that they're supposed to sleep in the nite and play in the day. so you may also need to set some routine for yrself like a newborn.

maybe you can give sue some info abt care@sgh?

 

[joe_joe]

FelixCat & Ru ru cat

Thanks for the advise. I am also considering of starting SO-IUI after my exams. But coming up will be the year end audit but taking into the considerations that the stress level then will be much lower. Btw, does TCM helps? i had tried a few, but does not seems to work for me... can anyone recommend any good TCM in the west area?

Thanks in advance

 

[haze1ine]

sam
That's a great no! And I thk ur egg quality mus be pretty good too since fertilisation percentage is pretty high.

Hmm... I'm jus a bit curious abt ur D5 transfer.. did u ask for it or ur gynae said do D5 transfer??

 

[mummywannabe]

Ladies,

I just know that there is a care doctor on standby everyday at SGH in any case there are OHSS patients and they are rather caring, even bother to check on you how we feel and even check on our embbies with the embroylogists..

I think they are really dedicated lor..Even if i fail this time i think its my fault and not their fault cause they all really do their best already.

 

[felixcat]

sam,

12 fertilized! that's great! if you're doing d5 tranfer, that means all 12 will be cultured to blastocyst stage or see how?

 

[mummywannabe]

haze1ine,

Haha really leh.. im those very fair type..

Felixcat,

Aiyo you are right hor... but now i dunno why ever since 3 days before ER i tend to fall asleep at 11.30pm, waking at times but at least i manage to fall asleep earlier..

 

[felixcat]

haze1ine,

i'll be seeing dr foong this afternoon. initially thot only go down to collect medicine but then i have some questions and the nurse suggested that i see him instead. better write down all my questions now...

joe,

i've just attached some info on tcm doc this morning. maybe you can hv a look.

 

[mummywannabe]

Haze1ine, Felixcat,

Yes, i was the one to request for blastocyst from the start of IVF, My doctor says should not be a problem if embbies can survive till then, but they will monitor in case we need to do early transfer.

So just now i actually ask the embroylogists if my embbies can survive till then and do a blastocyst she said should not be a problem from what she sees now but still gotta see daily and make a judgement, and in any case we need to do a early transfer she will call me even if its in the weekends.

So now i just have to wait..

 

[mummywannabe]

Felixcat,

You can buy black chicken eggs quite small $3.80 for 10.. Said to be very good and "Pu"..

 

[felixcat]

sam,

maybe you can try to maintain sleeping at 11.30. it's definitely a good start.

where can i buy the black chicken eggs? must take everyday?

 

[felixcat]

sam,

alamak, talking abt chicken eggs, just realized i forgot to double boil my kampung chicken. still sitting in the fridge at home.

 

[felixcat]

sam,

the quality of yr embbies must be very good then. there'll be a higher chance for d5 transfer rite? you know what's the diff in the success rate for d3 n d5 transfer?