Moving to Illinois, need help.

Hi everyone,
My husband and I just found out this morning that our 9th IUI has failed. I was really hoping that it worked for so many reasons, but one being that we are moving in September and I didn't want to find a new RE.

We are moving to NS Great Lakes in Illinois, I am completely unfamiliar with the area. Any advice on RE's in the area and your experiences would be helpful.

We are now gonna use the next few months to save money for IVF and are hoping to get started right away when we arrive.

Thanks everyone and best wishes to you!

Comments

  • Hi aldonza:

    Sorry to hear that things didn't work out. I am with UIC (University of Illinois-Chicago) and I really like their program... especially their nurses. They return your calls right away and don't think you're bothering them if you ask lots of questions. They also do IVF as well as IUI and ICI plus a whole host of other reproductive issues.

    Great Lakes is up in North Chicago, which is about a hour from Chicago. I would check with the hospital there at the base when you arrive. Since you will be on the North Shore, there are other RE's in the area. I have heard of a few affiliated with Lake Forest Hospital and Highland Park Hospital both are less than 10 minutes from you.

    Hoping you have better luck here...
    Dust, dust and prayers for all of us.
  • aldonza,

    I'm sorry to hear about your BFN...my heart goes out to you.

    I think it's great that you're already planning for your IVF. Can I ask how many IUI's you've done?

    Good luck with the move!
  • Thanks for the info Ualtigger, I am researching it all and have found a lot in the area. Who was your doctor at UIC or did you see more than 1?

    Misty and Carla,
    First congrats to yall, I read the postings all the time but it is rare that I actually post.
    We have done IUI 9 times now, everytime I had two-three great sized follies. My lining always looked great and my doctor was always "sure" I would get pregnant this cycle, all 9 cycles. I don't know why it hasn't worked for us, it just hasn't.
    It has been very hard this past week; our best friend just gave birth, my baby sister called me to say she is pregnant and then my cycle started.
    Enough of that, time to look to the future and prepare for IVF.
    Thanks for being on the boards all the time and offering your advice, it is always welcomed and helpful.
  • aldonza...Wow! You've really been through it! I'm sorry for your pain...I know it has to be very discouraging.

    Have you used the same donor this whole time? Many people say that once they changed donors, they got pregnant right away. Sometimes our systems just don't match up.

    I hope all goes well and you get to start your IVF cycle very soon.

    Please KUP.
  • I actually had the head of the dept as my doctor, Bert Scoccia, but his nurse, Debbie Dinsmore, is the one that really does the work (isn't it always?). I'm waiting to hear from her now since I got AF yesterday... it was my first IUI so, although I'm disappointed, I have to get ready for the next try since my usual cycle is 26 days start to finish and AF showed four days late so I'll have to start OPT'ing in five days.
  • Ualtigger, Sorry for AF...I know it's disappointing. Keep us up to date on your next cycle. So the nurse did everything? My doctor here did everything except give me my hcg shot. I guess all places are different.

    Misty and Carla,
    I used the same donor 11437 everytime. He has all of the characteristics and traits we wanted. We talked about switching but our doctor just kept assuring us that this donor would work for us. We always had really good counts between 20-50mil.
    We will probably try him one more time for our first ivf....if it doesn't work then we will most likely search for another donor.
  • Just go with your heart...maybe he is the right donor for you. :)
  • I met with him to discuss my options and the basic info... I went in talking straight to IVF but, based on what he saw in my labs that I brought with me, he said not so fast and currently I'm unmedicated with my IUI's... going to have the HSG this cycle so I don't think I'll be getting back to the TWW until July.

    Debbie is a wonderful nurse and she's not a youngster... she's probably my age or older. I've found that @ UIC most of the people in the RE section are moms or dads in some cases so they can relate to what you're going through and you can question them a lot and they don't get a attitude.

    I believe you WILL get your little one... just as I WILL get mine as well. Let me know when you get here!! Have you joined the facebook CCB friends group yet? Lots and LOTS more support there!!
  • aldonza,

    I do not live in IL, but I have heard good things about Advanced Fertility Center of Chicago, and I believe they offer a pre-paid "take home baby guarantee" with IVF cycles, which is basically that you pay a flat rate, and if you don't take home a baby within a certain number of cycles, you get your money back. You have to fit certain criteria, though, including age, test results, and I believe outcomes of any previous cycles, but it is definitely worth checking out. You can still do regular cycles (no money-back guarantee) with them, too, if you don't quality for the package deal, and IUI too.

    As far as the donor thing goes, I feel compelled to tell you my experience. My husband and I chose a donor that we were very happy with, who had been responsible for many pregnancies (there are at least 9 offspring listed on the DSR web site, last time I checked). Anyway, we tried four natural cycle IUIs with him (no drugs for me). All failed, though I think I might have had a chemical pregnancy after the second IUI. We then tried IVF with the same donor. We had eighteen embryos and transferred two, and I did not get pregnant. Also, none of the remaining 16 were deemed good enough to freeze. I was devastated and sure that something was wrong with me, even though all my tests were normal.

    We took a year off from trying, and during that time our first donor retired. We had six vials from him, so we sold them back to CCB and chose a new donor. Our RE suggested we try at least three more unmedicated IUIs with a new donor before medicated IUI or IVF because my test results look so good. Well, low and behold I got pregnant with my 20 month old daughter on our FIRST TRY at unmedicated IUI. Then, just last month, I got pregnant again on the FIRST TRY with another unmedicated IUI! I am now eight weeks along, due 1/10/10 and we have our ultrasound to see the baby this coming Monday; I am nervous but hopeful that all will be well.

    Who knows why the first donor didn't work for us when he worked for so many other families, and the second donor worked right away both times we tried? My doctor could not explain it, but I just feel in my gut that something just didn't jive with my eggs and the first donor's sperm. Couples have unexplained infertility all the time and no one can figure out why, so why couldn't it be an incompatibility issue between egg and sperm? I know firsthand how hard it is to pick another donor when you are set on your first choice, but take it from me, it might be worth at least looking to see if there is another one that fits your bill.

    Good luck to you!
  • Well... seems like there's a reason that my IUI possibly failed... I did the HSG on the 8th and found I have a large uterine fibroid... so large that the dye couldn't reach my tubes to check them which I think also means the reverse... the egg(s) couldn't get down to meet the sperm.

    When will you arrive @ NSGL? You're from NBPH in HI, yes?
  • Hey, sorry I haven't been reading the boards lately.
    Ualtigger, so what happens now for you? Are they gonna remove it? I hope everything works out for you, you're probably right... the egg couldn't meet the sperm.

    As of now, we have to report to NSGL by September 24... so we will probably get there around the middle of September. And yes, we are currently stationed at Pearl Harbor.

    Well, take care... I will check the boards more frequently.
  • aldonza:
    Hey, girl... currently working like crazy so haven't been here lately, either!! :). Waiting for the U/S right now to see what's going on... probably next month for that.

    Let me know if you need any info about clinics and RE's here... be happy to get it for you.

    Used to be at your neighbor... Hickam... miss the place!! Fortunately, my job (United Airlines) lets me get back "home" rather often!:)
  • Good luck on your U/S. Hope everything comes out well. I will definately hit you up on info about places over there oncew it gets closer for me to needing someone there. Looks like moneywise it may be longer than I wanted once we get there.

    Hickam huh? That's where I work....my husband is stationed on pearl.

    Anyways, take care.
  • Hey, hon:
    Just updating before bed... oy, back up again @ 0230 for a 0430 start... at least my little one(s)
    won't be keeping me up at weird hours of the night... heck, I'm ALREADY up!!

    U/S scheduled for 8 July... let me know if you need info from here... FedEx to HNL for me is less than 7.00 overnight guaranteed... glad to help if I can.
  • Hey, girlfriend... how're you doing? Getting in the last of that HI sun? :)
  • As a matter of fact, I am! How did your U/S go?
  • Hey, girlfriend...

    Well... found out that my right tube is blocked so now I'm scheduled for a tubal recanalization to open it... which is a HSG with a catheter inserted to clear out the blockages. We did the U/S and it "appeared" that fluid came from my left tube... cramps my a**... that HURT!!

    Also found out that my uterus tilts to the right which was probably one of the reasons we couldn't get the HSG done the first time. This one will be done under slight sedation... if it feels ANYTHING like the U/S when they had to get a stiffener into my cervix so they could thread the tube through, I'm kicking somebody through the wall if they don't... Bert's lucky that I LIKE him otherwise he'd have size eight footprints upside his head right now!!

    My RE suggested that we get back to the IUI's but, with the option of the chance of having BOTH tubes open, I'd rather go with that BEFORE the IUI... so, unless we can get it done before I LH somewhere around the 23rd, it'll be August for me. The best part is, once I get the other tube open, that it will help with my fertility for about SIX months versus THREE with just the HSG.

    Tan enough yet? :) How're you doing?
  • Hey girl... haven't heard from you lately...

    AFM: Had the surgery so all good there but my second IUI failed so moving on to IVF and changing clinics... probably North Shore Fertility or University of Chicago.
  • Hey ualtigger,

    What made you choose North Shore Fertility? I decided against them after some intial work there. I have heard good things about U of C though, and probably would have tried that if I hadn't already started with another place with a shorter wait list. Good luck with this next step!!
  • hi aldonza
    I was going to FCI for 2 years and had 4 iui`s and 3 ivf cycles but no luck.so finally we went to DR.Caruso at the University of Chicago and omg it was totally different I seen the Dr`more then i seen the nurses unlike fci I only seen the dr like 3 times out of 2yrs.I had one IVF cycle with them and i am soooo happy to say that im 9weeks preg.they have a wonderful staff and the doctors are great..so good luck and baby dust to all of you!!
  • hi aldonza
    I was going to FCI for 2 years and had 4 iui`s and 3 ivf cycles but no luck.so finally we went to DR.Caruso at the University of Chicago and omg it was totally different I seen the Dr`more then i seen the nurses unlike fci I only seen the dr like 3 times out of 2yrs.I had one IVF cycle with them and i am soooo happy to say that im 9weeks preg.they have a wonderful staff and the doctors are great..so good luck and baby dust to all of you!!
  • EaP: Did they have a age limit to using your own eggs?
  • Greta: Haven't ruled them out yet... I do think that UofC will probably be better for me but I like the fact that they are willing to discuss me using my own eggs... most places have dismissed me just based on my age alone without doing any testing. Waiting on my referral and then I'll decide who I'll be using.
  • ualtigger
    what I like about them is that they are always willing to do whats best for you.the Dr is always avalibe for any questions and always there to listen.If you would like I can give you my DR`s email and you can ask him about using your own eggs.
  • Please do... I'd like to try with my own just once. I don't like the fact that most places tell you "no" just based on your age and not test results. Thanks, hon... and good luck with your little one!!
  • Well... these folks do work fast!! I heard back from my fertility provider on Thursday, the 10th, and was told that I don't need to have another referral made to change my doc.

    I made my decision for Dr. Helen Kim at the University of Chicago since they have more experience with older moms. I called yesterday thinking it would be a few months like it was at U of I for the initial appointment... NOT... I have my first appointment on the 29th.

    So, hopefully, I will have my first IVF next month since I surge twice in October.
  • ualtigger

    im so happy to hear that,i tried leaving the email on here for you but for some reason i couldnt.but im glad to hear you got DR,KIM she is wonderful,she did my retrival and tranfer.YOU will probly meet the other doctors as well since they all work together and review whats best for you.so good luck and dont forget if you ever need anyone to talk to im hear for you.here is my email if you would like lild1682@yahoo.com..good luck!! edith
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