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New to IVF
MGALBN
Posts: 325
My quick background...Just turned 36 and have been thru 7 failed IUIs over the past year. Did first few with just clomid, then moved on to the hybrid cycle and added back to back IUIs for good measure. Tubes are clear, everything checks out ok, no health issues. Beyond frustrated, moving on to IVF.
Haven't sat down with the nurses yet for my scheduled plan of attack, but we're trying to use my next cycle for my first IVF, which is coming up very soon. I'm wondering if any of you out there can help me on what to expect? Just polling the public really...
How many IVF cycles did it take for your BFP?
How many follicles did you have after stimulation?
How many of those follicles had viable eggs?
How many fertilized?
Did they use a 'grading system' on the fertilized embryos?
Did they mix better embryos with weaker ones? Or only transferred the best ones?
Can you freeze 5 day blastocysts that are more developed? Or only use those fresh?
My RE says the injection IUs are typically doubled for an IVF cycle. What are your experiences with high dose injections?
Anyone use assisted hatching?
Anything else that might be a tip for me that I haven't thought of?
THANK YOU! :)
Haven't sat down with the nurses yet for my scheduled plan of attack, but we're trying to use my next cycle for my first IVF, which is coming up very soon. I'm wondering if any of you out there can help me on what to expect? Just polling the public really...
How many IVF cycles did it take for your BFP?
How many follicles did you have after stimulation?
How many of those follicles had viable eggs?
How many fertilized?
Did they use a 'grading system' on the fertilized embryos?
Did they mix better embryos with weaker ones? Or only transferred the best ones?
Can you freeze 5 day blastocysts that are more developed? Or only use those fresh?
My RE says the injection IUs are typically doubled for an IVF cycle. What are your experiences with high dose injections?
Anyone use assisted hatching?
Anything else that might be a tip for me that I haven't thought of?
THANK YOU! :)
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Thought I'd chime in and share my story...
After 3 failed IUIs and finding out I wasn't responding very well to the stims, my doc suggested IVF. When my wife and I went for our consultation, we decided that the best "bang for our buck" would be to use her eggs and try to implant them in me (I was 39 and she was 32). She did awesome on the meds and had tons of follies (over 40!) We retrieved 18 total, 11 of those fertilized (they did assisted hatching on all of them) and 9 made it to Day 5/6 blastocyst. (Our clinic only does blastocyst transfers). For our first fresh transfer, we were talked into only transferring one because it was such "high quality." Unfortunately, it ended in a BFN. 2 months later we did a frozen transfer using 2 of our best frozies. Again it failed. We were devastated and our docs were baffled. They did a biopsy on my uterus and I even did an MRI--just to rule out that nothing was wrong with ME. Then over New Years Eve we did a 3rd transfer. This time we used our next best frozies which we were told were "mediocre" and grade B/C. Believe it or not, it worked!!! We are 17 weeks pregnant now with a singleton! Sometimes I still just shake my head. I have no idea WHY it worked that final time, but it did.
I wish you the best of luck (I think you find out soon!!!) I'll be checking in to see how everything goes. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any more questions. :)
Interesting you should ask about the bleeding.
I woke up 2 days before my beta and there was blood. I remember just sinking to the floor in the bathroom and my wife coming in to cry with me. I thought for sure it was my period as I had been having some cramping the night before. That was going to be "it" for me. I figured if I couldn't get pregnant after 3 frickin IVFs and every test in the book, then there was no way I should keep trying. I pulled myself together, grabbed some tampons, and went to work. About an hour later when I went to the bathroom I was shocked to discover I had zero bleeding. I was so confused! I called my doc and he assured me that bleeding was normal (especially for IVF patients) and not to worry. ReallY? Don't worry??? Though we had never "cheated" before, we went and bought a pack of HPTs that night. About 2 seconds after I POAS, 2 lines appeared! It was crazy! I still can't believe it sometimes.
Having just suffered a negative I'm sure nothing I can say will make you feel any better. I just hope that you can find the courage to try again. When I was frantically searching for answers I remember coming across a website that said the average number of IVFs it takes for a positive pregnancy is 3 and that your statistics don't start to diminish until you've done 6. Not sure how accurate that info is, but it made me feel a bit better. I always assumed that you struggled to get pregnant, ended up doing IVF, and voila! you have twins and live happily ever after. (I now know that that only happens if you're Celine Dion or JLo). I hope you won't give up just yet. A good friend of mine just got pregnant doing a frozen transfer too. Her doc only does frozen transfers because he believes they have a much better success rate.
Best of luck and baby dust coming your way!
Austin, I had 7 failed IUIs before I moved on to IVF. In hindsight I wouldn't try anything more than 3 times before moving on to a more aggressive approach. I wish I would have switch to hybrid back to backs on the 4th try instead of the 6th. Three strikes and you're OUT in my book. Too much time, energy, emotions and money are wasted if you drag it out without trying new things.