2nd Baby 2nd Time IVF'er....anyone else?

[sunshineonarainyday1]

Hi all

I conceived my first child through IVF in January 2014 and my daughter was born last September. We were lucky enough that it worked first time with only one embryo to play with.

We are back to the same clinic in September to discuss baby no 2. Would be great to hear from anyone else in the same boat. Mumsnet was my life first time round so hoping to have some more hand holding this time round. I was FabiOne previously but have had issues logging on so going with this account going forward

Xxxx

[Chattycat78]

Hi- I'm sort of in the same boat. 1st child conceived via ivf last April- born January this year. First ivf for us too with only 1 embryo so very lucky I know!

I would love a second but my period has not come back yet - am also worried about doing ivf again- can u get that lucky second time around? I have spoken to the clinic but they've said not to go back until my period returns. We were hoping to try naturally as well but really not sure if thats likely or if I would be wasting my time hoping for a Miracle...

What's your background if U don't mind me asking? We did ivf as I have low ovarian reserve, and ivf is not meant to be good for people like me (although clearly it worked first time before!). Do u think that makes ivf more likely to work a second time? Let's hope so!!!

[sunshineonarainyday1]

Hi ChattyCat

Congratulations on the birth of your baby in January! If you're anything like us its been an amazing but also very hard year! Lovely that it worked for you first time with only one embryo too. We were so disappointed when we found out we only had the one and didn't think it was going to happen... But that's all it takes, just the one!

I was reading somewhere (when googling about IVF a second time) that your AMH gives you a probability of IVF success. I am the high side of low so like you would be considered low chance of IVF working....but doesn't mean its impossible (which we've proved!).

My history is that I have a bicornuate uterus (2 wombs) and severe endometriosis. My husband's semen analysis has always come back fine but when they collected 13 eggs from me only 2 fertilised with normal IVF so I'm interested to hear what consultant thinks of this when we start IVF again. I'm guessing she will say for some reason my eggs and his sperm don't get on and we should do ICSI next time.

I think you're more likely to be successful with a second round of IVF if you've had success before. If you can get through each of the stages of the process and have a baby at the end then surely you can do it a second time?! That's what I'm hoping anyway. I might be being naïve and maybe first time was our one and only chance but I can't see that we'd get pregnant naturally so our only option is to try again.

We paid for treatment first time so would have to pay again so in reality we are going to only do one fresh cycle and see what happens as we can't afford to do anymore. Did you have first go privately or on NHS?

In terms of your periods, did you/are you breastfeeding?

[Chattycat78]

Yeah Im still b feeding once per day and gave up night feeding about a month ago but I was hoping to get my period back by now but as yet nothing has happened! I assume yours must have come back If you've been able to line up clinic appointments then?

How come u had to pay last time? Last time was our nhs go so we were lucky not to have to pay for it.

You did much better than I did on the egg collection - I only had 2 eggs(!).

And yes it has been an amazing but very very hard year! I never thought it would be this hard actually. Haha.

Out of interest, do u know that u can't try naturally- or are u assuming? You never know, maybe we will both get a natural miracle(!). I actually did get pregnant before we did ivf but it was a blighted ovum unfortunately.

[sunshineonarainyday1]

I expressed fed my daughter for 10.5 months and was taking the mini pill to stop my periods (to prevent my endometriosis coming back) but once I stopped expressing I had a random period. I assumed I'd have no periods as you don't with the mini pill and that expressing wasn't enough to stop you ovulating like actual breast feeding is. But something must have happened when I stopped and my body had a funny five minutes. I'm hoping periods go back to being stopped going forward. You might find when you stop bf completely periods return to normal.

I did consider coming off the mini pill and trying naturally but thought chances were so low that I didn't want to risk my endometriosis coming back and having to have third laparoscopy to remove it. Didn't sound fun recovering after surgery with a one year to care for!

We paid first time as NHS wait was too long. I started IVF Nov 2013 and would have started it on NHS July 2014 if it hadn't worked. A wait of 8 months was far too long!

And yes, this year has been way harder than I ever imagined. Felt really guilty in the beginning feeling it was really hard when I finally had the baby I dreamt of and so many other women were still trying. Now it's a lot easier I am thankful every day that our dream finally came true. I think that's why second time will be easier, if it doesn't work out then we've got our daughter and she's enough to complete us.

Who told you that you'd need to wait until periods return before you can start thinking about IVF again? Do you have a clinic in mind for next time?

[Chattycat78]

I spoke to a private clinic who told me we would need to wait.

I agree about second time hopefully being easier as you know that you already have a child. And I do feel very lucky to have him knowing that some people have to go through so much more. Hopefully you're right about the return of periods but I'm reluctant to give up feeding completely yet - I was hoping they would come back without my having to give up completely but that's not worked out so far!

[sunshineonarainyday1]

Fingers crossed! Did you have problems with your cycle before you got pregnant? That's good you're not ready to give up feeding yet. The longer the better! I was quite sad when I gave up and my daughter went on to formula. I was her sole source of milk for so long!

[Chattycat78]

No - no real problems before i was pregnant with the cycles so am hoping they (problems) are not going to start now! I know what u mean about b feeding but it's a tough call from my point of view because if my amh is anything to go by im quickly running out of time so need to get on with ttc asap!

I'll be interested to know what your clinic say after you were successful first time- your chances must be good if u had a reasonable number of eggs last time, especially after your sole embryo made it into a baby!

[sunshineonarainyday1]

That's good there was no problems beforehand then. Would suggest it's the bf that has kept your periods away.

Will let you know what clinic says regarding second attempt probability

[lovesLemonDrizzleCake]

Will be keeping an eye on you chatty and sunshine. We had a FET miracle in June 2014. I found out I was naturally pregnant on his birthday (it does happen!), but it was an early miscarriage sadly. Incidentally, still feeding him once a day at that point. My milk dried up rapidly, though.

I've just had a FET as we had a bunch of frosties left-over from our first round. Sitting and waiting and working, obviously We didn't have the individual chance chat with the clinic, as it seemed obvious to all of us to go back and collect the existing frosties hoping for a sibling...

[sunshineonarainyday1]

Aww LovesLemonDrizzleCake, good luck for your FET. I'm assuming you're in the middle of the 2WW? Will keep my fingers crossed for some good news for you shortly. Sorry to hear of your recent mc. Had you been back to the clinic before this happened? Sounds like the FET was quite soon afterwards? Fantastic that you had some in the freezer to use xxxxx

[Chattycat78]

Aw good luck! I really good it works out for you. Great u had frosties left to use. X

[sunshineonarainyday1]

LovesLemonDrizzleCake, any news from you?? Keeping my fingers crossed xxx

[lovesLemonDrizzleCake]

No news, otd Thursday and I don't do (early or any) testing. If no af has appeared I'll go in for my blood test and get them to call my DH as I hate those phone calls

[sunshineonarainyday1]

I don't blame you for not testing early. I had to test at home on specific date and didn't want to tempt fate by testing early. Fingers crossed for Thursday. How long will the bloods take to come back? Are you feeling positive about things?

[fflonkl]

Hello!

Just wanted to share my story - my lovely DD (2) was conceived through IVF on the 1st try as well.

We did IVF again in March and am currently 26 weeks pregnant :-) Again, got pregnant after the first try, so have gotten pregnant each time after 1 course of IVF so it can certainly happen! FWIW I had a low AMH this time around and got only 2 eggs.

I found this cycle more nerve-wrecking tbh as I was much more aware of the pitfalls at each stage, even if I was more relaxed about the whole thing as I knew what to expect (if that even makes sense!).

Re periods - mine didn't come back for more than 6 months and even then wasn't regular. Nothing to do with breastfeeding either as I only stopped breastfeeding when DD was 3 weeks away from her 2nd birthday!

Good luck - hope it all works out

[sunshineonarainyday1]

Fflonkl

Thank you for sharing your story and congratulations on your second pregnancy! Amazing to hear that it can happen first go twice! You have filled me with confidence.

Interesting what you say about the nervousness. Makes total sense tho. To fall at any stage when you've been through each stage successfully first time would be devastating but so pleased to hear you're nearly there. Fantastic! Did you do private treatment both times? Did you have none to freeze first time?

Xxxx

[fflonkl]

sunshine yes private both times. I started out with the NHS first time around but didn't want to wait 8 months between the 1st and 2nd appointments with the consultant so went private - straight to IVF as our private consultant thought that was the best course of action.

2nd time round was a lot quicker as well - only 8 days of injections (18 first time round!!) as they already knew how I'd react to the drugs.

I only had 7 eggs the 1st time, out of which only 2 were good enough to go back in. This time round as I said was told my AMH was low but we still managed 2 eggs, both of which fertilised. They weren't as good quality as before but both made it to blasto.

Re bf btw - I was on Menopur and I think you're not supposed to be bf when on it so you may have to stop bf anyway chatty if you want to go for another try.

lemon hope you get good news.

[Chattycat78]

Great story fflonkl! Amazing you had success twice the first time! That gives me hope too! ??Xx

[sunshineonarainyday1]

LovesLemonDrizzleCake, how did you testing go today? How long until the results?

[lovesLemonDrizzleCake]

Results came through while I was at a conference yesterday, so made them call DH, bfp. Very happy, but cautious (have had two mcs before).

[sunshineonarainyday1]

Ah amazing!! Obviously you're cautious but fantastic result none the less. Keeping my fingers crossed for you Lemon! Xxxx

[fflonkl]

Wonderful news LemonDrizzle! Fingers crossed it all goes well

[sunshineonarainyday1]

LemonDrizzle, how's everything going after your BFP from FET?

Fflonkl, you must be third trimester by now. Hope you're doing OK.

ChattyCat, how's things with you? Any sign of periods returning?

I have been back to fertility clinic and have a rough plan in place. I need to stop my pill and have two periods before having AMH repeated on day 21. I was high side of low last time so she just wants to check its not gone down or if it has whether it is still high enough to do long protocol or if we need to change to short. Following poor fertilisation rate she recommends ICSI this time, which is what I thought she was going to say. Anyway, hoping to start injecting soonish after Xmas. She seemed to think there was no reason things wouldn't work a second time but obviously couldn't say for definite.

[Highlove]

Oooh watching with interest. My DD was actually born after our second IVF cycle but we've got two in the freezer and were planning our FET next cycle. Eek!

I veer between feeling really positive - we know this can work for us - and then feeling like we can't be lucky again. It's been nice not to think about infertility and treatment for so long while I was pg and DD was tiny. Have a bit of a heavy heart about getting back on the train, but needs must.

loveslemon I recognise your name from last time - my DD arrived just a couple of months before your DS so we were probably on the same threads. Huge congrats and fingers firmly crossed for you.

[Chattycat78]

Hi guys,

Sunshine- did they say anything about your chances being higher as ivf has worked before?

Loves lemon- congrats. Great news!
As for me, yes AF is back. *Highlove- I know what u mean about the heavy heart- me too. We have started ttc again naturally for a while but I'm already hating the peeing on opk sticks/obsessing about not getting a positive/having to have sex when I can't be bothered! As for ivf, my dh has told me he's not keen to restart that for a while snd would rather we see if anything happens on our own for a bit. I can understand this logic, but I'm not getting any younger and I'm not sure if we are deluding ourselves in thinking it could happen naturally (I have low amh). Saying that, I have been pg before naturally (mmc) so I suppose you never know.