Hoping for a miracle: TTC naturally after successfull IVF anyone?

[catus]

Is there anybody else ttc after successful IVF? I try not to hope but I can't help it, maybe we could be one of those lucky people everybody seems to have a story about? You know the ones : " ho, my aunt's next door neighbours adopted a little boy and one year later she was pregnant! You've got to relax!"
But maybe we're wasting our precious time, and we should just go straight to IVF?

[FlipFantasia]

Congrats on your successful IVF! We had IVF/ICSI for our DS - my DH has a low sperm count and we were told ICSI was our best chance of having a baby. Not our only chance mind (the consultant specifically said he could never say never) but our best. So we had one round and were lucky enough to get pregnant with DS.

When he was 10 months (in January this year) we went back to the clinic, to get the ball rolling on a second round of ICSI. As I was still breastfeeding they said to give that up and wait 2 cycles and get back in touch. So off we went...and then I get pregnant naturally in Feb. It was totally surreal - all those "my hairdresser's sister's neighbour had twins via IVF and then got pregnant naturally with triplets when they were 6 months old" type stories had really annoyed me. We had spent years ttc, and those stories reminded me of when people would say "just relax and it'll happen" or whatever. And now here I was one of those people...

Anyway, unfortunately I miscarried at 7 weeks. It was totally heartbreaking, but we still just felt so lucky to have DS and knew that we'd go down the ICSI route again at some point. But we waited before starting the ICSI ball rolling, as I'm still breastfeeding and didn't want to rush to give it up and wanted to get over the MC properly.

And then amazingly I got pregnant again in June and am now 8+6 and things are looking good with this pregnancy [knocks on wood].

I can honestly say we never in a million years expected to get pregnant naturally and were definitely prepared to not waste time (I'm about to turn 34) and just go down the ICSI route again. My DH's sperm count is still low, so not sure what changed.

Perhaps one option could be to set a deadline, as in start IVF is nothing happens naturally in x months/cycles.

Good luck whatever you decide

[freelancescientist]

It so much depends on the cause of your infertility in the first place. Sometimes hormonal problems are less severe after a course of IVF and/or pregnancy, and ovulation happens normally when drugs were needed before. Might be worth having a few tests (FSH/LH/AMH) redone to see where you are hormonally?

[theowlwhowasafraidofthedark]

Hi there
We got pregnant first time on clomid resulting in dd. Like you I always hoped that second time round we would just get lucky! Unfortunately we ended up doing ivf/icsi which has been successful (6+4). I think whatever happens I will always be an obsessive cycle watcher though - I can't imagine not wanting a baby and it's like my life will always be dictated by it.
I know of someone who conceived with ivf then became pregnant naturally a few months after their first baby's birth.
Good Luck

[havealittlefaithbaby]

Sorry it's a "my friend did" but my mate has pcos, she tried for three years and got pregnant on her last dose of clomid. She then fell pregnant quite quickly with dc#2 naturally. In her circumstances she thinks the pcos was kick started by her first pregnancy.
So I agree with freelance it really depends on why you.needed assisted conception in the first place as to the likelihood of natural conception second time round.

[catus]

Thanks everyone for your replies!
Our problem is that my DH has low motility. We were so lucky that IVF worked for us first time, we really were overjoyed. All of your positive stories are lovely (ha! the joy of finally being able to feel genuine happiness at somebody else's pregnancy!) and are giving me hope.
I think the idea of a deadline is a good one. I'm 33 and don't want to waste time. My DS is 1yo, and I've been using a fertility monitor for 5 months, so we'll probably try for 5 or 6 months more and off we'll go back to the doctor.

FlipFantasia, I'm sorry for your miscarriage. I had one when we first tried TTC, it was really hard, especially when I know now how lucky I was to get pregnant in the first place. Good luck with this pregnancy, I'm wishing you all the best!

[luminary]

I could have posted this about a year ago. In fact, I think I probably did. We tried for three years, ended up doing IVF, and got pregnant with my DS, who is now 17 mths. Again, low motility seems to be the problem.

We tried again as soon as my periods came back, and decided to put a time limit on it. We are reaching the end of the period I feel comfortable trying for (a year and counting), and have just (literally, today!) made the appointment back at the fertility clinic. We could be cycling as soon as October.

I feel sad that we didn't get that bfp naturally that everyone assured us we would get after going through the hell that is infertility and ivf, but now I just want to get on with things and get on with my life.

As my husband keeps saying, if nothing else, it means that if we have another ivf baby, they'll both be the same. One won't be "better" than the other...okay, this might be his hang up, but it makes me feel a little better about going back to the clinic!