Fertility Appointments and Beyond: Electric Boogaloo

@beckyCarlos thanks! I think the issue with us and donors is we don’t know if it’s me or him really or both. So I can’t see us doing it. I would have serious concerns that we’d get eggs and his sperm still wouldn’t work and it would be another waste of time. So it’s probably our own stuff or no kids tbh.

@99pctpractice I’m worried the first was a fluke tbh. The consultant agreed this was very shit.

It’s hard to believe it’ll work, it’s hard to think it only takes one etc. The ‘good’ embryos didn’t work, not sure how to think these could. Ugh. What a bitch.

So I got there. They basically said these are shit, better transfer them both and hope for the best because you’re 39 and your odds of this working are slim to say the least. I mean….what a shitshow this round has been. SHITSHOW. Every stage has gone horribly.

the one that didn’t fertilise normally will probably be done for tomorrow but they’re giving it another day and will call me to let me know but I think these two transferred not-blasts are all we’ve got. Reminds me of a round @99pctpractice had. Low odds of it working.

In theory we’re transferring but it’s not good. Nothing has made it to blast, we have one morula they’re going to aim to transfer when we get there. The other two are not developing enough but they’re giving them another day.

I hate ivf. I think I’m going to resign myself to childlessness sooner rather than later, this is just the worst experience.

@Anonbaby yeah morphology is the least bad of the potential things that can be wrong from what I know so that’s something. It doesn’t sound like the worst sperm, probably worth looking into dna frag as well.

Not great news on the embryo front. On day 3 we’re done to three and one of those hasn’t fertilised normally. Probably have 1 left by Saturday based on averages they said, worst case none. What an absolute kicker this cycle has been. Or nhs cycle was more fruitful and I’m still not really feeling like anyone is listening to me now I’ve gone private. I’m so sick of doctors right now, I just want a good one that listens.

I lied, he’s emailed back to say it could be the anaesthetic. Maybe it is, but I would not rule out a symptom of ohss since it’s literally listed here:

Unfortunately, hCG has a long duration of action (> 1 week), which can result in overstimulation of the ovaries. This can lead to the release of dangerous chemicals from the ovary (e.g. vascular endothelial growth factor; VEGF) that make the blood vessels in the body leaky. This can cause leakage of fluid from the blood vessels to areas which normally don’t contain fluid, such as the lungs and the abdomen. Therefore, OHSS can be associated with swelling of the abdomen, shortness of breath (due to fluid in the lungs), abnormal kidney function (due to lack of fluid in the blood vessels in the kidney) and swelling of the ovaries (which can then twist called ovarian torsion). Symptoms of OHSS can include feeling sick (nausea), vomiting, abdominal pain, abdominal swelling and breathing difficulties.

It’s like they think I don’t get enough eggs for it, which is nonsense. Women with 10 or 12 collected have definitely had it just on these boards.

@Anonbaby Was it much below? I think it’s only sunk in for us recently how bad DH’s motility is. We knew it was bad but his numbers seemed decent and now it feels like we need to spend time working on that and digging into if there’s a cause before our next cycle. Secondary is strange because it’s obviously worked before and then suddenly doesn’t.

No news today. Waiting for tomorrow to find out if any of them is still in the running. I’m feeling negative about it, hopefully I’ll be proven wrong.

@Tinkerbell098 it’s like they just think it’s not connected and it clearly is from the reading I’ve done online. I emailed consultant and not heard back, very annoying when you’re paying. Regretting my consultant choice tbh, he’s the medical director and seems less attentive than the last one we had there. But I can switch back if I want to for the next cycle, I guess.

@Tinkerbell098 a bit stressed about it all. Pretty sure i have mild ohss but no one ever cares when I tell them about the breathing issues, it's weird. I'm self-medicating with prednisolone because that's what the doctor got me to do last time, I'll stop before transfer day, if there's anything to transfer. Very tender lower abdomen, lots of hot water bottles, electrolytes and rest is underway.

We get an update tomorrow, if we could get more than one it'd be something, but I don't have high hopes.

@Tinkerbell098 yeah mine was about a week late too, this cycle will bring it all forward again.

@99pctpractice glad to hear your scan was good and you go to go to the funeral!

I'm not thrilled by 4 because it's only day 2, i'll see how they go.

Thanks. It’s frustrating tbh. My GP said ignore AMH (this was right at the start) but then the IVF clinics are obsessed with AMH and all gung-ho about how great your chances are with high AMH. I’ve got no better results than someone with much lower amh really, best results on lower stims so far, but I know male factor is playing huge part in that. What was yours btw?

@99pctpractice keep us posted, I hope the scan goes well. Not having to explain the lack of drinking is a good idea.

There’s a lot of people testing donor embryos on Reddit’s r/ivf, might be worth a visit to see the outcomes? You might have been there already of course!

@Tinkerbell098 what cycle day are you now, is AF due soon? 4 is ok but not great tbh. I would be surprised if they all made it, maybe one of two. Our MFI seems more severe than we maybe first thought, he doesn’t seem to have barely any decent quality, healthy swimmers. We’re going to spend time getting second opinions etc.

@beckyCarlos i do appreciate your only takes one positivity, I just wish I believed we’d get one. And we have bad male factor and recurrent implantation failure now so the odds are not in our favour with one 😩

Those pen portraits sound super cute, I’m glad you’ve found one or two you love.

In other news, I’m clearly having mild ohss breathing issues again. I’ve decided to self-medicate with prednisolone but I’ll probably have to stop by transfer day and I bet it’ll all go crazy again then.

@Anonbaby oh no, really it’s fine don’t apologise, sorry I vented over here but I didn’t know what to say in the other thread and was upset at the time. Probably overly sensitive too. I just can’t see how that’s the issue and I’m struggling to get my head around what’s gone wrong. I don’t think it was just you tbh, I’m just upset because this cycle has gone badly. I don’t understand how it could be FSH or even AMH when we’ve been on higher stims this time and I’m at a loss as to why I responded well once on lower stims but then not the second time. I’m a good responder and poor responder all at once apparently.