Bus 10 - All aboard the Donkey cart! Ivf, pcos, endo, unexplained fertility

[Marvellouslymadmum]

New thread 😊

@BussiBop23 morphology is actually the least important of the semen analysis perameters, I'm not sure if it helps to think of it that way? 3% isn't that bad, it's just below the normal range, but get him to take Impryl or another male fertility supplement and it should improve (obviously I'm assuming he isn't smoking or drinking lots etc, because those would need to be addressed as well). My husband's went from 3% to 8% after 3 + months on Impryl.

Guy's

We learnt that if the male has any kinda cold - effects results

My partners results in May werent ace

But jul were good.

Always repeat the test

@BussiBop23 it's not the end of the world but lifestyle changes plus impryl, mediterranean diet and cooling pads/avoiding heat on testicle can help. We have issues with all areas apart from motility and we have icsi. This can overcome many issues with sperm but the 3% isn't horrendous. Repeats with my hubbs have varied wildly but improved with impryl etc. Best to chat to clinic about best options before getting too despairing as it can be very overwhelming online! X

For very poor morphology ICSI is often recommended. It Starts With The Egg has a lot of information about supplements and diet for better sperm quality as well as ovarian function/egg quality.

Just dropping by after some time to say I hope you’re all doing ok @Lauralozzle @kerrym87 @Marvellouslymadmum. It’s been a while so though I’d check in.

@thislittlebird Hi! How are you?

Well, I had my 6th embryo transfer in February. Immune protocol this time with pred, blood thinners and intralipids. Somehow, I’m 7 weeks pregnant! First ever BFP. I have my first scan with the clinic next week on Tuesday, so I’m hoping it’ll be ok. I’m a bit scared of a MMC but hopeful too.

@thislittlebird thanks for checking in! I had my last failed embryo transfer October, one mosaic left and one egg collection already paid for. Got consultation with Coventry regarding uterine biopsy for immune issues in may (really long wait list!) So we're not going ahead with anything until had appt. Not likely to get round to transfer until autumn by the time biopsy and any treatment done. It's hard but i needed a break from all the hormones as I've been really struggling with it's effect on my anxiety and horrendous mood swings.
How is everyone else doing?

@Lauralozzle cautious congrats! I've never had a positive ever either with 5 transfers so hoping one more egg collection will increase the chance for us

@kerrym87 hello! Yeah I think that plan makes complete sense. It’s hard to keeping trying and trying and it not working. In Coventry a different clinic?

@Lauralozzle oh wow, congrats! I know how scary it is when it works eventually. I’ve only ever had BFPs when taking prednisolone (one chemical at 5 weeks and my daughter), so I’m sure there’s something about me that means my body is overly defensive. Fingers firmly crossed for your upcoming scan! I also had blood thinners but not intralipids.

I’m ok, baby is now 10 months and time is flying by. Back to work in a few weeks so that’s a pain, and not looking forward to nursery whatsoever. I feel horrible having tried so hard for her and then dumping her off on to strangers for a significant fee 😭

I’ll be receiving another storage fee for my 5CC embryo soon, don’t even know what to do about that.

@thislittlebird Hi! So nice to hear from you, can’t believe your LO is 10 months already!! I felt the same way about my children when they were little so ended up going down to part time (we weren’t supposed to have part time managers but they made a special case for me) but their dad couldn’t cope with that 🙄 (should’ve known then that he was useless lol) so I ended up quitting and starting up my own business from home self employed, that way I could work around them.

@Lauralozzle congratulations! Here’s hoping for a sticky little one, good luck for the scan!

@kerrym87 that makes sense, I’ve not been through the hormones and things yet, still all have that to come. Hope it all works out for you though 🤞🏻

I am still just plodding along here, actually had my laparoscopy 3 weeks ago 🎉 they nearly didn’t do it though! Told me it would be feb then never called to book me in so I phoned and they said it’s April now! Then I got a call as they had a space for two days time so I took it, went in starved and then the consultant came round and said, we don’t have a recent scan so we can leave it today order a scan and rebook you in if you’d like? But I said no I’d rather have it now I was there so he went ahead, which was a good thing, he came round to see me as soon as I woke up and told me there was lots of endo (as I suspected but they always said unlikely) he got as much as he could but it’s stuck to all my urethra/bladder area so I will have to have another surgery, open this time rather than lap to try and remove that. They also found a blockage in my right fallopian tube (explains why I get pain on both sides a lot of months and have failed ovulation a lot) so they removed part of that and sent it for a biopsy. He told me I would see him in two months for a follow up appointment and that I had to have an MRI, which they sent me for an MRI scan 2 days after surgery then another one a week later for more angles! Haven’t heard anything about the appointment yet so I’m going to call today and find out what’s happening.
I also in an unrelated issue (seeing thoracic for my asthma) am being given allergy tests and they’re checking my immune system! So hopefully I’m finally actually getting somehwere and I’m sure I have barely any eggs left now so will be hopping straight along to DE as soon as all this is done because I’ll be 46 in 10 days 😳 where has all my time gone?!!!
(sorry for the essay)

@Marvellouslymadmum a blocked tube can cause a hydrosalpinx which is toxic fluid leaking into uterus and affects implantation, endo also causes more inflammation so removing some can only be helpful
@thislittlebird it's one of the only clinics in UK that does immune endometrial testing for killer cells and immune system imbalance, it's nhs research centre but does it private too, it's cheaper than London clinics too. It's the last thing to explain implantation failure

@kerrym87oh I didn’t know that! I wonder if that’s been the issue with having absolutely no bfp for the past 7 years! Probably too late now eggs are likely all shrivelled up 😞

@Marvellouslymadmum unfortunately our eggs do have a use by daylte and mine aren't great to start wirh 😅 donor eggs have a much higher success rate so if they can sort out the blocked tube to make sure there is no hydrosalpinx it will have a higher chance of working than most people's own eggs. Fingers crossed for some more progress for you. We haven't even got to DE yet but once we've used our last round I really don't know where we'll go as it's already been 5.5 years and the hormones of all the failed transfers are bloody awful

@kerrym87i just wish that they had done all these tests and referrals years ago as we’ve been here 8 years now and would’ve had a much better chance before! But hey ho, I’m totally fine with DE it’s just obviously second choice to having our own but it is what it is!
Have you any idea at all what you’ll do next?

@Marvellouslymadmum consultation with Coventry to establish if immune issues in uterus and biopsy. If treatment indicated we will need 3 months of treatment before another transfer. If not treatment needed, we need to decide about our mosaic embryo (transfer or donate for research) and one more egg collection paid for. After that no idea but deffo no more collections.

@kerrym87hopefully they work it all out and something works for you. Sometimes I feel like it’s better they find something than don’t at least then you have reasons and the possibility of solving them!

It’s that time of year so I thought I’d drop by to say I hope you’re all doing well, it’s been a while since I checked in here but thought I’d see how you’re all doing.

We had a round on the NHS, IVF with ICSI.

Had 21 eggs collected, 16 mature, 15 fertilised, 14 on day 3, but unfortunately none on day 5, and two 5BB blastocysts on day 6. The consultant just shrugged when we asked what could have caused the dramatic drop off.

As I'm turning 34 in a few months we decided to go private to do some embryo banking. Also had a sperm DNA fragmentation test which turned out very badly at 45 %. My husband is now on a barrage of vitamins and supplements, and we are going to Miracle IVF by Dr Firdevs in North Cyprus for another round with Fertile Chip, ICSI, and PGTA testing. We are booked in for March.