Only 2 follicles told IVF unlikely to work!!

[SweetieDoesIt]

I have recently being diagnosed with only 2 follicles per ovary and told I will be unlikely to produce any eggs during stimulation phase of short protocol IVF, and if I do it is unlikely they will be suitable for transfer.

Obviously this is all really disappointing but as I am 38 now and the waiting list is 3 year for NHS egg donor, I have nothing to lose by going ahead with my funded NHS cycle.

Should I be preparing myself for failure or do they have it wrong and I may respond better than expected?

I haven't had a AMH done as I feel it is just another number to be compared to but my FSH was 8, LH 4 at my last day 2 test.

Thanks for any advice.

Hey sweetie. Don't worry - I never got paracetemol or the cream so sounds like you are being well looked after.

Umm yes the cyclogest. Delightful - not. Thing is if you get to that stage you'll be really, really pleased.

Get a big stash of panty liners in. And a nail brush. And don't wear your best knickers when you are using them. God knows how but that stuff not only manages to seep out (you'll feel v moist all the time) but it simultaneously manges to dry and crumble too. Honestly you take your knickers down to go to the loo and white specks shoot everywhere. :-)

If you don't laugh you cry.....

My only other top tip is that when you are going in for the scans etc you "own" the waiting room. Even when i'm not allowed to eat or drink I still rattle about and make a cup of tea. I never drink it - but it helps me feel in control.

I tell you what do practice snapping open the little bottles of saline. (you should have loads spare on 6 a day) I crushed them into splinters the first few times I tried.

My technique...

Line up 6 menopur vials.
Ping the tops off.
Take yellow needle out if wrapping. Loosen its cover slightly and put it down (obviously do not let any part of needle touch anything.
Do same with pink needle.
Crack open the saline mini bottle
Take syringe out of wrapping
Fit big pink needle.
Syringe up saline.
Do the emptying and syringing up routine.
It seems to get increasingly bubbly in the bottle as you get to 4 and 5. you must disperse these. If you've got the needle on the syringe tight and jammed in the bottle then you should be able to give the bottle a little flick with thumb and forefinger (really gently not like flicking a spider off you).

This is the bit that gets tense - they do go those bubbles just be patient. And after you've emotied each bottle put it back down on the table and check it again after. It's amazing how much can coat the sides and then pool at the bottom a minute later.

Despite all that I never had 10ml at the end - just over 9. Have you got one of the injector things? Love those!

Thinking of you.

Aw Pika thank you so much for the post. You are right I will be so relived to reach each of the stages and use the new meds it will go right out of my head how they are administered.

I have been to get myself stuff ready for when the time comes. Got some Detol spray, baby wipes, hand sanitiser gel, panty liners and have left them all in the spare bedroom next to the meds so they don't get used for anything else or lost. I will just follow the set routine and keep everything clean before starting then work my way through the steps.

Good tip to practice taking off the saline tops as we were shown rather than got to do it ourselves.

And I will dig out some old undies too. I hadn't really thought, other than to stock up on panty liners, about that so good advice too.

I am not sure what injector things you mean, we have pink needles for the mixing and yellow ones for the actual jabbing. I am not sure if to get some antiseptic wipes for the injection site too.

My relaxation CD arrived today, it suggests listening to the first of the three tracks in the days leading up to starting treatment. I went for the IVF Belief CD by Helen McPherson rather than the Zita West one, they seemed very similar on Amazon. I will have my first listen this evening and report back.

Just wondered how you are getting on?

Hi Pika thank you so much for thinking about me. Things have moved forward really quickly and I have been for egg collection today!!!

I have done 10 days of stims (450 menopur) and started ovulation prevention injections (cetrotide) from day 6. I got on really well with the meds, no side effects at all, felt fine. Preparation of the 6 x vial for menopur was quite time consuming but I did get quicker over the days.

I was scanned day 8 and day 10. Unfortunately I haven't been blessed with an abundance of follicles. I only had 3, all of different sizes. The largest was 30mm, medium was optimum 18mm and smallest of 11mm.

So they have only managed to collect a single egg today, of course I am really disappointed. I had expected low single number but 1 is very low. I am now just hoping it fertilises overnight and can be transferred, prob day 2 transfer if we get that far. So i will be waiting for that all important call tomorrow morning. I am not getting my hopes up when some ladies have many more than this that don't go on to be successful embryos.

I will pop in with another update when I know more, depending on how far we get in the next few days or couple of weeks.

Hi Sweetiedoesit just been reading through these posts ready for egg collection tomorrow, was just wondering if you found the relaxation cd any good? Never even heard of these but tempted to try it as really need to relax! Hope all goes well for you

Mrsjones I think you may have left it a bit late for a CD if you are having collection tomorrow to benefit from all of it. The one I have is divided into 3 sections for each stage of the process. The first is for down regging or prior to stimulation, the next is for stimulation and the final is post embryo transfer.

I know you can download a Zita West one through iTunes which is in similar sections so you could benefit from it today. It may help with the 2ww post embryo transfer.

The one I have is relaxation and positive visualisation, I like it as each section is about 25 minutes long. I use it as my time to relax properly.

Good luck tomorrow and for the future.

Sweetie. Are u ok? Did it fertilise? Been there with one egg twice - fertilised one time but not the other.

If it's bad news i'm so sorry - had my fingers crossed for you. Best advice out there is to be kind tp yourself. Go away for a few days it helps.

If it did work then rest up.

Hiya Pika
Yes our single egg fertilised. I was more anxious of this mornings call to tell us if it had divided. It had, so I had my embryo transfer this afternoon. By the time it was transferred it had divided again. So it was a day 2, 4 cell transfer. They didn't grade it or anything as I had no other options to go with.

I am now in the lap of the Gods and that dreaded 2 week wait.

Well my fingers are crossed.

Brilliant news Sweetie Rooting for you, big style!!! Please keep us posted and try not to drive yourself too nuts during the 2ww, hard though that may be!!! If it is in any way relevant i'm the same age as you and only one embryo went back so it really does only take one. I took the view that my body could focus hard on that single embie!

Just a quick update from me, sorry it isn't good news.

I started spotting over the weekend and AF arrived Monday exactly 14 days post egg collection. I have done a HPT this morning and of course it was BFN. I am really disappointed but I thought we would be very lucky for our single egg/embryo to make through to a little baby. But we had to give it a go with our NHS funded cycle.

We are now looking at next steps and are considering going for a second opinion at a clinic which specialises in poor responders. I will post a specific thread on both here and conception for any recommendations.

I am also considering having a AMH test done to know what that level actually is and then decide what to do next.

Thanks for all your support.

I'm so sorry.

I lost mine too and it's so hard. I was hoping it would work for you.

Be kind to yourself.

Sweetie I'm sorry to read you didn't have a great result this time.

Look after yourself and Fingers crossed for the future.