34 and only 4 follies!

[Tigergreen]

Hi there,

Im 34, DH 37 currently on my first round of IVF, having being diagnosed with unexplained infertility. My bloods were all normal but day 10 scan reveals really poor response to stims. I’ve only got two decent sized follicles (17,18) and Two other much smaller ones, at 10 and 7mm. I’ve been advised to stimm for a couple more days and go back Monday. Feeling pretty shocked and now worried this will be a failed cycle. Has anyone got any positive stories of going on to conceive with similar odds or experiences? Any advice on M anything I can do to encourage the other two to catch up? Is that even possible? Thanks a million x

Hi tiger, I don't post often but saw your post and hope I can offer some encouragement! On my 3rd Round of IVF I had 4 follicles at my baseline scan. Only 2 of these responded well but by the time of egg collection one caught up a bit and they retrieved 3 eggs although only 2 were mature. 1 of those fertilised using ICSI and I'm now 23 weeks pregnant! If you'd told me this would have happened when I was first told I only had two responding follies I never would have believed it. Good luck, I've got my fingers crossed for you.

Awh thanks so much for responding bluebell and congratulations, that is such hopeful news! I left the clinic today pretty shellshocked and this definitely reminds me not to head straight to despair. I wish you the very best with your pregnancy.

Do you know what your amh is? Were you expecting a poor response?

I did ivf age 35 after being told I had low ovarian reserve. I had about 4 follicles growing. Only 2 eggs were retrieved and we got 1 embryo. I had very low expectations tbh.

However, I got a bfp and he turns 3 next week!

Quality counts over quality!

This is quite useful factual information - have a look at the chart on the last page.

Good luck x

Hey chatty! that’s incredible. At this stage I’m just hoping we get to give it a go. Feels a long time coming to not even get a shot. I don’t know what my amh is, it was never tested. I’m NHS and my FSH was 6.9. Do you remember how many follicles you had before retrieval? I read elsewhere that the cut off is 4 of a good size.

I had about 4 before retrieval.

I’m amazed they’ve let you do ivf without testing your amh tbh. I don’t see how they could decide what level of drugs to give you.

Fingers crossed for you.

Thanks for that fact sheet 430west! Will give it proper squizz now.

Chatty - think different clinics have different views on this. FSH + AFC etc is usually solid predictor ( they didn’t ever tell me what my AFC was though...so this came as a bit of a shock. Right now I’m on 225 menopur

Drink plenty of water this weekend and keep your tummy warm with a hot water bottle to stimulate growth!! Good luck it only takes one and quality over quantity xx

I would be seeing if you can increase your dose. 225 isn’t that high.

It's quality not quantity that counts I had 16 eggs collected but only had 1 blast at day 5 she's 2 now.

You only need 1 good egg so try not to get disheartened

I agree with Chatty, I think I was on 450 of menopur the last time I did it. If it doesn't work out this time (hopefully it does!) then I'd suggest reading It starts with the egg. Lots of stuff in there about egg quality and how to improve it. I don't know for sure but I like to think some of that worked for me! It's all about quality not quantity!

Thanks so much for support and encouragement everyone. Really appreciate it! I’ve actually got It Starts with the Egg, and follow it losely (low carb, high protein diet, coq10, no alcohol or refined sugar but will pick it up again. Thanks again everyone

Hi all, Just an update from me incase of interest. They got 5 eggs in the end, 4 mature and found out this morning 3 have fertilised. Keeping everything crossed that one survives and develops enough for transfer. X

Good luck!! X

That's great news, keep us posted. Hope it all goes well.

Hey. We put one A/B embryo back yesterday ( 2 day transfer). Really grateful we get to give it a go. X

Hey everyone just to say unfortunately we weren’t successful. Gonna take some time to let our hearts rest but determined to carry on. Thanks for giving me a bit of hope, it helped a lot. X

I'm so sorry to hear that Tiger. Take some time for yourself, I know how hard this is to deal with. Best of luck for the future x

Sorry to hear that Tiger, give yourself some space and then will you try again?

Our first round was unsuccessful, and in the second round I only had 4 follicles, we had two embryos transfered and I got a BFP just last Sunday! Obviously very early days yet, doesn't feel real and I don't feel any different whatsoever but don't give up hope :)

I'm 39 too so a few years older than you OP, fingers crossed for you, good luck for the future