October ICSI/IVF

[NS05]

Hi all,

I have never written a post on here but thought it may be nice to get a thread going for anyone about to start ICSI/IVF. I am 28 and have been ttc for almost a year and have recently found out my husband has a very low sperm count (2 million) and ICSI is our only option. I was sure for so long something must be wrong with me so to find out it was him was a complete shock and I think we are both still adjusting. Fortunately we are able to go private and have my appointment to get the ball rolling on Wednesday. I have had a (all clear) and all of the bloods already so hoping we can get cracking next month so I am eager to get started. Everything is apparently fine with me apart from very mild pcos which I have been told shouldn’t effect my chances! I am still very anxious about the whole situation and just praying that the process will be successful.

If anyone has any tips or is in the same boat feel free to join!

[Naughtyboob]

I'm the same, it wasn't an option as we are NHS funded. It hasn't even been discussed with us.

[itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted]

I've opted for PGS on this second round - should get results in hopefully another couple of weeks (egg collection was 23rd September)

I've had 5 mc and so genetic testing is really the only thing we haven't tried - had all the standard tests that the NHS recurrent miscarriage clinic will do and they didn't find anything (I'm already doing progesterone suppositories and clexane for blood thinning and prednisolone in case of NK cells)

Part of me is glad we did it as our embryos and then blasts haven't been great quality and we had low fertilisation rates even with ICSI so obviously something is going on. We only got 2 blasts to day 5 to biopsy though and I was pretty disappointed with that and also had second thoughts about PGS given there is only 2 as odds are we may only get one that is genetically normal or none at all!
But I don't think I can go through another mc (I've also had 2 ruptured ectopics and have no tubes left) so hoping that PGS will give us our best chance of getting pregnant and staying pregnant

[itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted]

Should say in the grand scheme of things PGS isn't that expensive at my clinic -£850 for first embryo and a reduced rate for each one thereafter which are good enough to biopsy

Which is cheaper than transferring embryo after embryo which were never going to make it

Both my cycles have been freeze all anyway due to estrogen levels

[Thund4rcat]

@NS05 how come they are giving you such high chances of success? I've never heard of 65% chance of success let alone 85%! I have only heard of 20-30% chances of a live birth per embryo transfer, depending on medical history, age etc.

Is that maybe chances of getting pregnant rather than chances of a live birth? Or are those what your chances of a live birth are once you are already pregnant?

[NS05]

Thanks for all the info! I am going to have a think- so many decisions! I think it's 65 percent for getting pregnant as I am under 30 and we are just dealing with MFI which is low count rather than quality but who knows if what they say is even accurate! They do have really good success rates at my clinic though I think it's 68 percent across all ages. I don't know many people who have had first time success though so I'm not getting my hopes up!

[itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted]

@Thund4rcat
I've heard PGS increases success rates too over 70%

It's due to the fact most early pregnancies fail due to chromosome issues and by PGS testing you are effectively removing that risk

I've known people in their 20s have a cycle and test all 5 embryos and get no PGS normal ones come back. Most women can only expect that 50% of their blasts are genetically normal (over 40 years its less than 20%) so you might have a grade 5AA top quality blast but there is no way of knowing at that point if it's genetically normal without PGS

but obviously it is still a relatively new science and there is still some controversy about it however the HFEA does say that that there is evidence that it is shown to increase success rates when done at Day 5

[NS05]

That's super interesting @itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted - I think my clinic is 950 for initial embryo and then 400 for others so I may wait to see how many I have and decide- if it does make such a difference I guess it is worth it!

[Thund4rcat]

Ah I've just read on the HFEA website all the uncertainties etc. with PGS testing so I don't think I will pursue it yet personally. Maybe if I have another miscarriage or if this upcoming (3rd) transfer fails I'll feel differently. I can understand if you've had many miscarriages it makes sense as a next step.

[itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted]

@Thund4rcat
It's definitely one of those things I'd only try if all else failed - I also conceived naturally in between IVF cycles and my clinic Luckily monitored me throughout and even though that too ended in mc it ruled out a lot of causes for recurrent mc leaving genetics as the most likely cause.
I'm not entirely sure I would do it again - bad enough the stress of waiting to see what blasts have made to Day 5 and now have 3-6 week wait for PGS results with the knowledge that the 2 that did make it may have to be destroyed (UK clinics won't morally/legally transfer any which have been come back as PGS abnormal)

Most transfer failures are down to environment - so lining thickness, timing of transfer etc it's the chemical pregnancies and early mc before 12 weeks which are likely to be chromosomal given that most VF clinics have us on progesterone etc anyway x

[Naughtyboob]

Good luck everyone who's got appointments tomorrow xx

[NS05]

Yes good luck to all!! Let's home for some BFPS!!! Xxxx

[NS05]

Did anyone have a really dodgy tummy on menopur? Literally on day three and constantly running to the loo (sorry if TMI) wondered if this was normal?

[Youngatheart00]

Which is Menopur - is that your down reg or the stims? My meds get delivered tomorrow......

[Youngatheart00]

Hope you feel better soon in any case, doesn’t sound nice. Could you contact your clinic and ask if you’re ok with some Imodium meltlets or similar?

[NS05]

It's my stims! Yes maybe I should as I don't know how I'm going to manage at work it's a nightmare!

[Naughtyboob]

I was on bemfola, and if anything I went the other way.
I get my phone call in the morning to tell me how many embryos have made it to day five. I'm so nervous!!

[NS05]

Aw good luck @Naughtyboob let us know how it goes!

[Youngatheart00]

Good luck @Naughtyboob!!!

[Naughtyboob]

Thank you will let you know x

[siananigans]

We had our embryo transfer this morning! Only one of my 4 was at blastocyst stage, they're gonna check the others tomorrow to see if any of them catch up and can be frozen.

[Youngatheart00]

@siananigans how exciting! How are you feeling? Was it a day Five transfer?

[siananigans]

@youngatheart00
Yup, 5 day transfer. It was very smooth and straightforward. Over in about 5 minutes! Was cool seeing the embryo go in on the ultrasound.
I was really tired yesterday, got home and slept for about 4 hours then got up, had dinner watched some TV and back to bed. Not sure if the tiredness is related, maybe just general tiredness and also kind of relief of that bit being over.
Now the 2 week wait... I've to test on the 18th.

[Youngatheart00]

I’m guessing you’re on progesterone too? That can cause tiredness. But probably the adrenaline / emotion of the day can leave you feeling quite drained. Time to keep busy until the 18th and try not to read too much into symptoms! Everything crossed for you x

[NS05]

Omg good luck @siananigans so exciting!! Everything crossed for you! Have my day 4 scan today but don't feel too much going on with my ovaries- I'm so full of cold and just trying to get better!

[siananigans]

Just had a call from the embryologist, unfortunately none of our other embryos have developed far enough to freeze. So it's all riding on this one inside now. Think positive!