Embryo Banking Support Thread / PGS wait

[ForeverAintEnough]

Hi all, I’ve just name changed but I’ve been on here loads and chatting to many of you under different user names ( irrational fear of being outed!). I wondered if there was interest in a ‘no transfer happening’ group? So those doing embryo banking or PGS or whatever.

I’ve just done one round of embryo banking and found the normal threads difficult with discussion of hoping for a Christmas pregnancies etc.

We are unfortunately taking the long way round with 3 rounds and no transfer. It looks like my first transfer might not be until June 2021.

If anyone wants to jump on feel free!

About us: Me 34, DH 36, TTC 3 years. Both male and female issues. x3 rounds of IVF all failed. Moved clinic to Lister for 3 rounds of embryo banking and PGS. One round of embryo banking just finished with x3 blasts sent off for PGS testing.

@Sophfr17 Thanks for the kind words and encouragement re DE. I should definitely concentrate on my next FET for now. The embryo is euploid so represents my best chance and hopefully my body will also be in the best shape after the hysteroscopy.

Wishing you huge luck and success for transfer day!

@SarahK2000 Excellent news your follicles have come along nicely, just another of those IVF ups and downs! Hopefully you’re all set now for a good EC now.

@Moonstarsun Thinking of you, this journey is just horrendous sometimes and I haven’t been through the worst of it like many on this thread. Hang in there xxx

@Sophfr17 yes I am so relieved by the sudden growth in follicles. The trigger is going to be tomorrow and EC on Wednesday. Will be glad to see the back of egg collections! they won’t let me book the 3DSIS and Dummy transfer until I have a normal embryo confirmed and have spoken to the consultant with a treatment plan in place. So with my potential period dates after EC this most probably won’t be able to fall in the cycle following this EC. And they want the SIS and dummy transfer to not be in the same cycle as a FET so that’s what’s likely to push it out. I hope my PGS results come at the same time as you have said as I have my consultant appointment on the 17th of June.

@IslandStars thank you 😊 You are so right about the ups and downs of the IVF journey! Just don’t know what’s happening one day to the next.

Hi @SarahK2000 I suppose it makes sense to get PGS results first before doing 3dsis and mock transfer, which is actually what happened to me.
I am still surprised by one thing however: some nurses at uclh and crgh were surprised I would have my FET the same cycle I did 3dsis and dummy transfer (exactly 15 days later). I didn't ask why, but did they give you a reason for not doing FET same cycle as the sis and mock? Now I worry...

@Sophfr17 yes I agree it makes sense to have the PGS results first - I wasn’t going to endure the appointment before the results but just wanted to be able to book it in advance. But completely understand they don’t want to prebook something that may not be used. It’s so busy in the clinic these days and appointments should go to people who definitely need them. the nurse and the consultant’s secretary said it was to make sure they had time to address any findings from the 3D SIS and mock transfer. And that the clinic preference is to use preparatory month for it so that action can be taken. The guy in my team and his husband who are also using the clinic and a surrogate were also forced to separate it out. I wouldn’t worry about it though as your consultant is fine with both in the same cycle and knows the results etc and is choosing to proceed. Am sure it’s a consultant choice thing in the end and when I speak to mine she may well authorise both in same cycle to avoid delay.

An update from me. So the egg collection yesterday went fine (love the sedation so can’t remember any of it) and we got 16 eggs but just got the bad news that only 1 out of the 8 that could be injected fertilised today. Am really disappointed. From the 2 previous rounds we have 12 day 3 embryos but most of them have 20 to 50 percent fragmentation but will see how many, if any, make it to blastocyst by Monday/Tuesday (and then onto PGS) as they will thawed on Saturday. None of our perfect day 3 embryos from our first round had made it which made us do the batching so I don’t have high hopes. My husband and I have decided we won’t do any more rounds with my eggs. Will give donor eggs one shot and then call it a day. Not sure we can make the leap to both donor sperm and eggs and have a child without a genetic link to either of us (the main reason for our IVF is the male factor as the sperm has no motility, low count and fragmentation - I have an AMH of 20 but my age is letting down the quality of eggs). The emotional toll all this is taking on our lives is no longer feeling worth it anymore and we would like to return to a life not focussed on IVF. So let’s see what happens next but today feels a crappy day.

@SarahK2000 Sorry to hear the disappointing news, emotions are so high after EC, it’s difficult to be hit with a blow straight after. Let’s hope your embryo hangs on for the week. Maybe you’re suffering from that 3rd round fatigue like a lot of us here as results have dropped off.

It’s good you’ve come to a decision about DE if you need them, I totally get that double donor is another issue altogether. You can’t keep trying forever when it impacts so much on lives and finances, so if you reach the natural conclusion that you’ve had enough, then that’s perfectly normal I think.

For now, just keep faith in the embryos you have.

@Sarahk2000 sorry the outcome was not as successful as you hoped. Have faith in the little one that is growing right now. Hope you feel okay physically and that you are recovering well from the collection.
I had my first embryo transfer this afternoon, it went well and the all team was very nice. Now I will wait, but not 2 weeks before testing, that's for sure.
Thinking of you all xxx

Thanks so much @IslandStars - really appreciate the kind and considered thoughts. @Sophfr17 thank you too for the positivity. Best of luck with the pregnancy test - fingers crossed for the best outcome for you 😊 How was the transfer? Was it an easy process?

It was very easy @SarahK2000 lovely nurses, lovely embryologists and a very delicate doctor performing the transfer. 30 min process I think, I lost track of time in there. All team was gentle and calm. My bladder was too full for an retroverted uterus, so i emptied it a bit and it was very comfortable. And they showed it to me after, where it was. Not that I have any experience with other clinics, but you will be in good hands when it will be your turn. Xx

@Sophfr17 Good luck for the next 2 weeks, will be thinking of you x

Thank you! I will try not to overthink anything, symptoms or absence of them:) I actually never have any symptoms when pregnant, only the breast pain. Have you heard anything about your procedure @IslandStars?
Xxx

@Sophfr17 It’s surprising how many women don’t seem to have symptoms in early pregnancy, yet we still all symptom spot like crazy dyeing our 2WW

No update yet for me sadly, still waiting for my consultation appointment to come through to get the ball rolling.

Hello everyone! Hope you don’t mind me joining this thread. I’m 40 and currently just after my first egg collection at the Lister. Hoping to Pgs test, if we can get that far 😬😬😬.

Very lucky to already have a toddler, but desperate for another and finding this journey so hard.

I just had my day 5 call, 3 embryos are still at morula stage - so scared that we won’t get any blastocysts 😬😬😬.

Anyway, just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. Hope you are all doing ok and having a great bank holiday weekend xx

Welcome @Longgame12! IVF is such a long journey.... I hope you will get as many support and information as you need in this thread. I had my first PGS tested FET last week after 2 cycles. Have one normal embryo left in the freezer. Good luck with everything and speak to you soon!
@IslandStars, hope you are fine and that you will know soon the date of your procedure xx
How are you doing @Sarahk2000?
Take care all!
S.

@Sophfr17 thank you so much for asking 😊 I started to finally feel a little less emotional and tired yesterday. Going to my first restaurant trip tomorrow (since my 40th birthday last September) which I am really looking forward to! Fingers crossed for your pregnancy test next week. I really hope everything is going well with you 😊 I am glad your FET experience was a good one. I am terrified of anything speculum related as struggle with smear tests etc. I am such a wimp!! 😂
@IslandStars hope you get your appointment quickly and things start moving for you.
@Longgame21 Welcome! Strangely I also got my Day 5 call today. I have been batching over 3 rounds so had 13 Day 3 embryos (the latest round only led to 1 fertilised egg out of 16). I got the call today that 2 of the embryos - both from the same batch in April - had made it to blastocyst and were biopsied for PGS testing. However, 4 are at the morula stage and 2 a little ahead of that (with the rest not developing). They will monitor until tomorrow to see if any more develop further to blastocyst to be able to be PGS tested. I am nervous as during my first round, before I started batching, I got no blastocysts and had a morula that stopped developing on Day 6. Saying that, I have friends who have had day 6 blastocysts frozen which have led to a child through surrogacy, so it seems entirely possible for them to continue to grow. Good luck with your morulas, let’s hope they become blastocysts tomorrow 😊.

A quick update from today. 5 more made it to testing so the morulas did progress. 7 have gone for testing in total. Praying and hoping for some PGS normals in there!🤞. It will be a 2 week wait to find out.

Oh @Sarahk2000 that is so good, 7 sent to PGS! I am happy for you, hope you will manage to relax a little now xx

@Longgame21 Welcome, hope you’ve had some good news today with the morulas. I had this a couple of times and some did catch up overnight or day 6.

@SarahK2000 That’s fantastic news, I hope the 2 weeks go quickly now!

@Sophfr17 I’m still waiting for my appointment, should hear this week, but not expecting it to be until July anyway, with the procedure in August. Hope you’ve been feeling ok and that any symptoms are positive ones!

I am sorry it is going to take so long @IslandStars....
I am alright, although mental pressure is increasing every day as you can imagine! No symptoms, only some cramps today, 5dp5dt. I very VERY stupidly tested today, light positive, but then I remembered that I had had a 10,000 gonasi shot 12 days ago, so i really don't know. Could be a + or nothing at all ^^ so stupid
These 2WW are horrible, natural or ivf cycles. I should know better, I have been there 6 times lol

@Sophfr17 Thanks, it feels like such a waste of time, I just have to hope my last embryo works.

If you’ve just started getting cramps today, that could be a good sign, as implantation is normally complete after 5 days. I never had a trigger, so not sure how long it stays, but I think you can be cautiously optimistic. Maybe try again in a day or 2, if it’s darker, then it’s looking good! Keeping everything crossed for you x

Yes @Sophfr17 be cautiously optimistic. My friends’ surrogate kept doing daily tests and it got darker and darker in time and she is now 8 weeks in. Fingers fully crossed for some positive news for you 😊

Thank you for your support @IslandStars and @Sarahk2000! I think I will stop for now and try again on saturday, give myself a break :)

@SarahK2000 amazing results! Congratulations! Will keep everything crossed for you.

Sending positive vibes @Sophfr17!

@Sophfr17 How are feeling, did you test again? Not sure when your OTD is, mine was early at 9dp5dt as it was a blood test.