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.

Hi @IslandStars i am fine thanks, today is 10dp5dt and i was told to test at 14dp5dt.... so yes, I tested everyday this week, and the line got stronger, although I am using the cheapest strips from Amazon. So I think that it implanted! For how long, time will tell, I have pretty bad experience with that. I am very cautiously optimistic. Anyway, I will use a "cb with week indicator money stealer test" on Thursday and will ask my doc to have a blood test on Friday. I feel nothing, just a few cramps but that is it.
No excitement for now of course, but the transfer worked at least. But again, for how long???
Xxxx

@Sophfr17 That’s fantastic news!! I’m so happy you’ve got this far with the line getting stronger. I know you must have a lot of worries with everything you’ve been through, but you’re pregnant right now! That is such a relief and a huge hurdle you have come through!

I hope you can start to feel excited after the very expensive CB test lol and hopefully the blood test will confirm with a good hcg. Best of luck for the rest of the week x

Thanks for your kind words @IslandStars, they really mean a lot to me . Im trying not to compare line intensities of these tests known to be slow to react.... I can't say I am preg. right now, but i told only my parents today that we have a positive test!
I am tempted to call my consultant tomorrow and tell him, but I will probably wait for the official test at 14dp5dt...
I am less anxious than for my previous natural pregnancies because at least, i know the egg quality is not a parameter anymore.
I am handling all medications very well too, so i feel quite good, and peaceful, nothing is in my hands, I have done the maximum I could so far!
How are you doing right now? Do you think you will take some time off, go on holidays, before your procedure in August? I imagine how long the wait must be for you.
Take care and thanks again :) xxx

That’s good, I’m glad you’re feeling calmer this time and handling the medication well, it’s true, you know this embryo is euploid, so there is some extra reassurance there too. It’s exciting to be able to tell your parents, I’ve never had a BFP but my closest family know I’m doing IVF, so hopefully when I get a BFP, I’ll tell them too, even though it will still be a long journey ahead, we do have to remember to celebrate when we can after all the hard times.

I’m doing ok thanks, the waiting is hard, but I’m doing a few more things socially while I can and I do have a UK holiday booked for next month too, so it will be a chance to loosen the healthy regime a bit and relax with a change of scenery before my hysteroscopy and FET x

@Sophfr17 Forgot to tag

Hello! Sorry for the late response. After a nerve wracking wait last weekend we managed to get 3 blasts to pgs test, I was pleased with that for my first round. Waiting for the phone calls is bloody nerve racking isn’t it?!

Thank you all for your kind words of support, it really helps to speak to others who are going through the same thing.

@SarahK2000 7 is a great number to test. You must be so pleased! We are literally following the same path this round. We had our egg collection on the same day! I got my period yesterday, super heavy. Will keep everything crossed for us both for the pgs results next week.

@Sophfr17 mega congrats to you! Sounds like you have had such a tough journey to get to this point. Really hope it’s smooth from now for you xxx

@Sophfr17 am so pleased for you that the progress sounds positive - can see why you would be nervous with your previous experience but try and relax and let the positive sink in 😊
@IslandStars it’s great you get a break and some relaxation. It’s nice sometimes to not be waiting for the next ivf call or injection.
@Longgame21 fingers crossed for your 3 blastocysts. I know what you mean about the wait, it’s completely nerve wracking. This is going to be a looong week and yes we are exactly the same stage!

Thanks for your nice words everyone :) I am cautious though, even my Dr today told me, that's too early, test again 14dp5dt... So, i will do that
@IslandStars both our families know everything, they have been enjoying our joy of preg announcements and were with us during our losses. Month after month, loss after loss, they stopped being optimistic or saying "it will be fine". And when we started IVF in Dec 20, they were there too. They are as scared as us. It's like the life of everyone got crystallized since our 1st baby loss 2 years ago. They carried on with their life of course, but this grey cloud is following us. Our closest friends in London knows also what happened and is happening. They are all very kind and discrete.
I am glad you are going to take some holidays soon. We are also planning on going somewhere south west in August if everything if fine.
That's a good number indeed @Longgame21! Are you doing a second round or were these blast sent to PGS? In any case, well done to you!
@SarahK2000 I hope you are handling the wait nicely and enjoying this time off. The PGS wait was good for us, like a forced break:)
Xxxx

@IslandStars forgot to mention before. Glad you are able to enjoy life more at the moment. I am too. The relaxing of restrictions is making such a difference for me to be honest. It has been a gruelling few months.

@Sophfr17 they have all gone to pgs so will get the results before the next round. It’s interesting that Lister do it that way, but other clinics test at the end? I think I will ask my Doctor about that when we speak next

@Longgame21 Thank you, waiting for anything during IVF is hard, so it’s nice to be able to fill my time a bit more socially and go on holiday.

Congrats on your 3 blasts, it’s a great number and even better that your clinic tests after each round. I wish mine did that, as it was a constant worry throughout my 3 cycles that I might not have any normals.

Hello everyone! Today was my official test day, 14dp5dt PGS tested, and dear cb tells me "pregnant 3+"! I am very happy! No need for blood test according to my doc, and a first scan will be done at 6 weeks + 3 days (I am 5 weeks today).
I hope the PGS wait is going ok @SarahK2000 and @Longgame21.
The road is long but at least we are on it...
Take care all xxx

Such amazing news @Sophfr17 💕 So very happy for you, some light at the end of a what has been a difficult tunnel for you 😊 hope you have a nice and easy pregnancy start and your next scan goes well. The wait feels long - I have suddenly become very interested in my back to back work meetings to keep me distracted lol

@Sophfr17 Fantastic news, I am so, so happy for you! The one great thing about IVF is that you’re 5 weeks already lol. I really hope the scan goes well and you have a healthy and enjoyable pregnancy, it is so well deserved

Good advice there, the road is long, but it’s all worthwhile for the BFP. Let’s hope there’s more luck on this thread soon.

Aahhh thank you so much @IslandStars and @SarahK2000! I feel incredibly lucky, I hope it will stay that way. I hope this is the beginning of more luck for all of us :)
X

Oh that really is great news @Sophfr17, it must feel great to officially know. I really hope you can relax a bit now before you have your scan ❤️❤️❤️

Bad news from me I’m afraid, got the call yesterday. No normals. I knew there was a chance of that but it still hurts none the less. Wondering if there are any decent eggs left in me and then also I went down a rabbit hole last night about pgs itself as opinions are quite divided on it.

This is the first big blow for us on our ivf journey - it’s all so tough is it it.

@Longgame21 Sorry to hear that, the PGS wait is so tough, then when you don’t get normals it’s a real blow. I know PGS is still debatable in its worth, but I think it’s best to see it as a selection tool in terms of avoiding transfers which are highly unlikely to produce a baby. On the plus side, you’ve almost certainly saved yourself the time/money/anguish of 3 failed transfers.

If it’s helps, my only normals came in round 2 out of 3 so it can change and justified the reason the clinic gave in me needing a 3 cycle package (although a 2 cycle would have been best in hindsight, but they don’t offer them!)

I had 13 embryos, so if 11 were destined to fail, it could have taken me a very long time to reach my euploid transfer just by chance alone.

If you’re really not sure about PGS now and you only get 1 or 2 blasts next time, you could always tell clinic you don’t want to test, but it depends how much time is an issue for you. For me at 41/42 I wanted to reduce the chance of MC, as if I was to carry for a few months, I’d need to wait a while for hormones to return to normal before trying again.

@Longgame21 I am so sorry to hear that your embryos didn’t test PGS normal. Please don’t lose hope. For my first round (December 2020) I didn’t end up with any blastocysts to test. For my second (February 2021) I got 2 blastocyst and no normals. For my third (April 2021) I got 4 blastocysts and 2 normals. For my fourth and final one (June 2021) I had one egg that fertilised and made it all the way to a normal blastocyst! So I found out today I have ended up with 3 normal embryos out of 7 that went for testing. Am so relieved and nervous at the same time of the next stages. But it shows you can have rounds with nothing and then rounds with normals and it’s just the roll of the dice and luck. So keep going and you will end up with some normals too 🤞. I have lost hope so many times on this journey, unfortunately it takes a lot of patience to get through. I am going to be 41 in September so am in the 40 plus group and my husband is 50. @Sophfr17 I hope the pregnancy continues well. I may be asking you some questions about what to expect with the 3D SIS etc once I get my head round next steps. I hope everyone on this board continues towards successful BFPs 😊

@SarahK2000 3 out of 7 is a great result! They say over 3 euploid transfers, 95% will lead to a live birth, so you will hopefully have everything you need.

Hi @Longgame21, i am terribly sorry about your PGS results :( please have no regret, PGS is the right thing to do, it saves us from inevitable miscarriages. If your embryologist has definitely found some chromosome abnormalities, it is better to know it now. Pgs is a chance, it is still not allowed in France, and my chances would have been extremely low in my country.... I am very sorry, and I hope you will have the strength to take care of yourself and take the time to think about your next move. ❤❤❤
@SarahK2000, that is a good number, you have been very lucky you can ask me anything about the 3dSis or Dummy transfer. You will likely have a few months break between last cycle and transfer, which is a very good thing in my opinion, your body needs a rest!
I think the progesterone is building up in my body, injection and pessaries twice a day, my mood is very unstable.... My psychologist told me today it should settle down soon, I hope so
Take care everyone 😊

@Sophfr17 massive congratulations to you on your BFP I’m so pleased you’ve had a good result and I hope the next few weeks, months go smoothly and you can enjoy your pregnancy. It’s so nice to have some good news to give us all hope.

Sorry to hear about your PGS results @Longgame21 hopefully the next round will be better for you.

Great news with your results @SarahK2000 you must be so relieved to know you have a decent amount of normals.

Sorry I haven’t been around on the thread much. Things just got really overwhelming for me. I’m still in mild pain from the egg collection which was just over a month ago. I had a private MRI pelvis for ? Endometriosis and mild Endometriosis and adenomyosis was found. My consultant has recommended down regulating with Prostrap for 2-3 months and I had the injection today. So I am officially in artificial menopause (joy). I freaked out last night after reading the MRI scan as it said I had left haematosalpinx amd when I googled it it said management is usually surgical (so removing the tube). I’m sorry to say I broke down and started thinking the worse. Luckily on my US scan today my consultant couldn’t actually see this so he doesn’t think I’ve got it and has reassured me that things will settle. I think with the difficulties I’ve had id started to lose confidence in the process but I do feel more positive after my consultation today. Anyway, that’s my update. Hope everyone is ok and I’m so glad we’ve had some good news on the thread ❤️

@Moonstarsun glad to hear you were feeling more positive after the overwhelmed state. Hope the process of the next few months goes quickly for you.
I had my 3DSIS and dummy transfer. Both were much easier than I had anticipated and took less than 10 minutes. Luckily my consultant pushed to schedule it in today so I didn’t miss a whole cycle before the transfer so the transfer (subject to lining etc) should happen before the end of July. The consultant has also put the transfer under sedation as I struggle usually with speculum based procedures. For those of you like @Sophfr17 can I please ask what protocol you were on for FET. I was a little thrown as my consultant mentioned down regulation in the preparation month but when I went through the protocol with the nurse today she said I didn’t need to have anything in the prep month (except Northisterone) until Day 1 of my period and then Cetrotide injections for a week (followed by some patches/oral of something). I was expecting to take Burselin and have a long protocol rather than a short one (as leaving my hormones to themselves didn’t work very well when I did short protocol for my egg collection) in my first cycle. Grateful for any insight on your experience please.

Hi @SarahK2000 i am glad the 3D-SIS and dummy transfer went well. Also, it is fine if you need a little sedation, its better that being in pain in my opinion. I also struggle with procedures with speculum (i had a surgery here long time ago and it is still sensitive).

Regarding the FET, my consultant decided to do a natural FET = according to my normal menstrual cycle. The reasons are: 1) i ovulate every month and regularly; 2) i reacted very badly to the norethisterone during the downreg of my second cycle.

So basically, during the transfer cycle, i bled naturally (Day1), at Day5 i had a scan to check lining was thin, and from Day10, I had a scan and blood test (oestradiol and LH) to track my ovulation, every day. No drugs at this point. When i was ready to ovulate (according to scan and LH peak), i just had an trigger injection of Gonasi. The next day (day 1 post ovulation), i started progesterone (way too much...) and on day 5 post ovulation i had the transfer.

My advice= the less hormones the better if a natural FET is possible for you, of course. I am struggling A LOT with the high doses of progesterone i am still taking, 2 Lubion injections + 2 cyclogest, despite having done a natural FET (which means i started producing progesterone myself after ovulation, not sure why they gave me all that). My symptoms so far due to high doses of prog: depression, anxiety, exhaustion, no appetite (barely eating), fever. Just feeling the worst, like when i suffered depression in the past. I warned hospital many time this week. Nothing. Consultant on holidays :( so i have to wait until next Tuesday, day of my first scan (6w+6d), to ask if i can reduce the dose.

Downreg etc. is quite practical apparently because the cycles can be controlled. But i think the doctors underestimate massively the effects of all these hormones on our mental balance.

On a nice side, you seem to have tolerated very well your downregulation phases so far, so i am very optimistic that all will be good for you :) What i am experiencing is apparently quite rare and is due to a history of mental issues in my case.

Take care, not so long to wait xx

Thanks so much @Sophfr17. This is all extremely helpful. I am so sorry you are having a tough time with the hormones and your mental well-being is being impacted. Northisterone and Burselin both make me feel extremely down and I literally kept thinking about the death of people around me etc. I had to constantly remind myself that the hormones were making me feel much worse than usual - but it’s so hard to distinguish. It made working very difficult too. If you have a history of anxiety and depression, I can’t begin to think how hard it must be for you. You seem like you are doing well in holding it together. Sending you loads of positive wishes. Hang in there and hopefully you will come out on the other side…and with a beautiful baby you can enjoy the experience of 😊

Hi everyone - hope you are ok! Thank you all so much for your kind words to me, it means a lot.

@IslandStars let’s hope I’m like you and get two next time round! I think we will stay with PGS for now. I had a traumatic miscarriage 18 months ago and the thought of going through that again and also losing time isn’t so appealing.

@SarahK2000 your story has also given me hope! Congratulations on the normals! Were all your rounds at CRGH? What protocol were you on and did you make changes between rounds? We spoke with our Doctor yesterday and he is suggesting 450 Menopur (up from 375), this is the highest dose you can have. His theory is that it’s a numbers game. Would be interested in hearing what your clinic said to you throughout the process.

@Moonstarsun So pleased you won’t have to get your tube removed. Hopefully you can relax and take some time out now while you are down regulating.

@Sophfr17 that’s hard re the drugs. I really hope the Doctors can help you. Also bare in mind that pregnancy in itself can be a trigger for depression and anxiety (great!). I really struggled during my pregnancy with my son. Can I ask if you are taking anti depressants? I have been prescribed sertraline and have been trying to manage on my own without it but now wondering if I should take it.

@Longgame21 fingers crossed for your next rounds 😊 yes all 4 of mine were with CRGH. The consultant strongly recommended PGS at my age and said it would save successive transfers of non viable embryos and she went as far as saying she would give the same advice to her own sister. In terms of protocol - The first cycle was a short protocol and didn’t work as well. It yielded 8 eggs and 3 fertilised. A small number of lead follicles growing too quickly were the reason the egg numbers were lower. The meds dosage was 150 Meriofert and 150 Fostimon at that time. All the rest of the rounds (which got 17, 13 and 16 eggs but the blastocyst and fertilisation numbers were very different) were with Burselin down regulation and then 225 Meriofert and 225 Fostimon. It really is a numbers game according to my consultant. The only issues is the high egg numbers don’t always translate into high numbers for fertilisation and blastocysts, as my last 1 proved with 1 egg fertilising. So I think it’s right to go for max eggs and hope for a good number coming out of it. Fingers crossed the next is the lucky one and you get your normals in one round 😊 my 3rd round had the best quality embryos and the only thing i did differently was more zita west vitamins and separate Q10 (my consultant has recommended this for the current FeT round too). But I am not sure it made much of a difference as the last round was crappy and I had continued the supplements past round 3.