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.

I’m bad at talking my own advice, but please don't test early, I was quite content in my PUPO phase, much more so than during my PGS wait, but I let curiosity get the better of me and tested. I only used eBay cheap tests, but they’re still supposed to detect early. I’ve got some Clear Blue to use for next couple of days, so I’ll just have to cling onto a glimmer of hope that hcg starts to show.

Hello @IslandStars? I would be interested to know who doesn't test early, either while trying to conceive or after a FET.... i think we all do it
How are you today? Are you gonna wait until the blood test on Thursday? I understand that the additional hormones might be quite hard as they mimic terribly the pregnancy...
I am having my second egg collection tomorrow morning, 8 good size follicles, apparently. But we will know more after after fertilization. The plan being to cycle a 3rd time (and last time, this is the limit i gave to myself) before doing PGT-A. This will be discussed too on Thursday with my consultant.
Take care all xx

@Sophfr17 Best of luck today, hope everything goes well and you have a good fertilisation rate.

I’m still BFN today at 8 days past, so I’m almost certain it hasn’t worked, but I’ll go for bloods tomorrow just to finalise it and move on. In my head I’m already planning for my second transfer, as it helps me cope with the disappointment x

Hi @IslandStars just a message to say I'm sorry. I guess you won't know for sure until you have the bloods. It's so stressful and disappointing and as you say the chances were so much higher with the euploid embryo. Really hoping the news changes for you.

Good luck @Sophfr17 hope EC goes ok and you get a good fertilization rate xx

@Moonstarsun Thank you, just bad luck i suppose, sometimes nature just doesn't play ball. Will see what happens tomorrow, then move onto next FET if need be x

@IslandStars i am very sorry that it didnt work for you. After the cycles and the PGT-A, you were hoping for so much.... but this is not over, try to have faith if you can; I hope you can have a FET again soon
@Moonstarsun, did you have your periods after all? Hope you can start your 3rd cycle soon
EC went well this morning, you know fall asleep and wake up, perfect. They got 7, this time, last time there were 9, and 6 fertilized (have 6 frozen at day3). Will know more tomorrow!
Take care xx

@IslandStars I’m sorry to hear you haven’t had a positive test. Still seems early at 8 days? Maybe still some hope? It’s gutting as we hope with PGS chances are so much higher.

If I were you I would hit pause now before using your last embryo. If the embryo is genetically normal maybe there is something going on with your lining etc.

Funds permitting I’d look at doing an ERA/ALICE/EMMA to make sure there’s no hidden infection and that they got your window of implantation right. I think this costs the same as a FET. You could also consider some immune testing too?

Radical option and requires a lot of funds is also moving your embryo to ARGC where they will throw the kitchen sink at you to get it to stick.

I’m starting another round now in mid April. We will go ahead with egg collection even if only a few follicles this time but hoping for a better round than we had in Jan.

@Sophfr17 just been for my baseline scan and my AFC was only 8. In Nov it was 12 with 7 eggs collected and Jan 16 with 9 eggs collected.Both cycles resulting in 2 embryos. My first cycle before batching was a disaster and AFC was 7 and only got 3 eggs and no embryos. My consultant said to take the Bemfola and see how things are on Mon but I don’t know. My cycle was late... something feels off. I’ve had a lot of unrelated stress which I’ve told my consultant about and he thinks I’ve been over stressed out because of it. I genuinely feel really down right now with all the stress going on and then things not seeming right with this cycle. There’s so much riding on it and they are so expensive. I feel like my life is being ruined by a stress I can’t control :( does anyone have any advice? Not sure what to do. He’s even talking about delaying my FET because I’m so stressed x

Hi ladies @Sophfr17 @Moonstarsun @ForeverAintEnough12

Sorry am a bit late with replies, i wanted to wait for OTD to confirm. As expected, it was BFN. Really appreciate all the support and advice. I can't go straight into another transfer on this next period anyway, as i have to wait for a review. So my next transfer will not happen until mid May now. I'll run through any potential treatments/medicine which may help implantation and see what they think. I reckon they won't investigate that much as it's only my first transfer, so cannot be considered as recurrent failure. We'll see.

@Sophfr17, congrats on your 7 eggs, hope your results go well over next few days.

@ForeverAintEnough12 Thanks for the advice, really hope you're next round goes well. Will you be doing anything different this time?

@Moonstarsun I'm scared about this drop off too, if i end up needing another round . My 3rd cycle did see my lowest number of eggs though (7 compared to 11 in my first two cycles) so i'm wondering if our bodies just have enough by then? We've done ours in a very short space of time.

Will the clinic consider increasing your stims on Monday? I don't know if that's a good idea, as over stimming doesn't necessarily mean more eggs/embryos, but they may think it's an option.

Delaying FET might be a good idea just to recover from these 3 rounds and regroup if the stress is getting too much. Even if you just delay for 1 month longer. I know i'd be too impatient to wait much longer, so it depends whether the wait will cause more stress.

From the 7 eggs collected yesterday, 5 got fertilized. Let's see how many will reach day 3.
My Dr just decided that i should not be allowed a 3rd cycle. He thinks that these 5 embryos at day 1 + the 6 previous embryos at day 3 should lead to "hopefully" 1 normal embryo after PGT-A.
I am not going to lie, I am just crying, already thinking that this will be a total failure.
Sorry :(

5 fertilized is a good number @Sophfr17 hang on in there x sending you a big hug 🤗 maybe you can ask the dr if you’re not successful are you able to have the third round? X

Thank you @Moonstarsun I know it is not so bad, i am so sorry, others are not so lucky.... but we have been so unlucky so far, with the lost of our first baby and the 5 subsequent miscarriages, that i can't think that it could finally work :( i am so tired
I am sorry @IslandStars... i hope the right decisions will be made before your next transfer
Thinking of you

@Sophfr17 5 out of 7 is a good fertilisation rate, fingers crossed for day 3.

Why don’t they want you to do the third round? I’m quite surprised, I think it should be up to you. I would have liked to do just a 2 cycle package originally, but Create don’t offer it. As it happened, both my normal embryos came in round 2, so you never know, you may already have your normal ones, it’s all so unpredictable.

Thank you, I’ve had a bad week expecting this so it’s not hit me any harder today.

@IslandStars sorry to hear it’s a confirmed negative and hope you are doing ok. Spend some time reading up on other things that can be done whenever you feel up to it. It’s not up to your doctor it’s up to you. I’ve told my consultant I want an ERA/EMMA/ALICE done and I’ve already had immunes testing done before I implant an embryo again. They are so hard to come by in general and never mind normals! If you’re on Instagram there’s a girl called happilyeverafterivf or happilyeverivf who did 5 rounds of IVF and got one PGS normal. She did extensive testing prior to putting it back so could be worth a look.

@Sophfr17 it’s really not your doctors decision to make. If you feel you want to do another round then you can. But maybe he’s thinking send what you have off for testing and then you might get enough PGS normal to proceed. If not then do another round which might be a good plan and would only delay you by a month waiting for results.

I am NHS funded, living in Camden, so allowed 3 rounds.
He just sent me an email, asking if we can talk about it tomorrow again, maybe he just had a second though. I hope so, cause he litterally changed the plan we had established 1 month ago.
I have additional medical issues, which may impair implantation and embryo/fetal growth. Thus, it was decided that i would need to have 2-3 safe embryos, cause i might just reject these...

@ForeverAintEnough12 Thank you, i will take a look at that account. I'm just forcing myself to focus on the next FET. If that one fails, i really will be in a mess. I've had a tough week, but just have to carry one while there's still a chance. I went from 29 eggs and 13 blasts over 3 cycles to just 2 normal, so this last one is precious.

@Sophfr17 Definitely push for that 3rd round if you've already been granted funding. I know someone who was only given 1 round on NHS, so don't lose that chance. It sounds like you need to bank as many as possible for medical reasons, they shouldn't be presuming that 1 PGS embryo will result in a baby since we know the odds can never be 100% x

Hello! We spoke with our consultant yesterday morning. He made a lot of good points. 1st, he thinks i have enough for 2 euploids with these 2 cycles. Ok.
Basically, today is day 3 for this cycle, depending on how many are still alive, we thaw the others from cycle 1 and see what will be left on monday. If less than 4 blasts, we don't do the PGS and i cycle one more time. If 4 or more, of which he is sure, we PGS. Then, if i obtain 1 euploid embryo after testing, I cycle again, cause that won't be enough with the uncertainties of my future treatments. If 2 euploids, then let's go for it, hoping the treatments they will give me will work.
He is quite scared of my blood clotting disease, and my hematologist too, highest doses of stims under high dose heparin, and eggs collection without heparin for 48h, and back on heparin after, there is always a risk of clotting to happen. But i did very well so far.
Basically, let's see what we have now, he is convinced we are good, and if not, then I cycle one more time.
He has spoken, we understood and agreed. So today I will wait for clinic to call me with day 3 results, and if all good, on Monday for Day 5 results.
I was ready for cycle 3 though...
We feel a bit better, stronger and more in love than ever, and very tired.
Xx

I think that sounds like a good plan @Sophfr17 and that he has your best interests at heart. Fingers crossed for you that you get a good number to day 5 and tested. A weekend of treating yourself seems in order after all this so I hope you’re planning a nice dinner/few drinks/ whatever works for you!

Thank you @ForeverAintEnough12
From the 5 on Monday, 3 are very good, 1 is ok and 1 poor. They thawed the other 6. Now waiting Monday and see how they will look at day 5
I did just treat myself actually, been to the hairdresser (oops), nice haircut and balayage, I feel better and younger ha. Two days of not thinking too much will be good
Hope you are alright xx

@Sophfr17 That's good news, glad the consultation went well. It's only right that they consider your health too, so it sounds like they have a good plan. Your numbers are looking good too.

Glad you've had a treat and a nice day, we all need it sometimes. I did some gardening today and had a look around the few shops which are open here for some garden furniture. Had a nice lunch and a cake, simple pleasures!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend ladies x

Hello everyone
This morning, day 5, there were 5 blastocysts (from 2 cycles = 11 embryos at day 3). I have the feeling it is not so bad, although i have no experience. I dont know the grading, i only know that one had fully hatched, and the 4 other were of good quality. They were biopsied and samples sent to genetic testing. I am now in a different kind of 2-weeks wait ha. If i dont get two euploids, i must cycle again.
I feel no relief, i am only very sad, i can't explain why.
Take care xx
S.

Thank you all for your support, it means a lot to me!

You’ve done great @Sophfr17 if I take my round 3 and 4 I got 5 blasts. If I take my round 4 and 5 I got 3 blasts in one and round cancelled due to lack of response in the other. So with 5 blasts I think you’ve done well and hopefully 50% normals so fingers crossed for 2!

Well done @Sophfr17 hard work done for a bit. Hopefully you will get a good number of euploids. Keep us informed xx

Unfortunately we had to cancel our cycle today due to too few follicles :( I found it really upsetting and was in tears at the clinic. I’ve got a lot of stress on that I just can’t get rid of that’s been going on since last Aug and I’m really angry that this stress could be interfering with my chances of success at IVF. We will just have to focus on health, diet and I will try my best to get rid of this stress any way I can. I will sleep soundly tonight because I’m emotionally just done in! X