Anyone doing IVF at 40+ pt 2

[lucymills1234]

Setting up a new thread as the old one was nearly at the limit.

@Anxiousbuthopeful
@Islandstars
@Woodcottage1
@Unicorn9
@SerenditySunshine

Hi, hoping I can join too :) it’s been really helpful for me reading your stories; the happy ups are so hopeful, and the sad downs are really helping me to manage expectations. I hope 2022 will be ups for all of us!
I’m on day 8stims at 40 (+2 mts ;)), first time TTC. Numbers aren’t great so far, so trying not to get my hopes up too much. We’ll do ICSI with EC planned for Friday/Saturday. This injection part’s been quite good actually; the months that it took to get started nearly killed me with frustration, so I’m pretty happy to even be thinking about EC now!! I don’t feel old at 40, but let’s just say this perception has been abruptly and thoroughly shattered these last few months 😂

hi @LuckyNovember good luck with the EC. I hope everything goes well. From other people's stories it really does just need the one good egg - it's really hard not to over think about numbers, but try not to!!

Hello everyone! Update from me. After my FET miscarriage in September I took a break before transferring my last (untested day 5) embryo. Did a laparoscopy which cleaned out a spot of endo, went to Dr Gorgy in London and got LIT. Was thinking about transferring after Christmas and discovered I was naturally pregnant. V early days and am not super positive about my chances (43, lots of MCs) but still, amazing news as far as it goes!

oh congratulations @Anxiousbuthopeful! Lovely news, and hopefully a successful outcome. But amazing that you fell pregnant, congratulations x

Can I join you? I am forty something - going through my first round of IVF with donor eggs. We have seven eggs, all of which transfer and are due to have the transfer tomorrow. Gone backwards and forwards about how many to transfer but looks like it will be two, providing they all are still fine, and the rest will be frozen - what are others doing?

Thank you @LouScot! It’s the first time in this that someone’s said something reassuring to me!! My doctor is not really the reassuring kind 😑 (and DH, sweet as he is, is somewhat oblivious to the need for it!)

Good luck tomorrow @Vslightlystressy, and everything crossed for you @Anxiousbuthopeful

Hey @LuckyNovember - welcome!
It’s a bit of a shock to the system when they keep mentioning age isn’t it?! (I’m nearly 40). I thought my issue was predominantly endometriosis and all of a sudden I felt old! But I have some doctors who are much more positive and reassuring….. I try and listen mostly to them!!
I am on day 6 stims of long protocol. I was feeling quite hopeful but then had a second bleed before stims which has thrown me a bit. The clinic didn’t seem to concerned so trying to just take each appointment as it comes. They can see cysts and the endo has returned though and so far only 5 follicles…. But like @LouScot says….. we only need one good one. I am focusing on that…. Well trying to!!

@Anxiousbuthopeful that is fantastic news. Congratulations….. really hoping it is a sticky one. Everything is crossed x

@Hopeful199 We’re neck and neck: After 6 days stims I’m at 5 follicles too (+ 1 pesky cyst that’s been disrupting plans since it appeared in November ). Three of them look pretty solid, so I’m counting on them for quality 🤞🏻

@LuckyNovember that is good news! The nurse I saw last time said that a few good quality ones is a great result. I’d be happy with that…. And one that’s sticks obviously!

I know quite a few who are getting pregnant naturally at our age so not old really. It absolutely can happen and does for so many. It’s only because we now know every single detail!

Have they said how long you will be on stims for? I keep trying to work out dates but feels pointless! I thought I’d be in the TWW now based on my original predictions

@Hopeful199 I’ll do 8/9 days total; this evening is my eigth Menopur, I go for another blood test/scan tomorrow morning to see if I do one more or trigger tomorrow. (I also started something called orgulatron after my sixth Menopur). There’s a couple of smaller follicles, but she says there’s no point pushing them at the risk of losing the current ones, as she thinks the smaller ones won’t catch up enough to be viable… It’s my first time, so I’m pretty much just doing what I’m told 🤷🏻‍♀️ I must have written out six different calendars that all got changed before I gave up trying to count 😄 Do you know how long it will be?

@LuckyNovember they haven’t really said much about dates for mine…. They just seem to plan from one appointment to the next.

I have a scan tomorrow which will be day 8 of stims. They seemed to think 12 days (or that’s what my sheet says) but when I saw them last I was still bleeding and had a cyst that had just burst so I guess it depends what they see?!

Its my first cycle too so literally just following the plan and worrying I have got something wrong every step of the way!!

@Hopeful199 haha kind of good to hear I’m not the only one flying blind - they tell me nothing 😂 I get most of my info from watching them like a hawk, then googling like mad when I get home, admittedly not always a helpful thing to do 🤦🏻‍♀️ (These boards have been a life line!!)

Indeed I think more of my peers are suddenly pregnant now than the turning-30 wave that happened 10 years ago 😉

So when is your next appointment? Will let you know the verdict tomorrow… I’m eager to get this one done, ideally with success, obviously 😊, and worst case im ready to chalk it up to experience and build on for a second round…

Tomorrow 🤦🏻‍♀️ Read that pre-coffee! Good luck!!

@LuckyNovember ha!

Yes tomorrow for a scan, then another on Friday I think and then hopefully the trigger early next week if all goes well!? but each appointment has bought very different news so far so try not to predict too far ahead!!!

Feel like i don't respond/ react to much! i have serious endo but very few symptoms and none of the injections seem to make me feel any different either.... feel like i constantly have no idea what is coming! Fingers crossed it will all come together!

Yes, I have been trying hard to resist Dr Google! When i had a second bleed i found lots of posts that made me panic... but the clinic really played it down and just said each woman will react differently. I am trying to hold onto that moving forward!

What is orgulatron? hope your appointment goes well too tomorrow! Enjoy the morning cuppa x

Hello lovely ladies, please may I join the thread. I'm hopefully going to start in March at CRGH. Have been told to lose weight before I can proceed even though I will still be overweight when I start but hoping to bank embryos then freeze when lose a little more. I find it very hard due to a metabolic condition. This whole not having a baby thing is just so depressing and I find it hard to function and think about anything else. I know that sounds ridiculous but it's just the way I feel.

Have been reading all the threads and found found alot if strength so a big thanks to you all! As a positive my sister did IVF at 39- baby number 1 and IVF at 41- baby number 2 (gave birth at 42) so there is hope for us.

@Anxiousbuthopeful that's amazing news. Congratulations. Please keep us updated!

@LuckyNovember and @Hopeful199
Good luck this week. Let us know how you get on.

Ladies, sending you all positive energy and strength to keep going! Xx

@Hopeful199 not sure what's in it, but orgulatron is to stop spontaneous ovulation but it allows you to keep stimming. I don't know the size of my follicles, but I think they still have some growing to do.....

@Prayingforamiracle21 I LOVE your sisters story! Thank you for sharing 🙏🏻 Hope it's a good omen for you as well!!

@Anxiousbuthopeful congratulations such wonderful news. It's so reassuring to hear a positive story on this thread.

To who needs to hear this my aunt had her DD at 43. First round of IVF was successful even though she had low AMH, underlying health conditions and her partner is type 1 diabetic with poor sperm. There's Hope yet 💕

@LuckyNovember thank you.

@Lulu106 wonderful story about your aunt! Love positive stories!!

Have a great day ladies.

So, we trigger tonight and EC on Friday!!

Not hugely optimistic as there's only one >17mm and four 14-16, so there was some hesitation on whether to wait an extra day, but in the end she decided that now is the good time to go... not sure what to expect, just hoping we at least collect more than one mature egg 🤦🏻‍♀️ (even if I'm all for "it only takes one good egg" 😊). She did find a couple more that had grown but were still < 12 and too slow to be in the running...

For anyone who's done this before; do they grow more between trigger and EC? I find kind of contradictory answers to this one and wondering what your experience was?

Anyway not much to do about it, they'll grow or they won't and I'll find out this weekend! Which is a little bit exciting 😬

@Hopeful199 Hope it went well for you today and the next step is at least clearer 🤞🏻

@Lulu106 That's a lovely story, and exactly the kind of good vibes that help 🧡

Hello everyone. Uncertain news from me. Was 6+3 at first scan, embryo measures 2.4mm and they weren’t sure they could see a HB, possibly a flicker. I am clinging on to hope that my dates are just off as this wasn’t IVF and my Betas also suggested that I may have ovulated later than I thought. But even so it would still put me at around 6 weeks, so not great news. Going back next week, need to somehow get through the days

@Anxiousbuthopeful I hope you are ok. Will keep my fingers crossed for you. Hope everything turns out ok. I know it's easy to say but try and take your mind off it somehow. Hope you manage to get some rest tonight. Please keep us posted. Positive vibes from me to you xx

@LuckyNovember good luck for tomorrow! Hopefully a couple more have plumped up in time and if not, that the ones you get out are golden!

@Anxiousbuthopeful keeping everything crossed that it is good news next week. So hard to keep your mind off it but make sure you give yourself plenty of QT in meantime.

I had a scan on Wednesday that showed 6 follicles in total so far. So not lots but we will see and hopefully a couple more hiding away. Only 2 on the ovary that has endo so not sure how successful that will be.

Lining was at 6mm which she said was fine for that stage and is a relief after i had a second bleed just before stims started.

I go back tomorrow for another scan and then probably Monday too. I only have enough drugs for up until Monday so if they go beyond that i need a new prescription!

Heard of a friend of mine this week that got 4 eggs out but only 1 fertilized and put back in and it worked! I know that is not how every story ends..... but helps me believe that even with low numbers there is a genuine chance it can work sometimes.

@Anxiousbuthopeful so sorry to hear about the uncertainty. Was briefly on here when the thread first started. We had IVF twins when I was 42 last year and had a scan at 6 weeks due to bleeding. They couldn’t see even a flicker of a HB for one of our twins at 6 weeks but she is now 8 months old. So I have my fingers crossed for a positive outcome. Good luck to everyone going through treatment. X

Hi all,

It's good to see that this thread has got busier again. I was on it previously but took a break for a while. I don't see many familiar names so as background, this is my 4th round of ivf. I'm 42 and single so using donor sperm but my own eggs. First round I had a fresh 5AA transfer, BFN. A second blast was frozen but the clinic later said they shouldn't have frozen it (it was triploid and non viable so can't be used). Second round was freeze-all due to high response and I got 5 blasts - 5AA FET BFN, 4AA FET chemical, 4AB FET BFN and one didn't survive the thaw. One more blast from that round is still in the freezer.

On my third round I got a 4BA which should've been a fresh transfer. I did have a transfer, however the clinic told me the next day that they'd made a mistake and instead transferred a different blast, one that they were watching to see if it would get to a quality for freezing. As you can imagine, that resulted in a huge amount of stress... and meant that I missed my best shot from that round. What they did transfer resulted in a BFN, though at least the 4BA is in the freezer.

With 43 fast approaching I've decided on another cycle to try and get more of my own eggs rather than have an FET of the 4BA or other frozen blast. I'm on long protocol and started stims a few days ago. I usually respond well and get decent egg numbers but assume four straight failures and one chemical means that I've not been getting euploids. The chemical at least means it's hopefully not an implantation issue.

This is more than likely my last collection of my own eggs (because of age and funds) and so I am really hoping for a decent response and at least one blast - and needless to say, a sticky one. The anxiety of knowing that I am now definitely coming to the end of the road (though I still have those two in the freezer) plus the stress and issues I've had with my clinic is, ironically, making this my most anxious go yet.

I'll catch up with everyone's posts and having been through this a lot now, am happy to help if I can with any questions.