IVF/ICSI December 2021

[Cayandsimit]

Hi everyone,
I didn't see a thread for December so I created one. If it is repetitive please let me know. I can delete this one.

This is gonna be my second ICSI. We started due to male factor (Teratozoospermia) and along the way "discovered" mildly elevated NK, coagulation issues as well as subclinical hypothyroidism 😂😂 Hopefully the list ends here!

My period started later than expected so I started my stims 4 days ago. Retrieval/transfer will probably be early December. Is there anyone here in the same timeline?

@Cayandsimit hang in there, at least your body gets a break and the fluid will go away by next month. OHSS seems to be very common. Hope you feel better soon

Does the follicular cysts get in the way of a transfer?

Also can relate as my siblings have all had 3 babies while We have been ttc, it's very upsetting.

@Alexm06 and @justhopeful thank you for your support. I really appreciate that!
Senior physician did another scan and sent me home. Ovaries getting smaller however one of the cysts brust out and left more free liquid. I have now about 200ml liquid in me and feeling really uncomfortable. He thinks it is not the worse one he has seen and leaves the embryo transfer decision to the fertility clinic tomorrow. I don't know what to do. Pretty sure my doctor will want to proceed with the transfer but many people in this forum wrote that pregnancy (if it ever works 🙄) will make it even worse for several weeks. At this point I completely lost trust in my fertility doctor... Logical part of my brain says wait couple of months and do a FET. The emotional part of it says God knows what will happen in the next two months and maybe embryos will not survive the thawing process.
What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Hi @Cayandsimit
I was in an almost similar position few months back. I was at risk of OHSS, estrogen level was high(around 4000ng) and I had a few cysts. Doctor cancelled everything and refused to transfer. I had two failed FETs and 2 cancelled (another one because of cyst and fluids) FETs and these experiences have taught me to have more patience. What I mean to say is that I would wait for everything to look good before having a transfer, but of course that is just my opinion. Pehaps speak to your doctor tomorrow and ask for a truthful opinion.
I wish you good luck ! 🍀

@Cayandsimit if it were me I would wait a month. My last cycle in October there was fluid in my womb lining and I plan if there is fluid during this cycle I would definitely wait till the fluid is gone before the transfer, during my last scan on Friday, the dr couldn't quite tell as I was still spotting because my scan was on the 5.

@Cayandsimit I'm so sorry to hear that you've been struggling. I hope you feel better soon.
I honestly wouldn't like to advise either way without all the information, but for my EC/fresh transfer in October, the clinic did my bloods the day before EC and noted that my Progesterone was too high, or had peaked too soon. Although it felt like a crushing disappointment at the time, I'm thankful that in retrospect we had all the information to know the fresh transfer wouldn't have been successfully due to that and we didn't lose an embryo in the process.
I hope you can have a balanced discussion with your doctor tomorrow of the pros and cons, and you feel better soon.

Personally I feel better physically and emotionally for having this time to recover after the egg collection to get prepared (hopefully) for this FET. A couple of good workouts on my Peloton and a glass of wine has done me world of good!

Thank you all for your messages. I feel extremely bloated again. Unless some miracle happens tomorrow, I think I will wait for few months to recover and do a FET in January or February. It breaks my heart but seems like it is the logical choice.

Sorry @Cayandsimit that sounds really tough. Look after yourself. Your chance of successful transfer will be higher when your body has a chance to rest and recover.

I am with you on the bloating, I look (and feel) like I am 9 months pg right now. My egg collection is tomorrow at 8am, slightly bricking it. But I will be so glad to offload these swollen ovaries. Any tips for the day itself or recovery? I am drinking lakes full of water and electrolytes already

Oh and we are doing pgta and frozen transfer in the new year so no transfer prep for me. Phew.

@Phrenologistsfinger It is such an agony to feel like pregnant but not being pregnant...
I wish you best of luck with the EC. Hopefully you will feel better within few days 🍀

I just left the clinic. Good news is 4 out of 5 embryos made to day 5.
1 great expanded blastocyst
1 great full blastocyst
1 good early blastocyst
1 morula in Day 4 stage
1 8-cell which stopped growing (will be discarted)

Bad news is, doctor confirmed I have mild OHSS. With only 14 eggs retrieved, she is surprised that this happened... She told me she would have normally transfer the best blastocyst in this situation however since I am in so much pain, she will transfer the morula. She said since I have mild OHSS, if I reject the transfer, German saturatory insurance will reject to pay the half and we have to pay approx. 8000€ from our pocket. She decreased the progesterone and will not give Omegaven to suppress the NK. She is expecting that the morula will not stick and OHSS will not get worse. I told her "Please, remember this moment. With my luck, 10 days from now I will be pregnant!".

For fellow bloated ladies: I told her that I was drinking 3-4 lt water and she said it was a really bad idea. Apparently I shouldn't drink more than 2lt per day. She also told me to have protein shake (400ml) everyday, eat meat and cheese. I will also take Dostinex everyday, also something to help with constipation and continue with Clexane.

Transfer will be in two hours. I have really mixed emotions...

@Cayandsimit good luck! I know it's not what you wanted but you still don't know the outcome. 🤞x

Sounds like positive news @Cayandsimit.

Had my EC, went well but disappointed as we only got 8 eggs. I had 29 AFC, about 24 follicles growing, predicted 16. Basically my right ovary is an underperformer and most of the swollen follicles were empty.

With the attrition rates at (1) maturity; (2) fertilisation; (3) day 5; (4) pgta I am now wondering if we’ll get any good embryos. Feeing a bit hopeless. The 5am start and the hormones might not be helping though.

The opiates were nice though

How is everyone else getting on?

@Phrenologistsfinger It must be really frustrating to be told 16 as a predicted number in the scan and get only 8 in the end. However, 8 is still a great number. Time to rest and focus on your recovery. I hope most of them are mature & will get fertilized 🤞

So we found out today that 6 of our 8 eggs were fertilised, which is a relief. Now to wait until sat to see how many make it to blasts. We are doing pgs/pgta screening so really hoping to have a few so increase our chances of having a normal one. This whole thing is such a rollercoaster ride, huh?

@Phrenologistsfinger I am really pleased to hear that! 75% is the expected fertilization rate in a successful IVF cycle. Congrats!
Yes, it is a rollercoaster indeed... A whole month goes by with constant ups and downs. Fingers crossed for the day 5 🤞
How are you feeling today? Do you have any pain?

@Phrenologistsfinger wish you all the best. Last cycle i had 8 retrieved as well and ended up with 3 blasts. So that is a good number.

@Phrenologistsfinger I hope you've recovered post EC and get some positive updates! I also only had 8 collected, so I understand your initial concerns, but hopefully they're doing great!

@Cayandsimit, how are you feeling? Wishing you the very best for this TWW, and great news about the other embryos. Crazy the different rules across Europe, I had no idea!

@CharlieBalf hope your scan goes well tomorrow 🤞

@Alexm06 did you have your transfer today?

I had my lining scan today, all looking good with our FET scheduled for next Thursday.

Hope everyone else is doing well with Stims, EC and prep for transfers. Only really dawned on me today how different Christmas is going to be, especially as we'll be away from home for the whole week of OTD and have decided to keep our IVF journey between just my husband and I and a few really close friends.. never had to think about how to avoid alcohol before, especially as everyone knows I love a glass of champagne!

@1stcycler yeah transfer went ahead. Embryo thawed beautifully and has hatched and was an excellent quality so yeah that's all on board. My last frozen one before I have to do another fresh cycle. He struggled with the catheter a bit normally they can do it straight away but it eventually got there haha.
Good luck for next Thursday!!

Thank you @Alexm06 and good luck! I hope this one is THE ONE!

Congrats on your beautiful embryo transfer @Alexm06. Fingers crossed🍀 What is the date for the blood test?

@1stcycler good luck on the upcoming FET 🍀 I usually use the "I take antibiotics" lie to avoid alcohol and weird pregnancy questions 😅

For the first time since Saturday I am feeling a bit like myself again. I feel like bloating is slightly fading away and there is a room for breathing and also for my internal organs 🤣 Since eating salty stuff is advised in OHSS, I developed addiction to pickled jalapeno. Really hoping to go back to normal next week 🙏

Hi all,

Glad to see everyone is progressing and @Cayandsimit you're starting to feel better.

I had EC yesterday, got a very unexpected 23 eggs collected which means I also had OHSS - not picked up on the last scan so was quite surprised. Got the call today to say that 17 were mature, so they proceeded with ICSI but only 5 fertilised this morning. Really low rate considering the number of mature eggs.

Not sure if ET will go ahead on a Tuesday yet - depends how the OHSS is. Not feeling great today to be honest!

@cherrytreecottage oh no, I am so sorry about the OHSS! If you feel really bad and having difficulty to breathe, please go to emergency and don't try to live through it. Being under medical observation brings calm at least and they can also scan your organs and check your blood.

Low fertilization rate is very frustrating on top of OHSS but you never know which one is THE ONE. Maybe all 5 will turn into beautiful blastocysts. I am praying for the good news in 5 days and also for you to recover quickly 🙏

[quote Cayandsimit]@cherrytreecottage oh no, I am so sorry about the OHSS! If you feel really bad and having difficulty to breathe, please go to emergency and don't try to live through it. Being under medical observation brings calm at least and they can also scan your organs and check your blood.

Low fertilization rate is very frustrating on top of OHSS but you never know which one is THE ONE. Maybe all 5 will turn into beautiful blastocysts. I am praying for the good news in 5 days and also for you to recover quickly 🙏[/quote]
Thank you so much for your kind words and advice! I thought the pain and nausea was just down to the trigger injection but makes sense now. Are you feeling better? X

@cherrytreecottage puff physically I am feeling much better. It gets better day by day. Mentally, not so much. Thinking about another Christmas passing by without a child in our home.... MIL weirdly posting pictures of her grandkids in the family group since yesterday, even though everyone knows what is going on here. I am sitting on the bed, occasionally crying and waiting for the check-up on Monday.

How are you feeling today? Did the pain go away?

Had our day 5 update today, not great. We got one that made it to grade 4bc, now biopsied for PGTA and frozen. One might make it tomorrow, we’ll see. And 4 that are still cellular and growing slowly. If they show any hope she might let them go to day 7 but she isn’t very hopeful.

I am disappointed to have gone through all that for one, maybe two at best. And PGTA is usually 1 in 3 normals at my age. I naively hoped one cycle would get us what we need. But I am trying to have gratitude that we have at least one to test… not everyone gets that.

It means straight into another embryo banking round I think. I am 39, with ten natural losses (80% only chemicals) and high nk cells so I think we may need a few goes even with euploid embryos to get the meds right. Plus ideally, we’d love two siblings (I am an only child myself).

What a rollercoaster this all is, up and down, hope and disappointment. Wishing all of you luck