Anyone else facing a third retrieval in 2023?

[thislittlebird]

Just that really. I'm beyond the point of most IVFers at this stage and there aren't many of us around that seem to have to do multiple retrievals. Thought I'd start a new thread in case there's any other non-newbies in the same boat.

Hi, @thislittlebird!
I'm in the same boat with you.
Your name is familiar to me from previous threads.
My two previous cycles failed, so I am on stims at the moment and will have my third retrieval soon.

@thislittlebird @VO27 Hi! I'm going into my 4th retrieval in the new year after 3 cycles in 2022. We have yet to do a transfer (first 2 NHS cycles no embryos made it to transfer, 3rd cycle which is a private 3 cycle package resulted in 3 frozen) so I am keen to get going again as we plan to do the 2nd cycle of our package along with a transfer 🤞🏻

How are you both? X

@HJen22 @VO27 hello! It’s nice to know other people aren’t having the one and done ivf experience round here. It seems a lonelier corner of infertility somehow.

@VO27 yeah I’ve been hanging round here far too long. It started off fun but the longer it goes on the more of an outlier I feel. And old lol. Good luck with the upcoming ER. When did you have your other two?

@HJen22 3 in 2022 is intense but I’m sort of expecting that for us this year. Did they make changes for your private cycle? We had a good first cycle, abysmal second cycle and now we have to wait months for DH’s sperm to improve so I’ll probably do a lot of tests in the meantime to try to pass the time.

I’m finding this time of year hard tbh. It’s always weird when another year rolls around in this process.

@thislittlebird yeah it was pretty intense. We did our first cycle March after 2 years TCC. We got one egg that didn't make it to transfer. Cycle 2 in June we got no eggs at all which was heartbreaking. So I really do understand the abysmal cycle feeling. NHS then said we were then only eligible for donor. We then went with Create in Manchester and did cycle 1 in November, and yeah completely different protocol - NHS was max stims and Create is mild and after one cycle we have already had a much better result embryo wise. Are you still with the same clinic? I'm sorry to hear you've a wait, why is there so so much waiting in this.

I struggle this time of year too, really badly last year waiting for IVF. The only thing that made this one a little easier is the hope for a transfer soon. We have to do a refresher treatment consultation for cycle 2. I'm kinda wishing we did just go with this next cycle even though the time of year, as the next cycle seems so far as it will start end of January. So I'm just wishing the time away.

Hi @HJen22 !
Sadly your name is familiar too..really sorry you are still here. Hopefully it will change soon 🙂

@thislittlebird ohh, sorry you need to wait, it's awful. Some stupid waiting game, hate it myself. What's wrong with your DH's sperm, If you don't mind me asking?
So, I had my first cycle April 2021 (5 transfers in total) and second cycle May 2022 (3 transfers). No luck, not a single BFP. Done a lot If tests (including receptivity), all good. Only issue is my TSH, which is more or less under control now. My clinic didn't offer embryo testing and I'm not sure if I could afford it. Probably the reason is the quality If my eggs, quantity is not an issue. Not ready to give up yet 🙂

I had my scan today. All good, 28 follicles in total with a decent amount of those bigger than 12 mm. Actually never had so many, little worry about the possibility of OHSS. This time Dr. changed my medications, which hopefully will improve the quality of my eggs. My ER is planned for 4th of January with an ET at 9th (If everything ok).
Not very hopeful to be honest, as I got every time good amount of eggs and still no results.

@VO27 I know 😞 I recognise both of your names from other groups too, sad you are both still here too. I hope 2023 is the year for us.

Thats a lot to have went through over the last 2 years, I'm so sorry you've not had any success with a transfer yet. Hopefully the change of medication will help with this cycle and a successful transfer 🤞🏻 I hope you've been ok on stims over the festive period?

@HJen22 Ohh, the combo of stims and festive period is awful 😃 Christmas is really hard for those who TTC, I feel a lot of pressure anyway, so decided that it won't stop me from starting a new cycle. I'm not getting any younger so just didn't want to skip another month and wait again if I have a possibility to do it now.

Are you having a whole new cycle or FET at the end of January? What is your protocol?

@VO27 it really is a very hard time of year. Good on you for not letting it get in the way of your cycle though!! Our first cycle of this package was in November, we couldn't really go again the following as i'd likely have missed the Christmas cut off. And then we decided against the next as it's due around now so unfortunately that's left us waiting 2 full cycles until we go again. We live in Scotland so it's a time away from home, we had an Airbnb for 9 nights and the dog with us first cycle! But it was the closest clinic which would allow us to try something completely different.

I have low AMH and AFC so we're going for mild IVF aiming for quality over quantity. First cycle I was on 150ui bemfola, I had a couple days of double cetroride and a double trigger. The package usually entails 3 egg collections then a transfer but as we got 3 in the freezer (a huge milestone and a very pleasant shock as I was aiming for 1) we're going to do the second with the hope of a fresh transfer straight after (or use a frozen if there's a better one but I'm not entirely sure how that works, we've a follow up call next week to go over meds and if there will be any change to last cycle).

What protocol are you on? Xx

@HJen22 That is super interesting about Create. I have fairly high AMH for my age, first cycle was NHS in Feb and I pushed for lower stims because I was worried about OHSS. I got 15 eggs with 12 mature and 4 blasts, but one didn’t survive the thaw. So 3 failed transfers from that round, one of which was a chemical.

Second round was higher stims, because all clinics will go that route except for mild ivf clinics. Outcome was 10 eggs, 6 mature, zero blasts. We did get two embryos but the embryologist made it clear they were not good and unlikely to get to blast stage so we transferred them both and it was another two fails.

We had a follow up and basically the doctor wants to go with higher dose stims but front load them this time so they’re high at the start to recruit more follicles. I’m going to trust him, he’s the expert, we paid for two cycles with the private clinic so this will be our last. But if this one is just as bad I will definitely be speaking to Create, I’m not convinced everyone has the same pattern of response to higher stim doses. For now I’m trusting the consultant. 🥴

January sounds like a dream right now. I’m stuck in ivf limbo, we have to go back to the andrologist in Feb and start all over again with DH.

@VO27 He has poor parameters for everything really, but mostly motility. Before our first nhs cycle we spent just under a year prepping, taking supplements etc. We saw an andrologist, he cleared us for icsi and in theory it went well with 3 blasts we could transfer (4AA, 4AB and 4BB, the last one was the chemical). They all failed so we went again in November but we kinda took it for granted that it would work I guess and it didn’t. They said his sample was awful, we couldn’t do IMSI or PGT-A like we’d planned. I’m 39 so the aim of PGT-A is to speed things up, I think, but we need some embryos first.

Have you done karyotyping? I’m considering that amongst other things like immunes in the gap between now and our next cycle, it takes 3-6 months to refresh and improve the sperm, so I’ll probably be 40 before we try again. In my head I was wondering if I could pay Create for an egg freezing cycle and then transfer them to the clinic i have a pre-paid cycle with, in time for the next round but I don’t know how realistic that is.

@HJen22 my clinic are planning a double trigger for me next time.

I’m interested to hear your protocol too @VO27. for the record my first two were 150 Gonal F and then 150/225 Gonal F. Higher was not better for me, but maybe my body was just messed up right after the chemical, dunno really.

@thislittlebird I'm so sorry for your failed transfers and your chemical, I can't imagine how hard that is. You've been through so much.

Yeah I was on maximum dose stims and all they could do for the next cycle was the same again. Trust the consultant, sounds like they have a good plan and are trying something slightly different which will give some better results next cycle! I really hope so!

I know, hoping it will come round quick and I know we're in it for the long haul, that was a given with it being 3 collections. Sometimes it all just seems so far away. I hate limbo, we were in that for a few months after our second NHS cycle. We had a holiday booked so we didn't do anything from June til October. I know the break can be good for our bodies too but it's hard to always see it like that.

I was wondering that about moving from clinics too. As if we had a good amount of embryos and our included transfer was unsuccessful could we then move embryos to a private clinic closer to home for FETs? I also have no idea if you can go from a fresh to frozen. Say we did cycle 2 and the fresh embryo if any wasn't as good as the frozen. Could they thaw and use on of them same cycle? It's a question I've asked the clinic and will find out next week but their answer made me think it would have to then be a following cycle and FET protocol.

I think a mixture of lower meds, really close monitoring (I had first scan day 5 as opposed to day 9 with NHS and thereafter days 8,9 and 10 and EC day 12 which was earlier than previous), daily bloods, double trigger and also double cetroride / fyremadel really made the difference. I know no two cycles are the same so who knows how well the next will go but at least our first with Create has been better than any previous.

Hello, ladies! Hope you are good?

My first two protocols were actually same: Gonal-F 100 units + Cetrotide (added later) + Ovitrelle to trigger. Quite low dose, my AMH is 10,18 (which is average I guess for my age - I will be 34 soon). First time they got 19 eggs and second time 17, almost all mature and almost all fertilised but nothing too good to stuck.
This time I have Recovelle 6 units + Luveris 75 units + Cetrotide (added later) + Ovitrelle. This meds should work the same way, but Dr. told that sometimes it makes difference so we give it a shot. This time scan showed a lot more follicles than previous cycles, but I'm not actually happy as I would prefer quality over quantity.

@HJen22 That's really a challenge to have to travel. It takes me 3,5 hours to get to my clinic, sometimes just for a 15 min appointment. Really annoying.
I have never heard of such possibility to have ER and FET at same time. I had multiple FET's and usually you have some kind of protocol for it. Depends if it is natural or medicated (had both). Would be interesting to hear about other options, medicine developes really fast nowadays.

@thislittlebird Oh, so sorry for your DH, it must be hard on him. All the process is so slow when facing infertility, time is never on your side. You have been lucky to have such good embies, I never had something better than 4BB...
I didn't have karyotyping, should I? I have done all tests that my Dr. recommended me to have done. Maybe I shoud ask for more.
To be honest, I'm considering donor eggs as an option for me. Have no idea how hard it could be.

@VO27 yeah i feel like it either has to be a fresh embryo from cycle 2, or a whole other cycle FET to use an embryo from cycle 1. I don't think using a frozen after a fresh egg collection is a thing?! I couldn't see anything online and as you say, it's a different protocol and prep. But if that's the case and a cycle 2 transfer didn't work, we'd be going ahead with cycle 3 egg collection anyway as we may as well. I think we just kinda wanted to try after 2 cycles given the good and unexpected outcome we got from cycle 1. If we didn't need cycle 3 then great but if a first transfer doesn't work we will do the last cycle and continue to bank. It's all so overwhelming isn't it. AF arrived for me today so just this month to go before we're back down.

Yeah the travel is a lot but worth it for somewhere new with a different approach. We're limited up here in Scotland. Even private clinics up here didn't offer mild ivf just conventional which hasn't worked for us in the past. One day we had to go for bloods we just drove down and back up same day which was tiring. My OH actually has a daughter who lives in England so he's used to the driving.

Hello,
I’m looking to start my third cycle following a pgta abnormal result for the single embryo sent for testing the last round.
Assuming the doctor gives the go ahead for us to keep trying as I’ve just turned 42.
Im doing a freeze all pgta as all 3 embryos tested so far (including the one tested following miscarriage) have been abnormal. So I’m doing freeze all/banking until we either give up or find a euploid.

Happy new year, ladies!
Hope 2023 will be lucky for you!

Welcome @birdbybird ! When are you goong to start?

My ER is tomorrow. Actually quite nervous as I feel good 😃 I'm a little bloated but not sore like previous times, makes me worry If everything is ok.

@HJen22 yeah the holiday thing is hard. We delayed a transfer because of one but I'd like to avoid that where possible in future.

I think you should be able to store embryos elsewhere, and I can't see why they can't thaw a frozen and do both at once. I will do two at once where I can. How old are you? That might determine how many they're willing to try.

Create is definitely on my list of places to have a consult/cycle with if this next cycle fails.

@VO27 What unit is your AMH in? That's good egg numbers. Your ER is tomorrow? That's flown round, how are you feeling? I understand the quality over quantity desire, I was hoping for that this time but it went terribly lol.

And I thought my clinic was far at 1.5 hours, you guys are really putting in the travel time.

I think most don't recommend karyotyping but we do have sperm issues so I'm going to get that done for us, as well as an NK cell test, because I strongly suspect my immune system is a reason for our implantation issues. Well, that and bad embryos DNA wise because of my age and DH's issues. If we can get any good embryos again (which we didn't last time) we're hoping to PGT-A test. I have months and months to kill so might as well rule lots out with some tests.

I'm still waiting for AF and I wish she'd hurry up. I'm fed up of waiting, I don't know exactly when because my cycle was a bit wonky post IVF.

@birdbybird welcome! I'm hoping to do PGT-A later this year, it's very stressful going through all that without much to show for it but I know it makes sense.

I hate this new year tbh because I know full well we won't have a baby this year, if we ever do, because we can't even try again until Spring/Summer. Sigh. It's all rather miserable.

Thank you @thislittlebird

@VO27 the earliest I’ll start is in a couple of weeks. All the best for ER tomorrow!

How are you doing, ladies?

@birdbybird couple of weeks doesn't sound too bad. Anyway waiting is exhausting. Hope it will go fast for you.

@thislittlebird to be honest I have no idea what unit mu AMH is in. I just know it's 10,18. This cycle has been very smoth for me, didn't have any pain or discomfort, just a little bloated. Have been worried, as previous cycles have been absolutely different.

So, my ER went well. There was 32 follicles and they got 32 eggs. To say I am surprised is like to tell nothing. Never had such amount of eggs. As there wasn't any sights of OHSS (ovaries look good and no fluid), so hopefully I will have my fresh ET on monday.

@VO27 thats a really good number of eggs! I wish I could get that number.

@thislittlebird we've totally fried our brains with what to do. Now thinking we might just be best to do all 3 collections. If they can't do a frozen after cycle 2 don't want to be down there for potentially 5 more days waiting to find out if any embryo for fresh. It's a minefield. We've got our nurses appointment tomorrow though and going to ask what they advise and figure it out. Logistically it's hard to organise!! We don't want to transfer 2 same time; we just wondered if we could transfer a frozen right after an egg collection but really don't think that's standard practice! I'll be 35 in March.

My AF always seems to take a little longer to come the cycle after IVF. Hopefully comes for you soon. I know, I was thinking the same, unlikely a baby be here before the end of the year but we have to just hope we'll be pregnant ❤️ I hope you are hanging on in there xx

@VO27 wow that's amazing! Hope for a really good fertilisation update tomorrow! How are you feeling?

@birdbybird welcome! Sending you good luck for your cycle. We're looking to be starting in a few weeks too 🤞🏻

Hello, @thislittlebird @HJen22 @birdbybird ! How are you, ladies? Any updates?

I'm on my way back from clinic. Had my ET today, so officially PUPO..Will enjoy that status as long as I can. My OTD is on 23th.
From my 32 eggs 29 were mature, 19 fertilized and 16 made it to day 5. 1 transferred and 15 are still in observation, some should be frozen today and some tomorrow. By wednesday I will know how many. Hope for at least 5 nice frosties.

@VO27 congrats to being PUPO! I hope the next few weeks go super quickly for you! And what a fantastic number of embryos! You must be very pleased! I hope you have a nice day planned to rest x

We had our nurses call last week and meds should arrive Friday as I've just done that all online and picked the day. We are planning to do a transfer this cycle 🤞🏻 the nurse understood why we wanted to do this given we've never had a transfer yet and we got 3 embryos first cycle. We'll see how things go when stimming and we're down there and take it a step at a time, nothing set in stone and we can change our mind and save our included transfer until after collection 3 if we want to. Dying to just get going again xx

Hi, ladies!
How are you doing?

I have little update. Today is my ODT and I got my first ever BFP. Still can't belive. It was my 9th transfer, took me so long to finally see those two lines. I almost lost hope.
Too scared to feel happy. Will have my scan in two weeks. Seems like these are going to be longest weeks of my life..

@VO27 amazing news, congratulations 💕 I am so happy for you, 9 transfers must have been so tough going, so glad you didn't give up hope! Another 2 weeks, I hope they go fast! How did you get on with the tww before OTD? I'm just impatiently waiting for AF to get going with cycle no4 (and second with Create) xx

Thank you @HJen22 ❤️
To be honest TWW wasn't too bad as it was 9th TWW and I had really low expectations. Never had to wait for the first scan...seems I will struggle a lot with it.

When is your AF supposed to arrive? Have you decided will you have your transfer this cycle? Meds are ready?

@VO27 I'm glad it wasn't too bad and it's so great after your hard work and determination you got that positive test ❤️

My app says Thursday but I reckon it could be any day from now. Meds all here and once AF arrives the clinic will book my first scan for either day 5 or 6 and then I'll be able to finalise dates with our accommodation! I think we'll likely drive down Saturday even if AF does arrive Thursday as it would be nice just to get down there and then we can do something over the weekend down there. Xx