IVF first experience

[Rachy51]

Hi just looking for some advice. I have my first go at IVF this month after 2 unsuccessful IUI treatments.

I was on a short protocol. I had gonal F 300mg and fryemedel 0.25mg for stimulation and progesterone to support luteal phase. My scans seemed to be successful and they said I was ready with 8 big follicles one one side and 7 on the other.

At retrieval I found it a really painful experience but I managed. I found the sedation didn't really help! I had 6 eggs retrieved and 5 had fertilised by the next day.

I was then booked in for a day 5 transfer and didn't hear from the clinic until transfer day. It was bad news. Only one egg was at morula stage but still growing so basically did we want to go ahead or they can refund 400pounds and can cancel it.

I have unfortunately feel really unsupported from the clinic throughout.

I did have the transfer as there was a tiny glimmer of hope but no surprise this did not work.

is this a common experience? I see other woman having 20 eggs retrieved and being able to freeze eggs as extra.

I am so disappointed and do not know what to do next??? Any advice welcome?

Hi! IVF veteran here, saw your post and wanted to say that everyone who undertakes IVF is doing so for different reasons and therefore the amount of eggs they get and the quality vary. I wouldn’t focus on people who get 20 eggs, there could be a reason for this, male factor infertility and they are retrieving eggs for ICSI. In terms of your own experience, I would ask for a follow up consultation with the Drs at your clinic, which you can do, and ask them why they think the eggs collected were low numbers. Also worth considering it’s not just your eggs that could factor in to this, but your partners/donors sperm when merging to create embryos. Not knowing enough background about your AMH or your partner/donors sperm quality I can’t comment further. But push for a dr follow up and they will be able to give some more in-depth feedback. I hope you find the answer you need, keep asking, ivf can be about tweaking protocols and this cycle may not have been successful but the next one could be. Worth watching Alex Jones (One Show) on W where she spends time at Kings fertility it explains the different people needing IVF and may help you to understand the vast majority of people don’t get 20 eggs/embryos. Good luck on your journey.

Sorry to hear that, but as people often say, the first round is more like a trial run to see how your body responds to stims etc. Do you mind me asking which clinic you went with please? I only had one (successful) round of IVF but my clinic (Create) does a few things in a different way:

Egg collection was done under sedation but as I was saying in another thread, it felt the same as general anesthetic and I totally passed out without feeling a thing.

My clinic gave me a Day 3 update after egg collection, to confirm that I had 7 embryos (5 grade 1, 2 grade 2). That's when they decided that I can have a Day 5 transfer, as based on stats I should have at least 1 Day 5 blast to transfer.

Only retrieving 6 eggs from 15 follicles sounds a bit low to me. But the follicles amount at least means that your body did respond well to the drugs. Maybe investigate a bit why the low mature eggs retrieved? Something to do with the trigger shot? (Mine was Ovitrelle)

I think your clinic is a bit reckless to book you for Day 5 transfer based on 5 fertilised eggs and not give you a Day 3 update? Or they just don't do Day 3 transfers? I do think you should consider using another clinic next round, and you will have a better chance now that you've got this experience of how your body reacts to stims. Best of luck!

Thanks so much for your reply! I have a good AMH for my age although I don't know the number to hand and we are using donor sperm with a mot 20+ count. I think I am maybe being naive in what I expected but I still feel that the clinic have just really not communicated well and have lost faith in their ability to help us get pregnant.

Hey, I cannot offer anything else than support… we as well used a donor, not know fertility issues. Got 10 eggs fertilised with mild IVF and excellent day 3 updates on the 8 embryos. However, by day 5 everything was gone. We still have a frozen day 3 but I do not have high hopes. Just know that you are not alone, perhaps the protocol wasn’t right for us. I read somewhere that some women where lucky by adding human growth hormone, apparently it helps the eggs become stronger.

May I ask if you did as well mild or normal IVF?

Which IVF clinic? You are supposed to be deeply sedated for egg collection. Does make me wonder how good the clinic is!

Hi @Rachy51
I'm sorry to hear of your experience.. IVF is hard at the best of times, let alone when the process is disappointing.

As others have said, sounds like something was wrong with the sedation, as you shouldn't feel anything at all, and this doesn't reflect well on the clinic...

In any case though, about the development and transfer: we've done 2 rounds and both times I got a similar number of eggs to you (was expecting a few more the second time). Our Day 3 updates were great, but first time we had only 1 of 7 develop to early blast (not gradeable) and it was transferred unsuccessfully on Day 5 with nothing to freeze. Big shock. I also felt really unprepared by the clinic for such a drop-off. Second time round, same clinic and same protocol but I had done a lot of reading on possible causes for low quality after Day 3 and we made some lifestyle changes. Could just be luck, but it was successful and we have 2 frosties. All this to say: it won't necessarily be like the first time again, if you decide to try again. Ask for your file, ask all the questions you possibly can to try and figure out where things went wrong, request a Day 3 update, talk about your disappointing experience... I found the clinic wasn't very forthcoming with info but second time was a million times better because I knew what I needed to feel more comfortable and generally, if I asked, everyone at the clinic was happy to try help.

Very best of luck!

Thanks for all the responses. I am with CARE fertility. I had a 'short protocol' wasn't really given any other options? Have a follow up appointment on Friday. So nervous about it. It's so hard to process it all. Hoping for some answers and then we may make a decision to change clinics.

@beachbum85 may I ask which lifestyle changes you made? Thanks!

Hi @Anonbaby

Sure! I can't remember where I read all the recommendations, but we removed as much plastic as we could from our kitchen, and changed to clean cosmetics, as recommended in It Starts With The Egg. We both stopped having alcohol, caffeine, and soy for 3 months before, and reduced refined sugar. We both took Impryl, Vitamin D, and Omega 3. My partner had more Brazil nuts, walnuts, watercress, citrus fruits, and mushrooms, and he ejaculated every second day during down regulation, and every day during stims. He also took care to keep his testicles cool. I took probiotics and bone broth and drank at least 2 litres of water a day. I tried to keep to a high protein diet (30%), did yoga, and had acupuncture.

It sounds like a lot, but we weren't overly strict or drive ourselves crazy about it all. I still don't know if any of this made a difference, it was just psychological, or we got lucky, but it was worth the effort for us.

Best of luck! x