Second FET success stories

[Stillhoping1990]

Hello,

I am new to mumsnet, I’ve been looking for a safe space to talk about IVF with women who have been through it too or going through it now. I’ve decide to stop talking about fertility with my friends because I find they always say they wrong things and don’t fully understand the process.
I am 33 and been ttc for 2 years with what seems to be unexplained infertility. I have a 2cm fibroid which is slightly indenting the uterine cavity but apparently shouldn’t be an issue.
We got 3 embryos to freeze in our IVF cycle. The first FET was a grade 4AA - we had high hopes but it sadly didn’t work - I was devastated and found it hard to bounce back. I have just started meds for our second transfer - this time transferring the remaining 2 together.
They are upping my progesterone dosage this time round as last time was a little low. Embryo grades are no where near as good as our first 4AA but been told they should be good enough.
I just wanted some encouragement from success stories? And perhaps some advice on how to manage the 2ww after FET. This can be isolating at times and hardest thing I’ve ever done. It’s so frustrating no knowing why it didn’t work the first time and why I am infertile to begin with.
xx

Hi @Stillhoping1990 just picked up your post. I had unexplained fertility too. I ended up having 3 rounds of IVF - the first time no eggs fertilised, the second I had 2 v poor quality embryos, then they tried something different and I managed to get 4 embryos ranging in quality but all good enough to transfer/freeze. The first was a bfn, but the second (FET) is currently napping upstairs.
Dont give up hope - we really thought it would never happen for us and it did.
This week I had the 3rd embryo transferred in the hope of giving him a sibling. I feel much more relaxed this time but the 2WW is still hard! I try to keep myself really busy and my husband is very strict making sure I don’t test early - that way madness lies!

Ps it helped me to realise that the chances are the first time WONT work. So it probably isnt that something went wrong and more that you need a few goes. Just like most people don’t get pregnant the first month they try

@LottSE20 thank you so much for your reply - it’s given me some hope! We know two couples who’s FET worked first time so we assumed ours would work too and I think made us extra disappointed. We are transferring our last two together next week - praying one of them sticks or if they both do I’d be even happier!
I know the TWW is horrendous and I’m dreading it. When do you test? My husband said he wants to test early this time 😂 I think he’s getting even more impatient than me now. It’s really such a journey isn’t it. x

I’ve waited until test day in the past - I think 9/10dp5dt is probably ok but any earlier you might get a false negative and have all that upset for no reason!
Glad it gave you some hope. The fact you had embryos to freeze is a really good sign. And when it works, nothing that came before will matter! Good luck!

I had a freeze all cycle last year and have had 2 FETs since. Our second FET was successful and am now 7 weeks pregnant. I've got my fingers crossed for you!

I found the wait in our first FET very stressful, so I kept myself busy this time- made plans with friends and family and had days out. I also made sure I put away my phone so I couldn't constantly Google my symptoms!

@LottSE20 yes I’m thinking around 10days to test - I found 2 weeks too long last time! And yes I so hope it happens for us this time and we can leave this nightmare behind us. It’s been very tough and isolating at times - I feel like I’ve lost so much time to infertility!

@ivf2022 congratulations! Amazing news and making me feel hopeful. I’m awful at symptom spotting, I can’t help myself!
I find it hard to keep busy because the medication makes me so tired but I will try. Thank you for your message :-)

Hello @Stillhoping1990 🙂

I had my first round of IVF in November. We got 2 embryos and I had the first transferred 5 days after egg collection. It failed. I had the second transferred as a natural cycle FET and I'm now 7 weeks pregnant (I hope - first scan tomorrow!).

I've seen so many women on these threads go on to have a successful FET after a failed fresh. And please don't get too hung up on the grade. It's completely subjective and if an embryo has been frozen, then it's definitely good enough to develop into a baby.

I tested early on our first transfer which was a mistake because I spent the rest of the TWW hoping that the negative would become a positive. It was awful. This time I waited till 9dp5dt. I highly advise not testing early!

Hang in there. We all understand how tough it is 💕

@countrypunk thank you for your reply! That’s great news - congratulations and good luck with the scan xx
yes I started obsessing over grades and so many other details. The first transfer was frozen as well - for some reason they never recommended a fresh transfer. I was considering extra tests at the implantation clinic before transfer but this takes a long time. So giving it another try first!

@Stillhoping1990 Thank you! Early days but seeing the two lines on the pregnancy test was amazing. I never thought it would happen. I imagine you feel the same.

Remember you have age on your side - I'm 39 so my odds were much lower than yours. I also had unexplained infertility (although probably just ageing eggs).

I also googled every single thing incessantly! Sometimes researching things made me feel better and more in control, and sometimes it made me feel hopeless. If it starts to upset or frustrate you, step away from Google. The statistics can only tell you so much. You are a unique person, and stats cannot tell you what's going to happen in your specific case.

I wish you loads and loads of luck with your next transfer ♥️♥️♥️

I can only imagine the joy of seeing two lines on a test - I’ve never seen it once! Must be the best feeling in the world.
Yes it’s like I’m constantly googling to find answers but never get them.
Thank you for your kinds words and positivity! Xxxx

Wishing you luck @Stillhoping1990 🍀 I have primary unexplained infertility and I've had 3 transfers so far:

First transfer/fresh: BFP and MMC at 11 weeks
Second transfer/FET: BFP and early loss at 6 weeks
Third transfer/FET: BFP and my DS who is now 14 months old.

It definitely can happen ❤️ Regarding the TWW, I did take annual leave for the last one because I couldn't face the stress of work (and I knew I couldn't concentrate based on the last 2 transfers!). Went for a nice long walk everyday, had lunch out and just kept myself busy with nice things to distract me. I hope yours goes quickly too 🤞🏻

@BambiOnIce80 Gosh it sounds like you’ve had quite the journey - lots of highs and lows.
tww is the absolute worst part of this. Did you notice any changes or symptoms before your BFPs? x

Literally no symptoms on my last one @Stillhoping1990 !@Stillhoping1990I was absolutely convinced it was going to be a BFN, but there you go 🤷🏻‍♀️ It made me realise that there's no point symptom spotting for if/when we go for another transfer, so I'll not torture myself again!

@BambiOnIce80 I need to try to get this in my head that there are no symptoms! I’ve heard a lot of people say this now. I’m going to try my best to forget the symptoms and keep busy.

Hello ladies - I got my BFP about 2 weeks ago. I am now 6 weeks. I really worry because I still don’t have symptoms! I wish I could feel something to give me a sign that things are working. I wondered if you remember what your symptoms were at 6 weeks? Im so happy for the BFP but so incredibly anxious.
I have a 7 week viability scan next week.
X.

I'm 17 weeks pregnant with identical twins after a FET in December - just wanted to say at 6 weeks I had zero symptoms whatsoever. They kicked in around 7.5 weeks for me and even then it was just intense nausea.

Fingers crossed for you!

Oh @Stillhoping1990 congratulations, that's wonderful news!

Sadly my pregnancy ended in miscarriage at 10.5 weeks. But please don't worry. At my age the risk of miscarriage is much higher, and I believe it was due to a chromosome issue - the pregnancy was measuring 2 weeks behind at 7 weeks and never caught up.

Symptoms-wise I had very sore boobs, but that was about it. Everyone is different and lots of women have no symptoms at all.

I wish you all the very best with your pregnancy. I know it's so hard, but try not to worry. Xx

@countrypunk I’m so sorry to hear about your loss. After all the treatment and high hopes it must be very hard. 💐
Thank you for taking the time to reply to me and I really hope your dream comes true one day - don’t give up xxx

@Rtmhwales Thank you for your reply - i wondered if you had any tell take signs of twins? Did you have higher than usual HCG levels?
I had two embryos transferred so there is a chance of twins for me. My HCG seems within normal range atm so it’s making me think it’s a singleton.
Congrats on your twins - you must be so excited xx

@Stillhoping1990 Thank you 💛

Hi @LottSE20 - my first two cycles sound very like yours and I was just wondering what you did differently third time? Thank you x

Hi @Teaandtoast35 so on the first round they saw that the sperm wasn’t attaching properly to the egg and tried ICSI. As above I had a bit more success with that one but still poor quality embryos and low fertilisation rate. On the 3rd round they suggested trying PICSI which is basically where they see which sperm are most likely to bond with the egg and choose those to insert. When I looked online it said there isn’t evidence (at least using randomised trials) to prove it works, but it did for me and this was at Kings which is not for profit (they didn’t charge me any extra for it) so its pretty reputable and wasn’t like they were selling snake oil if you know what I mean. I’m not a doctor obvs - but it seems to make a huge difference to my results. Unfortunately I miscarried at 6 weeks with the 3rd embryo above, but I’m not 14weeks with the 4th and final, so not a bad bunch! Wishing you lots of luck x