IVF protocol - what to do?

[countrypunk]

Hello everyone,

I'm going to do my second cycle of IVF within the next 3 months and I'm unsure what to do re protocol.

I'm 39 with an AMH (at last test 6 months ago) of 7.1. I had long protocol for our first cycle. I got 10 eggs, 9 mature, 8 fertilised. 8 made it to day 3, and then 2 blastocysts on day 5. First transfer failed and I'm miscarrying the second transfer.

I'd really like to know what's worked for other women in a similar position. I imagine my problem is egg quality, but I read that if you see a sharp embryo drop off after day 3, that indicates a sperm quality issue.

I've also read that mild IVF targets quality over quantity of eggs, but I've seen no evidence behind this - does anyone know how that works?

I will be speaking to several clinics, but I'm conscious that their first concern is profit rather than patient wellbeing.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Hi @countrypunk i am so sorry for everything you are going through. We have been on other threads together but in case helpful I wanted to share my limited experience with mild ivf. I am doing a 3 cycle package where the aim is to get good quality embryos before a transfer. For my first round, I started the drugs the day after full flow AF and then had a scan day 6, day 8, day 10 and egg collection on day 12. I had 8 follicles they were happy with and was lucky to get 8 eggs. All mature. 4 fertilised and I ended up with 3 frozen. I start again towards end of March for another freeze all cycle. Obviously I can’t comment on anything re transfer/success for me after that as I am not at that stage yet. However, I think given the from what I can tell relative low level of medication that I took I have had reasonably good results with number of embryos & clinic were happy. No changes being suggested by then with my next round. Wishing you lots of luck for everything that comes next and so sorry again for what you are going through now x

Oh forgot to say we had icsi x

@LF82 Hello ♥️ I was actually just reading a thread you were on where you were saying you're doing mild IVF, and I was about to PM you!

Are you with Create by any chance? I'm going to book a consultation with them. I'm very interested in this mild IVF stuff and it sounds like you've had great results so far.

I was a bit shocked by the drop off in our embryos after day 3. I also hated the down regging so it would be nice to avoid that and possibly get better results!

Thank you for replying. I'm sure I'll be on another thread with you soon, and good luck with the next cycle xx

@countrypunk honestly send me any PMs you like! I have limited experience but more than happy to share as this whole ivf thing is a minefield. Yes I am with Create. They were very clear with us that the focus is quality over quantity and what the body can handle in terms of drugs, minimising goss and so on. They were also realistic the whole way through in saying things like just because you have X many follicles you might not get X many eggs etc. everyone I have dealt with have been good and each of my scans during treatment was done by a doctor and a nurse.

I had a consultation at start of December and could have started in December but chose to wait to when my AF started - end of Jan. am now hoping to go again when AF starts in March. No drugs needed in between x

@LF82 That all sounds really good. I've only seen a doctor once at my current clinic and that was a 15 minute Zoom call! The nurses are really nice but they have limited knowledge and it would be nice to feel like we actually matter to the clinic. I wonder what the doctors spend all day doing. I know of a couple of people who've left the clinic I'm at now for Create and haven't looked back. I'm defo gonna investigate further!

@countrypunk good luck! Keep me informed 🥰 For my consultation /baseline scan it was 2 nurses. Then once they had all the results we had a one hour consultation on zoom with the lead doctor. Then like I say at every scan during actual treatment it’s been a doctor and a nurse x

@LF82 You know I will, I'm all over these threads!

Thank you, good luck to you too. Xx