Fertility Preservation

[ViVRe]

Just officially started my fertility preservation journey today and thought I would join this forum since in the last few months I have come here to read on everyone’s hopes/experiences. Hope I can document my journey here and come back from time-to-time to share on happy news.

My background: I’m 37, married in 2022, we have discussed in length about having children (we have been together for nearly 5yrs), but due to many reasons - health reasons included - have decided that now is not the “right” time yet. Whilst I would love to throw all caution to the wind and just get on with baby making I do have a DH that I love dearly and, at least for now, I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else but him, and it takes two to tango if you know what I mean.

So back in Jan’2023 I started to become increasingly worried about my fertility, not only due to the obvious reason of AGE (so cruel to us gals) but also bc I noticed a change in cycle/my period. I started saving money already thinking that IVF would inevitably be in the cards in the future. In June I ordered one of those hertility home tests and was devastated to learn my AMH was 3.71pmol/L and my FSH was 19 - all other bloodwork came back alright. Approximately 2 yrs prior I had already done an AMH test and the result had 7.1pmol/L and FSH was 6.1, so things have definitely moved in the direction that indicates low ovarian reserve.

I immediately booked exams/consultation with a private fertility clinic to get the ball rolling on getting my eggs retrieved and frozen. Today I had my first meeting with the Doctor and much to my surprise my AFC was 15 total (8 in the left, 7 on the right) and my AMH from their blood work was 5.1 which is an increase from the at home test. I will be preparing in the next month to get my egg retrieval done at the end of September/beginning of October.

Would love to hear what you ladies did the month prior to your retrieval…any tips? I already live a super healthy lifestyle (exercise regularly and eat clean from Monday to Thursday, girl gotta enjoy a treat on the weekends 😉). Don’t smoke, drink very little and very sporadically (6x a year, a drink or two). This last month I cut out all natural/herbal meds (acne/stress related) and am avoiding other meds (I have IBS, unless critical). I started taking Seven Seas prenatal vitamin, maybe these changes impacted AMH result from one month to another?!? Not sure, Even though I read everywhere AMH doesn’t increase I proved to the doctor today mine did. So I’m skeptical whenever they say (we don’t test this more than once). I know AMH is not an indicator of egg quality BUT, I want to put in the good vibes and work hard to have peace of mind, regardless of how many eggs I get, that I did everything within my power to give me the best shot for this egg retrieval (might do 2 retrievals anyways as Doc says I shall be on the high end of amount of meds 😩).

please do tell what supplements/vitamins/lifestyle changes you found most helpful on your EGG retrieval/IVF journey??!!

thanks in advance and sending and good luck to you all!

@ViVRe hi, I am not the best expert here but will share my experience, which might help or not.

I hear you that if one party not so sure to have a baby, then all is on hold

I am 41, husband 42. I have 2 kids: 1 with my husband and 1 before him. We always wanted 3, but delayed due to work, moving country, covid etc. We are both healthy and thought all will be ok. Not so in women's case :(( Last 1.5 years I get pregnant easy but all chemical pregnancies, mc before week 6. Hormones are all good but quality is an issue. So now waiting for my first egg collection on Monday.
I really really would advise not to delay the second stage after you freeze eggs...so much emotionally difficult etc 🙏
In terms of vitamins- Coenzyme Q10, high dose 600, Fertility Blend. Most important- stress management and sleep!!
I will be doing PGTA testing if I get any day 5 embryos. Also like back-to-back egg collection a few cycles to get higher chance to find that one normal egg.

Good luck with this journey! Xx

@TT82 thank you for your feedback, greatly appreciated. Sorry to hear you and the husband are struggling to get that baby #3 - truly hope now that you are starting retrieval/IVF things will move in the right direction and you will get that GOLDEN egg 🤗

In my situation hubby is supportive of getting eggs retrieved/frozen and will be helping me with the whole administration of meds (I am PETRIFIED of needles and wouldn’t be able to do it without him). We both know that having a baby right now is not the right thing for us, for MANY REASONS, if it happens (which is very unlikely naturally) we would cope with it but it’s definitely not something we want to actively pursue now. That does not mean we don’t want to have that option in the future...which is why we have decided to do 1-2 cycles of egg retrieval/freezing. Pending my husband health exams we may consider doing an additional cycle and freeze embryos, but as that option is more expensive (and we are paying out of pocket for this) we feel that it is more pressing to get my eggs out and frozen ASAP before they deteriorate any further.

Like you, we will also need/want to do genetic testing regardless before transferring embryo.

thanks for the Rec on vitamins…will have a look at fertility blend, I’ve thought about Coq10 but hear it helps those with high blood pressure and since my blood pressure is already on the very low end of things I am a bit nervous to take on something that might make it even lower.

xx

It might be worth reading a bit more before starting this. Essentially you can't preserve fertility and the evidence for freezing eggs over the age of 35 is pretty dubious (and fairly dubious before). It's mostly a money making enterprise for clinics. The chances of an egg becoming a baby are low, very low over 35. Robert Winston is a very reputable source and has huge amounts of information on his website, the genesis research trust. Realistically if you want a child (especially more than 1) you should think about TTC naturally ASAP, or make peace with the fact if you delay it might not happen. Obviously in discussion with your husband, but it's worth making sure you understand the potential repercussions of delaying. Sorry to sound doom and gloom, but just giving you a more realistic picture.

If you are continuing there are schools of thought re giving up caffeine being important and vitamin d/ubiquinol supplementation to improve egg quality but it's all poor quality research with uncertain findings. It's great you're fit, healthy, assume normal BMI. That all helps with general health and having a successful pregnancy.

@ViVRe Thank you for good wishes!

Actually freezing embryos instead of eggs, though more expensive, might save you nerves and money in future! Better option that just eggs, as you can test them and then keep normal genetic ones. This all ivf journey or just naturally at older age for women is very cruel, unpredictable and emotional...not saying expensive
Maybe indeed get a good consultation and discuss an option of embryos, given you will already go through EC part

If only I could express how much we both regret with my husband not starting all earlier :((( we were not ready to these obstacles and took fertility for granted. We are both ok to go donnor egg if needed, but in a country we live it is not allowed still, so we would need to go abroad. But this is like last resort. Or we just close our family of 4.

Wishing you all the best and strength whatever decision you both will take ❤️ xx

Payment made today for my 1st egg retrieval, nurse planning appt booked for the 12th of September…a mix of nervousness + excitement. I can’t help it but to think that one of the reasons I was put in this journey (as opposed to attempting to have children the “natural” way earlier on in life) is so that God can finally break my fear of needles. I have always been TERRIFIED of needles (can’t look at them, have sweaty hands just taking about it or anything related to them - like veins and such 😭 - when I was a little girl and all the way thru my teenage years I would faint every.single.time when getting blood out for tests. My dad used to come with me, hold my hand and see me through when the fainting happened but then he passed away a few years ago and I told myself “you have to toughen up, you are a grown woman, no daddy to hold your hand anymore” 😔 I had a couple more episodes of fainting, but overall (due to my poor health I get around needles with quite frequency actually, so you’d think I would be better by now, but not really)…however in the last 3yrs I’ve managed to not faint anymore, which is an accomplishment, but I still can’t look at needles without feeling sick. In preparation for my retrieval I’ve been watching tons of videos in the last few weeks and “forcing” myself to look at needles, can’t say it’s been a success as I still flinch and close my eyes a lot of times but slowly but surely I have been telling myself daily “YOU CAN DO THIS” - my husband will likely help me on the first few days of meds but I do want to be able to do this myself. Overall the needles+hormone overload is my main worry…the retrieval procedure does not worry me at all as the anestesia is similar to the one used for colonoscopy/endoscopy procedures I have done, almost yearly, in the last 10-15yrs.

Either way, fear or no fear, this journey begins soon for me - whatever the outcome may be I am proud to take initiative in trying to preserve my fertility rather than be moping around about my age/low AMH 😁

@ViVRe well done!! 👏🏻 You can do it, just stay positive!!!
Hormones actually were not bad actually or even welcome, after that horrible downreg pill beforehand to stop any hormones. Xx

Had my nurse planning appt today! And I must say, it went BETTER than I could ever expected…they went through my planned protocol, I practiced doing my meds, and got bloodwork/urine samples collected. Approximately 3 weeks till I start everything…I am ecstatic that I don’t have THAT MUCH meds and all my meds come ready to apply (so no mixing on my end). Here is my protocol:

Starting on Cycle Day 2 - 1 Ovaleap injection in the evening (450IU/L per day) will do that till they tell me to stop for trigger shot.

From Cycle Day 6 - 1 Ganirelix injection in the morning (0.25mg per day) will do that till they tell me to stop for trigger shot.

For now, that’s it till 1 trigger shot 36hrs before procedure and DONE with meds. No pills before, no other meds for now, and obviously they will track how it’s going and adjust if needed be, but I’m simply OVER THE MOON that the first few days seem to be easy enough to give me some experience with injecting myself in case they decide to up or change the meds from day 6 onwards.

anyone had experience with this medication? Would be curious to hear background on people that used these, age, AMH and how much eggs got collected, side effects, etc 🫠 you know I will be researching endlessly about this in the next few weeks until it’s my turn 🤪🤪🤪

another thing I thought was interesting is that my clinic only starts scans to check on progress from Cycle Day 6 onwards. Probably 3 scans before collection, but yeah no “baseline” scan as they already have an idea based on my initial pre-consultation scan (which was an end of cycle scan). Is that the case in other clinics as well? 🤔

First Stims dose (Ovaleap 450iu) ✅

feeling quite proud that I prepped the meds/needle all by myself and husband just helped me with doing the shot! Didn’t hurt, let’s hope no crazy side effects. Day 2 of cycle/period, I have enough side effects as is (even if I’m used to it by now - I suffer from menorrhagia).

I have scans/bloodwork booked for Monday, Wednesday and Friday next week. I am coming into this season of life with knowledge that there are NO GUARANTEES, I’m really making an effort to NOT build any expectations. Apparently this stims dose I am taking is somewhat high (specially for someone that has never done any fertility treatments before), so at the moment I think I’m just hoping to have an easy (non problematic healthy wise) egg collection journey in the next couple of weeks.

Then again, this is today…maybe tomorrow my mindset of NO EXPECTATIONS will change 🤪🫠🥴

Wishing you lots of luck OP, you might surprise yourself how quickly you get over the needle fear.
I would say you are early enough in this journey to deviate slightly and freeze embryos rather than eggs. I wouldn’t recommend doing ‘just’ egg freezing unless you are thinking that you would try to fertilise the eggs with donor sperm. You could have eggs frozen for months or years and then make no embryos. That sounds negative but it’s a real possibility and then your eggs are even older for a future retrieval.

If you are determined to freeze eggs, if you get a good number would you split them and aim to fertilise some?

@LongerthanMrTicklesarms hello, thanks for the well wishes. Yes, I’m fully aware that it is best to freeze embryos rather than eggs alone, but - for now at least - my husband is still sorting out his health situation (and he might also have to do a sperm retrieval, etc). As we are not in an immediate/desperate desire to have children THIS MOMENT, the main concern is that there have been signs of me entering perimenopause, since January, confirmed with my test results that my ovarian reserve is on the lower end for my age - so getting these eggs out NOW are more urgent than anything.

Initial plan of action is: 2 cycles of Egg Freezing by end of 2023.

1 extra cycle of Embryo freezing by first semester of 2024.

Depending on husband’s health/results, sperm donor might have to be a consideration. But that also involves my husband and my acceptance of that matter…and if we don’t agree on it, other issues arise 😰 so for now, I am happy to just focus on my end of it, getting the eggs out - if it’s meant to be, if I am to become a mum some day, then it will happen, if not, then I know I did what I could, with what I had at the time, and that’s enough to give me peace of mind 😉

In that case good luck with the egg retrievals. There’s often not enough headspace for everything so maybe get those out of the way and carve out some time for talking things through with a counsellor experienced in helping people with infertility. I’d recommend separate sessions and maybe one joint session afterwards.

Also for your husband a good urologist who understands male factor infertility so you both know where you stand re donor sperm, and if his general health is poor I hope there are steps to improve it.

I hope that you do manage to become a mum one day 💐