IVF/ICSI/FET November 2023

[Sunflower360]

Hi 👋 I could not see a thread had been set up so thought I would do so. Bit about me...

➡️38
➡️Low AMH being main issue, last test was around 4pmol in the summer
➡️Have had an abandoned and failed IVF cycle in Spring of this year due to failed fertilisation, OH had low morphology, other parameters ok so ICSI advised next time
➡️Since then, I had 2 x consecutive ICSI natural modified egg collections and have 2 x day 5 ❄️❄️ and 1 x day 3 ❄️ embryos, whether they are any good, only time will tell
➡️I'm about to start another egg collection on the mild protocol this time and will (hopefully if it goes ok) transfer this time

Please join the rollercoaster for November as you wish!

Thanks @IslandsintheOcean @onewishplease it's never an easy thing to process, even when you are expecting it.

@Caubabatko good luck for your 2ww. Unfortunately the Czech Republic isn't an option for me as they don't treat single women. It's a shame as they sound great and much cheaper than most other places.

I'm out! I did a FRER test today on my 9DP5DT and it was negative. My period is about to start. My test date is on Wednesday so I have to continue progestogen pessaries by then. I'm extremely upset feeling that my body is useless. I've never seen a BFP! :( My only hope is that I have 2 frozen blasts which I suppose won't be transferred before late January. And of course, there is no guarantee that they will be successful.

Morning all :-)

Has anyone meant to have their AF during their tww? I'm currently in my tww and I am actually due my AF tomorrow, and due to test on Thursday. I've had a natural fet with no medication, Sunday 12th, had cramps the whole time, slight dark tinge when wiping this morning and I spotted some dark brown runny discharge in the toilet. Pretty sure I'm out but, we all love to cling on to that tiny bit of hope x

@GOL I'm so sorry, please look after yourself today. I've stopped all my meds now (11dp5dt) and am just waiting for AF to arrive. I have everything crossed for your two remaining embryos.

@Dippydoraa Sorry can't help as I've always been on progesterone which can delay periods anyway. It could be some implantation bleeding. If otd is Thursday, a sensitive test would be quite likely to give you an accurate response if you wanted to check. Good luck

@GOL sorry to hear that. It’s such a hard process and a kick in the guts. I have also never seen a BFP. It’s great that you have 2 in the freezer! Take care and do something nice for yourself this week.

Hey, sorry to hear you have not fallen pregnant this month @GOL Take care of yourself. That is still really really positive that you have 2 in the freezer. Maybe put this down for 6 weeks and just relax over Christmas.
hi @Dippydoraa sorry to hear you have had a negative test also, take it easy and hopefully you can think of a new way through this.
I also had bad news today. Long story but they cancelled my cycle. I was supposed to trigger today, and collect on Wednesday. But they only measured one follicle at 17.2mm this morning, the other two were 9 and 11mm (apparently) (on Friday they were 10,14 and 15.

@onewishplease @Dippydoraa @GOL oh so sorry to read your sad news 🥺 Sending lots of hugs and strength ❤️

So sorry to hear about the cancelled cycle @onewishplease - that’s really frustrating and you’d come so far with this cycle.

@GOL - that sucks and I am so sorry. I know positive stories from others can also be rubbish - so forgive me - but our last round our first transfer failed. Our two frozen embryos became our twins.

@Dippydoraa - a sensitive test will help. Thinking of you. Uncertainty is really hard.

I’m so sorry @GOL, @Dippydoraa & @onewishplease. What a rubbish day all round. Take care of yourselves this evening.

Thanks everyone. I'm actually OK as I knew it could only go one way. This was my 1 and only attempt at IVF as it was funded by the NHS. How it has made me feel, is incredibly angry at the NHS, that we have to go through the emotional and financial stress and debt of funding IVF ourselves to achieve what we were born to be able to do naturally, and if we don't have the money, we have to suck it up!. My sister had 8 rounds of IVF 20+ years ago on her 2 children. Back then it was only £3k per round. Now it's averaging £7k! I'm not in a position to fund more IVF but I sure as hell will make a huge lifestyle change and not give up the natural route. Blessings to you all on your journeys! ❤️

Morning all, just a quick update.
Looks like EC will be next Wednesday only as too many smaller ones, and one over-mature :( Though dr was positive. They want to do icsi this time after discussion with embryologist..apparently after ivf small parts of sperm still outside and small chance might get sent during biopsy too (?) I said I am fine to try this time different..

Also they want to do endometrium biopsy, blood clotting tests etc, before any transfer attempt, as she suspects something more than just old egg issues. Given both my pregnancies premature, I also suspect there's something else to fix.
On a positive side - my hives got better! Only a bit of itching at night, but no pills needed 😅

@TT82 that is good news, so are you hoping for a couple of eggs? I had 2 eggs in my last collection and ended up with a day 5 blastocyst to freeze so numbers don't really matter in all cases.

I started stimulation last night, finally! So hopefully can keep going this time if they grow. Anyone else still at stimulation stage? How is everyone else doing?

@TT82 are you having immunology tests?

@Sunflower360 yeah was hoping for more as we do PGTA.. last time 8 collected, 7 ivf fertilised, 4 5d embryos but all uneuploid :(
But if only 2 and still one euploid - will take it better! :)
No no tests yet, they only now mentioned tests...as if you had pregnancies they tend to ignore all other possible reasons.. But we have time as no fresh transfer

Hi All,

Not great news for me, a BFN. It’s been a bit of a tough 24 hours actually. I went to the bathroom just before leaving work to head to a Christmas party last night and had spotting. My heart sank immediately, although I had to pull myself together for my work event and put on a smile. I was cramping all last night so was pretty sure it was all over, although of course I still had the glimmer of hope that it could be early pregnancy bleeding. My period isn’t even due until Monday.

I’m feeling down, mostly about the unfairness of it all - why do some people have it so easy while we are struggling despite doing everything right. Of course life isn’t fair though.

@TT82 good luck with your cycle, glad to hear you are feeling a little better.

@Sunflower360 fingers crossed for this round, hope you have a great result. Do you mind me asking what your age is?

Good to hear about how you are doing. Did the doctor change the protocol or the dosage from the previous cycle?
One of my doctors said it all depends on the lot of eggs recruited this time. My first EC at 43 resulted in only two blastocysts: 1 euploid and 1 mosaic out of 9 eggs, then 1/14 and 1/15 subsequently, and it only takes one egg to make a baby! You had a good blastocyst conversion rate so hopefully you'll have enough to test.

Just a note on ICSI - I've read that the NGS technology in PGT-A nowadays means you shouldn't need to worry about paternal contamination. But ICSI has been shown to slightly increase the odds of birth defects compared to cIVF and introduces the risk of damaging the egg. There is no difference between cIVF and ICSI in live birth rates.

@Sunflower360 Good luck with your new cycle, what protocol are you on this time?

@Runner77 I'm so sorry to hear about it. I hope you have good support from the people close to you.

Glad things are going well @TT82, good luck for next week.

I am so sorry @Runner77

My test day is tomorrow but since yesterday I have had light spotting so not feeling too hopeful.

@Caubabatko no, they didn't change my protocol, as I responded well last time, this time there were more follicles though. She said that 1 took most of the medicine this time, not as nicely even as last time.
Oh now I am really worried about icsi! My DH sperm results are good, so no real reason for it..will ask on Monday maybe for a consultation witj embryology department..

How is your waiting time passing??

@Hopingforno2in2023 , @Runner77 thank you ladies for your support!
And sorry to hear it doesn't look good for you.. 🥺 but any chance it is still early? Take care of yourself xx

I'm doing well thanks, I'm 6dp6dt now, almost no symptoms. My OTD is in December but I'll report back here!

Fingers crossed they'll harvest more than what they've counted, I had more eggs collected than previously reported in all my 3 collections.
My DH had a very low morphology 0.5-2% but quantity and concentration was great.
We were pushed for ICSI during the stim period in the first round so we did lots of research in days leading up to the EC to counter the recommendation, I challenge you do it too so you are more comfortable in either choice you make!
We eventually agreed to a 50:50 split. Result: no difference in fertilisation rates! Although, the euploid I transferred is the ICSI one, because the clinic refused to biopsy c-IVF one, so we had to move it to the new clinic for PGT-A. There, Dr Machac agreed that there is no indication for ICSI, we still 70-80% fertilised in 2nd and 3rd ECs. He thinks whether or not we get euploids probably boils down to which reserve you're hitting in the cycle. I'm hopeful you will get one this time!

@TT82 testing can be good. I had Recurrent Miscarriage Tests done just before starting this cycle ( I felt like I should do something with the gap between cycles, plus I wanted to rule things out in readiness for a transfer). I've only had 1 chemical in August just before going into these private cycles, but I thought it's worth doing the tests regardless as I have low AMH. Turned out I have anti-thyroid antibodies, so I am on steroids in readiness for a transfer, so testing can be good if only to eliminate things. Hope the rest of your stimulation goes ok.

@Runner77, sorry to hear about your BFN. It's so hard, especially to then have to put on a brave face in front of people afterwards. I've not long turned 38 (my previous egg collections were whilst I was still 37). How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?

@Caubabatko I'm on mild ICSI protocol, previous were natural modified so this one is a bit of an experiment. So far on my IVF journey I've done max stims short (no fertilisation), natural modified (2 x 5 day and 1 x 3 day embryos frozen) and now mild. With ICSI we've gone ahead with it due to failed fertilisation with our 1st NHS cycle, despite my OH SA being good (had 2% morphology which went up to 4% in the summer but all else was ok)

@Hopingforno2in2023 good luck for your test tomorrow

I'm very behind on posts but hope everyone is doing OK and sending lots of luck to all ❤️
Day 9 stims scan today for me, 3 decent sized follicles on each ovary with the biggest 17mm. A few small ones they didn't even measure that apparently are 'out of the race'. Another scan on Mon and hopefully EC on Wed. Nurse said we'll be lucky if we get 5 mature eggs, we're doing PGD so were hoping for higher numbers 😔. My estrogen level was just under 3000 and she mentioned expecting one mature follicle/1000? Has anyone else had similar numbers and how did your EC go in the end? Do they still try to drain the smaller follicles? And is there a possibility that the larger follicle could over mature pre EC? Trying to stay hopeful but not getting very much information from clinic 😭

@Autumnsun20 can appreciate it can be disappointing when you're expecting more, but do remember its quality over quantity. Some cases with high egg numbers still can only end up with 1 or 2 embryos, and others with lower eggs can end up with the same.

Regarding the 1000 per mature follicle its what I understand too. In my 2nd collection I had around 5200 Estradiol levels and ended up with 5 eggs of which 4 were mature (from that cycle we froze a day 5 and day 3 embryo). Then in my 3rd collection I had around 4600 Estradiol levels but only got 2 mature eggs (but there were a fair few smaller ones between 10-14mm so think that could have inflated the Estradiol figure). Create, the clinic I'm at, only extract those that are 14mm or above as anything below that yields no egg or an immature one. 15mm is the figure you want for a possible mature egg.

In both of those EC's I triggered when the lead got to 17mm but I was on natural modfied protocol, I think other protocols wait for the lead follicle to get to 19mm, I understand anything up to 19mm is good. If it got to 22mm at trigger then perhaps there is a risk of over maturing but it sounds like you're on track which is good.

Negative unfortunately :(

Am ok, going to focus on Christmas and will go again in the new year with my 3bb.