Getting ready for 2nd egg collection - any success stories?

[CoCoaButter85]

Looking for some words of encouragement as feeling I am loosing hope a little now. I will keep it short. No identified issues with either of us. Had my first egg collection nearly an year ago and ended up with 3 embryos with all failing to implant (had miscarriage about 3yrs ago and 2nd transfer was chemical).

Consultant recommended IMSI and PGTA testing for this collection. Unfortunately we need to turn this around quickly as husband got diagnosed with prostate cancer so cannot afford months of supplements etc.

I am on access package so would like to use my package first instead of just doing embryo banking. Plus I am not sure I want to carry on if the next cycle is also unsuccessful.

I'm just looking to see if anyone was in a similar situation to me and ended up with a baby? Also when did you decide it is time to stop?

@CoCoaButter85 Hey. Similar here in no known fertility issues, youngish and normal AMH - we needed a sperm donor as same-sex couple and moved to IVF after 4 failed IUIs. My first egg collection was crap - I didn't respond that well to stims, then they collected less eggs than expected and only 2 were mature. Both made good looking day 5 embryos but fresh transfer was a BFN and FET transfer was a chemical.

Second egg collection was a winner. We changed protocols and I made some diet and lifestyle changes (nothing major). We got 6 eggs collected, all mature, all alive at day 5 though only 3 suitable for freezing. 1st FET is my DD and 2nd FET is my current pregnancy (16 weeks). Third is still frozen if we ever decided we wanted more.

Best of luck for your second egg collection :)

@2mumlife thank you for sharing your story! It sounds like your second collection was a winner altogether. And congrats on your pregnancy! Hope all goes well for you 💐

It's just really hard to keep the spirits up after a year of going through it already 😟

Hi @CoCoaButter85 so sorry to hear that you are feeling this way.

I am in a similar situation. Everything is normal, no issues found. Did one round (4 embryos), but two transfers failed already. So I only have one good quality and one poor quality embryos left. I will be doing another frozen transfer soon, but I don't have much hope. If this transfer fails I will have to do another round. So I completely understand how you feel.

Have you done any tests? (Like ERA, NK cells, trombothilia). Has your doctor recommended anything?

It's so hard when there are no obvious issues so you don't know what to treat. I really hope it works for you this time!

@NewBee21Sorry o hear you are in the same boat with me. With ever@NewBee21Sorry o hear you are in the same boat with me. With every failed FET I am loosing more and more hope. I know logically there's no reason to think my next egg collection will be a failure again but it's really hard. So you shouldn't feel your next fet will be a failure but I started mourning it even before I had the transfer.

So I have elevated NK cells and was on steroids and also had 'pina colada' drip for my 3rd FET. We'll do IMSI for this egg collection to hopefully try and eliminate some of possible sperm related issues. Will also PGTA test embryos. Depending if/what we've got left then Alice/ERA (didn't discuss this in detail yet). We also have added joy of having to sort out sperm banking so bought my DH vitamins today to try and get his sperm to the best it can possibly be. I am just following advice from consultant as tired of worrying and overthinking every detail by now. It hasn't given me any results so what's the point

What have you tried so far and what is your consultant saying? And did you think about counseling? I tried one complimentary session which was ok but unlikely to look into anything permanent short term

Hi @CoCoaButter85

So far I've done era/alice and all results came back perfect. I was hoping that something would be wrong because it would give us some answers.😀

I also had a polyp removal, and they checked everything inside the uterus with a camera. Everything also looked good.

I am also thinking about checking the NK cells. My consultant said that for now he would just go ahead with era/emma/alice and theombothilia. He also said he is surprised that I am not pregnant yet, but him saying it made me feel even worse.

I think you have a good plan in place. I would also consider the PGTa testing for my next round. I think it will help avoiding transferring embryos that have not much chance.

I should probably also make my husband start vitamins again in case this FET fails.

I haven't tried counselling yet, but I had my own psychologist and it didn't help much. I just find that other people who are not going through the same thing can't understand how we feel. They can help you process your emotions but in the end I am still feeling so lonely.

Do you mind me asking how old are you?

Have you done medicated or natural transfers?

I've read a lot of stories here of people getting pregnant after 2-3-4 cycles so I think we should try to stay positive! Do the tests, make sure everything is fine and then just hope it will work 🤞There is not much we can control apart from that.

@NewBee21 - I did the camera thing as well and all was fine. My consultant said that 80% of failed implementations is due to embryo not being right. Regardless how many tests you do if embryo isn't right there's nothing cam do about it. That's why he offered IMSI to hopefully help to pick right sperm and improve out chances.

I had a chat with embryologist yesterday and asked her if my chances for this cycle being successful are lower because of how the first one went. She said that not necessarily. So I will take that.

I am 37 now (eggs collected at 36). Dh is 48. What about you?

I only did medicated ones. I tried doing natural buty ovulation was getting delayed (stressed at work)so decided to go back to medicated one.

At the very beginning I had counseling but as you said they didn't specialize in the matter so weren't that good. To get real value would need to go to specialist or try different kind of support altogether

I asked honest opinion from my consultant regarding NK cells and he was ofa view that you need to be sure that the embryo is of a good quality. But as you said, need to do testing and eliminate everything possible and hope for the best ❤️ ❤️

Hi @CoCoaButter85 thanks for replying!

From what I know looks like you are doing everything you can, so hopefully your next cycle will be the lucky one ☺️

I would look into era/emma/alice as it gives quite a lot of info if you are doing medicated transfers. My consultant now told me the exact time when to start progesterone so we put the embryo in at the right time. It's also reassuring to know about the good bacteria etc.

But I agree with you, it mostly depends on the embryos.

I am 34, dh is 38. I think if my FET fails I will take a break for about 3 months and then do another round in September.

I wish you all the best ❤️ Try to stay positive and look after yourself 🥰 it is a hard journey, but I am sure we will get there!