Very big day 3-5 drop off

[Sofie19]

Hi,

Has anyone got experience of this and know why? I expected around 30% maybe 50% if lucky of day 3s to make it to day 5 but my stats are less than 10% and I've just about got 1. Apparently on day 3 they were all top quality too and 6c+...

Hi @Sofie19 I'm really sorry you're going through this - we had the same situation during our first round of ICSI and It had crushed me, so I can imagine how you're feeling.

All my research pointed to a sperm issue, probably a DNA fragmentation issue. We never got my partner checked but he made some changes assuming that was it. Diet and lifestyle: no alcohol, no coffee, whole foods, lots of nuts, cool testicles, ejaculated very frequently, as little plastic and chemicals as possible etc etc. We went from having a single early blast from 8 good-excellent embryos on Day 3, to our second round where we had 3 4BB embryos (our son, a failed FET, and today's BFP) from 6 good-excellent Day 3 embryos.

Of course, we'll never know if any of what we did made any difference or it was purely the luck of the month, but I would consider looking into your partner's side of things as a start, if your 1 doesn't work out.

Very best of luck!

This happened to us. By day 3 we only had one left. Turned into a positive though as they transferred on day 3 and I’m now 33 weeks pregnant with that one that was left so don’t give up hope.

We had ICSI for severe male factor, a varicocele that couldn't be operated on. Terrified of the 3 to 5 drop off when the male gene carries the embryos on. Like a PP said, cool testicle, no coffee, no baths, no alcohol and most importantly my husband ejaculated every other day for the 2 months before our cycle to ensure sperm was fresh and avoid dna fragmentation/oxidisation. All 7 made it to day 5, one slowed down and wasn't frozen so we had 6/7 despite a severe varicocele and incredible low sperm count, morphology, volume etc.

Might be worth looking at if you're plucky one doesn't work out but I hope it does, fingers crossed! :)

Hi OP, sorry to hear that.. I echo beachbum85, it is the sperm that takes over from day 3. We did MACS + ICSI (husband's got motility and morphology issues) and recieved a better outcome with that. Good luck!

Hi everyone

Thank you all so much for replying to me. I read about sperm and was really worried for this and my husband's response.

We actually had a turnaround on day 6 and quite a few made it for testing then...we nearly had 50% in total. I think day 6 odds are less good than day 5 but I am grateful for now that a few more made it so we can at least see if genetics is playing a part in our problems.

@Sofie19 I got a BFP a week ago with a day 6! I have seen a lot of day 6ers make BFP on MN, congrats on the final count being higher than expected!

@Sofie19 That's great news... I'm so glad to hear you had so many pull through!
I also just got a BFP with a Day 6, and my Day 5 had failed, so they are definitely good chances 😊

@Sofie19 I've read that day 6s are as good as day 5s for a frozen transfer🙂and higher chance they be girls too! All the very best to you!

@Sofie19 I think day 6 results are only low if you are doing a fresh transfer because it’s hard to time it with implantation window? Frozen day 6 transfers have the same chance as day 5 from what I read. So fingers crossed some will work out!

Thank you so much for sharing and all of your words of comfort. It's really great to hear of all these recent positives results. I really hope these next few weeks tick along quickly for you!
@Faith2024 ahh thank you! I have read a variety of things about day 6 but the clinic didn't seem phased. I guess the testing results will be give more clarity!!

Hi OP, hope you don't mind me posting as I don't have any advice but have had a similar issue.

We had 8 good quality day 3 embryos and 1 more that was a little behind. We were happy with that but then the day 5 update was disappointing. We had only poor quality on day 5 (and on day 6) - best one was 3 B-C, C. Nothing suitable for freezing and they transferred two fresh which is unusual at 35 and first cycle.

I'm worried about this for future rounds as the embryologist seemed disappointed too, and just said it could be a number of different factors they just don't know.

Interesting to hear about the sperm "taking over" from day 3 - does anyone have a source for that / is it just hearsay or has that come from medical advice?

Thanks and luck to everyone trying