Trying for sibling, how many transfers.. IVF Success

[DeckingLover1]

Trigger Warning: mention of successful pregnancy.

Hi there, I’m sorry if this is a tough post for some as I realise how lucky we are to have a child.
I had a round of ICSI 2019 (male factor) and had 4 embryos on day 5, transferred 1 fresh - failed, 2nd transfer - a FET failed and 3rd transfer a FET success - 2 embryos transferred both stuck thankfully our little boy will be 3 soon but sadly the second embryo didn’t make it past 8 weeks gestation.

Just done another round to try for a sibling, this time 11 embryos, 1 fresh transfer and 10 frozen, however 8dp5dt I started red spotting/ light bleeding and unfortunately ended with a BFN. The clinic did say that after having 21 eggs collected that a frozen transfer may have suited me better and that they would consider aadding lubion injection every 3rd day with 3 cyclogest for my next FET (HRT medicated) given the early bleed. Also my lining was 14mm 1 day before trigger so I’m wondering if this was a bit too high and wouldn’t have helped implantation either - it wasn’t measured afterwards. Also my ovaries were swollen to 3 times their normal size with a small amount of free fluid in the abdomen at time of transfer.

Really I’m just wondering if anyone had a successful ivf pregnancy and then tried for a sibling and if it took many transfers? Any information or personal stories greatly appreciated add as I’m stuck in a rut now of negative thoughts that it’s not gonna happen again for us.. again I know we are extremely lucky but it just seems as if there’s so many stories of ppl who have success on each and every one of their transfers but I’ve only had implantation on 1 transfer albeit 2 embryos!

None of our embryos are PGT tested.

@DeckingLover1 Hey. I have a DD born after 4 failed IUIs, and 2 egg collections (first egg collection fresh transfer = BFN, FET = CP. Second egg collection freeze all, first FET = BFP). We had 2 non-tested embryos frozen from second cycle. First FET was a BFP and 22 weeks pregnant tomorrow.

You have a LOT of embryos, so I would reckon your chances of one of them sticking is really good! I'd avoid doing a double transfer personally due to the risk of a multiple pregnancy again, since you generally seem to have good success rate.

Good luck!

@2mumlife Thanks so much for your reply, I love to hear other successful stories, it keeps me feeling positive!
I think there are so many tests that ppl have that it can make IVF a minefield and makes me a bit anxious, it’s good to hear of other ppl’s journey and hear positive outcomes.
our clinic have said this cycle around that we would only be doing single transfers given my age and the grading of the blastocysts and honestly I think it’s the best approach for us at the minute.

I think that the next one being frozen transfer will definitely help. Sounds like you still had a bit of OHSS after your collection and your body was probably just a bit overwhelmed!

I had a frozen transfer after my first IVF round due to high number of eggs collected. I was disappointed when they said we couldn't do fresh but glad looking back as I felt so awful after the collection I don't think my body would have managed to accept the embryo as I was too swollen and sick.

I know you said you've had multiple rounds that haven't worked but only one of those was FET so it may be that you just need some more recovery time after your egg collections especially with those high egg numbers.

Focus on recovering from this round and then you can go into your FET cycle relaxed and feeling good.

I agree with @TwiceLemonDifficult that FET just might suit you better. On my fresh transfer I started bleeding just 5dp5dt and never stopped until OTD. Always feel like that wasted an embryo and it never had a chance because my body wasn’t in a good place post egg collection. I’ve always found FETs a much nicer experience and had more success with them x

@DeckingLover1 I’ve always been on the belief I would rather it take longer and cost more to do single transfers, than potentially put myself and babies at risk of a multiple pregnancy. I also genuinely not sure I could cope with twins 🤦‍♀️ was relieved at both early scans when they confirmed our single embryo was a single baby 😂

@TwiceLemonDifficult @2mumlife
Yea, that’s what I’m hoping - that FET might suit me better. Also the 1st FET (that failed) we spent a long time trying the get my lining thick and ended up transferring on day 26 with a lining of just 7mm so we increased oestrogen for the next and it was much smoother, transfer cycle day 21 and both embryos implanted. So, I’m hoping we’ve got a good basis of a protocol that suits me for FET and my clinic said they’d follow the same protocol for next transfer.

I’m a bit annoyed that the clinic did go ahead with the fresh transfer this cycle as I do feel like the markers where there to do a freeze all but hindsight is a great thing and I just went with what the experts said at the time.

I think we read so much of really difficult journeys ppl have through infertility and a lorry load of tests that I could be having (ERA/ EMMA/ Alice) and steroid/ ‘kitchen sink’ protocols so it’s hard to stay positive but I know it does and can work.

Also agree with you on the multiple pregnancy, when both of our embryos had implanted originally and there was 2 heartbeats it was quite an anxious time worrying if I’d mange. I salute parents of multiples, it’s not easy I’m sure!

@DeckingLover1 The conditions for the FET don’t sound ideal. I needed a higher dosage of estradiol as well x