42 and starting IVF treatment tomorrow - would love some company for the journey ☺️

[Sheffters]

Hi ladies, so, as the title reads, I start the injections tomorrow evening. I have an appointment with my clinic (Care) tomorrow morning for the baseline scan and to get the treatment plan. Meds have arrived so we are ready to go! My AMH is 8.3 with follicle count of 14.

I had my son via IVF 11 years ago and was very lucky that it worked first time and on the NHS. This time it's private and costing a fortune. This is the only shot we have at this so we are feeling the pressure for sure.

I fell pregnant last month naturally (first time ever due to PCOS) but that ended in a chemical at 5 weeks. We are opting for PGTA testing and keeping everything crossed for a euploid.

Is anyone else starting this journey?

Maybe it can just become a thread where all us ‘geriatrics’ can follow through our journeys, whatever they end up looking like!
Nice to hear from you @Onesaddog. It’s such a big decision isn’t it and all that money. One thing to remember is they can use the knowledge of what worked and what didn’t from this round to inform what they do differently next round (if indeed that’s what you want to do).
Anyone know if you usually automatically have a consultation with the clinic? I’m not really sure what next steps are (though I suppose it’s very dependent on the news I get on Tuesday)

@Onesaddog no apologies needed! Sometimes you need a break but you never owe anyone an explanation for doing what’s you need to to take care of yourself. I’m sorry that you’ve had such a time of it all.

@Sheffters that’s a good way to look at it! FWIW I found out after sharing my own infertility issues that a good friend of mine did egg donation. While I was primarily going to her for general advice, I learned so much about her journey and found it just comforting to know that the option is there. She now has a beautiful family and while it’s not how she pictured her journey to motherhood she found her happy ending after years of trying. All that to say - definitely keep us updated. Sending lots of love to you all

Hi @Sheffters- feel free to PM me about egg donation. I was in a not too dissimilar situation to you and went down the egg donation route - if you want some personal insights I would be more than happy to share mine.

I love that idea @overwork that this can just be a thread for all our journeys, whatever they may look like 💖
I'm not sure if a consultation is automatically booked in but I'd double check when they call you tomorrow. I'll be thinking of you tomorrow, I hope it goes OK.

I had my update this morning and it's left me feeling quite sad to be honest. Out of our 8 that fertilised only one has made it and has been frozen today - it's a 4BB. The other 7 they are watching until tomorrow and will call me again then. I just felt like I had high hopes for this round and can't help but feel disappointed. I'd really like to understand more about this drop off. The embryologist that called today was so cheery and positive telling me that it's great news, but to me it really doesn't seem that great when all the stats say you should be expecting more?
And as I write this I'm also feeling really guilty for being upset as I know we do have 1 that made it. This whole thing just really sucks doesn't it

I hope everyone else is going ok today x

@Magix86 Sorry you're feeling a bit crummy. Its okay to be disappointed with your results. One is great and you may have even more tomorrow but its only natural to react to the attrition. Definitely don't feel guilty for feeling how you feel <3

Hi all, love the idea of this being a journey thread for us all. It also helps others who are searching threads to find some answers 🙂

@Magix86 I'm sorry you're feeling rubbish, totally understand the shock when getting low numbers. Hoping that your others catch up overnight.

Sending lots of love to everyone else!

Ah @Magix86you have had such a brutal drop off, don’t feel guilty for how you feel, we all want a success story for you here! Interesting that you have had similar numbers each time. And it did work last time… I don’t know how I feel about tomorrow, I am trying to be realistic that there is a genuine likelihood that we won’t get one, but there is a cruelty hopeful side of me too. I didn’t opt for a 3 day update so I’m going in a bit blind.

@Magix86 The standard expected attrition is for 30-50% of fertilised eggs to reach blastocyst but tbh that doesn't necessarily hold when age creeps past 40.

That said, 7 still in the running sounds very promising, particularly as the embryologist was positive. Doesn't sound like they'd arrested.

@sirensong thank you. I'm 39 so although yes I'm very nearly 40 I was still hoping for the 30-50% bracket!
I'm staying somewhat hopeful for a positive outcome tomorrow. Even being able to freeze one more on day 6 would feel good. But also trying to stay realistic and not get my hopes up. We shall see. I can't remember all the info they gave me to be honest about the stages they were at this morning.

Ahh annoyingly I missed the update call. They have emailed and it’s not good news. Of the 4 left, 3 are ‘currently compacting’ and they’ll keep an eye on them for 48 hours. So presumably compacting is a good thing but they could have done with doing that sooner!

I hope you have a good update today @Magix86! @PearOpalare you waiting for your frozen transfer?

Thank you @overwork they've literally just called now. We have a 4CC that they've reluctantly agreed to freeze. They said they usually don't freeze any C grades. There is one more that is an early blastocyst that they will give a few more hours and see if it develops.

I'm sorry you missed your call! So no update now until day 7? I think compacting is a good sign!

My mate Claude reckons 30-40% will make it on day 6. So we’ll maybe end up with one or two. But then the chances of that one being euploid… think I need a chat with the consultant to see if there is anything else that she can do with the meds to try and get more eggs (more eggs at the start might mean more blasts at the end but I know from this thread that’s not guaranteed!).

That should say we’d be lucky to get 1 or 2!

@overwork It's such a numbers game isn't it. I used to think more eggs at the start would mean more blasts at the end but it would seem that's not the case for me. I have a lot of questions for our follow up appointment. I'm going to try and insist on a hcg trigger this time and am going to see what they can explain as to why we get a good number of eggs and top quality embryos on day 3 but then such a drastic drop off after that. I'm hopeful they will have something they might suggest to try. Keep us updated on those 3! And also let us know what your clinic recommends for next time

Will do!

@Magix86 don’t feel bad about feeling down about it, it is a drop off and it’s horrible to hear but there is definitely still hope

@overwork i am sorry, I don’t think I know what compacting means in this situation but I am keeping hopeful for you too

no decision on next steps for me yet although I was recommended these https://startwithovum.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorWuCREevnBSXT9IC-gwf6-NzJ7XOmnpRKyWcMZvxtjH1Rc-gcB if I do try again. I’ll give everything a go at this point x

So I've had another call and they've been able to freeze the final embryo - graded as a 3BC
So all together now we have a 3AB from 2024. And 4BB, 4CC and 3BC from this round.
Let's see what we get with our final round!
I'm reading about a Mediterranean diet being good for IVF so going to really focus on my diet for the next month and also go back to acupuncture. It's just the final push now so need to feel like I'm really doing something to help. I'm also considering whether we need to add one more egg retrieval in this time before transferring any but will really depend on our next round.

@Onesaddog thank you. I hope you're doing OK. I've heard a lot of good things about ovum! Can't hurt to try 🤷🏻‍♀️

Does anyone else here have any tips for lifestyle, diet changes etc to try?

Well that situation improved quickly didn’t it! Great news! I don’t know anything about grades but I’d have been happy with those results if they were exams! Good idea about the diet, I need to concentrate on that for a great many reasons and I love all that kind of food anyway. And I’ll also get some of those vits @Onesaddog

YAY @Magix86 !!

So my day 6 update is we have one that’s nearly there, the other 3 are unlikely to make it (though we were down to 3 in total yesterday and apparently 5 fertilised not 4. I don’t think it really matters as the overall result is the same but it would have been nice to have consistent messaging throughout!). I have requested a consultant appointment and chatted it through with my partner. We’re obviously not going to biopsy this slow burner so we’ve saved ourselves a bit of money to put towards one more go. But I want to understand what can be done differently before I agree to another round, otherwise what’s the point? Will ask about HGH too which I read on another thread, as it seems appropriate for all of my circumstances

Oh @overwork That's frustrating with the inconsistent updates! I hope you're feeling ok. Really hoping that 1 does continue for you. Someone recommended HGH to me recently and I've read quite a few people talking about it. I have no clue but from what I've read it can help to recruit a larger number of follicles and can also help with quality.
I've just ordered some ubiquinol as I thought it was included in my preconception vitamins but it only includes 70mg when they recommend 600mg 😫

Yes I think it was your thread that I saw. My consultant recommended just 200mg of ubiquinol so maybe you weren’t as far off as you thought! I never thought to ask her why low as I’ve also seen 600 recommended

Our last little embryo didn’t make it. Details will be discussed at MDT to see if there is anything else that they could do if I tried again. Keep jumping between thinking appreciate what we have and move on, and what if? Have a consultation appointment booked for next week to discuss what they come up with. Those that have had their breakthrough bleed, did it come with the usual warning signs like a regular period? I keep dashing to the loo to check after @PearOpals experience!

Ohh @overwork I was so hopeful for you, I'm so sorry. It's good you have a consultation booked in so quickly and I'd hope they'd have some recommendations for you to try if you did decide to go again. I do keep reading threads about how cycles can vary so much from one to the next so it would be reasonable to hope that with some changes you'd have a better round next time?
I'm still waiting for my bleed. It's now 8 days so should be here any day. I had some very light spotting yesterday and some cramps so I'm hoping it's not far off.