2nd Frozen Embryo Transfer

[Rackel27]

Hello,
I'm currently on day 6 of my 2nd attempt at a medicated frozen embryo transfer. First time round (back in August) I had an overwhelming feeling that it didn't work. This time I'm on the fence, Ive had some twinges, I'm crazy tired and I've had a tiny bit of spotting today but otherwise no pregnancy symptoms yet. I'm really struggling to stay sane and feel completely irrational most of the time. I've still got another 6 days before I can take a test. Does anyone have any success stories please?
There was no reason why the 1st round shouldn't have worked, the embryo was good quality and my bloods were good. We haven't changed anything this time round and the embryo was good quality again. Sorry for the long post, just feeling a little disheartened right now.
Thanks on advance.

Hi OP. Sorry you are going through this. I've been through 5 years of fertility treatments and I'm now finally pregnant from an FET.

I wondered, have you had your embryos PGTA tested, or considered it?

That is one thing which I truly believe made a huge difference to us.

Most miscarriages in the early stages, and embryos that do not implant, are due to chromosomal abnormalities.

Having PGTA testing vastly reduces the chance of that - it basically filters out embryos with abnormalities, so they will only transfer a good quality, normal embryo. Embryos can be graded as good quality but still have abnormalities that would only be picked up on testing.

I got pregnant on the first FET we tried with a PGTA tested 'normal' embryo, and I'm now almost 12 weeks. I've never been pregnant in all this time, so I'm absolutely thrilled.

Interestingly, only 2 out of 5 good quality embryos that we tested came back as normal (and we are using a sperm donor - I don't have fertility problems myself, our issue is male factor - I am healthy and in my mid 30's). Apparently, this is a normal amount. More embryos than you would think have abnormalities of some kind, even in normal healthy individuals. This is one reason why even fertile people don't get pregnant every month they try, and some have miscarriages early on.

If we hadn't done PGTA testing, there would have been a 3 in 5 chance an abnormal embryo would have been chosen, and it either would not have worked or I might have had a miscarriage.

It can be expensive but I really highly recommend it - it also gave me so much peace of mind once I actually got pregnant that I had a reduced chance of anything going wrong - and so far I have had a textbook first trimester.

Good luck, whatever you decide, this journey is a horrible one that no one would choose xx

Sorry, I think I misread your post (end of workday!) and thought you were asking for tips for next time, but I realised you were just looking for success stories from FET generally!

I have everything crossed for you OP and obviously what I said is only if you need it further down the line - I really hope things work out this time and that you don't need any of that advice! (and many people DO have success, so there is no reason you shouldn't!)

Hi, my son is the success of a second attempt at a FET. I don't know why his cycle worked but the other didn't, but I did feel incredibly tired the few days before testing, I could barely walk without needing a rest. Fingers crossed for you x

Thank you for your message. So happy that you've got your little miracle, wishing you a happy and healthy pregnancy and delivery.
I have not had PGTA testing, it is not common in my country, my clinic said the risk outweighs the benefits as I am under 40 and we have no history of chromosomal disorders. I am aware that doesn't really mean much but I just went with what they told me at the time.
The first round I knew had failed with no doubts this time, I'm neutral, I don't know either way. It sucks having no control and just having to wait.

Thanks again for your message.

Ok so I have no idea how to reply to messages on here, it just keeps creating a new post 😂
@Therealmetherealme thank you for your story, congratulations on your miracle baby boy 🧡

@PregnantAtLast that's ok, thank you for your messages. Good luck in your pregnancy 🧡

Hey OP
My daughter is the result of a successful first time round FET, she's just turned 3

We did a second FET which failed in December and will be going for a third FET next month hopefully. Need to tell myself this just as much but they do say it's a numbers game and a roll of the dice but absolutely so many success stories!

Wishing you best of luck

I did my best to not symptom spot because I was worried stress would affect implantation. I used meditation apps to try and stay relaxed and ate a really healthy anti inflammatory diet. I also did acupuncture. The only thing that really hinted that I could be pregnant before I took the test was needing to pee really often but I was really focused on not getting my hopes up so I was stunned when the test was positive.

Best of luck, it's such a tough wait.

@RitaFires thank you for the message. Yeah I know I need to stop, plus I need to stop googling!

@pinksheetss Thanks for you message. Nice to hear it can work sometimes! Sorry to hear about your second round. Fingers crossed any future rounds go well for you.

My first FET didn’t work, absolutely no reason why not and it crushed me. We were so sure it would work because of the ‘there’s nothing wrong with me’ mentality we had, with it being male factor. We just didn’t think it wouldn’t work. Naivety I guess, maybe wanting to stay positive but I wasn’t realistic. The doctors said that there was no reason why the first didn’t work, and that it’s just a numbers game. Sometimes the egg fails or the sperm fails and it’s just not meant to be unfortunately. They told us, first try = 50% second try = 70-80% third try = 90%, if after 3 tries we hadn’t had any positive result we’d have to think about more intensive testing to rule out implantation problems.
We took a couple of months off to recover the loss and then tried again. I was more prepared for a negative and just concentrated on looking after myself, so that no matter what I was going to be okay, physically and mentally
We tried again in September (2nd FET) and I’m now 22 weeks pregnant! I couldn’t believe it, best news ever. Try to stay positive and just look after yourself the best you can 💖 Best of luck 🤞🏻

I’m 22 weeks with my second FET after the first failed. I too had some unfamiliar stabby pains with the successful one which did give me hope. Had never had a positive test before this one.

Wishing you luck 🥰 I’m still in disbelief that I’m in this position after so much doubt and sadness.

My now 6 year old was my second frozen transfer (I'd previously had two fresh transfers). She was also considered slightly lower quality than the previous transfer. She was the embryo that worked!

I had no pregnancy symptoms at all, apart from needing to get up in the night to pee which started a couple of weeks in and lasted until she was born. I did get stabbing pains one day, which I think was implantation, but that was a few seconds and nothing else until my boobs grew, so don't worry about no symptoms.

All the best, here's hoping.