Ask the girl doing in-vitro fertilization (IVF)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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I have previously done an Ask the girl doing intrauterine insemination thread, however the IUI’s obviously never worked.

We also have had Ask the guy whose wife just went through in-vitro fertilization. I am sure there was one more, but can’t seem to locate it through the search function.

Looks like we are starting our IVF process on February 2, so I thought I’d make an ‘Ask the’ thread since we haven’t had one in a while.

Background

My husband and I started dating in 2001. After we bought our first home in 2002, we stopped using protection. We weren’t ‘trying’, but we weren’t preventing. In 2007, I had a surprise pregnancy and loss. I had an unusually heavy and long period, so tested, and it was positive. I would have been about 6 weeks.

Once I was given the all clear from the miscarriage, we started actually trying. From 2007 to 2009, I charted my temperatures and got to know my cycle. I have almost textbook cycles, a clear thermal shift, and no obvious issues. We were finally referred to our first Reproductive Endocrinologist in mid-2009.

I underwent a hysterosalpingogram, laparoscopy and various blood tests. Everything came back normal. My husband did three semen analysis and all came back within normal parameters.

In the late summer of 2010 we did three rounds of Clomid. On the second round, in August of 2010, I became pregnant again. This resulted in a loss at about 5 weeks. After the last round of Clomid, we were referred to the Calgary Regional Fertility Clinic. I met with my doctor in November 2010 and underwent another hysterosalpingogram as well as a hysteroscopy.

We attemped three Clomid/IUI’s (referrenced in my other ‘Ask the’ thread), all of which failed. After that devastation, we decided to take six months off of everything to do with trying to get pregnant. However, in July of 2011, I had a surprise pregnancy, of which is detailed in this thread: I’m pregnant but I fear it’s doomed. It *was *doomed, and I ended up having a surgery for an ectopic in my left tube. I lost the tube, but not the ovary.

Since that was my third loss, we underwent repeat pregnancy loss testing. I got the results yesterday, and both my husband and I are genetically normal. I had a biopsy on my endometrium to check for infection and it was also normal.

There is a side story here - the original plan for IVF was for me to do a shared cycle with my sister (infertile due to cancer treatments) where I donate a portion of my eggs. However, she is not responding properly to the medication she’s taking and is going to be delayed for up to a year. So, after discussing this with our doctor, we have decided to go ahead with our own IVF now. If you have any questions about this part of the story, please ask.

Going forward
The clinic called me this morning and gave me my schedule. I will be doing a Long Lupron protocol, so start Suprefact on February 2. My first baseline ultrasound is February 19, and if all goes well, I start my injects to begin ovarian hyperstimulation. After a couple of weeks of ultrasounds and blood work every two days, I go in for egg retrieval around March 3. We will be doing a three or five day transfer depending on how the embryos look.

We are very excited and nervous, as well as completely broke now!

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I couldn’t read and run. I just wanted to stop by and wish you luck!

Having been through 2 IVF cycles, I don’t really have any questions, but I did want to offer some encouragement. No matter how it’s looking all the way through your cycle (how your hormones are responding, how your endometrium’s looking, how your follicles are developing), try not to get too focused on the details. It will only drive you crazy, and you just never predict how it’s going to go.

I did my second cycle in November/December, and the stimultion phase took far longer than the first time I did IVF. They managed to get 7 eggs (not bad from only one ovary), but only one of them fertilised (last time I got 7 eggs, and they all fertilised). I totally gave up hope, but turned up for the day 2 transfer (again, another sign it was doomed), only to be told that I had one perfect embryo to transfer.

I’m now 9 weeks pregnant and have my first scan tomorrow at the clinic :slight_smile:

You will drive yourself crazy analysing all the data, I know that, but try to keep it in the back of your mind that you just can’t tell what will happen.

Oh, actually, I do have a question. Given your repeated pregnancy losses, and the fact that all your tests came back normal, are you getting any additional support post-transfer? I got one additional HcG injection and Progesterone for about 10 days, which I think was standard for my clinic. Is there anything else they can try?

Also, I just wanted to say that I think it’s a wonderful thing you’re doing for your sister. I really hope you can both complete your families together.

In addendum - totally get the broke comment. We’ll be paying off this last cycle for quite some time. Totally worth it, though!

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Thank you Neeps, I was hoping you’d post, and I appreciate the support!

To answer your question, yes, I’ll be on progesterone (I’m really hoping it’s not PIO) and low-dose aspirin.

I think I’ll be a good responder. I have perfect AMH levels and my antral follicle count in September was 23, so also right in the perfect category. That said, you still never know, but all indicators point to me doing very well.

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How old are you?

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  1. Hubby is 30.
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Oh, good. At 31, I hope you will be a good responder and this will go well for you. I had IVF at 39, and it wasn’t easy. I was wondering how you could be so confident that you would have enough eggs to split with your sister.

(Speaking of which, if it looks like you’re going to have a lot, have you considered fertilizing them half-and-half, and then letting her freeze hers until she’s ready to use them?)

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I’ll give a bit more details about the sister situation so I can answer this.

Originally, that was the plan. We were going to share the eggs from one cycle, with her husband fertilizing their portion, and my husband fertilizing mine. Before we could do this, Lara had to do two successful mock cycles to see how her lining would respond. She has gone through menopause and does not have a period. She started her first cycle at the beginning of October 2011. About three weeks in, they discovered she had been taking her medication wrong, so she stopped everything and waited two weeks to restart. Her second mock started in November, but after three weeks of stims, her lining was only 4.5 mm (they want 8 mm or more).

Try number three started in December and was the most aggressive protocol they do, which includes vaginal viagra. After three weeks, her lining was at 6 mm. At that point, the doctor recommended that she take a few months off for a mental and physical break. We all discussed doing one IVF cycle just for them, where we donate all eggs, they fertilize and freeze everything for when she is ready.

That’s what I went in to discuss with the doctor yesterday. Unfortunately, our plan won’t work. At my age, with a fresh transfer, we have a 70% chance of a pregnancy. With a frozen transfer, that drops to 35%. Coupled with her potentially poor lining, doing frozen transfers is a waste of time and money. Add to that the risk of her never being able to carry and possibly need a surrogate, it was decided that we would go ahead with our IVF for now, while they tried to get Lara’s lining issues under control. The doctor said yesterday that it could take up to a year to get the stims figured out for her.

So, we do ours now, and if it works, she waits until I’m finished breastfeeding or six months postpartum. She is obviously upset, but she is also young. She’s 27, so she does have time. Still hard to deal with, though. Waiting sucks.

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No questions here, we’ve been through four cycles ourselves. Just wanted to say good luck.

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Good luck! We went through it, but it didn’t work for us, unfortunately.

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Good luck!! I am very hopeful for you!

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Have you been tested for a genetic factor called MTHFR? It is thought to be associated with certain clotting disorders and thus a potential element interfering with pregnancy being carried to term. It’s typically very responsive to being treated with a blood thinner, though.

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I’ve been following your blog, so was aware that you were about to start, and that you’ve been through a few ups and downs in terms of the plans to help your sister. Although it must be disappointing for her that she has to wait, it must be exciting for you that you could have a baby by the end of the year.

Luckily I didn’t have the PIO, I had crinone gel, which was a little messy, but far preferable. If you are using something similar, I shall pass on some useful advice that Girl From Mars gave me - what goes in, must come out! And usually needs a little help. And looks like putty when it comes out. Not the nicest, but still better than PIO!

Do you know how many embryos you are going to transfer? In the UK, the max you can transfer for someone our age is 2 (which I did the first time, and ended up with one baby, thankfully!) and they are also pushing elective Single Embryo Transfer (eSET).

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I also wanted just to say something else, that may sound weird. Be prepared to feel strange if it everything works perfectly and you end up pregnant.

During my first cycle, I had prepared myself so much for disappointment, that when everything worked, I felt really disconnected from it all. I guess I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop and something to go wrong. This lasted all through my pregnancy, and I found it impossible to get excited about the baby. It also made bonding with my son really difficult. It took some time to work through all of my feelings, but I think I’m much better now as I’ve gone and done it again :slight_smile:

I found lots of information about people dealing with negative cycles, but none dealing with people dealing with positive ones! I guess no one who goes through IVF wants to complain that they’ve been successful, and they don’t know how to deal with it!

Hopefully your cycle will work, and you’ll be able to enjoy everything just fine!

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Good luck! I’ve been following your blog, and as much as it sucks for your sister, I’m so glad you’re getting your chance so soon! Keeping my fingers crossed for you, and I hope it all works. How many embryos are they planning to transfer?

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Good luck and congratulations I’m currently 23 weeks pregnant from my second ivf. I have a 3 year old girl from my first cycle. This time around it was just a little more drugs, same protocol and I responded better with more eggs and embryos made it to a day five transfer.

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Yes, I have been, and I’m not a carrier. They are putting me on low dose asprin anyhow, just in case.

Two is our number, but it depends on the situation on the day of transfer. If we have only three embryos, we’ll put them all back. Any more then that, and we’ll freeze. The clinic is VERY persistent about making sure you are sure about your decision. We have to watch this video about the risks of multiples and have a few conversations about it with the doctor and nurse.

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Thanks again for the support! I’m still waiting for the clinic to call with my prescriptions and to receive my paper schedule in the mail.

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I don’t have any questions but I wanted to say “Good Luck”! It took about 2 years of infertility treatments (4 IUIs and 4 IVFs) to conceive my son, so I have been there and I know how much it sucks. I was about your age, too.

And when they say, “It only takes one embryo,” they are not just trying to make you feel better. We only got one embryo from our final IVF (I am a really poor responder) and it resulted in our son. You should get a lot more though!

The PIO is not fun, but in the great scheme of IVF it was fairly minor. It was pretty standard when I went through IVF but that was close to 10 years ago.

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Thanks Wednesday Evening!

I went and picked up most of my medication yesterday and sat with the nurse so she could show me how to do the injections. I am on Gonal-F and Luveris.

I start my Suprefact next Thursday, which supresses my ovaries, essentially putting them to ‘sleep’. It’s a nasal spray that I use once in each nostril, five times a day at certain times. My next milestone is February 19, when I go in for my baseline ultrasound. If all is good, we start injections that day.

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How times change!

My IVF son will be 17 next week. The fertility clinic was a cattle call. I’ll leave it at ‘not terribly personal’. They implanted 7 viables (limit was 6 but we chose 7 just in case-we were allowed to choose). My father was terrified I would deliver a litter. He recently told me he had nightmares.

But it worked in 1995. :slight_smile: I’m sure the technology has gotten 100 times better.

Best of luck to you!