Who has attempted in-vitro fertilization several times, and gotten a baby after many failed attempts?
Next month, my wife and I will be trying for the third time. The underlying problem seems to be endometriosis - she has had three surgeries for that condition.
On our first try they retrieved about 8 eggs, performed ICSI, and after 3 days we had 3 embryos that were transferred back. This resulted in an ectopic, and a tube had to be removed. The next time they retrieved about 9 eggs and transferred back 4 embryos, but apparently none implanted.
My very close friend of over 15 years (well actually his wife) just had a baby boy a couple of weeks ago. It was in-vitro and it worked the first time.
Her sister has two in-vitro children. The first was on the first try. The second one took two attempts.
First attempt - eight eggs retrieved. Five fertilized via ICSI. Three replaced and two frozen. None implanted however.
The two frozen oocytes did not survive the thaw when we tried to use them.
Second attempt - fifteen eggs retrieved. (GrizzWife was taking baby aspirin once a day and we believe that had a dramatic effect on the increased number of eggs retrieved). Eight fertilized. Three oocytes replaced and five frozen. Urine test showed positive pregnancy. However, ultrasound at 8 weeks showed no heartbeat. Fetus had stopped growing at 6-7 weeks and GrizzWife had to have a D&C.
Later on we had the remaining oocytes, three survived the thaw. All three implanted. Urine test showed positive pregnancy. Ultrasound at 7 weeks showed twins.
/hijack/
Subsequent ultrasounds showed to be boy/girl, duo-amniotic, duo-chorionic. We knew this would be a high-risk pregnancy (mom 38 years old, long history of NOT becoming pregnant, twins, etc) so we had ultrasounds every two weeks.
At 21 weeks, she’s put on home bedrest because of complications.
At 28 weeks, GrizzWife notices some incontinence. Turns out she’s leaking amniotic fluid. Into hospital she goes. She drinks enough water during that time to float a battleship!
At 31 weeks, son and daughter are born. GrizzSon at 4lbs5oz and GrizzDaughter at 5lbs6.5oz.
GrizzDaughter does not do well and survives only three days.
HOWEVER!
GrizzSon is now nearly eight months old, is above the 80th percentile for height/weight of children his age, and is doing very well!
AV8R… if you’d like, I’m sure GrizzWife would LOVE to correspond with you two. She’s active on some posting boards on the internet regarding IVF, parenting, etc. They’ve built some really strong bonds, and shared an AMAZING amount of helpful real-life information.
email me at GrizzRich@yahoo.com if you’re interested.
My Brother (ok his SO) tried 3 times, on the that time, they only implanted 1 embryo. (Other times 3 went in ) Much to their amazement it took, and he is 10 years old now. She also had endometriosis. (Baby 1 month early, mother hospital rest for 8 weeks) My wife and I just failed our third IUI, bummer.
My sister is now 3 1/2 months pregnant, on the seventh (or eigth?) try. She did lose one baby in the 11th week of pregnancy, which was awful. In the interim, she & hubby adopted an adorable boy. So far everything is great, all tests normal, & they are really hoping for a girl! She turned 40 yesterday…
FWIW, the problem was with hubby…he was hardly producing any swimmers. Our entire family is keeping their fingers crossed!
Grizz, I’m sorry, too. We all mourned my sister’s loss…even at three months, it’s a death.
I finished my first negative cycle in April, needless to say, it was devastating. I’m on the waiting list for IVF #2 and praying this one works. I am a low responder and only got 4 mature eggs (which all fertilized via ICSI) They transferred all 4 (2- 8 cell, 1- 7 cell and 1- 5 cell). I thought for sure they’d stick as my uterus is totally healthy, lining was perfect, etc… no such luck!
I found a bulletin board specifically for IVF and it has been so helpful! I highly recommend going there and reading some of the posts. There is a separate bb for just about everything relating to IVF (IVF after 35, IVF & the 2week wait, cycle buddies for the month, IVF and nutrition…the list goes on. http://ivfconnections.com/bulletinboards.htm.
I have learned so much from other women going through this. The main thing that I’ve learned is that whether you get 1 egg or 30, you have endo or a healthy uterus, whether it’s your 1st try or 9th, everyone’s bodies are so different but our minds are totally in sync. We all feel exactly the same, we all have the same questions, curiousities, hopes and prayers. With every hurdle we have to go through (will I respond to meds, will I have any eggs, will they fertlize, will they divide, will they implant…) these women support you, encourage you, blow you “baby dust” and give you lots of postive sticky thoughts! (silly, but they help!)
I bet you will find a lot of women that have gotten PG on their 3rd, 4th+ try even with stage IV Endo! You’ll be amazed at the information you will find. I’ve read that many women have tried different clinics if they haven’t had success, tried different protocols (I did the Flare Protocol), herbs, vitamins… anything to make it work!
Best of luck in your next cycle… postive thoughts and baby dust to you!!!
