anyone over 35 going for fertility treatments this year? IUI, IVF etc

[sarahincanada]

daisy Im so excited for you
I had 17 antral follicles but ended up with 19 folliciles and 20 eggs on retrieval. so you can definitely get a few more. all mine were mature, sometimes you can lose a few not being mature but you should hopefully be able to get 8.

 

[DaisyQ]

Thanks Sarah! Some friends on another thread who go to the same clinic only had 3 and 5 follicles at trigger, but ended up having 9 and 10 retrieved respectively. So maybe there are more that they can't see on ultrasound that they find during retrieval?

 

[hockey24]

I was more on the lesser side - I had 5 antral follicles and had 12 follies during the u/s's that were greater than 10mm but in the end, ended up with 5 eggs retrieved.

Its so hard to predict what will happen but I think your initial count is fantastic and you should expect a really good cycle.

Can't wait to follow along in your progress!!

 

[drsquid]

yay daisy. sounds good. i was talking to someone goes to the same clinic as who only got 3 eggs and only 2 mature.. i was like.. doc best not be planning that route for me.. but apparently she has poor ovarian reserve. im hoping to see a similar count as yours =). did my 2nd lupron shot this am and had my first medrol dose last night.. and we are off

 

[DaisyQ]

Wow - we really are off! Crazy. I got the call from the nurse confirming we are starting tonight - 150 units gonal F and 2 vials of menopur.

Thanks for the input Hockey - I've been reading up on this all afternoon (of course), and it seems like most people end up retrieving about the same number of mature eggs as the antral follicle count. So some people might end up retrieving more, but wind up with about the same number mature. Just need 8 mature to get into the study, so FX!!!

 

[crystal443]

Daisy- those are great counts and you will def get more follies at your next scan Also, follies hide behind each other so there is usually a few more there then expected Your going to do great

 

[DaisyQ]

Thanks crystal! Excited for my next scan on Tuesday.

 

[DaisyQ]

Update..

I had bad news today - my cycle may be canceled. I've been really upset all morning. So basically, after 5 days of stims, it sounds like I have 15 total follicles, most still under 10, with a couple at 11, and one big one at 16mm. The doctor said that it's likely that the big one is suppressing all the others and therefore my cycle may be canceled. Devastated by this.

It just seems like there are SO many hurdles to overcome - even just to make it to egg retrieval, much less have enough mature eggs, fertilization, making it to blast, having normal embryos... I'm just feeling really disappointed, frustrated, disheartened, discouraged.

I have put in a call to my doctor and to my nurse to discuss. The doctor I saw today advised me to start the ganerelix tonight, and to come back on Saturday. So I guess it's not over yet, but it doesn't look too good.

Does anyone know what, if anything can be done? Does anyone have experience with this? Is this something that can be overcome, or is the cycle a bust? What can be done to prevent this from happening again? More suppression, or higher dosage of stims from the get-go?

To make matters worse, is that I won't be able to cycle right away again - we are going on a family trip (my FIL 80th birthday) - the first we in July. So if there is no retrieval this month, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to cycle until August. It is just so aggravating to wait and wait and wait, and then there are no guarantees. I'm really struggling to keep the faith.

 

[sarahincanada]

I posted on your journal but big and Im keeping some hope for saturday, let us know what your doctor/nurse says

 

[DaisyQ]

Thanks Sarah, I appreciate that.

Have to DRAG my sorry ass into work now and pretend like I'm OK.

 

[sarahincanada]

you know everytime someone has a setback or bfn after ivf it does get to me. I just wish it could be easier on everyone. I suppose when we finally get our bfp its even more special than people who get it easily. I hope you can get through work ok, at least you have some hope for a few days and then it will be the weekend when you know the final result. how is hubby with the news?

 

[DaisyQ]

Hubby is stoic. Said he's sorry, but not sure how he is feeling since I was such a mess. He's called a couple of times to make sure I am ok. He is always more optimistic than me and is not jumping to the conclusion that it's canceled, until it's officially canceled.

I appreciate the empathy. It really is so hard.

 

[sarahincanada]

Im like your hubby and would try not to panic too much until it really is final, but I know thats easier said than done and its good to prepare yourself.

 

[DaisyQ]

Yeah... I tend to jump to the worst conclusion. My hubby calls me D&G - doom and gloom.

I am feeling a tad bit better - going to wait and see what the doctor says.

 

[drsquid]

i commented on the other thread daisy. so *Hugs* here =)

 

[Milty]

I've seen things change from one day to the next try to wait for the final call before giving up on this cycle

 

[crystal443]

Daisy You may not have to cancel there's still alot of growing to do even though there's a lead follie Do your antagonist shots...those will make a difference and you still have to trigger which will mature what's there...hang in there and I've got everything crossed for you

 

[DaisyQ]

Thanks guys. Hoping for better news tomorrow.

Feeling a tiny bit better because if we DO have to cancel, I think I'd be able to start the estrogen priming this cycle, for ER in mid-late June. So I may not have to wait until august like I thought.

 

[crystal443]

When I had to cancel my first cycle...I went directly into another cycle I think I had a week or two week break. As soon as my lining was thin again we started again, I think there's only a break if you go through a whole cycle so no you won't have to wait long to start again The other positive is that they will have learned from this cycle and the second should go much smoother but don't give up just yet

 

[DaisyQ]

Thanks Crystal. How did they get your lining thin again - did they induce AF? Or you just waited for it?

I think what would happen in this case is I would start estrogen about a week in the luteal phase, then get AF, then start stims... So it would be about 2 weeks from now I'd be stimming again.