IVF/FET roll call April-October 2017 *12 BFPs, 3 sets of twins!

[babylights]

Thanks ladies! I'm brushing off her weird comments and am going to just focus on moving forward. I was so happy about 11 before she came back and burst my bubble Hoping for a better response to higher doses and lots o' big follies at my next scan on Saturday!

 

[scoobybeans]

wishn- My advice is let is dissolve a little longer and also wipe the needle with an alcohol swap after you get the air bubbles out. I think it's the excess liquid coming in contact with your skin that makes it worse. Also, ice pack afterward really helps!

babylights- You were only on 4 days of stims, right? That's SUPER early. I checked back and on both of my IVF cycles my biggest follicles were in the 6mm range on day 4. I think you're totally fine and an increase in meds will definitely give them a boost. 11 is awesome! Don't let her bring you down. Good luck at your scan tomorrow!

 

[babylights]

Thanks so much scooby, that makes me feel a ton better!

 

[Ask4joy]

Sounds like you are just fine babylights - I'm betting your next scan will show good progress! Are you doing PGS? I forget...

Ladies, I'm worrying about PGS. It is recommended due to my loss history and dx but I'm so worried that they won't find any normal embryos. I've read that some doctors discourage it as results aren't always accurate and Mosaic embryos (containing more than 1 chromosome line, like myself!) often self-correct. I'm kinda thinking that if I only have a few 5 day blasts that we should deny PGS and just give it a try. Otherwise if they test them and they are aneuploid they are required to discard them and then no chance at all! Thoughts?

 

[babylights]

Ask we're doing ivf for the express purpose of genetic testing so I'm of no help!

My E2 at Day 4 of stims yesterday was only 94, so I feel like there's a real possibility my cycle might be cancelled unless my increased dosages really kickstarted things. Anyone else have experience with super slow growers and low E2??

 

[star25]

Babylights, I didn't have mine tested during stimming, sorry I'm not much help with levels, I hope tomorrow's scan goes well though, I don't think your first scan is anything to worry about, like the ladies have said it's still early days

Wish, how is the cetrotide going now? I didn't find it the easiest compared to using a pen for the gonal f! Hope you're doing ok which I'm sure you are!

Ask, sorry I don't know a lot about genetic testing, does your dr discourage it? It sounds like a difficult one, can you decide once you know how many blasts you have? It sounds like you're leaning towards not testing so do what you feel is right for you and what our feel happy with

 

[Ask4joy]

Babylights - sorry I'm no help since I haven't started my IVF cycle yet. What happens if the cycle in cancelled? What portion of the costs do you have to pay? I really hope it's not cancelled! FX things improve!

Star - I'm thinking if we have less than 4-5 day 5 blasts not testing but if we have more going ahead and testing. My doctor thinks we should test. I'm going to ask her more about it at our IVF consult next week.

 

[Kjw26]

Babylights-I know they tested my E2 but I never knew my results. My clinic didn't like to give a lot of numbers because they didn't want an extra stressor to focus on. I really hope your increased dose does the trick though! I agree with the other girls that 11follicles sounds great and it is definitely still early. I hope your next scan goes well!

Ask4joy-that's so interesting about the Pgs not always being accurate and the fact that if you have mosaic embryos can self correct. I can definitely see how that would make your decision much more difficult. I chose to do the pgs and I'm personally glad that we did because we had several Day 5 embryos that looked great but were genetically abnormal. To me I just think that had those been transferred I would have likely not gotten pregnant or miscarried. One thing I learned with my clinic at least is that they never discard any of the embryos that they test. Even if they came back abnormal unless the patient requests that. Maybe you could ask if that's your clinics policy also. Then you would have more information but could still choose to transfer if there were only slight abnormalities? I agree with star though you should definitely trust your gut and everyone's situation is different!

 

[scoobybeans]

Babylights- I'm a slow responder and my E2 was low on day 4 as well both times. (Just over 100.) I did get there in the end, but the 2nd time they had to increase my dose three times. My AFC is also a lot lower than yours so I didn't have as much to work with. Feel free to take a look at my LTTTC journal, as I was very detailed: https://babyandbump.momtastic.com/l...ying-1-39-2nd-ivf-april-104.html#post38501405. It's all on the first post under spoilers.

In my case we were OOP so canceling would have been a disaster, but we did convert my first IVF to an IUI at my request. I felt I had been oversupressed with BCP so the 2nd time I asked to do estrogen priming instead.

I hope that helps. I still think in your case it's early and if it won't hurt you financially just wait & see if your response picks up. Good luck!!

 

[babylights]

Thanks scooby! I actually have stalked your entire journal And now here you are with Moobley!

I'm taking a look at my updated calendar and it says at my baseline suppression check after bcp my E2 was <5! It seems odd that they were so surprised at my poor response to stims. Or does that mean I should be responding better? I should really just stop thinking about this

 

[WishnandHopn]

Babylights, day 4 is still early, so there's still time for it to improve, especially now with your higher doses. Good luck tomorrow! Keep us posted!

Ask, I was interested in doing PGS but my doctor talked me out of it. He doesn't think I will get many embryos and like you said, with PGS you can end up discarding good embryos. When I asked about deciding after seeing how many blasts we get, he said we'd have to decide first, because in order to biopsy the embryos they need to poke a hole in them with a laser on day 3 and the cells that bubble out are what they sample. Maybe your clinic does something different and you will be able to decide based on how many blasts you get. I guess if you don't do PGS you will have to just prepare yourself for the possibility of more chemical pregnancies.

Star, cetrotide went much better the second day! (Thanks for the tips Scooby!) I'm on day 6 of stims and starting to feel some twinges and pressures in my ovaries, so I have my fingers crossed that my scan tomorrow morning will be good news.

 

[scoobybeans]

Babylights- less than 5 is crazy low! If you think about it, you've gone all the way up to 94 in just a few days. So that's pretty damn good! With my clinic, as long as E2 doubled or almost doubled, they let you continue your cycle.

Wishn- I'm so glad the shots got easier. Hoping you have a great scan today!

Ask- I have mixed feelings on PGS for that exact reason. We opted not to do it because we didn't have much to work with, but I think for women who have RPL but lots of eggs it's a good idea.

 

[Ask4joy]

Thanks for the input ladies. Based on my hormone levels I should respond well to the stims. AMH is 3.0 which is very good for being nearly 35. Hopefully I'll get lots of eggs!

 

[babylights]

So update from today's Day 6 scan: 12 total follies
R: 8.5, 8, 8, 4 <8 (all above 7)
L: 9, 4 <8
Will get E2 levels later today, but I'm at CCRM's max doses of 150 Menopur and 300 Gonal so hopefully my levels have gone up and these guys start moving and shaking!
Update: E2 197; keeping doses at max and not dialing back

A few things we talked with the doctor about:
- not canceling this cycle, at least as of now (but most likely not)
- they're very surprised at my response despite my good AFC and AMH, could be an egg quality issue
- she told us that talking to the ovaries works so we're stepping those efforts up!

Overall we're going with it and just hoping for the best. We're doing CCS testing so we'll see what's what with these eggs of mine, but hopefully everything's okay. Next scan on Monday!

 

[Ask4joy]

Yay for more follies babylights!!! Really glad to hear that your cycle most likely won't be cancelled. Keeping talking to those ovaries!

 

[WishnandHopn]

Babylights, it's great that you have 12 so close in size! They may be taking their time, but I think you're gonna end up with plenty of eggs!

Unfortunately my scan was not so good today. I have 2 follicles on the right and 4 on the left. 4 of them are in the 14-16 mm range and 2 are about 10 mm. That's after 6 days of stimming at the max dose. They also think I have fluid in my right tube, which is surprising since I had a HyCoSy in May and both tubes were clear. They said that they could remove the fluid at the same time as egg retrieval, since it can interfere with implantation. They're bringing me back in for another ultrasound tomorrow morning so that a doctor can have a look at the tubes. My clinic likes to trigger at 17 mm, so its seems likely I will trigger tomorrow night and have the retrieval Tuesday am. Trying to stay positive, but feeling pretty bummed out about it right now. Maybe I need to start talking to my geriatric ovaries!

 

[babylights]

I'm sorry it wasn't the news you'd hoped for Wish, this process is so incredibly hard But! It seems like oftentimes people get more eggs than follicles, and you have four at great sizes already, so even if you got 5-6 eggs that would be fantastic! And the smaller ones are still within a good range and can absolutely catch up! I have such high hopes for you cycle buddy But obviously I understand feeling bummed, I hope you can do something special for yourself this weekend!

 

[scoobybeans]

babylights- Great to see your E2 more than doubled, and it seems like you've got lots of follicles right around the same size. That's excellent Hope you have a great scan today!

wishn- I know it's cliché, but just remember that it only takes 1! I hope your scan yesterday went well and that they'll be able to remove that excess fluid. Did you end up triggering? I have everything crossed for you!

 

[babylights]

Thanks scooby! I updated my journal

 

[WishnandHopn]

Thanks babylights! I'm glad you had a great scan today! Grow follies grow!

Thanks Scooby, I am constantly telling myself that, it just takes one! My expectations for this cycle have undergone an adjustment, that's for sure.

Yesterday's scan I had 6 follies (19, 18, 18, 15, 13, 12) so I triggered last night and my retrieval is first thing tomorrow morning! They also confirmed the hydrosalpinx on the right, so we will be draining the tube after ER so that we can do a fresh transfer if we choose to. If we end up with embryos to freeze, I will have to have a laparoscopic surgery to remove my right tube before doing a FET. Definitely NOT how I expected this cycle to go, but nothing I can do to change it, so I just have to roll with it and hope for the best!