IVF/ICSI/FET OCTOBER "4 LEAF CLOVER" CYCLE-Anyone joining me?*** UPDATES ON PAGE 1***

[Sammy2009]

Sammy, so glad you'll be sedated. I kinda like anesthesia -- it's good to be unconscious for some things!

Maxxi -- good luck with the trigger. That was the most annoying part, I think -- not knowing when I'd trigger, when i'd have to cancel class, etc.

Megg, sounds like a good number of follies. My FSH was slightly elevated at just over 10 -- and I had 3 baseline scans for follies and came in at 6, 7, and 9. BUT I ended up with loads more on the aggressive stims they put me on -- and had 13 eggs, which was perfect according to my clinic. My dr said that ideally they'd like 10 eggs, what with the odds of fertilization & growth.

Even though my little blasts might not implant, I know that everything went as perfectly as medicine can hope for (up to egg transfer) -- 13 eggs, 8 fertilized, 4 went to blast -- 2 transferred, 2 frozen. It was more than *I* hoped for! Now, there's nothing really that can be done -- it's up to nature & God. But it feels good to know that the IVF cycle was textbook perfect.

Friday is my test date -- going in for a blood test. (11 days post transfer)

Hows it going mercy? The waiting is the worst bit eh?

 

[maxxiandniko]

Sammy - they're lowering the meds because I'm getting close to the end so to speak and they don't want to overstimulate. I should be going for EC on either Thursday or Friday.

Megg - I'm doing ICSI too. I agree any help I can get I'm all for.

 

[Sammy2009]

Sammy - they're lowering the meds because I'm getting close to the end so to speak and they don't want to overstimulate. I should be going for EC on either Thursday or Friday.

Megg - I'm doing ICSI too. I agree any help I can get I'm all for.

Ahhh i see.... We have IVF/ICSI down on the protocol sheet but they have always done IVF. I always wonder why they dont inject the eggs that dont fertilize? You know, say you had 5 eggs and 3 fertilized but the other two didnt then why they dont fertilize them manually with ICSI?

 

[Megg33k]

Sammy - they're lowering the meds because I'm getting close to the end so to speak and they don't want to overstimulate. I should be going for EC on either Thursday or Friday.

Megg - I'm doing ICSI too. I agree any help I can get I'm all for.

Ahhh i see.... We have IVF/ICSI down on the protocol sheet but they have always done IVF. I always wonder why they dont inject the eggs that dont fertilize? You know, say you had 5 eggs and 3 fertilized but the other two didnt then why they dont fertilize them manually with ICSI?

By the time they know the eggs haven't fertilized, its too late to do ICSI on them.

 

[Sammy2009]

Sammy - they're lowering the meds because I'm getting close to the end so to speak and they don't want to overstimulate. I should be going for EC on either Thursday or Friday.

Megg - I'm doing ICSI too. I agree any help I can get I'm all for.

Ahhh i see.... We have IVF/ICSI down on the protocol sheet but they have always done IVF. I always wonder why they dont inject the eggs that dont fertilize? You know, say you had 5 eggs and 3 fertilized but the other two didnt then why they dont fertilize them manually with ICSI?

By the time they know the eggs haven't fertilized, its too late to do ICSI on them.

Oh thats a bit crap then... so basically they get put in the dish and if it doesnt look like the sperm are strong enough to fertilize the eggs then they perform ICSI and if they consider them strong enough then they leave them to their own devices and hope for the best? Should i ask them to just perform ICSI? At least i would know then that they all had some chance? Or is that not how it works? lol. I have no experience of ICSI since we have never had to have it but after last time when only 3/5 eggs fertilized i feel sure there is more they could do?

 

[Megg33k]

Sammy - they're lowering the meds because I'm getting close to the end so to speak and they don't want to overstimulate. I should be going for EC on either Thursday or Friday.

Megg - I'm doing ICSI too. I agree any help I can get I'm all for.

Ahhh i see.... We have IVF/ICSI down on the protocol sheet but they have always done IVF. I always wonder why they dont inject the eggs that dont fertilize? You know, say you had 5 eggs and 3 fertilized but the other two didnt then why they dont fertilize them manually with ICSI?

By the time they know the eggs haven't fertilized, its too late to do ICSI on them.

Oh thats a bit crap then... so basically they get put in the dish and if it doesnt look like the sperm are strong enough to fertilize the eggs then they perform ICSI and if they consider them strong enough then they leave them to their own devices and hope for the best? Should i ask them to just perform ICSI? At least i would know then that they all had some chance? Or is that not how it works? lol. I have no experience of ICSI since we have never had to have it but after last time when only 3/5 eggs fertilized i feel sure there is more they could do?

I would request it, yes. They definitely don't just "see how it goes" and decide. They either do ICSI from the beginning or they don't. So, yes... REQUEST IT! It should make it so more fertilize! They do need to know before EC that you want ICSI though. So, call them ASAP!

 

[mercyme]

Yay, Sammy!

Sounds positive, Maxxi! Hoping you get more info soon!

Okay, I need a reality check. Tell me all about false positives & IVF. I took two shots of Ovidrel on Nov 1. When could I reasonably expect it to be out of my system -- and not giving me false positives? Also, do progesterone in oil shots create false + as well??

Thanks for your help!!

Progesterone in oil does NOT create a false +.

Mercyme - I am guessing that ovidrel was your trigger shot right? Mine was gone after 4 days - but for some it can take up to 10 days. I don't think it lasts longer than 10 days though.

Yes, ovidrel was the trigger -- and I took two, so I didn't know if that makes a difference in the amount of time it takes to go away? Thanks for answering!

What dose does "two shots" equal? Is it 10,000 or 20,000? It does make a difference, but not by much.

I'm not sure what the dosage was on the shots -- let's say it was 20,000 total, when would it be out of my system? (Trigger shots taken 14 days ago).

 

[mercyme]

Yes, the wait is starting to get to me, Sammy. Still not as crazy as I have been, but getting more & more curious!

Maxxi, sounds like you're stimming well, if they're lowering your doses. That happened to me, too. Saved me $600 in medication!

Megg, glad you're getting every advantage, ICSI, AH . . . Fingers crossed!!

Good luck with your EC, Sammy. Can't wait to hear the results.

 

[Megg33k]

12.375 days, mercyme!

 

[Sammy2009]

Sammy - they're lowering the meds because I'm getting close to the end so to speak and they don't want to overstimulate. I should be going for EC on either Thursday or Friday.

Megg - I'm doing ICSI too. I agree any help I can get I'm all for.

Ahhh i see.... We have IVF/ICSI down on the protocol sheet but they have always done IVF. I always wonder why they dont inject the eggs that dont fertilize? You know, say you had 5 eggs and 3 fertilized but the other two didnt then why they dont fertilize them manually with ICSI?

By the time they know the eggs haven't fertilized, its too late to do ICSI on them.

Oh thats a bit crap then... so basically they get put in the dish and if it doesnt look like the sperm are strong enough to fertilize the eggs then they perform ICSI and if they consider them strong enough then they leave them to their own devices and hope for the best? Should i ask them to just perform ICSI? At least i would know then that they all had some chance? Or is that not how it works? lol. I have no experience of ICSI since we have never had to have it but after last time when only 3/5 eggs fertilized i feel sure there is more they could do?

I would request it, yes. They definitely don't just "see how it goes" and decide. They either do ICSI from the beginning or they don't. So, yes... REQUEST IT! It should make it so more fertilize! They do need to know before EC that you want ICSI though. So, call them ASAP!

Thanks hun.... i felt they should have done ICSI last time with only 5 eggs and 3 fert. If i had shed loads of eggs then i would be happy to see how things went but really only having 3 quashes my chances by a huge amount. I have a feeling MY hospital will only do ICSI if the sperm is bad but its worth a try asking them!

 

[Sammy2009]

Yes, the wait is starting to get to me, Sammy. Still not as crazy as I have been, but getting more & more curious!

Maxxi, sounds like you're stimming well, if they're lowering your doses. That happened to me, too. Saved me $600 in medication!

Megg, glad you're getting every advantage, ICSI, AH . . . Fingers crossed!!

Good luck with your EC, Sammy. Can't wait to hear the results.

Thanks... i know what you are going through believe me i have been there so many times before now! Its awful.... When will you test?

 

[Megg33k]

Sammy - they're lowering the meds because I'm getting close to the end so to speak and they don't want to overstimulate. I should be going for EC on either Thursday or Friday.

Megg - I'm doing ICSI too. I agree any help I can get I'm all for.

Ahhh i see.... We have IVF/ICSI down on the protocol sheet but they have always done IVF. I always wonder why they dont inject the eggs that dont fertilize? You know, say you had 5 eggs and 3 fertilized but the other two didnt then why they dont fertilize them manually with ICSI?

By the time they know the eggs haven't fertilized, its too late to do ICSI on them.

Oh thats a bit crap then... so basically they get put in the dish and if it doesnt look like the sperm are strong enough to fertilize the eggs then they perform ICSI and if they consider them strong enough then they leave them to their own devices and hope for the best? Should i ask them to just perform ICSI? At least i would know then that they all had some chance? Or is that not how it works? lol. I have no experience of ICSI since we have never had to have it but after last time when only 3/5 eggs fertilized i feel sure there is more they could do?

I would request it, yes. They definitely don't just "see how it goes" and decide. They either do ICSI from the beginning or they don't. So, yes... REQUEST IT! It should make it so more fertilize! They do need to know before EC that you want ICSI though. So, call them ASAP!

Thanks hun.... i felt they should have done ICSI last time with only 5 eggs and 3 fert. If i had shed loads of eggs then i would be happy to see how things went but really only having 3 quashes my chances by a huge amount. I have a feeling MY hospital will only do ICSI if the sperm is bad but its worth a try asking them!

Yeah, the worst they can do is say no. Its usually reserved for crap sperm, tough eggs, or past fertilization issues. So, maybe the fertilization issue from before is enough to deem it necessary? I would think they'd want to give you the best possible chance. My doc definitely doesn't like leaving things to chance... and nor do I!

 

[Sammy2009]

Sammy - they're lowering the meds because I'm getting close to the end so to speak and they don't want to overstimulate. I should be going for EC on either Thursday or Friday.

Megg - I'm doing ICSI too. I agree any help I can get I'm all for.

Ahhh i see.... We have IVF/ICSI down on the protocol sheet but they have always done IVF. I always wonder why they dont inject the eggs that dont fertilize? You know, say you had 5 eggs and 3 fertilized but the other two didnt then why they dont fertilize them manually with ICSI?

By the time they know the eggs haven't fertilized, its too late to do ICSI on them.

Oh thats a bit crap then... so basically they get put in the dish and if it doesnt look like the sperm are strong enough to fertilize the eggs then they perform ICSI and if they consider them strong enough then they leave them to their own devices and hope for the best? Should i ask them to just perform ICSI? At least i would know then that they all had some chance? Or is that not how it works? lol. I have no experience of ICSI since we have never had to have it but after last time when only 3/5 eggs fertilized i feel sure there is more they could do?

I would request it, yes. They definitely don't just "see how it goes" and decide. They either do ICSI from the beginning or they don't. So, yes... REQUEST IT! It should make it so more fertilize! They do need to know before EC that you want ICSI though. So, call them ASAP!

Thanks hun.... i felt they should have done ICSI last time with only 5 eggs and 3 fert. If i had shed loads of eggs then i would be happy to see how things went but really only having 3 quashes my chances by a huge amount. I have a feeling MY hospital will only do ICSI if the sperm is bad but its worth a try asking them!

Yeah, the worst they can do is say no. Its usually reserved for crap sperm, tough eggs, or past fertilization issues. So, maybe the fertilization issue from before is enough to deem it necessary? I would think they'd want to give you the best possible chance. My doc definitely doesn't like leaving things to chance... and nor do I!

True... true.... I will ask them and see what they say and let you know but like you say, they usually do ICSI if the sperm are not so "up for it!" My point is that if OH's sperm were bloody up for it then they would have fertilized my eggs naturally by now!

 

[Megg33k]

Sammy - they're lowering the meds because I'm getting close to the end so to speak and they don't want to overstimulate. I should be going for EC on either Thursday or Friday.

Megg - I'm doing ICSI too. I agree any help I can get I'm all for.

Ahhh i see.... We have IVF/ICSI down on the protocol sheet but they have always done IVF. I always wonder why they dont inject the eggs that dont fertilize? You know, say you had 5 eggs and 3 fertilized but the other two didnt then why they dont fertilize them manually with ICSI?

By the time they know the eggs haven't fertilized, its too late to do ICSI on them.

Oh thats a bit crap then... so basically they get put in the dish and if it doesnt look like the sperm are strong enough to fertilize the eggs then they perform ICSI and if they consider them strong enough then they leave them to their own devices and hope for the best? Should i ask them to just perform ICSI? At least i would know then that they all had some chance? Or is that not how it works? lol. I have no experience of ICSI since we have never had to have it but after last time when only 3/5 eggs fertilized i feel sure there is more they could do?

I would request it, yes. They definitely don't just "see how it goes" and decide. They either do ICSI from the beginning or they don't. So, yes... REQUEST IT! It should make it so more fertilize! They do need to know before EC that you want ICSI though. So, call them ASAP!

Thanks hun.... i felt they should have done ICSI last time with only 5 eggs and 3 fert. If i had shed loads of eggs then i would be happy to see how things went but really only having 3 quashes my chances by a huge amount. I have a feeling MY hospital will only do ICSI if the sperm is bad but its worth a try asking them!

Yeah, the worst they can do is say no. Its usually reserved for crap sperm, tough eggs, or past fertilization issues. So, maybe the fertilization issue from before is enough to deem it necessary? I would think they'd want to give you the best possible chance. My doc definitely doesn't like leaving things to chance... and nor do I!

True... true.... I will ask them and see what they say and let you know but like you say, they usually do ICSI if the sperm are not so "up for it!" My point is that if OH's sperm were bloody up for it then they would have fertilized my eggs naturally by now!

Hmph! I hope it goes better this time!

 

[maxxiandniko]

Sammy - They also do half ICSI where they do what you said and watch to see if the sperm are doing their thing and if not they convert the rest of the eggs to ICSI. I think they'd rather do anything they can the natural way because there are risks with ICSI. In our case I know that my husband's total sperm count was a tiny bit low and since my getting pregnant is not the issue I guess the sperm count is. You should ask though. Like Megg said any help is welcome!

Mercy - are you thinking of testing early ? How many days did you stim on the lower dose?

Megg - did you do your shots for the night? You start stimming late next week right?

 

[Megg33k]

I do my Lupron in the morning. My don't do the night time (stimming) one until the 27th.

 

[mercyme]

Yeeaaaah... you caught me, Sammy & Maxxi!
I've tested the past two days -- but I'm not at all sure that the HCG shots are out of my system, so I'm being very coy about it.
My blood test is Friday. And even if it is positive, I won't really feel positive until I see a heartbeat. (Didn't make it that far last time )

We did ICSI b/c of low sperm count. Ironically, his total motile sperm count went from 1.5 million (like, the last 5 sperm analyses) to 7 million. In my drugged stupor, I kept repeating, "We could do an IUI with those numbers!" -- to which he replied, "Too late!" as we were already at EC. LOL.
Anyway, that was still low enough to warrant ICSI. We had a 61% fertilization rate (8 out of 13).

 

[maxxiandniko]

Mercy - I am keeping my fingers crossed and I hope Friday comes quickly for you!

Off to the office (again)

 

[maxxiandniko]

How's everyone doing? Anything exciting going on? I'm still waiting to here back from the doctor. They usually don't call till the afternoon though. I'll be doing the trigger shot either tonight or tommorrow. Shouldn't be later than that.

 

[Sammy2009]

Nothing much happening with me... my ovaries are starting to feel heavy and its making me feel a bit sick! I am dreading tomorrow beyond belief..... really really crapping myself. I hope i manage to contain myself and not break down because then they wont do it. I am starting to flap already.

OH rang the hospital today and they said there should not be a problem doing ICSI (we already have IVF/ICSI on the protocol) so just to tell them when i get there... after all that pain I should be allowed to have whatever i freaking like! I am apprehensive about tomorrow. this is the biggest hurdle for me because I now have a huge fear of EC after the last two experiences. ET is something i quite like, the 2WW is a nightmare but nothing is worse for me than EC!