Name: Blythe
Age: 44
How long TTC: 6 years
Diagnosis or any known issues:
Me:
age at time of cycle: 43
AMH: 7 pmol/L [as at Dec 2014]
FSH: 9.4 iu/L [as at Dec 2014]
Him:
age at time of sperm sample taken: 43
Frozen sample used in this IVF cycle:
Noted as oligoasthenozoospermia [WHO recommendations in brackets]
Vol: 0.5 [>1.5]
Total Number: 2 [>40]
Concentration: 4 [>20]
Progressive: 25 [>50]
Abnormal sperms: 90 [<70]
Number of round cells: 0 [
]
Concentration after processing: 0.3
Treatments you tried before IVF: TTC No 2 since 2010 - years of alternative medicine/remedies
How many IVF did you do before success:
2011 natural BFP - chemical
2014 - IVF No 1 - KCL - high stim SP - 20+ follicles - 11 eggs - zero fertilisation
2015 - IVF No 2 - City - High stim SP - Good start but stopped growing - converted to IUI - BFN
2015 - IVF No 3 - City/Gennet - low stim SP - 100 clomid/150 menopur - 7 follicles - 3 eggs - 2 mature and fertilised. 2 x 3DT 8 cell grade 1-2 - BFP - TFMR at 13 wks (Boy chromosomal issues)
2016 - IVF No 4 - City/Gennet - mild stim - 300 gonal f/menopur mix SP - dominant follicle - cancelled after 9 days of stims - triggered at home - poss chemical
2016 - IVF No 5 - City/Gennet - low stim Femara & menopur SP - 3 follicles - 1 egg - 2DT 6-cell embryo - BFP - Girl born November 2016
Are you using donor eggs or sperm: own eggs
Protocol (meds taken):
femara 5mg [CD 2-6] & menopur 150 [CD 7-11]
First scan [CD7] showed 12 follies responding to meds but only 3 continued to grow at retrievable rate. [The month before I had stimmed for nine days using 300 [comb of gonal f + menopur and jumped into this cycle with no break between]
First scan [CD7] showed 12 follies responding to meds but only 3 continued to grow at retrievable rate. [The month before I had stimmed for nine days using 300 [comb of gonal f + menopur and jumped into this cycle with no break between]
How many follicles at ER:
3 follies drained
How many eggs retrieved:
1
How many eggs fertilized:
1
How many days between ER and ET:
1 x 2DT 6 cell
How many and quality/rating of embryos/blasts transferred:
to early to grade
How many days bed rest:
no bed rest, walking about 10 miles per day, long days at work, going in bumpy rides in taxis, trams and tubes/trains [and on day of ET], frantic hovering and cleaning, sneezing and coughing fits [I started googling embryo falling out and was reassured that this wont happen], caffeine [only 2 x cups of breakfast tea though]. I really thought it would not work as I found out after ET that partners sperm sample very poor and that combined with my age and only retrieving one egg etc etc just put me in a negative [more negative than usual] frame of mind.
Symptoms or issues during 2WW:
Nothing that I did not have in other unsuccessful 2WW I started testing very early on
What day you got your BFP: increasingly stronger lines from 8 DPO
HPT before blood test: loads
Number of first beta: did not do any bloods until 29 DPO with HCG 51,118 and two days later it was 69,318
Number of babies: 1
Anything else you would have wanted to know before you started this process:
I did the following stuff but mostly its just down to luck and finding a protocol that works
.for me that was lower stims. I have a much longer list of stuff I stopped doing. Mostly it was just a case of finding somewhere to put the heartbreak of years of failure somewhere whilst I found the strength to keep picking myself up off the floor and moving forward with the next plan.
Ate lots of omelettes sprinkled thick with black sesame seeds [great fertility food according to emma cannon] and huge pile of spinach.
Made weekly batch of organic chicken bone broth [my nails became really strong and I wondered what else it could help with my insides] I just put chicken carcass in big pot covered with water and added what veg I had, gogi berries, ginger and garlic [if to hand] and stock cube and left over night on low setting.
making up yogurt puddings and snacking on 3-5 x p/w: greek yogurt with chia seeds, gogi berries, cocoa nibs and bee pollen [sometimes with honey or jam]
used Good Oil and avocado oil in place of other types
had morning cocktail of organic black strap molasses, Braggs ACV, baobab and MSM powder with warm water. I have had recurring issues with cysts but also very good for inflammation in general. I was also taking serrapeptase on and off months leading up in addition to applying caster oil packs pre ovulation. I did not take this cocktail during the cycle though
just leading up to it to get my uterus in shape.
I had six weeks of effectively eating clean [no choc, low carb, high protein, no caffeine, no alcohol] six weeks was all I could manage.
downloaded app called Insight Timer its free and really good when you want to stop horrid negative thoughts I used five minute timer and also listened to some of the guided meditations. I have used most fertility meditations and I found focusing on non-fertility meditations suited me better. I did them other ones to death and they did not bring me my baby and just made me feel even more of a failure for not doing it properly.
Mindfulness I really liked Mark Williams book on mindfulness and it got me through a difficult pregnancy loss. Its straight forward and he is straight speaking. It sat well with me.
Said to myself I will handle anything thrown at me and if I deal with something terrible today, I will handle it and then make a new plan tomorrow. I wrote down inspiring stuff on bits of paper and stuck in pocket or workbag and read it when I started losing it.
Took the best quality supplements I could afford:
Pre EC:
Some noted above but also:
Ubiquinol COQ100: 500mg-600mg per day [solgar or innopure]
Solgar gentle iron [25mg]
Solgar vit D3 [10,000 iu]
5-MTHR 1mg [Thorne] before than was taking Solgar Folate [1000 mcg]
baby aspirin
solgar B12 [1000 mcg]
solgar Vit E [400 iu]
Terra Nova Prenatal multivit complex [before this was taking another food source pre natal]
Loads of pomegranate juice [the one with the bumpy bottle] my lining was 12mm three days before EC and had grown very quickly the more of this stuff I had. Also hot water bottles and keeping feet warm.
Post ET:
All of the above other than the morning cocktail, COQ10 and Vit E. have introduced a decent omega fish oil but use Good Oil lots too.
bump went 
when he was born)
And congrats to you, you definitely have that to look forward to!
count, and I have stage 2 endo, one damaged fallopian tube, and fibroids. I had surgery to remove a polyp in my uterus before my first IVF cycle.
I learned not to give up if you really want another baby. I didn't think it would work for me a second time since I had 2 failed FET's before my 2cnd IVF cycle. But it did! 
Then devastated we all had to take a long break for emotional recovering. Though continued trying naturally. 2015 - another fresh ivf with OE - failure. DH's results came in healthy. Year 2016 started with the waiting for the miracle with Ukrainian Biotexcom where we applied for ivf with donor egg. 
