Need some help/insight for my sister (getting ready for 1st transfer)

[mara16jade]

My sister has been battling infertility for about 4+ years. The doctors have told her, her only real chance is IVF. They told her this months ago, and they took some time to consider it.

My sister called me today and surprised me that she's going to try IVF! I had no idea. The last I talked to her, she was very quiet about it and so I didn't want to push. I'm so happy and hopeful for her. The transfer date is set for March 10th, so coming up!

She did have concerns that I was hoping maybe some of you might have some insight on?

Did you ever have genetic testing on the eggs after retrieval? Her doctor said because of her age bracket (she's 44), they recommend genetic testing to make sure the baby(ies) would be healthy. But there is a risk that they could damage/kill the egg in the process. My sister is scared since she only has 9 eggs left. Did you have any genetic testing done on your eggs? If so, did any get damaged?

And the second concern she has is the injections. She's a bit scared of injecting herself. Do any of you have tips? Good areas vs bad areas to do it? I think I once heard that there are some areas on the body that are much less painful to inject than others.

 

[jsquared]

Hmm, I'm not familiar with testing eggs, but I had my embryos screened before we transferred them--most likely this is what her doctor is talking about. My embryos were biopsied on day 5 and then frozen pending results. Waiting until day 5 to biopsy means the risk of damage to the embryo is extremely minimal--the cells remain undisturbed and the biopsy draws only from the surrounding fluid (this is a fairly recent advancement). I wholeheartedly believe PGS (testing the embryo) is worth every penny. She will need a frozen transfer if they biopsy the embryos on day 5, which means more waiting, but again--worth it.

As for shots, progesterone goes in the backside, while stim shots can go in the belly or arm. My partner always gave me mine, so I don't have any real tips on self administration, but I know others do so feel free to search this site for answers. Good luck to your sister--hope this helps!

 

[miranda007]

Hey!! i think you do mean genetically testing the embryos at day 5. My Dr told us it's so worth it.. it saves, time $ and emotional well being (more importantly) Most times why an embryo doesn't plant is because of some genetic issue. So screening them she said goes from a 30% success rate to a 65% success rate. We did the genetic screening and we were told it doesn't hurt the embryo at all - they take it from the placenta wall - it's so microscopic. But they need to be at a certain stage to be able to test them on day 5. Tell her to go for it. I was also taking coQ10 Ubiqinol (Jarrah's brand) we bought from herb - think it really helped my egg quality - and my husband's sperm quality. We did our first transfer ever with a pre genetic screened embryo and currently pregnant!

My husband gave me the shots too - we had to do them in the stomach. I thought they'd be a big deal - but they weren't at all. I also had no side effects from the drugs - other than bloating. I was on 10 days of injections. I found the whole IVF experience frightfully scary until I did it - they realised it was no big deal!

 

[KatO79]

I don't know anything about the genetic testing as my RE didn't mention it so guess she saw no reason to But it might be worth the extra money for your sister since the chances of genetic abnormalities increases with age.

Any FSH I ever took was to be taken in the belly area under the belly button and off to one side (you switch sides with each dose). The needles I was given were super thin so they didn't hurt 98% of the time although once in a while it was like I hit a bad spot that would hurt and then bleed a bit I did them myself as my DH with a needle in his hand coming towards me is a super scary thought As for progesterone I've only ever tried Crinone gel that is taken vaginally (the gel is in plastic tubes that you put in your vag and press the content out). I've also tried Suprefact which are taken like FSH. Took Cetrotide that you have to mix the powder and liquid yourself and you also inject into the belly, only difference is you do it at an angle and the injection site itches for a while after