Support thread for ladies who have had 3+ failed IVF cycles

[SunUp]

 

[Unlucky41]

Hi all just checking to see how is everyone doing?

Sandy did you ever have your transfer?

Ash did you do another cycle or went traveling?

AQ what have you been up to?

Evelco how you going?

Bub, bugs and dokva how is motherhood

How is Everyone else that I missed out on?

AFM my maternity leave has ended and back to work. Can't believe our little daughter is almost one. Love to hear what everyone has been up to.

 

[eveclo]

Hi all just checking to see how is everyone doing?

Sandy did you ever have your transfer?

Ash did you do another cycle or went traveling?

AQ what have you been up to?

Evelco how you going?

Bub, bugs and dokva how is motherhood

How is Everyone else that I missed out on?

AFM my maternity leave has ended and back to work. Can't believe our little daughter is almost one. Love to hear what everyone has been up to.

Hello!

I am going well thank you for asking. We ended up doing a FET with our remaining blastocyst with Prednisolone, Intralipids and clexane and unfortunately it was another negative for us. we were going to do another cycle this month but unfortunately AF arrived at a bad time when I was interstate and unable to fly back home. I start work at the end of this month which means I probaby won't be able to cycle again for a while but I think maybe this could be a good thing. I need a bit of time to just work out my life and what I'm going to do with everything / lack of options really. I think partly I'm scared of what we will find out (as in another failure or something wrong with our embryos). Next plan is to do same dose that got us 15 eggs last time and then ICSI them all maybe using TESA as our new doctor thinks my husbands sperm could be getting damaged on the way out... And then having them PGD tested. So that's an expensive and long process so I will see how I can go about getting some time off for it or something.

So exciting that your little one is almost one. How are you enjoying being back at work ?? Are you full time or part time? Have a great day

 

[ashknowsbest]

I did do the cycle at CCRM ... the outcome wasn't that great or different from our other cycles but it was worth a try. We haven't tranferred anything yet becase we're going to do another cycle to get more fertilized eggs so that paying for CCS ($7000) makes sense. I'll be cycling in October/November.

I did go on my vacation to Europe too! Can't believe we managed both but we got really lucky. My DH and I were visiting his father in Pennsylvania (his father has 3 months to live due to stage 4 esophageal cancer) when he got a call from his work manager saying he needed to be in Zurich Switzerland for work things. So we pretty much got 50% off the trip because his job will pay for almost all of his things. We planned stuff for us to do in front of his work week and then after ... its been great!

How are you doing?

 

[eveclo]

I did do the cycle at CCRM ... the outcome wasn't that great or different from our other cycles but it was worth a try. We haven't tranferred anything yet becase we're going to do another cycle to get more fertilized eggs so that paying for CCS ($7000) makes sense. I'll be cycling in October/November.

I did go on my vacation to Europe too! Can't believe we managed both but we got really lucky. My DH and I were visiting his father in Pennsylvania (his father has 3 months to live due to stage 4 esophageal cancer) when he got a call from his work manager saying he needed to be in Zurich Switzerland for work things. So we pretty much got 50% off the trip because his job will pay for almost all of his things. We planned stuff for us to do in front of his work week and then after ... its been great!

How are you doing?

Sorry that your most recent cycle wasn't that fabulous, fingers crossed the next round makes some fabulous embryos for testing! We are going to do another round maybe next year or end of this year, with pgd as well. Need to know what's going on in these embryos.

Sorry to hear about your husbands dad, that sounds just awful. Glad to hear you had a holiday though, it sounds like a fantastic trip. Well deserved.

 

[Unlucky41]

Eveclo sorry to hear about your last cycle. So glad you have a good comprehensive plan for the next one.

How is your new job?

I went back part time three days and reporting to someone more junior than me. It is only a one year role as well hence they really want me to leave!

October is not far away two more months. We also thought at the end of this year we should transferour remaining embryo seeing that I am 35.

Hope this by this xmas we are both pregnant together.

 

[Unlucky41]

Ash sorry to hear that your cycle didn't go as well. How many embryos did you get?

Your poor husband. I am so happy that you could have a holiday but it must have been so sad seeing your father in law like that. Cancer took my father 18 years ago so I know how dreadful it could be.

Hopefully we are cycling together and we all get a bfp soon

 

[wannabmum]

Hi first congrats to everyone that got their success & good luck to everyone still trying, do you mind if i join you? I have been forum member for a long time but not been about as much lately as had to put treatment on hold to complete adoption of my little bio (bio nephew) only got this sorted end last year by which time clear he had asd so waiting until he was settled in school (he has only just started primary 1)

Anyway now getting ready to start again have review consultation at old clinic next week thinking doing 1 or 2 icsi there between jan/april & if get nowhere (dont expect too) going go to serum, i would go direct to serum but as having wait till may/june to go there thought may as well try here in the meantime although dont expect it to work. xx

 

[s08]

I know this is an older, not-so-active thread anymore, but wondering if I could still join? I just got the news that I'm having my third IVF chemical (4th chemical total).

Or is it just for women who do not have children? If so, I TOTALLY get it! I am fortunate to have a son from IVF, so you can definitely tell me to butt out.

Otherwise, does anyone have experience with repeated chemicals? It just keeps happening. It's like déjà vu! I just don't get why these embryos that apparently look good implant, but then fail. Probably egg quality, I suppose. Ugh!

 

[ashknowsbest]

s08 - as far as I'm concerned even if you have a child already you're welcome on this thread. Just because you have a son doesn't mean you're not struggling and needing support. Unfortunately I don't have any advice regarding the chemicals as I have never been pregnant ever. I have seen people talk about clotting issues? Or like you said egg quality issues. However, for egg quality there is really not much they can do unless you're willing to pay for CCS/genetic testing. That is where I'm at. If you look at my siggy you can see I've been through the ringer. I'm young and have a horrible attrition rate with my own embryos. Welcome to the group and good luck in the future!

 

[bubumaci]

Hi first congrats to everyone that got their success & good luck to everyone still trying, do you mind if i join you? I have been forum member for a long time but not been about as much lately as had to put treatment on hold to complete adoption of my little bio (bio nephew) only got this sorted end last year by which time clear he had asd so waiting until he was settled in school (he has only just started primary 1)

Anyway now getting ready to start again have review consultation at old clinic next week thinking doing 1 or 2 icsi there between jan/april & if get nowhere (dont expect too) going go to serum, i would go direct to serum but as having wait till may/june to go there thought may as well try here in the meantime although dont expect it to work. xx

Hi Wannabmum :wave:
I think that is wonderful, that you have adopted your bio nephew! That is such a big-hearted, generous thing to do! Welcome to the thread, I hope that you can find the much needed support that this struggle brings with it amongst the wonderful ladies on here! My fingers will be crossed for you!

I know this is an older, not-so-active thread anymore, but wondering if I could still join? I just got the news that I'm having my third IVF chemical (4th chemical total).

Or is it just for women who do not have children? If so, I TOTALLY get it! I am fortunate to have a son from IVF, so you can definitely tell me to butt out.

Otherwise, does anyone have experience with repeated chemicals? It just keeps happening. It's like déjà vu! I just don't get why these embryos that apparently look good implant, but then fail. Probably egg quality, I suppose. Ugh!

Hi s08 ... is it possible, that we were on the same thread way back when you got pregnant in 2012? I seem to remember your name.
Anyway, I don't believe that this thread is only for women who have no children. The struggle and the pain is very real, even when trying for subsequent babies!
I did have two chemicals before I got pregnant with Fabi (and he was on the 9th (!!!) try!. It is very difficult to know what causes them. Women have them in natural cycles too - often without even knowing it, because they are not following their cycles so closely. They may just think that their period has been delayed for whatever reason. More often than not, I would think that it is genetic - that something was wrong with the chromosomes of the embryo (neither the egg's nor the sperm's fault) and since nature tries to "select the fittest", the body aborts.
At our clinic, our RE told us about woman, who did have a child naturally and when subsequently trying for a sibling, was having repeated miscarriages (a chemical is essentially a very early miscarriage). They decided to test the woman and the man's genetics and discovered, that she did have two chromosomes that were irregular (for the sake of this story, I will say chromosome 5 and 13). They then proceeded with IVF, harvested eggs from her, fertilised them and then had them PGD tested at blastocyst stage. 5 reached this stage and were tested.
1 had two chromosomes that were irregular. One was 5 and one another.
Another had three chromosomes that were irregular. One was 13 and two other ones.
One had several chromosomes that were irregular (but neither of hers were).
One had practically all chromosomes irregular. This was, if I recall correctly, the best looking blastocyst!!
The last one was perfect, was transferred and she ended up carrying to term and having the baby.

The "moral" of the story - even if you are genetically fully healthy, we must never forget, that sperm and egg fuse. During this fusion, an entirely new being is being created and during this fusion, things *can* go wrong. It doesn't mean that egg or sperm were faulty - it's simply nature.

Now, if you don't have PGD testing done (which we didn't either), you don't know the quality of the embryo being transferred. It may not take at all, it may take for a little while - chemical - or it may take entirely and end up in a later miscarriage ... or - we end up getting lucky and have a happy and healthy pregnancy, resulting in a little miracle

As hard as it is, and as much as we need to have answers, sometimes, there just aren't any! And we can be thankful for science and how far we have come - but there is always going to be the element of nature and that we cannot influence.
My fingers are crossed, that you will get that sibling for you LO!

 

[wannabmum]

Thank you so much he is such a great little man full of cheek but makes us smile every day we had our review yesterday & are all set to dog ICSI 4 in january

so8 so sorry to hear about your repeated chemicals don't really have much advice but

xx

 

[s08]

Thanks for the warm welcome, ladies. I really appreciate it, especially because I’m completely aware that there is a difference when struggling for your first child and struggling for subsequent children. There just is. At least for me, the pain has been different.

Bubu, I totally remember you from a previous thread. I’m so happy you have your miracle after all your struggles…that’s wonderful! Is your family complete now? I am planning on asking about PDG testing at my WTF appointment on Thursday (along with immune testing, recurrent pregnancy loss panel, etc.). Before, we did not even consider spending the extra money for genetic testing since we are entirely out of pocket in the first place. I’m also relatively young (29 at my first ER and 32 at my last), so it’s not typically recommended by my clinic at this age. I’m not even sure what my clinic charges for it. I also have an appointment scheduled for mid-October at another local clinic with a RE who specializes in recurrent pregnancy loss, so we’ll see if she has any fresh ideas or a different perspective. I suspect there is something genetically wrong with my eggs, as my mother also struggled to conceive for 13 years before having me. Interestingly, even my son (who is just perfection, in my totally biased opinion) didn’t look that great as an embryo. We were not given good odds when they transferred him. Our last two embryos looked “beautiful,” and yet here we are… Goes to show you they really can’t tell you what is inside that embryo.

Ash, I think I remember you from another thread as well. I’m so incredibly sorry that your struggles continue. I’m older than you, but I do know how exceptionally frustrating it is to be young and unable to conceive. What are the next steps for you?

 

[ashknowsbest]

I'm also very sorry I'm still going through this. We have come up with a plan of action, thanks for asking. We're going to be starting another IVF cycle with my own eggs tentative retrieval being around the 10th of November. I'm not thrilled that I'm going through this again but I feel we need to give it one more go with my own material before my husband and I move onto donor egg. I think the one thing I have going for me is that I am open to donor eggs so if this cycle is also a bust I will move forward knowing I did everything I could (emotionally and financially) to have my own biological child. I find it very hard to think that I wouldn't love a child that I carried for 9 months but that wasn't biologically mine. That's kind of where I'm at with all of that.

This cycle will be at CCRM and if all goes as planned I will be pregnant at the beginning of next year. If things don't go as planned I will move onto donor eggs next year and will hopefully be pregnant by the middle of the year .... we'll see.

I think you have a great plan going forward. Sometimes getting a fresh set of eyes on the situation is very helpful. I hope that you get some new ideas and a plan for moving forward soon. I know how annoying/frustrating it can be when you just want answers and to be pregnant and nothing is working.

 

[MrsF2012]

Hi
Hoping I can join you ladies, haven't been on this forum before but it's the only one I have found for people that have had previous unsuccessful cycles.
I had a natural bfp within four weeks of ttc but sadly a ruptured ectopic at 7weeks and was left with one tube, two months later another bfp and at 6weeks found out another ectopic was treated with methotrexate but after blood work showed increased hcg scan showed little angle has continued to grow and I needed to have my remaining tube and baby removed, I then went through a NHS Ivf cycle 1 perfect blast transferred bfn, due to the way we where treated we decided to move clinic as we had to pay for any further attempts anyway. The new clinic is so so much better had one fresh perfect blast transferred bfn, went on to have 3 more FET cycles five day top grade blasts transferred all bfn. I'm currently waiting for a hysteroscopy, apt on the 28th to review and hopefully get booked in as I also need surgery to remove some scar tissue from the ectopic surgery so having both done at once. I have thin lining that is very stubborn but apart from having no tubes we have no egg or sperm problems, had level one immunes done and all good. Getting very tired and feeling very broken now, I was 22 with the first ectopic and I'm now 25 DH is 29.

I'm sorry everyone has to through this whole infertility journey but hoping having ladies to chat to helps a little x

 

[ashknowsbest]

I know this thread hasn't been active in a long time but I wanted to stop by to give some hope. This thread was such a great place for support so giving back just feels right.

After all of the failed IVFs my husband and I went through I'm so happy to announce that we are expecting boy/girl twins! Persistence pays off. I know how hard it is to stay positive and keep fighting but you will win in the end!

 

[Unlucky41]

Congrats Ash so happy for you!

 

[s08]

Congratulations, Ash!!! How very exciting! Best wishes on an uneventful twin pregnancy!

 

[PatientMum]

Thank you for posting you great news Ash!
That's excactly what I needed to hear today, my 8th day post 5 day transfer and starting spotting... my 6th natural ivf, plus had two stimulated ones.
Congratulations to your twin pregnancy! I'm so happy for you!

 

[dovkav123]

Congrats Ash. I am so pleased to know that u are pregnant

patient mum, I had 7 natural IVFs, 4 total embyo transfers. The last embryo we did assisted hatching, 3 day transfer, I took aspirin 80mg for 12 weeks. My boy is 14 months old now.
One day you will be a mommy too