Intro - possibly more info that anyone could want

Carol77B

Hello!

I didn't realize this site also had an area dedicated to infertility, so I was waiting to visit until I had a reason, since I've been trying not to torture myself with anything baby-related as I go through this process. I wish I had found this board earlier!

I met my husband until late 2011. My husband would kill me for getting too specific about him, but he had two kids in his first marriage and had a vasectomy after his wife left him because he "never expected to meet anyone as wonderful" as me. We did a vasectomy reversal in November 2012, after we got engaged and set a wedding date, and it initally appeared that it had worked, but by the time he went back for additional checks it was clear something hadn't worked right- my RE suspects scar tissue developed. I made an appointment with an RE in September and did all the testing in October and there weren't any issues on my part and my Day 3 u/s had 12 follicles which didn't concern my RE. Because of the low sperm count (less than 4 million on the last test before we started any treatement) we were directed to IVF with ICSI. Because my husband had had a vasectomy, insurance wouldn't cover the procedure or the meds, however the clinic did honor the insurance rate on the IVF which was slightly cheaper than the published fee. I got my meds through Freedom Fertility.

I did 19 days of BCP to "calm" my ovaries and started the Gonal-F and Menopur on 1/4 and moved on to Ganirelix at the end. Had 8 follicles greater than 19 and did trigger shot on 1/14. I mentioned to my RE that it didn't seem like a lot and he said he wasn't sure that it may have just been a bad month, but that if we had to do it again he would adjust my meds. We did ER on 1/16 and they retrieved 9, 7 were mature and 4 fertilized. When I asked about that he thought it was related to issues with the sperm and would have expected 5 or 6 to fertilize. I was originally scheduled for Day 3 ET with two embryos "good" and the other two still developing; on the morning of Day 3, the nurse called and said because the two were doing so well they wanted to push back to Day 5 because they wanted to only transfer one embryo. However, on Day 5, right before the transfer when they were having me sign agreeing to transfer just one, they told me that the embryos had changed and now one was "fair" and the other was "below fair and not graded" and the other two were only very slowly developing. I was pretty upset and insisted they transfer both. I feel like they wanted to wait to Day 5 because they didn't want to transfer on Day 3 two "good" embryos and risk twins, but I am now worried that their decision to wait may have cost me since we did not have anything to freeze (and they seemed to say that they didn't expect the second embryo to survive freezing, which is why I insisted they use it, too). 

My beta test is scheduled for 2/3 and I'm very optimistic and hopeful, but also worried because we will have to start all over again if it didn't work and the expense is tremendous, financially, emotionally, and time-wise. I really, really feel for those of you who have gone through this multiple times- this is certainly not for wimps.

Carol

-I'm not sure if I did my profile right, so I don't know if my tagline will post or not.   

Tea+

Welcome. Hope your stay is short. I don't have any advice as I'm on my first ivf and haven't gotten very far yet. I just wanted to wish you luck. You have found a great place to be. The ladies here are very insightful and helpful. [:

RunCC37

Hi & welcome. Good luck with your beta. I hope this is all you need!

kz's_girlygirl

Hi and welcome!  I hope you have a great beta and don't have to go through it again.    GL!

babydreams13

Welcome and lots of luck!

Carol77B

Thanks for welcoming me!

overwhelmed29

Welcome! I wish you lots of luck!! I believe something was wrong with my protocol as well. My AFC was 31+. My dr had me trigger when i had 2 follicles at 19mm. the rest were between 11 and 16. At retrieval, we got 22 eggs. Only 8 were mature. I've heard that the first cycle is often experimental because the RE doesn't know who you will respond. This is terribly unfortunate for those of us who are 100% out of pocket. I hope this worked for you and that you won' t  have to go through another round.  

jlr96

Welcome & best of luck to you!

Tenyearwait

Welcome. Good luck!

STL34

Welcome and good luck!

I am sorry you experienced results below your expectation.  I was diagnosed DOR at 30 primarily because of my response to my first IVF protocol but I also had slightly elevated FSH.  That said, my AFC at the start of that cycle was slightly higher than yours.  Even so, I ended up with only 4 eggs retrieved and 3 that fertilized.  Sometimes it is the protocol and hopefully in your case it is.  But, I have been told that at age 35 my AFCs of 12 are pretty low.  Hopefully you don't have to worry about anything, though, because one of the embryos transferred decides to stick around.  Good luck!

grimmerh

Hi! We're timed out very similarly, and had the same drug program. I also had 4 ready to go, with two 8 celled at 3 days, one 6 cell and one 4 cell. My dr. was much more aggressive than yours, I'm guessing due to my age (44). He transferred all 4 embryos at 3 days. 

I hope that one of them found a place to plant and that you have a great outcome!

Cheers!