IVF first-timer

NurseTMD85

Hey ladies!

I just got my BFN from IUI #2 this week. Due to insurance limitations RE, DH and I thought it would be best to increase our odds with IVF rather then spend more of our allowance on IUI again. Here's the catch: we only have enough insurance money to do one round. I'm super anxious about all of it. DH is insisting we only transfer one embryo when the time comes because multiples terrify him. Crossing my fingers that we have enough healthy embryos to be able to freeze some if we have to try again. Paying out of pocket for and FET has to be cheaper than an entire round of IVF. 

So, ladies. Any suggestions? Experiences with IVF? Should I be terrified of the egg retrieval? 

tvh1982

Hi @NurseTMD85. 
Sorry to hear about the BFN, one never gets used to those

Try not to be terrified about ER. Its no walk in the park and you'll be sore before and after, but its dueable. I did mine fully awake and it was tough. But if I'm not mistaken in the US you will be under anaesthesia. You'll wake up shortly after and feel heavy cramping. You should invest in a warm water bottle, get movies ready and enjoy camping on the sofa (eat crapy food, drink wine, ... eggs are out go crazy one day!)
I was sore before ER too, due too all them follicles, and I was very tired. I've slept a lot few days before and after. 
Here in Scandinavia they give you a 3-day sick leave to recover.

GL on your journey, let's go for lots of A quality eggs and a healthy baby!

AandDM2014

I personally would not recommend transferring just one. IVF has better luck than IUI, but not by all that much. Here is how you (and your DH) should think about it: If you only have enough money to do it once, you transfer only one embryo, and you get a BFN, how are you going to feel? Now flip that around and if you transfer two, and get a BFP with twins, how are you going to feel? I've done two transfers, two embies each time and no success yet. I'm getting to the point where I'm ready to transfer three to have a slim chance of it working. If your insurance pays for PGS however, then you know you're transferring viable embryos (which you don't know if you don't test them).

As for egg retrieval, I don't know if my experience was normal, but the procedure itself was fine as I was completely under anesthesia. I was also good that entire day. But the next day? Man oh man was I in so much pain! I'm glad I didn't have anything pressing to do that day and my DH was able to feed us because I could hardly walk to the bathroom my tummy hurt so much. The following day was still painful, but not as bad, and the day after that I felt fine. I hope your experience will be easier!

NurseTMD85

@tvh1982 That's crazy that they do ER awake!!!! Thank you for sharing your experience with me!

@AandDM2014 Thanks for the advice. We're going to wait and see how many eggs we retrieve before making any decision about the number of embryos. We can only afford the whole process once, but if we are able to freeze any in order to do a FET if the first round doesn't work, we should have some insurance allowance left and can pay OOP for the rest. We also still have to have our consult today so they can better explain the process to us. I don't start BC until this evening and from what I understand it takes several weeks for this process to reach the transfer stage so we have some time to think about it. I'm sorry to hear your first two didn't work. Crossing my fingers for your next round!

tvh1982

It was a painful, but also a very interesting experience. I could see everything happening on the screen.
And I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, but hope of course this time around I'll get a BFP

GL. You will be in good hands!

akcrowe

Don't be terrified of any of it. We just went through IVF, our first time, and it was so much easier and not as stressful as I had imagined. Just prepare for the best and know it's going to be a lot of appointments and medications. Well really it was only 4 appointments, the egg retrieval and the transfer. We were luck enough to have the retrieval and the transfer on a weekend. I didn't have bad side effects to the drugs either, so that was a plus. We are in our tww now... Just know you will respond different than others and it doesn't have to be a dreadful and painful process. Hope for the best  

NurseTMD85

@akcrowe I'm hoping to have mine on the weekend too. All of the monitoring and procedures really interferes with my work schedule. They're only going to be tolerant for so long. My only issue is whether or not to freeze my eggs. One one hand, why wouldn't you? On the other, if it works the first time I'll be pretty upset that I spent $2,000 on that. Hopefully everything will go smoothly. Fx for you and a BFP!