IF Testing and Treatment w/o 11/1

acleverusername

Ooof, well... got our fert report and it's a mixed bag. Spoilering into 2 different section, so you can a la carte the update. 

Good news

Of the fresh eggs, 11/13 fertilized. So woo! 

Bad news

The frozen 🇨🇦eggs were a almost total bust. Only 3/11 thawed properly, and only 1 fertilized. So yeah... 
I mean, it's not like I would've done anything differently. Going back to Canada and doing a transfer at that clinic would have been nearly completely impossible, if I factor the cost of travel, and the inconvenience. So, we still feel like we did the right thing. Alas, herein is the issue with having a different clinic thaw previously retrieved oocytes. 

TL;DR not starting BCP just yet; gonna wait to see what our blast rate is come next Wed and then make a call on whether or not we do another retrieval or a transfer. 

walkawaynee

@acleverusername the good news is great news! Tough break on the Canada eggs but glad you feel good about the decision. Did you do ICSI with this retrieval?

LJMoon6

@zwink1 I'm thinking about you today! 

@acleverusername Oh wow. What a roller coaster. Your bad news sucks so much! Do you think it had anything to do with the transfer? Your good news though.... that's awesome! Such great numbers. Are you freezing day 3 or 5? I have no idea what's the better option and why you would want to do one over the other. Anyways. Big hugs as you absorb the news.

bumblebee0210

@acleverusername Oof. That is a real mixed bag. But-- given you're starting with nearly double the fertilized eggs, I am hoping for at least 5 or 6 blasts next Wednesday. 

AFM: Transfer went well! They put in a euploid 5AB+. It survived the thaw and expanded nicely, and the transfer was smooth as butter. I went to acupuncture right afterward, and now I'm chilling at home. Beta is a week from Monday. 

kiki047

@acleverusername whew, that's a lot. I am rooting for your fresh eggs, 11/13 is a great fert rate! Great big ugh to the CAeggs. You're right though, you wouldn't have done anything differently, and you were better off trying than not. FX you don't need another retrieval. I will be holding my breath for you until Wednesday! 

@bumblebee0210 yess friend. Enjoy being PUPO. My RE believed that laughter was the best way to get your blood flowing so hope you can find something funny to read/watch this weekend. 

acleverusername

@walkawaynee Yes, we did PICSI and ICSI (PICSI is a special sperm sorting that eliminates any sperm with DNA fragmentation. We've previously had some shoddy sperm results, so we're not taking any chances with it, even though our doctor doesn't think it's required). 

@LJMoon6 I actually don't think that transport has anything to do with it. I got a very solid report on the results of the transport. So unfortunately I have to chalk it up to differences in techniques/equipments/information loss between the 2 clinics. We're going to grow embryos to Day 5/6 (to blast) biopsy, freeze and send off for genetic testing. Generally, Day 5 is the better option as it allows for testing. You can't biopsy Day 3 embryos. 

How did your IUI go? 

@bumblebee0210 Woo! Sounds like the transfer went really well. You are PUPO! Enjoy the TWW and I really hope this transfer gives you your 🌈 🤞🏻🙏🏻

@kiki047 Thank you. I think Sunday's report (Day 3) will give us some idea. The good news is, relatively speaking, our fert rates are definitely higher this time around (85% vs 62.5%). But my doc was realistic in giving us the news, in that last cycle we got _really_ lucky in terms of normal blasts. At my age, we should count on having 50% abnormal blasts. Anyways, nothing I can do now but wait. 

I will be having some 🍷and 🍕tonight though. 

Btw, have I mentioned lately how much I love my doctor? Honestly, after all the trials and tribulations with the first 2 doctors/clinics, I didn't think we would actually find someone as good as he is. He is just SO real. He cares. And he gets me (and I'm not an easy person to get). So, yeah, I'm feeling really blessed that in all of this crap shoot, I at least finally really feel in good hands with my fertility doc. 

LJMoon6

@acleverusername IUI went ok. I've been so bloated and crampy today, I was happy to get it over with. Sperm count wasn't the best, so my assignment to MH didn't do the trick lol. His total motile count was only 9.3 million. I'm a little worried about it but it only takes 1 (is what I keep telling myself). And, of course I've looked up studies on what the lowest count is without lowering success rates. I thought it was always 10 mil, but a study I looked at today said 9 mil... so that's what I'm going with lol.

acleverusername

@LJMoon6 Yeah, I've actually heard that 6-10M doesn't really have a huge difference. Things start to drop off if sperm count is below 6M. The first clinic we were at would cancel IUIs if sperm count was below 5M. Good luck! Maybe that 2nd follicle is what you needed. 

acleverusername

Who else is like...

... grad thread for any further announcements? 

optimistgardener

@acleverusername dude that tongue. Super sorry about yr CA eggs, but I hope the disappointment there is partially made up for by the good fert rate on the freshies!

@LJMoon6 fingers crossed for you! don't worry too much about the sperm stats. I'm not an expert on things sperm-related since i either buy the primo stuff or beg the untested stuff out of friends, but I believe she's right about the range they like to see. I hope one of those two follicles is a good one!

man @bumblebee0210 i'm rooting so hard for you.

AFM: CD1 around here. The nuvaring is in and i called the clinic and we're set for my suppression check/baseline on the 21st, with stims starting the next day assuming all is well. Cue my starting to get nervous again about all the things in sequential order, as some of you have already seen me do before. For now, it's: "what if I have another cyst?" and it's also "what if my AFC totally cratered since last time." Plus general idiot anxiety like "I had a half a glass of beer and a glass of wine [on different nights] last week will that make all my embryos abnormal?" Ugh my brain. Obviously the latter is just ridiculousness. The other two I suppose I kind of know the answer to already, which would be: wait a cycle and see if things improve after a month or two. If I had to do that it would arguably also be better financially, since I'd be able to use my insurance.

keikilove

Whew, this has been a BUSY week on this board! So many good things happening! 

@acleverusername Congrats on that excellent fertilization rate! I’m sorry the transported eggs didn’t do as well, but I hope you feel it was worth the effort to get 2 more. 💕 Hoping you get an amazing report on Day 3, my friend. You certainly deserve it. 

@bumblebee0210 Congrats on being PUPO! Enjoy it!

@LJMoon6 Hope you’re starting to feel better after the IUI. Sending so much positive energy your way. You certainly deserve a break from the things you’ve been dealing with lately! Lots of self-care during this TWW, hopefully.😉

@optimistgardener Way to talk yourself down, friend. You’re absolutely right: no matter how this all goes with the baseline check, 

@gingermama29 Hooray for your body gearing up on its own for ovulation! FX for you for a successful natural cycle.🤞🏽 

@fantasyflyte Glad to hear you had a very thorough first visit. It sounds like your Dr is doing everything right. And so happy to hear that weight was never mentioned. It sounds like you’re in the right place.☺️

@bows22 I hope you’re feeling super relaxed & happy after the IUI. Sending you all the positive vibes too for a smooth & stress-free TWW.💗

AFM, I’m en route to my RE in Mexico. Nervous to find out how this cycle is going, as my local RE saw several quite small follicles on Tuesday, which is why my MX RE said to come in on Saturday instead of earlier. Stimming in the luteal phase of DuoStim usually takes longer anyway, so I have my fingers crossed that today’s appointment is right on time or even a bit early. Will update with a proper check-in later. 

acleverusername

@keikilove good luck in MX! Will be sending your lots of growth thoughts!

acleverusername

Day 3 update just came in and it's ... like, I don't even know how to interpret it since it's so different from last Day 3. But I am pretty sure it's GOOD overall. So maybe some of you fellow researchers can help me sort it out. Putting everything in spoiler since it's a lot of info. But TL;DR... if I read the report correctly, we had the @kiki047 effect, and had more embryos fertilize since we got the fert report on Fri morning (but also 1 more from the frozen batch thawed, and then 4/5 more fertilized... one of them is dead now though). 

First, some background, here's how our clinic rates embryos on Day 3: 

My results this round: 

So, any of the embryos that have a 3 in it is "poor quality" and we have 3 of those, leaving 12 that are good-ish?

Also, 2 of the embryos are already Morulas. No idea what that means contextually speaking (like, I know what a morula is). A quick PubMed scan tells me that's actually _good_ predictor of implantation. 

All I can tell you is that last time, we had 2 8,1,1's on Day 3, which became 3AA and went on to be genetically normal. And then we also had 1 7,1,2 that became our 6AB and was the mosaic. So. lord knows what we'll end up with on Day 5/6 this time. 

If anyone has thoughts, lmk. But at this moment, I'm thinking that we might not need another retrieval. 

Any thoughts are welcome. 

But generally, I really appreciate the clinic sharing all this information with us. It feeds my nerd thirst. 

bumblebee0210

@acleverusername. You, my friend, are trying to do prediction with too little data. Step back from the ledge... Here is what you know: You've got a *lot* of embryos still in the running. Likely a good number of them, maybe half, will not make it to good-quality blast. But likely a lot of them will! And whether it's 2 or 5 or 8 is kind of anyone's guess. Also-- embryos change ratings all the time. Our day-5 3BC turned into a day-6 5AB, genetically normal. Sometimes it just matters when the snapshot is taken. 

kiki047

@acleverusername ^^^ WSS. I think @bumblebee0210 about summed it all up for me. But also, I do hope the couple extra that have now caught up mean you might end up with a few more. Stranger things have happened!! 

acleverusername

@bumblebee0210 @kiki047

You, my friend, are trying to do prediction with too little data

I know that! Lol. I can't help myself though.