well, it was better than I anticipated. until now my RE has been pretty conservative.
his thoughts:
great looking embryos
two IVFs, two pregnancies
not sure that he thinks it is implantation failure/repeated loss instead of just bad luck but he is willing to try the following for the next cycle:
lovenox
intralipids
prednisone
higher dose of stims to hopefully get enough eggs to split them in half and fertilize half with mh frozen sperm he banked when he got his testicular cancer diagnosis (pre-radiation) and half with fresh sperm
basically, throwing everything that might help but can't hurt. it is pretty much everything I have seen anyone else use on the boards except for IVIG (which intralipids is a substitute for), endometrial scratching (which I forgot to ask about) and PGD/PGS.
we have had terrible luck with our embryos thawing post freeze, so we are going to wait on the PGD/PGS.
still seeing the RI on Monday in Chicago (yeah mini-get away), but as far as I can tell there is little else one can do in the actual cycle than what he just offered.
so heading off to an adventure on Monday and the plan we have is to go for IVF #3 on August 5th (after I am done teaching a summer course and before the start of fall semester) with all these additional meds/treatments.
honestly, i haven't taken more than one cycle off since January 2012 and after 3 failed iuis, two surgeries, 2 ivfs, 2 m/c and 1 d&c, i am emotionally and physically ready for a short break. i feel guilty about that since i will turn 34 in june, but i think this is the best plan for us.
any additional thoughts welcome....
Re: WTF Appointment update (long)
I have nothing to add but wanted to wish you so much luck!
And you're coming to my hood! If you need restaurant or to do suggestions let me know!
ETA: I couldn't remember who you're seeing when you're here so I scoped out an old post. You're really in my hood. The dr's office is in my shrinks building and across the street from my OB.
Unmedicated and medicated IUI's: all fail
IVF #1: Dec 2012 16m/15f 12/9: 5dt of 2 beautiful blasts and 5 frosties
TWINS!
15w4d:baby a-pProm
March 25: 18w...2 baby boys born sleeping
July 29: FET-BFN
Sept: TAC placed
Oct 27: FET #2-Cancelled-monster cyst producing insane amounts of estrogen
Nov 13: FET #2-take 2
I don't want to sound like an but using prednisone, lovenox and intralipids without a reason is stupid. First of all intralipids are not a substitute for IVIG unless you have high NK Cells. If you don't have high nk's intralipids are doing nothing for you except giving extra nutrients because they are used for patients with severe intestinal problems that don't give them enough nutrients. Has your RE looked at blood flow in your uterus? If so and he see's a blockage then Lovenox makes sense, do you have a thrombophilia? And what is he using the prednisone for? Too much prednisone can interrupt your adrogens. Also does he even know how to test for implantation failure? You could have high tnf and low LADs which could be inhibiting implantation. And if he is giving Lovenox why not baby aspirin?
I am glad you are seeing the RI at least hopefully the proper tests will be done.
Anovulatory cycles, increased Synthroid Diagnosed Sep 2010
1 Clomid/Ovidrel BFN May 2011
Natural cycle Aug 2011 BFP M/C 4 Weeks
1 IUI Sept 2011 BFP M/c 7 weeks
Provera Dec 2011 BFP M/C 3 Weeks
IVF March 2012 BFP m/c 4weeks 5 days (IL, Prednisone)
IVF#2w/DS July 2012 MEGA FAILURE BFN (IL, Dexamethasone)
Diagnosed No real HLA Match, DQ Beta Triad, High TNF, Low NK Cells
Oct 2012 Natural Cycle m/c 4wks (Lovenox, Prednisone)
Went to Beer Center- high tnf, low lad, implantation failure
Jan 2013 BFP
Humira,LIT,Prednisone, Lovenox, IVIG, Baby Aspirin
Miracle Born August 2013 Premature
Yours doesn't have to be a sad story
TTC #1 since February 2011
Me: 29 (3/5/13- high NK cells) DH: 28 (5/8/12- MFI low morph and motility)
Cycle #21 (IUI#1), Cycle #22 (HSG 9/21/12) and Cycle #23 (IUI#2)=
Cycle #24- December Snow Bunny IVF #1
ER 12/6/12 (14R, 11M, 9F), ET 12/9/12 transferred 2 day 3 embies
Bleeding and low betas=very cautious C/P 5W3D
Cycle #26 March Lucky Duck- FET #1
scheduled 3/20/13- CANCELLED- lining issues
Cycle #27 May Emerald- FET #1.2
delayed- Starting Trental for 3 months + natural cycles Cycle #28-30=
Cycle #31 August Shooting Star- FET #1.3
transferred 1 hatching blast 8/21/13= Betas 8/30 (108) and 9/3 (565)
U/S 9/19/13- HR is 128! U/S #2 10/4/13- HR is 174!
It's a BOY!
no, i totally want honest opinions of people that have been down this road longer than I have. i wasn't very clear (it's been a long day). i am going through the tests the RI has for me and any additional my RE feels necessary with those as the options he sees as likely. I have been on baby aspirin for about two years trying to get pregnant. the prednisone (5 or 10 mg depending on my tests) is from a long history of needing steroids for calming my system down from an autoimmune disease that went too long undiagnosed (I have had to be on 1000 mg by IV times three days several times in my life). i will definitely look into intralipids vs. IVIG after my testing comes back.
again, honest opinions is definitely what i want and hope as we all try to find our way through this mess so thanks for looking out for me!
Praying unceasingly for a miracle. ALL welcome!
Have you considered cycling elsewhere?
I say this because we cycled 3 times with the best clinic in our area (w/ 3 IVFs and 2 pregnancies) and there was not much new that they could do for us when we asked about a 4th cycle.
Other places with other labs might give you a chance you didn't know you had.
Obviously I am biased but our results were so different for us this time around.
A thought to ponder after you see the RI.
TTC #1 since 1/10
DX: Unexplained/??? MFI issues
Our lil' lost sparks:
5w3d loss 7/30/10 - EDD March 2011
8w loss 4/15/11 - EDD November 2011
8w3d loss 8/2/12 - EDD March 2013
4w c/p loss 10/29/12 - EDD July 2013
Long story: trying on our own + testing testing testing with 6 rounds of Clomid, more testing, injectables + TI, laparoscopy - one tube blocked, 2 IUIs with Follistim...BFNs.
RPL testing all normal, Karyotyping normal
Moving on to IVF.
IVF #1 April 2012 = BFN, IVF #2 June 2012 = BFP. U/S 7/23 = saw heartbeat but measuring behind. Follow up U/S on 7/30 - no heartbeat. D&C 8/2. Trisomy 12. IVF #3 Oct 2012 = Chemical Pregnancy
Phone consult with CCRM on 12/12/12 - ODWU 1/4/13 - both tubes clear(!) - AFC 24, AMH 3.2, FSH 9.6, LH 5.4, E2 25. DH has high frag rate but improved!
IVF #4 March 2013 CCRM. EP protocol w/ Menopur, Gonal-F & Dexamethasone. ER 3/29 & IMSI, PICSI. 43R 13M 10F 6blasts bio'd. CCS testing reveals 3 normals!!!
FET 5/31/13 of 1 4AA blast - thawed and expanded. 4dp5dt BFP.
Beta 9dp5dt = 181, 11dp5dt = 427. 1st u/s showed a healthy heartbeat! EDD 2/16/14
After 4 years of hoping and heartbreak, our sweet little bean was born on 2/19/14
We are so in love with her.
"I'm not telling you it's going to be easy, I'm telling you it's going to be worth it."
Everybody is welcome!!!
Praying unceasingly for a miracle. ALL welcome!
When you see the RI make sure you ask about prednisone dosage because I was told by Braverman and Beer that 5-10mg does nothing, 20 mg was really the starting point for what they felt worked on immune issues braverman goes all the way up to 40mg.
Anovulatory cycles, increased Synthroid Diagnosed Sep 2010
1 Clomid/Ovidrel BFN May 2011
Natural cycle Aug 2011 BFP M/C 4 Weeks
1 IUI Sept 2011 BFP M/c 7 weeks
Provera Dec 2011 BFP M/C 3 Weeks
IVF March 2012 BFP m/c 4weeks 5 days (IL, Prednisone)
IVF#2w/DS July 2012 MEGA FAILURE BFN (IL, Dexamethasone)
Diagnosed No real HLA Match, DQ Beta Triad, High TNF, Low NK Cells
Oct 2012 Natural Cycle m/c 4wks (Lovenox, Prednisone)
Went to Beer Center- high tnf, low lad, implantation failure
Jan 2013 BFP
Humira,LIT,Prednisone, Lovenox, IVIG, Baby Aspirin
Miracle Born August 2013 Premature
Yours doesn't have to be a sad story
TTC Since Aug 2011/
ME:34 all clear/DH:41 DX Severe MFI/
IVF w/ICSI OCT 2012 Stims started 10/8/ER 10/19/12/ET 10/24/Beta#1 11/2=BFN (beta was 1.2)
IVF 2.0-Baseline 11/7/12 beta 0/All Clear
Stim start 11/7/12//ER 11/19 11M//10F
ET 2 embies 11/24//Beta#1 28 Beta #2 23 Beta#3 29
stop meds Beta#4 37/C/P 5W5D EDD:8/12/13/IVF#3 in Jan
Ivf 3-frozen 3 poor 3day/fet=bfn
My Chart//>
I would also suggest another REs opinion on your case - especially since you are taking a break anyway. I've taken a lot of breaks between all of my IVFs and honestly I think its the reason that I'm still sane at this point.
GL and ((hugs))
Dx: PCOS and MFI
3 IUIs, 4 IVFs = BFFN
3rd RE: IVF #5/FET = BFP
14dp5dt=1170 16dp5dt=2573
1st u/s=TWINS!
It's a Boy and a Girl!
Born at 34w3d!
Positive for HLA-B27, I'm a mutant
Testing - Me ok, gluten issue? DH - borderline count, low motility
4/28/11 IUI#1 = BFP!(5/25), EDD 2/2/12 - m/c 5w3d
7/3, 7/31, 9/25 - IUI#2-4=BFN
IVF#1 - 1 blast = BFP!! (12/30), EDD 9/9/12, confirmed c/p 4w2d
FET#1 3/2/12 - 2 blasts =BFP!! EDD 11/18/12, us#1 = twins! Confirmed m/c 5w6d
4/20-surprise BFP and another c/p 4w2d
FET#2 7/16/12 - 2 blasts = BFN
FET#3 8/20/12 - 1 blast - BFP!! Beta #1-2=177, 354
1st u/s 5w6d, one beautiful little HB , 2nd u/s 146bpm
baby girl born 5/10/13
TTC#2 since 12/17/2014, Cycle 8
Repeat Testing...FSH=12, AMH=3.8, AFC=28.
IUI#5 5/10/15- c/p?
IVF#2 8/19/15 - cancelled due to cysts
IVF#2 take two 10/2015 - 5 blasts frozen
FET#4 12/11/2015 - BFN - 4 blasts remaining
FET#5 2/18/16 - BFP!!! Beta1-3, 126, 250, 745!!
Tons of love and ((hugs)) to my IF sister NMscubagirl
************ Signature/Ticker Warning ************
Me (32) DH (36) - Finding our way to baby #1
Me: POF/DOR - AMH <0.16, heterozygous c677t MTHFR, insulin resistant and gluten intolerant
DH: Severe MFI
12/2/11 - IUI #1- BFN
8/1/12 - IVF #1 - Zero response from max stims (600iu intramuscularly)
My ovaries are just for decoration
12/6/12 - Adopted five embryos that had been frozen for over ten years!
2/11/13 - DEmbryo FET #1 Thawed four, sadly two didn't survive. Transferred two beautiful blasts.
2/16/13 - First BFP of my life @ 6dp5dt! EDD 10/30/13
3/27/13 - After beta and u/s hell, no heartbeat ever detected. D&C at 9w1d.
6/5/13 - Adopted four new embryos that had been frozen for seven years!
9/12/13 - DEmbryo FET #2. Thawed and transferred two beautiful blasts
9/17/13 - BFP @ 5dp6dt! EDD 05/31/14
9/29/13 - m/c @ 5w1d.
11/19/13 - DEmbryo FET #3. Thawed and transferred one blast from each batch. Wow!
11/23/13 - BFP @ 4dp6dt! EDD 8/7/13
Beta #1 @ 13dp6dt - 522 Beta #2 @ 16dp6dt - 1373
6w5d ultrasound showed one perfect baby with a beautiful heartbeat of 134bpm!
Snowflake baby is a girl!
Our beautiful Snowflake girl arrived on July 22, 2014!
My embryo adoption blog: Wishing on a Snowflake
I think you have a great plan. Get the immune testing and see what that says then make a plan from there. Maybe even look into setting up a consult with another RE just to see if a "fresh pair of eyes" can find anything else that can be tweaked to bring you your take home baby.
August will be here before you know it!
TTC#1 since April 2011
IVF#1 July 2012 5R, 3 made it to blast, sET c/p
FET#1 Aug 2012 2 blasts transferred BFN
IVF#2 Oct 2012
16R/6M/6F/2-8 cell grade 1 transfer
Beta 1-237.9, Beta 2-566, Beta 3-8657
US 6w3d shows one baby w/ HB 115
US 7w1d no more heartbeat/ D&C 11/30/12 normal karyotype
IVF#3 Mar 2013
6R/4M/4F 1 compacting and 2-8 cell transfer
ectopic pg MTX given 3 month break from TTC
IVF#4 Sept 2013--BFN
http://i61.tinypic.com/34zll06IVF#5-7 Apr 2014, Jun 2014 and Aug 2014 banking embryos for CCS testing. Praying for normals!
Me (34)- no issues found MH (36)- MFI due to Vericocele. Straight to IVF w/ICSI 9/12, Antagonist. 9R, 7M, 5F = BFN c/p, New RE for IVF #2- 1/13., Long Lupron. ER on 1/22 -10R, 9M, 9F. Transfer on hold due to overstimming. FET in Feb. 2 frozen blasts. Another BFN & another c/p. RPL testing all negative besides MTHFR gene, vericocle repair surgery 4/12/13-Bilateral Grade 3 Vericocele found & fixed, IVF #3 with PGS 4/13- 11R, 9M, 9F. Transferred 2 normal=BFN, 3 normal on ice. CCRM-here we come! ODWU-All test results normal. EPP in August. 21R, 20M, 19F. 12 blasts biopsied & frozen for CCS testing. Results showed 11 normal! FET Oct. 30. 2 5d 4AA blasts transferred. First ever BFP!!! Beta 1=216, Beta 2=870 1st U/S=It's TWINS!!! It's a BOY and a GIRL!! Everyone Welcome!!!
Hey. It took me a glacier's age to get back to you, but I PM'd you back finally on the RI.
I took intralipid and prednisone, too. I also accepted advice to up stim dosage to hopefully get more eggs to have more fertilized and yadda yadda.
That did not work out so well for me. First time, I had 14 eggs, 12 of which fertlized and 10 turned into embryos. We transfered one very high quality embryo and had two high-quality embryos to freeze.
The second fresh cycle, we got 25 eggs. I appeared to be coming down with OHSS so transfer was cancelled and we froze all. We wound up with three fair-quality frozen embryos.
I actually did worse on the higher stim dosage.
That's just one anecdotal experience, but figured I'd share. My RE told me, when I asked whether there was a chance I'd get more eggs but of lower quality, "oh, no, that's not something I'd worry about."
And that's what appeared to have happened.
I just realized what a Debbie Downer I'm being.
Mwah mwah.
no worries, all any of us know is our own experience. my first cycle we started with really low stims, went to high mid-cycle, then finished that cycle at medium level.
(12 R, 10 M, 9F, 6 at 5d)
2nd ivf we had the medium the whole time (8R, 6M, 5F, 2 transferred, 3 not good enough to freeze)
If i could have 12-15 that would be great. hoping to get the right dosage for that.
thanks for sharing your experience.
Praying unceasingly for a miracle. ALL welcome!