Successful infertility treatment

pat7638 · December 2013

Hi ladies, I have been hoping to get some responses on this board since you all have had the experience of ugly infertility. Can you please share your infertility issues and have they were resolved so that you were able to conceive and deliver a healthy baby. This info would be very encouraging to those having difficulties....inspiration for us. Will appreciate any and all responses. Best wishes to you all.

Mrs.AmyDylan · December 2013

First, huge hugs. IF is a dark, black hole of despair. It is so hard to keep going, but the alternative just seems so much worse.

Our official DX is "unexplained". I found this frustrating because there seemed to be no real direction to take treatment. I had great AFCs for my clomid cycles, ovulated both sides, but nothing. At that point DH and I decided to jump right to IVF. We had a small lifetime insurance coverage of $5k (plus $2500rx) that we could piss away on less invasive treatment or go with what our RE quoted us as a 65% chance of a take home baby.

My IVF cycle was kind of a mess. We ended up with only 5 mature eggs, but with good fertilization and a day 3 transfer of two embies we have our beautiful daughter. She won't go to sleep in her crib so she is snuggled next to me and I will move her in a minute. She arrived at 38w, totally med-free in the water. It was beautiful and so totally zen. So very different than the high intervention way she was conceived.

Hang in there. And to all the IF ladies in the trenches. We love you. We want to celebrate with you when that magical "take home baby" day comes. We try to be respectful and stay out of your space. However, you are always welcome to post, lurk, or chime in. Huge hugs!!

boymomstrong · December 2013

I have sever PCOS, we did IVF with ICSI and had our son! Now we are trying for baby #2, this will be our second try for another baby...

IF is so hard and there are no gurantees, i am feeling like i did before my son all over again, the feelings never go away...
It never mattered how pregnant i was or that i had my son, i still felt jealous of any one who announced their pregnancy, now i feel it even more!!!

Good luck!

phishgirl29 · December 2013

We were also unexplained. I do have hashimoto's disease (thyroid) and I was told that I have pcos like symptoms (meaning I don't have pcos but respond well to that line of treatment). The one thing my RE told me when I was diagnosed unexplained is that there probably is an explanation somewhere, but there hasn't been a test invented yet to find the specific cause. I find comfort in that for some reason.

We did 4 IUI cycles. 3 with clomid, 1 with fermara. I ovulate on my own and DH has no sperm issues, though we did have to take a 4 month break because he caught pneumonia which kills your sperm for 3 months so our chances would have been slim at that point. We moved on to IVF. I had 11 eggs retrieved all from the left ovary because my right did not respond. 5 made it to our five day transfer and we transferred 2 and froze 2 and 1 didn't make it. I was pregnant with twins but lost one in my 9th week. We had an 8lb, 14oz boy at 38w6d. He was an emergency csection after being sunny side up and he was compressing his cord with every contraction.

It was worth it.

kzawisl · December 2013

I always knew I would have trouble TTC. I only got my period about every 6 months, and stopped altogether when I was 18. Lots of tests, no answer other than unexplained hypothalamic amenorrhea. We did one medicated cycle (Menopur + Ovidrel) with timed intercourse, that failed. Switched REs and upped my dose of Menopur and did an IUI, and I have beautiful boy/girl twins.
Best of luck to you, and I am sorry you're dealing with this!

pantsarella · December 2013

I never had any issues myself, but my DH has male factor infertility and our RE gave us <1% chance of conceiving on our own (ever). We tried supplements and surgery but nothing helped, so in that way, nothing was "resolved". But we went through an IVF cycle and we were successful the first time. DD was born in the middle of July and she is wonderful and healthy.

I love the quote "you never know how strong you are until you don't have any other option" (it's something to that effect). It's especially true with infertility. I was terrified of IVF before we went through it. I cried about it several times and we even talked about not having kids. But when I was faced with it, I was able to get through it. There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

kbeach82 · December 2013

Hi there. I have DOR and my DH has pretty severe MFI. Our RE never considered IUI to be a viable option for us, so we followed her advice and went straight to IVF w/ICSI.

We only had 5 eggs retrieved during our first IVF cycle (4 were mature), and transferred 2 embryos on Day 3. That cycle resulted in the birth of our first son in 2011.

Our 2nd IVF cycle resulted in the retrieval of 6 eggs, 5 of which were mature. We transferred 2 blastocysts on Day 5. That cycle resulted in the birth of our b/g twins in May of this year.

IF is often incredibly frustrating and can be heartbreaking. But there are many options available that can help to bring you the little one(s) your heart longs for. I wish you the best of luck in your journey.

IBackBevo · December 2013

I will try to give you the Reader's Digest version.

I have severe DOR (diminished ovarian reserve). I have high FSH, undetectable AMH and a very low AFC (4-5). What initially had me seeking consult was not actually "IF" but the troubling symptoms--basically menopausal type symptoms. The first time I sought consult, I was not diagnosed with anything (I was only about 22) but was just put on birth control as a band aid. I was diagnosed at that time as just having premenstrual dysphoric disorder. I went off of the pill a couple of other times over the year and similar thing as before...troubling symptoms. Upon coming off of the pill at about age 30, my symptoms were VERY severe. I was off several months and it was miserable. Hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain, moodiness, short menses, short LP's, etc. After going through a myriad of doctors and a bunch of testing (including hsg, hysteroscopy, etc.), I at this time learned about my diagnosis. I learned that I had a permutation on my FMR1 gene which causes ovarian issues (and often times premature ovarian failure) in a large percentage of women. The official diagnosis was FX-POI (fragile X associated primary ovarian insufficiency). There are also genetic concerns for my offspring, but I won't get into those.

Due to my horrible stats, I was given doom and gloom. Told to go straight to IVF. We opted not to do that and conceived via Clomid+IUI+progestereone support.

A bit after having my son, I was tested again and learned my stats were even worse. I did not go back on the pill and my cycles were even crazier now. I went to see an RE and he did not even recommend IVF as he said my likelihood of success was so low due to low AFC. DH and I hemmed and hawed around for a few months and eventually I got a second opinion that was more encouraging. (In total, I have been to or consulted 6 RE's). We were debating whether to do an IVF freeze all and I was on a bunch of supps recommended by the RE when we got pregnant with our second DS. Honestly, for severe DOR women, I really believe in supps. Over the 3 years I have been researching this, I have seen more DOR ladies have success with supplements and alternative medicine or that plus more minimally invasive ART than even with IVF.

mnj05 · December 2013

I do not ovulate often and get periods maybe 4 times a year so I knew it would be an issue. Right after we were married, DH was diagnosed with testicular cancer and had to have one removed, so that shot everything down for him and consequently ended up with severe MFI. Our RE gave us a less than one percent chance of conceiving on our own as well. He also didn't feel like an IUI was the best option but would have proceeded in that direction if we chose to.

We chose IVF and it worked the first time for us. We had 6 eggs, all mature, all fertilized but only one reached the blast stage. The rest were morula, we transferred two, and the rest arrested and were not able to be frozen.

It all happened so quickly from diagnosis to saving money to completing IVF, and pretty daunting at that. I wouldn't change a thing though and going through this taught me more about myself that I probably wouldn't have learned any other way.

Good luck to you and I hope you find something that is right for y'all!

Ruthie04 · December 2013

After trying for a year, I visited the OB/GYN who ran the full panel of tests before determining I had borderline low progesterone on 7dpo. She prescribed tamoxifen and I got a BFP on the 3rd cycle. I miscarried that pregnancy and moved onto the RE. He wasn't a believer in the LPD diagnosis and rediagnosed me as Unexplained IF. Here's my treatment hx:

*IUI on Clomid resulted in the news that I am one of the women who gets a thin lining on Clomid (which is a HUGE reason women need to be monitored!!).
*IUI attempts 2-5 on Follistim: Numbers 2 and 4 were canceled for over response and early ovulation. RE recommends IVF since no one knows what is going on!
*IVF #1 canceled for a dominant follicle and poor response.
*IVF #1.5 BFN after transferring 1 "textbook" embryo
*IVF #2 BFP after transferring 2 "fair" grade blasts. I attribute AH and pre/post transfer acu as having a significant role in our success.

In the end, it was determined that we likely have poor embryo quality, which resulted in problems at or just after implantation. I think that one of the things to take away from my story is that you can find success after failure and loss (and, there are several other amazingly strong women who fought even longer and harder). When I was on the IF board, it seemed as though so many women got BFPs from IUIs or their first IVF cycle. When I didn't, I felt as though my journey would never result in take home babies. I was, however, very lucky to have found success with my second IVF. It's hard to keep pushing your body and heart to the limit when you don't know how long you'll have to fight. Many hugs to all going through it.

MoFree · December 2013

Our DX is severe MFI caused by Y chromosome microdeletion that is not correctable. Our only option is IVF w/ICSI. My first cycle resulted in a BFPS with 3 frosties. I underwent a FET last Sunday and will know in about a week if it was successful.
Best wishes to you.

CallMeAl · December 2013

We have a severe MFI dx. My husband's counts are less than 100k, with low motility and anywhere from 0 to 2 % morphology. We went straight to IVF with ICSI and had success. We have a 2 yr old DD from our first cycle and are due in with a DS from our second cycle. Good luck!

JBDamonM · December 2013

We are also MFI.

DH's counts are low in all three areas due to a varicole (sp?). It's only a small obstruction and causes him no pain so we opted to skip the surgery and go straight to IVF. (The urologist told us that the surgery wasn't a guarantee and at best would probably only get us to the point of being elligible for an IUI)....

I honestly don't feel as though our IVF cycle could've gone any better. I responded very well and we got an absolutely amazing DD out of it. She is my world. We have 5 embies on ice and I am really hoping we can do an FET in 2014.

Good luck. IF is so so so hard and hard to understand until you live it.

pat7638 · December 2013

Thanks everyone for your responses. I really appreciate the information and soooo happy that you were successful....Your stories are uplifting.....thanks again

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