Sad and discouraged. ER was Monday.

Lillovebug79 · July 2014

My ER was on 7/7 and I had some really good mature follicles after stimming just 7 days. One was already at 21 the day of trigger with several others greater than 16mm. My retrieval went as smoothly as possible considering I only had a low dose of Xanax and and IM pain shot. I was completely awake and felt the whole process just lightly sedated. We got 16 eggs which I was initially told should all be mature. The following day, the embryologist called me and said that 9 were mature, 3 didn't fertilize, 3 fertilized abnormally, and three fertilized normally. So it's looking like we will be going a day 3 transfer of whatever makes it to that point on Thursday. I'm just so numb. How were almost 1/2 my eggs immature? Did I stim to fast and have dominant follicles take over and not let the rest mature? I'm so puzzled because even my RE was super confident about this cycle. Also my fertilization rate was pretty low. Until this, our only know issue was MFI but I'm not sure that is all that's coming in to play here.

I just got a call from the embryologist and all three are growing and are 4 cells but one is only a grade 4 with a good bit of fragmentation. She said we will see how they are tomorrow before putting them in. They should be 6-8 cells. I'm praying all 3 of these little embies grow and can be put back because we won't have anything left over. I'm trying to stay positive and hopeful but it's hard. We can't meet and ask any questions until this cycle is complete. Hopefully this won't end in a BFN but if so, I have a lot of questions before I start another cycle.

I'm still so sore and I look like a human pin cushion. I have bruises everywhere and the progesterone is make me emotional and the steroids are adding to it. I feel like my body has been through a war that I might lose. I'm praying for those little embies with everything in me.

pblge · July 2014

(((hugs))) I'm so sorry. The days between ER and ET for many women are the worst part of this whole process. Don't give up on this cycle yet, but if you have to think about a second round your RE should come up with a plan for better egg quality. Sometimes it's just a matter of tweaking the stim dosing.

For whatever reason there have been a lot of ladies in recent weeks with poor fertilization reports. You might want to scroll back a few pages to find them as lots of PAIF women came and told their success stories from small numbers of eggs.

In the meantime, be good to yourself. FWIW, I had a little wine between ER and ET, as there was nothing on board to be harmed. Do whatever will make you feel better! Sending you and your embies t&p.

gsancho · July 2014

I'm sorry. If it comes time to do another round, it sounds like a change in protocol would do the trick - probably a little more of a slow and steady protocol, since you responded so quickly this time? But FX for you little embies!

AMShark · July 2014

I had similarly mystifying and disappointing results after my ER, and I know how devastating a bad fert report can be.

Just remember, it truly only takes one good embryo to get pregnant. I hope your one is in this batch.

GL & ((hugs)).

ExoticAntibiotic · July 2014

The hardest part about IVF is how much of it is trial and error. Our bodies are all different and respond differently, and unfortunately you didn't respond well to the first protocol your RE tried.

(((hugs))) BUT you are not out of this yet at all, I hope your ET leads you to a great outcome. Good luck with your 3!!!

ky29 · July 2014

So sorry you're feeling discouraged. Hopefully your lucky one (or more) is in that batch though!

My RE said that he likes to estimate that only 25% of the eggs they retrieve will make it. His example was... If they get 12 eggs, 9 will be mature, 6 will fertilize, and 3 will be normal / survive.

Obviously everyone and every situation can vary, but he brought that up when I asked about mini-IVF - which he said he doesn't like to do for that reason.

((hugs)) & good luck!!

Sha259 · July 2014

(((HUGS))) I am so sorry to hear this as a result of your ER. More times that we would think things like this happen with no good explanation whatsoever. You may have no egg problem at all, this just may have been an unexpected fluke.

My first IVF cycle was cancelled because my RE thought he knew how I would act to injects during my cycle, but my body completely took over and started making lead follicles leaving the others in the dust. He figured even if we kept going, he could get the rest to grow, but they might not catch up to the others, so he cancelled me.

IVF treatment is really what we call tailored medicine, because each patient could react to the same treatment, differently. The same patient may even react differently to the same treatment during different cycles.

I'm hoping that you take it easy, try not to worry. And I am praying that the 3 embies that are growing turn into rockstars fit for transfer!

ronniesgirl1981 · July 2014

I am so sorry for the difficult news. This is all so hard. After my crappy cycle, I used to remind myself that even in the best case scenario, it's--at best--only 50/50. I pray that you have a diamond in the rough!

przemosbabe · July 2014

I was very disappointed with my first IVF cycle last month too. I was on the antagonist protocol and I was a little over suppressed from birth control I took the previous month to get rid of a cyst. I only made 12 follices. They retrieved 12 eggs and half of them were immature. Two of them degenerated so I only had 4 to work with and I did end up with a blastocyst to transfer. I stimmed very quickly and had lead follices after only 4 or 5 days. They wanted me to trigger after 7 days but I have seen that women who stim for less than 9 days are rarely successful. So I begged the nurse to let me go for two more days and I did. Still 9 days wasn't long enough because I still had half my eggs immature. I was so disappointed because I didn't even know immature eggs during Ivf was a possibility. This was my first cycle. Since then I have been doing a lot of reading and I am seeing that not only the length of stimming, but the protocol used can really affect the egg quality and the maturity of those eggs. Talk to your doctor about a new protocol to hopefully solve this problem for you. I hope you don't need to though and have sucess with the embryos you have now.

LO95 · July 2014

I'm sorry you're going through the stress of all this right now!

What I really love about this board is how much information you find here. I wouldn't know anything if it weren't for these ladies. Don't give up on this cycle yet!

Mrs.Ess · July 2014

I'm sorry to hear you didn't get the results you would have liked but I hope it is enough to work. Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

denbk · July 2014

I am so sorry! I hope those three embies grow so that you can transfer them all. It is so discouraging to go through all of that pain to have an outcome you didn't expect. With mine on tuesday I had 11 mature follies but in the end we only have 3 eggs. I am hoping and praying that those embies grow and fertilize as well or this cycle would have been for nothing.

Good luck to you!!!

Lillovebug79 · July 2014

@denbk‌ I'm sorry you are in this boat too. Praying that our little 3 pull through and have a chance. It's so hard to think of all of this work, time, and money and walking away with nothing. FX that yours are doing well and you get a good report soon!

thanks everyone!!! It really helps to be able to let this all out with others who understand. I really appreciate each of you taking the time to respond.
@pblge I'm going to scroll back to find the threads you mentioned. Thanks!!

jencity9 · July 2014

I'm so sorry!! (((Hugs)))
I hope the there are more than enough and that your take home baby is one of them!!

StacyLH24 · July 2014

I would also feel discouraged, especially with such a high number that were retrieved. I hope these three do amazingly well!

FWIW my RE is looking for me to have 8-12 follies. He said that of those, we will be lucky if we have any to freeze. On average he says they freeze 1-3 embies. I keep reminding myself that we need quality over quantity. That's what gets us take home babies...quality eggs and quality embies and of course quality sperm. Someone may need to remind me of this next week, depending on how things go

This is such a nervewracking process. To add to it, it costs so much money and so much is out of our control.

Keep taking it one day at a time. Don't lose hope yet. You might have a fighter, or two or three in those embies.

@denbk - I'm sorry that you're in a similar situation

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sweetpotato123 · July 2014

I am so sorry

keeping lots of hope for your embabies. Thinking of you.

Mozzarella13 · July 2014

((Hugs)) I'm so sorry. I've been there with the discouraging fert reports for both of my cycles, and it f@&$ing sucks!! Keep us posted, and fx your take home babies are growing strong as we speak!