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Intro and Question re: First IVF Attempt (*child and losses mentioned)

laurakaz13laurakaz13 member
in Infertility

Hi there. I've been on the Bump for years, but haven't been around much over the past year or two.  My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for 2 years now.  I am 39 years old, DH is 43.  We are very thankful to have our 4 year old daughter who was conceived without any medical help.  Prior to having her, I lost one tube due to an ectopic pregnancy, so we were pretty ecstatic she was conceived after the loss of my tube.  Last year I finally went to an RE and started Clomid.  I miscarried at 8 weeks last Sept.  Then tried for a few more months before deciding to go for IVF. 

As for infertility, I am healthy, on the thinner side, but cut back on the exercise for this attempt to ensure my BMI is not too low.  Per my doc, my infertility has to do with my solo tube and of course Advanced Maternal Age.  Currently I am on day 9 of stims (Bravelle, Menopur and just started Ganirelex yesterday).  My estradiol level has steadily risen, uterus lining is perfect, but yesterday we could only see 5 large follicles (12-14 cm) and maybe 7 or 8 very little ones between both ovaries.   My doc kept me on the same meds for 3 days and I have another ultrasound on Tues.  We were going to do PGD, but now doc says he would only recommend it if we get 4-5 embryos. 

I know things could pick up in there, but I am super concerned about the low # of follicles and lack of success rate in women my age.  I am trying to remain calm, but I am feeling super negative/sad over this whole thing.  I know everyone is different, but has anyone seen or heard success stories from women with only 5 mature follicles?   Is this the type of thing where I just go for it and trust my doc completely?  Any encouragement/advice? 

Off to work, but I will respond later.  xo L

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Re: Intro and Question re: First IVF Attempt (*child and losses mentioned)

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    westiemom22westiemom22 member
    Hi!

    Welcome to the board! I have had two ER. The first, I got 9 eggs and a of them were super poor so we changed protocol to the same you are on and did another ER. The second, we got 8 eggs, 6 fertilized and were good quality for PGS testing. Of those 6, 4 were excellent quality with no chromosomal abnormalities. I have had two FETs and have gotten pregnant both times but due to other issues I have, lost the first at 5.5 weeks and the second at 9.5 weeks. Quantity is way better than quality and I have known several people who don't get many eggs but have successful pregnancies. Best of luck!
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    jnissajnissa member
    (child mentioned)

    I only had five folllies total, retrieved only four eggs and only three fertilized. Dear daughter arrived last November from that cycle :) You only need one. Worrying only adds stress and you don't need that. 

    That said, I always think it's good to have realistic expectations. But quality is more important than quantity for sure. 

    Best of luck to you! 
    Me: 41, DH 38, Diagnosis DOR
    Started TTC 12/2013
    First Trip to RE: 11/2014
    IVF Round 1: 2/2014 - BFP
    DD Born 11/9/2014
    TTC a Sibling Started 5/2015
    First IVF Round 8/15 - BFN
    Taking a break to go on vacation + enjoy the holidays before FET and/or another IVF round in 2016!

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    westiemom22westiemom22 member
    Ooopps- I just Reread my post and I meant quality is better than quantity! I guess I wasn't awake enough yet when I posted this morning.
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    FatPonyFatPony member
    I agree, all it takes is one embryo. Good luck
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    laurakaz13laurakaz13 member
    Thanks, ladies!  Congrats/good luck to you all.  I'm excited to see what more I can learn from this board.  :-)
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
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    hopeful16hopeful16 member
    Hi @laurakaz13 ! You mentioned that you wanted to do PGD - what are looking to test for? Did you mean PGS? I agree with previous comments that quality is better than quantity. With my ER (see details in sig), we had a large number, but we did PGD & PGS testing and only two embryos remained. Although we were disappointed that more embryos did not get cleared, I would do the testing again without question. The embryos that had the PGD gene were concerned about and the embryos with chromosome abnormalities detected in the PGS testing most likely would not have "stuck" or would have ended in (yet another for us) miscarriage. I would research and have a Q & A meeting your doctor to see WHY (s)he wouldn't want your embryos to have PGS (& PGD) testing.
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    "Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it" 
    --Helen Keller 

    4 miscarriages: Nov 2009,  Jan 2011, Sept 2011,  Oct 2012
    IVF Round 1:
    3/4/15: Egg Retrieval
    16 Eggs Retrieved -- 15 Fertilized via ICSI -- 10 Blastocysts Biopsied for PGD & PGS -- 2 (male) Blastocysts Remain for Transfer
    5/13/15: FET -- 5/26/15: BFN
    CANCELLED IVF Round 2.

    Living a happy, child-free life with my best friend.
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    laurakaz13laurakaz13 member

    Hopeful16, I did mean PGS.  Thank you!  My doctor suggests, but does not push PGS for patients over age 38.  I wanted to do it to be on the safe side and ensure we had chromosomally normal embryos.  Well, we decided not to do it since we got so few embryos. 

    I actually had my retrieval last Friday, Apr 24 and they got 6 follicles, all of which contained eggs.  4 of them fertilized and by day 3, two of them were mediocre (5 cell) and two were perfect  8 cell embryos, given top rating by my lab.  We transferred both of the top rated embryos on Monday and let the weaker embryos continue to develop in the lab.  This decision was made b/c I had so few embryos to work with, they didn't want to risk losing them all trying to get to day 5. 

    Well, I got some amazing news today.  One of my 5 cell embryos just reached blastocyst stage today and the other is almost there/still developing.    I'm shocked!  So we have 1, possibly 2 to freeze now. 

    Otherwise, I am in the 2 WW and it's killing me.  I get my beta drawn on May 8th.  Wish me luck.  I'm an avid runner and it's usually my stress release.  Well, I'm not allowed to do that right now, so I'm a ball of nerves. 

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
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