Dear all,
With a broken heart, our second cycle finished with a confirmed negative.
First cycle: 14 eggs, no blastocyst, no transfer
Second cycle: 13 eggs, one blastocyst (2AB), BFN
The only thing keeping me going is a third cycle booked for October. Has anyone been in a similar situation (poor embryo development) and had success after multiple cycles?
I really need some positivity now.
Thank you so much to everyone for all your support.
xx
I’m so sorry you have had a bfn. Take some time to look after yourself and come to terms with it.
I don’t have medical evidence per se but I do know friends including my sister whose rounds got better and better each time. It was like their body gradually learnt what it was supposed to do. I also know a few friends who found royal jelly really helped.
Have you switched protocol? That made a big difference for me.
Sending you hugs xx
Thank you so much.
I am moving to a different clinic, they are giving me just Gonal (not Menopur) as they said I was on too much medication. No idea if a more natural cycle will work...
Such a nightmare 
x
Hi! I too need some positivity as we try to start round 3, tomorrow is baseline scan, hopefully no surprises will pop out to delay us! Our first round we had 3 eggs, one early blast, BFN. 2nd round we had 6 mature eggs (out of 11 collected), 2 fertilised, 1 made it to 5day blast, BFN. So we’re definitely not hitting any high notes with any stage of our ivf icsi journey. It’s all been incredibly disappointing so far 😒. Like many others on this forum each round we learn more about what isn’t working and tweak accordingly. That’s all we can do I think. Sometimes it is a numbers game. So on I plough again hoping for the best!! 🤞 3rd times a charm!
I’m sorry you’ve had 2 rubbish rounds, it really hurts especially when you read stories on here about all the eggs and frozen embryos others seem to have. What is the saying - comparison is the death of joy? Anyway enough of the silly sayings. Take the time to look after yourself before the next cycle both physically and emotionally. And we’re all here to help pick each other up when someone’s feeling low. Xx
Thanks so much for sharing your story - we are basically in the same position!
Can I ask what the doctor is doing differently this round? I am changing clinics, but the process and protocol seems to be fairly similar.
I know exactly what you mean. I am in awe when I see other people get 7 frozen embryos in one cycle, and then I can't even get one (especially considering I was 35 when I started). I just don't understand why this is happening to me
Your strength for a third round gives me strength! Sending positivity and love your way! xx
Thanks! Gosh knows we need all the strength and luck we can get.
I’ve changed drugs from bemfola to final f to menopur. And increased dosages along the way too. And this round the doc is considering a double trigger. Also for 2nd and this 3rd round we’re holding out for follicles to get to 22mm size rather than the standard 17mm, a bit like CAS2 here. I changed clinics for this 3rd round too. We also did dna fragmentation testing a few weeks back as we have male factor morphology and varicocele issues, results came back within normal range so we weren’t sent back to the urologist again.
What’s your fertilisation rate like? We’ve had both fertilisation and development issues.
I was actually on Gonal F and Menopur at the beginning...high, high doses, even though I have a high AMH. Bizarre.
I just have no idea what is wrong - that's what drives me insane. All I know is that I have a low maturation rate (50% of eggs are immature) and that my partner's sperm has 40% fragmentation.
Some doctors say I need far more drugs (growth hormone etc) whilst others day I need a lower dose. How am I supposed to know what to do? It's a nightmare!
We have almost 100% fertilisation, just very poor embryo development from Day 3....
I love your saying "comparison is the death of joy" - I will try and keep that in my head when I see hundreds of pregnant women at the hospital clinic (arraaaggghhhhh!!).
Wishing you luck, love and strength during your third cycle. You can do it!! xxxxx
It took us 3 rounds. On the third my consultant realised I needed massive follicles to produce mature eggs. I was getting follicles but the smaller ones were no good. Fast forward to a huge dose of Menopur and 12 days stims and a longer trigger shot and we had a much better round, and even got ones to freeze (never thought that would happen). Thought it might be worth mentioning as it seems you can get the eggs numbers but not the maturity too like me xx
Thank you so much, that really helps me. I was on huge doses of Menopur and they delayed the trigger to 38 hours, but still low maturity.
Do you know what time they pulled the trigger for you? x
I haven’t Hun but I’m so sorry to hear your situation . Really pleased that you have amazing response to stims that’s brilliant , even though doesn’t make it any easier I know. But at least you know that there’s an issue to identity and can modify your next cycle to get you your BFP. Take time for yourself, I know easier said than done just try to enjoy yourself between cycles and be kind to yourself. You’re doing brilliantly xxx
Thank you, I will try. At the moment it feels like my world has collapsed.... x
Really sorry to hear this Anna_88. We started our IVF journey with 5 viable embryos so a little different to you but we lost every one of them over three rounds before they concluded 'implantation failure' and sent me for more tests. They explained that, like with miscarriages, they need a pattern of results/behaviour before they can be sure of what needs to change/happen. I think the hardest thing about that is that IVF seems like the 'answer' when naturally conceiving fails, but it isn't a guarantee
To remain positive though - your second round is progress on your first and there's no reason to think those improvements won't continue in a third cycle. In the short break ahead of my 'further tests' I fell pregnant naturally - a complete shock but almost like all those drugs had taught my body something. In some way/some how, your body will be learning too, so I keep everything crossed for you! Xxx
Thank you so much for your kind message. Congratulations on your pregnancy; delighted for you xx
Sadly we can't try naturally because I have one tube and my partner has retrograde ejaculation, but still praying for an IVI miracle! xx
I don’t have a success story for round 3, but I have one for round 5. Everyone is different I think and I continually doubted it would ever happen for me, but as much as I doubted, I wasn’t able to not keep trying and I’m glad I did. I have a little boy who is two now. I then went on to have a FET as I did have two Frosties left, that failed. Fast forward to another fresh cycle of round 7 and I’m currently pregnant again, only four and none worth freezing, in fact my consultants face on transfer made me think that this was a complete waste of time, as he said “we can only try”. So I’m actually shocked it has worked. Most people do look at me and think “shit I don’t want do have to do it 5 times” I bloody felt the same when I first started and read peoples posts, some ladies have had far worse than me, I have so much admiration for them. Hope this helps.
Thanks so much, I really appreciate it - what a beautiful story of strength and resilience! Thank you for giving me the inspiration to keep going. It is so tough...
Congratulations on your pregnancy xxxx
Hi Anna, I’m sorry to hear this. I don’t have a success story (yet!) but did make progress on our 3rd round and currently in the 2ww🤞Our first round was a complete bust with 8 retrieved / 5 fertilized / none progressed past Day 3. Given that we thought egg quality so took a whole bunch of supplements. This helped Round 2, where we also changed to gonal (my body liked this much better), and a higher dose. We got 16 eggs / 15 fertilized / 1 to 5d blast and transfer - BFN. Our consultant thought the attrition post day 3 was higher than expected and suggested the Comet test for DNA fragmentation. So we did that and it came out elevated and we went for supplements for my husband plus IMSI in Round 3. My husband had a completely normal original
Semen analysis but it seems this can happen, where the usual parameters they look at are fine, but there is fragmentation which inhibits development. We had 21 retrieved / 19 mature / 14 fertilized and 4 made to blast. 2 on board now, and 1 frozen which was really exciting for us as we’ve never had this before. So we’ll see how it goes but slowly progressing forward and feeling more optimistic. If it hasn’t been done already I think the comet test is worthwhile as it helped explain our post Day 3 arrested development and poorer blastocyst quality. Wishing you all the best xx
Thank you so much for your message, it means a lot xx
I really hope this is your success story!
Can I ask what you were given on the first round? I was on Gonal and Menopur and some of the doctors have said I should never have been given Menopur because I have a good reserve of eggs.
That is really interesting about the fragmentation because my partner has 40% fragmentation! Can I ask what the percentage is for your husband as I am not sure what counts as an "elevated level"? I am so distressed about it that I am thinking about sperm donors, but we really don't want to go down that round yet...
Can I also ask what protocol you were on for the third round that made a difference?
One thing that really confuses me: the embryologist told me if you do ICSI, then fragmentation doesn't matter (they just don't use fragmented sperm) so it shouldn't be an issue - is this correct? It doesn't make sense to me...
Thanks again for sharing your story and praying this is your cycle!! xx
Hi Anna, thanks for your well wishes! We have everything crossed 🤞
On the first round, I had Menopur and then subsequently switched to Gonal only for the other rounds. Not sure what the rationale was for Menopur but in reading about it after my cycle I was questioning whether my body needed the LH in Menopur (as Gonal doesn’t have), and whether my body would prefer the synthetic hormone in Gonal vs Menopur which is purified from the urine of post-menopausal women. I’d read some perspectives that Post-menopausal LH a was more “potent” and since I have PCO this could actually be detrimental to quality. So had my consultant not suggested Gonal I would definitely have pushed for it for Round 2.
For fragmentation, we did the COMET test and I realize each test has it’s own ranges. He was 38% for total fragmentation and 9% of sample was considered highly fragmented. Based on the report we received and feedback from our consultant anything >30% was considered high and a candidate for ICSI. The report explanation and “fertile range” was a bit lower but I guess different interpretations.
I did a lot of reading on different methods and there are a number of studies but really difficult to draw conclusions as different fragmentation tests are used, different IVF methods (like ICSI, IMSI, PICSI, MACS etc). However based on what my clinic offered (ICSI and IMSI) and what I read, we opted for IMSI to help. Basically what I gathered was there is a correlation between sperm vacuoles (and other morphological features) which you can only see at high magnification, and sperm fragmentation. So I wasn’t convinced ICSI itself would make a huge difference (as my husband’s sperm sample otherwise looks normal in the baseline tests) - although maybe it would have. But we decided to go straight to IMSI to select the sperm.
For me, we didn’t make changes to the stims protocol because our consultant thought that it was good on the second round in terms of number of eggs. I added a few more supplements but not sure they had a significant difference beyond what I’d done for round 2. Where we made changes was adding progesterone IM injections since I bled before OTD, and Clexane (as no downside other than cost).
Hope this is helpful and best of luck with your future cycles xx
So sorry Anna it’s hard isn’t it and it doesn’t get easier. I haven’t had success but all I would say is don’t assume your next cycle won’t be successful or the same as ur previous one. We had a more successful third fresh round which resulted in more eggs & some to freeze this round which was the frozen one we got a positive first time ever and although it ended up being a chemical this was the furthest we had got and I am 42 so keep hoping my boyfriend keeps saying the chances must increase the more cycles you have and I have heard of people being lucky on subsequent rounds it is all down to luck. As soon as you start ur cycle ur positivity will return. Take care xx
Thank you so much, Coral. I just read your post, and I feel your heartbreak. It is so distressing. I have also heard that some people need 5, 6, or 7 cycles - so we must be strong and continue. I know the end result will be worth it. Sending love and strength xx
Yes we must try and be strong and am sure once we decide our next steps we may feel brighter and more positive take care xx
I haven’t sorry but just want to lend an ear and some support. Thinking of you xxx
Thank you so much. I hope you are the little one is doing well 
xxxx
I don't have any success story but I just wanted to say good luck, I am also going for my 3rd try in October but not here but in India. Wish you all the best. xxx
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