Looking for fertility hope

[Ew2020]

Hello,

Feeling sad and therefore looking for success stories. I'm 27, husband 31. Husband has severe Oats which is basically very very very low sperm count, so have to have icsi. I've since found out through ivf testing that I have a follicle count of 7. The normal range for my age is 25-30. Only got 2 eggs on first ivf cycle which failed. Only one fertilised and I had a 2 day transfer. I am a 'poor responder to meds'. Have been told we have a 15% chance of success although not sure how that is calculated. Also to top it off I have to loose weight before I can start treatment again because my bmi is 28 point something and they want it to be lower. They said to phone in 3 months. Just looking for a glimmer of hope amongst all you strong ladies. Thanks

[Rollypops]

Hello Ew2020 😁

I'm in a similar position to you at the moment. Me and my husband had round 1 in June (our only cycle on the NHS) which failed. We got 5 eggs out and only 1 poor quality blastocyst, which we transferred anyway.

I was told I hadn't responded to the medication like they had hoped, but the clinic said for our 2nd round, they could learn from this and try me on a stronger protocol next time. We are currently going through cycle 2 now and egg collection is next Monday so will have more of an update then. But I have honestly never heard of a clinic telling you the chances of it working? 🤷🏻‍♀️ surely after your first cycle they can change things for you to taylor it more to what happened in your last cycle? My BMI is 26 and I'm overweight. You don't have much to lose at all, if that's what they asking you to do.

Are you taking any supplements? Don't lose hope!!

X

[Ew2020 in reply to Rollypops]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I have just been taking the basic folic and vitamin D. They have told me to start taking proxeed. So I will order some today. Wasn't told to take anything before but will start very soon. They said they would put me in the short protocol with different meds as the long protocol really didn't do much at all lol. They must have decided to swap because of that.

Good luck with egg collection. I hope you have as many healthy eggs as possible 😍 let me know how you get on!

[Rollypops in reply to Ew2020]

I wasn't told what vitamins to take on the first round either. I've read that CO-Q10 is supposed to be good for egg quality too. So been taking that this round. Not a clue if it will make any difference, but worth a try.

I hope you have a better experience 2nd time round! We all deserve to be parents! 💛

Last cycle I had 225IU of Meriofert and this cycle 375IU. Had a scan this morning to check progress and ovaries are going a bit crazy, so may have to schedule egg collection sooner than Monday Let me know how you get on too! Would love to hear your journey xx

[Ew2020 in reply to Rollypops]

Thanks for the suggestion. Last cycle I was on 375iu of menopur. When I eventually start again they said they might do 225 of menopur and 225 of something else. Did write it down but im not in hope your ovaries are OK but making lots of eggs xx

[Twobaby]

Hey buddy...check out my post on amh can b tackled...it might help u...

[Ew2020 in reply to Twobaby]

Thanks

[EdwardsSarah996]

Me too! Having problems meeting the weight requirement! Plus had blockages removed from my FT only to find out later there is another one!

[Ew2020 in reply to EdwardsSarah996]

It sucks doesn't it. Good luck with everything x

[EdwardsSarah996 in reply to Ew2020]

Thank you. Just trying to lose weight for now. I won't have anything done re blockage until the pandemic is over.

[Hidden]

There is a bit of magic and mystery to fertility,

so don’t lose hope.

Two success stories I have read from personal accounts of the women who experienced them: first woman was in her early 40s and went to a well-regarded IVF clinic for a consultation. Doctor told her that her eggs were such poor quality, she shouldn’t even bother with IVF or fertility treatments. Basically, told her she couldn’t get pregnant. This woman went home, tossed out her ovulation test kits and fertility tracking. Totally stopped thinking about getting pregnant. Lo and behold, she became pregnant NATURALLY. After having her first child, she again got pregnant naturally with her second child. When she wrote about this, she was 43 and expecting her second baby.

The second woman was 40 when she started trying to get pregnant. Her husband was 48. She had an HSG, discovered both tubes were blocked. She also had endometriosis. Doc told her there is no option but IVF. She prepped for IVF and waited for her period to come so she could start the regimen. Well, it didn’t arrive. You guessed it- she got pregnant naturally!! This should have been medically impossible. Doctor was baffled. But, it happened. The woman credits her faith and prayers to God, and positive attitude.

This also goes the other way. Women can have perfect eggs and great hormone levels, and not get pregnant. My best friend went through this.

Everything should have been fine- but she had failed IVF after failed IVF. Heartbreaking. But now, she is doing well in her life. I can see hope for her still.

I also know a woman whose husband had low sperm count, and after some failed attempts, she got pregnant with twin boys through IVF. They have a lovely family today with their boys.

For me, at 41, it’s a glass-half-full scenario. There is no accurate formula to perfectly predict fertility chances. So I may as well keep a humbly positive attitude (which means feeling all the anger and frustration when it comes, too! No toxic positivity intended! I’m so against that). I wish you sincerely all the best, and I hope your dreams come true. Baby dust!!!

[Ew2020 in reply to Hidden]

Aww thank you so much for your response. 🤞 For us both xx

[LauraEW]

Hi there. There is hope out there! I found it all very overwhelming throughout our journey. My OH also has very low sperm count and high DNA fragmentation. We decided to see a urologist and nutritionist (both specialising in infertility) before starting our 3rd ICSI round. I have found them both immensely helpful and wished I had self refereed to them years ago! They really brought our hope back and showed us that there is a lot we can do to tip the odds in our favor. My advise would be to take control and be your own advocate, research and push for what you need. Best of luck xx

[MAPB]

All I can say is your are not alone. I’m a few days away from my 40th birthday and a pregnancy test following our 3rd transfer and I have had a few dark days lately. It’s hard to believe after so many failed tests that it will ever say anything different. My clinic has a box where ppl can leave notes for each other and I saw one in there the other day that said not to lose hope, as they had their little boy after 5 attempts xxx