Anyone had more blastocysts on the second fresh IVF cycle

[Francezc]

Has anyone had better results from a second fresh cycle? I'm about to start my second fresh transfer and hoping for more blastocysts than last time ? Last time I had 13 fertilised and only two made it to day 5? I would love to hear your stories 😃

[Libsie3103]

Hey Hun, every cycle can be totally different! 1st egg collection - 3 blastocysts, 2nd egg collection - zero fertilisation, 3rd egg collection - 3 blastocysts and 4th egg collection - 4 blastocysts! It's impossible to know what made the difference on the last cycle. Fingers crossed for you though! xx

[Francezc in reply to Libsie3103]

Ah thank you libsie much appreciated, I'm so nervous and just praying to have a better outcome 😊

[Libsie3103 in reply to Francezc]

It’s such a nerve racking time! One thing I did last time was drink a pint of full fat milk a day and up my “good” fats (avocados, olive oil) etc and also more protein. No idea if it made a difference but it helped me think I was doing things that could help! I know we’re all focussed on numbers but remember you just need that one golden egg xx

[Francezc in reply to Libsie3103]

I might try that libsie thank you so much I have just bought banana protein as I never have much protein intake 😄 thank you lovely x

[Lapinblanc88]

Had 2 with my first cycle and 4 the second one ( meds were different and the dose almost double) +growth hormones

[Francezc in reply to Lapinblanc88]

Thank you so much for your story lovely I'm so grateful xx

[Hidden in reply to Francezc]

Pretty rubbish 1st round then 2nd round got 2 x blastocysts and last round pretty rubbish. I did cut out all caffeine for 2nd round and ate dried apricots 😁😁😁

[Olivialinney]

My first icsi 9 eggs 1empty 8 fertilised 2 blasts (both implanted)

Second icsi 11 eggs all fertilised 4 blasts

(2 implanted 2 frozen)

Third icsi. 13 eggs all fertilised 2 blasts

Fourth icsi 20 eggs 19 fertilised 8 blasts but only 4 frozen

I never had more than 4 to freeze although I was getting decent numbers and good fertilisation Hope this helps x

[Francezc in reply to Olivialinney]

That's great Olivia they sound like amazing numbers 🙂 I'm praying to have more without sounding greedy as it's my last NHS go xx

[Infertilemyrtle]

Hey I had weirdly same number of eggs and blasts during two fresh cycles a year apart. In my second IVF cycle the embryo grading/ quality was so much better, even though I was a year older. I really changed up my diet for second cycle and as someone commented above I downefld a lot of milk every day! My friend went to one of the London clinics with a high success rate and said this is what they recommend. I don't think there is much science to back it up, so who knows whether that is what is was that improved egg quality but I wanted to try it and now we are 12 wks pregnant from the second fresh IVF. Either way definitely a believer you can get better results the second time around x

[Hidden in reply to Infertilemyrtle]

Hi thats such a great success story. Can i ask when you drank the milk in your cycle xxx

[Infertilemyrtle in reply to Hidden]

Hello! I believe it was from when we first started the withdrawal meds (which I was on for ten days) and then straight all the way through stimming and up to egg collection. I also changed up my diet in line with all recommendations but to be honest I was better but not that good the second time around so again not sure if the milk helped but it was a big part of what I actually did change. The other thing I did radically change was eating sugar. I found a research paper that had done some testing on monkeys that found IVF success rates vastly improved if sugar was lowered. I have such a sweet tooth so really cut that out too x

[Francezc in reply to Infertilemyrtle]

Ah congratulations lovely that's absolutely amazing news , I have heard that and will try that , I have bought protein and I am going to put it with milk everyday as I am aware my protein intake is low. Thank you xxx

[Infertilemyrtle in reply to Francezc]

Sounds great and good luck to you! Fingers crossed the second cycle is your round! XX

[IVFat40]

I've found each round has got better 😊

First round 1 good blastocyst , Second round 3 blastocysts (but only 1 good enough for freezing), third round 6 blastocysts all good to freeze! I was 40 for all three egg collections, about to start FETs soon.

I took DHEA, Ubiquinol and a good pregnancy multi-vitamin, increased protein in my diet as well as vegetables, cut back (not out) caffeine, sugar and wheat, and changed my protocol to Menopur. It's hard to know what made the difference, or maybe it was a combination.

Wishing you the very best of luck.

[Francezc in reply to IVFat40]

That's fab thank you so much for taking the time to message back I love hearing everyone's stories . I'm going to take on board everything and pray for more than two blastocysts xxx

[leah30]

Hi Francezc

Our second much better results , same long protocol. 1st cycle I had 8 removed 5 fertilised 2 were viable . = 1 little boy who’s 3.5 years

2nd cycle 11 removed 8 fertilised 4 in the freezer our fresh transfer failed last week same our 1st fresh cycle . Soooo chuffed that we have 4 more try’s this tine x good luck

[Francezc in reply to leah30]

Leah I'm so sorry to hear it failed but it's so amazing you have all them frosties to try I have everything crossed for you . This protocol I'm on is much shorter than the last so not sure how I feel about it but we will see . All the best lovely xx

[leah30]

And to you Hun my fingers are crossed x when do you start x

[Francezc in reply to leah30]

Aiming for egg collection the 19th 😚 thanks Hun goodluck xx

[Hidden]

Hi, this sounds very similar to me. I had 14 eggs collected on my first cycle 2 years ago. 8 fertilised and i got 2 blasts. Both BFN

This time 7 eggs, 6 fertilised and 4 blasts !

I think its quality over quantity.. currently in 2ww and praying this one sticks!

[Francezc in reply to Hidden]

That's fantastic lovely I have everything crossed for you this time ❤️ and four blastocysts is amazing xx

[Hidden]

Aaah thankyou. good luck to you, pray you have a succesful cycle and a beautiful BFP at the end of it x

[Isla2019]

Hi Francezc,

Yes, i had very different results:

1st cycle (aged 39 last year) ICSI cycle collected 4 eggs, 1 blast - fresh transfer BFN.

2nd cycle (aged 40 this year) ICSI cycle collected 20 eggs, 7 blasts frozen (no fresh transfer due to risk of OHSS) so I'm awaiting FET next month.

I did make a few changes and the second time round.

- Doctor increased my stimms dose and changed medication.

- Supplements - took 300mg Ubiquinol, High strength Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Folate, Myoinositol (regularly for about 6 months) and did take vit C and alpha lipoic acid on occasion too, but not regularly. Husband also took 100mg ubiquinol and impryl.

- Reduced stress- i think this really helped.

This second cycle I didnt change my diet, I exercise regularly anyway, but allowed myself to eat well, but did have things that i want as well as it was a an added pressure for me to think about that as well.

So yes i think each cycle can be different. Good luck for your next cycle! xx

[Francezc in reply to Isla2019]

Thanks Isla that gives me hope , hope everything has gone well for you . I excercise alot and was thinking of maybe cutting back but I don't know there's always that question of what if. Thank you so much lovely 💕

[Isla2019]

Glad I could help somehow. I haven't had a bfp yet, but feel very very lucky to have some good blasts in the freezer.

I stopped going to the gym after about 5 days of stimming. Mainly because I started to feel really bloated and uncomfortable, and thought it best to be safe. I didn't go back until about a week after egg collection, but again I was still really uncomfortable for 3-4 days after collection and even then didn't do any HITT stuff straight away for another few days. So you have to see how your body feels I guess as each person is different :))

Good luck with the cycle! x

[MissLoubylou]

Hi there I had 12 on my first go only 3 made it to blastocyst.....second round I had 11 and 6 made it to blastocyst - my main change was to give up caffeine, reduce BPA's i.e. chemicals from plastics and to drink loads of filtered water...I take a high vit D dose, folic acid, vit C and zinc and Q10 coenzyme......unfortunately first implant didnt work but at least we have another 4 to try!

[Haf05]

Yes - though not sure what made the difference.

We have unexplained fertility, though my husband has slightly elevated DNA sperm fragmentation.

Out first cycle had to be cancelled because i had one lead follicle that was racing ahead.

For our second cycle they adjusted the dose for the stims, and I had 11 eggs collected, 10 were mature but only 3 fertilised. We had one 7 day blastocyst which didn't thaw particularly well, though well enough for a FET, and unsurprisingly didn't stick.

Between our second and third cycle I took supplements (pre-conception multi-vitamins, Omega 3, Vit D and Coq-10) as did my husband (multi-vitamins, Zinc and Vit D). I also took chinese herbs, though frankly pretty haphazardly.

On our third cycle using IMSI (at a different clinic and different stims) I had 19 eggs collected, 15 were mature, 13 fertilised (!) and we got 7 blastocysts (4 day 5s, and 3 day 6s) which are currently being PGS tested. I am tearing my hair out waiting for the results 🤪

As I say difficult to know what made the difference - whether it was the IMSI or lifestyle changes or a combination of both - or just luck!

But with every cycle they have a little more information to work on.

Good luck with your second cycle!