First cycle. Ahh - what now? Eggs collected - one fertilised

[luthien]

So I had my egg collection yesterday, they retrieved three eggs. Had a call today to say one has fertilised, they'll call again on Thursday.

We're hoping this one does well however we know the odds, and then have to actually implant. This is a fresh cycle so should be Saturday, but no one knows yet.

Just planning for the future; should we discuss change the stims so that we get more eggs? I had no side effects from the Ovaleap 375, is there something stronger?

I'm 37 so age isn't on our side, this is our first cycle. I'm guessing more eggs as soon as possible would be better?

Sperm quality is all good, fresh sample yesterday, also have frozen stored.

[Pnw2020]

Hi. Hopefully that will be the lucky egg but if not they do sometimes use higher doses. I had 450 Gonal F and also Meriofert 450.

Sometimes stronger doses don't work but also the first cycle can be a bit of a trial.

Do you have low AMH / AFC? Are you NHS or private?

[luthien in reply to Pnw2020]

Thanks for your reply

My AMH was 4.6 I think, in May.

AFC - I'm not sure. Would it be good to get that checked? How do I go about it? I'm not sure if they've already done it and I just forgot.

It's all private.

[Pnw2020 in reply to luthien]

Hi. AFC is checked during the baseline scan and subsequent scans during the IVF cycle. Not all follicles will respond to stimulation but it can give useful information. There's been a few threads on here lately about DHEA for low AMH. Might be worth reading those in case you need to cycle again. Good luck x

[luthien in reply to Pnw2020]

Good point, I hadn't heard of DHEA, is it a supplement that needs to be prescribed or can we just take it?

I'm sure AFC would have probably been done and I've just forgotten.

[Pnw2020 in reply to luthien]

healthunlocked.com/fertilit...

[Hidden]

It only takes one so crossing my fingers for you! But also totally get why you are a little nervous!

You will have a review appointment after this round and it may be they change your protocol. I was put on long protocol (because of my age) for my first round and got 3 eggs and 2 fertilised. I was then moved to short protocol for my second round and got 13 eggs and 7 fertilised!

Easy for me to say but try not to panic too much. The first round is so often a learning round and your clinic will have learnt so much and there are loads of things they can mix up.

Good luck xx

[luthien in reply to Hidden]

Thanks, glad you understand!

Mine was like a super long protocol; my body just didn't respond to down reg drugs and did it's own thing, so was at that point for 6 weeks, then had a period (they spotted a follicle and induced ovulation), then started stims. Would that have changed the number of eggs do you think?

Looks like for you a short protocol worked better. I think they're planning to do that with me next.

Glad they can adjust; I was worried it was like 3 each cycle is the max and one one each time that fertilised, felt like after about 8 weeks of all those drugs that's all we have. I'm guessing 8 weeks for all the drugs for one cycle isn't normal either.

[Infragilis in reply to Hidden]

Hi Daisy, can I ask what a short protocol consists of? I've had 6 cycles and still no doctor has ever explained a short or long protocol.

[Sparklylife in reply to Infragilis]

Short - antagonist- protocol - usually last around 2 weeks. You start on the day you have a full bleed. You start by taking a drug to stimulate your ovaries to produce more eggs. Then usually around day 5/6 you add in a drug to prevent early ovulation (suppress LH surge I believe). Once follicles look ready on uss you take a trigger HCG injection that start the maturation process and ovulation - you then have egg collection around 36 hours after this.

Long - agonist- protocol - can last between 4-6 weeks I believe. It starts on day 21 of your cycle and you start down regulation to suppress the hormones produced during your natural cycle - to prevent ovulation. I believe you will have a bleed and monitor uss to check it is working and your hormones are “switched” off. Then they will start stimulation drugs to stimulate the ovaries to produce more eggs. And again you will have a trigger HCG once they are ready and can do egg collection.

I am no expert and perhaps Daisy can explain it better 🥰😇 I just recall what I read prior to us starting IVF. I have only had the short cycle myself (perhaps due to my age). I do not know really what helps them decide on which protocol to try.

But perhaps speak to your clinic about it. I wish you all the best! Xx

[Infragilis in reply to Sparklylife]

Thank you so much for explaining. It seems like I have always had a short protocol then. I'm 37 and have low amh and only ever have 1-3 follicles so was wondering whether I could change to short as it seems like ladies had better results however it seems I'm already on the short protocol. I tried PRP last month and did a cycle afterwards but still got the same results of two follicles. I changed clinics and had a different medication protocol but just got the two. I'm on the tww atm as we transferred two embryos however this is my fourth transfer so not feeling too optimistic and like to have a plan if it doesn't work yet again!

[Sparklylife in reply to Infragilis]

Oh I am hoping your embryo(s) stick for you!! Baby dust to you and hopefully this is it! It is not always quantity that makes it”work” or “not work”. But perhaps rather quality of your embryos, so I would say you have every chance still - one of these or perhaps even both might be the one(s)! Of course other factors perhaps of why implantation fails - but I do not know much about that I am afraid. But if you find this transfer was not the one for you - always worth discussing with your clinic at your review appointment. The different protocols or perhaps ask re implantation. Enough progesterone? Inflammatory causes or clotting factors perhaps.

Wishing you all the best!! 🧡

[Infragilis in reply to Sparklylife]

Thank you very much .. I hope it is the one as it is seeming never ending. I had a hysteroscopy in May and they didn't find anything other than a few fibroids and a polyp. I did a lot of tests this time round for immunology etc and they have me on daily blood thinner injections and pills and I took antibiotics before the cycle aswell so hopefully all this helps. I asked about an ERA but they didn't seem to believe in it. Will see how this goes and if it doesn't work I will discuss other approaches with them. I believe if something doesn't work you should change it and try different things but my previous clinic just kept me on the same protocol and that's why we changed this time round. We will know in a week if it has worked 🤞 thanks so much for your replies and help

[Sparklylife in reply to Infragilis]

I agree - hopefully that has made all the difference for you! Got everything crossed for you!!

[minnesota_girl]

Hi there, this also happened to me on long protocol, only one embryo and sadly it arrested on day 3.

I'd ask about a short protocol unless you have endometriosis they often recommend against long for older women now. My second clinic who were surprised that my first clinic tried a long for my second stims likened it to starting a car from a dead battery!

I went back to short and had a much better response!

🤞For your little embryo. It does take just one so I hope for you it all works 💗💗

[luthien in reply to minnesota_girl]

Thanks

I have endometriosis, my endometriosis specialist excised as much as possible back in January, then did a full fertility check, so drained an ovarian cyst, checked for fibrioids, lining of uterus, ovaries and tubes. All good.

My fertility specialist at the clinic also specialises in endometriosis, so perhaps my next cycle will be slightly tailored.

That's an interesting analogy, makes sense though.

[minnesota_girl in reply to luthien]

I'm 42 so I'm a lot older also! I wish you all the best xx

[Hidden]

Hi! Don't be disappointed my first cycle was like a trial for my body. Had 6 eggs collected 3 fertilised and none made it to day 5. On my 2nd cycle I did Ovaleap stims too...200iu lowered to 150iu after 5 days. Had 15 eggs, 12 fertilised and 2 frozen. My nurse said is about how your body reacts to the stims. Changing the stims sometimes makes a big difference. For me it did. Fingers crossed your little embryo makes it to day 5!!!!!

[luthien in reply to Hidden]

Thanks

Good to know that tweaking things does get different results! I was worried I'd have to stick with my rubbish stats.

[Sparklylife]

I don’t really have much advice - but they may perhaps do a day 3 transfer for you if your embryo is looking ok? Rather than wait till day 5 - sometimes I have read on here that clinics prefer it back in the body where it belongs to develop and hopefully implant - especially if you don’t have a choice of embryos. I just wanted to wish you all the best!! And hoping this little embryo is the one for you! 🧡

[luthien in reply to Sparklylife]

Our clinic prefers day 5 as they say that's the time it would be reaching the uterus, also statistics show it's more likely to survive in the body as it's more stable at day 5. so we shall see.

[Hopecontinues in reply to Sparklylife]

This is true. I've turned up to the clinic day 2 for a scan to see how the internal bleeding is and as it was better they have transferred the 2 embryos. Better in the body they said.

[Positivechangeplease]

Yeah if your AMH is good then it might be an idea to encourage more eggs. I was on a high dose for my egg collection when I was 39. They said my ovaries actually looked a lot younger behaved more like 35 but they’d keep me on the high dose and monitor it. They only took from one ovary in the end but both produced a lot and they got 10 eggs. That gave me much better odds and ended with 3 good 5 day blastocysts

[luthien in reply to Positivechangeplease]

That's good glad they can change dosing and it works for you x

[Hopecontinues]

Hi Luthien,

My doctor says "you don't want loads of eggs - you want good eggs". The strongest ones survive, so don't give up hope. My first round I had 19 eggs and only one fertilised. I was gutted, but it made it to day 5, so keep the faith.

Like everyone says here, you can change your protocol if you need to. We're all different and until you try you don't know how you'll respond.

Good luck. I really hope your little one makes it.

I had my egg collection on the same day as you, so in the same boat - waiting to see how my 2 fertilised ones do. 🤞

[luthien in reply to Hopecontinues]

Ah, hope all goes well with yours x

[Coles2020]

Just want to good luck for tomorrow and hope that egg has turned into a healthy blastocyst ready for transfer xxx

[luthien in reply to Coles2020]

Thanks

[Loveheart6]

Hi I just wanted to share that I had 9 eggs collected but only one fertilised the next day. My partner was always told his spent is very good but it turns out they don’t actually test for binding issues and it was hard for them to pierce into the egg so left with just one. Wow how worrying that time was but against the odds that little one made it and was transferred… again, against the odds it implanted and I’m now 10weeks pregnant. Someone had always got to be in that successful % so don’t rule it out just yet. Wishing you so much luck and be thinking of you .

[luthien in reply to Loveheart6]

thanks yay!

[Pittapatta]

Goodluck luthien, I hope you great great news Saturday. It only takes one!!