IVF second round

[Starheart345]

Did you do anything differently that resulted in better outcomes for round 2 IVF? (More mature eggs, healthier embryos, pregnancy etc…)

[Lamagarden]

I changed my diet to include more fish and seafood, was veggie before. Took time off to try to get more work life balance.

[haylady]

Hi! I was put on different stimulation drugs for round 2 after round 1 was a complete failure (all 5 fertilised eggs failed to develop normally) and felt better generally. The result was slightly improved - same number of eggs collected but possibly a better quality as one of the 4 that fertilised was transferred on day 3. I’ll find out on Monday if it’s been successful. My first round I was on Ovaleap and ganirelix then the second round I had Buserelin and Menopur. My consultant told me apart from avoiding alcohol my diet (which is pretty healthy anyway) wouldn’t make any difference to the success rate but I think it just makes you feel like you’re doing your best if you can eat what you think is helping. I used the NHS website for food do’s and dont’s. Best of luck to you xx

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi Starheart. Some ladies have low doose soluble aspirin and/or heparin added to the mix to ensure even blood flow to the womnb and lining. Also can prevent clotting. Hope all goes well. Diane

[Savvy_teapot]

I don't know what your situation is but for our 2nd Round different brands of medication. Also waited longer as my eggs needed longer to be more mature and we did get more mature eggs on the 2nd Round. Now on 3rd Round and my partner is taking medications to try and improve sperm. So it depends on any particular issues you face?

[IVFat40]

Hello hun, I made diet and supplement changes, and would really recommend seeing a fertility nutritionist. I also found the book 'It Starts with the Egg' helpful, especially on supplements, it is quite full on though so for me I found I wanted to take it 'with a pinch of salt' and not try to do everything. I took a Nutri-Advanced pregnancy supplement, Omega 3, DHEA (for me I think this really helped as I'm older, but definitely get your levels checked first before taking it), and Ubiquinone. The diet I was put on was essentially high protein and vegetables, low sugar, wheat, and diary, and ideally no alcohol or caffeine (although I'm afraid I cheated quite a lot on the caffeine). I also found that for me Menopur stimulation gave better results. I did also change sperm donor (although of course for most people that won't be an option), but I think it made a difference and it got me thinking how important the sperm side of things is too. All of that said, I also think there's a fair bit of luck/variability from round to round and some are just better than others by chance.

In my first round my big problem had been poor embryo development, I had good egg numbers (11) and fertilization but only one decent blastocyst by day 5. By my 3rd egg collection (when I'd properly implemented the changes) I got 6 blastocysts (one of which is now 24 weeks along).

I know it's much easier said than done, but please don't be too disheartened by a difficult 1st round, it definitely doesn't mean you won't have success this time!

Oh and also it's worth getting your vitamin D levels checked.

[Starheart345]

Thank you all 💖