Only 2 follicles halfway scan 😭😭😭

[Joeysjourney]

The roller coaster of Ivf continues! I've just had my halfway scan and I've only 2 follicles responding. I've always had about 11 at this stage and i had 7 follicles at my baseline last week.

My stims have been slightly reduced this time but not by enough to get that result! I know each cycle is different but that's a heck of a drop. I'm worried my age has had an impact but didn't think it would drop that much within a year?

Anyone any success stories with such a low response? It's just a bit of a shock!

[JA-fnuk Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Still early in your treatment - half way still time for a couple more to grow . As you say each cycle can be and frequently is entirely different from the one before ! Hoping this is your time

Thinking of you

Janet

[Joeysjourney in reply to JA-fnuk]

Thanks Janet x

[Skittles11]

Hi Joey

In my experience the cycles can vary quite significantly and it is not necessarily age related. Just sometimes our body's respond differently from one month to the next. It does not say anything about the quality of the eggs, sometimes less is more if that makes sense. How many stim days have you done so far? X

[Joeysjourney in reply to Skittles11]

I'm on day 6 babe. Just such a difference from my previous cycles and I really feel like this might be my last try so I'm panicking x

[Skittles11 in reply to Joeysjourney]

What size were the big ones compared to the small ones? X

[Joeysjourney in reply to Skittles11]

Well there was only one in each ovary and I think it was about medium sized, can't remember her telling me the actual size as I was all annoyed about it at that point. Xx

[Skittles11 in reply to Joeysjourney]

I think day 6 is actually quite early. I've just looked back at some of my scans at day 5 where not a lot was happening but come day 10 things had started to progress a bit more. Some cycles can also just take a bit longer stimming which is totally okay xx

[Joeysjourney in reply to Skittles11]

Thanks a lot for the reassurance and checking your scans. I'll just have to wait and see what the next few days bring. At day 5 last time I'd 11 so wasn't expecting those results today! Nothing is ever predictable in ivf!

[Joeysjourney in reply to Skittles11]

And you're totally right re less is more and I've been saying I wanted to do milder so that I didn't over stimulate again. It's funny that when faced with a smaller yield I start to panic even though I know that's part and parcel of a milder protocol. Hope that makes sense x

[Skittles11 in reply to Joeysjourney]

Yes the panic is very real. Just see how you go and if things develop, you can always cancel and try another month if you feel that things aren't going as you would like. Good luck x

[Hidden]

Hi, day 6 is still early. Anything can happen towards your final 2 scans plus at your next scan they can increase the dose. You also raise any concerns you have.

[Joeysjourney in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for the reply! I guess my worry is I'm comparing it to where I was at during the same stage in my last two cycles. Hard not to compare isn't it? There's always a worry x

[AuroraXen]

I don't have a good outcome to share, but I did have the same worry - I had 1 year between my 2nd and 3rd fresh cycles, and my follicles on that 3rd round had dropped so much, only had 2 doing anything at all on Day 9 or so, and although 3 small ones caught up later and yielded eggs, they were too small to be mature. The clinic said oh, yep, it's your age, best go ahead with collection. Well we did, and managed to get one day 5 blast (BFN sadly). But the point is, on my 4th cycle, I had more follicles than on any of the previous 3, much better, and with only a couple of changes. So my advice is obviously to see how this cycle goes, but don't panic too much that it's age-related, as I genuinely think we just get shitty cycles sometimes (as if it isn't all shit enough!!) And day 6 definitely is still early xx

[Joeysjourney in reply to AuroraXen]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Yes sometimes the cycles just go wonky don't they? I've just never had an issue recruiting eggs so wasn't expecting that today. Hard not to focus on numbers but if this cycle looks like it's tanking I might bail and try again another month? Not sure, will have to see what the next few days bring.

My worry is that the eggs we are collecting have developed from December and that's when I had my last fet and all those drugs in my system? So I'm paranoid now that it's causing the problem. Maybe that's stupid to think Xx