13 eggs - 0 fertilisation with ICSI 😔

[Elsidee11]

Round two…over, just like that. Any similar experiences? What investigations did you do next and how did you turn it around? Clinic will monitor 4 eggs 1 more day incase of miracle, but not looking likely as eggs are ‘grainy’? 😔

I have endometriosis, only 4 eggs of the 13 were mature and husbands sperm was showing as ‘normal’ at time of collection.

Thank you xxxx

[TopGuntastic]

I’m so sorry 😢 Sending you a hug 💗

[Elsidee11 in reply to TopGuntastic]

thank you ❤️

[Chantysal]

so sorry to hear this. Iv bad canceled cycles too and its a huge disappointment after so much hard work. But remember each cycle is different and i hope your next week will be the one 😘 sending u hugs

[Elsidee11 in reply to Chantysal]

thank you, will keep positive x

[JA-fnuk Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Thinking of you and sending a big hug

Take care of yourself

Janet

[Elsidee11 in reply to JA-fnuk]

thank you x

[Seren0119]

immature eggs can’t be fertilised (or very rarely). The question for your doctor is why you have so many immature eggs, this is down to their protocol. You need maybe long protocol with delayed trigger. I had a huge issue with immature eggs that was corrected with the right medication x

[Elsidee11 in reply to Seren0119]

thank you Seren, I just read your journey. ❤️ very inspiring. Do you mind me asking how your corrected the immature eggs? And what medication did you use? X

[Seren0119 in reply to Elsidee11]

Immature eggs are not helped with short protocol - perhaps ask your doctor for the long protocol (Meriofert, growth hormone) and a delayed trigger x

[Elsidee11 in reply to Seren0119]

thank you seren, I did long protocol this time but I will ask about metiofert and delayed trigger xx

[Elsidee11 in reply to Seren0119]

I’ve just started my 3rd cycle with a long protocol and Meriofort as recommended by my new clinic - praying for a better outcome. Thanks for the advice xx

[HedgehogMad]

Oh lovely I'm so sorry to hear this 💔 hope you are doing okayMy advice would be to write down any questions as they come along so you can ask at your follow up appointment. Worth asking for more detail about the egg quality, and also their thoughts on the protocol

Sending lots of love xxx

[Elsidee11 in reply to HedgehogMad]

thank you 💔 will wait for follow up now ❤️ and plan what’s next. We go self funded now so think I will change clinics as they are so far from us x

[HedgehogMad in reply to Elsidee11]

Thinking of you ♥️ make sure to ask for copies of all your results including egg/sperm quality and grading of last embryos so you can bring all the info to your next clinic xxx

[Elsidee11 in reply to HedgehogMad]

will do thank you xxxx

[Hidden]

How come u have to use icsi if the sperm quality was ok? Sorry to hear this happened to you? Xx

[Elsidee11 in reply to Hidden]

because last time only 1 egg fertilised out of 3 mature eggs and they thought it could be a sperm issue x

[Hidden in reply to Elsidee11]

Oh ok, I assumed they only used icsi if they had tested sperm and it had a clear problem but must not be the case. I agree with whats been said above, I'd be asking why your eggs were collected immature and what they are going to do about it, it sucks and its not good enough! Xx

[Elsidee11 in reply to Hidden]

We have had MFI a number of years, but his last 2 samples have been optimal, maybe due to lifestyle changes and proxeed. They originally moved us from icsi to ivf due to the improvement, but after last cycle they said they’d move us back to icsi. I’m wondering if we stayed on ivf the 4 may have fertilised. Who knows. I will ask lots of questions, we had over 20 follicles, with majority measuring within range - im wondering if it’s a trigger issue. I don’t know 😪 x

[Hidden in reply to Elsidee11]

We have icsi, and I'm alwasy worried about it, like damage to the eggs from the process and do they make as many embryos without chromosome problems, but I don't know and its our only option, its good how his sperm has improved though, maybe it could happen naturally? Xxx

[Elsidee11 in reply to Hidden]

I do worry too, there’s so many factors involved isn’t there. My reflexologist just said the same - I think I am going to track ovulation and keep trying naturally, you never know ❤️

[Hidden in reply to Elsidee11]

Definitely do xxx

[Skittles11]

Hi How big were the follicles at trigger point? I had a very poor cycle when I started IVF and one thing they did differently in further cycles was push the follicles to a bigger size. Xx

[Elsidee11 in reply to Skittles11]

hey skittles - I had 20 follicles between 16-18mm and I think a couple at 20 and then maybe 5 at about 10 which they said would prob not grow. I stimmed for 8 days on 375 Ovaleap. They anticipated is get 14 eggs and I got 13, but the maturation seems to be the issue. The 4 that were mature they said they were grainy. Do you think it was too high? X

[Skittles11 in reply to Elsidee11]

I think next time I would see if the clinic will have you stim for slightly longer to get those follicles that bit bigger to hopefully get more mature eggs. Perhaps 20mm. After my poor cycle my clinic wanted to aim for 24mm which is much larger than average. 8 days is quite a short stim period so I would say you can afford to stim for longer if the follicles are measuring 16 to 18mm. I don't think the stim of 375 was too high if that's what you mean (all based only on my experience and opinion of course) xx

[Elsidee11 in reply to Skittles11]

thank you skittles, I do think last time my follicles were slightly bigger. It’s all trial and error isn’t it, and that was our last nhs funded round - so whatever is next is privately funded. ☹️ I’m thinking the 2 year unlimited maybe, not sure. Need to weigh it all up. Thanks for you help xx

[Skittles11 in reply to Elsidee11]

Good luck with your decision of what's next, take care xx

[PinkPanther1234]

Hi, I'm sorry to hear this and sending you a big hug.

Not quite the same, but on our second round we had low fertilisation. On our third round our doctor suggested using double trigger to help egg maturity and AOA. Stims were also very slightly increased towards the end to get more of the follicles to the right size. We had MFI, so used IMSI also, so they could select the best sperm. This round gave us really good results both in fertilisation and number of blastocysts. 2 of which are now my twins.

Each round really can be so different so don't lose your hope. Good luck x

[Elsidee11 in reply to PinkPanther1234]

hi pink panther, I am so happy you got your twinnies in the end. It’s such a long road to get there with so many bumps along the way. I did wonder if a double trigger would have been better for us. We are moving onto privately funded now so will be exploring all options and tests etc xx

[Twiglet2]

aww that’s such a tough one I’m so sorry. It’s sounds like most of the 13 weren’t mature I would probably be focused on questions about that and how they can tweak your protocol to get more mature ones maybe. Sending you a big hug xx

[Elsidee11 in reply to Twiglet2]

hey twiglet - yes only 4 😔 last cycle I only had 3 out of 6 eggs. So maturation is definitely my problem - I wonder if my endo is impacting this though - I think that’s my biggest fear. Hope you’re doing ok ❤️ x

[Twiglet2 in reply to Elsidee11]

it could defo be a factor but I’m sure there are other things they can do like push you a bit longer than the ‘norm’ and certain triggers help maturity too. There’s defo lots to discuss and even though it absolutely sucks (I so feel for you 😢) there’s lots to take away from this round for questions for the next one. I’m okay thanks lovely 🫶🏻 xx

[Fairylights89]

I’m so sorry you’re going through this. In my second icsi cycle I had zero fertilisation with 6 eggs. It was devastating. But we did another round and got two embryos so you just don’t know, it’s all a bit of luck sometimes I think! Keep going, don’t let this stop you. Xx

[Elsidee11 in reply to Fairylights89]

thank you fairylight - I’m going to keep going ❤️ my only option xx

[Z177]

We also got 13 eggs.. ended up with 2 embryos, such a drastic drop.. we were very surprised. Had one transfer which unfortunately ended in early miscarriage.. now having a bunch of genetic tests done before transferring the final embie. This was our third egg collection - no success at this stage. Such a journey.. wishing you the best of luck moving forward!

[Elsidee11 in reply to Z177]

sorry Z177 about your miscarriage, it’s bloody heart breaking. What tests are you having done? I’m thinking of getting hubby to do dna frag test and then maybe Emma/Alice/era for me, because if we are lucky to get a blast I want to make sure I’m in best position to implant!! X

[Newbies1]

hi I’m so sorry you went through and really hope you are ok, we had zero fertilisation in our first round and it is heartbreaking, sending you a big hug. For us having a double trigger to help eggs mature and adding in ubiquinol and a slight tweak to protocol seemed to help. Thinking of you xxx

[Elsidee11 in reply to Newbies1]

thank you newbies1, lots are saying about double trigger so I am deffo going to ask about this. My worry is the only 4 I had that were mature were apparently grainy wonder what this means. Glad it worked for you xxx

[Pintu88]

Hey Elsidee11

So sorry to hear this news. I’m in a similar(ish) situation. Starting my second round in July.

First round I had lots of follicles but fewer eggs which were mature and even fewer reached blastocyst (none of these worked btw). My consultant had said they were hoping for more based on number of eggs collected. I was on long protocol and even the lowest dose seemed to over stimulate me so I ended up with nearly 40 follicles with varied sizes. By the time some were perfect they were trying to get others to the same size and then of course they got too big (ended up with OHSS).

I questioned that perhaps the quantity over quality strategy wasn’t working for me. He agreed and has now changed me to short protocol to focus on getting few eggs but ones of higher quality. I’ve also started lots of vitamins, key one being ubiquonol. Only time will tell if this helps. But definitely have a few different strategies up your sleeve to discuss, including trigger timing etc…

I really hope you’re ok and wish you the best for the next round.

[Elsidee11 in reply to Pintu88]

thank you pintu88 - it seemed like our last round gave us a 50% maturation rate and we got 1 fertilised, and that was a short protocol. So maybe that is better for us? We also used ivf and not icsi, not sure if that made a difference. It’s such trial and errror isn’t it. What other vitamins are you taking and how much ubinquol?

I’m doing ok thank you 🥹 I’ve had moments of intense despair and have also developed mild OHSS which has been horrendous with constant nausea, just want my next cycle now and to make a plan.

Wishing you all the best with your next round xxxx

[Pintu88 in reply to Elsidee11]

Perhaps ICSI might be better for sure. We did ICSI for low morphology and had 6 fertilise although not all of them reached day 5.

I’m taking Vitamin D, Fish Oil, Ubiquonol (300mg a day), Vit C, Pregnacare multivitamin, probiotics, magnesium and Vit E every other day. Seems like a lot and I have recently bought a pill box. This was all anecdotal advice from a friend who was also going through IVF and subsequently had twins last year. I would highly recommend you run it through with your consultant first before taking anything. I did ask mine about the ubiquonol and he said up to 600mg a day was known to be safe but not to over do it. Sometimes too much of anything isn’t good. He said 300mg for me was the right amount. I’ve also played around with doses for the other ones as I’ve been taking them. It’s all trial and error as you say and only time will tell if it works.

Wishing you all the luck in the world. Fingers crossed for the next round xx

[Watermelon82]

I’m so sorry to hear you’ve experienced this, it is utterly heartbreaking. If you read my profile and posts you’ll see I’ve been in this exact position. I haven’t tried again but when we do we will use oocyte activation with calcium. Also look up Ghent university and what they do around assisted activation to support fertilisation. It doesn’t even seem real to not be able to pass fertilisation (you imagine you might not get blasts or transfers but not fertilisation!). I feel like I’ve read every article possible on this so feel free to dm if you wanted. Thinking of you ❤️

[Elsidee11]

thank you watermelon - I’m sorry it happened to you too. I’ve actually just read through your posts (thank you) and someone mentioned varicocele….I only said the other week to my husband ‘what’s that lumpy vein in your leg?’…I just googled varicocele and that’s what it looks like!! Maybe he has this!? Will bring it up. Thanks again, I will prob reach out to you at some point as well once my head is a little straighter and I have ideas of plans ❤️❤️ thank you xxxx

[Elsidee11 in reply to Elsidee11]

Watermelon82

[Elsidee11]

Dragonfly1111 tagging you here as lots of comments x