First egg recovery anxiety

[Dinobaby05]

Hi everyone,

First time poster here. I had my first egg recovery yesterday and just had our first phone call from the embryologist. 15 eggs were collected, 10 mature and 8 fertilised. I don’t know if I’ve been a bit naive but I assumed we would have better results given the scans were all showing I had 30+ follicles all at a good enough size to be recovered. We’ve also been told that we can’t do a fresh transfer as I’m at risk of OHSS. From doing a lot of research today, I’m concerned that the OHSS will mean poor quality embryos that might not make it to day 5 or survive the thaw after they’ve been frozen. I found the cycle tough physically and didn’t prepare myself for a possible poor outcome given we are relatively young (32) and we had so many follicles. I’m hoping for a bit of reassurance that someone managed to still have a successful live birth with a similar story to me.

Also - on a bit of a separate note, I was advised by the anaesthetist to take off the full week from work to recover. I wasn’t expecting this and only booked yesterday and today off work. I’m still in a bit of discomfort but nothing too bad. I don’t want work to think I’m taking advantage but I don’t want to go back if I shouldn’t. Any thoughts on this would also be welcomed.

[StarsAllAround]

Hi first off 8 eggs being fertilised is a really good number. Its quite common for follicles not to contain an egg. Stay away from Google it is not helpful and a lot of information you find will be conflicting. I have had 3 egg collections the 3rd one I was at risk of OHSS and I have never been advised to take time off work always told to have someone with me for first 48 hours and not to drive due to aniasetic also not to bath or swim for 2 week as siting in water could cause an internal infection. But after that 48 hours just back to normal life. I have worked after egg collections and after one went on holiday, never had any issues other than a little discomfort. Trust you body and how you feel and do what feels right for you. It's just a waiting game now which I know is hard. Try and find things to occupy your mind like binge watching something, reading a book, trying a new hobby, plan nice treats and things to do with your partner so you will have something to look forward to regardless of the outcome. X

[Hopewhite]

hi i hope you're well. 8 fertilised eggs it's a good outcome, hopefully out of these there will be a few of good quality. Remember you only need a lucky one, and it's quality over quantity. In my case i had 11 eggs retrieved, 8 mature, 8 fertilised, 3 made good grade blastocysts, got a lucky one in and 2 more in the freezer xx.

I know it's hard but like starsallaround said, just try to relax and to do nice things to distract your mind xx. See how you feel, pamper yourself and take one day at a time xx perhaps they are being extra cautious and asking you to rest to help your body deal with the ohss.

sending you loads of hope, and all the best of luck in your journey! xx

[Ltry]

Sorry to hear you're feeling down about things. I don't think you've had a poor outcome so far so try to stay positive! I had my egg retrieval at 32 as well and had lots of follicles, 22 eggs retrieved, 9 mature, 7 fertilised and 4 blasts (1 day 5 and 3 more on day 6). Because of the amount of eggs I was also told not to do a fresh transfer because of OHSS. I ended up not feeling great so although I'd only booked the day after retrieval off I ended up phoning in sick for the rest of the week so I could rest and recover. If you can I would recommend but make sure you relax and do something nice so you're not stressing waiting for the calls from the clinic.

As for outcomes, I'm now 34 weeks pregnant following a frozen transfer 🙂

[Eloquentia]

Hi! These are good numbers of mature eggs! I also had over 30 follicles collected and was strongly advised to do a freeze all due to the risk of OHSS. I did develop it around day 5 after egg collection but it settled on its own after a few days when my period came. I don't think OHSS has anything to do with egg quality - it is about the extra HCG that the many follicles produce and how your body responds to it, it can lead your ovaries to overdrive. I was advised to drink a few protein shakes or have a few protein yoghurts a day to help absorb the extra fluid that was building up in my tummy. Hot water bottle helped too. In terms of numbers, we ended up freezing 3 day 5 embryos and 3 days 6 ones. Currently 29 weeks with our second day 5 embie. So try to stay positive and look after yourself! If you have any symptoms of OHSS, call your clinic because they can scan you to find out if you have it. I assume this is why they advised you to take a week off work, just in case you develop it. I went back to work 2 days after egg collection but worked from home when I developed the OHSS because I was in too much pain to go to work or anywhere for that matter. Good luck!

[Dinobaby05]

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for all of your replies. I just had a phone call from the clinic and the 8 fertilised embryos are still developing with 4 of them looking high quality. Again, I feel a bit stupid to be asking but does that sound good? What are the chances of those 4 making it to freeze on Sunday and can the other 4 still improve and be frozen? I did ask these questions on the phone but the Dr said he couldn’t possibly say but that it was a good result at this stage!?

Also, I have developed mild OHSS and I’m still off work. Really worried about this as I recently started a new job and although they have been supportive, I did tell them I would only need a day or two off. There is also another woman at work who has also gone through IVF and she was back to work the next day and I know they will be comparing us. I know I shouldn’t stress about this but does anyone have advice on how to handle all of this and work commitments? I’m not in a position to work from home as I work in a school. Thanks again for all the support.

[Jessfm123]

hey lovely. I literally feel like I’m reading a post I wrote a few weeks ago I’m 10dp5dt and for me the waiting for the embrolygist to update us was the hardest part. Getting 8 fertilised is amazing! I got 16 eggs, 13 mature, 8 fertilised ended up with a lucky one and 4 in the freezer and I wasn’t predicted to get any embryos so please don’t be so harsh on yourself. I was the same I had 4-5 high quality ones and rest looking okish, some fragmented some taking slower than others. By day 3 they said I had 4-5 good ones still which I read online 3-5 days there can be a drop off but I didn’t find that true in my case whatever was looking good on day 3 ended up being good day 5. I hated sounded ungreatful as a lot of women on these forums get 1 or 2 eggs fertilised and I can’t imagine the torment they must feel so I just kept counting myself ‘lucky’ in some strange way and that’s what seemed to give me a different outlook and make things abit easier for me mentally. Look how amazing you’ve done so far to even go through this treatment, you got this! 🤍

[Dinobaby05 in reply to Jessfm123]

Hi Jess. Thank you for your message. That’s really reassuring and lovely to hear you are doing so well. I def don’t want to sound ungrateful as I know there are so many women that have not been as lucky as us, I’m just finding the whole experience really overwhelming at the moment and naively assumed it would be a lot more straightforward than it has been. However, feeling more positive today and a lot less round/bloated! 🤣

[Jessfm123 in reply to Dinobaby05]

ahhh no I didn’t mean you sound ungreatful I meant me, sometimes I just had to remind myself. Ahh that’s good loads and loads of water especially in this heat. Ah glad to hear you’re feeling less bloated it’s the worst! But it’s because of all them beautiful eggs you retrieved 🤍🤍