2nd transfer ended in chemical pregnancy

[CreateIVF]

Hi. First time posting here but feels like I want to bite the bullet and just do it.

Have just come out the back of my 2nd IVF transfer which has sadly ended in a chemical pregnancy at just over 5 weeks. (Was an 8 cell grade 2) I’m devastated. So cruel to have seen that positive 3 days in a row last week and now it’s gone. I started spotting just under a week after the original test and then started fully bleeding despite being on 600mg a day of progesterone, I’m still bleeding now.

We had a failed FET transfer in January which was a BFN (4BB) and after a Summer of stims rounds (I have low AMH for my age, I’m 36 and last test was 5.3 with FSH that fluctuates cycle to cycle), we now have 2 frozen day 5 embryos to do two more transfers- a 4BB and a 3CC.

I just feel like this is never going to happen for us and don’t know how I’ll face the next transfers… I haven’t had the follow up with clinic yet about next steps but would be great if people could suggest some questions or things I should be asking?

Thank you!

[Emilioh31]

Hey

I’m not sure I can suggest any specific questions to ask your clinic as in my experience they’re already trying to think of anything that might help. They are just as committed to your cycle working and disappointed when it doesn’t (if you don’t feel that then the clinic isn’t right!)

I did just want to say I feel your frustration after having a chemical 😪 . On our previous cycles I found it easier to have bfn all along then get our hopes up. We too had x3 wonderful days of excitement on our last cycle and I found it harder to recover. I am back on the bandwagon though and on day 7 of injecting just trying to remember that for some people it takes a few goes. A lady on here did remind me that at least bfp is a sign that it can work so is the same for you and maybe a good sign for future cycles. That’s what I’m telling myself too!

Sorry for the waffling but you get my point! ☺️ keep us posted x

[CreateIVF in reply to Emilioh31]

Thanks so much for the waffling, it means a lot! 😊 I get your point that at least we know it can work (which is very much my husband’s position on it), it’s just I didn’t know if that was just wishful thinking on my part. It’s still very fresh so I’m a bit of a doom monster right now! 👾 I hope this cycle goes brilliantly for you, sending you lots of love. Xx

[Emilioh31 in reply to CreateIVF]

I think your hubby is probably right, mine says the same and tends to be the more pragmatic and balanced one too (don’t tell them! 🤣) having said that, I believe you’re better to feel each stage of grief properly in order to heal well for the next cycle, and you’re entitled to feel gloomy after what has happened. Also you’re the one pumped full of hormones!

I hope you get reassurance from your clinic, I did and that helped us to decide to go again. Thanks for the well wishes x

[WillowPark]

Hello You are still very much in the game by the sounds of it so try not to convince yourself otherwise! I also agree, seeing a BFP and ending up with a BFN is horrendous and of course you will feel sad and low, but it tells you what can happen and that your embryo can implant, which is a really important hurdle that not everyone gets over, so try to view it as a positive sign for future rounds. We are just waiting for our third FET to start (fourth transfer total) and some days it is so hard to see why I should get out of bed and keep going (especially when coming off the drugs!) but at the end of the day, anything in the freezer has the potential to become our child and I try very hard to tell myself that. Our clinic said something similar to @emilioh31, I asked if we should be doing anything else and they just said they were throwing absolutely everything at us already and they really thought we were on the best protocols and so it should work one of these times. We trust them so are going to do another round and hope for the best 🙂

[CreateIVF in reply to WillowPark]

Thank you. I found the fully medicated FET the worst back in January. The come down from the oestrogen patches was an absolute nightmare. This time was a “semi” medicated in that I had progesterone but nothing else… We will definitely be going again as well, have just booked a follow-up in the clinic for a weeks time. And they have been lovely so far..I’m just scrabbling for any answers I guess! I will keep everything crossed for you for this transfer!! 🤞🏼xx

[Doodlebug23]

I’ve just had 4th transfer and my clinic said after my 3rd BFN that it’s just a numbers game and keep going as they are happy with what we are doing. I’ve just had an extremely faint line on a home test so waiting to see if he gets darker 🙏🏼. I was starting to feel despair after 3 fails thinking what’s wrong with me, but this time I feel that even if it ends in BFN that in some way I’ve gotten a little further. Hope that makes some sort of sense?

This journey is so hard and I do feel lucky that I have 6 frosties, and am getting to the transfer stage, which when reading others posts is a place lots struggle to get to. You sound similar so try and take some positives from that? Keep going cause one day you’ll think my god that was hard but so worth it cause look at what the result was! At least that’s why I keep trying to tell myself! Good luck ✨

[CreateIVF in reply to Doodlebug23]

I agree with you that at least we are getting to the transfer stage. Best of luck to you. I really hope everything goes well. Xx

[Fruitandflowers]

It's really crushing when you see the BFP and then it doesn't end well. I had this twice on back to back fresh transfers about 5/6 weeks and on the second one I also started spotting before OTD despite progesterone. I quizzed the consultant as we'd be told by two separate clinics there was nothing 'wrong' with us and our embryos were great quality. He went through every test and scenario and explained why it was or wasn't relevant and that really helped me to know we weren't missing anything. He said it was a numbers game and with couples like us the odds were about 1 in 3. He also said how positive it was we had got to implantation and that the embryos had produced some HCG, even if only for a little while, as it ruled out so many issues. Only thing he agreed we could try that was different was a FET and change and up progesterone. I have a LG from that. This year had another fresh transfer that ended in PUL, then a BFN on a FET, and then incredibly got pregnant naturally waiting for our next FET. So even though I was feeling that hopelessness creeping back in, it has been the same odds the doctor predicted in a way.

So I know how hard it is and I hated the idea of wasting good embros, and maybe there was something wrong we could find if we had one more test, changed one more thing... but ultimately the numbers game approach worked for us x

[HoneyB11]

I’m 39 now and have low AMH but it’s just worked for me! My acupuncturist is brilliant at giving lots of reassurance and says if you’re financially and mentally strong enough to keep going then it will happen for you eventually. I know how devastating it is when it doesn’t work and after my MC in June at 5.5 weeks I had to give myself a couple of months off before I was ready to go again! But try to hold out the hope as miracles to come true thanks to ivf!! Xx

[Babytocome]

Hi,

There are a couple of things you can do before transfer to keep positive. In my case I pushed for ERA, Alice, Emma tests. I was watching an American doctor from Harvard that she said you should prepare “your house for the host”, my clinic didn’t want to do the tests as they said they do it after multiple negative transfers. I pushed it and did it and it ended up that the results showed I needed to change few things before the transfer. (You tube -The egg whisperer)

Also acupuncture, breath meditation, and 3 days after transfer from bed, to sofa, to chair, to bed, to sofa, to chair. All those things helped on me.

You still have good chances, think you are in this game to win.

[CreateIVF]

Hi everyone, I just wanted to let you know that I had my follow-up meeting with the consultant yesterday and I feel soooo much better now. He was so empathic and caring, really thorough and we have a plan now for what to do next.

As I’ve had one BFN and one Chemical he says we can do a Thrombophilia blood test to see if clotting may be causing any issues. He thinks it’s unlikely and it may well just be bad luck and a “numbers game” so far but no harm in checking.

He also mentioned karotype testing for my husband and I but reckons that would only be needed if these next two frozen embryos didn’t work and we had to go on another stim cycle.

I also asked about putting the two we have left back in together but he really advised against it.

Anyway just wanted to close the loop on the thread and thank you all again for the support! X