Arrest day 3 - embryo stop developing

[Itisajourney]

Hi all,

I have now completed 3 cycles and all of them we had the same outcome: embryo arrest on day 3., i.e., after day 3 the embryos stop developing. They mentioned that they have seen early divisions but abnormal divisions i.e. 1 cell jumping into 4 cells, instead of 1 to 2, 2 to 4 (...). It is been said that it is a male cause has my husband has a high DNA fragmentation, low count 0.1 - 0.4 and low mobility. My ovarian reserve is 10-12 and I am 40 years old. From all the cycles, 100% of the eggs extracted are matured and our fertilization rates are between 60-80%. In total, we have extracted 18 eggs, 12 had fertilized, and 0 has achieved blastocyst.

We don't know what to do next. It has been really devastating and drawing !! We have been told multiple times that there are cases that couples are able to conceive after 10 attempts and it is a question of trial and error. But at same we haven't seen any improvement in any of the cycles, so I would to know success stories out there, but with exactly the same pattern as ours: male factor and day 3 arrest for more than 3 cycles and then been able to successfully conceive afterwards. I just want to have guarantee that this is still feasible because I feel that the clinics over promising as they want to attract more funds.

[Lmfx]

Hi Itisajournry,

I’m so sorry that things have been difficult for you. Reading your post sounded so familiar to the beginning of our journey and it’s heartbreaking.

We haven’t achieved a pregnancy yet but we had the same issue in the first 2 tries. It wasn’t day 3 arrest but clinic stopped the cycle due to abnormal embryo development like you described.

I wrote a post that might be helpful as I thought I’d lost hope but was so surprised at our round 3 results. Everyone is different and I don’t want to give false hope but I was desperate to find some answers in forums so wanted to share what worked for us.

If you search “8 embryos after almost losing hope” you should find it.

Wishing you and your partner all the best for the next phase of your journey xxx

[Itisajourney in reply to Lmfx]

Thank you for sharing. I have been told that Abnormal embryo development can correct on later stage so not sure why the clinic completely stop the cycle, but I am happy for you that you achieved blastocysts.

[Lmfx in reply to Itisajourney]

Yes, I think it was the clinics policy for trizygote and every embryo was behaving the same. I think if it’d been one or two they might have left them but they said none would have made it to blast

[Itisajourney in reply to Lmfx]

Have you done long or short protocol? Could you please message me the stimulation/ medication? Maybe that also had changed? Thank you to bring in some hope❤️

[Lmfx in reply to Itisajourney]

Yes, meds did change, I need to look up my notes from the previous but what worked for us was 300iu meriofert, short protocol, ICSI. It definitely feels like there are different options medication-wise. Wishing you all the best ❤️

[Olive12345 in reply to Lmfx]

Lmfx I’m going to look this up too, thank you!

[Olive12345]

I don't have hope but we’ve done two rounds with the same outcome. They always start well but stop developing by day 5. We've been offered calcium ionophore treatment and picsi. I've also pushed for prednisolone because I have lupus and my disease flares during stims and I feel like it's attacking my eggs. The same thing happened when I was pregnant. Did you try anything different?

[Itisajourney in reply to Olive12345]

The medication was different as I went to a different clinic. I also had supplements for more than 3 months but it seems they haven’t helped.

[Blueberryshrub]

The same happened to me on my first (recent) round of IVF ICSI. I was told this Tuesday that my only two embryos stopped developing after day 3 and never made it to blastocyst. Still trying to recover from it, it is very hard and not sure where I should go from there. I am 41 and not sure if it is my eggs or the quality of the sperm - we went for ICSI because of low morfology and antibodies in the sperm. Planning to test sperm for the DNA fragmentation but it could still be the egg quality. I was struggling through the stims phase - was losing uterine lining (it went down from 6.2 on day five to 2.3 on day 10), had high progesterone, had period like bleeding and was in a pain, and had two hemarrhogic cysts which miraculously disappeared by day 12. All I know is that I dont want to repeat the same protocol (short) as it was too harsh for my body. There is just so much uknown factors in the process, like a lottery.

[Itisajourney in reply to Blueberryshrub]

I am sorry to hear that. After day 3 is a sperm issue. Sperm generally take over from day 3 onwards.

[Blueberryshrub in reply to Itisajourney]

Thank you. We’ll get it tested for DNA fragmentation. x

[Seren0119]

This is exactly what happened with me until we sorted out the DNA fragmentation- what isthe cause of the fragmentation? A varicocele or infection? So important to get this sorted as otherwise cycles are wasted x

[Itisajourney in reply to Seren0119]

A varicocele and Hydrocele after testicular descending

[Seren0119 in reply to Itisajourney]

I would recommend removing. My partner had 47% fragmentation. After removal, it was under 22%

[Itisajourney in reply to Seren0119]

I thought couldn’t be removed. That was the answer we got. Could you please send me the name of your doctor?

[Seren0119 in reply to Itisajourney]

You can 100% operate. DR Ramsey is the lead expert on this. Will DM you x

[Choots]

Please try proxeed plus for your husband it is great for sperm

[Lmfx in reply to Choots]

My partner took this for 2 years but unfortunately made no difference to his results of any of the tests so I think it’s different for each person

[Itisajourney in reply to Lmfx]

The same here. My partner took imperyl fir more than 3 months