IVF people...what are your experiences?

First, I would like to welcome you to follow my blog. It's all about this past year's infertility journey my DH & I have been through, with a failed IVF cycle, and the current IVF cycle we are on now using an egg donor. I've been ttc #1 for 15 YEARS. I've had a total of 4 surgeries on my reproductive organs. I have stage IV endo, have had to have both fallopian tubes removed because of it, and have also been diagnosed with POF. (POF= premature ovararian failure, which means that even though I have a period every 28 days, I do not ovulate. After trying the very highest doses of stim meds of the very strongest types of stim med injections, nothing.) We have spent nearly $70,000 in the past year alone on ART, and are remaining hopeful that this cycle we are on will finally give us the family we so very much desire. Best of luck to you. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

After 2 1/2 years of trying - 3 IUI's with Clomid and 3 IUI's win injectible medications that all ended in failure - we completed our first IVF cycle in December 2007. The egg retrieval was on December 25, 2007 - what a way to spend Christmas - under anesthesia!

I worked my entire cycle (more or less). The cycle started with a couple of weeks on the pill to supress my cycle followed by Lupron and Gonal F injections. Our RE has early morning hours so when it was time for bloodwork or ultrasounds, I was able to go in around 7AM, get it done and head to work without having to let my boss know - he would have been understanding but I did not want another pair of eyes looking at me and wondering if I was pregnant yet. The real pain was not actually knowing when the retrieval would be because they monitor you, monitor you, monitor you and then tell you . . . ok, do the trigger shot tonight and come to the office in 2 days. Our retrieval ended up being Christmas so it took over the holidays.

Here is my actual experience on the day of retrieval- We arrived at the office at 8:30 AM, got changed into a hospital gown and they checked the blood pressure and took my temp. When I went into the procedure room, they put me under sedation and then it was over. I think I was under for about 15 minutes. I woke up in recovery. I stayed in recovery for about an hour, they let me eat crackers and drink some water. When I was ready, DH got the car, pulled it around to the front and I walked easily from recovery to the car.

As to actual pain - not too bad - I compare it to slight cramping and the sensation of doing too many crunches at the gym. Sore in the mid section. The anesthesia did a number on me, I spent the rest of the day sleeping on the couch. The next day was better - gradually the soreness started to fade.

Transfer was a breeze - the worst part was hanging out with a full bladder while they transfer the embryos. It was much like an IUI.

My advice is to not read into everything. They only retrieved 11 eggs and only 2 fertilized - much less than we were hoping for. Instead of going for a 5 day blastocyst, they did the transfer of both embryos at day 3. It definitely felt like things were going wrong . . . but in the end we got the good news!

I also recommend that you find a way to manage the stress. I ended up joining a support group (your fertility clinic might be able to recommend one), learned about acupuncture, yoga, couples counseling (because you are not in this alone), meditation, nutrition and other ways to have a better cycle from a mental and spirtitual point of view.

We got our BFP on January 8th, 2008. AND found out on January 29, 2008 that we were expecting twins! They will be 2 at the end of August - time really does fly by!

Best wishes, I hope your IVF goes as smoothly!

Infertility can be caused by a huge number of factors: hormone imbalance, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Endometriosis, Anovulatory Cycles, physical blockage, inadequate hormone production, short luteal phase, lack of lutenizing hormone, high levels or prolactin, and many others. How to get pregnant https://tr.im/VIzfQ

Poor nutrition often plays a major role, as does exposure to toxins. Age plays less of a role before menopause than was originally thought. While there are many wonderful naturally minded fertility specialists out there, in many cases it is not possible for them to test for and address any of these possible underlying issues.

Right here is our road

2006- pregnant with 1st baby naturally lost at 12 weeks

July 2009- referred to fertility clinic, 3 days later found out i was pregnant with 2nd baby naturally lost 1 day later at 5.5 weeks

October 2009- IUI- Failed, responded well but to quickly so decided not to go with IUI again

January 2010- IVF- Failed, again responded well but to quickly later found out and diagnosed with PCOS (wasn't diagnosed before as not overweight) Put on metformin to help with PCOS

March 2010- My first natural AF since 2009 because of the metformin

May 2010- Found out on my birthday that i was pregnant with our MET baby but sadly lost at 6 weeks 2 days

Present just awaiting test results of immune system/genetic testing as after having 3 miscarriages here in UK they test to see what is happening once we get these results back we will go straight back to having our 2nd lot of IVF as our clinic think that now we know i can get pregnant its just a case of needing assistance staying that way that IVF will be best way forward to do this!!

My egg collection day went like this, night before i had to take a sleeping tablet to help me sleep which didn't help so was awake all night!! had to be there for 8:30am checked in changed into gown and was given 2 more sleeping tablets and a suppository to use so took them 20 minutes later i was asleep but they had to wake me up to do ID checks and that was it i was awake all the way through (my clinic don't put us under sedation) it took about 45-60 minutes and was very painful, i could feel every stab of the needle but the good thing about been awake is that you can hear how many eggs are collected then they walk me back to my room and i had some tea and biscuits stayed for about an hour after as was in a lot of pain DH had to phone for a cab to take us to train station and then carry me to the train (we got some very weird looks carrying a half knocked out women through train station). We got 6 eggs and only 2 fertilised and we had a day 3 transfer, that was easy like IUI but was very painful for as i was still very sore felt as though i could still feel every stab of the needle. Last time i had 1 week off work after egg collection as i am a care assistant and the pain was really bad couldn't walk for the 1st 2-3 days so it made sense.

Next time i will be asking for lots more pain relief but lots more pain relief will mean lots more weird looks for DH come arriving at train station but he understands and says do what is best for me

Best wishes and if you need to chat, just email me!!

Hope your IVF goes well

x x x

I don't have any experience with this myself, but you should check out this website:

www.fertilityties.com

It's free and has great ladies with personal info. You can ask questions and read about others IVF experiences.

Here's a thread you might like:

http://www.fertilityties.com/post/show/ivf-after-3...

Good luck!

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