IVF Adventure

Today is my cycle day 14 (CD14). So this morning I had ultra sound and blood work done. I called my clinic at noon and the lining is 9mm and estrogen is 2009. The Dr. and nurse said everything looks perfect and the embryo transfer will be Oct 3 as expected.

This time we will transfer 2 3-day ICSI embryos with assisted hatching for both. There has no obvious evidence that assisted hatching (AH) will improve the chance of embryo implantation or live birth. However, the doctor said it is worth to have a try since I have one failed fresh IVF and one FET, plus my age. Some people did finally get pregnant with AH after a few failed IVF cycles. It won’t hurt to try something new as long as it is reasonable.

Since I am doing assisted hatching, to lower the risk of potential affection, I also started to take Medrol 1 tablet daily and Doxycycline (antibiotic) 1 tablet twice a day. These medicine will continue to the day of embryo transfer.

Fingers crossed for this FET.

This morning we planned to visit our friend Betty and her one-month new-born boy. We went to a baby shop to get some gifts. I bought a nice blue baby cloth and a pair of shoes. The baby stuff is so cute! I can’t wait to buy them for my own baby!

It looks like eveyone around me is getting pragnant – in-laws, friends and colleages. Why not me? It’s so frustrated. We’re nice people and we will definitely be good parents. Baby, please don’t let us wait too long…

AF (period)  eventually came today. It’s 2 days longer than last month. I started one Estrodot patch this afternoon. I will do ultra sound and blood test to check the lining and E2 on Sept 30. If it’s good to go I will do ET (Embryo Transfer) on Oct 3. This time we will transfer 2 3-day ICSI embryos with assisted hatching.

Hope this time we can get pregnant with a healthy baby

So today we had an appointment with our IVF doctor for about 20 minutes. We will still use the same FET protocol as our 1st FET.

I will start with Estrodot patches on CD1 and then do u/s and blood test on CD14 to check lining and E2. If it’s good to go, then I will start Crinone on CD14. ET will be 3days later since i have 3-day ICSI embryos.

My period this month might be around Sep 15-17. If everything goes well as planned, I will do embryo transfer on around Sep 31 – Oct 2.

We decided to transfer 2 embryos this time and we will also do assisted hatching for both embryos – We will try everything reasonable to get pregnant.

Fingers cross for this FET

I heard that some people did assisted hatching with their IVF or FET. I know that most of people will do anything reasonable to get pregnant. I’m trying to collect some info that might benefit most of us.

My questions are:

1. Will assisted hatching help implantation?
2. Who, in what situations, are good candidates for assisted hatching?
3. if we have 2-3 embryos to transfer, can we do 1 or 2 embryos assisted hatching, and the last one without hatching?

Anyone else has done assisted hatching or planning to do assisted hatching?Any info or insights are welcome.

Thanks.

AF (My period after last FET cycle) arrived today. Considering all the factors, we decided to have a little break and wait one cycle to do the 2nd FET. My next period might be around Sept. 15-18. If everything goes well, my ET(Embryo Transfer) should be around Sept. 30 – October 3. This time we probably have all 3 embryos thawed and then transfer all that are viable, to increase the chance of getting pregnant.

Since I have about 1 month break, I plan to have more exercise to make sure I am healthier and in a better shape.  Enjoy the rest of the summer.

Hope this one is the ONE.  Best wishes for everyone else who are also trying hard to have a healthy baby!

The first Beta yesterday came back with a BFN. It was not a suprise since I’ve done 4 home tests and they were all negative. It’s official – I will have to move on and prepare for the next round.

Here is my FET (Frozen Embryo Transfer) protocol:

I will start with Estrodot patches on CD1 and then do u/s and bloodtest on CD14 to check lining and E2. If it’s good to go, then I will start Crinone on CD14. ET will be 3days later since i have 3-day ICSI embryos.

I did my last ET on Aug 1 2009 and yesterday Aug 14 was #1 beta with negative. I stopped meds (Estrodot patches & Crinone progesterone gel) yesterday. I am waiting for my AF to come to start a new FET cycle. My clinic told me that I can start a back-to-back FET right away on first day of my incoming period.

My question is:

Is it ok to do a back-to-back FET? Will it be better to wait at least one more cycle to do the next FET, so that my body will be in a better condition? will those meds that I used in last cycle will influence the back-to-back FET?

What will you recommend, back-to-back FET or not?

Anyone else has any experience or insight on this issue?

Thanks.

Today it’s 11dp3dt. My boots and nipple started to feel sore and sensitive. Is it a good sign? Hopefully.

One of the very noticeable early signs of pregnancy is tender, swollen, somewhat sore breasts. You may notice this pregnancy sign at bedtime when you are trying to get comfortable and go to sleep, when exercising or showering, or when getting dressed.

When you become pregnant, your body begins preparing your breasts for producing milk and breastfeeding. Hormones start increasing. In addition to breast tenderness and swelling, your nipples may feel sore or extra sensitive. Some women notice their nipples darken in color.

Your breasts play an important role in childbirth. They are naturally sensitive and become far more so when pregnant. This is one of the most obvious early symptoms of pregnancy.

People might think that the stress will influence the outcome of IVF treatment.

According to a 2005 Swedish study published in the Oxford Journal Human Reproduction, 166 women were monitored starting one month before their IVF cycles and the results showed no significant correlation between psychological stress and their IVF outcomes. The study concluded with the recommendation to clinics that it might be possible to reduce the stress experienced by IVF patients during the treatment procedure by informing them of those findings. While psychological stress experienced during a cycle might not influence an IVF outcome, it is possible that the experience of IVF can result in stress that leads to depression. The financial consequences alone of IVF can influence anxiety and become overwhelming.

Me 39, DH 38 – TTC since 2007

4 x IUI Oct 2008 – Jan 2009: BFN

#1 IVF: started early April 2009

ER: April 15, retrieved 12 eggs, 7 mature, 6 made it to day 3 ICSI
ET: April 18, transferred 2 grade-1 8-cells ICSI embryos and frozen 4 grade 1 8-cells embryos

Beta #1: May 1, 13dp3dt, HCG 14, progesterone 33; but AF on same day
Beta #2: May 4, 16dp3dt, HCG 73, progesterone 3 ( i stopped Crinone May 1)
Beta #3: May 8, 20dp3dt, HCG 443, progesterone 31 ( re-start Crinone  on 7)
May 9: Bleeding again for one day
Beta #4: May 11, 23dp3dt, HCG 1300, progesterone 33
Beta #5: May 13, 25dp3dt, HCG 2333, progesterone 51
Ultrasound #1: May 13, seeing something (sac?) in my uterus
Beta #6: May 15, 27dp3dt, HCG 3729. m/c same day

I have 4 3-day-ICSI frozen embryos in 4 straws
1. 8 cells, Grade 1
2. 8 cells, Grade 2
3. 4 cells, Grade 1
4. 8-10 cells, Grade 2

#1 FET: Aug 1 2009, transfer 1 7cells embryo
Beta 1: Aug 14 – BFN

Waiting for AF to come to start a new FET