December 2013/January 2014 Cycle Group

[Hope22]

Hi everyone. Its so great to be able to relate to so many of you. Glad you all are having successful ERs. My ohss is finally gone. My estrogen levels went up to 10,000. I had to go on Lovenox to prevent blood clots until I finally got my period. It was such a painful and uncomfortable experience. Thanks to pcos, 50 eggs were retrieved. At least its good for something. 35 fertilized and I froze most of them and tested 13. 6 came back good. I had to do the testing because ive had multiple genetic losses. I'll probably start the meds for the transfer in Jan after my next period. In the mean time I'm going to relax and enjoy the holidays. Is anyone finding out the gender? My dr has the info from the genetic testing. I can find out and choose what to transfer. Not sure if ill ask yet or not.

[mommyoneday]

Hopeful, how did it go today? I've been thinking about you all day!

Hi Hope! It sounds like all of us have been experiencing a pretty similar adventure. I'm really glad to hear that your doctor was able to control the cycle, you got so much out of it!, and you are feeling better now. You PGDed 13 embryos and just froze the rest? How many do you have frozen in total?

Personally, I did want to know the gender of all of my "good" embryos so that I at least know what I have. My husband doesn't want to know which gender we end up transferring so I'm going to ask the lab to flip a coin or randomly choose, but at least then I get to know what the baby is as soon as I get pregnant!!

[Hope22]

Hi Mommyoneday. Yes, I only PGDed 13 and got 6 good ones. Im paying out of pocket for everything so I have to be frugal. Did you test all of yours? Did you freeze any? I have about 25 grade A frozen. I pray I'll never have to unfreeze them and something will happen with the 6 I have now. I don't think I can handle any more miscarriages. I've had 3 this past year. But this is the first time I'm doing IVF and the PGD so I'm hopeful. I think I'm going to find out the gender too and pick 2 girls. My doc will only transfer two at a time. Does your doc have a limit too? When are you doing the transfer. I have no idea what to expect for this round of meds. Apparently it's a month of more meds then the transfer.

[mommyoneday]

Those are really amazing numbers! It's a really nice feeling that you already (hopefully) have all of the embryos you need for your whole family and then some!

I got almost 30 on day 5 and PGDed all of them. I'm paying out of pocket too (which is super painful), but my lab didn't charge me more to PGD all than it would have been to PGD some (its more of a flat rate when you have to do single gene testing also).
I'm jealous that you get to use 2! My RE will only transfer 1 at a time. I really want a girl also. I can't really explain why. I mean, I hope I eventually have both genders, but I really want a girl first.

I'm really sorry to hear about your miscarriages. That must be absolutely devastating. Were they all early term so they assume the miscarriages were all due to chromosomal abnormalities? I'm really glad you'll get to use two perfect embryos and praying that this time you'll end up with two perfect baby girls!

I'm finding out next week if I can start prepping for a January transfer so we might actually be on the same schedule. I've never done this before, but I hear that FETs are easier.

[Hope22]

Wow, thats great that it is a flat fee. I paid about 6,000 to test 8 and then 250 for each additional. My miscarriages were around 10 weeks and we were able to test the embryos and determined it was a genetic issue. My husband and I were both tested and we are fine. Guess its just the luck of the draw. I recently just read that RE are now only transferring one if pgd is done because the chances of putting 2 back without pgd is about the same as putting one back with pgd. Hopefully, that should ease your mind a bit about your chances. Guess my RE missed that memo. lol How many good embryos did you get from the 30? Did you have miscarriages too? Why did they recommended pgd for you? I hope 2014 is our year and we will be trying to choose girls names very soon!

[mommyoneday]

I have 13 good embryos. No past miscarriages. I've never been pregnant. (My body can't even get to that stage by itself!) And wow, you are much better than I am! I already have a girl's name all picked out!

And that's insane! $6,000 for only 8 embryos! Mine wasn't exactly flat-fee, but close enough. I got 20 embryos for $7,000, but they were willing to test the single-gene first so that I would only have to pay if they tested more than 20 for chromosomal abnormalities, but fewer than 20 made it that far.

[hopeful25]

Mommyoneday, that's great news!! I love happy news.

I had my retrieval last Thursday, retrieved 18 eggs, 15 were mature, 11 fertilized and are now frozen!! I'm happy, I was hoping for more embryos, but 11 is better than nothing. My FET is scheduled for the last week in January. I've been dealing with some crappy OHSS symptoms, bloating, cramping, just general discomfort. I'm hoping it gets better soon. I wish it was January already!

[mommyoneday]

Hopeful, thats fantastic! That's a super high percentage! I'm so happy for you! Ok, I've been stalking this board obsessively since Thursday and was so nervous when I didn't hear anything from you. I'm so glad you were just busy resting from a really successful retrieval.

How come they froze them already? Were they day 3 freezes?

And good luck for January! I know how you feel. The waiting feels so long! But at least now you get to know that you have little babies waiting for you in the freezer.

[hopeful25]

Hope and Mommyoneday, when did they freeze your embryos? And did they explain why they froze them on that day?

The embryologist at my clinic froze them the day after retrieval, as soon as the egg and sperm attached. He said this gave them the highest chance for survival in thawing. Do you guys have any experience in this? Of course when he told me this the morning of the retrieval, I just said OK, and didn't ask any questions. I was so nervous about the whole process and so upset that I had to freeze them all that I could barely concentrate. I tried looking up the best time to freeze embryos, and I can't find anything to support what he did. Now I'm all worried and I'm not sure whether I should call the clinic, but then again what's the point if they are already frozen!

Also, when did your symptoms of OHSS start to go away? This bloating is ridiculous, I don't fit into any of my clothes and I'm embarassed to go to work because I look pregnant and I'm not! I took the ovidrel last Tuesday, so it's been a week today and I've pretty much been living in sweatpants since then.

That's great that you both did PGD, I didn't realize it was so expensive! Are you guys also paying for IVF out of pocket? I tried really hard to get our insurance to cover at least a portion of it, but they refused.

Honestly, IVF is so emotionally and physically draining, you women are all so brave. I'm so glad to have people to talk to on here.

[mommyoneday]

Hopeful, You are doing a fantastic job! Please realize that where you are right now is the hardest. The eggs are out of you and there is no longer any "benefit" to feeling like crap AND you now how to wait 6-8 weeks before you can try a transfer. Please don't beat yourself up. You just went through hell for your little baby embryos and really did awesome.

Everyone freezes at different stages. I've heard of freezing before fertilization (definitely a less than optimal option), 1 day post fertilization, at 3 days, 5 days, and 6 days. I assume every clinic and doctor has their own formula for when they think it is best. This science is too new for anyone to really know when is best as the differences are probably so slight so long as the lab freezes them appropriately (which I'm sure they did!!). They gave you a reason for what they were doing and why. I wouldn't be concerned.

Also, you are super lucky that you did not need to PGD your embryos. That just means you and your husband are healthy and awesome! PGD can only be effectively performed on embryos that are at least 3 days old and they recommend using 5-day old embryos because it gives more accurate results and makes it less likely that the the embryo will be injured by having a cell cut out for testing. So Hope and I didn't even have the option for freezing our embryos as early as you did yours. No need to worry!

Embryos can be transferred back into your body at different stages too. They can transfer a day-2 embryo, day-3, day-5, or day-6. The longer they "grow" the embryo out of your body, the more they know about its viability and quality before they insert it into your uterus. But, this comes at a price. Embryos are not supposed to live outside of us. Your doctor may feel you present a really good candidate for a day-2 or day-3 embryo because your natural cycles are good and feels that the embryos will do better dividing inside your uterus instead of in a petri-dish for a few days before they can implant around day 5-6.

Re OHHS - I was very lucky. I didn't get a hCG trigger. That is supposed to be hell and have been told that it takes a couple of weeks for it to all go away. Personally, I thought all of the symptoms got a lot worse about 5-days to a week after retrieval. Your progesterone level skyrockets and everything gets unbelievably sore - even just wearing a bra made me cry, but not wearing one was even worse! The cramping gets really bad too. The upside is - take pain medication! Nothing you do can hurt your eggs or embryos! They are safely stored away. Just take care of yourself.

Unfortunately, the bloating goes down slowly and there is really nothing to do about it. Just stay away from water and only drink electrolyte-filled drinks (gatorade, powerade, etc.). I tried to hide it a bit with loose-fitting clothes and sweatshirts (particularly when I had to see my in-laws on Thanksgiving, but they've already been told to never ask me if I'm pregnant), but at the end of the day, let everyone think what they want. You did the most amazing thing for your family and one day people will see your tummy bulge and it WILL be because you are pregnant!

Insurance is horrible (at least in the US where it sounds like you are from also) and IVF is just hell. I don't think I've done one productive thing outside of IVF in the last three months. It'll hopefully be over pretty soon for all of us.

[hopeful25]

Mommyoneday,

It's so helpful to read what you have to say. Thanks for all you said about the different freezing scenarios, that made me feel so much better. I'm just hopeful everything works out for all of us.

IVF is crazy. I haven't done anything productive since we found out my infertility problems in September...thankfully I'm a Realtor so my schedule is extremely flexible. I went into the office yesterday and someone asked me if I was pregnant, that was so upsetting! We are doing it in the USA, Pennsylvania to be exact and insurance does suck! Have you started your bcp? I'm nervous and excited and think about this frozen transfer all the time.

Happy Holidays to you guys!!

[mommyoneday]

Hi Hopeful,

I'm glad my incessant and neurotic researching could be helpful. I'm glad you have the flexibility at work to give yourself a break during all of this. It seems like this whole "not being able to function or do think of anyone but IVF" during this process is standard. Crappy, but standard.

I've been on bcp since my first period after my retrieval. This should be my last week on it and then I'm supposed to start hormones to build up my lining. I'm kinda annoyed. My RE ended up pushing back my scheduled transfer date by 2 weeks and that is now the earliest date that I'll be able to transfer - assuming my lining grows correctly. She thinks I'm nuts that 2 weeks is bothering me so much. I just can't take the waiting anymore. I think the worst part of all of this is the waiting. But I still have one cyst left and she won't do anything until its all gone.

I'm a huge fan of Pennsylvania, particularly Philly. The people are so much nicer and its beautiful. I just wish it weren't so cold. My husband is the most typical west coast boy. He puts on the heat when it drops to 60 degrees.

[Hope22]

Hi Ladies! Sorry I haven't responded in a while. Things have been crazy getting ready for the holidays. Hopeful- I don't know if there's much left to say after mommyoneday's response. That was very very thorough. I learned something too! Lol. My Ohss lasted about 5 days. I was taking dostinex to bring down my estrogen levels. The worst part was the shortness of breath. It was pretty scary. I hope you're feeling better. I just took my last bcp last night. So round two should start very soon. I have no idea what to expect because this is my first IVF. I know what you guys mean about not being able to do anything productive. Everything i do feels like a chore because I feel like my mind is so full already. So glad to hear I'm not the only one. I have some creative projects I plan on doing to keep myself from obsessing. Hopefully, that will work.

[mommyoneday]

Took my first estrogen pill today! I'll keep you guys posted. Hope, sounds like you should be starting the same in a day or two.

[Hope22]

That's awesome Mommyoneday!! I started bcp again today. I have to take it for 2 weeks then lupron, then estrogen then progesterone. Keep us posted.