new to the forum and first failure :(

[kf]

I've just completed my 1st cycle of IVF - they retrieved 3 eggs yesterday but they called this morning to say 1 was abnormal and the other 2 had failed to fertilize.

I feel so down about this - even though I know it's just my first go and I hadn't been hoping for success really. I've got very bad endometriosis and so they are unable to collect from one of my ovaries, plus the buselerin caused a big cyst on my 'good' ovary. I'm wondering whether this would have caused poor quality eggs?

Anyway - even though it's sad reading many of the posts here there is also lots of happy news that gives me hope! It's nice to know there are other people out there having the same issues.

[Sand]

Hi Kf .. Welcome to the Site. Glad you've found us !

I'm so sorry to hear your news. You've every right to feel down. You've been through so much over the past fews weeks/months, for it just to be snatched away from you.

I know it's early days, and maybe you haven't yet decided if you will go for another cycle. If you do decide to, the good news is that your clinic will have learnt a lot from this first cycle, and may be able to medicate you slightly differently to try to improve the outcome of a future cycle. Also, be reassured that no 2 cycles are the same - the outcomes can be quite different for no apparent reason.

I'm no doctor, but I don't think the cyst has caused the poor quality eggs. I think the cyst is simply a follicle from a previous monthly cycle, which has grown, instead of being reabsorbed by your body.

Has your clinic offered you any explanation or advice ? Have you a follow up consultation booked to discuss what happened / the way forward ?

Sandra x

[kf]

The clinic called again yesterday and there had been no progress with the eggs.

I have severe endometriosis, which meant that EC was very difficult and had to be done under general anaesthetic.

The doctor who has been looking after me said that she would recommend against us trying again as it was likely that the quality of the eggs would be poor a second time. They put me on 300u of puregon and I only produced 8 follicles, 3 of which they were able to collect.

She also said that because of the difficulties of EC that try again may risk my health.

I'm just devastated - even though I knew it would be difficult to conceive I truly thought that ivf would eventually give us a baby. Being told that this is not the answer for us after only one go was hard to hear. Made even worse by the fact that I was at work and this conversation was on the phone!

We have an appt with the consultant in a couple of weeks time to review where to go next. I did ask whether I would be suitable to receive a donor egg (my sister has offered to do this for us). The doctor said this might be possible but wasn't sure whether my endo would prevent me maintaining a pregnancy.

I'm 34 and my husband 37 so kind of feel like I am running out of time. I guess we just have to wait and see what the consultant says

I hope everyone else has a better day and better luck

K.

[hinak]

kf,

I am so sorry about what you are going through,have you considered going to another clinic and what they have to say??remember all docs are different,its worth getting a 2nd opinion from a top consultant.If you are in uk then i hear there is a list which would tell you the clinic with the highest success rates,why dont you consult them??
Hope it works out for you.
goodluck and dont worry please
Hina

[DeniseM]

Hi K..

Sorry to hear of the situation you are going through. I found this site when I was down in the dumps too.

Is it possible to explore the option of donor eggs anyways? I would hate to think that if there was an option, your doc's opinion stopped you from trying at all.

Good luck with your decisions.

[ogr1]

my heart goes out to you and your dh..

this is awful news to get let alone at work..

that is great news though that your sister is willing to donate for you..

there has been women on here that have had children that have had endometriosis.. so you hang in there..


see you on the gen forum..

and i am glad that you have found this forum.. there are so many great women here.

[trisshawne]

kf,
I am sorry that you are going through this. I am right there with you I had my first round of ivf and it was a failure also. I had 15 follicles so they were able to retrieve 12 eggs. Only 4 fertilized and none of them developed to the 6-8 cell range. I had one that developed to four cells that they are going to watch. I do not understand what happened. I have never had a fertility problem before. I am 34 and had a tl and a reversal that also didn't work so we moved on to ivf. Does anyone know any ways to improve egg quality? My doc is trying to get me into some sort of clinical trial so next ivf cycle will hopefully be cheaper but I am worried that the same thing will happen. trish

[Sand]

According to Zita West's "Fertility and Conception", there are several areas to think about concerning egg quality. The book is well worth the £15.

The main areas are to eat plenty of protein, vits and minerals and Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)

Sandra x

[k]

Hi

Trisshawne - I also had 12 eggs collected and only 4 fertilised. (We had half IVF and half ICSI and none of the IVF fertilised). We were using sperm which had been frozen prior to my DH having chemotherapy and they were surprised when none of the IVF fertilised because they said it was of good quality. However, they didnt even mention the possibility of it been due to my egg quality. Did you have IVF or ICSI?
They did a 2 day transfer with 2 embryos which they said were 3 cell but didnt say anything else about grade or quality. I am now 9 and 1\2 wks pregnant with 1.
Did they say it was definatly your egg quality that caused the problem? I know there are sometimes explanations for why fertilisation doesnt occur, but sometimes there are no answers for why it doesnt happen.
Good luck with your future treatments
Love Kim

[trisshawne]

sand and k,
i will have to try and order this book by zita west. i do not know if they sell it here in america but i will look. i will need to get it right away next round starts in august. i also had to have icsi because we couldn't get a sample on day of transfer due to dh severly spraining his ankle a few hours before transfer. the doc thinks that it has to be due to poor eggs because there was nothing wrong with dh sperm. he also thought that something must be wrong with me because i had a prettty aggressive med protocol but only produced 15 follicles. md says that for a 34 year old there would usually be at least 20. i must have a dominant ovary also because the left side produced twice as many as the right. i was thinking about doing acupucture and chinese meds has anyone had success with these. K congrats on your pregnancy. trish

[k]

Hi Trish

I also had a dominant ovary. The L one had produced 14 follicles, the R one 3(!).They got all 12 eggs from my left one. It was too difficult\painful on the right so they left it alone in the end.
I had acupuncture weekly for approx 1 month leading up to ET and twice on the day of ET, before and after. Im convinced it improved my chances of the embryo attaching. (It is surposed to make the uterus more receptive to an embryo). There has been research done in Germany and the USA which have shown that it improves your chances. If nothing else, it certainly relaxed me anyway and that can only be a good thing when going through IVF!
Anyway, it only takes 1 embryo doesnt it and at 3 cells mine obviously were not top grade ones, but it worked!
Good luck!
Love Kim

[trisshawne]

k,
thank you for the encouragment. i did find zita west's book and i am having it shipped asap. wow i am really impressed that you had a 3 cell that went on to become a baby. that is trully a blessing from God. i went to the doc today for follow up and to see if my four cell embie was still growing and it wasn't and the two cell embies only remained two cell and were fragmented. thank you guys for all of the advice. i am doing whatever it takes on my end to help things along. the rest is in God's hands.