Should I keep trying

[Samara1]

Hi All,

history:

me = 34 (close to 35) - endometriosis, removed via lap April 06, one pregnancy in may 06 ended in miscarriage @ six weeks.
DH = 30 (great sperm count, mot, phys etc)

First IVF cycle - 10 follies, 6 mature eggs, 4 fertilised, only 2 x 2 cell embyros @ day 2.

1 transferred (bfn) - only 2 cell at transfer, no fragmentation, looked fine etc.
1 frozen - still only 2 cell @ day 2, grade 3.

Dr wants to proceed with FET this cycle - gives me a 5% chance.

My left ovary basically produced nothing. My Dr is going to increase my stims for the next stim cycle and seems to think that the first result is not predictive of the next.

I kind of feel like I may be beating a dead horse (or in this case a dead ovary).

Question:

Could I realisticaly expect better eggs, and therefore better embryos with increased stims? Or should I keep my expecation dial pointed to "low"

thanks....

[patie]

Hello Samara

well my advise to you... never give up! try the FET and if it worked then super! if not then you go on to the next fresh cycle and you should get a better result with higher protocol...

my body reacted differently with every cycle... so seriously Dont give up!!always be positive...
( i am not a very positive example as i have 5 bfn behind me....) but I am planning for the 6th cycle...

good luck lady....tons of hugs. btw i like ur name, is it arabic???

[Samara1]

Thanks Patie...

I don't want to give up if I there is a chance, but I also don't want to become so focused on acheiving an unlikely pregnancy that I forget to enjoy living my life. Does that make sense???

Samara is actually the name of a child I used to sponsor through world vision. She lives in Brazil. I sponsored her for about 5 years, but the program in her area was completed last year so they switched me to a new child in Nicaragua. I was quite sad, we wrote to each other for so long, I really miss hearing from her.

eta: Good luck for your next cycle...if third time is lucky, than number six must be doubly lucky!

[patie]

Hey Samara

Well DH had a long time about our options and whether we need to forget about it and just move on and live our life w/o a hope... so we both planned it... he will get his boat and i will get the porsche

however i think its too soon to let go... and in our case we can't adopt we can only sponsor...(regulation stuff)

and u know he told me today about his friend who apparently had 7 failed IVF and then after all that they had 5 lovely and healthy girls all naturally.... Imagine...

well I am sure Samara is a very lucky girl... and i hope you will get to talk to her soon!!

hugs

[sassynlv]

Samara: each of my cycles have been quite different. My worst response was on #1, then i had a better fert rate on #2 (higher doses), then with a complete protocol change for #3, my #s improved significantly. the results from your #1 cycle do not necessarily mean the same will happen the next time, especially as your RE is planning changes. A good RE learns from each cycle... how your body reacts, etc.

I don't want to give up if I there is a chance, but I also don't want to become so focused on acheiving an unlikely pregnancy that I forget to enjoy living my life. Does that make sense???

Yep, makes sense. I understand your timidity regarding getting your hopes up. I struggle each cycle (and find myself in this again as i am starting stims again next wk) to find for me a positive, yet realistic attitude. To find a balance so that ivf does not take over my life (only occasionally do i feel that i am successful ). I work on "hoping for the best and preparing for the worst". Many, many women here have gone on to get preg after a failed #1 IVF. Good luck to you!!!!

[FionaA]

Hi Samara

I have to agree with what Sassy said. There are many many women that get preg after more than one go on IVF - I'm certainly hoping to be one of them! And certainly with each go your doctors should know a bit more about the way your body ticks and what protocol may work for you.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Fee

[Samara1]

Thanks all. My hubby wants to keep trying, I will definitly go another stim cycle but will make a decision about a third based on the next set of results.

Appreciate your responses.

[wendy30]

Hi Samara

My medical history is a bit like yours, endo, fluid in the tubes, m/c at 6 weeks. No problems with DH sperm.

IVF worked for us on our 8th cycle, currently 18 weeks pregnant. We had 5 full cycles & 3 frozen. I'm pregnant from a full cycle blastocyst transfer.

Plenty of times I'd thought about giving up, only you can decide exactlyhow much of this you can take, DH always kept me calm and helped put things in prespective when it all got too much. The only way I could carry on was timing the ivf round my holidays abroad, I think I booked a holiday every time it didn't work just so I could feel my life was still a bit normal. I also had some Reiki this time and this was the most chilled cycle I've ever had.

I agree with Sassy that doctors learn from you with each negative result, our treatment kept changing slightly.

I really hope it works out for you all.

Wendy x

[Samara1]

Thanks Wendy, I really appreciate your response.

Can I ask if your egg count and embryo quality improved with subsequent cycles? I am worried that as my embryos did not make it to 4 cells that this will mean that future embryos will be poor quality as well.

[wendy30]

Hi Samara

Both the egg count and quality varied with each cycle, but ours were never too bad.

One of my friends has just had a little girl after her 3rd ivf cycle, she had problems with the count and quality, her 2nd cycle didn't get any viable embryos but she got enough for some frozen on her 3rd.

I think there are supplements you can take to help improve quality.

Wendy x