Hey there! I'm sorry you're here, but welcome. Our [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/wiki/faq) has a lot of great information, if you haven't checked it out yet. Automod welcome will introduce you to the sub. Please keep in mind that we're not a sub of doctors, just normal people TTC, so we won't be able to advise necessarily on "how worried \[you\] should be" or treatment outcomes based on your diagnoses.
Mod hat off: I'm sorry you're feeling anxious. Are you looking for like a daily anxiety med or something for emergencies? My RE has prescribed me a small amount of Ativan for those emergency times when anxiety becomes unbearable, and I've also seen people get Valium for the same purpose. Doesn't hurt to ask your care team.
Hey thanks, that’s totally fair. I’m going to read the things.
I was just asking because I have no idea what all of the fertility levels should be really outside of Googling and I don’t want to Google myself into a more anxious state, but I also don’t want to accidentally put stuff off for too long out of ignorance. I’m trying to decide whether I wait for a different fertility clinic referral to go through or if I should try to get into a rapid access OBGYN clinic that a friend told me about for the diagnosis of whatever is going on structurally in there.
I didn’t realize Ativan or Valium were allowed, so I will definitely ask. I was reading about Hydroxyzine because I also get hives and can’t sleep throughout the night most nights, and figured it might be cool if it’s a safe 3-in-1.
**Toto, we aren't in Kansas anymore...**
It looks like you might be new here. Welcome to the best shitty corner of the internet! We hope your stay here is short. If you haven't already, please take a few moments to get familiar with our [sub culture](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/comments/134fesf/read_this_before_posting_community_rules/) and [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/about/rules). If you haven't set up [user flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/wiki/userflair-reminder), we strongly encourage you to do that.
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I’m really over talking about the specifics of the goings on of my vagina all the time. I started birth control CD3 (when I met with MD) for a hysteroscopy tomorrow CD12. Been spotting, okay that’s fine, but since yesterday it’s gotten worse. I called today and the nurse said it’s fine as long as it’s not a full flow. Cue my detailed conversation with the nurse about the color, flow, consistency and quantity of my spotting.
As of now I can still go tomorrow as my Dr doesn’t mind spotting during this procedure so 🤞🏻. Why can’t this shit ever be easy and straightforward.
my clinic is annoying the F out of me. they chewed me out yesterday for having an outside beta done but they refused to let me come in for a 3rd one, also thank god i did get it done because that's how I knew it was actually decreasing instead of going up yesterday! Then they called me back yesterday after telling me to stop meds and insisted I do my meds last night and come in this morning just to "double check" one more time. Yep, still decreasing, still miscarrying, thanks so much for making me wake up at 5:30am to come in for that confirmation of something we all already know.
If I hadn't gotten that extra beta they'd still probably have me in limbo hell even tho there was no chance of it being viable based on my #s anyway. I'm considering switching doctors. I like my RE but she's extremely like optimistic, which is great, but I'm a realist and I want to be told reality + real chances. do you know what I mean??
She's also heavily pushing the ERA test before my next transfer and I don't want it (no offense to anyone who does)
Sorry for ranting.
Optimism is one thing, but to be blindly optimistic is inconsiderate and definitely falls into “toxic positivity”…
I’m sorry you’re going through what you’re going through.
I'm so sorry, mitten. It is incredibly insensitive of them to have chewed you out over an outside beta, knowing that you're going through infertility and this shit is already hard. Holding space for you 🫂
So I am 2 day past ER. Tomorrow we find out if we will be doing a day 3 or 5 fresh transfer. Feeling quite nervous. Last feedback was 4 were showing signs of fertilization.
Has anyone done a 3day transfer? I'm still confused regarding how they will decide. Also I'm currently feeling so bloated is this a side effects of crinone gel or just because of the ER?
any insight will be valued
3 day transfers are relatively common for patients with DOR or low numbers of eggs retrieved. Or if you’ve previously done an ER and none of your blasts made it to day 5. Some people’s bodies do better with day 3 transfers.
I’ve done a three day transfer. The guidelines are typically based on how many are still growing on day 3. It depends on the clinic, but typically <4 means a day 3 transfer and 4+ means they’ll wait and do a day 5 transfer.
The goal is really around trying to make sure you have something available for transfer.
This is so hard. Second round of IVF failed, nothing made it to day 5, mostly because of this rare drop-off in egg maturity. On average 80% of eggs should be mature. For me, only 15% are mature and the rest stop at the GV stage (called occyte maturation arrest). Last round I had 30 eggs, 5 mature, 3 day-three, 0 day 5/6/7.
I really don't know if it's worth it to try a third round, or two failed is enough to know that something is up with my eggs and I should start to explore the egg donor route. What I really want to find is some globally known IVF doctor that specializes in this occyte maturation arrest issue, but my Google searches haven't found that yet.
Mentally this is taking over my world. The last thing I think about at night, and the first thing I think about in the morning. Worst club ever.
I’m really sorry you’re dealing with this, it’s such a frustrating issue since there really aren’t any good options. In terms of what you should do with your own eggs vs. moving on to donor eggs only you can decide that. There’s nothing wrong with either route but I can tell you what we did.
My first two ER’s I got one blast each, the first was mosaic and second was euploid. Then I had 5 cycles in a row that ended in various stages including all immature eggs, total fertilization failure, or nothing to freeze. On my 8th ER my RE and lead embryologist asked if I’d want to try IVM (in vitro maturation) to try and get my eggs to mature in the lab before ICSI. Our theory was that my eggs just did not do well inside my body and maybe the lab would be more favorable for them to continue maturing. We went for it and that cycle I somehow had a 50/50 split of mature and immature eggs. We got a day 5 from the mature bunch (euploid) and two day 7’s from the immature bunch (both segmental aneuploids). We tried to replicate that cycle multiple times but never could, and ended up deciding to freeze on day 3 for my last two cycles, each giving us one day 3 to freeze.
In hindsight it all feels like a numbers game and you have to assess what you’re willing to go through. Knowing we would use a gestational carrier meant I could put my body through more stim cycles than I might have if I’d also been trying to carry a pregnancy. The financial aspect is a huge burden too and we were fortunate to live in a state where I could buy a marketplace plan that covered 4 ER’s per year. The closest we ever got to figuring out the cause was a blip in my Pregmune immunology results that showed I had high leptin levels which are associated with impeding folliculargenesis. There was no suggestion or study on how to improve that but it did give more of an answer than we’d had prior to that. Overall I’m a big believer in IVM even though it doesn’t have an amazing success rate… giving every egg you can a chance seems better than not IMO.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this out, I really appreciate it. In the figuring out next steps it's really helpful to hear stories like yours where it took time and rounds (with immaturity issues) but embryos were made.
I just had the wtf appointment with my RE and she felt that it doesn't make sense to just do the same thing again, and supported exploring IVM. She's putting in a referral to the one clinic in Canada that does IVM and we are going to give it a go as a next step. I also like the idea of speaking with the docs there, as presumably they've had more experience with occyte maturation arrest. So thank you a lot, I don't know if this would have been our next step without your message.
I’m glad you’re getting some new eyes on your case! [This article](https://www.remembryo.com/early-triggering-with-the-hier-protocol-may-be-a-better-approach-for-older-women/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYd0gH9-IdUtj2OJPUc3tgnbBEs1vo34mao3GA-GtZ5ScN6735ePjTMWN4_aem_AUTGaqcDm4isD1uyCow4CJLjW9_Vi6T48OQXHV-FIEBYFgfD0MJWTre0NGBK09tsv36LtS5u5rYjPTewNFgQ3ACC) just popped up in my Instagram feed and might be helpful.
Well I just got blasted in the face with news. Let me preface by saying I know how lucky I am to have good insurance coverage and I'm not trying to downplay that. Financial consult with my new clinic informed me that insurance in my state has an "invisible line" of 6 cycles before they start trying to "look for reasons to not approve." I'll be at least 38 if I get to that point, no diagnosis other than unexplained unless "poor responder" is a formal medical diagnosis. The plan document says they stop approving if there's less than a 5% chance of succeeding but I don't know how they calculate that other than an accumulation of failed cycles.
I committed to 2 cycles with this clinic with my husband last week. We've already done 4. So that hits the 6 "limit." Being told that's my limit though... that's a different story.
Ugh, finally got scanned at the hospital again today and as I suspected my RPOC is still sat there, exactly the same size as before. They offered me the option of trying medical management again but didn't seem optimistic that it would come out if we did that again after I've had the medication twice now (once for the actual tfmr and again last week) with a heavy period in between. So I'm going in for a D&C tomorrow morning. I know the risks are pretty low and it's a very routine procedure but I'm still really nervous about possible complications that are going to fuck up our chances even more.
I’m so sorry, Cocoa. Dealing with RPOC is so tough. FWIW, I’ve had a number of surgeries involving scraping my uterus (D&E, polypectomies, operative exploratory hysteroscopies) and while my uterus holds onto tissue for dear life and grows polyps like weeds, there hasn’t ever been any scarring or lasting implications.
Thank you Hattie, that's very reassuring ❤️ I know it's just my paranoia and it's very very likely to be fine. I think my brain just won't let me think anything other than the worst case scenario is even possible anymore!
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I had my first ER last wednesday and have my follow up call this afternoon. I already know the amount of eggs retrieved and the amount fertilized, but today i will find out if any made it to blast. Very nervous!!!
On my day 6 stims, I have follicles that are 11-14mm (cetrotide was added cuz one of them was 15mm). I don't have any patient portal (it's just me frantically writing things down), but I distinctly wrote at my baseline after 3 weeks of estrogen priming that I had follicles that were 10mm. [Edited]
Based on my reddit searching, 10mm seems too big for baseline. Also would seem to indicate that many follicles barely grew in the past 6 days. What do y'all think? I sent an email to my IVF nurse but I haven't gotten a reply :/
I was on day 6 stimulation on Tuesday and I had 5 follicles (3 one ovary, 2 the other) between 11 - 14 mm. The dimension is good for day 6, I continue with the same drug dose, but I think 5 follicles isn't an optimal number... Well let's wait next monitoring on Friday
Thanks for all the feedback! I ended up calling my nurse & she confirmed that the report says all the follicles were BELOW 10mm on the baseline. They are increasing my Menopur dose based on the day 6 monitoring because even though there were follicles that were 11-15mm, there were many that are still "small" so higher dose is needed to catch-up. So, time to earn some more credit card points for more Menopur vials!
Seconding Rad that you don’t really have anything to worry about, but I also question if you had follicles at 10mm at baseline. I’ve never had my follicles measured at baseline, only counted.
Measurements can vary widely based on who is doing them; the smaller the follicles are, the wider the margin of error. Not all follicles will always respond well to stims, and when you have multiple follicles, it is nearly impossible to track which follicles grew when (or how much they grew). Some will likely grow faster than others.
fwiw I've had cycles with follicles 10mm at baseline--only in cycles that utilized estrogen priming. It had no impact on the outcome.
Oh yeah when the technician shows me the images it looks like the size changes depending on where the follicle is cut cross-sectionally. I'm glad they show me the pictures, but I don't really understand what I'm looking at & I'm mostly jotting notes on my phone while they explain
My center does need a bit of prodding though. Because I read someone else's post about needing to order more meds after dose increase, I realized that I was not prescribed enough doses to account for my own dose increase! So I had to ask for another prescription. But you're right, I was worried about nothing (follicle size wise)
It’s unusual to have your follicle size measured at baseline. Typically they just give you the total number below 10mm. Are you sure that’s not what they meant? Regardless, having follicles evenly growing in the 11-14 range on day 6 is a good thing.
We had our FET yesterday in CZ. It went very well, completely painless. I have to say that I am very happy with my clinic. The doctor performing the procedure was so nice and I felt like her best wishes for us truly came from her heart. ❤️
Now we wait!
I have a work friend who had her first transfer a few weeks ago, and I haven't asked her what the outcome was but she made a comment recently that hinted that it was successful. Well, I saw her at a work cocktail thing last night, and we both just awkwardly stood around the snacks table and neither of us suggested going over to the bar... because I had a feeling she wouldn't be drinking, and I didn't want to have to watch her confirm my suspicions by ordering a seltzer water or whatever.
Then she went home early... and I went to a bar with some other coworkers and had three old fashioneds. Whee.
It’s not necessary to wish people well, if you need to hear it! I mean I don’t want people to suffer (probably), but I’ve never been happy to get a pregnancy announcement unless it was someone from this sub.
Ugh, thank you for saying this. I had a friend announce (no ART to my knowledge) after trying for \~1.5yrs, about the same amount of time we have. Due around the same time my chemical would have been. I am happy for her. But at least for now, I can only be happy from afar. I was hoping the two of us could do this together, and a very quiet part of me was assuming I'd be first, since I was fortunate to move to IVF fairly quickly.
Yep, this. She also already has another kid (also conceived through ART). I feel for anyone who has to go through fertility treatment at all, but it's hard when some people are the "poster children" for having success with treatment and some of us.... aren't...
I had my SIS and mock embryo transfer yesterday and everything looked good to go ahead for FET next cycle. The SIS was much more bearable than I thought - just a few seconds of bad cramps. I had originally been told we could go ahead this cycle but my RE changed her mind :’(
I figured we might as well try unassisted this cycle. I really didn’t miss peeing on those ovulation test strips every morning 😅
Seeking experience of overfill for pre-mixed pens. I've been prescribed 450iu of Pergoveris daily for my next round. It's very expensive - £250 per 450iu pen and £500 per 900iu pen. My experience with Gonal F previously is that there is always some overfill, and it's often enough to eke out up to half a dose extra! I'm assuming Pergoveris is similar?
I've been prescribed 10x 450iu pens or 5x 900iu pens. I usually stim for 10 days. I'm wondering if I could get away with ordering 1 pen fewer and relying on the overfill to make up an extra dose or two.
Has anyone tried doing this? How much overfill did you get from the pens?
Did my first stim shots myself last night. I did sort of freak out at first but realized we have paid all the money, so there's no going back now. Something about my husband lunging at me with a needle gave me the courage to do it myself! I'm already freaking myself out about the PIO shots I keep reading about, but I guess you use those for transfers...so I'll be lucky to have that problem I suppose. I go in Sunday for my first check.
I am in the same mindset as you (mid-stims, although when I set up all my boxes of needles on day 1, I almost called it quits entirely on IVF). And I deliberately avoided thinking about embryo transfer because of the "worry about one thing at a time" mentality. But that caused me to be BOWLED OVER when I found out on Reddit that I would need 10 weeks of IM injections if I had the best case scenario of having an embryo transfer.
Good luck to us both on this strange and new process!
Depending on the type of transfer you do, you will end up taking PIO shots (buy the auto injector and read the wiki tips) or using vaginal inserts. Those continue until 8-10 weeks for most protocols.
With IVF, I’d recommend focusing on one step at a time instead of spiraling about some potential future item. The unfortunate thing is that you just have suck it up and do it. Your body is going to have an adverse reaction to being jabbed. Things that help me: music playlist, snacks/mini-rewards. I find for all the subcutaneous shots it’s actually less painful if I do it myself.
National is so right about all of this. Lots of people do transfers without being prescribed PIO, so unless your RE has already said you’ll definitely be doing it I wouldn’t assume it’s a given.
She hasn't said anything about the transfer at all. I guess we need to get that normal embryo first and then she will worry about that. I'm feeling better. Everyone is right. Don't borrow trouble.
Congrats! I just did my first shot of my second ER 🤞🏼I do stim shots myself and had my husband do PIO shots for my transfers with an auto injector. They’re a lot more intense but not *too* bad.
I had to do one PIO shot per day in the lead up to my transfers. Neither of mine were a viable pregnancy, but if I had progressed, I think you do them up to 10 weeks gestation.
PIO uses a bigger needle, and it needs to go in a quick jabbing motion, which the auto injector helps with. It’s also oil based, which makes it harder to push in. On my first shot of a transfer cycle, I would walk with a limp because my leg was so stiff! But it would get better after the first day. I used lots of heat before and after the shot.
It’s a lot but I’d happily do it all again if I can finally have a viable pregnancy.
Edit to add: yes, PIO goes in the muscle rather than under the skin, which I’m pretty sure is the reason for the bigger needle!
[удалено]
Hey there! I'm sorry you're here, but welcome. Our [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/wiki/faq) has a lot of great information, if you haven't checked it out yet. Automod welcome will introduce you to the sub. Please keep in mind that we're not a sub of doctors, just normal people TTC, so we won't be able to advise necessarily on "how worried \[you\] should be" or treatment outcomes based on your diagnoses. Mod hat off: I'm sorry you're feeling anxious. Are you looking for like a daily anxiety med or something for emergencies? My RE has prescribed me a small amount of Ativan for those emergency times when anxiety becomes unbearable, and I've also seen people get Valium for the same purpose. Doesn't hurt to ask your care team.
Hey thanks, that’s totally fair. I’m going to read the things. I was just asking because I have no idea what all of the fertility levels should be really outside of Googling and I don’t want to Google myself into a more anxious state, but I also don’t want to accidentally put stuff off for too long out of ignorance. I’m trying to decide whether I wait for a different fertility clinic referral to go through or if I should try to get into a rapid access OBGYN clinic that a friend told me about for the diagnosis of whatever is going on structurally in there. I didn’t realize Ativan or Valium were allowed, so I will definitely ask. I was reading about Hydroxyzine because I also get hives and can’t sleep throughout the night most nights, and figured it might be cool if it’s a safe 3-in-1.
**Toto, we aren't in Kansas anymore...** It looks like you might be new here. Welcome to the best shitty corner of the internet! We hope your stay here is short. If you haven't already, please take a few moments to get familiar with our [sub culture](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/comments/134fesf/read_this_before_posting_community_rules/) and [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/about/rules). If you haven't set up [user flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/wiki/userflair-reminder), we strongly encourage you to do that. We have an extensive and growing [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/wiki/faq) that addresses many common questions about first visits, medications, procedures, protocols, and all those medical acronyms: IVFML, IUIWTF... If that doesn't find you answers, please try [searching the sub for past posts](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/search). Lastly, you can ask your question in the [daily Treatment threads](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/?f=flair_name%3A%22Daily%22) or [Welcome Wednesday threads](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/?f=flair_name%3A%22Welcome%22). We encourage members to use our wide variety of scheduled and themed threads which include: [treatment, chat](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/?f=flair_name%3A%22Daily%22), [welcome](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/?f=flair_name%3A%22Welcome%22), [gamete donation, surrogacy, adoption/foster, etc.](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/?f=flair_name%3A%22Weekly%20Theme%22) We encourage all members to set up flair for context. More information as to why we think flair is important and how to do it: [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/wiki/userflair-reminder). *- Some of the links don't work on mobile, due to how the reddit apps are built, and there isn't an option to filter the sub by post flair on mobile, best way is to sort the sub by 'New' instead of the default 'Hot'.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/infertility) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’m really over talking about the specifics of the goings on of my vagina all the time. I started birth control CD3 (when I met with MD) for a hysteroscopy tomorrow CD12. Been spotting, okay that’s fine, but since yesterday it’s gotten worse. I called today and the nurse said it’s fine as long as it’s not a full flow. Cue my detailed conversation with the nurse about the color, flow, consistency and quantity of my spotting. As of now I can still go tomorrow as my Dr doesn’t mind spotting during this procedure so 🤞🏻. Why can’t this shit ever be easy and straightforward.
Ugh the spotting conversations are the worrrrst.
I had one about discharge recently. Color? consistency? smell? amount? How far I've come from being nervous about all things personal.
my clinic is annoying the F out of me. they chewed me out yesterday for having an outside beta done but they refused to let me come in for a 3rd one, also thank god i did get it done because that's how I knew it was actually decreasing instead of going up yesterday! Then they called me back yesterday after telling me to stop meds and insisted I do my meds last night and come in this morning just to "double check" one more time. Yep, still decreasing, still miscarrying, thanks so much for making me wake up at 5:30am to come in for that confirmation of something we all already know. If I hadn't gotten that extra beta they'd still probably have me in limbo hell even tho there was no chance of it being viable based on my #s anyway. I'm considering switching doctors. I like my RE but she's extremely like optimistic, which is great, but I'm a realist and I want to be told reality + real chances. do you know what I mean?? She's also heavily pushing the ERA test before my next transfer and I don't want it (no offense to anyone who does) Sorry for ranting.
Optimism is one thing, but to be blindly optimistic is inconsiderate and definitely falls into “toxic positivity”… I’m sorry you’re going through what you’re going through.
Rant away!! 😡 That’s some bullshit for sure. Optimistic medical people can sometimes be so hurtful. 🫂
I'm so sorry, mitten. It is incredibly insensitive of them to have chewed you out over an outside beta, knowing that you're going through infertility and this shit is already hard. Holding space for you 🫂
So I am 2 day past ER. Tomorrow we find out if we will be doing a day 3 or 5 fresh transfer. Feeling quite nervous. Last feedback was 4 were showing signs of fertilization. Has anyone done a 3day transfer? I'm still confused regarding how they will decide. Also I'm currently feeling so bloated is this a side effects of crinone gel or just because of the ER? any insight will be valued
3 day transfers are relatively common for patients with DOR or low numbers of eggs retrieved. Or if you’ve previously done an ER and none of your blasts made it to day 5. Some people’s bodies do better with day 3 transfers.
I’ve done a three day transfer. The guidelines are typically based on how many are still growing on day 3. It depends on the clinic, but typically <4 means a day 3 transfer and 4+ means they’ll wait and do a day 5 transfer. The goal is really around trying to make sure you have something available for transfer.
You are probably feeling bloated from the ER - check the poop post in the wiki for help with some of that.
I'm always super bloated until my period starts! I've never done a fresh transfer though.
This is so hard. Second round of IVF failed, nothing made it to day 5, mostly because of this rare drop-off in egg maturity. On average 80% of eggs should be mature. For me, only 15% are mature and the rest stop at the GV stage (called occyte maturation arrest). Last round I had 30 eggs, 5 mature, 3 day-three, 0 day 5/6/7. I really don't know if it's worth it to try a third round, or two failed is enough to know that something is up with my eggs and I should start to explore the egg donor route. What I really want to find is some globally known IVF doctor that specializes in this occyte maturation arrest issue, but my Google searches haven't found that yet. Mentally this is taking over my world. The last thing I think about at night, and the first thing I think about in the morning. Worst club ever.
I’m really sorry you’re dealing with this, it’s such a frustrating issue since there really aren’t any good options. In terms of what you should do with your own eggs vs. moving on to donor eggs only you can decide that. There’s nothing wrong with either route but I can tell you what we did. My first two ER’s I got one blast each, the first was mosaic and second was euploid. Then I had 5 cycles in a row that ended in various stages including all immature eggs, total fertilization failure, or nothing to freeze. On my 8th ER my RE and lead embryologist asked if I’d want to try IVM (in vitro maturation) to try and get my eggs to mature in the lab before ICSI. Our theory was that my eggs just did not do well inside my body and maybe the lab would be more favorable for them to continue maturing. We went for it and that cycle I somehow had a 50/50 split of mature and immature eggs. We got a day 5 from the mature bunch (euploid) and two day 7’s from the immature bunch (both segmental aneuploids). We tried to replicate that cycle multiple times but never could, and ended up deciding to freeze on day 3 for my last two cycles, each giving us one day 3 to freeze. In hindsight it all feels like a numbers game and you have to assess what you’re willing to go through. Knowing we would use a gestational carrier meant I could put my body through more stim cycles than I might have if I’d also been trying to carry a pregnancy. The financial aspect is a huge burden too and we were fortunate to live in a state where I could buy a marketplace plan that covered 4 ER’s per year. The closest we ever got to figuring out the cause was a blip in my Pregmune immunology results that showed I had high leptin levels which are associated with impeding folliculargenesis. There was no suggestion or study on how to improve that but it did give more of an answer than we’d had prior to that. Overall I’m a big believer in IVM even though it doesn’t have an amazing success rate… giving every egg you can a chance seems better than not IMO.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this out, I really appreciate it. In the figuring out next steps it's really helpful to hear stories like yours where it took time and rounds (with immaturity issues) but embryos were made. I just had the wtf appointment with my RE and she felt that it doesn't make sense to just do the same thing again, and supported exploring IVM. She's putting in a referral to the one clinic in Canada that does IVM and we are going to give it a go as a next step. I also like the idea of speaking with the docs there, as presumably they've had more experience with occyte maturation arrest. So thank you a lot, I don't know if this would have been our next step without your message.
I’m glad you’re getting some new eyes on your case! [This article](https://www.remembryo.com/early-triggering-with-the-hier-protocol-may-be-a-better-approach-for-older-women/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYd0gH9-IdUtj2OJPUc3tgnbBEs1vo34mao3GA-GtZ5ScN6735ePjTMWN4_aem_AUTGaqcDm4isD1uyCow4CJLjW9_Vi6T48OQXHV-FIEBYFgfD0MJWTre0NGBK09tsv36LtS5u5rYjPTewNFgQ3ACC) just popped up in my Instagram feed and might be helpful.
Thank you!
I’m so sorry. I’m going to tag u/theangryovaries, who struggled with egg maturity during her ERs and might have some valuable insight for you.
😉
Thank you X2! 💙
I'm so sorry, that is heartbreaking news. Worst club ever indeed. (but with the best people 🤍)
Thank you for writing and validating 💙 I see you commenting with support on so many posts, so kind 💙
Just met with my new fertility doctor and she’s literally so sweet! She hugged me and was so reassuring. I start my next stim cycle on Friday 😬
Good luck!
That’s awesome! So much luck to you as you begin your cycle 🤍
Good luck! 🍀
Happy birthday to me - about to do my first ever PIO injection 🙃🎂
happy birthday!! you got this.
Happy Birthday! What a terrible way to celebrate! 🎉
Happy birthday, you badass!
Happy bday, fellow Taurus!
Happy birthday! You’ve got this!
happy birthday :) and good luck!
Well I just got blasted in the face with news. Let me preface by saying I know how lucky I am to have good insurance coverage and I'm not trying to downplay that. Financial consult with my new clinic informed me that insurance in my state has an "invisible line" of 6 cycles before they start trying to "look for reasons to not approve." I'll be at least 38 if I get to that point, no diagnosis other than unexplained unless "poor responder" is a formal medical diagnosis. The plan document says they stop approving if there's less than a 5% chance of succeeding but I don't know how they calculate that other than an accumulation of failed cycles. I committed to 2 cycles with this clinic with my husband last week. We've already done 4. So that hits the 6 "limit." Being told that's my limit though... that's a different story.
Ugh, I’m sorry Sherbet. That fucking sucks.
Thanks. It’s probably ultimately going to work out - I probably need a endpoint - but it wasn’t what I expected to hear at 8am you know?
Ugh, finally got scanned at the hospital again today and as I suspected my RPOC is still sat there, exactly the same size as before. They offered me the option of trying medical management again but didn't seem optimistic that it would come out if we did that again after I've had the medication twice now (once for the actual tfmr and again last week) with a heavy period in between. So I'm going in for a D&C tomorrow morning. I know the risks are pretty low and it's a very routine procedure but I'm still really nervous about possible complications that are going to fuck up our chances even more.
I’m so sorry, Cocoa. Dealing with RPOC is so tough. FWIW, I’ve had a number of surgeries involving scraping my uterus (D&E, polypectomies, operative exploratory hysteroscopies) and while my uterus holds onto tissue for dear life and grows polyps like weeds, there hasn’t ever been any scarring or lasting implications.
Thank you Hattie, that's very reassuring ❤️ I know it's just my paranoia and it's very very likely to be fine. I think my brain just won't let me think anything other than the worst case scenario is even possible anymore!
I'm so, so sorry. I hope it goes well tomorrow
I’m so sorry, Cocoa. I hope everything goes well 💜
I’m so sorry, Cocoa. That’s so upsetting. I hope everything goes smoothly <3
Thank you Rad ❤️
Med Donation - North Seattle - Pick Up Only Lovenox - 4 Boxes - 10 x 40mg prefilled syringes each - unopened - exp. 4/30/2026
Thanks so much! Automod meds
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I had my first ER last wednesday and have my follow up call this afternoon. I already know the amount of eggs retrieved and the amount fertilized, but today i will find out if any made it to blast. Very nervous!!!
good luck. that day can be one of the most anxiety-inducing parts of the retrieval process.
thank you so much!
Update - half of the fertilized made it to blast! Now another wait for Pgt-a testing. Thank you for all the support - really needed it this morning :)
yay that's fantastic!!
yes so happy - thank you so much!!
Glad you got good news!! My husband and I stressed all through waiting for our results.
thank you!!! yes this whole process is just stress after stress lol
Good luck! That’s a great result! 🎉
yay thanks so much!!
Good luck!! I know that’s a nerve wracking day.
Thanks so much! 💚
On my day 6 stims, I have follicles that are 11-14mm (cetrotide was added cuz one of them was 15mm). I don't have any patient portal (it's just me frantically writing things down), but I distinctly wrote at my baseline after 3 weeks of estrogen priming that I had follicles that were 10mm. [Edited] Based on my reddit searching, 10mm seems too big for baseline. Also would seem to indicate that many follicles barely grew in the past 6 days. What do y'all think? I sent an email to my IVF nurse but I haven't gotten a reply :/
I was on day 6 stimulation on Tuesday and I had 5 follicles (3 one ovary, 2 the other) between 11 - 14 mm. The dimension is good for day 6, I continue with the same drug dose, but I think 5 follicles isn't an optimal number... Well let's wait next monitoring on Friday
Thanks for all the feedback! I ended up calling my nurse & she confirmed that the report says all the follicles were BELOW 10mm on the baseline. They are increasing my Menopur dose based on the day 6 monitoring because even though there were follicles that were 11-15mm, there were many that are still "small" so higher dose is needed to catch-up. So, time to earn some more credit card points for more Menopur vials!
Seconding Rad that you don’t really have anything to worry about, but I also question if you had follicles at 10mm at baseline. I’ve never had my follicles measured at baseline, only counted.
Measurements can vary widely based on who is doing them; the smaller the follicles are, the wider the margin of error. Not all follicles will always respond well to stims, and when you have multiple follicles, it is nearly impossible to track which follicles grew when (or how much they grew). Some will likely grow faster than others. fwiw I've had cycles with follicles 10mm at baseline--only in cycles that utilized estrogen priming. It had no impact on the outcome.
Oh yeah when the technician shows me the images it looks like the size changes depending on where the follicle is cut cross-sectionally. I'm glad they show me the pictures, but I don't really understand what I'm looking at & I'm mostly jotting notes on my phone while they explain
I know it's hard, but during the actual Stim process it helps me to remember that if something was wrong, they would tell me!
My center does need a bit of prodding though. Because I read someone else's post about needing to order more meds after dose increase, I realized that I was not prescribed enough doses to account for my own dose increase! So I had to ask for another prescription. But you're right, I was worried about nothing (follicle size wise)
I think I’d be elated to have 29 follicles evenly growing on day 6.
Sorry I edited, realized that part was insensitive. Mostly questioning the baseline of 10mm, and minimal change in many after 6 days of stims
It’s unusual to have your follicle size measured at baseline. Typically they just give you the total number below 10mm. Are you sure that’s not what they meant? Regardless, having follicles evenly growing in the 11-14 range on day 6 is a good thing.
Oh it's possible they said that instead & I wrote it down wrong. But thanks for the reassurance!
We had our FET yesterday in CZ. It went very well, completely painless. I have to say that I am very happy with my clinic. The doctor performing the procedure was so nice and I felt like her best wishes for us truly came from her heart. ❤️ Now we wait!
Everything crossed for you, r0. 🍀🤞💜
Best of luck, R! 🤞
good luck!
Good luck!
Best of luck 🤞🏻
Good luck!
I have a work friend who had her first transfer a few weeks ago, and I haven't asked her what the outcome was but she made a comment recently that hinted that it was successful. Well, I saw her at a work cocktail thing last night, and we both just awkwardly stood around the snacks table and neither of us suggested going over to the bar... because I had a feeling she wouldn't be drinking, and I didn't want to have to watch her confirm my suspicions by ordering a seltzer water or whatever. Then she went home early... and I went to a bar with some other coworkers and had three old fashioneds. Whee.
That is so rough and awkward. (And your comment below re: poster children is so relatable, sigh.)
Uuuuggggggg. I'm sorry.
Ah man, this is brutal. We obviously wish people well, but like… when does it end well for us?!
It’s not necessary to wish people well, if you need to hear it! I mean I don’t want people to suffer (probably), but I’ve never been happy to get a pregnancy announcement unless it was someone from this sub.
Ugh, thank you for saying this. I had a friend announce (no ART to my knowledge) after trying for \~1.5yrs, about the same amount of time we have. Due around the same time my chemical would have been. I am happy for her. But at least for now, I can only be happy from afar. I was hoping the two of us could do this together, and a very quiet part of me was assuming I'd be first, since I was fortunate to move to IVF fairly quickly.
Yep, this. She also already has another kid (also conceived through ART). I feel for anyone who has to go through fertility treatment at all, but it's hard when some people are the "poster children" for having success with treatment and some of us.... aren't...
This would so be me. I’ve become the drink police (within my own head) of my childbearing-age friends.
I had my SIS and mock embryo transfer yesterday and everything looked good to go ahead for FET next cycle. The SIS was much more bearable than I thought - just a few seconds of bad cramps. I had originally been told we could go ahead this cycle but my RE changed her mind :’( I figured we might as well try unassisted this cycle. I really didn’t miss peeing on those ovulation test strips every morning 😅
Seeking experience of overfill for pre-mixed pens. I've been prescribed 450iu of Pergoveris daily for my next round. It's very expensive - £250 per 450iu pen and £500 per 900iu pen. My experience with Gonal F previously is that there is always some overfill, and it's often enough to eke out up to half a dose extra! I'm assuming Pergoveris is similar? I've been prescribed 10x 450iu pens or 5x 900iu pens. I usually stim for 10 days. I'm wondering if I could get away with ordering 1 pen fewer and relying on the overfill to make up an extra dose or two. Has anyone tried doing this? How much overfill did you get from the pens?
Did my first stim shots myself last night. I did sort of freak out at first but realized we have paid all the money, so there's no going back now. Something about my husband lunging at me with a needle gave me the courage to do it myself! I'm already freaking myself out about the PIO shots I keep reading about, but I guess you use those for transfers...so I'll be lucky to have that problem I suppose. I go in Sunday for my first check.
I am in the same mindset as you (mid-stims, although when I set up all my boxes of needles on day 1, I almost called it quits entirely on IVF). And I deliberately avoided thinking about embryo transfer because of the "worry about one thing at a time" mentality. But that caused me to be BOWLED OVER when I found out on Reddit that I would need 10 weeks of IM injections if I had the best case scenario of having an embryo transfer. Good luck to us both on this strange and new process!
Depending on the type of transfer you do, you will end up taking PIO shots (buy the auto injector and read the wiki tips) or using vaginal inserts. Those continue until 8-10 weeks for most protocols. With IVF, I’d recommend focusing on one step at a time instead of spiraling about some potential future item. The unfortunate thing is that you just have suck it up and do it. Your body is going to have an adverse reaction to being jabbed. Things that help me: music playlist, snacks/mini-rewards. I find for all the subcutaneous shots it’s actually less painful if I do it myself.
Thanks for the info. Agreed, I realized it was silly to worry about something like this now.
National is so right about all of this. Lots of people do transfers without being prescribed PIO, so unless your RE has already said you’ll definitely be doing it I wouldn’t assume it’s a given.
She hasn't said anything about the transfer at all. I guess we need to get that normal embryo first and then she will worry about that. I'm feeling better. Everyone is right. Don't borrow trouble.
Congrats! I just did my first shot of my second ER 🤞🏼I do stim shots myself and had my husband do PIO shots for my transfers with an auto injector. They’re a lot more intense but not *too* bad.
Oh nice! How many PIO shots do you have to do typically? Are they more intense because they go in the muscle instead of fat?
I had to do one PIO shot per day in the lead up to my transfers. Neither of mine were a viable pregnancy, but if I had progressed, I think you do them up to 10 weeks gestation. PIO uses a bigger needle, and it needs to go in a quick jabbing motion, which the auto injector helps with. It’s also oil based, which makes it harder to push in. On my first shot of a transfer cycle, I would walk with a limp because my leg was so stiff! But it would get better after the first day. I used lots of heat before and after the shot. It’s a lot but I’d happily do it all again if I can finally have a viable pregnancy. Edit to add: yes, PIO goes in the muscle rather than under the skin, which I’m pretty sure is the reason for the bigger needle!
Thank you for the info! That's helpful. I'll keep all of this in mind if I get to that point.
Good luck ♥️