improving egg quality

[Sophie Baby Makes 3]

Oh MM I just read this post. Cripes, an ectopic, then the tube, then the lap. That is hideously horrible, I am so sorry. To me it is always much harder for a girl to have something and have it taken away from her than to not have it at all. I hope you are ok and the mental break is now doing you some good..

I don't understand how you can get an ectopic with IVF? It might be very obvious and I have heard of it before but I don't get it? I guess in itself if you do IVF again one missing tube would not affect the overall process would it, though you might feel a bit strange about the idea of something missing?? MM did you ever find out if the emby was ok in itself? What do you think you will do next if at all?


I changed direction completely. I felt so uneasy about the day 6 day old frozen blastocyst and googled somewhere I would have an 11% chance of it working and to me the emotional side of it all I could not cope with those odds. I was talking to my friend who was just near on giving birth to her IVF twins when she got quite stuck into me about the whole business. I felt like I had been lulled into a false sense of security as normally I don't let myself obsess about my IVF (maybe I do now a bit more) where as she always did and she was talking about how all this extra emotional womanly feelings about my right to have a baby and etc etc so I agreed. Then she ripped into me about getting a second opinion and that I could have had a baby by now etc.. my husband would bet on a horse why not on a baby .. It was quite horrible however I knew it was a matter of being cruel to be kind... but the manner was horrid.. I guess because she is a school teacher she feels this is ok to do. i don't quite know where people get off with this I have to say, i would never ever think to speak to somebody like that even if iwas concerned. I guess it is all good now however i remember them almost giving up and crap things happening in their cycle (like eggs getting stuck and not coming out at retrieval!) Sorry a bit of a rant I know..

I agree I have always felt some intermittent unease with my FS for personality reasons (he can be very philosophical and blunt rather than give me a consistent scientific response) and I have had a few other concerns, but there has been an overwhelming sense of we are on the verge of a break through and also, not wanting to start again with somebody new with more wasted cycles. My husband says he was always idealistic too, that you would complete a journey together and whilst our FS is not the best communicator he is probably a genious who knows how this is going to pan out anyway..

So I ended up going to have a second opinion with her FS, Prof Illingworth and he was very nice and perhaps just the type of FS I had needed all along, reassuring and dependable and scientific. He said that a 33 year old affluent female with blastocysts should have fallen pregnant by now. Seven ICSI cycles without success is astounding. I had some lab results send to him and brought a few copies of my cycle protocols. He was not concerned about my diet (obviously I don't eat takeaway everynight and I am not guzzling junk food). Without any sense of pressure to stay with him, he said we need to take a step back and re assess. He feels very positive we are going to walk away with a baby which is fantastic and my husband later said he almost cried at the appt he was so relieved. Prof Illingworth is looking at all angles: 1) a different cycle protocol (not mild stimulation with no blood tests like my guy does) and checking of the uterine lining (never had this measured before) 2) sperm DNA fragmentation test 3) gene testing for both of us 4) some other blood tests for metabolic issues 5) a sonohysterogram to look at my uterine lining plus there are other things we will look at later if needed like a uterine biopsy to see if there is any immune reaction from my uterus.

So basically see if there is anything inherently wrong with the genes (eg a mismatch between the karotypes), anything wrong with the uterus affecting implantation, and also he agreed with much better monitoring. We see him on the 9 August and I am quite excited, I would be happy to know there is something that can be pinpointed that is solvable so we can as Julia Gillard would say, "move forward". Even if it is something that is gene related that is not solvable but has to be worked around that is ok too because we are at least a bit closer in knowing what to do to have a baby.

I'll let you know how I go.

Take Care MM and all others on their cycles!
Sophie