Just checking in with everyone. I had my EPU last wednesday. 8 eggs retrieved, only 6 were suitable for ICSI.
Only 2 ended up fertilising normally. On saturday I received call to say that both embies were doing well, one with 8 cells and the other with 11 cells. They were graded good and fair. Was booked in for transfer on Monday.
When we got to clinic on monday, we were told that both embies were downgraded to poor as they had only reached early blast stage. They advised us to transfer both embies as neither would survive being frozen. Blood test is tomorrow week. My doc was very honest and said that she wasn't that confident & that she had to manage our
expectations. To be honest I am more prepared for a BFN, I think it's because we have been trying for nearly
18 months and you get used to being disappointed. At the same time, I am trying to be positive. DH is cute, he
keeps talking to the little embies and telling them to hang in there!
I've been following this thread as my husband and I also had our eggs fertilised with ICSI.
KitKat72- you probably have your results now and I really hope they're positive.
Babydownunder- Are you in the TWW now? How's it going?
Puffsgirl11- Welcome. I was rapt when i found these forums. They've been a helpful and reassuring in so many ways. Good luck!
Thanks for the encouraging words. You've probably seen it by now in one of the other threads, but yes, I got my BFP! I can't believe it! I realize we were very very lucky to get this result on our first go, and now I'm just praying nothing goes wrong. I really hope that your FET gives you your BFP this cycle.
Hugs,
Kitkat72
PS. I know this is totally anecdotal and therefore probably not of much real value to anyone, but in case anybody is wondering what exactly I did to try to support implantation/pregnancy, these are the things I did (in addition to taking Crinone after EPU up till today (still waiting to hear if I can stop it)):
1. Acupuncture once a week, starting the first week of this cycle, plus the "usual" sessions before and after ET.
2. Pre-natal vitamins (switching back and forth between Elevit and Blackmores Pre-Conception Gold), and a supplemental tablet of 75 mgs of Co-enzyme Q10 twice a day
3. I had 1-2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed in my yogurt every morning for the first 2 weeks after EPU since I read that there's some evidence that the phytoestrogens supplied by ground flaxseeds support the hormone levels conducive to implantation. I've stopped now since I've heard that, conversely, the phytoestrogens are NOT necessarily good in pregnancy -- they apparently can promote miscarriages. But I'm going to ask my FS when I see him in 2 weeks what he thinks. (NB: I had read the studies re: ground flaxseeds promoting higher pregnancy rates (in farm animals, at least - lol) online and did not ask my FS what he thought before taking them -- naughty, I know.)
4. Drinking tons of water.
5. Just generally taking it easy. I've really ramped down my usual exercise routine to just the occasional walk. Lots of sitting around reading books and BB! It helps that I work in academia and wasn't teaching this semester, so I was able to do most of my work from home = very relaxing.
Honestly, I don't know if any of the above made any difference or if it was all up to getting a strong embie. But who knows? Maybe some of this stuff helped tip the balance. Anyway, if any of you were looking to see what other people have done, then I hope this helps!!!
Last edited by KitKat72; May 14th, 2010 at 09:58 AM.
Thanks for the advice KitKat72.
I too am taking it easier than usual (walks around the river instead of the gym) and have been taking the pregnancy suplements.
Haven't done any acupuncture but have been hearing lots about it so I think it's worth considering next time round.
Huge 'Congratulations' to you!
Hi Ladies,
I just saw this thread and it reminded me of a similar thread that I was in a year ago.
We went through 2 ICSI cycles - the first one we ended up with 3 embyos and one made it to blastocyst but resulted in a BFN. Second cycle we had 2 embryos and had ET on day 2 as they didn't think they would make it to day 5. Result =BFN.
However, my remaining embryo made it to Day 6, so the next month we did an FET and it resulted in a BFP!
The funny thing is, I did everything right for the first 2 cycles after googling tips etc.. But after my FET I just carried on as normal. I had actually given up hope and wasn't even going to bother doing it, but luckily I listened to my FS.
The TWW is really hard, but the 40 WW is the hardest!
Good luck everyone. You never know what will happen when you least expect it.
Ps. Sorry for crashing the thread!
Last edited by onthefly; May 15th, 2010 at 09:56 AM.
I think you've just confirmed what I believe deep down- that if it's going to happen it will. I can't help taking little precautions (they tend to give me some small feeling of control in a situation I have very little to no control over) but ultimately I think it's up to the embryo.
Congratulations on your little girl!
Nat82, that's a really good point. I certainly agree that at the end of the day the most important factors (ie, is it a strong, sticky embie?) are really out of your control. My view was simply that, like Maggie, I wanted to feel like I was doing something in a process where so much is, indeed, out of your hands. I can totally see why you would get jaded, however, after doing several cycles. I have no doubt that if I had a couple of BFNs from my first few cycles, I probably would have responded exactly like you -- saying I'm not going to make that much effort anymore. In fact, that's how I felt when I was TTC naturally. In the beginning I would try to be good during the TWW (although not at all to the same extent as when doing IVF), but after the first few times that didn't work, I pretty much said, "Screw this. I'm not going to keep living like a monk when it's clearly useless." For years, I drank what I want, didn't bother with preg supplements, etc., because I had decided that there was no point since I had no hope of getting pregnant anyway. Of course, when I finally started IVF I learned that there really HAD been no point to being the good girl acting like I was pregnant all the time (like they say you should do when TTC) since w/DH's 1% morphology there really was no hope of conceiving without ICSI. So I can't say I regret being blase. I personally finally felt motivated to be "good" and make an effort to change my behavior again only when we started IVF since I finally felt like we actually had a chance. God only knows whether that improved mental state made some difference. Obviously your history shows that it's meaningless in some cases. I think the bottom line is that all you can do is what you feel mentally strong and motivated enough to do. For what it's worth, my FS and clinic, while supportive of complementary therapies, etc., gave me the impression that they didn't really care if you did anything special during the TWW other than avoiding getting overheated and making sure that you drank extra water. That tells me that they don't think the sorts of things that I listed above make much difference. Otherwise, they would be more insistent that you do them.
Congrats on finally getting a baby in your arms, Nat82. And Maggie, I really hope that, whatever factors end up being the cause, this FET sticks for you. (((Hugs)))
PS. Maggie, I totally was an acupuncture skeptic before I went, but I could *feel* stuff happening when I went for my first treatment, and you feel so totally relaxed by the time each session is over, so I definitely recommend it. For what it's worth, when my SIL tried it when she was TTC, she got totally antsy lying there for 1/2 an hour and decided not to go back, so it's certainly not for everyone. But I'd definitely give it a try if you have the time!
Last edited by KitKat72; May 15th, 2010 at 10:38 AM.
Hi all,
KitKat72 - congrats
Puffgirl11 - welcome, July seems a long time, but it will come around soon enough, just concentrate on looking after you
babydownunder - fingers crossed for you, I don't know what helps during the TWW. maybe distractions, but in the end they seem all so superficial... remember we are allowed to have our negative moments too
Nat82 - I so relate to you just having a break from it all, being so thoughtful about food choices, exerecise and everything
Hi all, just jumping in as newbie here... My partner had zero sperm I mean not one little swimmer, but after we asked for a biopsy we now have 9 straws frozen of nice swimmers.. Anyone who has male factor please look deeper into it as we suprised the doctors as well as ourselves... Hormone levels in the blood is an early indicator to proceed onto a little op to get those good spermies out... I am waiting to start injections on the 26th May and am on DHEA as well as accupuncture and elevit multi vitamins. I donated eggs many years ago and they all died before they attempted an icsi rescue... So am very worried this time around may not work for me due to frozen sperm,, plus my age and egg quality....
thanks for reading,,, only have 39 more posts before i can chat live with someone in a similiar boat as myself...
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