IVF with PGD #8

thanks girls :hug: we are rather shellshocked tonight, the fs said he would have expected 1 out of 4 to be abnormal not all 4 :(

I thought it couldn't be possible that the 3 m/c's at 6/7 weeks were due to abnormalities but based on today's result it now seems highly likely, i guess in time i will feel better that we probably lost unhealthy embryos but tonight im finding it hard to see any silver lining

nothing2lose: thanks for your thoughts, the fs said 2 were grade "AA" (which im assuming is good), said they couldn't have looked better, so obviously you can't tell just by looking at them which is scary. From the abnormalities he said 3 wouldn't have stuck or would have been chemicals/early miscarriages and the 4th may have gone a bit further but wouldn't have survived either

miss.B & Joeve: thanks for dropping in also :hug:

Jbear: good luck if you test tomorrow

Hey Minnie it's so tricky with pgd. I had around 20 in my first two cycles & only ever ended up with one to transfer, it's just so unfair. Look after urself & eachother xo

AFM I maned up took a hpt....It was positive....we r refraining from getting excited until we have BT results as we really don't want to get out hopes up.

Hugs all round, will check in tomorrow.

J.Bear - Whoooooo!! :leap:Congratulations I'll be quietly excited for you. When's your bt?

jbear: congrats :happyforyou::stickyvibesgirl::stickyvibesboy:

Thanks lovelies BT is tomorrow...eek!

minniemouse: so sorry to hear of your bad pgd results...you would have been on an absolute rollercoaster going in to see if you were going to get any ready to transfer. Can't imagine what you must be going through but sending you huge hugs :hug: Hopefully the FS can get some info from the tests and hopefully try to get you some healthy ones next time.


JBear: huge congratulations!!! :happyforyou: I understand you still won't be able to really believe it until you get that BT result tomorrow :crossfingers:

Welcome Elle - hope your time here is short and sweet

AFM: got my BT results. HCG was 71 @ 8dpt and 100 @ 11dpt. They were happy to just let me be until I get my 7 week scan which is still 2 weeks away (too long). Still just want to see a little heartbeat and then I will really believe it is true!

Hi to everyone else, hope you are all travelling well xx

Just sneaking in to say a BIG congrats to Joe! They are great numbers, well done!!!

JBear - have you had your results back today??

Minnie - I am so sorry to hear you had no embies to transfer, it is just so unfair. :(

Hi to everyone else!!

AFM - 7 week scan on Thursday. Feeling very sick so pretty sure all is well, but I'll feel better at about 10 am Thurs!!

Hi ladies

BT results are looking good hcg is 400! Yay! Still a little afraid to get too excited. DH had to take the call & the nurse was a bit disappointed with his reaction lol she said that she expected him to be more excited!

Hey BF good to hear those symptoms are strong & ease any worries. I hope u get a bit of a break from the sickness & get to enjoy the day on Thursday.

Joe those hcg level sound like they're rising nicely & it's good to hear they're happy to leave it at that until ur 7 week scan.

Minnie how r you doing? Have u made plans for another cycle? Xo

hi ladies - hope you have room for one more in here. i have booked my first PGD cycle today, with EPU around the first week in november. i am a total newbie when it comes to PGD, so would love to hear any advice you may have, or have learned along the way (my counselling/info sessions arent until mid oct/start nov, so i am relying on google for my information at this stage...).

long story short - dh & i are unexplained, although recently we have had nk cell biopsy which has come back with elevated uterine nk cells. we have had 2 seperate blast transfers using a protocol to address this, but no luck yet. we stim quite well, get better fertalisation rates with icsi, although we do not have a sperm issue. we have always been told our embryos look great, so i guess we are information gathering at this stage and trying to find out why its just not working for us. i am of course worried that we may not get any to biopsy, worried we might not get anything to transfer - just worried all round. but i am happy to be doing something different that will hopefully give us some answers. hopefully...!

congrats to joe & jbear - wonderful news. :)

Great news, J.Bear, b*f, and JoeSpratt!! How exciting!!:D

minniemouse - How are you? I hope you're okay.

Andie78 - Hello! I am new here, too. And I am driving myself crazy with the worrying and the googling and the trying to plan the unplannable. I hope we're both here for a short but sweet time!

AFM - I am in the process of an assessment cycle (have a history of no cycles/ very long cycles) and it looks like my body is finally doing something on its own so hopefully I can get this out of the way and start my IVF cycle very soon. I have been through ovulation induction in the past so I am familiar with the injections/scans/BTs but I'm pretty nervous about what's coming up with an IVF/PGD cycle. I just hope things go smoothly.

Just a quickie to say WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO to JBear! Awesome beta, I bet you and D are just thrilled!! I know what you mean about still being a bit afraid, I feel like that every day and will until this baby is on the outside & healthy!

Welcome & best wishes to Andie & Elle.

Hi Girls,

Hi Andie - Sorry you needed to join us but glad you came over, it's been very quite in our old thread. Sounds like you me and elle will be cycle buddies as my epu is booked for 26th Oct. :dance:

J.Bear - Great HCG numbers whoooo. Stick well little bean :stickyvibesboy:

BF - So great to be having strong symptoms I hope thursday's scan is fantastic!!

Joe - I hope the time flys by to your scan.

Minnie - Hi sweetie.

Elle - I hope your body plays nice so you can start your cycle soon.

AFM - Found out yesterday that my acupuncturist/TCM will be away for 3 weeks right over my EPU and ET :rolleyes: He has recommended someone else but I might go see them for a session soon to get a feel if they're the right person for me, bloody typical timing! I have been working hard at my diet and exercise but TCM guy says this is putting extra strain on my liver, I just can't win! I'm still going to keep it up, he'll just have to work hard to support my liver! Bit excited I'm on my last pack of pills (hopefully ever!) and start my Lucrin next tues, it finally feels like its starting.

Sneaks in to wish you luck sunbeam and how exciting you are finishing up the pill and you are on your way x sneaks out

Sunbeam best of luck for your EPU, I'll be watching!!

jbear and joespratt: great news on the blood tests, hope things continue to go well :)

brightfuture: good luck for your scan thursday, i will be thinking of you and looking for your update

elle: good to hear things are progressing for you !

sunbeam: not long now :hug:

andie: welcome, i hope pgd will provide some answers for you

afm: im going ok, been in a bit of a fog the last few days, i'll see my specialist in a few weeks to discuss the cycle and results again

Thank you darlings! So hard not to get a little excited and ahead of ourselves but i'm just trying to remain calm and take it a day at a time. I have another BT next week so hopefully my numbers are growing as they should.

Minnie your in my thoughts lovely, i hope the next appt helps and the next cycle you get lots of lovely eggs to choose from.:hug:

Hi Andie, sorry that you find yourself here. I would say that the biggest concern with PGD are the numbers of eggs that are collected and can be biopsied and then how many are suitable. But it's good that you stim well and have good sperm. It's really just one day at a time. I hope that everything goes well & you have some to spare and it's good that you'll have a few buddies who are doing it at the same time.

Sunbeam that's a bit pooh about the acupuncturist/TCM being away, mine was away during epu & trf but we had his daughter continue the treatment. I hope your happy with his recommendation.

Elle. i'll be keeping everything crossed that it all goes smoothly for you.

Brightfuture: thinking of you & hoping your scan goes well today (or that you have already had it done & its great)

How was ur scan today BF? Hope everything I looking good x

Has anyone heard anything from BF, I'm really worried about her.

No, I'm guessing she's just been too busy.

Hi ladies,

So sorry for disappearing! I've just been exhausted! Thank you all so much for thinking of me! :loveshower:

All went well at the scan, one little bub in there measuring perfectly and heart beating away at 160 bpm. So I've "graduated" from the clinic and now onto figuring out all the next bits about prenatal classes / hospital tours etc! I still have the first trimester nerves, but all is looking good so I really have nothing major to worry about.

I'll be back to see how you are all going! xxoo

bf: great news ! i was worried about you so im pleased to hear all was perfect :)

b*f - Awesome news!! I'm so happy for you!! Congratulations on your graduation :D

Oh my gosh BF you had me sacred, I'm so Glad it is all going well.

Lucrin starts tomorrow :)

Great news BF! That's so exciting, how's the MS?

Sunbeam! How exciting, see it comes along before u know it.

Hi to everyone else!

AFM had my second BT, my hcg is 7,500 which I'm told is good. No other major symptoms, which always worries me a bit having had missed misscarriages before......Will remain positive!

belated thankyou for the welcome everyone. :)

bright future & jbear - things sound like they are going great for you both, wonderful news!

sunbeam - is lucrin an injection med? so i dont have to google - whats lucrin used for?!

hi everyone else, hope you are well.

afm- still just taking the pill, not sure when syranel starts yet. usually do antagonist cycles, so this down reg long cycle seems like its taking forever atm. my very first stim was a down reg though, which wasnt a great result (only 3 eggs), so im a little nervous about doing another one. i will be on a higher dose of puregon though, and im at a different clinic now - so im hoping for a better result. clinic called today and my PGD counselling appt is next week (tues) now, looking fwd to finding out some more info.

just popping in to say
sunbeam- good luck babe!! so excited for you xx
andie-my last cycle was a long down reg (only got 4 eggs) and all my others were antagonist-hope thats a good sign for you too ( this was my 11th embryo too) xx
:pink-babydust: to you lovely ladies

thanks for that info, saffy. gives me a bit of hope... especially after 10 embryos... maybe 11 is the number. ;)

Morning ladies,

Saffy - Thanks for popping in, hope I can join you soon.

Andie - yes lucrin is basically the injection form of syneral, does the same job, I'm just not keen on nasal sprays never have been they feel yuck to me so I'd rather be on the injection one. How much longer do you have on the pill? I finish mine this Saturday coming.

J Bear - that's a great hcg number but I'm sure we can all sympathies with the on going fears, hugs.

AFM - AF is so desperate to start since she's been held off for over a week now had back ache head ache and cramps last night and spotting this morning. Just picked up my lucrin, first dose on board. Had a dry throat since yesterday and woke up feeling lousy, planning on taking it really easy the next few weeks then on holiday the week of my EPU, bring it on, so ready for a rest!

Hey sunbeam! Just popping in to see how r u feeling? x

Hi JBear
Thanks for checking in on me. I have a bit of a cold but not too bad just can't sleep tonight. I've just been reading that DHEA can cause insomnia so not sure if that's the problem. Really need to sleep Friday is always a big day for me. Going to see if I can check out that new acupuncturist on Saturday.

How you feeling? When is your scan?

sunbeam - not sure how long i am on the pill for, pgd counselling tues so hoping to find out a bit more info then. am i remembering correctly - was it you that had spotting on the pill? i have been spotting every day, driving me nuts. been on it for around 10-11 days so far. i think i started taking it on around day 5 of my cycle.

hi everyone else, how are you & your cycles going? :)

Hey Sunbeam good luck with the new acupuncturist tomorrow. Hopefully he/she is a winner & hopefully it helps with the insomnia as well. Hope that cold stays away, a lot of ppl at work have had it.

Hey Andie I hope the PGD counseling gives you some answers. It was all very confusing to us at first but it's good that your starting with an understanding of IVF.

AFM - I'm feeling pretty good, had a few waves of nausea but nothing constant. Still get really nervous that something is not right...we have our scan 25/10 so FX everything looks good.

Just sneaking in to say to Sunbeam I have been taking DHEA for just over two months and haven't had any issues with insomnia. Although I am taking melatonin as well... Good luck!

Hi Girls,

Andie - Yes I had spotting the last 5 days on the pill. I thought maybe it was just breakthrough since we'd had to delay AF for about 2 weeks to fit in with the PGD clinic but now I think it might be that I started back on my chinese herbs and that this interrupted with what the pill was doing. I got really worried that the spotting was my whole AF since it has been SO light for the last year, it stopped yesterday but a more proper AF seems to be trying to start today :crossfingers: Good luck for tuesday's meeting I hope they can get you going soon.

J Bear - I'm in two minds about the new acupuncturist, he didn't use many needles and seemed to focus more on my digestion than my fertility. I think I will check out one more close to home before I decide. Your scan must feel ages away, I hope the symptoms keep up so you can maybe stress a little less :hug: such a scary time.

N2L - I think you are right I don't think it was the DHEA keeping me awake I think it was because I had a coffee that morning. Now that I only have 1-2 a weeks I seem really sensitive to caffeine.

AFM - I've had quite a depressing weekend. I decided I really needed to be realistic about the chances of this not working and that given it's my last go I needed some, at least vague plan of what I will do if/when I reach the last day of this journey. I do feel a little better having a plan but just having to think about the rest of my life childless is so incredibly sad. I hope so much it doesn't come to that.

Andie, Sunbeam, J.Bear - Good luck! Good luck! Good luck!

Andie - I hope you get all of the information and answers you need on Tues - do you have a list of questions and pen and paper ready to go? Also hope the spotting subsides for you soon.. who needs that?!

J.Bear - My fingers are crossed for the 25th!!

Sunbeam - I know what you mean. Sorry you have been having such a rough time. It makes sense to have an alternate plan in place but it wouldn't make it any easier when you want this so badly. I had just about closed the door on having a baby and this is basically my last shot. If this doesn't work, I need to prepare for a different path. I guess I had always incorporated a healthy little baby into my family plans but sometimes life has other ideas. Anyway, I'm so sorry to hear of your sadness and I have my fingers crossed that this is the one.

AFM - I ended up taking progesterone tablets to end my last cycle (turns out nothing was happening at all... grr) and I started injections today. Gonal-f daily and Ovidrel every 3rd day. 2 injections down, who knows how many to go...

Elle - Wow that's a lot of injections, how much FSH are you on all together? Sorry the last cycle did not play ball but glad you are off and running again. When is EPU booked for?

AFM- I was not coping at work at all today so I came home. It's kind of hard to be a psychologist and sit there concerned about other people's problems when all you can really think of is your own stuff and you just want to burst into tears (not a good look for a psyc!). Feeling a bit better now as I also realised my hormones are making it far worse as AF is here. Also I decided on my walk (stroll) this morning that I really wasn't happy with the acupuncturist I saw on saturday and that I really need one that specialises in fertility so I contacted the other possible acupuncturist near me and guess what.... back in China he's a trained gyno, perfect ;) booked to see him tomorrow. I've also decided to not think of this as my last go, it's way too much pressure and the fact is if I really want to carry on I can, I don't have to draw a line in the sand right now when it is making me feel so miserable to do so. Going to eat junk food and watch movies now :p

elle - i actually dont have a list of questions yet... which is very unlike me! usually i have about 5-10 dotpoints that i take with to make sure i have all my questions answered, but not sure which questions to ask this time. we are unexplained and will be checking the embryos to see if they are chromosomally normal, so im not sure what else to ask for. id like to know if they can tell if our embryos arent that great, if its a sperm issue or egg issue. ive heard that poor fert. rates can indicate egg issue, and that a signficant drop off rate from day 3 to day 5 can indicate a sperm issue. but this is just what ive read. who knows. sorry you had to abandon your last cycle, but as sunbeam said good news you are going again. can i ask why you take ovidrel every 3rd day?

sunbeam - im sorry you're weekend was a bit sad. i think delaying thinking about that line in sand is a good idea, you are right - its not helping you now to think about it. doesnt mean you are not being realistic about it, just ignoring it for now... good job on having some time at home today, and even better on the movies & junk food. im jealous. ;)

Sunbeam - That's a great way to look at things. Take the pressure off yourself - and with movies and yummy food - even better!!

Andie - I honestly don't know how much they can tell from the biopsies. Our PGD discussions have been quite specific to the genetic condition we carry and how they will test for that. Having said that, I have asked them to do chromosomal screening also. I figured, the information is there, they are already studying the cell/s - why not find out as much as we can?! I hope they can answer your questions about chromosomal abnormalities. Update us after tomorrow's appt.:)

I'm on 150 of Gonal-f daily and 'one click' of the Ovidrel pen every 3 days (same pen as used for trigger but one click instead of the whole thing). The reason for the Ovidrel is because my body doesn't readily ovulate on its own. I believe the Ovidrel mimics LH which my body needs help with. The cycle that was just ended was an assessment cycle to see what my body is doing - day 19 and my levels were all still low so they ended the cycle. I don't have an EPU date as yet - I think it will be a case of seeing what my body does, how it responds and then knowing closer to the time. I am so so nervous that my body is not going to cooperate with this. What if I only produce a couple of follies?! Nervous, nervous... It didn't help that the nurse talking us through everything kept saying, 'wow, you guys keep on losing numbers, don't you?'. She was talking about how many follies we could start with and how many follies/embies we may lose along the way. Thanks, Nurse. Super helpful...

Hahaha... Please ignore the 'Gumbo edcuiut' in the title - it was an image verification and I really don't know what happened there!