Pg after LT TTC - What did you do differently?

[CeCe]

I've currently 9wks pregnant after 4 stim cycles and 7 treansfsrs all up. For this cycle I did quite a few things differently.
1. Early last year we changed FS to one who was willing to try new things with us. The last FET had me on clexane to thin the blood and increase flow to the uterus. I am also on low dose of prednisone. This stops the natural cleanup cells in the uterus which may effect implantation (as I understand it).
2. I've been doing accupuncture for most cycles. My practitioner had me on warm foods as she diagnosed a cool uterus, and this time suggested it may be damp which would make it slippery increasing difficulty of implanting. To combat this I was taking herbs and regularly exercising to increase warmth and dryness. I guess typing it out, it does sound odd, but I do believe it was this that really helped.
3. Not sure how much this influenced things but I was relaxed. I figured I was doing all I could do this cycle to make things work.

I hope you find what does it for you really soon.

[dusty]

Hi Danyelle
I could have written CeCe's post! I too changed clinics (same clinic as Ce), & used clexane this cycle (but not Prednisilone). I saw same AP as Ce for about 10 months leading up to our last cycle & she had me on warming herbs eating warming foods.
I was so relaxed in TWW as I was enjoying life regardless of LTTTC.
Another change was the for my last 2 cycles I DTD on 6 DP EPU. I had heard it can help implantation & it seems to have worked both times.
This cycle we did ET with a day 2 embryo as both my own cycles & my sister's did not result in strong or any blastocysts so we all decided they were better off growing in me than a petri dish.
Like Ce it was my 7th transfer (all mine were fresh transfers) so sometimes it's just persistence & the tweaking of treatment over time that works. IVF is a numbers game & the more attempts increases your odds. That can be hard for many LTers but nature is fickle so have faith & help your body & mind is the best I can offer.
Wishing you the very best outcome soon sweetie.
Xx

[JustOneMore]

Thank you, Dusty and CeCe for all your information.

I was put on Clexane for my last FET cycle. Boy those needles hurt.

CeCe, did you do the NK Antibodies test & tested Positive ? or did your Clinic just decide to put you on Prednisone ??? Was this BFP cycle the first time you did Prednisone ?
You mentioned the low dosage, may I please ask what your dosage was and how many times a day you took it ?

My sister has been doing IVF for 6 years now with nothing to show for it.
But Back in August 2009 she did the NK Test and her test result came back as High for NK so she is doing Prednisone as well.

Thanks again ladies, all this information is greatly appreciated.
If anyone else wants to add onto this thread please do, as all information is helpful.

[xx Rob xx]

What I did differently ...

Went in to the cycle with the attitude its a step by step process and every step is an achievement. No expectations. This really helped me maintain a positive attitude as well.

I actually had an awesome relationship with my FS. It just so happened that I had to re-sign consents on the day but she was so supportive I am sure seing her on the day of the transfer definitely helped.

I absolutely rested after my transfer. No excuses. Not anything that I could think "did this make a diiference?" for the first 5 days. I literally stayed in bed or in an arm chair. I only moved between the two of them and the bathroom thats it.

I had no baths. I have heard it can increase your body temp too much and as a result your body may reject the baby. I only had showers. Just warm and very quick.

I did bowen therapy. Very relaxing.

And finally we too had decided that after only 12 months that with the increased costs and the drought being farmers that these last 3 embies were our shot. People have suggested its because we have children, but more because I am so practical. We have used ATR before just not IVF. I have had a history of cervical cancer and abnormal smears and so I have been very practical ever since going through that. I accepted that whats meant to be is meant to be and its all for a reason.

This will be our very last pregnancy as well regardless of the outcome. I hope some of this helps I am happy to support any of you in any way that I can. I have posted the steps process somewhere and its really important to remember that every step is important. Just getting AF, just getting the sperm, thses are all important steps.

Most of all my biggest tip, take time for yourself. There is an awesome book called "Nurturing yourself through IVF" it's a godsend.

[CeCe]

I had tests with my previous FS as I constantly failed to implant. Nothing of note came up on my tests. My new FS prescribed the prednisone and clexane as she had success with a few other ladies in a similar situation to me and thought I may be in the same 'weird' group as them - meaning there is no real explaination as to why it would work.

I was prescribed clexane 40mg which if I recall correctly I started the day after ovulation, and prednisone 10mg. I think I started this earlier but can't really recall. Both of these were taken at night.

This was the first transfer I had used either of these drugs. So it would appear the leap made by my FS was worth it. My accupuncturtist wasn't too keen on the prednisone as that has a cooling effect which was something we were trying to overcome, so I just had to be vigilant in exercising to counteract the effect. I was exercising previoulsy, just not as regularly.

Oh, and as Dusty reminded me, we also DTD regularly up to transfer. It was also the first FET of a blastocyst. All my other transfers from my previous FS were day 3's or earlier.

[Megan]

I had done 6 IVF cycles and TTC for 3.5 years and was on a break when we conceived. For around 4 months I saw a Naturopath instead of doing IVF. We spent the first two months seeing her taking vitamins and making changes to my diet. The next 2 months we charted my cycle and she started me on a herbal tonic that I had to take twice per day. On the second month we conceived. I was waiting on AF to arrive so I could call my clinic to make a start on my next cycle. When I was already a week late, I did a HPT and it came up with a BFP. To say I was in shock would be an understatement!

[Caramello]

I have done 3 IUI cycles and 2 IVF cycles. We officially started cycling 5 years ago, but before this we were sorting out other issues as we are using a donor (which took some time from a psychological perspective).

The last cycle was an antagonist cycle and I think this made all the difference as I am now pregnant.

The only side effect was a mild case of OHSS.

I was using vitamins but that was about it.

[Loula]

I had tests with my previous FS as I constantly failed to implant. Nothing of note came up on my tests. My new FS prescribed the prednisone and clexane as she had success with a few other ladies in a similar situation to me and thought I may be in the same 'weird' group as them - meaning there is no real explaination as to why it would work.

I was prescribed clexane 40mg which if I recall correctly I started the day after ovulation, and prednisone 10mg. I think I started this earlier but can't really recall. Both of these were taken at night.

.

same all my test returned normal but due to so many losses and so many cycles my FS put me on both these drugs for the last 4 cycles and i got a BFP with them all but MC. the last cycle my clexane was increased to 40 mg from 20mg but i have had to reduce again due to bleeding

[Coral73]

Hi Danyelle,

What a great idea !

Personal History -

DH: Low Count (2 million), Poor Morphology and Motility.

ME: Laparoscopy, Cystoscopy and Endoscopy all came back clear. FS said I was a picture of health and he had only removed one tiny cyst from one of my ovaries.



Here is a list of the things that we did differently from the start of our 2nd stim cycle...

DH:

- Weekly Acupuncture leading up to the EPU
- 2 x Chinese Herbal Tablets p/day purchased from Acupuncturist
- A handful of pumpkin seeds p/day
- 1 x Menevit Tablet p/day
- Drank a glass of orange juice a day
- No alcohol
- No softdrinks (unless sugarfree)
- No caffeine
- Drank more water (he never used to drink any!)
- Cut out all refined sugars (no choc, lollies or pies etc)
- Ate more vegies


We did see a better quality in his motility (or it could have been the morphology) from 45% to 75%. His sperm count did not increase at all and stayed at 2million. We also had a better result in getting our embies to blasty on this 2nd stim cycle as we transferred 2 and were able to get 5 snowbabies out of it. Our 1st stim cycle, we only transferred 1, froze 2, with one emby not surviving the thaw.

FS said that the sperm usually takes over the fertilization process from about day 4 of fertilization, whereas the egg does all the work in the first 4 days. On our 1st stim cycle, we lost about 7 embies from day 4-5 as they stopped dividing. We definatlely had stronger/ better quality sperm on our 2nd stim cycle to get 5 snowbabies .

ME:

- Weekly Acupuncture leading up to the EPU
- Acupuncture before and after transfer
- No alcohol
- No caffeine (no coffee/ tea or chocolate or coke etc) - decaf ok
- Cut out all refined sugars (no choc, lollies or pies etc) - carob ok
- Ate more vegies
- Ate an orange a day as well as honey on cereal
- Ate nuts everyday
- Weekly counselling appointment to help keep stress levels down
- DTD the night before the transfer
- Ate full fat diary products instead of low fat (this is good for ovary health)
- Transferred 2 x 5 day blastocysts apposed to 1 x 5 day blastocyst

* We did this routine from the begining of my stim cycle (from when I started taking the pill).


I am not sure if doing any of the above contributed to the BFP in anyway, but you just never know (personally, I think it did!)......, Coral.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions or would like further information about any of the above .

I would also like to say a Good Luck to those still trying to achieve their long awaited BFP and 'ing that this is your year! Dreams do come true as I really thought I would never get my BFP!

[JustOneMore]

CeCe and Loula,

Re: Prednisilone and Clexane

I had tests with my previous FS as I constantly failed to implant. Nothing of note came up on my tests. My new FS prescribed the prednisone and clexane as she had success with a few other ladies in a similar situation to me and thought I may be in the same 'weird' group as them - meaning there is no real explaination as to why it would work.

I was prescribed clexane 40mg which if I recall correctly I started the day after ovulation, and prednisone 10mg. I think I started this earlier but can't really recall. Both of these were taken at night.

same all my test returned normal but due to so many losses and so many cycles my FS put me on both these drugs for the last 4 cycles and i got a BFP with them all but MC. the last cycle my clexane was increased to 40 mg from 20mg but i have had to reduce again due to bleeding

Do you remember when you first started taking Prednisilone ?
How long are you on Prednisilone for ?
When do you stop taken it or do you stay on it through the entire pregnancy.
Did you have any side effects ?
CeCe you mentioned you are on 10mg a day, Loula what was your dosage a day ?
Did you ladies have to increase your dosage or did you stay on the same dosage ?

Thanks again ladies.

[CeCe]

Do you remember when you first started taking Prednisilone ? No sorry, and I can't find the piece of paper it was written on, but I think it was shortly after ovulation.
How long are you on Prednisilone for ? I was 11 weeks on Friday and starting to wean of the pred from Monday. From Monday I take 5mg daily, the following week I take 2.5mg daily and the following I take 2.5mg every second day and stop after a week.
Did you have any side effects ? I didn't have any side effects that I noticed.
Did you ladies have to increase your dosage or did you stay on the same dosage ? I stayed on the same dose I started on, until Monday when I start to decrease.

HTH.

[Loula]

Do you remember when you first started taking Prednisilone ?
I started day after EPU along with antibiotics
How long are you on Prednisilone for ?
starting to wean at 13 weeks
When do you stop taken it or do you stay on it through the entire pregnancy.
see above
Did you have any side effects ?
hunger! lol
Loula what was your dosage a day ?
20 mg and 40 mg clexane recently reduced to 20mg due to bleeding
Did you ladies have to increase your dosage or did you stay on the same dosage
? i think ive answered this one