IVF Information/advice westmead clinic

Hi Ladies, I have read posts on the IVF claim back thread and am SOOO happy I did, I have been ttc for 2 years now naturally and then with Clomid and lastly IUI none worked. We had a bit of a break as it was getting too much but have started back up again. I have done some ringing around and since I'm close to Westmead made an appointment with Dr Gayer but havent heard anything about her, after your comments about Dr Smith I may try getting an appointment with him. He sounds very positive. I was with Next Gen Fertility and didnt find my FS very nice or helpful, first and only meeting I had with her she told me I should weigh what I weighed when I was 15yrs old!! HELLO I'm not obese by any means but what girl (most of us) dont gain a few kilos here or there?? Anyways didnt have much contact with her after that it was all up to the nurses so it was a little cold and heaps more expensive then Westmead IVF, I realised after the fact that I spent more on having IUI at that clinic then if I'd had IVF at Westmead.
Anyways just wanted to thank all of you for your positive feedback and if I dont get an appointment with Dr Smith earlier I will wait to see the other doctor at the end of March!
Can someone pls advise the process for IVF, I know they have to remove eggs but are you asleep when they do it, do they give you a general?
What happens when they implat them are you sleep then too? Is your DH allowed in with you on both occasions?
Would I need to take time off work after both of them? What time in your cycle do you get the eggs removed? Do you wait till your next cycle to then have them implanted?
Sorry 101 q's but if anyones out there and can help on Australia day would be much appreciated
All the best to you ALL!

Hi Mia,
First, there are lots of different kinds of IVF cycles, so the exact 'protocol' that you will follow depends on yoru situation and what your doctor decides will be best.

In general terms, you take medication to develop mulitple folicles (from which eggs are released - normally you'd only develop one each natural cycle). Your progress is tracked with ultrasounds and blood tests. When a sufficient number of follicles are ready (meaning there's a mature egg almost ready to be released) you take a differnet medication which triggers ovulation a certain number of hours later (this would be around about 2 weeks into your cycle, but it differs for everyone). Your pickup is scheduled for 36 hours after the trigger (think?), so the doctor can collect the eggs before they're released.

The pickup is usually done under sedation - I was always asleep. Your DH has to wait outside for this procedure.
The eggs are then mixed with sperm and left to fertilise. Fertilised embryos are allowed to develop for 3 or 5 days (usually). Again, it depends on the number of embryos you have, and your lab's usual procedure, etc.

On day 3 or 5 (after the egg pickup day) you would go in again to have an embryo transferred - it's done via a catheter through the cervix. There's no sedation. It can be a bit uncomfortable but is a pretty quick procedure and your DH can be there with you.
Leftover embroys can be frozen and used in subsequent cycles - you don't have to go through the pickup again for those ones obviously.

Hope that's helpful.

Thats wonderful thank you so very much for all the information :thumbsup: so the actual implantation is similar to IUI cos thats done without any sedation either. Do you need to have time off after the implantation or are you right to go about stuff as per normal?

Hi Mia :hello:

As MadB has said there are no exact protocols it really doesn vary from clinic to clinic. Hers my experience....
Synarel nasal spray was started and followed a couple of weeks (?) later by puregon injections once daily. Bloods and ultrasounds to track maturaity of eggs etc and once there were a number of follicles to likable size I had the trigger injection. I was never asleep for my egg collections, DH was with me. I was given a relaxant and calming drug but was fully aware and able to talk....actually perhaps talk a little too much, I drove everyone nuts :lol: Eggs were collected via ultrasound and needle through the vaginal wall and then put in a dish to do there thing with DHs sperm (collected after egg collection). Depending on the number of eggs retrieved will contribute to the end result, there will be a certain amount of embies that dont make it the full 5 days.

On day 5 (generally) a blastocyst will be put back into your uterus. Pretty much the same as a pap smear and DH was always there for that procedure as well. My reasoning being, if the embie took I would like to be able to tell the child its father was actually there :lol:

It will really depend on how you respond to IVF as to whether you will need time off work or not. My 1st cycle I walked out and was at work the next day the 2nd time hyperstimulated and was in bed for several days and the 3rd hyperstimualated and ended up in hospital on a drip....

Around day 14 of the cycle I think my eggs were collected and then on day 19 the resulting embryo was transferred.

Hope that helps but if I havent been clear or it creates more questions, feel free to ask!

Good luck with it hun :hug: heres hoping your IVF journey is a short and sweet one :)

Thank you Lilliy for your story its SO helpful to here from ppl who have done it and been in my position. Atleast I will be prepared for what comes my way so thanks :hug:
I have done the puregon injections before for iui however havent done the nasal spray.
So when they took the eggs did you feel much being that you were awake?
Do they keep eggs for if you want to do another cycle later? Is there a cost to do that?
Were you successful with IVF? I see you have a beautiful angel now just wondering if it happened naturally for you or via IVF..

Well the nasal spray is much easier then the puregon :)
Egg collection wasnt painful, I felt a bit of pressure but that was from being tender already from my 'ever expanding ovaries', nothing to be scared of at all! At our clinic any good quality blastocycts that are left over after day 5 undergo the freezing process for later use. There was a small cost per month to store these, the the next time I was just monitored with blood tests and blostocyst tranferred 5 days after ovulation, much easier then the whole cycle.
My little girl is the result of 5 years of unsuccesful IVF, we were the very small part of the population who started IVF at 21 with no obvious reason for infertility. We decided to take a break after 5 years and a slight errrmm breakdown of my stability and along came Miss J....when I realised I was pregnant I literally couldnt breathe, I have never been so shocked in my entire life.

:clap: WOW Lilly what a miracle! I would have thought at 21 you would have had a MASSIVE chance for IVF to work straight away? We have no reason either for our infertility which is quite frustrating, am I delusional in thinking ivf will work for us? I know its a small chance but you have better odds then ttc on your own. :pray:

Hey Mia,

Nice to see you back!

If you have done the puregon injections you have less mental hurdles to cross. I did those injections for a few months before moving onto IVF. The drug protocol that I had I just had to add the nasal spray, BC pill and I was already familiar with the trigger injection.

Egg retrieval was under sedation and was very quick.

I found the transfer much simpler and less painful than the pap smear.

If you get left over embryo's they store them for later use and subsequent cycles cost less. The most expensive cycle is the stimulation one.

In terms of chances of success, it's probably best to discuss it with your doctor as people's circumstances are different. I was told I had about a 20% chance per cycle and she would be surprised if I didn't get pregnant within 6 months. I was extremely lucky and fell on my first cycle.

I also saw a naturopath and acupuncturist for awhile before I did IVF and that may have helped me fall quickly with IVF. I guess I will never really know.

I wish you all the luck with your journey.

Thanks Lisa :hug: I really hope that we have the same luck as you! :pray:
How many months are you?

Hey Mia,

I'm about 8 months now. I will be crossing my fingers and toes that you will be as lucky as us. BTW I never felt particularly lucky and stressed myself out through the whole ordeal. I was convinced I didn't work and had no symptoms at all.

Good luck hun.

hi Mia,

if you go to the westmead ivf website and click on information, then patient information package there is a number to call and they will send you out a booklet that answers a lot of questions and explains how things are done

hope this helps and good luck ! i believe Dr Smith is booked up until at least March, im going to see a female dr there in march myself, she is supposed to be very good

:hello: minniemouse :) Thanks I will definately give them a call. Which Dr are you going to see? I'm seeing Dr Gayer seems like they're real busy huh!?!
Ahhh well I'm just going to take it as a few more "natural" tries in the meantime :lol: