Process overview/timeline - IVF

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to get a big picture overview here, obviously the clinic (we're at Shady Grove Fertility) will walk us through the details.

We are just wrapping up testing. I'm 39, husband is younger, we have two children (conceived naturally), and have been trying for a third for 9 months. One chemical pregnancy in there. My numbers are good (AMH = 3.05) and my husband's numbers look good. If we moved forward, we'd do shared risk, and we only want one more child.

I go in for the HSG tomorrow (day 5 of my cycle). Then I assume I'll meet with them, likely before my next period. What happens next? How long does a "round" take? What preparation has to happen before a retrieval, how long does that take, when in your cycle is the retrieval scheduled? (presume the middle, but what to I know?) When then is the implantation? Then I assume that if you have more than one good embryo and the first didn't take, you do a FET? How long does that take? When do you move on to the next cycle?

Just trying to get a sense of what the rhythm of the next few months will look like. Also trying to get a sense of how many rounds I can realistically fit in before my 41st birthday (the cutoff for Shared Risk). I turn 41 in 15 months so I assume the full six rounds will be out of the question.

[Anonymous]

Bump!

[Anonymous]

Ask about the cutoff - I would imagine if you start before the cutoff you should qualify. Yes, there's probably and end date, but not necessarily your 41st birthday.

Also - odds are you won't need anywhere near 6 cycles. I think the average is closer to 2.

In terms of timing it depends on the specific protocol, but I believe I did 1 month of birth control pills then my next cycle I was stimulated with meds and did egg retrieval. If you are going to do PGS testing then your embryos will be frozen which will add at least another month. I didn't do PGS testing so I don't know what the minimum amount of time this would take. Sorry my answers are a little vague - at least this will bump the post so others see it!