Anyone have a successful 1st IVF at the age of 40?

[Anonymous]

I'm your first reply, OP .. .the 9/23 @ 22:40 who was nearly 42 when I conceived. I had done about half dozen unsuccessful IUI's, the last 4 with SG. I saw Dr. Widra in DC. At the same time it was becoming apparent that try #6 was a bust, I saw a friend in CA who was preg by IVF. She urged me to try that rather than IUI with drugs which would have been my next step on the continuum Dr. Widra had sketched out. My periods were always regular and my hormone levels were good. My guess is that at my age, my eggs were resisting being fertilized. I produced about 36 eggs, of which 29 or so fertilized and 19 continued dividing appropriately.

They had scheduled me for a day 3 transfer, but my body wasn't so psyched with all the meds I had been on (lupron, bcp, menopur, bravelle), and the vicodin I took after the egg retrieval just brought my entire digestive system to a screeching halt (sorry, tmi) at precisely the time they wanted to do the transfer. So because of that and because I still had so many eggs dividing, I pushed for a day 5 transfer. My son was born on May 10th and was 3 weeks early, and I, too am a single mom .. weird coincidences there. My insurance paid for most of the IUI's and they agreed to cover the drugs as they would any other drugs, so that saved a boatload, but I did pay for the IVF. Unlikely I would have a second, but I did have eggs frozen in case. I did have both ICSI and AH, but since the suspicion was that my eggs were resisting, it made sense.

[Anonymous]

OP here.... Thanks for sharing your story with me! Your son is 4 days older than my daughter and was bron 3 weeks 4 day early. My due date was actually June 7th but she was born May 14th. What a coincidence!

WOW...you sure had a lot of eggs. My Dr. told me that they will do a 5 day transfer if you have at least 10 egs that are thriving on day 3, so I'm surprised you had to push for a 5 day with as many as you got.

I will also be having ICSI as it's procedure with frozen sperm. I talked to my Dr. as to why she's adding AH and she told me that they normally do it with women who are 40 and above but since I will be 40 in April, it was a fine line so they will do it. Hopefully the AH will be beneficial and help aid implantation.

I'm surprised that your insurance paid for the IUI's as a single mom using donor sperm. May I ask what your insurance is? I have United health Care and they won't cover anything but the U/S and blood work after I meet the deductible.

I'm a little upset as I will have to use a different donor this time. My daughter's donor's vials were destroyed by Fairfax because there were some offspring having similar medical issues. Kind of bums me out but hey...a half sibling can be just the same, it's all about love right?

Congrats again on your precious son!

[Anonymous]

14:28 poster here, with 17 retrieved and 11 fertilized. On 10/02 they put 6 blasts inside me. I was blown away by the number, but both the RE and the embryologist said the chances of more than 2 making at 41 years old are still around 20%. RE said he has never had a 41 have triplets with her own eggs, and most recently had a 41 and 42 yr old who transferred the same and didn't get pregnant. So, needless to say I said yes to the 6. The other 5 did not make it to freezing. I did acupuncture before and after the transfer, then I went away on vacation for one week. I go in on Tuesday for the blood test. I had spotting for the first time in my life on Saturday so I'm really nervous. I know that can be a good sign, but it can also be a bad sign. I've been feeling a bit weird at times, but I think it is my mind playing tricks on me! Say your prayers for me ladies.... thanks!

[Anonymous]

I am so sorry for interrupting this thread for what will seem a really stupid question. What does IVF do exactly? My friend, who is 40, just had her third unsuccessful pregnancy (the last one with chromosomal problems but which died in utero before any decisions could even be made). Apparently three is the "lucky number" with her insurance company, meaning that she now qualifies for IVF treatments. My question is, since she apparently has no trouble "getting" pregnant, but seems to have problems with the quality of the eggs, is IVF great for her? I clearly have no clue, but it seems like that's the type of person for whom IVF will work great.

Sorry again for the temporary hijack...

[Anonymous]

To the PP, IVF with PGD (Pre-implantation Diagnosis (?)) may be a good option for your friend. PGD checks for the 10 most common chromosomal abnormalities in the embryo before it is transferred back. I recommend your friend talk to Dr. Kerns. He used to be associated with Shady Grove but his lab has been bought out by LabCorp. He still does PGD for Shady Grove as well as for fertility clinics all over the country.

[Anonymous]

To the gal who transferred 6 BLASTS! WOW...I have a very good feeling you will get pregnant! May I ask what clinic you go to? Did you have assisted hatching too? My RE told me she would only transfer 3 blasts. Please keep us posted! I hope you your dream comes true!

[Anonymous]

Poster with 6 blasts transferred...I go to Dominion in arlington va. I believe another reason they transferred so many is because I have already had one failed IUI and one failed IVF. I'm very nervous about the blood test..today I'm feeling like it won't be positive. But, I really need to stay positive, don't I???

[Anonymous]

Yes, I've head of Dominion Fert. How many eggs did you transfer with your first IVF? I'm assuming you were on a different protocol this time around? Have you POAS yet? I have high hopes for you!!! Yes, please stay positive!!!

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised that your insurance paid for the IUI's as a single mom using donor sperm. May I ask what your insurance is? I have United health Care and they won't cover anything but the U/S and blood work after I meet the deductible.

I actually have UHC as well. I work for a DC outfit whose HQ is in NY. Not sure if it's that or that my employer just chose to cover some things that your employer did not. Under my policy, all the infertility diagnostics are covered, then $1,000 worth of treatment is covered, but they do not cover IVF. Shady Grove is good about sussing out coverage! They got UHC to agree to cover the drugs at their usual $7/$20?$40 levels, so that was great.

Best of luck to you OP, as well as to the woman having the 6 blast transfer.

As to my case, with the number of eggs that were doing well, they might normally have thought about a day 5, but day 3 for me was a Sunday, so I am not sure who was "minding the store." When they called me on day 2, to say they would do the transfer the next day, I had a conversation with a nurse, who seemed to not want to check with a dr. about why they had opted for day 3. I decided to sleep on it, but was feeling so badly that I left a message for them at about 6:30 a.m. on day 3 saying "can we do a day 5." The embryologist looked at where things were and okayed it at that point.

[Anonymous]

Poster with 6 blasts here, just got the call and it didn't work

We are out of money and not sure what to do next. This is so dissapointing, I don't know that I can go through it a 3rd time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'm surprised that your insurance paid for the IUI's as a single mom using donor sperm. May I ask what your insurance is? I have United health Care and they won't cover anything but the U/S and blood work after I meet the deductible.

I actually have UHC as well. I work for a DC outfit whose HQ is in NY. Not sure if it's that or that my employer just chose to cover some things that your employer did not. Under my policy, all the infertility diagnostics are covered, then $1,000 worth of treatment is covered, but they do not cover IVF. Shady Grove is good about sussing out coverage! They got UHC to agree to cover the drugs at their usual $7/$20?$40 levels, so that was great.

Best of luck to you OP, as well as to the woman having the 6 blast transfer.

As to my case, with the number of eggs that were doing well, they might normally have thought about a day 5, but day 3 for me was a Sunday, so I am not sure who was "minding the store." When they called me on day 2, to say they would do the transfer the next day, I had a conversation with a nurse, who seemed to not want to check with a dr. about why they had opted for day 3. I decided to sleep on it, but was feeling so badly that I left a message for them at about 6:30 a.m. on day 3 saying "can we do a day 5." The embryologist looked at where things were and okayed it at that point.

If I recall...you are also a SMC with a son 10 days older than my daughter? WOW...you must have another UHC plan? I have Plan A and they will not cover treatments for single women using donor sperm nor meds! Your employee must have chose different plans. BTW- I work for UHG and wae have crappy health/dental insurance!!!

May I ask how many embryos you had on left on day 5 and how many were transferred? I think it was great (despite the fact that you were feeling lousy) that you were proactive about wanting a day 5 transfer as they implant better. I know Shady Grove will not transfer more than 2 or 3 blasts because they frown upon multiples. Did you have AH as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Poster with 6 blasts here, just got the call and it didn't work

We are out of money and not sure what to do next. This is so dissapointing, I don't know that I can go through it a 3rd time.

OMG!!! I'm so sorry. I was for sure it would work after transferring 6 blasts. Did you have assisted hatching done on your embryos?

I understand...this will be my 1st and last IVF, I cannot go through more than 1. It's just too hard on your bod, plus it's such a huge financial gamble to take!

I know this is a very difficult time for you right now....please take extra ood care of yourself.

[Anonymous]

May I ask how many embryos you had on left on day 5 and how many were transferred? I think it was great (despite the fact that you were feeling lousy) that you were proactive about wanting a day 5 transfer as they implant better. I know Shady Grove will not transfer more than 2 or 3 blasts because they frown upon multiples. Did you have AH as well?

You know, I don't know how many were left. After they agreed to a day 5 on day 3, they didn't call to update me further. This is probably related to my theory that things aren't as perfectly handled on the weekends. I would have asked when I went in on day 5, but I was still feeling under the weather. I really think it was the vicodin ... dunno how folks get addicted to that. It was not easy on my system at all! They transferred two, and I did have AH.

Congrats on your DD (my DS's May birthday buddy), and best of luck to you as you go forward.

To the 6 blast poster, am so sorry. Please take some time to rest and regroup, and then ponder the next steps a little further down the road.

[Anonymous]

WOW...I just think you are so blessed. Maybe not feeling well worked in your best interest! how old wre you when you gave birth to your son? 42? and you had your IVF at what age? You sure had many eggs at your age!

[Anonymous]

OP- I'm the fluke chance poster with 3 eggs and 2 embryos- please update us! If it helps- I also took fish oil, prenatals and baby aspirin... I know you're setting up for a Jan transfer- I so hope you have an Oct. baby! (like I did- I know- Oct. is hard since it misses the school deadline but it's ok in the big scheme)..