IVF#1 at 40, 29 eggs fertilized! Any insight or similar experiences?

[Anonymous]

I'm 32. Infertility cause unknown.

33 retrived
24 mature
20 fertilized
2 transferred on day 5, one stuck (currently 18 weeks pregnant)
8 frozen

So a somewhat low percentage made it to freeze, but mainly I'm just thrilled that the odds are in my favor to have two kids without having to go through the IVF process again.

Good luck to you!

[Anonymous]

I had 18 eggs retrieved. 17 fertilized. 10 made to Blasts on day 5. Used 1 in fresh cycle. Gave birth to DS. Did another two rounds of FET, had another child. Donated the 7 blasts left. The lady I donated my blasts just did the first round of FET. unfortunately, not successful. She still has five blasts to try. But from what I experienced, with IVF you really can't predict the outcome. You have all the ups and downs.

[Anonymous]

OP, I am looking forward to what happens. How did it go?

[Anonymous]

OP sounds like you're in a great position. I had 20 retrieved at 36 years old and ended up with 5 good blasts. I transferred one and it worked and froze four. I have immune issues too and was so worried but it ended up being a non issue. I have Hashimotos and endometriosis. I hope for you that this cycle works but if not you may want to consider dietary changes for the immune issues. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 32. Infertility cause unknown.

33 retrived
24 mature
20 fertilized
2 transferred on day 5, one stuck (currently 18 weeks pregnant)
8 frozen

So a somewhat low percentage made it to freeze, but mainly I'm just thrilled that the odds are in my favor to have two kids without having to go through the IVF process again.

Good luck to you!

To me 8 frozen sounds like a ton! At 36 I had 32 eggs and ended up with only 2 blasts, both transferred, one child. No frozen. I guess I have bad quality eggs (and ironically we did IVF bc of male factor infertility....go figure). Now I'm 39 (almost 40) in the midst of 2nd cycle. It looks like I have 37 follicles, but honestly I'm not holding my breath for more than one blast since I'm 3 years older. OP, what happened. Today was your transfer, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, it's crazy to me how many PPs are intent on bringing down the OP. Save your stories of miscarraige and how IVF didn't work for you. She wasn't asking for that. Really, you can't be happy for the woman who, by any standard for any age, had a tremendous retrieval and fertilization rate?!! It's sad how unsupportive some of you are.

To the OP, best wishes! I had fewer eggs retreived at 40 and only one made it to day 5 but I had a beautiful baby boy in November (at 41). Best wishes to you. You only need one good one, but chances are you'll have many good ones.

NP. OP asked for comments. She didn't ask only for positive stories and comments. Sometimes the negative comments can help set expectations.

Fwiw, OP, I agree with the prior responses who said to do CGH/genetic testing. With that many eggs, and presumably a good number of embryos, you could end up doing repeated FETs if you aren't putting back genetically normal embryos. Good luck.

You honestly believe that anyone who has been through the hell of infertility needs to keep their positive thoughts in check? The OP asked for comments, not for people to burst her bubble or tell her how they miscarried at 11 weeks or tell her that her eggs might be shitty quality and she's not all that and should stop bragging.

As a woman who went through the misery of infertility for five years and finally got pregnant and finally had a child, I needed all the support I could get. I did NOT need people to tell me what could go wrong. I already knew what could go wrong. I get that infertility can make you bitter and sad, but would just hope that some PPs could try to keep that in check. Really, one day it will be your turn and you will want and need people - even anonymous strangers on a forum like this - to keep their resentment in check.

NP here. PP, I think I know who you are. So, I say this as a friend, and as gently as I can... you may want to think about whether you have truly processed and healed from the trauma you endured. You are obviously still very distressed by what happened to you. Therapy would not be out of order, under the circumstances. Infertility can lead to PTSD and your response suggests that this may be an issue for you. I hope you can find peace.

It's really not a terrible thing for people to speak openly about risks. Especially at a time when it was still possible for the OP to do something that might have minimized the risks (such as PGD), as was the case here. If the OP had done PGD, she would have had to pay additional money that they didn't have. Alternately, there is the chance that in not doing PGD, she and her partner may have to do multiple transfers before they get a BFP (also expensive). OP decided what was best for her family, but she did so fully informed of what she was facing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, it's crazy to me how many PPs are intent on bringing down the OP. Save your stories of miscarraige and how IVF didn't work for you. She wasn't asking for that. Really, you can't be happy for the woman who, by any standard for any age, had a tremendous retrieval and fertilization rate?!! It's sad how unsupportive some of you are.

To the OP, best wishes! I had fewer eggs retreived at 40 and only one made it to day 5 but I had a beautiful baby boy in November (at 41). Best wishes to you. You only need one good one, but chances are you'll have many good ones.

NP. OP asked for comments. She didn't ask only for positive stories and comments. Sometimes the negative comments can help set expectations.

Fwiw, OP, I agree with the prior responses who said to do CGH/genetic testing. With that many eggs, and presumably a good number of embryos, you could end up doing repeated FETs if you aren't putting back genetically normal embryos. Good luck.

You honestly believe that anyone who has been through the hell of infertility needs to keep their positive thoughts in check? The OP asked for comments, not for people to burst her bubble or tell her how they miscarried at 11 weeks or tell her that her eggs might be shitty quality and she's not all that and should stop bragging.

As a woman who went through the misery of infertility for five years and finally got pregnant and finally had a child, I needed all the support I could get. I did NOT need people to tell me what could go wrong. I already knew what could go wrong. I get that infertility can make you bitter and sad, but would just hope that some PPs could try to keep that in check. Really, one day it will be your turn and you will want and need people - even anonymous strangers on a forum like this - to keep their resentment in check.

NP here. PP, I think I know who you are. So, I say this as a friend, and as gently as I can... you may want to think about whether you have truly processed and healed from the trauma you endured. You are obviously still very distressed by what happened to you. Therapy would not be out of order, under the circumstances. Infertility can lead to PTSD and your response suggests that this may be an issue for you. I hope you can find peace.

It's really not a terrible thing for people to speak openly about risks. Especially at a time when it was still possible for the OP to do something that might have minimized the risks (such as PGD), as was the case here. If the OP had done PGD, she would have had to pay additional money that they didn't have. Alternately, there is the chance that in not doing PGD, she and her partner may have to do multiple transfers before they get a BFP (also expensive). OP decided what was best for her family, but she did so fully informed of what she was facing.

How could you possibly know who wrote that? There are no details and what she wrote could apply to anyone who struggled with infertility. I was infertile for 5 years and had a child eventually. I didn't write the post but maybe you think it's me!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, it's crazy to me how many PPs are intent on bringing down the OP. Save your stories of miscarraige and how IVF didn't work for you. She wasn't asking for that. Really, you can't be happy for the woman who, by any standard for any age, had a tremendous retrieval and fertilization rate?!! It's sad how unsupportive some of you are.

To the OP, best wishes! I had fewer eggs retreived at 40 and only one made it to day 5 but I had a beautiful baby boy in November (at 41). Best wishes to you. You only need one good one, but chances are you'll have many good ones.

NP. OP asked for comments. She didn't ask only for positive stories and comments. Sometimes the negative comments can help set expectations.

Fwiw, OP, I agree with the prior responses who said to do CGH/genetic testing. With that many eggs, and presumably a good number of embryos, you could end up doing repeated FETs if you aren't putting back genetically normal embryos. Good luck.

You honestly believe that anyone who has been through the hell of infertility needs to keep their positive thoughts in check? The OP asked for comments, not for people to burst her bubble or tell her how they miscarried at 11 weeks or tell her that her eggs might be shitty quality and she's not all that and should stop bragging.

As a woman who went through the misery of infertility for five years and finally got pregnant and finally had a child, I needed all the support I could get. I did NOT need people to tell me what could go wrong. I already knew what could go wrong. I get that infertility can make you bitter and sad, but would just hope that some PPs could try to keep that in check. Really, one day it will be your turn and you will want and need people - even anonymous strangers on a forum like this - to keep their resentment in check.

NP here. PP, I think I know who you are. So, I say this as a friend, and as gently as I can... you may want to think about whether you have truly processed and healed from the trauma you endured. You are obviously still very distressed by what happened to you. Therapy would not be out of order, under the circumstances. Infertility can lead to PTSD and your response suggests that this may be an issue for you. I hope you can find peace.

It's really not a terrible thing for people to speak openly about risks. Especially at a time when it was still possible for the OP to do something that might have minimized the risks (such as PGD), as was the case here. If the OP had done PGD, she would have had to pay additional money that they didn't have. Alternately, there is the chance that in not doing PGD, she and her partner may have to do multiple transfers before they get a BFP (also expensive). OP decided what was best for her family, but she did so fully informed of what she was facing.

You are hilarious. The poster above sounds like virtually EVERY woman I know who went through infertility treatments.

And the poster was also pointing out that while guidance is helpful (hey, consider PGD), people accusing the OP of bragging or telling the OP how horrible her cycle might go isn't helpful (I didn't have any blasts; I miscarried at 11 weeks).

You sound a bit delusional and like you might need therapy yourself.

[Anonymous]

Hi, this is the OP. I was waiting to hear the "freeze report" before posting an update. We had 12 embryos when we went in for transfer Saturday (day 5), but the doctor seemed to think that after transferring our 2 expanding blasts we would have (only) 1 to freeze. (He gave us almost no information about any of our embryos' general quality or stages, which made me anxious all weekend.) So today we learned that they froze 4 embryos. I know that I am lucky, and though I don't know what the future will bring, I'm grateful for this outcome.

This has been quite a learning experience for me; I understand things so much differently than I did a week ago! I knew that my embryo numbers would change and drop significantly, but I thought they would drop off at regular intervals. The pattern that mine followed - no change in numbers at all until day 5 - really threw me for a loop. I definitely took some things to be more meaning than they were. So I'm recapping, in case in the future they are useful anyone in a similar situation...

Follicle Ultrasounds: no dominant or major leaders. Tightly grouped in terms of size. On morning of trigger (day 9) nearly all were 15-19mm, with most being 17-19mm.
Egg Retrieval: 31.
Day 1: 29 fertilized.
Day 2: all still dividing. All 3 or 4 cells except 2 (a 2 and a 6 cell).
Day 3: all 29 still growing. 8 8-celled embryos starting to compact. All of the rest were either 8 or 9 cells, with 3 exceptions: a 4, a 6, & a 7 cell. One 9-cell embryo had 10% fragmentation.
Day 4: "news blackout." (They leave them alone and don't check.)
Day 5: 12 remaining, with 3 frontrunners. (This number made sense to me, as I'd read that only 35-40% of day 3 embryos make it to day 5.)
Final Outcome: 2 transferred, 4 frozen.

I want to thank everyone for their support and suggestions. I have found this board invaluable over the past year. I would appreciate a little more advice on CGH testing. I felt too overwhelmed this round to make such a big decision so quickly, but I see the wisdom of it now, so if we need to do another fresh cycle I want to have a CGH plan already in place. I have partial insurance coverage, but only if I use Shady Grove. Can I stay with Shady Grove but do CGH through another clinic? If so, who do you recommend? Is there any benefit to having it done locally, or am I better off with an out-of-town clinic? (Since the biopsy samples have to be mailed anyway, I'm guessing there's no big advantage to staying local?) I've only done a small amount of research so far - and I plan to give it a break until after my beta! - but the only local program I'm aware of is CFA, plus out-of-town clinics like SIRM, CCRM, & Cornell.

My other question is this: if I had done CGH testing this time, is it almost certain that only my "top 6" (transferred/frozen) had a chance of being normal, or is it possible that the 6 they threw away could have contained a normal egg? (I know that SG has pretty strict freeze standards.)

Thanks again for your help!

[Anonymous]

The clap? Yuck.

For all the eggs - that is definitely not a good thing. That could push you into low reserve territory.

[Anonymous]

20:20 here again and your cycle went really well overall. Be hopeful (!!) and try not to 'what if' everything, including those 6 that didn't make it to the freezer. Basically, PGD testing takes one cell and tests for all 23 chromosomes, where CGH tests all the cells. (Google will give you a better explanation than me.)

SG sends their stuff out to be tested. Since you have coverage there--I'd definitely stay put. It is possible to have frozen blasts tested and then re-frozen, but hopefully the ones you transferred are burrowing in and you won't need to worry about that. GL!

19:40 is misinformed. A large retrieval is not going to push you into diminished territory.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the detailed update OP. I've been following your thread. Definitely stay put at SG for now since you have partial coverage - this stuff gets expensive! Good luck with the beta and continue to keep us posted!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The clap? Yuck.

For all the eggs - that is definitely not a good thing. That could push you into low reserve territory.

Thank you for your mature and helpful contribution!

[Anonymous]

OP, good luck! Hope this cycle works and you don't have to go the PGD or CGH way. Keep us posted after 2ww.

[Anonymous]

OP, congrats on getting so many good blasts and best wishes on your TWW. I'm sending positive thoughts your way. It truly just takes one good one to stick.