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

[Anonymous]

OP here again.

Thanks for checking in with me. I'm still waiting for AF so I can get day 3 blood work and u/s. I hope my FSH is decent and that my antral follie count isn't traumatizing! I have long cycles, thanks to my excessive exercise and low body fat. My cycles are anywhere between 38-43 days long! I'm on day 29 day. My RE wants to me have 2 natural cycles and than go on BCP's the month before my IVF. Only one month of BCP's because she doesn't wnat to oversupress my ovaries. So my IVF looks like it could take place the 4th week of Jan. and transfer being early Feb! All this waitin gis killing me! I want to get the show on the road!

[Anonymous]

hello, I had a successful 1st ivf at age 40, however ended in ectopic had to have surgery to removed my tube, I will be doing #4 this November with assisted hatching. I don't know if anyone my age has had success with IVF/Assisting Hatching

[Anonymous]

OP here...

Sorry to hear of your ectopic and your tube. So you tried 2 more times after with no success? I hope your 4th is a winner! Good Luck and keep us posted, we would like to cheer you on!

[Anonymous]

Sorry you had an ectopic! I will be ruoting for you for your current cycle! Please keep us updated.

I'm the OP and AF had still not showed up! I think its day 52 day. I will probably have to go on Provera to induce it and than go on BCP's and start my cycle for an ER date in mid to late January.

[Anonymous]

Successful first time at 40 with Drs. Hartog and Gindoff at GWU. We had twins after implanting 8 embryos and a 3 day transfer. To be fair we had one Ivf go round when I was 37--resulting in a beautiful ds. They had us bat 1000 both times. Of course your chance of success increases if you've been preg before so our success at 40 was helped by the previuos IVF. But still at 40, your success rate can really drop off. Those embryologists at that practice are some of the best.
My strategy-I did not care what they said about how I cd walk around if I wanted to. I did not move off that guerney (Sp?) for an hour and a half. Wheel chaired it out of there into the back of my MIL's cushy riding Lincoln Town Car. (this was 10 years ago--who cared about gas?) Straight home climbing no steps to the couch in our living room where dh had laid out platter of favorite snacks dvd's and ipod of most soothing music. Valium started to wear of by this time but I stayed on that couch except to pee for next 36 hrs. No way of knowing for sure if it helped- but hey I had twins doing this, so...

[Anonymous]

OP here...Thanks for your story! I was shocked when you said your RE transferred 8 embryos! My RE will only transfer 3 no more! Shady Grove frowns upon multiples.

May I ask how many embryos were put back when you had DS at 37 years old and what day transfer it was?

I will be 40 in April 09 but I'm already saying that I will be 40 because my IVF will take pleace 3.5 months before I turn 40.

At Shady Grove, they only have you lie on the table 5 minutes after your transfer, just like an IUI. They said that they've done studies that have shown it doesn't make a difference if you lie down for an hour or not. And they don't give Valuim to their patients.

Anyway...congrats on yuor success and thanks for sharing your story with us.

[Anonymous]

OP here...

Update:

I had my Day 3 blood work and it looks great, pretty similar to over 2 years ago when I had it doe.
My FSH is 8.25 (it was 7.5 over 2 years ago) and my Estrogen was 43 (38.5 over 2 years ago) My prolactin, LH, Thyroid all looked good too.

I'm waiting for one more period and than will start BCP's for an early Feb. cycle. I will be on the stop/lupron protocal and on 225 gonal f and 75iu menopur.

I will have ICSI (frozen sperm) AH done on my embryos as well.

Now the hard part is having to wait!!!!

[Anonymous]

Sounds great OP! I so wish you success !!

[Anonymous]

Thanks a bunch!

[Anonymous]

Please keep us updated- we're rooting you on..!

[Anonymous]

Will do but my cycle isn't till early Feb.

[Anonymous]

Why early Feb? I thought you were aiming for Jan.. hope all is well!

[Anonymous]

My last cycle was very late, I got AF on day 60! I am supposed to get one more regular cycle but will go on Provera to induce it if it does come by Dec. 19, which I'm sure it won't. Than once AF shows, I'm on BCP's for a month, than I start to stim at the end of Jan. for a ER/ET date in early to mid Feb. All this delyaing is due to the fact that the lab closes from Xmas to New Years.

[Anonymous]

I could use some support right now. My second IVF cycle failed. I am 41. In the first failed cycle, I had 8 eggs, three of which were dividing slowly. They put them in anyway and it failed. In the second cycle, I had 9 eggs, two of which divided 'adequately' (one was a 6-cell, one was a 5-cell), but they didn't take either. I know FSH fluctuates alot from cycle to cycle. My last FSH reading was done in May 2008 and it was 7.9. They said it was good for someone who is 41. But then why are my cycles failing I ask them, but they have no answer other than my age. I will be starting a third IVF cycle in early January. I went in for my Day 3 bloodwork and ultrasound. I learn that I'm starting off pretty badly - I have only 5 follicles to start off with. I am crushed.

[Anonymous]

PP-
I've very sorry for your failed IVFs. I've had failed cycles and there really is no greater pain and frustration.

The more I've been around IVF the more I realize that it's one giant crapshoot. I had a cycle where everything went perfectly and we transferred 2 beautiful hatching blasts into a perfect lining and I got a BFN. RE had no explanation about what happened because everything we could "measure" or evaluate went as well as it possibly could. Next cycle was very similar and somehow it worked. Nothing was different except for the outcome. My RE is quick to say that we can control about 6 (arbitrary number) things during an IVF cycle and about 100 other variables of conception are out of our current medical understanding and control. I know SO well how frustrating it is to fail a cycle and to not know why it didn't work. My hardest failure was the cycle when everything went perfectly.

However, I think it's probably a decent idea to seek a second opinion if you have not already done so. A new set of eyes might see your case in a slightly different light.

Good luck!