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

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the words of encouragement and perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

I'm so sorry, it's got to be so depressing to have a failed cycle that you put so much time and money into. *hugs* I hope #3 is a charm! May I ask if you had AH done on your embies and what clinic to you go to?

[Anonymous]

PP -- I'm sorry things are not going well. I'll tell you my story as it may help. In summer of '07 at age 40, I did an IVF cycle where none of my embryos made it as far as the embryo transfer. In my next cycle, I think we retrieved 10 eggs and 3 made it far enough to transfer. One took, but it ended in a miscarriage at about 8 weeks. I then took a couple of months off (and turned 41) and decided to do one more cycle. That cycle produced 9 eggs, three of which survived to embryo transfer. I now am the proud momma of twins as a result of the cycle.

I really hope things work out for you!

[Anonymous]

Hi there- I posted before to the OP but I am the poster child of no way would I have children through REs.. I'll talk about my IVF attempt- I was 39- FSH was not great but borderline- My first attempt it failed completely- cancelled- made no sense since I had 5 IUIs before this- I have no idea what happened. It actually took the pressure off- we had one shot for an IVF (the whole procedure) - the first attempt was so scarily filled with "had to" that I was a mess- when it cancelled- I just peacefully thought- ok- this is it and dr's-but we had a shot at another IVF since we didn't do the procedure the first time- I produced 3 eggs (for DC1 I had an IUI - had 4 follicles grow to maturity) - 1 was abnormal- 2 had a shot and were inserted- 1 became a blighted ovum and one is a year old There are few stories of women with such few follicle production and low egg production- but we have TWO children! ) in some way- the cancelling of the first just made me more relaxed into - it will be or not- I was less stressed since I just took on a wait and see attitude- I know - easier said.. I so wish you the best..

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all of you for the supportive words. Your stories made me cry and give me hope...I'm sorry I'm not very up on the new abbreviations. Does AH mean assisted hatching? If so, yes, I had it done for all the embryos. I went to Shady Grove clinic.

I've had three FSH readings done three times, they were all under 9. But my eggs don't divide well sometimes and I can't seem to produce any more than 8 or 9 eggs at any given cycle.

I'm doing acupuncture so I hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

OP here - Yes AH means Assisted Hatching, which is what my RE told me I will have 3 or 5 day embryos. Hopefully I will have a 5 day transfer, because I respond to well to meds and produced 11 eggs on just 100 clomid alone.

Has your RE figured out why your eggs aren't diving too well? Can you tell me how old you are? I hope acupuncture helps you!

[Anonymous]

Sorry...you did say your age, which is 41. I don't know what to say but that it could be age related or just a couple of bad cycles?

[Anonymous]

RE says its likely age-related.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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...

Congrats to you but I question the fact that your RE put back 8 embryos with your 1st IVF (back from your 1st successful cycle!) I guess they were not all good quality embryos? But still.....8!!!????

[Anonymous]

* UPDATE* AF arrived yesterday and I started BCP's today. I start to stim the 24th of Jan. My ER is tentatively scheduled for Feb 6. or 7th. WOW...the ball is falling moving after a 3 month torturous wait!

[Anonymous]

Hi, I am 41 and starting a 4th cycle of IVF Feb. I had a successful IVF ended in ectipoc that was hard, I have 5yr old son and would like to have one more. Looking for any success stories in my situation.

[Anonymous]

Good luck 41 yr old with the son! I'm sorry to hear of your eptopic. Was this recent? Were your last 4 cycles withing the last year or so?

I am the OP. I am 39 and will turn 40 in April. I am having my 1st IVF and my ER is sceduled arounf Feb 6-7th. It would be great to have an IVF buddy.

Will you be on the same protocol? I'm on the stop/Lupron protocol and will be on 225 gonal F and 75 Menopur.

Anyway, I hope ths round is your lucky winner!!!

GOOD LUCK TO YOU!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good luck 41 yr old with the son! I'm sorry to hear of your eptopic. Was this recent? Were your last 4 cycles withing the last year or so?

I am the OP. I am 39 and will turn 40 in April. I am having my 1st IVF and my ER is sceduled arounf Feb 6-7th. It would be great to have an IVF buddy.

Will you be on the same protocol? I'm on the stop/Lupron protocol and will be on 225 gonal F and 75 Menopur.

Anyway, I hope ths round is your lucky winner!!!

GOOD LUCK TO YOU!!!

I'm 41 going for my third IVF in January. I will be on the vivelle patch and Ganirelix. Anyone use that?

[Anonymous]

thanks for your reply.I will be on the same protocol since it was successful for me they will be doing assisted hatching I will be on Menopur and Cetrotide .25mg. Yes , I recently turned 41 so they will keep the same meds. Good luck to you as well hopefully we will both have BFP!!

[Anonymous]

Good luck to all you ladies who are in a cycle now. Just saw this thread and wanted to share my story, although it is not that encouraging, but I am still trying to be hopeful, which is why I'm lurking on this thread. Did my 1st IVF cycle in '05 at age 36 and got PG but found out at 20 weeks that baby had a severe abnormality with little chance for survival, so we chose to terminate. Did 2nd IVF cycle in early '06 - failed. Did 3rd cycle and had DD at end of '06 when I was almost 38 (she is 2 now). We did a frozen embryo transfer this past June which ended in miscarriage at 7 weeks. Did fresh cycle in October which also ended in miscarriage at about 8 weeks. I am now a few weeks shy of my 40th bday and am contemplating IVF again, but don't know if I can handle the heartache of another miscarriage. I have good success with egg production and conceiving (conceived 4/5 times) but the 2 recent miscarriages have me worried.