Please Describe A Full/Typical IVF Cycle To Me

[Anonymous]

My apologies if I seem a little stupid to ask this kind of question but I am new to the IVF world (after 2 failed IUIs). My re has explained this to me but I can't seem to understand him 100% (or maybe I do and just need reassurance). I'm at SG.

Can anyone tell me:
When in your cycle do you start IVF? When do I notify my re that I want to begin?

How long do you take birth control pills? Lupron? Injectables?

What does a typical protocol look like? (I'm 32 with only male factor that we know of and normal day 3 levels, responded well to low dose stims for IUI)

How long from start to finish does a full IVF cycle take?

TIA!!

[Anonymous]

i didn't have to take lupron/bc pills because i don't ovulate but i can tell you about the part after that.

first of all, does your RE know that you want to do that next? if you are ready, i would tell him/her now - i know at shady grove they have to set a date in advance for the egg retrieval...and that could take a while depending on the clinic's schedule. but if you are going to a smaller practice, it may not be as big of a deal.

once you guys are ready to start, typically you go in on your 3rd day of your period and they will draw blood, if the results show that you are ready, the nurse will call that day to give you dosing instructions. it's important to have all of your medication/needles/supplies in advance....anyway you'll then give yourself your medication based on what is instructed. she will also tell you when to come back for blood work and u/s, which might be about 3 days later. you will keep doing this until your RE evaluates your follicles and i think they usually want around 14 about 20mm in diameter (i *think*). i believe they try and mimic a "regular cycle", i.e. about 2 weeks of injections, ER, Transfer, then 2 weeks later preg. test (so about a month long including the 2ww)...but everybody is different.....

once you are ready, the nurse will call to tell you to take your trigger shot at a very specific time. two days later you'll go in for your egg retreival, which is outpatient surgery. (they will use anesthesia). during recovery the doctor should tell you how many eggs were retrieved, and they will then add the sperm for fertilization, or do Icsi (i didn't do this). depending on the number of embryos and quality you'll hopefully either have a day 3 embryo transfer (8 - 10 cells) or a day 5 (blastocyst) transfer. on that day, you show up w/ a full bladder, and they'll transfer the embryo(s). this is sort of like an IUI.
the egg retrieval day - i would take a day off of work for this, you may have cramping, and you just should relax and take it easy. oh bedrest for 24 hrs after the transfer....2 weeks later, you go in for a blood pregnancy test...and voila, either congratulations are in order, or another round is....

hope this helps, good luck!

[Anonymous]

Just to add to the PP, if you do have to take Lupron and bc pills, you'll start taking bc pills around the 3rd or 4th day of your first period after you start your IVF cycle. You take bc pills for 2-3 weeks and Lupron for all or part of that time. Then you stop bc pills so that you'll start your period again. You go in for b/w and u/s on Day 3 of your cycle, which is where the PP picks up. Everything else for my IVF cycles was the same as she describes, except that I was in quite a bit of pain after my retrieval (both times) and needed a couple of days of rest. I was a pretty good responder - 18 eggs the first time and 27 the second time - so that might be why I needed a lot of recovery time.

[Anonymous]

OP here...thank you so much! I understand this IVF stuff so much better now! You've articulated the experience better than my RE did! I really appreciate your responses.

[Anonymous]

OP - Your nurse at SG should be able to tell you what the plan is - your RE should have notified her of what protocol you'll be on and she should be able to take that and give you a run down of what is going to happen, when you need to contact her to get started, what drugs you need to order, etc.

If you're not getting good information from your nurse, asked to be assigned to another one (I did - it is no big deal). You are going to be spending a lot of time in contact with her during an IVF cycle and should be working with someone you can rely upon.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much poster 9:17! I agree, I should look to my nurse to explain things more clearly!