Anonymous wrote:I don't know, I'm heading down the same path as you. I wish you luck.

Well, 1/3 (some say up to 1/2) of fertility issues are caused by men! Very first thing is to take him in and have him tested.

Only then proceed.

OP, I'm not sure if your insurance covers IVF, but if you can, Yes - go straight to IVF so you can "bank" embryos.

TBH, I almost don't remember the effects of the meds. For me, the head space and stress of the entire process is what I remember most. It didn't affect DH like it did me. I woke up every day and was completely focused on getting pregnant. It was like a full-time job for me.

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s very daunting with your first child and go around with infertility, but as someone who’s been through it, IVF is not a big deal. At the end of the day it’s one week of injections, a retrieval with some minor discomfort after, and then it’s all pretty straightforward from there. It’s much more emotionally draining (and potentially financially) than anything else.

100% agree that the emotional and financial toll is much worse than the physical part ... although the physical part does suck too, but that aspect is much quicker than the lingering mental drain of waiting for results, thinking about what the future could hold, overthinking the possible outcome, etc. I personally believe you need to plan fun outings or things that can keep your mind off the process. Plan a trip for the days following your retrieval. Keep yourself busy. Journal or meditate or yoga, if those help you. Good luck!!

I think it’s very daunting with your first child and go around with infertility, but as someone who’s been through it, IVF is not a big deal. At the end of the day it’s one week of injections, a retrieval with some minor discomfort after, and then it’s all pretty straightforward from there. It’s much more emotionally draining (and potentially financially) than anything else.

I thought I was headed toward IVF (or at least learning more) for my second after unexplained infertility. A doctor I saw for a 2nd opinion suggested an hsg and my gyn was open to that. I also started acupuncture leading up to my IVF appointment and started having sex daily in the fertility window rather than every other day. Outside my control, a major issue at work resolved. I don’t know whether one of these, all, or none helped but the day of my IVF consult I had a positive test that morning. She’s 5 now.

Yeah, we did IVF for unexplained after two IUIs. I wish we’d gone straight to IVF. We got pregnant on every transfer (4), but then had to contend with unexplained recurrent miscarriage which was so frustrating. Our 4th transfer did result in our daughter though. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:We're leaning towards skipping IUI because my husband's sperm is normal and it seems like it would be a waste of time/money at this point as I understand that IUI makes sense when there are sperm issues? If I am wrong lmk.

To the PP with unexplained infertility and did multiple IVF rounds - how many did you do?

Unexplained is so frustrating. We did get pregnant naturally but unfortunately it was ectopic.

IUI can be helpful for those with male factor because it puts the sperm exactly where it needs to go and it has a short swim to do it’s thing. IVF is of course more successful because it puts a developing embryo directly into the womb and then it’s up to the embryo to implant or not. Agree if you are over age 32 or 32 I personally would skip IUI.

As for IVF we did two retrievals and three transfers before getting take home baby.

I'm a PP and we did 3 unsuccessful IUIs and the first IVF (fresh transfer) was successful. I'd also gotten pregnant once naturally before all of that, but it ended in a MC.

Agree with another PP that age matters too. I wouldn't waste time on IUI if older. I was 33 at the time.

I was unexplained for my daughter, did 4 IUIs dreading IVF (got pregnant 3rd but was a chemical pregnancy, and then 4th was my daughter). I too dreaded having to do IVF and was so grateful we conceived "naturally" (and still am, of course!).

however, in hindsight I wonder if it would've been better for us to do IVF then, when everything checked out "normally." We have now been chasing our 2nd for two years, apparently my fertility went off a cliff a year after I gave birth. Had I done IVF back then, I prob would've had embryos to bank and use now. We've now done 4 rounds of IVF and heading into our 5th, still no success, but I will say the physical aspect of doing IVF is surprisingly easy for me. You get used to the injections etc and realistically, the stimming and retrieval part only take up about 2ish weeks... so not a lot in the grand scheme of things. I very much find the emotional part much more difficult - the bad news, the constant waiting for test results and/or to start your next cycle, etc. Hopefully you'll find success early with IVF.

We're leaning towards skipping IUI because my husband's sperm is normal and it seems like it would be a waste of time/money at this point as I understand that IUI makes sense when there are sperm issues? If I am wrong lmk.

To the PP with unexplained infertility and did multiple IVF rounds - how many did you do?

Unexplained is so frustrating. We did get pregnant naturally but unfortunately it was ectopic.

Unexplained infertility here too. We did a series of IUIs that were all fails. It was a huge waste of time, money, and emotions but it does work for some so if you’re young you could try a few. We had success with IVF but it wasn’t a slam dunk. We thought it would be after doing two years of TTC on own, then a bunch of times cycles, then a bunch of IUIs, and with everything being “perfect” on paper and tests. Did eventually have a baby but it took several cycles of IVF to get there. So emotionally prepare that it could happen in a snap or take a long time or not work out. Have a plan A, B and C to keep you stable and focused during the process and hopefully you get lucky on your first try! Good luck.

Have you considered IUI and what does your RE think of that option?

Also had unexplained IF and did several IUIs that failed first. But works for some.

On one hand unexplained is frustrating bc it feels like "well they don't even know what's going on so what reason is there to think this will work?" But on the flip side for us personally our numbers were good and the percentage likelihood of success that SGF predicted for us was high. So that helped a bit.

I don't know, I'm heading down the same path as you. I wish you luck.

Also, title should say unexplained infertility. Not that it matters that much, but definitely adding to the sting of needing to go IVF route.

After many failed timed sex attempts, its looking like we will need to go into IVF, something I really am dreading. Can anymore who has been there, done that give me a head's up on how different medication will be, side effects? Also, any insight into what kind of prep is needed? I feel like we should be able to start with one cycle between our last timed sex and starting an IFV cycle. We are entering what is likely our last timed sex cycle.

Also, are people in the DMV still able to do fresh transfers? Or should I really just be preparing to go through a harvest cycle.