We had 11 eggs at SGF and none fertilized? Second round at Dominion and we had 13 eggs and 9 fertilized, 7 made it to blasts and were biopsied.

They have the best lab in the area, but it is a factory.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SGF sucks, we switched to another facility and it has been much better. I don't think you can switch mid cycle though?

I'm sure you are right. I'd definitely love to hear if there's another clinic you prefer! If we do need to do another cycle we may switch. Thank you!

Dominion

I was at Dominion first 2 rounds, while not perfect, SGF has been a MUCH better experience.

I was with SG Fairfax and they were great. I thought the staff was compassionate without being instrusive and I liked that it was a little more anonymous/private.

Ive been to dominion, Columbia and SG. SG was my favorite. Sounds like you’re being a bit sensitive...I would reach out to your nurse. Some of this sounds like office issues. I was at Sibley and didn’t experience this. Also, it’s been a while but I thought they did send reminders of appointments? Anyway, I hope it all works out for you!

Agree with PP, Dominion is so much better than SGF! I love Dr. Waud, she even came in on Thanksgiving wknd to do my retrieval, and the nurses have been great about calling with updates.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SGF sucks, we switched to another facility and it has been much better. I don't think you can switch mid cycle though?

I'm sure you are right. I'd definitely love to hear if there's another clinic you prefer! If we do need to do another cycle we may switch. Thank you!

I hope your current cycle is successful. If it's not, then switch to one of the others in the area. You might even consider scheduling consults with several before choosing where to go next; that's what I did. There are tons of comments on this forum about the clinics in the area, including GW, Columbia, Dominion, and CCRM. I also think there are lots of us who switched. I started at GW but did not have a good experience there. After 5 months, I switched to Dominion and found it to be a 1000% improvement for nearly everything that I hated or had a bad experience with at GW. That said, there are lots of happy patients at GW, some of whom probably switched there after being dissatisfied with Dominion. One of the things I really liked about Dominion is that my assigned RE did my procedures.

Anonymous wrote:Talk to your nurse. Send her an email with your questions and concerns. If they’re not answered, ask to speak to the clinical manager. You can change docs or nurses if you’re not happy with your care. Some of the issues may be due to your anatomy not the technician. This process is hard. Hang in there.

All of this. As with any other large medical practice, there are good and bad doctors/nurses/etc. I've found working with the smaller SGF offices to be much better, honestly. You still have to go to Rockville or Fairfax for major procedures, but daily blood draws and communication seems so much better with the smaller offices.
As to the HSG, I had a similar experience, but I've had issues before with other practices (OBGYN, midwives, etc), so I just chalked it up to an issue with my anatomy. I'm sorry about that. It is indeed shocking to experience an issue with a procedure that everyone discribed as a cakewalk.

Anonymous wrote:SGF sucks, we switched to another facility and it has been much better. I don't think you can switch mid cycle though?

I'm sure you are right. I'd definitely love to hear if there's another clinic you prefer! If we do need to do another cycle we may switch. Thank you!

Talk to your nurse. Send her an email with your questions and concerns. If they’re not answered, ask to speak to the clinical manager. You can change docs or nurses if you’re not happy with your care. Some of the issues may be due to your anatomy not the technician. This process is hard. Hang in there.

SGF sucks, we switched to another facility and it has been much better. I don't think you can switch mid cycle though?

I'm so worried. We are so lucky to have insurance coverage for most of it but we've already paid out of pocket for PGS and I'm days away from egg retrieval. I guess I have no choice but to let them do the retrieval and give it a try this cycle. Hopefully we get some blastos and once they are frozen I can be transferred elsewhere. It could be the hormones, but I just feel so ::done::.

SG is a factory. I'm sorry. They do a lot of advertising. Doesn't mean they are good.

Anyone else had a bad experience at Shady Grove? I'm re-pasting the below from a draft Yelp review. I'm a first time IVF-er. I'd love to know recommendations of better fertility clinics in case we have to try again. Also, anyone have any idea when and how to transition from one fertility clinic to another?

Shady Grove Fairfax:
Not impressed so far.

I'm on day 9 of my first IVF cycle with SGF and we've had a few problems.

At the very outset, the front desk staff made an appointment for my husband on the wrong day -- I overheard him make the appointment for a Thursday. He showed up on a Thursday and was told that he had missed his appointment for Wednesday. When he asked if they send confirmations of appointments, they said they don't so there was no way to "prove" who was correct.

At my HSG scan, the nurse/technician couldn't find my cervix so I was in the stirrups for way too long with them repositioning, repositioning the speculum...lovely. At the end of the procedure, my blood pressure dropped and I almost passed out and had to lie down and have some crackers until I could go home. WAY tougher than this procedure should have been.

I had the same tech again at my mock embryo transfer and, again, she couldn't find my cervix so the whole procedure was way more uncomfortable than it needed to be.

Just had a day 9 IVF stim checkup where I said I was experiencing pain, having to leave work early, etc. The sonogram technician said I could get a note from a nurse if I didn't have time off work and didn't inquire as to any other potentially OHSS symptoms. You'd think they would want to check that out and ask a few questions!

Financial counselors never call you back, particularly after you have made your payment. They pressure you into doing genetic screening of both partners and our insurance denied it. It's like a game of "who's on first" trying to figure out who to call about this -- the receptionists tell you to call the nurse, the nurse tells you to call Counsyl, the financial person doesn't tell you anything at all!

We were given the option to participate in a study involving endometrial biopsy -- it was so clear upon learning more about the study that this is Shady Grove's partnership with a company that sells endometrial biopsies and they're basically trying to test whether it helps with FET timing. Maybe a noble thing if it really helps people. I'm sure the arrangement is profitable for Shady Grove, though.

I haven't been able to get concrete information, except from Google, about what the egg retrieval process will actually be like or what recovery times typically are. I had to determine myself from Google that you're not supposed to take Ibuprofen for IVF stim pain because it can cause bleeding. When I asked about it, a nurse said: "Oh, yes, that's right, take Tylenol instead." What else have they not mentioned???

I'm stuck in the middle of this IVF cycle, but if I could change fertility practices now, I would. This practice has no personal touch. The doctors and nurses are clearly extended beyond their capacity for profit reasons.