More than 20 follicles......
44 Replies
isa - May 7

Hey Galina its been an interesting info session. Good success rate for over 40 for 2005 (52% at my clinic) so its good odds but since I cant start until July's cd21 dh said we have lots of time to decide. Our biggest factor is deciding if we want to spend the money on it for an unknown. It would be our savings, my car fund etc etc. I'm feeling less stressed than before the meeting though. How you doin? If you have any questions on what I might have learned go ahead and ask me.

 

Galina - May 7

Hi Isa, what type of drugs would one have to take for the ivf? Also, if you respond well to Follistim and can produce lots of follies w/that, do you still need to take all those other drugs? How many eggs does the dr like to take out and when does he put them back in? I heard stroies w/either a 3 day or 5 day transfer and never really understood the difference bewteen them. The odds of conceiving are very good. Much higher than IUI. That is why if my IUI won't work, I don't want to keep spending $$ on it and try for something where my odds are much better. Thank you for any insight.

 

isa - May 7

Hey Galina give me a sec I'm here and I"ll just look at my book and get some answers for you.

 

isa - May 7

You first start on a ovulation suppression drug on cd21 of the cycle before your retrieval. ie Lupron is the one i would be on. It is a shot in the belly taken exact same time each morning from cd21 til your retrieval. Next drug gets added in on cd3. i would be on Puregon (same as Follistim just the candadian name for it) and take it in the evenings at the same time (within an hour is ok) at night (in tummy again) and continue til retrieval. Ovidril is the trigger drug 36 hours before retrieval (they will tell you when due to u/s, b/w monitoring) also a shot in the gut. Night before my retrieval I would take an antibiotic pill and then again 1 after the retrieval and then keep taking it 2x/day for 4 days to keep infections from occuring. After transfer: You then add in estrace (not sure how many or how long) and progesterone suppositories (3x/day) and prometrium (not sure again how much or how long). You take pg beta 12 days after transfer....ok hold on for more...

 

isa - May 7

You would still need to take all those other drugs as 1 is for not getting infections, and the others are to support your lining and placenta and holding a pregnancy if you get pregnant. One girl thought she got af and stopped her med and found out she was really pg and lost it later because she stopped taking the meds. Egg #'s is up to your embryologist, your RE and you and dh. Certain ages he prefers certain things. Under 25 no more than 2, under 35 I think its no more than 3. Over 35 often times up to 4 and at my age he said he could even do 5 eggs. All depends on quality and cell division which they will know by day 3....

 

isa - May 7

Day 3 or day 5 (blastocyst) is a call the doc and the embryologist would make. My doc prefers a day 3 transfer. The big deciding factor is how strong the embryos are and how they are dividing. If they can last to day 5 you have a higher success rate for pg. BUT... you could lose some embryos between day 3 and day 5 and they may have been ok if transferred into the uterous at day 3 (because they do better in the uterous than the petrie dish). So its really a crap shoot. At my age, my guess is I wouldnt have the best quality and they would def. do a day 3 transfer. They will also look at the zona (the outside layer of the embryo) and if really thick they suggest icsi which we will do anyways but also they might need to do an assisted hatching if its really thick and that is just putting a tiny pin prick in it to help it along in its process of dividing.

 

isa - May 7

Hope I helped. Dont be afraid to ask other q's if you think of any.

 

Galina - May 7

Good morning Isa. Thank you so much for that information. For some idea, I was under the impression that you have to use alot more drugs for ivf. Basically, it seems as though the only drug they add (before withdrawl) is the Lupron in order to control the growth of the follies by the Follistim. The HCG is the same as IUI. Then, I guess after words, you have to take the progesterone, etc. A friend of mine here had two ivf that were not succesful and it seemed to me that she did way more drugs than what you mentioned. Now she is thinking about doing it again but with a donor egg. (She is over 45). I hope you are having anice and relaxing weekend. Thank you again for that info, it was very kind of you.

 

isa - May 8

Hey Galina. I'm glad I could help. We were up with my inlaws today, they took us out for lunch. They are so sweet I just love them to bits. If we do ivf and it didn't work that would be it for us. We definately would not continue due to price. (I'd have no problems donor egg if cost were not a problem) but we have to stop somewhere and if my own didnt work (we would probably due the one ivf and if we had any left over embryos an FET (frozen embryo transfer) and that would be it. I'd assume it wasnt meant to be. I wish your friends oodles of luck. Hope your weekend was a great one.

 

Galina - May 11

Hi Isa, I was just thinking of you and wondering how you were.

 

isa - May 11

HI Galina, I'm ok. starting to think i dont want to go through with ivf but I'll wait to see what happens this cycle and next while I'm away. I possibly ovulated an immature egg this cycle. On friday it was only 15mm on cd17 and I know I o'd on sat or sun. I went in monday and u/s show'd I'd ovulated but still had 2 eggs (13 and 12mm each)Not sure where the 3rd egg snuck in from as I only had 2 all along with my u/s. I dont know if it being such a slow grower would have matured or not. One of the other gals says mature egg can be 16 or 17. I thought it had to be more but if that is the case I probably just made it but it took so many days (I usually o around cd 13,14) that I dont know what the quality would be like. Not holding hope on this month. I'm trying to relax and live life again instead of living for a baby. I had not realized how I'd been doing that until this week and with the nicer weather and dh playing ball (it's nice to go for a beer after the game with the team) I started realizing that I'd put life on hold and thats not what I want. So for the next 1 1/2 months or so, I'm going to try
and live my life for life and not for baby. How you holding up?

 

Galina - May 11

Hi Isa, I think you have a great attitude about this now. Maybe you just need this "break" to put things into perspective and just let your mind and body RELAX. We all need it very much. Just reading your post now compared to yur post from last week, there is a huge difference in your tone. Is it possible to O early and then have another O? I am doing ok. I had an u/s today and will have another one tomorrow. Follies are growing much slower now b/c of the low dose of Follistim. This morning they were at about 13mm (I have 3 or 4). The RE told me to come inagain tomorrow and he will let me know whn he will trigger. My estradiol is grwing so I guess he wants to monitor me. I feel fine this time because there is no issue with being over-stimmed. As far as ivf, I am very much pro-ivf and in your particular case, if you don't get a BFP on your own in the next couple of months, I really honestly think you should do it. I know it is easier to say than do, but I will also be doing it if this cycle does not take. I amglad the wether is better for you and you are more cheerful. Italy is just around the corner.....

 

isa - May 12

Hey Galina, just got in from ball and a beer. Boy do I enjoy that. Feeling ok, not worrying or even thinking about this cycle. I am going to pop in I think on Sunday and get my P4 done. My temps areup and ff says I o'd on Monday but when I had my u/s done I already had the sac there so I think it was more like Sunday. Anyhow Sat or Sun whichever, I'm ok to go on Sun for my P4. I"m curious to know my level. I am psyched about my trip but just got bad family news about 1/2 hour ago so it's going to make going away a bit hard. Hope you are doing well. If we both do ivf we'll have to keep in touch and go through it together. I think I figured out the earliest I can do it is my July cycle. The real reason I'm thinking of not doing it is the money. Maybe its silly but I dont like to go into debt and to do ivf it will take all our savings and my car fund money. It means I'd have to borrow for a car and I cant afford to make the payments. (my car is over 8 years old now and having troubles). I wouldnt trust it to drive if I were pg so it puts a double wammy on me. We'll see. I told dh I was thinking no and he said to wait until we get back and see how I feel and if I wanted to wait the summer out that he was ok with that too. (even if I decide no he would be sad but very supportive as he knows its a lot on my body and I feel so ugly with all the weight gain and bloating I've already got from all the treatments. oh well we'll see.

 

Galina - May 18

Isa, I was just thinking about you and wondering how you were doing? Maybe you left already for Italy....I hope you've been well.

 

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