Ladies doing IVF or IUI - 2015 (9 BFPs!)

[MariaIsabella]

Thanks

Is anyone good at the embryo grading at Blastocyst? I had a 4AB transferred and have 4 in the freezer ( 4AB,4BB, 4BB, 4BC ). Is it much lower odds with 4AB compared to 4AA? They would not have frozen the 4BC if it wasn't for the other 3.

Thanks xx

 

[MelC2011]

Fantastic news you have some to freeze Maria.
Not sure about the grading, but hopefully someone will be able to answer (I'm intrigued to know the answer too).

As for me, had another scan this morning.
I currently have 5 follicles at 14mm or larger, another 5 at 10mm and lots of smaller ones (not sure how good this is?!)

Egg collection is booked in for Fri eeeeek xx

 

[CDAbaby]

Fantastic news girls!

I'm not sure on grading, I just went with the fact the only the strongest embies survive freezing and thawing.

Friday Mel!! That's amazing

I have my baseline scan on Wednesday to see if I can start my frozen embryo transfer cycle xxx

 

[Unicorn]

Hi Ladies, I have been stalking this thread as we will be looking to IVF following our current clomid, hcg, progesterone cycles, although we've still got about 2 years wait for the NHS in our area, so it won't be for a while yet.
You're all so brave and doing amazingly xx
MariaIsabella, I see your hubby improved his morphology significantly. How did he do that? And you mentioned being able to have regular IVF because his morphology was improved, what would you have had to have otherwise? My hubby's morphology is 2%, he tried to improve it over 5 months but it stayed the same and everything else got worse, from stress I think! So he's not doing anything in particular at the moment, other than reduced caffeine and taking wellman vitamins. xx

 

[MariaIsabella]

Hi Unicorn!

Yes, it improved a lot. It went from 0% on 2 different tests. Improved to 2 % after 3 months of changes ( reducing alcohol, taking vitamins, changing to decaf etc ) but we got referred to IVF with ICSI which is when they take one sperm and put it in the egg instead of them doing it themselves . However, by the time we started IVF it had improved to 7% so no need for ICSI. His other numbers are good ( count, progression, motility ).

So, to be honest I am not sure why they changed that much.. Perhaps they do naturally since when they went from 2-7% not a lot of changes.

x

 

[Unicorn]

That's interesting, thank you. Hubby's count and concentration etc are all really high but on his first test his movement, progression etc were just a bit over the recommended and morphology was 2% but then on his second test morphology had stayed the same but the movement ones had dropped below!
I think our consultant mentioned ICSI for us, are there any negatives with that method do you know? xx

 

[MariaIsabella]

I don't think any issues with ICSI except more expensive .

when are you planning to start ICSI?

 

[Blueflower]

MariaIsabella: Have a look at this: http://www.inviafertility.com/embryology/kellyschorsch/understanding-the-blastocyst-grading-scale/
So 1-4 is the maturity of the blastocyst then A, B or C is about the number and density of cells. So a 4AB would have less/looser cells than a 4AA but could still grow.

That sounds great Mel! That all came around very quickly!

I've got another tracking scan tomorrow, hopefully no more delays!

 

[MariaIsabella]

Thanks, so is it very common to have AA? I thought mine were good but perhaps they are quite average!

Good luck on your scan tomorrow!!

 

[Blueflower]

I've never had a 4AA! I wouldn't say its common, I think most ladies have a mixture.

 

[Unicorn]

I don't think any issues with ICSI except more expensive .

when are you planning to start ICSI?

We should have our initial NHS IVF consultation in May but it's about an 18 month waiting list from then! We're attending a private clinic open evening in a couple of weeks but I'm not sure if going privately would disqualify us from having any goes on the NHS!? Xx

 

[CDAbaby]

Unicorn - we had ICSI on the nhs as it gave us a higher chance of fertilised embryos due to DH count. We have 4 beautiful embryos in the freezer waiting for a frozen embryo transfer xx

 

[fairycake]

My hubby improved his morphology quite considerably as well, the only things he did extra that you guys mentioned was adding in extra zinc and selenium on top of his wellman, he also had a daily yoga session, daily cool bath to encourage blood flow and he also had acupuncture as well as me. We managed to get pregnant several times thanks to all these Unfortunately I have issues maintaining a pregnancy. I hope this helps. x

 

[Loubalouba]

We had a 4AB embryo for our FET and they said that was a good quality embryo and I googled it lots and lots of people got BFP's with a 4AB so I think it's very good Hun x

Good luck for Friday mel all sounds great

Hope u r ok nicnak and so sorry I know how tough it is but remember it can take 3 attempts for lots of people xx I think FET's are better after my experience with IVF. Have u any to freeze? X

 

[MariaIsabella]

Thanks Lou! I hope so!!

Unicorn, Not sure it would disqualify you actually and I had the same thought. IVF on NHS came around quite quickly for us though but would have liked to try privately of not. My guess is it does not affect anything as long as you don't get pregnant and have a baby

Wanted to ask you ladies how you feel regarding stress levels. I am so angry with my private doctor so I will go to another if this for some reason doesn't work. He was the one saying everyone handles pain differently when I found HyCoSy scan painful and I read a copy of a letter he sent to a specialist doctor ( for my hyperplasia problems ) where he said I hope everything goes well for me "even though she is a very anxious and nervous person"!! Is that suppose to make me feel good? Am I abnormal in feeling stressed about all this and asking him a lot of questions? Don you ladies feel stressed as well and a little anxious about it all??

So angry so I wrote him an email explaining how I felt about that

xx

 

[CDAbaby]

Maria its a bit odd that he wrote that it doesn't sound right to me, I hope everything goes okay even though your anxious? So because your anxious it shouldn't go okay? I don't get it. I'm sure he just meant to make them aware so they could treat you better but it didn't come out right x

 

[MariaIsabella]

Not sure, I don't feel comfortable with him so will probably not go with him further. I have been nervous and think its normal. I got diagnosed with hyperplasia and infertility which is stressful and I need a doctor who is understanding and nice to me if I am going to pay him good money. NHS nurses and doctors have been wonderful and said I handle everything great compared to him and he is private!

this is exactly how he wrote it "I hope that all will go well though with her although she is a very nervous and anxious person."

He probably did not mean it in a bad way but he has no social skills whatsoever when you meet him and he has been very cold many times.

 

[Blueflower]

Drs aren't great with words sometimes, it's not their forte! But they should be careful when writing something you might read! I was once described as nervous during a smear test when I was about 23! The next nurse read it and asked if I was ok! And a nurse at my local clinic told me off for calling twice in a row!

You do ask lots of questions but should be allowed to as you have no idea what to expect! Sometimes they must forget that what we are going through is incredibly stressful! Its also a catch 22 because if you complain it might confirm his opinion! Have you spoken to anyone about it?

I had to leave a work meeting early today to get a train to London for my nurse appointment. It was quite embarrassing as I was the minute taker who usually doesn't even get a chance to pop to the loo or eat a biscuit during meetings! I told my admin colleague on my way out of the door and she got the wrong end of the stick, thinking I'd got a sudden call for an embryo transfer! She was really excited for me, it was a shame to disappoint her! Hopefully its what will actually happen in a couple of weeks!

 

[MariaIsabella]

It will happen soon Blueflower! What happened during your appointment today? When are they testing the embryos for chromosomal changes, just before ET?

I wrote an email to him basically saying I get the impression he thinks I am an exceptionally nervous person and that I do not think it is a true reflection of who I am. I am anxious about my fertility issues since I desperately want to become a mother and the abnormal cells I had got me scared. My way of handling things is to educate myself and ask questions.

Anyhow, moving forward. My sister works with a lot of people having gone though IVF and a client of hers recommended another private doctor who apparently is very soft and nice and still good statistics. Might have a look into that if I need to.

I am 3dp5dt today so hoping my embryo has found a good spot! No symptoms whatsoever though.

 

[Blueflower]

Yes hope he or she is snuggling in! We weren't keen on our first consultant but this one is nicer (apart from the misunderstanding issues!) It makes perfect sense to alleviate your anxieties by getting info and its all too easy to blame fertility issues on stress.

I'm still on the train! Its a scan and hopefully plan when the embryo testing will be. I will need Ovitrelle and a sharps box for the Clexane!