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Monday 20 September 2010

IVF#1: BFN

Well, it's official. After getting my period yesterday, I was expecting a zero on my beta today, and that's what I got: Not pregnant. I was quite sad yesterday, which worried my husband. He doesn't like seeing me so down, and just wants me to be happy. But I can tell that he will make a wonderful father, so I think it is appropriate for me to be disappointed that I won't get to see him in that role just yet.

The nurse told me that I could start my FET cycle right away if I wanted, but annoyingly I will be away for work next week, so it will have to wait another month. We are always waiting, aren't we?

We have my follow-up consultation with the head of the clinic on Thursday. To summarise this cycle: BCPs, Suprefact supression, 14 days 150u Menopur, 9 eggs retrieved, 7 mature, 7 fertilised (without ICSI), a Day 3 transfer of a 7-celled embryo, and a single 6-celled embryo frozen.

These are my questions for the Professor:

FET cycle
• How fragmented was our 6-cell embryo at freeze?
• What are the chances that this embryo will survive the thaw?

Next fresh cycle
• Given that no embryo reached the 8-cell stage, what are our chances of success in future fresh cycles?
    o Does our history of a chemical pregnancy and miscarriage influence this?
• Will I be on a different drug regime next time around?

Donor embryos
• Can you tell us about your frozen embryo program?
    o Does the six month waiting period apply for every frozen donor embryo transfer?
    o What criteria do you use to match couples with embryos?
• Can we sign up for donor embryos now while still attempting our own cycles?

Thank-you all for your support during this difficult process. Can you guys suggest any other questions that you think might be appropriate to ask?

11 comments:

  1. So sorry for the negative.

    At least now you now for sure and can start planning what's next. Sucks that you can't roll right into your FET, but the month will fly by.

    xoxo

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  2. I am sorry to hear this :( I was SO hoping that this would work out for you! It is sad & it is ok to grieve so take the time & work through what you need to now so you will be ready for the next battle & don't forget to give the hubby some extra "sugar" too as I'm sure he is feeling sad also :( Sounds like you have some really good questions ready for your next appt.

    One other thing I would ask with a fresh cycle is 1) would your RE be a bit more aggressive with the meds to produce a greater # of follicles so your chance of having some to freeze increases?

    Wishing you the best of luck & looking forward to hearing about what your next step will be :)

    Hugs,
    Heather

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  3. I'm so sorry to hear about your BFN. I was so hoping you would get a surprise.

    I don't know much about this yet, but since you are pretty young for egg quality issues, I would definitely ask the RE about Immune Disorders, such as Natural Killer Cells, an Auto-Immune Panel and Embryo Toxicity Assay. I am having all these test done now (still waiting on results), but my RE ordered them when so many of my embryos declined so quickly in quality. It would also make sense with your history of miscarriage/chemical pg.

    My tests were $865 total. This is a drop in the bucket compared to a donor egg cycle.

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  4. (((BIG HUG))) So sorry to read it was a BFN hon :-( Good luck with your follow up appointment. I would definately be asking about drug protocol and whether they think a different type of cycle or drug dosage could help. It probably won't hurt to have a months break before doing your FET either, both for your mind and body. Thinking of you and DH.

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  5. I would definitely ask if they thought you were slow to respond because you were too suppressed, and if they would increase your stim doses next time to shoot for more embryos. As far as I know, they're happy when embryos are 6-8 cells on day3, so maybe ask if there's a difference in outcome with 6 or 7 or 8 cells.
    Sorry you can't move directly to the FET, but hopefully things will work out to a BFP next month.

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  6. I'd ask about immune disorders too. I don't know how it works finance-wise with you, so with my next comment keep in mind that I do IVF in Australia where our Medicare covers a lot of the costs, but would you consider doing another stim cycle next rather than an FET? I only mention this because my embryos are so terrible that I didn't do a FET when I only had one frostie as once I did this and my one embryo didn't surive the thaw. I'm doing an FET this month, but only because I now have 3. Just a suggestion.

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  7. i am so sorry. nothing can take away the heartache of the BFN in IVF. I love that you are organised and have intelligent questions to ask your professor. Just try not to get too upset when they don't offer solid information. Maybe the month off will be good for you and get you ready for FET #1 which is less invasive but no less emotionally demanding. Big hugs.

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  8. I'm so sorry. Sounds like you have a lot of good questions lined up. It's hard. It's hard coping with the first failure (after many others), and it's hard waiting for the next try. Thinking of you.

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  9. Hugs to you. I'm sorry it was negative. It just never gets easier does it.

    As for your questions, I think you covered most of them. The biggest one for me would be to ask if a different protocol would suit you better. I've tried so many differnt combinations of drugs and protocols and know that a little tweeking in that area can have huge benefits in results. Hopefully your RE has learnt a lot about how your body responds to the drugs so will have some great suggestions for you on how to improve things next time.

    Look after yourself. x

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  10. Hi Dandle Dreams, I am really sorry to hear your news, it really is heartbreaking especially as you we all have so much hope for the first cycle and think it will solve all our problems and after so much effort surely we deserve that. We have quite a similar story to you and have also just had a chemical preg from ist IVF. I am pleased I found your blog, so I just wanted to pop by and say hi :)

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