sharedjourney home

ok talk to you soon and feel better!!!

Nancy - Is there a sperm issue...why ICSI?
My 1st cycle they retrieved 17, and the ones that fertilised stoped dividing at 2 & 4 cells, very poor quality, transferred 4 anyway, BFN.
The 2nd cycle, 21 retrieved and better quality, transfered 3 but BFN. Both were day 3 transfers.
The 3rd cycle was the most optimistic (new dr/clinic), 24 retreived, day 5 transfer, good embryo quality, they wanted to transfer 3 but given our history we insisited on transferring 4, but still BFN.
My previous doc tried ICSI the 2nd time, half an half. Only 2 fertilised with the ICSI and 8 fertilised naturally. The doctors said the picked the best eggs for ICSI, so go figure???
After the first failed cycle, I starting to take charge of my health and I beleive that was the reason for the improvement and after the 2nd, I made some real drastic changes. During the 3rd IVF, I was taking Ovulex the entire cycle too, maybe that was a factor, but I dont know. If nothing happens w/in the next 2 cycles, I will go back to the RE , but for now I will continue with the ovulex, vitmins, green tea...
I think they did assisted hatching with the 2nd cycle, I cant remember. Do you know why assisted hatching, pros/cons? Everything looks good with my ovaries, uterus, tubes...I respond very well to the meds and "make" a good number of eggs, but theyre not sure why I'm not getting pregnant. I dont know if I'm happy or sad they cant find anything wrong - how do you fix something when you dont know whats wrong with it? Now Im trying to do what I can to help solve this mystery. Hopefully it will pay off soon. Now that I am healthier, I hope its just a matter of statistics.

For some reason it is showing that I am on line and I can't write you back so I will be NANCY1 for now.

Pst23 there is no sperm issue they say that my husband's sperm is great!!!

As for the assisted hatching I wrote Dr. Timothy Smith

If you do IVF with ICSI do you have a better chance of the embryo implanting if you do assisted hatching?

Thanks
Nancy

and he said

Depends on the day of transfer. Assisted hatching for Day 3 embryos has been shown to be beneficial for patients >38 years old, those with a previous IVF failure and those patients whose embryos are surrounded by a thicker than normal zona pellucidae. Patients in other categories may or may not benefit from AH. Assisted hatching has been shown to be beneificial for blastocyst stage transfers (Day 5) in all patient groups.

ICSI makes a very small (3-4 micron diameter) hole in the zona pelluciade when the sperm is injected. Assisted hatching on Day 5 embryos involves making a hole approximately 30 microns in diameter. These are not equivalent procedures, so having ICSI does not negate the necessity of assisted hatching in patients that would benefit.

I'm like you everything is good I respond great to all the meds.
I find it very frustrating that they can't pin point it down I also asked Dr Smith

I was told the my husband and I had unexplained infertility. They say all tests came back fine. I did a round of IVF and they retrieved 11 eggs. 6 of the eggs they let nature takes it's course and the other 5 they did ICSI. Out of the 6 eggs 1 fertilized and out of the 5 eggs that were ICSIed 4 made it. They said that my eggs were probably to hard for my husband's sperm to penetrate. I just went another round of IVF and ICSI last month and I had 17 eggs 10 fertilized and 9 fertilized normally. They put in 3 a 8,7,6 cell. It didn't work. So is there anything I can do besides IVF and ICSI to try while I save money to go another round of IVF that might work.

Thanks

and his reply was

Yes, you should be evaluated for immunological problems such as antiphospholipid antibodies, autoimmunity and cellular immunology (NK cells). For more information on the tests, see http://www.repromedix.com/forp
atients/ourtests_patients.html


I also asked him how they evaluate you for that and what tests you have to do and how they treat it if you have it.

I hope some of this helped you When I read his response I will post it to you if you are interested

I really thought to my self that they figured out what was wrong saved my money to have another child and I got the BFN I was in such shock. I thought to my self I beat it only to get pushed back down.

My Nanny use to tell me that God only gives us what we can handle, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and pick yourself up by the boot straps. My mom reminds me of it all the time. I use those 3 sayings to my self when AF comes to get ready for my next cycle!!!

Don't know what happen but I had to log out and login but I am here I hope some of what I said helps someone but I am interested to hear what Dr Smith says about NK Cells(natural killer cells)

Nancy - Thanks for the info. Im going to ask my doc if he did AH during the last cycle , since it was a day 5 transfer. I'll look into those other tests. I'm guessing I probably had the tests, but I dont remember. I will definitely discuss with this doctor. I'm healthier, more together emotionaly, and have a new dr and clinic that I very comfortable with. So even though I had 3 failed cycles, I'm not giving up. The embryo quality the 2nd time was more than 6 times better than the 1st and the last cycle was a tremendous improvement over the 2nd. Now that Im finally getting my act together, I hope its just a matter of time. I plan on going back to the doctors in April but hope I will get my miracle before then. Will you try IVF again?

I'm glad that I could help. I am waiting to hear for Dr. Smith to respond to my post to see about the NK Cells. I guess maybe that is my next step. Hoping that Ovulex will be my miracle. If that doesn't work I will definately do another round of IVF. It's just saving the money to do it. I know some people want to do it the natural way and I felt that way at first too. I now look at my daughter and thank god that I had the oppurtunity to do IVF. I figure I have one gonal F pen left so I am hoping that I can save my money before it expires(Feb 2007. I looked it up and it could run about $800.00 just for the one pen. I'm about a little less than half way there.

pst23 this is what Dr Smith had to say

The link I provided will answer your questions about the various types of testing. After you read about the testing, speak with your doctor about having the tests performed. They are all blood tests, so its just a matter of drawing the blood and sending it to the lab. Depending on the type of probelm (if any) there are a variety of treatments available. Wait and see what the tests show (if anything) and then discuss treatment options with your doctor. If your doctor poo-poo's the testing, get a second opinion.

NANCY - Thanks for the information. Hope the ovulex does the trick. Much baby dust!

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE! :)

How is everyone? Jackie, Les23, Mahogany Heart, Soon2bmommy?
Soon2bmommy; did the information that I sent over to you help at all? Was it enlightening?

Baby Dust!
Monica

I hope that everyone had a great weekend!!!

Monica,

I haven't received any information from you.

Hello Sisters, Friends, Visitors and Newbie:

Keep the Faith!!! Smile.

Mahogany Heart: I was asking how you were doing. The information that I was talking about was directed towards Soon2bmommy. I sent her a packet of infertility information in the mail on last week.
I did send you an e-mail on last week to thank you for encouraging me with that song; so thanks again..........That was all :)

hi guys,

Hopeful...I need you to be a guinea pig for me. Would you please? I am the queen of nausea. I was sick for 14 weeks with my daughter and 6 months with my son. I wanted to jump out of my skin. After both pregnancies I did real research because the md's were not particularly helpful those times. I found something called baby's bliss morning sickness magic. They say it helps. Also, (not with the baby's bliss because it would be too much vitamin b6..you'd have to do it instead) you could take every 6 hours a 25 mg of vitamin b6 along with a tablet (not a capsule) of unisom which is doxy something or other. My new MD says it makes you sleepy but takes away the nausea. With this pregnancy I did not get far enough to know if it would work and then the pregnancy was gone. Could you try one or the other and lemme know if one works? Thanks.

Thanks for caring guys. I'm gonna start Zoloft which I guess will help. I know it helps it's just that if you forget to take it the withdrawal can be nasty. My md said I could even try to get pregnant on Zoloft but I feel I have to wait and feel better. I also have to see if my little guy will walk. Noone has found anything wrong with him but no walking and very few words. "Bye" "diaper" and "thank you". I think what's also keeping me down is that I don't have any chance to really recover. I come home from work and I start over again with the kids. My mother says "with all that work, you would want a 3rd one? You're crazy!" I know some of you guys already have kids. Do you feel overwhelmed? Also do any of you know anyone who has tried to get pregnant on Zoloft? I wish I knew what to do. If I don't try again I will feel guilty, if I do I will feel panicked. I don't know which way to turn. But I want to see if hopeful will try my ideas and see if they help. And I do know boys conceived through IVF so don't worry. I'm surprised they don't know what they implanted. Do they know?

Hopeful

I am so sorry if I upset you in any way!!!!

I have been gone for awhile but still reading everyone's post. I have been going to the infertility doctor and all my tests along with my husband's have come back fine. So no real reason why I am not getting pregnant. We are now on to Clomid so we will see how that goes.

Jackie - to answer your question about b6 and unisom. My sister-in-law has had two children now and both pregnancies very sick up until 7 months. She did the b6 and unisom combination and she says it is the only thing that got her through. So I would say that works. hope that helps.

Tosha - where are you? Been wondering how you are doing and what is going on with your doctor's appts.

Hi Wishing and Hoping!

I have been reading the board, but have had nothing excitingly new to report or post. I was on Clomid for 3 months and nothing happened. I was very happy that I did not have any side effects.

We were in Vegas a few weeks ago and we went to a fertility clinic while we were there for a consultation. We have been told our only plausible option is IVF because of male factor infertility. Touch wood there is nothing found wrong with me.

So we are hoping to go through with IVF here in Alberta, but still have not gotten a phone call for a consultation appointment. We hope to be in for consultation by May and in for IVF by August. It's just such a big waiting game.

I'm glad to hear that nothing was found to be wrong with you and your husband. I pray that the Clomid does the trick and you do not have to pursue other options like we are forced to do.

P.S. Did you hear Alias isn't back on until April 19th? I thought of you when I heard that. Too long!