How many "extra" embryos did you have to freeze?

ADL524 · 10-29-2009, 12:38 AM

I am about to embark on my 1st IVF. Our insurance does not cover any fertility meds or treatment. I am wondering if we should invest in one of the shared risk programs. I have had one failed IUI. From that experience I know that my ovaries produce a lot of follicles on stimulation medications, however, I know nothing about the quality of my eggs. I know that everyone is very different, but I am wondering if ladies with PCOS tend to produce lots of follicles but not very good eggs? If I knew that I would produce a lot of good eggs and that we would have "extra" embryos to freeze, then I would be less likely to invest in shared risk because even if the 1st IVF wouldn't take, we would save money on a 2nd ivf by not having to pay for more stimulation meds, ICSI and another egg retrieval.

I realize that everyone's experience is different, but I am curious about others experiences and if there is anything that I can take away from it.

Thanks for any/all experiences you are willing to share!

melindaleigh · 10-29-2009, 12:22 PM

I am curious to hear the answer to this too. I start stimming on Tuesday for IVF.

Wishing you the VERY best of luck with whatever you choose. My doctor was able to make me feel more at peace without a shared risk program saying that with IVF we are realistically avoiding everything that could be going wrong in past cycles with exception of implantation - which he said they work really hard to make sure the environment is perfect for the transfer. I felt much better knowing that this was the best chance I could get - and that FET's are much cheaper if you do have frozen left than going through another fresh IVF cycle.

Linda27 · 10-29-2009, 03:38 PM

Hi there. I slightly overstimmed during my IVF. At the ET they got 39 eggs. Of those 29 were mature, 28 fertilized, 18 made it to day 3, and then 5 made it to day 5 (my day of transfer). The transfered the best 2 and we froze the other 3. WHen I did my FET, all 3 survived the thaw. I never had any problems with egg quality.
I hope that helps.

ADL524 · 10-29-2009, 08:24 PM

Thanks ladies! I am surprised at how many eggs we can produce, and how few (relatively speaking) can make it to day 5!

I am also surprised/disappointed at how few people have replied to this post. Maybe they think the question is too specific/individualized?

Melinda- BEST of LUCK to you too!

Linda27 - did you find that your FET was a lot cheaper than your fresh transfer? Also, I am curious where you have had your treatment, if you don't mind sharing? I also live in Chicago, and had my IUI at Fertility Centers of Illinois in River North.

britta75 · 10-29-2009, 08:35 PM

linda - that is a lot of eggs, girl.

i got 11 eggs. a few weren't mature and 7 fertilized. we had 2 "standout" embryos at 3 days so those were transferred. of the remaining 5, 2 survived till day 5 so we have 2 frozen. i also live in chicago and had my treatments with invia fertility, dr. karande, in hoffman estates.

gl with your decision.

pauliesgirl935 · 10-30-2009, 12:16 AM

i had 19 retrieved, 15 were mature, 5 fertilized (i don't know why so few fertilized, but they said it was ok). all 5 were "perfect" though & made it to day 5. we transferred 2 fresh & froze 3. i miscarried on the 1st IVF cycle. with my FET 2 survived the thaw & resulted in successful b/g twin pregnancy.

i am SO glad i froze because it was a lot cheaper & less stressful.

ADL524 · 10-30-2009, 11:23 AM

Thanks so much for your responses! I'm wondering if you would also share your protocol? What meds were you on and for how long? Were you on BCPs before starting suppression meds? If so, for how long? Did you have to wait for a period to start BCPs or can they start you on BCPs any time?

Thanks again ladies! I know everyone is different but your responses are reassuring.

-Allison

Linda27 · 10-30-2009, 03:38 PM

They think the reason that only a few made it to day 5 has to do with the sperm. After the BFN, they did a Keryotype on my DH but they didn't find anything. As far as the expense, both the IVF and FET were done on my insurance. But yes, the FET is cheaper and it's easier on your body. That's the reason, I believe, that the FET worked. I was SO bloated after the ER that I seriously looked 4 months pregnant. I don't think it was a good environment for the embryos when they got in there. Just my theory.

I had my cycles done at North Shore Fertility. I loved it there. However, I've heard that they've changed the way they do things now. (grouped IVF, 3 day transfers). But the staff is awesome.

I was not on BCPs prior to suppression. I did Gonal-F, Ganerelix and Ovidrel. This was back in 2007 so I don't remember the exact number of days. I know that I did the Ganerelix for 3. I had a 5 day transfer. After my ER, I was on 4 Prometrium orally and 2 Crinone a day until I had my beta. I believe the whole cycle from CD1 to transfer was about 2 weeks.

My story on the FET is a little more complicated because we found out that I'm one of the very few people that can't take Lupron. (She said she had only seen one other person that it happened to). So the end result was we ended up doing the same IVF stim cycle but just jumped over the retrieval process.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

MaraJ2005 · 10-30-2009, 04:24 PM

I had 22 retrieved, 10 mature, 5 fertilized, transferred 2 on day 3. The remaining 3 did not make it to day 5, so we have none frozen. Successful on 1st IVF and our daughter is 15 mos. Needless to say, I am a fan of day 3 transfer. Keep in mind - you may have NONE to freeze and then you're back to doing a fresh IVF.

From what I understand, women w/ PCOS can have a lot of eggs (I think because they are not getting released if you are anovulatory). I also did assisted hatching, which is where they "crack" the embryo so that it implants easier. My clinic did that for all women over 35.

I also did Shared Risk and would do it all again even though in essence we "overpaid." We did the one thru Integramed. READ THE FINE PRINT CAREFULLY if you do it. There are a lot of restrictions, etc. You also have to qualify for shared risk programs sometimes (you do for Integramed - not sure what it's like if it's your clinic running it). Our program was 3 fresh & 3 frozen and 70% money back if you don't go home w/ a baby. Basically by getting qualified, Integramed was banking on us being successful in the 1st two cycles. Otherwise, they don't make any money.

I was on bcp's beginning day 1 of my cycle, then did Lupron, then Lupron & stims. Took about 5-6 weeks total I think. I triggered early b/c I had so many follicles and they were worried about me overstimming. I think the 12 that were immature were all from my left side b/c those were all smaller.

pauliesgirl935 · 10-30-2009, 05:07 PM

wow you've really got me thinking back! i actually pulled out all of my papers!! i was sort of rushed into an IVF - not by my dr, but by AF! i had done numerous unsuccessful clomid & inject cycles. my last injet/iui attempt was cancelled due to poor response. i had lots of little follicles & dr thought if he bumped my meds, i would overstim & we'd need to do IVF anyway (he would not do iui if i had more than 3 mature follicles). we had made a consultation to talk about IVF. after we talked about it & decided it was the best step, he told me to call when AF started. and i told him that i had started the day before. he said we could get started or take a little rest & try the next month. but i wanted to get started right away!!!

IVF cycle
so i took BCP 9/5/07 (i think it was CD2 or 3) thru 9/21/07
09/15/07 - lupron (10units)
09/24/07 - supression check u/s
09/26/07 - started stims : 3amps bravelle, 1amp menopur, decrease to 5units lupron, 1 tab baby aspirin, & prenatal vitamin
10/05/07 (midnight)- HCG 10,000
10/07/07 - egg retrieval
10/07/07 - began prog in oil injections, continued baby aspirin & prenatal
10/12/07 - transfer day

FET cycle
11/01/07 - 12/01/07 BCP
11/25/07 - lurpon (10 units)
12/03/07 - supression check u/s
12/05/07 - started stims : estrace 2mg, lupron 10 units, baby aspirin, prenatal vitamin
12/28/07 - transfer date - started prog suppositories (dr was just switching to them from injections)

HTH! i'd be happy to answer any other ?s you might have. i know i had a million!!!

puppy lovin cyster · 10-30-2009, 08:01 PM

Thank you for making this post. I am going to keep lurking around here and see what others have to say. Were thinking IVF may be our next step. It is interesting to think you get so few embryos from all those eggs! DH is concerned about having too many embryos, more than we plan to use, and that is why he was not in favor of IVF to begin with. Sounds like that is not likely for most people.

LucyInTheSkyWithDiamonds · 10-31-2009, 01:47 PM

They retrieved 15 eggs, 8 fertilized, and all 8 lasted till day 5. Transferred 2 (only 1 was blast level, other was still embryo level on day 5), but none made it to freezing. They have to be the highest quality to freeze.

If I had to self-pay, I'd definitely do the shared risk. Yes, if it worked on the first try, like it worked for me, we'd have paid more. But I think I'd rather take that risk than have so much stress and pressure riding on the first one, and then have it fail. I hear three tries is the average for success.

Emorris2 · 11-01-2009, 06:38 PM

I am self-pay and was really worried about it because my clinic does not offer a shared risk program. We really lucked out though.....

They retrieved 34 eggs, of those 24 were mature and 18 fertilized. We transferred one embryo and had 12 that made it to the blastocyst phase and are frozen. Of the frozens 4 are grade A and 8 are grade B. We will be doing our FET in a few weeks.

Best of luck!

ADL524 · 11-03-2009, 11:44 AM

Thanks ladies! I am curious to hear more from others. I know from my IUI that I produce a lot of follicles, but I have no idea about the quality of my eggs. I am really hoping that I produce enough good ones so we have some to freeze in the event that the the 1st IVF doesn't work (I am really trying to be optimistic, but realistic). My new RE told me that he didn't want me to be disappointed if I produce a lot of follicles and only a few of them are viable. The cost of all of this is outrageous without insurance!

Sunlyon · 11-03-2009, 12:26 PM

I am on my 2nd fresh cycle. My first one we only had 10 eggs, 9 mature and only 5 fertilized. 3 made it to day 5, we transferred 2 and froze 1. We did the FET after I had a m/c and we got pregnant with that one too. Unfortunately, I lost that one too.

I did a different protocol this time with BCP's for 21 days added Lupron at day 14 and did that for 12 days and then starting stimming with Follistim. I was very close to overstimming at the end. But I only got 6 eggs. BUT, of those 6 all were mature and all fertilized normally with no ICSI. Tomorrow is my 5dt and all still looks well. I will let you know if I have any left to freeze. The RE was shocked that I didn't have more eggs because I produced so many follicles, but it looks as though they were better quality this time. I HOPE!!!

Good luck in whatever road you choose!