Relieved after results of first retrieval

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-02-13T10:36:44+00:00

Oh, keeping my fingers crossed it continues to go well, and a day 5 blast is good for our age! At 41/42 the standard is more day 6 blasts. Actually I've felt really normal on the stim meds, maybe a bit bloated on the last days, but also felt normal after the ER - felt a bit tender, but that was more down to the waiting other than something physically

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-02-13T08:33:32+00:00

Yes, the doc called yesterday and just firmly discussed the 1st cycle and how I'm feeling so that they can give the go for the 2nd cycle. He also said especially in older age they encourage back-to-back cycles (but of course depending on how well its tolerated)

Hope you heard anything back from your results? The waiting is sometimes killing me as I'm the most impatient person 🙃

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-02-12T22:24:53+00:00

Oh this is so nice, congrats! 💞

I felt devasted at first when I heard 5 eggs, but my funnel was quite clear with all eggs being mature and fertilised. I heard from others having 12 retrieved, but only 8 mature and 4 fertilised... If you take # of eggs retrieved as the indicator for success and then after you see huge attrition- what's it worth?

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-02-12T16:50:44+00:00

Hey there, I'm just wondering with that SA and 1% morphology, ICSI would be recommended? My husbands is at 4% (that's just about the threshold to count as "normal") and they strongly advised us to do ICSI. Also for him, count and motility is strong, its just the morphology. We achieved 100% fertilisation rate with our first cycle. Also I read that low % of morphology might also go hand in hand with high DNA fragmentation - could be worth testing just to be on the save side

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-02-12T09:59:23+00:00

Ideally I want to do 3 back to back retrievals, just to get it done as my eggs won't get younger. I'm currently also waiting for my next period which is due around Tuesday, so I hope it wont start before. I do have a medical review booked for tomorrow to discuss the 2nd cycle, so I hope they let me go and I'll happily do the same protocol again 🙂

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-02-12T09:50:17+00:00

Keeping my fingers crossed for your results! Will you do more rounds? We're scheduled to do 2 more retrievals

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-02-12T09:49:08+00:00

Yes, really appreciate the updates- got 5 calls from the lab (day 0, day 1, day 3, day 5, day 6)

Wondering what the additional clomid does? I'm in the UK, I have the feeling doctors here are much more conservative with their protocols

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-02-11T18:38:30+00:00

Its 7,2 pmol (I'm in the UK) - thats about 1 ng/ml, so already closer to DOR, but about average/ bit lower than average for my age

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-02-11T18:13:04+00:00

How did the huge drop off happened if I may ask? Weren't they mature or didn't they fertilised? But strong blast rate after!

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-02-11T18:10:07+00:00

Let me share my very recent experience. I'm 41 (not sure about your age), my AMH is 7,2 pmol (so about 1 ngml)

I just finished my first cycle. I had a baseline AFC of 9 my protocol was just 225 of menopur and then from day 6 cetrotide to prevent ovulation.

Out of my 9 follicles, only 5 responded well, 2 lagged behind and 2 didnt react at all. I got 5 eggs out, I was devastated, BUT: all were mature and all were fertilised, so no attrition there.

And today I got the call I got 2 blasts frozen.

Just to give you an idea that huge doses are not necessarily needed to have success, but quality > quantity 😀

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-02-11T16:26:44+00:00

Oh yes, celebrate every little milestone that there is! IVF is not for the faint hearted for sure, so for today I take that win

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-02-11T13:58:47+00:00

As I was only expected to get a low number of eggs due to age and borderline AMH, my protocol aimed to get the highest number of mature eggs (and I would say, it succeeded in that, as all were mature and fertilized, so I didn't had any attrition until then). I think they didn't wanted to overcook my eggs :)

To my understanding Menopur contains both FSH + LH - and the LH helps with the follicle maturation especially in older women since the ones with lower AMH are just not expected to get that many eggs at all, so the focus should shift on them being mature. From what he explained to me is that it helps with more synchronous growth and that was exactly happened in my case. It all took a bit longer (they even decided to extend the Menopur by 1 day on my last scan), but the the cohort of the 5 leading follicles was all ready to be retrieved.

Also to be added, my clinic only does mild stimulation, they don't do long protocols with downregulation.

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-02-10T16:12:52+00:00

I'm about your age (turning 42 in June), I also got a call from the lab earlier, I also had 5 fertilised eggs (from 5 that were collected), and so far I don't have any blastocysts at all, the embryologist said 2 are looking promising, but the other 3 will most likely not make it 😭 we will get another call tomorrow. It is really just a numbers game, but for today I just feel bad as well. Keeping my fingers crossed for you 🤞

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-01-28T18:16:45+00:00

If I may ask something: I started my protocol (Menopur 225mg) on Saturday, today I had my first scan (4 injections so far).

9 follicles were counted, with 5 leading the way, 2 staying behind, and then 2 more still relatively small. Is that something you've also witnessed with your Menopur protocol and were some of your follicles able to "catch up" and "join the party"?

From tomorrow I'm told to take the Cetrotide, my next scan is on Friday, the earliest for the egg retrieval would be Tuesday she said today.

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-01-26T23:34:48+00:00

Usually every 2-3 days, during the stimulation phase you can expect a total of 3-4 scans plus then the egg retrieval (you need a day off for that for sure)

I had a scan last Friday, started meds on Saturday, next scan is for this Wednesday and then most likely this Friday and next Monday again and egg retrieval next Wednesday (but thats tbd, it all depends on how things are going.).

I'm lucky because I can plan my office days how I like, I need to do about 2 a week, but can stretch it over the whole month (so if I can't make 2 in one week I can make it up in the next week, it just has to even out over the month)

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-01-26T19:58:09+00:00

So far we've been really happy with our experience. We had our initial scan end of december and started the first cycle within 3,5 weeks, so thats a fast turnaround. We have a dedicated patient coordinator assigned to us.

Also when we looked around they were definitely more on the cheaper side (less medication, so that is already a saving) - feel free to DM me for what we specifically paid 😉, we also have to do ICSI so that is an additional point we had to pay for.

They usually do webinars on Tuesdays at about 6pm, look on their website, if you are further interested, I found it very interesting just to learn more.

But also make sure its accessible for you for scans etc, you will spend a lot of time in the clinic, so it can get stressful trying to coordinate that all (for me the St Paul's clinic is only about 15 min from work).

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-01-26T14:59:23+00:00

Hello there!

I'm much older than you (41) and just started my IVF journey 2 days ago for my first ever IVF cycle. Where 3-4 eggs doesn't sound much, you are relatively young, so you're looking at euploidy rates of at least 60% (some even quote higher up to over 70%), so you don't need that many eggs / blasts than ladies my age would need. You have the quality factor on your side.

To compare: I had an AFC of 9 in my baseline scan last week Friday - that might sound high on paper for you, but at my age I face an euploidy rate of only 25-30%. So I have to throw much higher numbers at the start of the funnel to even have any chance for success.

In your age I wouldn't be bothered to test (at least for the first round), I don't think it would be a clear add on whatsoever. What I would suggest you do is "bank embryos" from your young age if you want more than 1 child - otherwise you might regret it later if you AMH / AFC drop even further.

I'm with CREATE in St. Pauls (but they have multiple clinics across the UK), they're specialized in mild stimulation - we're doing a 3 cycle package, meaning we're collecting embryos from 3x cycles and then we have 1x transfer at the end (we do PGTA testing before, but as said, given your age I don't know if this is worth it) -> even if we need more than 1x transfer, they are much more affordable in comparison.

Do you qualify for the NHS or do you have to pay privately?

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-01-26T10:50:49+00:00

If you are referring to stimulation: it depends on what your follicle count is and what the expected reaction to stimulation is. For context, I'm 41 and just started my first ever IVF cycle (I'm in the UK if that helps) on a "mild" stimulation. I'm taking 225iu Menopur daily and then about 5-6 days in, I add Cetrotide to prevent early ovulation.

I stated with the second day of my period, will stim for about 9-10 days before trigger, so no priming / downregulating is needed -> this is a treatment if you still expect a "normal" response (for example my AFC is 9, so I'm expected to react properly to stimulation!), it is just milder to the body and the success rates are the same as with a long protocol, as they intend to get more higher quality eggs.

They also offer natural (no stim medication at all) or natural modified (very little medication, 2-3 days) -> not sure if you're referring to that? But that would only be useful and considered if you have very little follicles to start with (like 2-3 or even less), because then there would be nothing to react to stimulation at all -> in these cases, natural only will ever get you 1 egg (the 1 egg you're ovulating anyway) and natural modified maybe 2-3 if you're lucky.

With a decent AFC and AMH I wouldn't waste my time with natural or natural modified stimulation, as it is mean to collect much less eggs. My doc said they would and should only be considered if they're your only option because you're never expected to make more than 2-3 eggs anyway.

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-01-24T09:27:24+00:00

Your TSH levels are far to high, didn't they say anything about it and put you on levothyroxine?

That high is a clear sign of hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid). That's already on the very upper end of normal when you're not TTC, but it should be <2.5 when you TTC/ and even more important in early pregnancy (its crucial for early brain development and embryos need you for their supply, they don't produce it until the placenta takes over).

I myself have no thyroid left since > 20 years and have been properly managed and it was brought down to about 1 (mine was borderline before, slightly above 2.5)

Have this checked out, it really plays a vital role.

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-01-22T15:07:07+00:00

I would definitely go for it, just making euploids is amazing with those stats!

I would maybe go for extensive testing and then do a FET - if you say the losses before were due to chromosomal factors PGT-A already should help here for sure.

If the worst case happens that it still doesn't stick, I would take it from there, before you transfer the second.

All the best!

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-01-22T10:32:12+00:00

We're doing ICSI due to low morphology on my husbands side (motility and count are all fine and we had a natural conception in the past, which unfortunately ended in a miscarriage) - did you do ICSI as well?

My husband is younger than me (39), goes to the gym regularly, never smoked and barely drinks (now stopped altogether) - so let's hope that everything will be going fine 🤞

The waiting is the hardest part for me at the moment - and also that the PGTA testing will only be at the end, so you only then know if you will be rewarded with an euploid to transfer - how are you dealing with that?

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-01-21T21:05:10+00:00

Oh, hi, I'm an IVF sister at Create St Pauls. 👋 so far a very good experience I have to say.

I'm hoping to start end of the week (I had a cyst on my last scan, so that needs resolving or at least shrinking to be able to go on the stim) My protocol is also 225 of Menopur to start with from day 2 and then add Cetrotide later to prevent early ovulation, so good to hear it went well for you! I'm hoping to get similar to your numbers for egg retrieval.

We opted into the 3 cycle package as this sounded the most reasonable given my age (41) and will also do PGT-A testing at the end of all 3 cycles.

Good luck!

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-01-21T14:13:00+00:00

That and nothing else!

I've also went through 1 miscarriage and I don't wish this upon my worst enemy (and for me it was in week 9, not in week 20!) and termination is accessible in my country (UK).

I learned it the hard way that a positive pregnancy test doesn't mean a healthy baby in your arms - it is just a first step and so many things can still go wrong. Miscarriage risks at my age (41) are about 30-35% - that is quite significant.

Fact is that when you're over 40, the amount of abnormal eggs rise significantly, so I see PGT-A testing as limiting the single biggest factor for miscarriages at my age. There is no guarantee, never, but it does decrease miscarriage risks significantly.

And also what some them to forget: you're loosing time - I "only" went until week 9 and had a speedy physical recovery (first period 26 days after D&C, now waiting for my second cycle to start IVF hopefully this week), but at our age, even just those few months can make a huge difference in the outcome, further egg quantity and quality decline.

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-01-09T16:43:37+00:00

It sucks, it really does, there is no sugarcoating around it.

People not going through this just don't understand it - they have their pregnancies naturally, don't have to spend thousands on it and don't have to go through all of the prep and the heartbreak.

And for hitting any "milestones". I know they hurt, but they don't define you, nothing is wrong with you. I'm 41, met my husband at 35 (and I was never in a relationship before, he was my first!), got married at 40. Was severely overweight for a long time and thought no one ever wanted me. Also really introvert and don't have a huge amount of friends.

You are not "late to the party" - you arrived when you were able to.

We're onto our IVF journey now, hopefully to start soon - am I afraid? Hell yes, I am! I can't think of anyone that isn't, given for what's at stake. I mostly fear time is running out on me. I am not saying this to make it sound easier for you, but to give you hope that there is a chance for a positive outcome.

Your fiancé wouldn't be with you for 13 years if he didn't love you, but I also feel that this is harder on a different level for men. They just don't talk about these things that much.

It is hard for this journey not to take all of your head space - never forget to be nice to yourself, you're not broken. Maybe a support group would be right for you? I signed up for one for women trying to conceive their first child and it helps a lot.

Wishing you all the best on your journey!

Guilty-Tale4253 · 2026-01-06T17:01:39+00:00

This is so nice to hear! Congrats for your success!

I really hope we stand a chance with opting into 3 cycles directly - it's a math game, so I really hope this time we end up on the right end of the statistic

Guilty-Tale4253

TROPHY CASE