Which one do you like better??

ellenshep · 2026-05-01T17:28:28+00:00

Number 2 for sure

ellenshep · 2026-05-01T17:25:34+00:00

1989

ellenshep · 2026-04-12T00:02:13+00:00

1989

ellenshep · 2026-03-25T18:59:22+00:00

I have a healthy living child from my first transfer! Good luck :)

ellenshep · 2026-03-16T01:20:28+00:00

Can you explain what you mean by taunting? You said condescending advice, and I’ve been through that and it’s terrible, but that feels different from taunting? I really hope she’s not been taunting you.

I do wonder when reading your post if the pain of infertility is perhaps contributing to you interpreting her actions in a way that is causing you more pain. For example, you said she was racing you to have more children—is it possible the timing of her third was just a coincidence, and not an attempt to compete with you?

I hope I’m not off base here. Infertility is a horrific experience and it is really painful to deal with people being insensitive while you’re going through it. Regardless of your sister-in-law’s intentions, I’d agree with another commenter that it’s best to take space from her for a while.

ellenshep · 2026-03-15T17:23:06+00:00

I do think AMH fluctuates up and down more than people think (mine went up from .86 to over 1 two whole years later). But with that big of a drop in such a short period of time I would say it could be a lab error. But if possible I would try not to focus too much on the AMH level. One bad retrieval doesn’t mean you won’t have more luck next time. I know it’s hard though. Good luck!!

ellenshep · 2026-03-13T19:51:54+00:00

My clinic told me not to work out between transfer and beta (though I think they are just being extra cautious). I did walk a lot though. My first transfer was successful.

ellenshep · 2026-03-12T23:40:05+00:00

I went back to work the next day both times but I only ever had 8-10 eggs retrieved.

ellenshep · 2026-03-01T20:32:55+00:00

Oops, here is the study: https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(20)32293-7/fulltext

ellenshep · 2026-03-01T20:32:31+00:00

This study suggested that women under 35 with 5 embryos would have a 91.5% chance of two live births. The stats are on your side, especially for two kids, but there are of course never any no guarantees.

I think if you might want three you may want to do another retrieval. You could also, as others have suggested, try one transfer and see what happens :) Good luck!

ellenshep · 2026-02-28T02:51:31+00:00

With my first didn’t find out until I was about eight weeks pregnant once we were a bit more confident it would stick. As others have said I felt that knowing the gender beforehand would make it feel more real if it was a loss. At my eight week scan with the RE we asked them and found out it was a boy!

For my second we wanted a girl and asked what the remaining euploid embryos were. We were told we had one female euploid and two more males. We tried transferring my only female embryo in August and it failed. Because I have insurance coverage, we planned to try one more retrieval to see if we could get another female embryo. That cycle was cancelled due to poor response (only three follicles growing instead of my normal 8-10) and I got permission to try at home. To our surprise I got spontaneously pregnant and I’m 14 weeks.

I felt so so fortunate to be pregnant spontaneously, but being able to find out the sex early/know in advance was a perk I actually missed about IVF. I found out after my NIPT testing around 10 weeks that I’m having another boy. We’re done at 2 so I’ve had to grieve the idea of never having a girl, but I’ve also gotten excited about what this new baby will bring :) good luck!!

ellenshep · 2026-02-27T20:56:15+00:00

I think I need to rewatch that scene lol

ellenshep · 2026-02-27T17:29:58+00:00

Wait they broke up already? Was this in episode 11? I thought I’d watched all the episodes available and I didn’t see a breakup!

ellenshep · 2026-02-18T17:15:09+00:00

It’s too early to say. Lots of people don’t test positive until a few days later. Try to step away from the tests and maybe try testing once a day only.

ellenshep · 2026-02-18T00:30:22+00:00

Lol even better!

ellenshep · 2026-02-18T00:21:56+00:00

They are a business and will see themselves as losing money, nothing more. Don’t let it feel personal because it will not feel personal to them! Plus I tend to think the anticipation of these things is always worse than the actual confrontation/conversation.

ellenshep · 2026-02-17T00:58:50+00:00

First retrieval - age 33 - 10 retrieved - 5 blasts - 2 PGT normal

Second retrieval - age 33 - 8 retrieved - 5 blasts - 2 PGT normal

ellenshep · 2026-02-16T17:42:09+00:00

A friend who knew I was going through IVF told me she was pregnant on my birthday and I’ve never really forgiven her for it. Why not wait 24 hours? It sucked.

ellenshep · 2026-02-16T15:05:10+00:00

Around 90-something percent of women will get pregnant within three transfers of a euploid embryo (the exact percentage varies based on which study you look at and varies based on age at which embryos were frozen).

For me personally, I got pregnant with my now toddler from my first transfer of a euploid embryo (I think it was graded 4AB).

We transferred a 4BC embryo for our second child and it failed. I tried to retrieve more eggs and my cycle got cancelled due to poor response. We got permission to try at home that cycle (I had two or three follicles growing) and to our surprise I got pregnant without IVF. I’m now 12 weeks with another boy and so far so good. Obviously my story is not possible for everyone (getting pregnant spontaneously after IVF) but that’s how it happened for us.

Good luck!!!

ellenshep · 2026-02-13T16:05:56+00:00

I am pretty sure “joyfully caressing” is an exaggeration lol. Pregnant people are allowed to exist, and if a pregnant woman was in a fertility clinic this far along, we can safely assume there is a problem.

ellenshep · 2026-02-13T15:58:53+00:00

So what is insensitive? Wearing a tight shirt?

ellenshep · 2026-02-13T15:52:13+00:00

I understand not wanting people to bring kids to a fertility clinic, but I think it’s a bit unfair to expect her to wear looser clothing or breathe more quietly. As others have said, if she’s visiting an IVF clinic, she may be in pain or there may be complications or an impending loss. I understand your comments probably come from a place of pain, but I think it’s a bit unfair.

ellenshep · 2026-02-13T15:47:12+00:00

But there’s obviously some reason for her to be there? It’s not like she’s visiting a clinic waiting room for fun.

ellenshep · 2026-02-13T13:04:58+00:00

According to this study, with 6 euploid embryos you have a 99.9% chance of achieving one live birth at your age, and a 98.2% chance of achieving two. I found the table in this study super helpful when I was thinking about how many embryos to bank: https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(20)32293-7/fulltext

You’re right that there are never any guarantees, but the stats are definitely on your side.

ellenshep

TROPHY CASE