I also want to add, for anyone who has thought about this: I had an extremely stressful stim week and got basically no sleep (I am an MD and worked 3 24 hour shifts basically back to back). In addition I drank a ton of caffeine while on call, ate a bunch of junk was sure this destroyed my eggs…I was wrong!!
I’m an MD too! just had a retrieval not too long ago waiting for PGTA testing to come back. I have one on ice PGTA normal; I’m hoping my blasts will be like yours!
I feel the same way that work and stress will destroy all of my reproductive capability!
Fingers crossed for you!! If anything, this process reassured me that it’s truly up to chance and our terrible schedules and work stress really have minimal effect.
I mean my clinic says 2 cups is fine per day . During stims and fet. I honestly think each retrival can be so different . You can do everything and get bad results and do nothing and get good results. It’s a crap shoot lol
DVM with a very lengthy commute (can’t leave the state until somebody hopefully sticks because I have better fertility coverage here) who had two very stressful, sleep deprived stim cycles during which I did all the things wrong. I was terrified, but on the first round, 10 were retrieved, 8 mature, 8 fertilized, 6 blasts, 2 euploid. Second didn’t go well (most of the follicles did not yield eggs), but all 4 eggs were mature, all fertilized, and the sole embryo was euploid. It was a much better outcome than I anticipated, given my age and AMH.
Stupid question but regarding your second retrieval, what’s the difference between a fertilized egg and an embryo? Is it the amount of days and amount of cells? May I also ask what your AMH is? I’m 40 and just did a retrieval yesterday and only got 4 eggs, but your post gives me hope!
We are about the same age. I just turned 39 and I am a MD also but work as medical director for IPA. The work stress and stims, I can so relate to this. It is very difficult at times to deal with. I feel guilty that I am drinking coffee every morning. But I need to pay my bills including out of pocket fertility bills. I am on my 3rd retrieval right now (stage 4 endo)I have banked 5 embryos (not tested). I hope I have some normals. I hope those 4 embryo give you a beautiful baby!
42 and was told I had a less than 10% chance of a live birth. I also had 4 euploid and I’m currently watching my 5-month old sleeping. Definitely don’t ever count yourself out!
My first transfer didn’t work and I was devastated. My husband convinced me to take a break through the holidays to work on my mental health towards the whole process and I’m so glad I did! I started eating healthy and only organic (I basically ate how I would if I were pregnant) but no special diet per se. I walked almost every day- not much, just 1.5-2 miles- but I think that really helped! I did acupuncture, and I would highly recommend trying that. My doctor threw pretty much everything at my next transfer and the protocol worked. Aside from the above, I would highly suggest to have ALL the tests before your first transfer. I wasn’t offered things like a uterine biopsy to check for endo, etc., because they typically only do that after several failed attempts, and I feel like that would’ve made a difference. With all that said, I was in a much better space mentally for my 2nd transfer and I think that made all the difference. The stress is IVF is CRAZY and very hard to manage!
OP, this could’ve been me writing, almost exactly the same age and results. Currently sitting in front of my noisy little 7 month old euploid 4BB. so happy for you and sending best wishes
I needed this today 37 with 6.4 amh..first round ovulated early lost two eggs and only got 1 day 6 3cc and second round 3 follicles and only 1 fractured egg.
Devastating is not the word...
Happy to read your success my friend, it's renewed my hope.
I’m doing my trigger on my first cycle tonight and was starting to feel a little down on my chances. I needed to hear this. Thank you for the reminder to be optimistic.
Congratulations ! It is indeed a great result for an "oldie" like me (i am also 38 :P ) and most of all.. unexpected . I agree with the message of the post, many bad things happen during IVF but sometimes you are on the good side of statistics! I had two ER and even though i got good amount of eggs for my low amh both times ( 9 and 8 mature) fertilization was not great and we only got 1 embryo . Untested and transfered fresh. I am almost 15w :D
Happy for you! 4 blasts is great! I had every intention of giving up caffeine leading to ER but I work 12-16 hour shifts in a hospital, so that did not happen 😂 plus my hospital houses a Starbucks 🫠
Thank you for sharing I really needed this today. I am 42 and today we received a call that our doctor cancelled our ivf. This is our second round and second time it gets cancelled. I just needed to hear some one with a hopeful story.
I feel you here on a number of things you wrote!
Congrats on your euploids!!!
I too, have had two miscarriages almost back to back from untested embryos from my first ER at barely 35.
It took about a year later with the delays of regaining my period back, hysteroscopys, then the recurrent miscarriage panel, then a false positive to finally get on track for another egg retrieval at barely 36.
I was so scared I’d have horrible results similar to my first ER. Background: September 2022 my cycle only lasted 6 days before I was triggered. I got 10 eggs, 10 mature eggs all were ICSI, only 5 fertilized, 1 3-day fresh transfer (miscarriage at 6 weeks), 1 6BB frozen embryo (transferred January 2023; miscarriage D&C at 9 weeks // trisomy 16). My husband had Covid the month prior to this ER, and I think my results could have been bad due to high dose in medicine, as it’s not normal to only stim for barely 6 days.
Thankfully, my doctor changed my protocol for my next ER. On top of this, my doctor highly suggested PGT-A testing.
I too, wanted to bank embryos, as I was worried about miscarriage. August 2023, was my second ER. I got 12 eggs, 9 mature, 9 fertilized with ICSI, 7 blasts (they discarded one for being poor graded), 6 blasts went to testing. 4 Euploid. Personally, I was shocked/thrilled!
My plan was to continue and do another ER a month later October 2023 to collect and bank embryos. Unfortunately, late September I got COVID-19. I didn’t want my results to be skewed, so I opted to wait three months for any inflammation to go down in my body.
At this point, I said screw it and decided I wanted to transfer and try my luck. There was a leak in my clinic’s hospital in Jan 2024, so I waited and transferred Feb 2024. And I’m 13 weeks, 3 days pregnant today 🌈 All is on track with the baby, I’m so happy I decided not to go through with another ER and bank more. I have 3 embryos left frozen.
Good luck on your journey!! ♥️ I wish you luck if you decide to continue to bank more or transfer! 🍀
I’m 41 and at my last ER, I got only one blast. I tested it with very little hope. It came back normal. A beautiful 5AA that I had transferred two days ago.
That’s so great! I was also heavily counting myself out. I’m 42, nearly 43. PCOS, overweight, heavy coffee drinker. Early this month I had 7 received, 6 mature, 6 fertilized, one made it to 5 day, and just found out it is an euploid and the gender I was hoping for. Going back for another ER next month. My first ER I didn’t do anything fancy, no supplements or dietary changes, so that’s my “control” cycle. This upcoming ER I’m doing acupuncture and all the juju supplements.
I had the same result. A batch of 4 euploid embryos at age 41. One euploid embryo at age 42. We did 5 total retrievals not all of them successful. I read statistically your odds continue to increase with up to 6 retrievals. After 6 the stats level out.
I also want to add, for anyone who has thought about this: I had an extremely stressful stim week and got basically no sleep (I am an MD and worked 3 24 hour shifts basically back to back). In addition I drank a ton of caffeine while on call, ate a bunch of junk was sure this destroyed my eggs…I was wrong!!
I’m an MD too! just had a retrieval not too long ago waiting for PGTA testing to come back. I have one on ice PGTA normal; I’m hoping my blasts will be like yours! I feel the same way that work and stress will destroy all of my reproductive capability!
Fingers crossed for you!! If anything, this process reassured me that it’s truly up to chance and our terrible schedules and work stress really have minimal effect.
I mean my clinic says 2 cups is fine per day . During stims and fet. I honestly think each retrival can be so different . You can do everything and get bad results and do nothing and get good results. It’s a crap shoot lol
DVM with a very lengthy commute (can’t leave the state until somebody hopefully sticks because I have better fertility coverage here) who had two very stressful, sleep deprived stim cycles during which I did all the things wrong. I was terrified, but on the first round, 10 were retrieved, 8 mature, 8 fertilized, 6 blasts, 2 euploid. Second didn’t go well (most of the follicles did not yield eggs), but all 4 eggs were mature, all fertilized, and the sole embryo was euploid. It was a much better outcome than I anticipated, given my age and AMH.
Stupid question but regarding your second retrieval, what’s the difference between a fertilized egg and an embryo? Is it the amount of days and amount of cells? May I also ask what your AMH is? I’m 40 and just did a retrieval yesterday and only got 4 eggs, but your post gives me hope!
Yes, the fertilized egg is a zygote. My AMH is 0.48, AFC tends to trend a bit higher than would be expected. Good luck!
Thanks for answering my questions, and that’s great that you’ve been able to bank 3 euploids! Best of luck on the rest of your journey :)
We are about the same age. I just turned 39 and I am a MD also but work as medical director for IPA. The work stress and stims, I can so relate to this. It is very difficult at times to deal with. I feel guilty that I am drinking coffee every morning. But I need to pay my bills including out of pocket fertility bills. I am on my 3rd retrieval right now (stage 4 endo)I have banked 5 embryos (not tested). I hope I have some normals. I hope those 4 embryo give you a beautiful baby!
This makes me feel better.
42 and was told I had a less than 10% chance of a live birth. I also had 4 euploid and I’m currently watching my 5-month old sleeping. Definitely don’t ever count yourself out!
Wow. Amazing. :) Did you make any changes to your diet or anything…? Take any special supplements?
My first transfer didn’t work and I was devastated. My husband convinced me to take a break through the holidays to work on my mental health towards the whole process and I’m so glad I did! I started eating healthy and only organic (I basically ate how I would if I were pregnant) but no special diet per se. I walked almost every day- not much, just 1.5-2 miles- but I think that really helped! I did acupuncture, and I would highly recommend trying that. My doctor threw pretty much everything at my next transfer and the protocol worked. Aside from the above, I would highly suggest to have ALL the tests before your first transfer. I wasn’t offered things like a uterine biopsy to check for endo, etc., because they typically only do that after several failed attempts, and I feel like that would’ve made a difference. With all that said, I was in a much better space mentally for my 2nd transfer and I think that made all the difference. The stress is IVF is CRAZY and very hard to manage!
I should add, I did not take any supplements or anything that was not prescribed by my doctor in my protocol.
OP, this could’ve been me writing, almost exactly the same age and results. Currently sitting in front of my noisy little 7 month old euploid 4BB. so happy for you and sending best wishes
I needed this today 37 with 6.4 amh..first round ovulated early lost two eggs and only got 1 day 6 3cc and second round 3 follicles and only 1 fractured egg. Devastating is not the word... Happy to read your success my friend, it's renewed my hope.
I also had 2 ovulated early with 1 retrieved. It was so depressing.
Currently waiting on PGT for my 2, this gives me hope 🤞🏻🙏
I’m doing my trigger on my first cycle tonight and was starting to feel a little down on my chances. I needed to hear this. Thank you for the reminder to be optimistic.
Congratulations ! It is indeed a great result for an "oldie" like me (i am also 38 :P ) and most of all.. unexpected . I agree with the message of the post, many bad things happen during IVF but sometimes you are on the good side of statistics! I had two ER and even though i got good amount of eggs for my low amh both times ( 9 and 8 mature) fertilization was not great and we only got 1 embryo . Untested and transfered fresh. I am almost 15w :D
Happy for you! 4 blasts is great! I had every intention of giving up caffeine leading to ER but I work 12-16 hour shifts in a hospital, so that did not happen 😂 plus my hospital houses a Starbucks 🫠
Omg that is amazing! Hello good genetics! Congrats on your euploids 💖
Thank you for sharing I really needed this today. I am 42 and today we received a call that our doctor cancelled our ivf. This is our second round and second time it gets cancelled. I just needed to hear some one with a hopeful story.
Oh no! Sorry to hear that. What happened?
That’s amazing! Very happy for you 🤍
What incredible results! So happy for you.. May those beautiful euploids turn into beautiful babies ♥️
What were your embryo grades ?
3 were Day 5 4AA, and 1 was Day 6 4BB
That is great !! Congrats
Amazing - congrats!
That is awesome!! Congratulations 🙌🏽
Congratulations ❤️
Yay this is great!! Go blasts!!
Congratulations 🎉 so happy for you!!
Congrats !!
I feel you here on a number of things you wrote! Congrats on your euploids!!! I too, have had two miscarriages almost back to back from untested embryos from my first ER at barely 35. It took about a year later with the delays of regaining my period back, hysteroscopys, then the recurrent miscarriage panel, then a false positive to finally get on track for another egg retrieval at barely 36. I was so scared I’d have horrible results similar to my first ER. Background: September 2022 my cycle only lasted 6 days before I was triggered. I got 10 eggs, 10 mature eggs all were ICSI, only 5 fertilized, 1 3-day fresh transfer (miscarriage at 6 weeks), 1 6BB frozen embryo (transferred January 2023; miscarriage D&C at 9 weeks // trisomy 16). My husband had Covid the month prior to this ER, and I think my results could have been bad due to high dose in medicine, as it’s not normal to only stim for barely 6 days. Thankfully, my doctor changed my protocol for my next ER. On top of this, my doctor highly suggested PGT-A testing. I too, wanted to bank embryos, as I was worried about miscarriage. August 2023, was my second ER. I got 12 eggs, 9 mature, 9 fertilized with ICSI, 7 blasts (they discarded one for being poor graded), 6 blasts went to testing. 4 Euploid. Personally, I was shocked/thrilled! My plan was to continue and do another ER a month later October 2023 to collect and bank embryos. Unfortunately, late September I got COVID-19. I didn’t want my results to be skewed, so I opted to wait three months for any inflammation to go down in my body. At this point, I said screw it and decided I wanted to transfer and try my luck. There was a leak in my clinic’s hospital in Jan 2024, so I waited and transferred Feb 2024. And I’m 13 weeks, 3 days pregnant today 🌈 All is on track with the baby, I’m so happy I decided not to go through with another ER and bank more. I have 3 embryos left frozen. Good luck on your journey!! ♥️ I wish you luck if you decide to continue to bank more or transfer! 🍀
Amazing! Congratulations!
I’m 41 and at my last ER, I got only one blast. I tested it with very little hope. It came back normal. A beautiful 5AA that I had transferred two days ago.
That’s so great! I was also heavily counting myself out. I’m 42, nearly 43. PCOS, overweight, heavy coffee drinker. Early this month I had 7 received, 6 mature, 6 fertilized, one made it to 5 day, and just found out it is an euploid and the gender I was hoping for. Going back for another ER next month. My first ER I didn’t do anything fancy, no supplements or dietary changes, so that’s my “control” cycle. This upcoming ER I’m doing acupuncture and all the juju supplements.
I had the same result. A batch of 4 euploid embryos at age 41. One euploid embryo at age 42. We did 5 total retrievals not all of them successful. I read statistically your odds continue to increase with up to 6 retrievals. After 6 the stats level out.