Here's a question for the lucky ladies out there who have had success with fertility treatments after having had some failures. What do you think made the difference in the cycle that worked? Was it the treatment? Tweaking the treatment? Just landing on the right side of the odds? I've been meaning to ask this for a while.
For us, my best guess at what made IVF#3 (FET#1) work was that we had good-quality blastocysts. Cycle 1 had been unlucky, probably because of too few days of stimming. Cycle 2 was a bust because we put back day-3 embryos, whose quality doesn't have as much correlation to ongoing quality as day-5 quality does. But we got some good embryos there, and they finally got to bloom at day 5 during the FET. My back-up theory would be that the FET was just gentler. My back-up, back-up theory would be that I had a piss-poor attitude, which shows that positivity means jack-shit.
So, for you: what made the difference? I am leaving town today (I hope - bad weather is movin' in), but I will eagerly check back in on the responses.
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3 comments:
Like you I think the fact that the FET is less stressful and painful was a huge factor. Also, odds are supposed to be lower for FET, so there was less expectation. I also had taken a 3 months break, started the adoption process, undergone an exorcism (my chiropractor thought I could not get pregnant b/c of my dead grandmother, more on this quite funny episode on my blog), therapy (the down to earth kind, not the "let's talk about your mum and dad" kind), and started acupuncture. Also I did not drink alcohol or coffee. Mmmm, so what worked? I can't be sure, but I believe that being less passive about the process and less scared of it was key. I was more accepting of the process too.
It's funny..we tried for 8 years, I had a couple of pregnancies but lost both. It wasn't until we adopted our first son that I felt an actual PHYSICAL change in my body,(when he was about 4 months old) a kind of peace that came over me and I could feel my cycles changing. 3 months after that I was pregnant again. I know it sounds bizarre but I swear that was my turning point. I went on to have 4 more pregnancies (only two survived to full term birth) but the change that happened was actually palpable. I know my experience won't "help" you but it might show you how your body can react to life events.
I'm almost afraid to comment on this for fear of jinxing things. But, here goes:
We had better quality eggs, and therefore, blastocysts this time. I think it was due to the human growth hormone I did along with my stims. Both of our transferred blasts were graded 3AA, (the first cycle they were 3AB and 3BA.) We also had 4 good blasts to freeze afterward.
I read a study in a scientific journal online that showed that the pg rate with at least 2 3AA rated blasts or higher is 80something percent, with multiples at about 50% of those pg. So I have to think that our embryo quality finally equalled good chromosomes.
There is a chance that the blood-clotting disorder they found before this cycle had something to do with implantation too... I'm on heparin this cycle which we never did before.
Now that I've said this, let's unjinx this post and keep my little beans growing...
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