I had my WTF appointment today. Unfortunately I had to miss one of my favourite lesson plans on Stalin and the Purges today because I couldn't get a later appointment. Argh...I hate planning for a TOC (Teacher on Call). It's always double the work to plan for someone else.
Dr. C was rather prompt which was unusual. He typically runs about 15 mins late. We went over my latest failure. I know that fertility isn't an exact science, but it's a little frustrating when your RE looks at your charts and doesn't know why you're not getting pregnant. My follicles developed at a uniform rate which is what they want. Of the 12 retrieved, 10 fertilized. All but 1 of our 10 eggs were 8 cells on day 3. The majority were either grade 1 or 2 with only one grade 4. Even Sweets's count was the highest it's ever been. When we first started down this path a year ago, his samples were in the 1 to 5 million range. We kept telling ourselves, "It takes only one." This time his sample was at 48 million. Huge difference! Morphology appears to be the main issue now with his numbers being "borderline" as my RE put it. This cycle, for the most part, was an excellent cycle. The only problem was that it wasn't successful. And my RE doesn't know why. I suppose we can now be moved from the "Male Factor" category to the "Unexplained" category.
He seemed a bit rushed today, so I had to slow him down so that he could answer my questions. The main thing I wanted to know was whether an endometrial biopsy would be beneficial. He stated that there is no conclusive evidence that it's beneficial as there have been only limited studies done on this. However, if I wanted to get one done, he would do it. That was easy. So on Thursday I'm going in (missing another freaking day of work!) to get my uterus scraped. I'm sure it's as painful as it sounds. With all the torture I've put my body through, I hope to God that my baby when he/she is older appreciates the havoc my body has endured!
Does your clinic check your progesterone levels before your beta? What type of progesterone are/were you on suppositories or PIO? Sometimes, if you are on only suppositories, your level is not high enough to sustain a pregnancy, so that's why I asked.. Just putting it out there as something to ask about. If your level was 20 or higher it was good.. If it was 15 or lower then it was not high enough for you to have a successful outcome.. Sometimes it's something that simple that was missed.. Best of luck on your next cycle! BTW, I have read several articles where the research shows that doing a transfer the cycle AFTER a biopsy is the successful one! Something about the injury to the uterus making it more receptive to the embryos!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the biopsy on Thursday. Hopefully it will give you some answers and the next cycle will be the one! I have also heard that doing a transfer after a biopsy results in a good outcome. *HUGS*
ReplyDeleteSorry you didn't get more answers. Just wondering - have you ever looked into chromosomal screening of your embryos? Not sure where you're at exactly in your IF journey but it may be something to consider. After all - chromosomal abnormalities can be a big cause of IVF failure - embryos can 'look' beautiful under the microscope but that doesn't mean they have the proper genetic material to make a live baby - just thought I'd share as I have had multiple IVF failures with 'beautiful' looking embies and am now at a clinic where all of the embies are genetically tested before transfer - and I'm learning - a large number of ours do not have the proper genetic material - it's helping provide some answers for us. Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteIt does suck when you are planning for someone else in your classroom. My RE's office never makes appointments late enough and I would have to miss part of the day.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you stood up for yourself and got the doc to stay around and answer some questions. I'm with Janet that I have heard anecdotally that the biopsy can actually help an embryo aattach- something about the rough place left? Good luck with the biopsy!
I'm sorry your RE couldn't give you any answers. I hope the biopsy is easier than you anticipate - and that it gives you some real answers!
ReplyDeleteMy hope is that when we see those smiling faces we're going to forget all the crap we went through. Good luck on Thursday, take some Tylenol before hand.
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