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IVF Question
I have an appt with a specialists for this coming Tuesday and I am wondering if anyone can explain what happens and what you feel during IVF. Are the chances of conceiving high? I am 27 years old and have had 2 previous miscarriages with my 3rd one happening as we speak. My husband has a problem with his chromosomes which put us at high risk for children with abnormalities, do you know if there are procedures to do to determine the health of the actual sperm before fertilization?
Also, is IVF safe for your body? Just curious. I though your advice might help to prepare me for what to ask the doctor when I go on Tues.
Also, is IVF safe for your body? Just curious. I though your advice might help to prepare me for what to ask the doctor when I go on Tues.
I don't know what PGD is, so I can't answer that! I think that IVF is not as successful as the industry would like people to think, but I'll be honest in that I'm not a fan of it anymore due to my bad experience. I just feel that not enough tests were done and that I was 'fast-tracked' to IVF (and fertility treatments, for that matter) due to my insurance covering it. For example, I have recently found out that I have low estrogen - a pretty significant obstacle in the ttc world, in my opinion! Yet, when I looked back at all of the medical records, not ONE doctor ordered an Estradiol test in the 2 years that I was ttc with them. That's ridiculous in my mind. The first thing that my new doctor did after monitoring my charts for two cycles was to order a full hormonal profile - so I went for b/w every other day for about 2 weeks before I o'd and 2 weeks after. I was able to see the graph of what my estrogen and progesterone are doing.
I just think that more analysis should be done to find the cause of the problem instead of just trying to circumvent it.
I just think that more analysis should be done to find the cause of the problem instead of just trying to circumvent it.
Wow... that doesn't exactly sound pleasing. I appreciate your advice. We have never had a sperm analysis done before but, I feel that we need one. We have an issue with my husband only having 30% of healthy sperm. However, that percent was based off of a blood test which determined that he had a translocated chromosome. But they did not evaluate his sperm to find out. I beleive that 30% is the statistic but, not everybody works the same way.
Is ICSI the same thing as that PGD procedure?
Is ICSI the same thing as that PGD procedure?
Is IVF the right choice for me if I can get pregnant. Our problem is that only 30% of my husbands sperm is healthy. So we only have a 30% chance of having a healthy baby. They say 97% chance of miscarring if it is not healthy. IDK
Did you give yourself the injections? Did I understand correctly that your experience with IVF ended in miscarriage? That is my worry. I have heard that quite a bit from other people. I was curious as to rather or not you have to pay for everything all over again if it doesn't work the first time. It seems like there is so much involved with it but, I would definately do it if it meant I had a chance to conceive a healthy baby. Well, thanks for your post and I hope everything works out for you as well.
Have you had a Sperm Analysis done? I may have missed something in previous posts! But they won't do IVF until that is done and if there is a problem, like Houston said, they will likely do ICSI.
My experience with IVF was a bit different than Houston's - the needles didn't bother me for the daily shots, but it was emotionally exhausting always carrying around the bag of meds. (My protocol started between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so lots of events to go to!) I wasn't put under for my egg retrieval and it hurt for me. I had 23 eggs retrieved so it was a long process. I ended up fainting when it was over and had to stay an extra 20 minutes or so to get myself together and then I slept most of the day away.
You need to check with various clinics and see the success rate. I would suggest googling things about how to find out the failure rates (sort of the negatives of IVF to get an accurate picture). Since it is a private industry with no government monitoring, it can be sticky about what information is given - imagine that you are going to buy a coat somewhere; everyone is 'selling their best product to you - you need to be comfortable questioning and probing to get accurate information. I didn't and regret it. They overstimulated my ovaries (I developed OHSS) and instead of cancelling the cycle, which I now think that they should have done - they rushed me into the transfer and I lost all three babies!
Just be cautious - it's easy to get swept up into the talk and promises of IVF and it's not a guaranteed success by any imagination. In many ways, it was more devastating to me!! I don't mean to be a downer, but I wanted you to hear another side of the story!
Good luck!
My experience with IVF was a bit different than Houston's - the needles didn't bother me for the daily shots, but it was emotionally exhausting always carrying around the bag of meds. (My protocol started between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so lots of events to go to!) I wasn't put under for my egg retrieval and it hurt for me. I had 23 eggs retrieved so it was a long process. I ended up fainting when it was over and had to stay an extra 20 minutes or so to get myself together and then I slept most of the day away.
You need to check with various clinics and see the success rate. I would suggest googling things about how to find out the failure rates (sort of the negatives of IVF to get an accurate picture). Since it is a private industry with no government monitoring, it can be sticky about what information is given - imagine that you are going to buy a coat somewhere; everyone is 'selling their best product to you - you need to be comfortable questioning and probing to get accurate information. I didn't and regret it. They overstimulated my ovaries (I developed OHSS) and instead of cancelling the cycle, which I now think that they should have done - they rushed me into the transfer and I lost all three babies!
Just be cautious - it's easy to get swept up into the talk and promises of IVF and it's not a guaranteed success by any imagination. In many ways, it was more devastating to me!! I don't mean to be a downer, but I wanted you to hear another side of the story!
Good luck!
I'm not really sure if I can answer all of your questions, but I've done IVF before (in Jan. 08). Basically your body is "told" what to do via hormones. Your cycle is completely controlled through injections which you or your dh will do yourself. Your RE will monitor you with ultra-sounds and bloodwork and will harvest your eggs during a "retrieval". The same day they retrieve your eggs, they will collect a specimen from your dh. I'm assuming with your dhs' sperm issue they will do ICSI, which means they will take certain sperm and actually inject them into your eggs in the laboratory (hence the term "in vitro" - basically in a petri dish). The embryologist will wait a period or 3-5 days and your RE will let you know how many embryos you have and what day he wants to transfer them into your body. After the transfer, you have to wait 10-14 days for bloodwork to see if they implanted (they are already fertilized). I think sometimes with IVF they can select the best sperm-I'm not sure though.
As far as what you feel??? Well, if you don't like needles, you're going to have to get over it and realize that you will be sticking yourself often! Truly, it doesn't hurt. Really. I mean, sometimes you feel a little sting, but mine always went in like butter(and I"m skinny). The retrieval is where they stick a mega long needle up into your you know what and pierce through your ovaries to suck out your mature follicles. Sounds bad huh? Well, you don't feel a thing and you won't even remember a thing. I remember holding my husband's hand, they sedated me, and then I remember drinking a juice box. Dh says I was asking him questions and grimacing, but to me, its 15 mins. of my life that I don't remember and I'll never get back. The transfer is like a pap smear. So basically, compared to labor and delivery, IVF is a piece of cake. Its actually really exciting too, to go through the procedure and see how everything is done. As far as safety, I don't really know. It didn't harm me. I had a lot of acne from the hormones and I gained 8 lbs which I lost after I miscarried. Good luck and keep me posted!
As far as what you feel??? Well, if you don't like needles, you're going to have to get over it and realize that you will be sticking yourself often! Truly, it doesn't hurt. Really. I mean, sometimes you feel a little sting, but mine always went in like butter(and I"m skinny). The retrieval is where they stick a mega long needle up into your you know what and pierce through your ovaries to suck out your mature follicles. Sounds bad huh? Well, you don't feel a thing and you won't even remember a thing. I remember holding my husband's hand, they sedated me, and then I remember drinking a juice box. Dh says I was asking him questions and grimacing, but to me, its 15 mins. of my life that I don't remember and I'll never get back. The transfer is like a pap smear. So basically, compared to labor and delivery, IVF is a piece of cake. Its actually really exciting too, to go through the procedure and see how everything is done. As far as safety, I don't really know. It didn't harm me. I had a lot of acne from the hormones and I gained 8 lbs which I lost after I miscarried. Good luck and keep me posted!
they can not test the sperm - they can test the embryos but it is costly and morally debateable!!
have you considered embryo adoption - that is such AN AWESOME option. it is cheaper and you would be making a difference!
I have went through several clinics. Here where I live teh adoption process is completely free and the IVF cost is a normal transfer cost - around 2thousand dollars - the place I always recommend becuase they have so MANY embryos available is cooper center in new jersey - carrie wulsin is in charge of embryo adoption and she is awesome - I am pregnant with twins from cooper center adoprtion! for me, it was worth the drive!
as far as safe - very holistic medicine people are against IVF because of all of the artificial medicines you pump your body with - but I look at it in a different light - most of the hormones would be present if I were pregnant anyway - and almost everyone infuses their body with the drug caffeine which I would never do - so who is to say which drugs are "ok" and which aren't - something only you can decide
good luck
have you considered embryo adoption - that is such AN AWESOME option. it is cheaper and you would be making a difference!
I have went through several clinics. Here where I live teh adoption process is completely free and the IVF cost is a normal transfer cost - around 2thousand dollars - the place I always recommend becuase they have so MANY embryos available is cooper center in new jersey - carrie wulsin is in charge of embryo adoption and she is awesome - I am pregnant with twins from cooper center adoprtion! for me, it was worth the drive!
as far as safe - very holistic medicine people are against IVF because of all of the artificial medicines you pump your body with - but I look at it in a different light - most of the hormones would be present if I were pregnant anyway - and almost everyone infuses their body with the drug caffeine which I would never do - so who is to say which drugs are "ok" and which aren't - something only you can decide
good luck
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