Egg Retrieval
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After our chemical pregnancy from our first IVF transfer, I decided to look for a different IVF clinic. I did my research and found a doctor who had a very high success rate and only took a handful of patients at a time, which meant he would take the time to focus on my treatment plan. At our initial consultation, he was very straight forward with what to expect. The success rate of live birth at my age of 41 is about 15%. It was difficult to hear, but I was willing to take the chance so I would have no regrets.
I let my body recover for about 9 month from the miscarriage before starting our second round of IVF. I had a total of 10 follicles seen again on the transvaginal ultrasound. To improve my egg quality, my doctor had me continue taking prenatal vitamins with folate and DHA and to start taking Vitamin C, Vitamin E, CoQ10, and DHEA.
The results for egg retrieval #1:
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- 32 eggs retrieved
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- 7 embryos made it to blastocyst! 3 at day six and 4 at day seven
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- 7 embryos sent for PGS testing
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- 1 tested normal – Day 6 Grade 3BC and 1 tested low mosaic – Day 6 Grade 3CD
Mosaic embryos have a mixture of normal and abnormal cells. When these embryos are transferred, the risk of having pregnancy complications and birth defects are higher. Low-mosaic embryos, which is the kind I have, have mostly normal cells and about 30-50% abnormal cells. The doctor explained that in some cases, mosaic embryos can self correct over time. We decided to keep our low-mosaic as a back-up and try for another egg retrieval. I chose to do another egg retrieval because studies show that after 41 egg quality drops dramatically and also we wanted a second embryo in case this transfer failed again. If it was a success, we have a chance for a second baby!
Egg Retrieval #2
The results for egg retrieval #2:
- 30 eggs retrieved
- 20 fertilized
- 9 sent for PGS testing
- 1 normal boy Grade 4CB and another low-mosaic girl Grade 4AB
Frozen Embryo Transfer
Don and I decided to transfer our girl first. If we were only to have one child, we wanted a little girl. Prior to our frozen embryo transfer, the doctor did a couple of procedures that would increase the chance of a successful pregnancy. An endometrial biopsy with staining of plasma cells with CD138 to evaluate for chronic endometriosis. If positive, I would have to be treated with an antibiotic prior to the transfer. My results were negative. I also did a saline sonohysterogram to evaluate the uterine cavity. Lastly, an ERA (endometrial receptive analysis) was done to identify my perfect window of implantation to transfer an embryo. The results showed that I was pre-receptive at day 5 meaning at day 5 of my cycle, my endometrial lining was not receptive to receive an embryo. I would need an additional day of progesterone shot before we can transfer the embryo.
One week after transfer, I went into the clinic to draw my Beta HCG levels. It came back at 44! I was pregnant once again! This time, I was cautiously happy. We went in for our second HCG draw and it more than doubled! My HCG level came back at 152! We were ecstatic, but again cautiously ecstatic. I felt all of the right pregnancy symptoms that I read about; sore breasts, mild cramping, nausea, etc. Two days before our first ultrasound after transfer, I woke up to a lot of bleeding. Once again, I was crushed. I thought I lost the baby. I called my doctor and he increased my progesterone injections until the bleeding finally subsided. I went in for an ultrasound the next day and I was certain that we had lost the baby, but she was still there. We heard a heartbeat!! It was a very emotional moment for the both of us.
I was finally pregnant with our rainbow baby at 41 years old!