[Eytbol8]

Hello All, I am new to this site and this is my first post. I want to thank you in advance for your read, reply and support.

I am 35-years old and have had my first IVF cycle with Fertility & Surgical Associates in Thousand Oaks, CA just recently. All my pre-test came back great and I appear to have no obvious problems, ovaries are fine, tubes and uterus are good, etc. My husband is a paraplegic and paralyzed from the waist down. That is one of the biggest reasons we have had to opt for IVF. After having a testicular biopsy we found out he had good sperm which was a great relief and our first cycle went perfectly, as best as we could expect …with the exception of a negative pregnancy test this past Thursday. The main meds I was on were: Menopur, Follistim, Ganirelix, Chorionic Gonad, Progesterone Oil, and the Vivelle-Dot Patches. My body responded so well to the Menopur and the Follistim, that the doses were decreased after just 3-4 days. My eggs grew fast and many and there were able to retrieve 18 eggs just 9 days after starting meds, 8 of which were stable enough to fertilize and 4 fully fertilized (2 A quality and 2 B quality). We had 2 embryos transferred on day 5. My entire cycle from starting med to a negative pregnancy test was 25 days. On Thursday we received the news that I was not pregnant and to stop all my meds, only to continue my prenatal vitamins Prenexa. Since Friday afternoon I have been experiencing heavy cramps and pressure that I had not experienced before – they are not continuous, but many times throughout the day. I called the nurse and she said that my uterus lining is just thinning out and my period should start soon, but to have the doctor do an ultrasound on Tuesday if it continues. I have a follow-up with my doctor on Tuesday and really have no idea what to expect. What could have went wrong and what are the next steps. We have a list of questions for him and can't wait to connect with him. After such a good cycle, we were prepared for either a negative and positive result, but have to be honest that we were pretty shocked when it was negative after such a good cycle. I mean, I completely understand that IVF is not a guarantee, but we were pretty hopeful after such a good cycle.

Has anyone (I’m sure many, many, many have) experienced a similar situation? We told ourselves we would try three times and are eagerly waiting to start our next cycle.[/font]

[mgmsrk]

I’m sorry to hear your first cycle did not work. I believe most will have to do 2 or 3 rounds for success.

One thing for the next cycle is to try for a slower response, lower dosages to give the eggs more time to grow. It may help with quality. Does your clinic do HSG’s prior to all cycles?

Best of luck on your next round.

[CaribbeanQueen]

Hi Eytbol---

Sorry to hear about your BFN... It is difficult to go through (there are so many people on here who can attest to that).

My DH and I also had to go the TESE/IVF/ICSI route due to male factor IF. We got our first BFP on IVF #3.

Although all of my initial testing came back fine, our RE did tweak my meds for cycle #3 (from a Lupron protocol to Antagonist). I am not sure what made the difference in our 3rd cycle, but as mgmskr mentioned, sometimes it just doesn't work the first go-around.

Hang in there... Feel free to post/vent/ask questions. Everyone on here is so supportive.

Best wishes,
CQ/Leigh

[elaine123]

I'm sorry to hear about your BFN.

I'm starting Lupron for my 3rd cycle tonight. According to my RE's my first two cycles were "perfect on paper" and exactly what they like to see. They said they wished all of their patients had cycles like mine. But guess what?...BFN both times.

Unfortunately, even perfect cycles only have a small rate of success. I've seen women on the boards who only end up fertilizing and transferring one so-so embryo and then get their BFP. Like you said, there are no guarantees with IVF...and if there were then we'd all be pregnant!

Hang in there. It will happen for you.

[Mariajose]

Eytbol8, sorry to hear about your BFN. Me like some of the other girls have gotten 1 IVF 1 FET perfect in paper and both BFN. I know how you feel, but sometimes it happens. and unfortunately there is no explanation for it. I will have my follow up appt as well and I think the Dr is going to suggest ENDOW.
this is a hard and complicated progress, but this is a great support group, you are in the right track..... keep the hopes up!

Good Luck.

[barbara702]

mariajose - reading your post felt like i was reading about myself. my first cycle was "perfect" as well - we transferred one "textbook perfect" 5 day embryo and got a BFN....it's so heartbreaking. you can't help but think that it will work when everything is falling into place, but that's not the case sometimes. it's really hard - i am feeling the same way you are feeling. it also makes it scary to try another time. i wish you the best of luck.

CQ - hi there! funny to see you on a different board

take care ladies - we're all in the same boat here and it's great we have each other. no one can possibly understand this if they haven't gone through it.

[Tanter602]

DH and I are thinking about doing a Shared Risk program, which will give us 6 IVF tries for the price of approximately 2 (no meds included of course). We just started doing all the pre-testing and things were looking so good (FSH is great, good number of antral follies, etc.) that we started thinking, "Hey! This thing could work the first time, and we could save a ton of money if we only did one traditional round, instead of Shared Risk."

Clearly, we are getting way ahead of ourselves, but hope springs eternal, right?

Anyway, I just want to thank you ladies for this thread, because reading it just brought me back down to reality. We're gonna have to fork over the cash to do Shared Risk, and that's all there is to it.

I'm not depressed or anxious -- I just am realizing that it is silly to think that we can predict a BFP on our first try based on initial test results. You ladies all had great cycles all the way through the whole process and still - no luck! I can only imagine what a total bummer that had to be for all of you and I admire the fact that you all are still so optimistic and ready to try again (and again!)

Thanks ladies. You are all inspirations!