Saturday, April 21, 2007

Status quo

Unfortunately, good news did not come our way today. Another BFN. I did not feel positive about this cycle from the beginning. Here is a recap:

Retrieval - 4 days past estimate - donor was responding to meds; however, growth of follicles was slow and there was a concern about hyperstimulation. 13 eggs retrieved (Each of my own retrieval cycles produced many more eggs than this but who's counting?). Of the 13, 5 eggs were immature, 3 did not fertilize, 1 embryo had cell division problems, which resulted in 4 embryos on day 3.

Transfer - all along the plan was to transfer on Day 5, but because we had less than 6 embryos the clinic asked us to come in on Day 3. The Dr. mentioned that we could come back on Day 5, but I was an emotional wreck and just wanted to continue on with the transfer. We transferred 3 embryos (one 10 cell and 2 eiqht cells - all beginning to compact with little fragmentation). We let the remaining embryo continue in culture to see if it would make it to blast.

Cryo news - The remaining embryo did not make it to blast. This confirmed in my mind that we would most probably not have a BFP.

I am pretty frustrated at this point - I know that I have not had good results on my own (i.e. BFP), but each of my own retrieval cycles resulted in at least one blast and I have had 4 FET's from my cycles. I assumed that we would have had much better results from a donor.

The donor that we chose had one previous cycle before ours and it resulted in a chemical - I specifically asked about her previous cycle before we chose her and was informed that there were sperm issues in that cycle (not sure if they had to perform rescue ICSI or what) but was assured that we did not have this same issue.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am pissed off. What the fxxx? This was supposed to be the answer.

TM mentioned that maybe we have a different issue other than egg quality, but I am at a loss to know what else could be out there. My FSH was a little over 6, my HSG was normal, both of our karotyping was normal, I respond well to meds, no issues with retrievals or transfers, lots of eggs, lots of blasts, 70-80% thaw rate for the blasts, (though please note - my embryos have been graded right about a 2 with some fragmentation - but each time, "They look good" per our Doc). The issue of egg quality came up during our first retrieval cycle as we had to go in on a day 3, but we did end up having blasts from that cycle also. What am I missing here?

We could have done PGD (and I wish that we had now), but since we had had so many failures we were encouraged to go right on to donor egg. The Doc seemed convinced that we have an egg issue.

We will probably schedule our cycle review right away, neither of us is very patient and I want to get a plan in place. We talked about adoption again today, but neither of us is ready to give up yet.

14 comments:

millie said...

I'm sovery very sorry.

There is something even more painful about a failed donor egg cycle because it's what you do when nothing else has worked.

I hope your doc has some good ideas for another plan. I'm not sure if I missed this but could there be a sperm issue? You should have had much better results from a donor cycle.

PGD is certainly something to consider. Or perhaps immune testing. Or an endometrial biopsy to see if your lining is converting appropriately.

Take good care of yourselves.

M said...

I'm so sorry x

ultimatejourney said...

I'm so sorry this cycle didn't work out. It must be very frustrating to feel like your eggs might have been better than the donor's. Let us know what you hear at the follow-up.

You're in my thoughts.

Anonymous said...

I am so very sorry. I hope you get some kind of answers from your follow up appointment.

Serenity said...

I am so sorry. And ditto millie's questions from me as well.

*hug* I hope you get some answers soon, hon.

Becks said...

I am so sorry, I do hope you get some answers and a plan soon so that you can move forward. Thinking of you.

JJ said...

How frustrating....I am sorry that it didnt work out this cycle. I hope you can get some good answers during the cycle review...

JW said...

I'm so so sorry.
You're in my thoughts. xxx

One View said...

I just read your post today and I was so sad and disappointed to hear your news. I'm so----- SORRY for everything you've been through and still going through. Its just
so unfair.

I hope you get the answers you need from your follow up appointment. Will be thinking of you. Big hugs.

Somewhat Ordinary said...

I'm so sorry and I hope you get some good answers as well as renewed hope for another plan!

Anonymous said...

Ah man. That sucks.
Will look forward to hearing how your cycle review goes.

Thinking of you.

Pamela T. said...

I hear your frustration in getting to the root cause of the BFNs. It's the "unexplained" aspect that's always made me more than a little crazy. If we know what the problem actually is we can make informed decisions and act accordingly. The guessing game makes IF all the more maddening.

niobe said...

I'm so sorry to hear this. It must be especially hard after coming to terms with DE, but then having that not work out. I sometimes (cynically) think that whenever doctors can't figure out the cause of IF, they tend to attribute it to egg issues.

I'm with everyone else in hoping that they're able to give you some answers.

Lisa said...

Damn, I can't imagine making it this far emotionally and dealing with DE conflicts then having it not work. I know it is not 100% successful but come on. I am eager to hear about your next step since I am right behind you.