ICSI

Yay, tested positive yesterday! A clear second line appeared pretty quickly.
I told the parents and siblings/brothers and sisters right away—they were super happy. For the rest, we’re waiting a bit longer to share the news, since they already knew when we had the puncture and the embryo transfer.
Still getting used to it though—yesterday I kept thinking, like, am I dreaming? Luckily, it’s real!

Liesje, congratulations, girl!!! What wonderful news! Enjoy it, girl!
Ellie, how are you doing now?
Here, the fresh transfer didn’t work out. Now it’s a rest month, and hopefully, we’ll do a frozen embryo transfer after that.

Definitely enjoy it, even though I’m mostly feeling nauseous at night and have trouble falling back asleep. Other than that, I’ve got nothing to complain about.
On September 13th, I’m having my first ultrasound in the afternoon????

So sad that your attempt didn’t work out. I really hope the cryo sticks this time.

Hi ladies,

How are you doing?
@ellie have you started the new attempt again?
@C81 hopefully you've got good news by now too?
Love,

Hi Liesje and Ellie!! Liesje, 19 weeks already! That's wonderful!
Unfortunately, I don't have good news. I'm starting ICSI 2 in January. The first cryo didn't do anything in my body, and the second one didn't come out of the freezer well. I'll start Menopur with a short protocol in January. I'm also hoping to get selected for scratching. I've also started acupuncture under the motto "it can't hurt, and it might help."
Ellie, do you have better news??
Love, xxx

Hi Liesje and Ellie!! Liesje, already 19 weeks! That's wonderful!
Unfortunately, I don't have good news. I'm starting ICSI 2 in January. The first cryo didn't do anything in my body, and the second one didn't come out of the freezer well. I'll start Menopur with a short protocol in January. I'm also hoping to get selected for scratching. I've also started acupuncture under the motto: it doesn't hurt, so it can't harm.
Ellie, do you have better news??
Love, xxx

Oh, that's not nice to hear. Hopefully you'll have success in January. It would be great if you could participate in the study. I couldn't back then because I would've been on vacation that week if I'd been selected.
Here we're already at 19 weeks, it's going by so fast.

Hi everyone,
First of all, congratulations to those who are pregnant, and good luck to those, like me, who are in the middle of an ICSI journey!!
Sorry for jumping in out of nowhere, but I'll introduce myself first.
Dionne, 35 years old, mother of a 6-year-old boy (from a previous relationship), living in Wijchen
My partner and I have been trying to conceive for over a year. We went to the GP together in August. Because I have a child from a previous relationship, they first tested my partner. The results weren't good, and he was referred to Canisius Hospital. Within a week, we were told they couldn't help us further and referred us to Radboud University Medical Center. We had an intake appointment there in late October and an evaluation appointment on November 9th. 60% of my partner's sperm was non-viable, and to top it all off, I was found to have very few follicles (only 3 in total), given my age. The doctor suspected this was due to my rheumatoid arthritis and the Humira I use. During the evaluation, we were given some tasks to work on at home: my partner had to quit smoking, and I had to lose 7 kg. The plan was to return in 3 months before any further steps would be taken, but a week and a half after the evaluation, I received a call from Radboud saying we had to start immediately, as the rheumatoid arthritis would only make things worse, so they couldn't wait any longer. We had a consultation on November 21st + an explanation about the medication. We are following the flare-up protocol, which means this attempt could be our first and last. This depends on how my body reacts to the medication. December is make-or-break for us. During the egg retrieval, at least 4 eggs must be retrieved to qualify for a second attempt. I don't know what your experiences are, but do follicles sometimes contain multiple eggs?
On the first day of my period (December 6th), I started taking Decapeptyl, and on the second day, I added Gonal F, both at the highest dosage. I have the stimulation ultrasound this coming Thursday. I haven't had any side effects and haven't noticed anything in my body (yet)? Have you noticed anything after using these medications?
I've had a lot of questions lately about whether I also had few follicles during my first pregnancy, but unfortunately, I don't know because I got pregnant naturally and unplanned.
Best regards, Dionne

Hi Dionne!! What a story! I'm also 36 and have a low egg reserve too. I assume that's what you mean? Why would this maybe be the last and only attempt? Is this related to your rheumatism? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm just curious . I'm also getting a flare-up protocol for my 2nd ICSI, but with Menopur. The first time, I had to stimulate for a long time, eventually building up to 300 Gonal F. I had 5 follicles with 5 eggs. I had a long protocol and was injecting Decapeptyl for so long that I really got sick from it. Just before the puncture, I really felt a kind of presence in my ovaries, and I had tons of fertile mucus! Wishing you lots of success tomorrow at the ultrasound! Let me know how it went.

Greetings

Hi C81, the Radboud has a protocol where you need at least 4 follicles and 4 eggs. If I didn't have that, I'd have to accept that it's the end of the line for us.
I'm really disappointed in my body. In the end, I did have more follicles than they initially said. I had 6, of which 4 are under 10mm, so those won't do anything anymore. One was 13mm and the other 16.3mm. They want to stimulate the last one further, hoping it will reach 18mm. I asked if it could be due to the dosage of Gonal F. I'm now injecting 225 units, and they said that's the maximum dose, but reading your post, that doesn't seem to be the case. I read somewhere that follicles can also get a boost after using Pregnyl? If that's really true, I hope the others will also grow a bit more. You only need 1 egg and 1 sperm cell, after all. Miracles still happen, of course.
Wow, 5 eggs is a super amount if you have few follicles. Since you're now on attempt 2, were the other cryos not thawed properly or not accepted?
Greetings, Dionne

Oh my! I had written a whole post and it’s gone!
225 is the national maximum, but my gyn thinks quite out of the box. My follicles stayed around 12 mm. He took the risk and after 3 days I had 5 mature follicles each with an egg! Now he hopes with the menopur to get 1 or 2 more eggs. I had 1 fresh transfer that did implant but unfortunately didn't stick. I had 2 cryo left. The first one did nothing in my body. The second one didn't come out of the freezer well. If I were you, I'd definitely ask for a 2nd opinion at another hospital. In Düsseldorf they specialize in women with low egg supply. Definitely worth looking into! I'm based in Tilburg.
Keep me posted, girl!
Love xxx

So Radboud is sticking to the national rules. I had another scan today, the biggest one is ripe for puncture. The other one had grown to 12.2 (bilateral measurement) and 1 of the 4 follicles that were under 10 had grown to 12. I indicated that I still want to continue stimulating so that the maximum is achieved, but I was called today that they want to do a puncture on Sunday and empty all other follicles they can, they do it immediately.
I prefer a doctor who thinks out of the box. They think with you and try to do everything necessary. Pity that the fresh transfer wasn't accepted by your body. That's a disadvantage of freezing, you don't know how it thaws. Hopefully next round will be a success.
My partner and I were indeed thinking about it. If Radboud doesn't want to help us anymore, we'll look elsewhere. We have 3 attempts that are covered. I've heard multiple good stories about Dusseldorf. I just don't know if we're willing to go there. Every advantage has its disadvantage.

Hi everyone,

Sorry for my late reply.

It's so nice to read that everything is going well with c81.

Liesje, it's going to be an exciting period ahead. And welcome Dionne.

I'm currently in my second waiting week. Unfortunately, we only had 3 eggs in the 7 follicles this time, two of which dropped out, so we ended up with an 8-cell embryo.

I'll know more next week. I'll keep you posted. Love

Hi Ellie, so exciting again! I hope it's a hit, girl! Please keep us posted!
Dionne, how did it go for you?
I got lucky with the scratching. This one will be the 9th attempt. I expect to start with Decapeptyl and Menopur around the 13th. That'll be our 2nd try.

Lots of strength, Ellie! When can you start your next attempt? Hopefully, it's the third time's the charm.

Oh Ellie, that's so sad! Wishing you lots of strength with processing everything and making choices. Big hug from me!
Dionne, how are you doing?
Liesje, enjoying yourself?
I'm having the puncture for attempt 2 tomorrow. This time I did Menopur with a short protocol. After the first scan, the puncture was scheduled right away. Such a big difference from last time. Then I had to inject for 3 weeks. I also had the scratching, so I'm really curious how this time will go.
Love, xxx

Oh Ellie, that's so sad! Wishing you lots of strength with processing everything and making choices. Big hug from me!
Dionne, how are you doing?
Liesje, enjoying yourself?
I'm having the puncture for attempt 2 tomorrow. This time I did Menopur with a short protocol. After the first scan, the puncture was scheduled right away. Such a big difference from last time. Then I had to inject for 3 weeks. I also had the scratching this time, so I'm really curious to see how it goes.
Love, xxx