For those who have undergone IVF -
How many embryos did you transfer, and would you make the same decision knowing the outcome of your cycle or pregnancy?
I'm also curious to know if you had a day 3 or day 5 transfer, and if the day or your number of embryos available influenced your decision on how many to put back in?
My retrieval should be next week, and we're planning to transfer 2, but have also been seriously considering eSET. So, any thoughts from the ladies on the other side? 
honeydew / 7968 posts
i did a day 3 transfer. we had, i believe, 8 fertilized eggs. 2 were transferred, 6 frozen. we did 2 to increase our chances of getting pregnant and both stuck. we definitely didn't want to put more than 2.
if i knew they were going to stick, i would have still done 2! i love twins!!!! i know it'll be hard, but 1 pregnancy, get 2 kids, how great is that? hehe. i know my husband only wanted 1 kid. he thinks it's too hard to handle having 2 kids - 2 kids at college at once, 2 of everything, etc. but if he had to do things over again, knowing what he knows, i think he would still do 2 to increase the chances of getting pregnant. lots of women lose 1 of the babies so....
what's an eSET?
good luck with the retrieval!!!! so exciting! hoping for a very very very sticky baby/babies!!!!
pear / 1723 posts
Thank you so much! I love hearing success stories And I'm glad to hear you would still have transferred 2 knowing they would both stick! I'm trying to relax and be very zen about all of this, but it's so nervewracking and exciting. And I'm trying so hard to trust my docs and stay away from google!
We'd be so happy with one or two, but get a little freaked out at that 1% chance of triplets that comes from transferring 2. But have to remind ourselves that it's really super unlikely.
eSET is elective single embryo transfer. My clinic is a big proponent of it to reduce complications, especially when one is young and on the first IVF cycle.
honeydew / 7968 posts
i did actually read comments on sites about women who transferred 2 and got a 3rd from splitting! crazy!
it really is very very very nervewracking, waiting to see if it stuck. i was so so so nervous and worried that it wouldn't have worked for me. every little thing - i got mad, i ate something bad, etc. maybe would negatively affect the transfer haha.
have you been pregnant before? i think that definitely helps. if you're young, there's a really good chance too. (i think under 35 is young?)
i think it's definitely safer to transfer just 1. but so many people are having twins nowadays that my facility said 2 is fine and even if it's still considered higher risk, lots of babies come out safely. my clinic doesn't like to transfer more than 2. i think if i were 40 or so, i'd have put more embryos in.
it's definitely going to be a lot of work - having 2. but it's just my personality - if i just transferred 1 and i got pregnant but lost it, i'd be devastated. i would be just as much if i transferred 2 but got only 1, but i'd have something to hold on to (the living one) - is that horrible? yeah, it is...
pear / 1723 posts
I know! Throughout all of ttc, I'm always paranoid about if something I ate or stressed out about or whatever was the reason that month didn't work.
I haven't been pg before. We've been trying for almost 2 years and not a single + test. But no real issues that they can find either! I'm only 28, so the odds are definitely in our favor in that respect.
I worry less about the extra work of having twins, and more about any potential medical complications. I know it would be exhausting, but since we have local family, I think it would be manageable. And transferring 2 in case 1 is lost is definitely a big consideration for us too! Don't feel horrible! It's a huge emotional and financial investment, it would be impossible to not be devastated by a loss.
honeydew / 7968 posts
we got pregnant once last year right after an hsg, so we think the hsg cleared up whatever blockage i may have (although they told me that my tubes were clear =T).
yeah, 28 is a great age. and i think it's really good that they can't find any issues. my RE said that it's better not to find something than find something (although i like finding something so i could try and address it). and that she knew patients who went through ivf for their first but was able to get pregnant naturally afterwards.
GOLD / pomelo / 5167 posts
Oh wow @tequiero21 twins!!! For first I think thats awesome. My sister wanted twins too (seeing she is much older) but it didn't happen that way.
If I have twins the second time around... I might die. Literally.
Good luck with the transfer, I hope it works
grape / 90 posts
Hi there! I'm 29 weeks pregnant w/ twin girls. I did a day 5 transfer. If I remember correctly, we had 10 eggs, 7 fertilized and 2 embryos transferred (the rest were frozen). My clinic also didn't recommend transferring more than 2 at a time since I'm under 35. I was also hoping that at least 1 would work, but they both did! I'm coming close to the end. I'm getting a little bit more nervous about the idea of caring for 2 newborns (our 1st babies). Eek!
grape / 90 posts
@tequiero21: yup, in the 3rd tri! how far along are you? and do you know what you're having?
honeydew / 7968 posts
@milkteaandpolkadots - i'm going to be 17 weeks on monday! as far as i know, as of now, i'm having a boy and a girl! =)
pear / 1723 posts
@milkteaandpolkadots - Thanks for sharing your experience, and thanks! Good luck in the home stretch!
honeydew / 7968 posts
@merryc - will your doctor let you choose between day 3 and day 5? my doctor said they'd let me know if it was ready for day 3 and if not, we'd do it day 5. i guess it was ready by day 3!
pear / 1723 posts
@tequiero - My understanding is that, if the 2 best embryos can be picked by day 3, they put them back in then. But if there are a lot that look about the same, they let them grow to day 5 to make sure they're putting back the ones 'most likely to succeed' I don't really care which day they put them back in, as long as we get some good to transfer and a few to freeze!
persimmon / 1085 posts
Just started our IVF injections yesterday. (Yay!!) We will be transfering 3, unless we only have a few available. (In that case, we'll transfer the 1 or 2) Since I have diminished ovarian reserve, we aren't expecting many eggs and I may not get another chance at this. So we're hoping for at least one or two to take, so we're going with 3. Won't say the idea of triplets doesn't scare us, but our RE agreed that in my case he recommends we transfer 3 embryos.
persimmon / 1085 posts
@Tequiero21 Thanks. Unfortunately, our cycle was cancelled yesterday due to high progesterone. 
We were so disappointed. But we met with the doctor today and he said the estrogen and lining and follies are all great, so hopefully the next cycle will work!!
honeydew / 7968 posts
@jenn23 - sorry to hear! i'm so disappointed for you. i know how much excitement you must have built up. good luck in your next cycle! hopefully, there's something they can do to prevent high progesterone next time.... i wonder what you'll do after the transfer though because you're supposed to take progesterone shots or something.
persimmon / 1085 posts
@Tequiero21 Thanks! I know, we are so disappointed, but we met with the doctor yesterday and he thinks the next cycle should be fine. He doesn't think the progesterone will play a role in the next cycle. *Fingers crossed* The progesterone shots after the transfer are totally different than my progesterone levels early on in the cycle. So that shouldn't be a problem. My progesterone last Thursday (Day 1 of stims) was totally normal, but it jumped quickly in just a few days from the meds. He's going to try me on a different protocol next time. Hopefully we can start next week or the following. I don't need 21 days of bcp the next cycle. Yay!
honeydew / 7968 posts
@jenn23 - were you "hyperstimulated"? i was on some m/b regimen (can you believe i forgot the names of the meds already?) and towards the end, they were worried i would be hyperstimulated or something so i had to stop taking the shots for a few days and then luckily, i was okay to do the transfer. i guess my body reacted too well with the medications.
wait, menopur and bravelle? just came to me! something like that.
good luck with next cycle! hopefully, in a month or so, you'll let us know that it was successful!
persimmon / 1085 posts
@Tequiero21 Nope, I have diminished ovarian reserve, so we're hoping just to get at least 6-7 eggs at the most. My estrogen was perfect (my doctor said that means the quality of the eggs should be good) and I did have nine follicles (more than we expected for me with a low AMH/high FSH), so the only problem was the progesterone. He thinks I may have ovulated during the stims (while having my period). Weird! He said he doesn't think it should happen (high progesterone) again, so we're hoping he is right! We've been trying 1 1/2 years and I've been to hell and back with an abdominal myomectomy last November for fibroids (miscarried before that), then cysts, surgery for those, one tube removed, one damaged tube..it's been just crazy. IVF is our only hope to get pregnant so to have our cycle cancelled was truly devastating. But after meeting with him yesterday, I feel better and trying to be hopeful! I did take Bravelle and menopur. I did the microdose lurpon protocol, but will do the antagonist (no lupron, ganirelix instead) protocol next time. Thanks!!! I hope to follow in your footsteps!! My husband and I are actually hoping for twins!
cherry / 201 posts
@jenn23 - good luck and be sure to keep us posted. btw, have the shots effected you emotionally at all? We start in January and for some reason I think I'm going to be an emotional mess!?!?!?
honeydew / 7968 posts
@jenn23 - sorry to hear you've had so many issues! but glad there's hope! i had to take the ganirelix to (i believe) prevent ovulation and then had to take a shot of HCG or so to ovulate.
@filly - i don't think i was affected much by the meopur and bravelle. but i may have been a tad bit more hormonal (i think i typically just get hormonal lol) with the progesterone in oil shots you have to take to help the transferred embryos stick (and after for a few weeks, if you end up getting pregnant).
pear / 1723 posts
@filly - I didn't have much of an emotional reaction to the shots, but I was on fairly low doses (75 menopur and 150-225 gonal-f). I mostly just felt tired-hungry-thirsty a little more than usual. My family thought I was going to turn into a crazy person, but luckily, it was WAY better than expected! Like Tequiero said, I think the progesterone (I'm on suppositories) actually makes me a little more emotional, but not horribly so.
pear / 1723 posts
P.S. We transferred 2, day 5 embryos earlier this week. The clinic recommended 1, since there was one awesome blast that was already hatching, but we decided to add another early blast too. Now I know we made the right decision to put the second one in, since the rest didn't make it to freeze. Fingers crossed!
cherry / 201 posts
@merryc - finger are def. crossed =)
@tequiero21 and marryc - thank you for the info, i hope if there are any changes they're mild, Ha!!!
honeydew / 7968 posts
@merryc - aww, glad you got to save 2! i know my husband doesn't count the embryos as "babies" yet, since they're not in us and haven't had the chance to "live" yet, which i'm on board and tend to agree with.... but i still get sad at the thought of having to discard the frozen ones. sorry, you lost the other embryos. =( and hoping for sticky babies! guess you find out in about a week or so???
pear / 1723 posts
@tequiero - Yeah, I really struggle with what to call them all sometimes! The ones inside, I think of more as babies now, but I always called them eggs/embryos in the lab. I did struggle with the idea of possibly having to discard any frozen embryos in the future, so I'm hoping these two hang in there and it all works out perfectly! My beta is a week from today
honeydew / 7968 posts
@merryc - yeah, i try not to call the frozen ones "babies" because then it'll make it that much harder to discard them. good luck on beta!!! i won't lie, it'll be a nerve-wracking wait. but i'll tell you that i tested about 4 days early and was able to get my results. so if your hcg is high enough, you can test on your own first (if you can't wait like me) but don't get too disappointed if it doesn't show up right away. i was fearing the worst so was so surprised when it came back positive.
pear / 1723 posts
@tequiero - Thanks! My plan is to start testing over the weekend, so that if it's negative, I have time to get used to the idea gradually before beta. And if it's positive, we get to know sooner! That's really encouraging that you got results that early!
honeydew / 7968 posts
lol that's why i started testing earlier. i figured, if it's negative, it'll prepare me. and if it's positive, i'll be SO relieved.
persimmon / 1085 posts
@Filly Thanks! I had some pretty potent side effects for the five days I was on the injections. But unlike MerryC, I was on a very high dose. (Highest possible dose due to my low ovarian reserve) I cried a lot, had hot flashes, was sooo tired. But many women don't have any side effects!
@MerryC Sorry, none of them made it to freeze. I'm glad you transferred two! Wow, you can start testing in the next few days! Yay!
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