Stephen and I have undergone three rounds of IVF between September 2017 and December 2019. During this treatment journey we have had zero pregnancies and a whole lot of heartache. Whether youâve been here from the beginning or are just now tuning in Iâd like to take some time to discuss each of our cycles, the results we saw, and any changes we made.
IVF #1 - September/October 2017
Our first round of IVF came with a price tag just over $14,000 that we financed by taking a loan out against my Dodge Charger.
We walked into this round of IVF with stars in our eyes and hope in our hearts. According to a very popular success rate calculator we had a 43% chance of live birth... but we hoped to be on the good side of that statistic!
Stimulation was a crazy ride. I was started off on a standard dose of LH & FSH. When I went in for my first scan and bloodwork we found that I was showing results double what they expected. My follicle count had ballooned over 60 (60 eggs!!!) and my estrogen was too high. We had to tone back the medication in an attempt to get everything under control.
I ended up taking shots for 9 days before we administered the final injection.
At egg retrieval we collected 21 eggs, 19 of which ended up being mature. The embryologist attempted to fertilize all 19 and succeeded with 16 of them. For five days we waited in agony to find out how our babies grew.
We showed up to the retrieval knowing that a loss of 50% was common, that would be 8 blastocysts. To cushion ourselves we went in hoping for 5. Our hearts were not prepared for the news.
We had one âearly stage blastocystâ and two morulas. All of our embryos remaining were behind on development and the other 13 had been discarded after they failed to thrive.
With tears in our eyes we transferred the one early blastocyst and a single morula. For a fleeting moment we were pregnant as that magic sparkle went across the ultrasound. The lab handed us a photo of what our embryos looked like under the microscope prior to transfer. It is the last time we would see our babies.
Eight days later we got the call that my Beta-HcG level came back at 1.0. I was definitely not pregnant and there was no clinical indication that our embryos ever began to implant.
IVF #2 - January/February 2019
Coming out at roughly $17,000 our second IVF round was funded again by a loan against my vehicle. After our first round failed we made extra payments, saved Birthday/Christmas cash, and fundraised our asses off to pay off our loan. We paid it off a few years early and that allowed us to proceed with Round 2.
It was our doctorâs belief that the over stimulation of my ovaries at the beginning of treatment may have caused damage to the eggs, and/or limited resources to mature the eggs we did collect. In response to this our protocol was changed.
This time we began at a lower dose of hormones and slowly worked our way up to a dosage that properly matured my eggs and helped my estrogen rise at a rate to be expected.
Again, I was on stimulation medication for nine days before we administered the final injection.
At this egg retrieval we hoped to collect less eggs than previous thinking that a lower yield would produce better eggs. We were excited to collect 14 eggs, but utterly dismayed when only 5 of them successfully fertilized.
Dare I say it, the wait for transfer day was even harder this time. Our fertilized count was so low we didnât know what we would be walking into.
Thankfully when that day came we were told to gown up and get ready - a promise that we had something to transfer. We were so hopeful that we had gotten a good, strong blastocyst this time. After all, it only takes one! But as our luck would have it, that was once again not the case. The doctor informed us that we had two morulas to transfer (a less developed embryo).
We decided to roll the dice and sent our two babies home in my uterus thinking that just maybe a natural environment would prompt them to latch on and continue to grow.
Eight days later that would prove to be false as my Beta-HcG was once again 1.0.
After spending over $37,000 on fertility treatments we were officially tapped out financially. The chance at having more IVF was very slim, and thatâs where Starbucks came in. After years of applying and never getting that call I was able to get an interview. I was hired on the spot and infertility insurance was within reach.
And with that insurance? Well, our third round of IVF was a whopping $640. Breaking the bank.
After two failed cycles related to embryo growth our doctor has come to the conclusion that we have an egg quality problem. For reasons that are undetectable with current science my eggs just arenât up to par. To combat this we added in a handful of supplements that are supposed to help and took them for a little over two months.
Just like my previous two cycles I was on stimulation medication for nine days before we administered the final injection. Again, the stimulation period went wonderfully and my follicles were able to grow at an even rate and my estrogen levels were under control.
At egg retrieval I set a new personal best and 22 eggs were harvested. While 15 of those beauties were mature we ran into a similar setback as Round #2 when only five of the eggs fertilized, abysmal results... especially with the use of ICSI.
This five day wait was the worst of all, we truly didnât know what to expect. It all became far too clear when our walk didnât take us to the procedure room, but rather to a meeting room. This had never happened before. No gown? No transfer. When we spoke with Dr. M about our embryology report we found out that all of our embryos had arrested development at Day 3 and none were viable for transfer. Our third cycle was a complete failure and we had no chance at pregnancy.
Such horrible news for a day as traditionally beautiful as Christmas Eve.