u/BlueSolidago

I just went through my second round of stims (I’ll be 42 in a couple of months, never been pregnant), and wow… it was rough! This round was much harder than the first one.

My protocol was:

• Cetrotide 0.25 mg AM
• Clomid 150 mg PM
• Gonal-F 300 IU PM
• Menopur 300 IU PM

So I was doing double the Menopur compared to my first round, and the worst part for me was definitely the addition of Clomid. It made my brain feel completely fried and useless 😵‍💫

A few things that seemed to help me:

🥥 Coconut water — especially at the beginning of stims. It made me feel noticeably more normal.

🥥 The little coconut smoothies from Trader Joe’s — honestly, lifesavers for me. I don’t know what it is about coconut water, but it sure gave my brain some relief that plain water or electrolytes just couldn’t. I started having one before my evening meds, and it became part of my routine.

🥝 Golden kiwis, eaten with the skin — I felt like these helped a lot too.

🍽️ Eating most of my calories earlier in the day instead of at dinner also seemed to help me sleep and rest better at night.

Anyway, this round took a LOT of life force to complete. My first round resulted in only 6 eggs retrieved, with just 1 mature egg. So I was honestly pretty nervous going into this second round. But the results were much better than my first round: 11 eggs retrieved → 8 mature → 5 doing well today, Day 1.

And I was absolutely elated to learn that my one egg from the first round thawed well and made it to Day 1 too. So we currently have 6 embryos in the running. 

We still have a long way to go — Day 5 report next, and then PGT-A — so I know this is far from over. But I wanted to share the good news with all of you because I know how much hope I get from reading other people’s success stories.

Hopefully this post can help someone else going through a rough stimulation cycle, too.

Thank you for reading, and for sharing your journeys.

I'm 41 years and 8 months old with unexplained infertility after 3 years of trying. My AMH is 1.38. Our insurance will cover up to 3 rounds.
I haven't spoken with my doctor yet—my egg retrieval was 2 days ago. From the educational modules my clinic provided, I understand that this one mature egg may have around a 15% chance of becoming a viable embryo. Knowing that, part of me is already thinking that I should probably move forward with another cycle.
I'm finding this emotionally harder than I expected. I guess I'm mostly looking for empathy and connection from people who understand this strange place of being both hopeful and heartbroken at the same time.
I know everyone's situation is unique, but if you feel comfortable sharing, I'd love to hear about your journey—whether you eventually fulfilled your dream of becoming a parent, decided to continue trying, or found peace and meaning in a different ending than the one you originally imagined.
I know we're not done trying yet. But this experience feels like a small glimpse into what it might feel like if, in the end, nothing yields the results we hope for. I'm trying to make room for both realities: gratitude that we still have a chance, and grief for what may never be.
Thank you for reading. This community has brought me a lot of comfort during a very lonely process.

I'm 41 and my diagnosis is unexplained infertility. Today is Day 5 of stims, and I'm writing this while resting on the couch with my feet up because my lower back is definitely feeling it. My abdomen already feels a bit bigger too.
I had my first monitoring appointment this morning with ultrasound and bloodwork. The sonographer saw 7 nice-looking follicles. I know it's still very early and there's no way to predict what will happen, but I'm allowing myself to feel a little more hopeful knowing that my body is responding.
After 3 years of trying to conceive without success, it feels good to have some hope.
I mostly wanted to thank everyone here for sharing their experiences. If my little town had an IVF support group, I'd join in a heartbeat. I'm so grateful to have this online community where people understand what this process is like.
Wishing all of us brave souls going through IVF strength, patience, and a little bit of luck. This journey is both exciting and scary, and it helps to know we're not going through it alone. 💕