u/eastks93

Retrieval cycle #2, Day 6 stims today and honestly I’m struggling mentally.

My ultrasound this morning was not encouraging and my doctor more or less told me to prepare for either converting to IUI or cancelling the cycle depending on how things look this Friday. He didn’t sound very confident about moving forward with retrieval.

My estradiol today was 508, which technically has risen appropriately from baseline, but my follicle count/response is what seems concerning. They saw possibly 2 on my R ovary and 3 on my left with one of them being 18mm on the left and saying that one will probably be over mature. Also, I started cetrotide today. 

I think what’s hitting me hardest is feeling like I already know how this ends. I don’t know how to have hope going into Friday’s appointment when it feels like I’m just setting myself up for disappointment again. Part of me almost wants to stop now because emotionally this feels so heavy and pointless, not mention the TWW if we do go IUI route.

For those who had a cycle look discouraging early on: did things improve after day 6? did anyone go on to retrieval after being told to “prepare” for cancellation? how did you decide whether to continue vs stop or switch to IUI? I feel like IUI over cancelling is what I’d want to do. 
I think I just need honesty, support, and realistic perspective right now because I feel pretty defeated. Thank you all in advance ❤️

Looking for insight/success stories from other low AMH women with very different IVF cycles. My husband does have low morphology, otherwise good numbers. Especially if your “worse looking” cycle unexpectedly turned out better, or if you eventually had success after a discouraging round.

My first IVF cycle: October 2025
AFC: 11, Retrieved: 9, Mature: 6, Fertilized: 3
Ended with: 1 day 2, 6-cell embryo (failed fresh transfer), 1 day 3, 8-cell embryo 

I started my second retrieval cycle today and it already feels emotionally harder because my baseline AFC was lower than last time, they saw 6 follicles on Wednesday. My REI basically told me to mentally prepare for doing a fresh transfer instead of embryo banking because “there may not be anything to bank,” which absolutely crushed me because embryo banking was really what I wanted to do, we have another cycle scheduled for July due to wanting to bank back to back.

Changes this cycle: New clinic, menopur 150 + Gonal-F 225, Adding Omnitrope this time, lifestyle changes with diet and excercise, consistent egg quality support supplements for 6 months, red light therapy to my lower abdomen. 

I know every cycle is different, but it’s hard not to compare numbers and spiral a little. I’d really love to hear from ya’ll who had lower AFCs but better outcomes, had cycles with uneven/poor starts that turned around, added Omnitrope/Menopur and noticed a difference, eventually found the protocol that worked for them

Thanks in advance!