r/IVFAfterSuccess

36F/tubal factor

I have had two FETs - the first resulted in a miscarriage at 5.5 weeks, and the second was successful with my now 16 month old. For both of these FETs, I did the exact same protocol (fully medicated, 3 weeks of lupron, plus medrol, intralipid infusion, and baby aspirin). I am preparing for a third FET and my doctor wants to change my protocol based on "more current" research. He stated that the clinic has found that Lupron did not increase success rates, so they've discontinued it as a blanket recommendation for all, and also has discontinued medrol. He also would like me on lower doses of estrogen and progesterone (previous FETs my progesterone and estrogen levels were very high; they had no "ceiling", and wants to now keep closer to physiologic ranges which could help with pregnancy placental complications (I had an SCH and IUGR). He also now recommends adding metformin.

Any thoughts on this new protocol, or did others change their protocol after a successful FET and still have success?

I am going through IVF and company recently announced restructuring and likely my position will be eliminated within 6 months. My current job offered good severance package and a retention bonus but will only last so long. I just got an offer from one of the big four and my scheduled FET will be overlapping for the planned starting date. Should I stay with the current company for more anticipated hours 9-5 for now, waiting to get laid off and collect the severance and focus on IVF and future pregnancy or jumping over to big four to get more job security and paid parental benefits?

As the title says. I’ve never had a toddler and had to recover from an ER before, the other 3 were before I had a living child. Am I right to be nervous? She is 20 months and ATTACHED to me. Still nurses a few times a day but asks for it constantly. Absolute Velcro toddler which I don’t mind one bit. But I tend to have a high egg yield (poor egg maturity issues though so no added benefit) so recovery tends to be harder the more eggs they’ve retrieved in my experiences. First one was 24 eggs and was hard but manageable (and I was really young at the time), second one only 11 because only one ovary responded to meds and I thought wow! Recovery is easier each time you do one! Then I had 26 eggs the third time and it hit me like a brick wall that it was indeed number of eggs not number of retrievals under my belt 😭😭 I currently have 22 visible follicles at trigger and they normally find a few more hiding in my experience so I’m extremely nervous for this one, especially the recovery with a toddler who likes to jump on my abdomen 🥴 we are in another country for travel IVF so my husband is home with us but no other help.

BACKGROUND:
My husband and I have three kids (1, 3, and 5). I’m 35 and he’s 40. I’ve always wanted 4, but after our surprise 3rd, we thought we were done.

Now we’re both questioning that. We think we want a fourth.

THE ISSUE:

1) IVF is our only option.
I thought I had a tubal ligation that could potentially be reversed. I later learned my tubes were completely removed.

I’m an attorney and aware of the potential informed consent/malpractice issue. I’m not looking for legal advice.

But emotionally, needing IVF because of what happened makes this harder to process.

2) I have osteopenia.
It developed around pregnancy/postpartum. I’d also likely breastfeed for 1-2 years again, so my bone health is a consideration. I’m working with my doctors on that and am not looking for medical advice.

WHAT I’M STRUGGLING WITH:
Is IVF worth the physical and emotional toll for a 4th child?

How difficult is IVF while parenting three young kids?
What if we go through all of this and it doesn’t work?

Do I really want pregnancy and the newborn stage again?

The last one is complicated. I don’t necessarily want another baby. I want four children.

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DONE IVF:
If you already had three children but really wanted a fourth, would you go through IVF to have one more?

And for anyone who did IVF for a 3rd, 4th, or later child: Was it worth it? Would you do it again?

I’m open to hearing both yes and no. I know how fortunate I am to already have three children. I’m trying to figure out whether we’re truly done or whether I’ve spent the last year convincing myself we’re done because I thought the decision had already been made for us.

Hi there. Four years ago I became pregnant with twins via Ivf with a fresh transfer of a 4AB embryo and a 3CD. Unfortunately we lost one of the twins at 14 weeks due to a genetic disorder, but thankfully my daughter came into the world a beautiful healthy baby. It took years for me to build up my confidence to try for a second, but alas we just found out that our transfer of a 3BC failed. I have one embryo left. A 3CC. The lowest grade my clinic will keep. The embryo would not survive testing so that’s not an option. I can’t do another retrieval and this embryo is my last chance to have another child. With the low chance of implantation and the possibility of another genetic issue, I am really at a loss weather to try one last FET with this embryo or move on with my life and embrace being a grateful parent of one. What would you do?