Anyone done IVF?

[luv2tvl]

I don't want to start any debates here, but just looking for information and support.
My husband and I are dealing with male factor infertility and started the process of IVF (invetro fertilization) today. I have found a few boards with discussions on infertility, but they are pretty grim and not very positive in my opinion.
I'm a positive girl and I am sure this is going to work for us, so we can finally take "our" child to visit Mickey!!
Just looking for some fellow DIS fans that have experienced this and would be willing to lend some advise, success stories, or just a little
TIA, I appreciate it!

 

[buzzlady]

No experience, but just wanted to wish you luck and send some PD

 

[kasar]

I don't have personal experience with this but know plenty of babies that are the result!

I'm sure you're going to get some great, positive stories here on the DIS as well as lots of good wishes. Add mine to them!

 

[Pooh67_68]

No experience, but sending some pixie dust and that all works out for you.

 

[annemariec]

I don't have any experience either. Just wanted to wish you well.
Hope you have success soon.

Annemarie

 

[4greatboys]

We havent done IVF but we were very close to it when I got pg. When we were ttc I chatted on babycenter a lot. They had many women there ttc with all different types of problems. If you dont go there maybe you can give it a try. I found them very supportive. Good luck!

 

[4nana]

No experience here, just want to say many and much

Best wishes!
~ Sandie

 

[ez]

I am pregnant right now at age 41. WE did not do IVF, (too expensive, no insurance will cover it in our state) Actually, we conceived naturally after DH had his vasectomy reversed. I don't know what male factor issues you are dealing with, but if it is low sperm count as opposed to no sperm at all, I have learned of many supplements that really improve sperm count, I have learned this info from frequenting vasectomy reversal boards because so many reversal patients wind up with sperm, but with infertile counts. Again, I don't know if this info would be helpful to you or not, but if you would like it, feel free to pm me. God bless you and good luck.

 

[Nutsy]

Yes, I've been through IVF & my heart goes out to you.

It can be a very trying & expensive experience. I had one attempt & it failed & a friend who went through with me, ended up with triplets. It was Quads originally but one aborted. Seemed so unfair at the time that she could get three babies & others none.

The best advice I can give is you is to stay positive & get plenty of support. Lots of bed rest afterwards too, to give yourself & the baby a chance. That was how my friend was so successful....she went home to her Mum for a couple of weeks & had total bed rest.


Hope all goes well for you both.

 

[noel]

Sorry to hear about your struggle with infertility. DH and I did 3 cycles of in vitro w/ICSI back in 1998 and had no luck.

I was 26 at the time and he was 25. I have severe endometriosos and PCOS and much to our surprise we found out that he has severe male factor infertility as well (poor count, shape and movement). We did 3 months of clomid therapy but I never even ovulated. So after that we were given 3 choices - live child free, adopt or in vitro. Since we were young and had some money saved we jumped in eagerly.

Sadly, after about 9 months of treatment and additional surgery (for me), it just didn't work for us. We have made no attempts since then and aren't sure what the future holds for us.

Some advice I can give you is that if you do have a have failed cycle(s) to think and pray about when enough is enough and consider seeing a therapist or support group if it doesn't work for you. I wish my RE would have recommended therapy for DH and I after the first failed cycle, it would have prevented years of severe depression for me. (sorry if this scares you, I really am)

Also ask questions and take notes. Your Dr will assume you understand everything unless you ask. I can remember leaving the office with clear written instructions and didn't know if I understood everything, since the drug therapy can be really confusing!

AND Make sure you are 100% comfortable with your Dr and their staff. If you are not, consider finding someone else. I know it can take months to get in for just a consult and then you have to wait for the right time in your cycle to start etc....but it will be worth the outcome in the end if you don't question the quality of care you received.

I am so sorry if I sound negative. I am trying not to be and believe me, I know this is a very exciting time for you and your DH. I vividly remember how I felt when we first started.

I just wanted to be open and honest in sharing my experience with you. You will be in my prayers and I sincerely pray you are blessed with a healthy baby!
PM me if you have other questions.
GOOD LUCK!

Noel

 

[Lorix2]

My sister and her DH went thru 3 IVF cycles and the 3rd one was successful. They have a healthy 18 month old girl now.

They are expecting again in June and this baby was conceived naturally.

I also have a friend who tried for years and tried IVF and had a son. Then proceeded to have 2 more kids naturally.

We joke that IVF is a "jumpstart" to getting the reproductive process going.

I can imagine how frustrating and heartbreaking wanting a baby can be, it's very possible it will happen for you! Keep your faith and positive attitude and hope it happens for you soon

 

[lynetteSC]

Hiya! We have looked into IVF. Actually, it would have been the "next step" of our fertility treatments. After careful consideration, we decided to move onto adoption (see our countdown below ).

We have several friends that have successfully completed IVF.

I just wanted to send you an extra hug! Please keep us posted! Good Luck to you and your dh!!! Hope we see you soon with your own baby countdown clock!

 

[huey duey & luey]

Here's the positive results you were looking for. My family is definately an IVf success story. We spent 3 years TTC and we went to 3 different fertility clinics. When the time came to do IVf we were decided to put 3 eggs back in. We had a 50% of 1, 12% for 2 and a 2% for 3. Well all 3 took and I now have 2 year old triplets. Infertility is a long, tough road, emotionally and physically. A great website is www.ivfconnections.org. If you have any questions please feel free to pm me. I would be happy to answer them. Hugs to you, I know how diificult this time could be. A positive attitude is definately important. Best of luck in your journey
Tara
just to note this was our first IVF attempt

 

[cgcw]

DS9 & DS4 were both IVF babies. We are very, very blessed. Even more so with DS4 because the lab didn't think he was a viable embryo -- yet today, he's a rambuncious, healthy little boy.

It was very difficult to go through. Time consuming would not be the correct description but more like, your entire live needs to revolve around what the doctors/nurses are telling you to do and when to do it. It's difficult to live by someone elses (the doctors office) schedule. The best advice I can offer is no matter what, no matter how silly or whatnot it sounds, do exactly what the doctor tells you to do. Make sure you follow their schedule.

I wish you the best. Feel free to PM me if you need support along the way or would like to know more about what we went through.

Cindy

 

[MelessaG]

A good friend of mine conceived twin boys through IVF and went on to have two more naturally. Now she has four boys! Life is crazy for her, but she is happy.

 

[bsnyder]

My third child, 10 year old DD, is an IVF baby! We had a very positive experience and were lucky enough to get pregnant on our first attempt. The miracle of it to me is that we only ended up with one baby....they emplanted 5 embryos and I was scared to death that it would be too successful!

Good luck and positive vibes to you, luv2tvl!

I agree with the poster who said be sure to find a doctor you trust! Mine was wonderful, a great combination of being realistic but reassuring and encouraging at the same time. I think I was half in love with him before the process was over with! LOL!

 

[KrnB]

Another one with no personal experience, but I know at least four people that went through this process successfully - three of them are close friends of mine, the fourth is a coworker. One of my friends has twin girls that are almost 4, another friend has a two year old girl, and the third friend is expecting twins in May. My coworker's wife delivered their little boy in November.

I know that the process of physically difficult for my friends (and I would assume my coworker's wife too), and of course emotionally difficult. But in the end, they'd do it again in a heartbeat. And I think they would have tried as long as their bodies would have let them if it didn't work in the beginning (actually, I think my now-pregnant friend had to try a couple times before having a successful embryo).

Best of luck to you - may all of your prayers and dreams be answered!

 

[AZKathy]

I just want to wish you the very very best!!!!!! We suffered from infertility in the late 80's and I know what you are going through. DH had his problems and I had endometriosis. Double whammy. We went a year doing artificial inseminations (I had gotten pregnant once on our own without medical help with triplets, but miscarried early in the pregnancy) and had a GIFT with negative results. DH and I were asked if we wanted to go further with IVF, but in the late 80's...the success rate was not as good as now, so we threw in the white towel and went the route of adoption. We were scared and we were just a lowly cop and a lowly RN! Not a lot of moola <a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/3/3_5_6.gif' border=0></a>to cover this!

I hope you do well and you will soon be taking a little princess or buzz lightyear to WDW! Hopefully you can get off this rollercoaster of infertility and get on the rollercoaster called Space Mountain soon! <a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/7/7_2_111.gif' border=0></a> God bless you!!!!!!

 

[kilee]

We too stopped just short of IVF 2 years ago. We went through the fertility meds and the IUI. Then I had a bunch of pap's come back bad-- I had to have my cervix ressected and now only have about 25% of it left. No MD would be me on fertility drugs because they could cause a serious regrowth of the bad cells. Anyhow, this was secondary infertility for us-- so I decided to stop the quest so to speak.

Anyhow, when I was going through it I visited a forum board at about.com they have an entire board dedicated to infertility and a subtopic to IVF alone. The board's there are just as busy as the DIS-- so you're always getting new info.

 

[RCM]

My son & daughter in-law tried for 4 years. One ovary / low & slow sperm count. The doctors thought it was highly unlikely they could conceive. They did one cycle and got one 11 cell that took. Then naturally 14 months later they had a baby and 18 months later they are due this summer with another baby. Doctors do a great job but really don't have all the answers. Best of luck to you!