There's a lot you learn about yourself on this IVF journey ("You want me to drink a litre of milk a day? Do you know that means I will never poop again?"). There's a lot you learn about your partner in this, too ("If I have to give you a shot it means we're not doing IVF. I can help you draw the syringes but there's no way I've using the sharp end.") Even more, you learn about IVF and just how utterly confusing it is if you're a woman about to go through it.
We're really happy with our clinic, for example. Although we think the doctor is a tosser, we like the nurses and we like the way they do things-namely, it's run by most of the team that were part of the first IVF baby in the world, and they all do things based on science. Every last bit of it. Everything is measured by statistics. The way they run things is based on proven methodology, and while they examine new methods all the time, they insist that clinical studies must go on for a very long time and in very thorough methods before they will consider taking something new on. The stim drug I am on, Menopur, is just such an "old-fashioned" drug. It's not easy to use and is not new but the clinic has very high success rates with it, it is proven in their clinic and in others, and they will not swap unless new drugs prove their worth.
There's comfort in that.
I like that our clinic doesn't leap on every hopeful bandwagon, some which may indeed lead to the miracle, some which may dash all of our chances.
I read the IVF Connections Board over there on my links sidebar from time to time. It's largely used by Americans and there are way too many uses of terms like "baby dust" and "baby glue" for my comfort, but que sera sera. What stuns me, though, is that some women are heralding the fact that they had 74 eggs in one cycle.
74 eggs.
Apparently, one clinic one of the women goes to boasts of retrieving 93 eggs.
Maybe I've been blemished by my clinic, but I remember the RE saying that anything over 18 is potential for OHSS (over-hyperstimulation syndrome, I believe). OHSS is bad for the mother in that it hurts the body and can have drastic consequences. Based on the fact that I was in so much incredible pain when I had my first round of IVF, that I had 18 eggs but only 11 fertilized and of those only 8 were good enough to use, they believe I was hyper-stimulated. They are incredibly wary of hyper-stimulation and as a result I have more scans than my Outlook calendar can take.
It just reminds me that IVF is a crap shoot, really. One clinic has one philosophy, one clinic has another, and through it all they are carrying handbaskets of women who have invested their life savings, their time, and above all their hopes and dreams.
I'll just drink my milkshake and hope for the best.
Posted by Vanessa at April 15, 2006 01:25 PM | TrackBackOut of the 74 eggs, 11 fertilized and 8 were usable.
8.
From 74.
That's about 10.8%.
I'm no statistician but that doesn't sound like a great deal to me.
Posted by: Vanessa at April 16, 2006 06:56 AMIt is frustrating that IVF seems to differ so much from country to country. Canadian clinics are considered more conservative than American clinics. They are quick to jump on the "painfree" band wagon, they'll switch to anything that doesn't involve a needle which I appreciate but maybe not the the best protocol for everybody.
Posted by: jenny at April 16, 2006 04:04 AMEJW - interesting comment. yes, i have been reading a lot about "quality over quantity" with IVF in general - including the 5-day replacements of better quality blasts rather than 3-day transfers of more numerous less-qulaity embryos. but i digress
74 eggs? 93 eggs? WTF? i have never heard of this. what i would be interested in hearing is how many of those eggs fertilized and then how many were high-quality. hmmm.
please do tell - what's with the milk? never heard of this. my RE has me on PNV's(of course) and 3 times/day dose of Omega fatty acids. ... ??
Posted by: UtRus at April 15, 2006 09:55 PMYou know, I have to wonder if I had a case of mild hyperstimulation. I was in a lot of pain for awhile, and was told basically to "buck up" However, when they did the scans, my ovaries were right on par with where the size should have been.
I also wonder if it ruined my cycle.
Posted by: statia at April 15, 2006 06:08 PMAs I sit here with 1 follicle waiting to pop out, bloated and twingeing every time I blink, I can't imagine having 10, and 100 would just be absurd. There was a NYTimes article a couple weeks ago about a clinic that is trying to prove eggs are an issue of quality over quantity. Their goal is get 3-6 really nice eggs, and so far their success rates are holding up. As a scientist, this fascinates me. As an infertile, it freaks me way out.
Posted by: EJW at April 15, 2006 03:10 PM