I am in the middle of my first IVF cycle so I can only answer part of your questions.

I did 7 days of stims and then the trigger on day 8. My retreval was Monday and they got 8 eggs and only 6 were mature I had 10 follicles. My RE was a little dissapointed because he thought we would have more than 6 to start with. Out of the 6 only 4 fully fertilized and that was using ICSI. My transfer is tomorrow. We are doing a day 3 with embryos. Transfering 2. My RE does do day 5 blast transfers, but I think because we only have 4 embies, he wants to transfter on day 3 versus waiting to see if any make it to day 5. Because sometimes embryos do better in the body between days 3-5 (according to my IVF nurse). We will freeze if either of the two not being transfered make it that far.

ER was not so bad. I was REALLY sleepy for a while after the anesthesia. I took minimal pain pills on that day and took none yesterday. Today I feel fine other than kind of bloated feeling and a little sore. Overall it has not been as bad as I had it in my head that it was going to be.

Good luck to you hun and feel free to message me if you have any more questions.

Wow... sorry for the incomplete sentences and bad grmamar. That is what I get for typing fast and not re-reading...

We did our first IVF cycle in July/Aug. I was on bcp for about 3 weeks. They pulled me off of that to start my period on schedule. I did lupron and then follistim. We did the stims for about 2 weeks. My ER wasn't too bad. Minimal pain pills afterwards for 2 days. They got 13 eggs, did ICSI on 10. 8 fertilized. At day 3 we had 6 viable. We did a day 5 transfer. By day 5 we only had 2 healthy. We transferred both and one took. That was a little disappointing. We were hoping to have some to freeze. No twins was a bit sad, but really not awful. I don't know how we would have handled that.
I was very fortunate and didn't have many side effects from the drugs. I know many women have terrible trouble with that. We are 12 weeks today with one healthy baby, Although it is bittersweet to think this could be our only one, we are so thankful that the IVF worked on the first try. If you have any more specific questions about my experience, please feel free to message me!! Good luck with your cycle!!!

:-). Thank you. Bad grammar and spelling? My iPad touch screen keyboard is all I need and I am a mess.

Others, how has it gone for you? Any recommendations before or after the retrieval?

My advice for before your ER is to drink LOTS of fluids the day before... Like more than you think you should. I found I was REALLY dry afterwards. My mouth was so dry it took me 30 minutes just to eat a 3 inch long cracker/breadstick thing when I got home. I know some people recommend drinking smart water, Gatorade etc because of the electrolytes. I just drank water but obviously not enough.

Well, here is my story... I started the stimulation shots on September 29th. I only had to do 8 days of shots before they had me do the hCG trigger shot. I had my egg retrieval on October 8th. They got 18 eggs, 15 of those were mature. Day 1 after egg retrieval, I only had 3 fertilized eggs. Day 2 after egg retrieval, I had 7 fertilized eggs. Went in on day 3 for the embryo transfer and at that point there were 8 embryos. I had 2 embryos that were grade B+, a few other grade B's and C's. We transferred the 2 B+ embryos on October 11th. The other 6 embryos had to do discarded due to them not developing any farther. I have done 1 HPT and it was negative. I go in on Tuesday, October 23rd for my BT. This is my first IVF cycle.

Me: 28 yrs old and normal fertility tests
Hubby: 28 yrs old low everything
4 failed IUIs back in 2010

Thank you. I just don't want to be stressed when in the cycle. It is interesting to hear the numbers.

Hubby keeps saying "we could go from 29 eggs to one that is implant viable, and that would be a good outcome because it only takes one to stick.

Still, I hope we have some to freeze just in case.

Let's see, I was 40.

BCPs 3 weeks, Lupron 2 days, Follistim about 12 days. ER knocked out, no pain afterward. 6 eggs, 5 mature 4 fertilized. All 4 went in on a 3 day transfer. One took, healthy baby girl.

None leftover to freeze; took my last BCP today as we go for round two at 42.

Good luck!

Thanks for posting this. Very helpful information! This is a great post for me because I am about to start stims in 2 weeks. I don't have a whole lot of information since I am just beginning, but can share what i know so far :) I will have been on BCP's for about 4 weeks by the time I start. I went in for a mock transfer trial and saline u/s as part of the pre- ivf check-up. My saline u/s was not painful at all, but my mock transfer was kind of painful. I think it was because I was supposed to have a full bladder and mine must not have been full. I will be on Lupron for the whole time before retrieval and will start Menopure and Breville3 days after the Lupron. I think how many days on stems depends on how you respond to the medicine. I want to say the average is about 10-12 days, but can be anywhere from around 7-14. Good luck!!!

i asked all those same questions not too long ago:) now im 11 weeks! here's my IVF story:

Im 26, DH is 30. He has low sperm count.

We had to cancel our first IVF 6 days in bc one follie was much larger than all the others. It sucked to do 5 days of shots for nothing, but i wanted the best chance possible so i was ok with stopping.

I did another cycle of birth control pills in-between- i was on them two weeks. A few days after my period i started menopur and follistim. i added ganirelix after 5 days i think, and i think i did a total of 7 days on the stims, and then ganirelix and trigger shot on the 8th night, and ER on the 9th day. i had 15 eggs, 11 mature and inseminated with ICSI. 9 were fertilized the next day. at day 5 we had 7 blasts and put in one. they let the others continue another day to better determine viability. we ended up having 3 to freeze. I was also knocked out for the ER and it wasn't bad. i took two days off work to rest even thought my RE didn't require it. I also took two days after the ET, which ended up being connected to the weekend, so i got 4 days to rest. i ate really well and drank a ton of water. i was encouraged to drink a liter and a half of gatorade each day for the first week or two after ET. they say pinapple core is good for implantation so i had a little of that each day, which was hard to eat bc its soo chewy. i doubt it made a difference but i had to feel like i did everything i could. BTW, i tested 7 days after my 5 day transfer and got a negative. i was so discouraged, but just two days later i got a positive, and my BETA confirmed it on day 10! oh one more piece of advice- take your time with the shots. prepare them first, then ice one side and give the shot, then ice the other side and go do the other. music helped keep me relaxed. good luck!!! feel free to message with questions!

My three IVFs and one FET:

IVF #1
Meds:
Lupron
Follistim 300
Ganerelix
HCG
Progesterone
Prednisone
15 eggs retrieved
14 fertilized
5 blastocysts
Transferred 2, froze 2
Chemical pregnancy

IVF #2
Same meds as above plus baby aspirin
14 eggs retrieved
13 fertilized
7 sent for PGD testing, all came back inconclusive or abnormal
No transfer

FET
Transferred two
Chemical pregnancy

IVF #3
Follistim 150
Menapur
HCG
Progesterone
Retrieved 8
Transferred three on day 3
BFN

I always stim fast around 7 days or less. I have done acupuncture, and been on special diets, yoga ect. So far I am still waiting for my miracle. My DH has very poor sperm (low morphology, count and DNA fragmentation) so we have a hard time.

I wish you luck.

IVF #1 was a mini
Delayed as one of the RE's went on a mission trip (how can I be upset)
BCP for about a week and only 2-3 follies so IT

IVF #1.5
Mini-IVF with Femara and Follistim Ganirelix with 3 follies, one much larger than the others and decided to go for it
At ER was knocked out (unplanned by RE but went ahead at no charge) and all follies were 'empty' so nothing to fertilize--was devestated but I do think I went too long and only had 2 to try for
Felt great after 'ER' and went shopping soon after discharge.

IVF #2 planned for January 2013
Consult is November 6th and have Femara and Follistim and Ganirelix all purchased and ready to go with fingers and toes crossed. I'm 39 so my odds are terrible at 20% but am not ready to give up without one last try with a full IVF cycle

Good luck!!!

HI Endo, good luck with your cycle...

How have yours gone? I did 3 fresh and 2 frozen cycles in late 2010-early 12 All BFNs. I was 36-37 for all of them. I have blocked and removed tubes. Hormones normal, no endo.

How many days of trigger drugs (is that right?) did you do? 15, 16, 17 days of Bravelle with Menopur (3:1)

How many were retrieved? How many were viable? I cant remember exactly something like 16 eggs, 15 embies, 4 blasts, 14 eggs 14 embies, 0 blasts, 17 eggs 15 embies day 3 transfer.

Did you freeze left overs? Have you implanted frozen ones? We had freezies from cycle 1 and 3. We did a FET with the blasts from cycle 1 and the freezies from cycle 3 all died.

Did you go for blasto's or embryos? blastos are embryos so I think you are asking the age when they were transferred? The first 2 cycles we tried for blasts. Had 4 in the first and none in the second (we transferred several morulas-pre-blast). The third cycle to do something different we transferred day 3 embryos. T

How was the process? 2011 was the worst year of my life for obvious reasons. I had week long headaches with each cycle and by the end of each cycle i was a crying mess. I put on 35 pounds (and Im only 5'2"). My husband became scared to death of my crying and staring at the wall. I need to add though that this is NOT the experience of all women. Less eggs and less stim days = less side effects (a lot of the side effects are caused by your estrogen level, which your follicles produce).

I was part of an awesome group of women that supported each other that year, and we watched probably 70 women get BFPs (many after multiple cycles). I can only think of a handful who are without babies and still trying. IVF is pretty effective, you just have to be patient and keep trying.

Be kind to yourself during the process. Unload unnecessary responsibilities for a few weeks. It doesnt matter how many eggs you get, you just need one good one.

There were a few threads on our group on advice for first timers, I will look and see what I can find for you.

-Ali

Advice for First Timers:
http://www.dailystrength.org/groups/mommies-and-daddies-to-be-2011/discussions/messages/11768309

What to expect:
http://www.dailystrength.org/groups/mommies-and-daddies-to-be-2011/discussions/messages/12632586

Success stories:
http://www.dailystrength.org/groups/mommies-and-daddies-to-be-2011/discussions/messages/12875043

Over the year you can also see where people posted questions if you have any specific questions about a drug or something... there is also a "news" section where if someone brought an article or some info I shared it there (like an average beta number or how to stay positive during ivf).

Best of luck to all.

I am in exactly same position, IVF is only option, very hard to hear, and sad to think every time I want a child I have to do it again!!!

No idea what to expect, due to start in Aug2013, so this post is very useful for me too, have last consult before cycle at the end of November so good to get ideas of what to ask!