It took me 2 cycles: 1 fresh and 1 frozen cycle. The average person (infertile person) will have success 60% of the time with the first cycle so there's a good chance it works with 1 cycle. But because of those odds, it also means there is a 40% chance it won't work. By 2 cycles, you have about an 80% chance of success, and then it slowly goes up from there, I think by like 6 cycles the chances of success is something like 95%.
So for the majority of us it works within a handful of cycles, for others not so much. It's a bit of a damn lottery and to handle the stresses I recommend relaxation techniques like yoga, acupuncture, or fertility affirmations when you start your cycle - because it is stressful/nerve wracking.
With that said, it is of course all worth it as I'm now full term and due any day. Best of luck, I bet this will be a good decision for you.

Good luck with your cycle! I have not done IVF yet, but we will be in the next few months. So I've been researching like a mad woman! I don't know too much, but maybe I can help.

I have heard and seen the same things endowife talks about. 60% chances are really good! So this may be your month! But, don't lose hope if it does not work this month. If they offer to freeze your embryos, you may want to do that. It's cheaper and a bit easier to do a FET because you don't have to go through the first half of the process.

How many eggs they harvest depends on how well your body reacts to the drugs to stimulate them. Some ladies get more than others. They will take them all and inject sperm into each. Then depending on what type of transfer you have, they transfer in 3 or 5 days. Usually, you will lose some embryos along the way. The sperm may not do their thing, or for many reasons they won't make it. I think typically women get 5 good embryos (not a real number, just my mental average). So they put one or two into your uterus, and freeze the rest.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

The other ladies gave some pretty good info. I just did my first IVF about 3 mos ago, and they retrieved 14 eggs, not sure how many were mature enough to use, and then had 7 fertilize. At the end of th day I had 5 great looking embryos, 2 were put back in, and 3 were frozen. I did not get preggo on my fresh cycle, but i am transferring my last 3 this coming Friday, so hoping 1 or 2 stick and call me home! Good luck, and there is also an IVF section that can be a great resource for questions!

Good luck on your first IVF cycle! We have done IVF once, froze all of the embryos (4), transferred 2 in June (BFN) and hope to transfer the last two in December. Were any of your IUI's medicated? Usually, that can be a sign on how you will react to the meds. If you were medicated and produced multiple follies, I would think that you would produce a good amount in IVF.

Feel free to ask me any questions that you have. Good luck!

Just wanted to wish you luck! My story would take forever and I have never really met anyone with such a journey as mine. Thankfully 90% of the ladies here managed to resolve IF in just a few a cycles! Some of them with the first try ! I love those kind of stories and I wish the same for you !

We were really lucky and got our DD on our very first cycle. Our search for a sibling for her has not been as lucky - we will be starting our 3rd (4th with DD) cycle soon.

I started at 40 so my numbers were low 5-6 eggs retrieved, 3-5 mature, 3-4 fertilize. All go in (I am now almost 43). The first cycle gave us DD, 2nd BFN, 3rd BFP but MC at 6 weeks, and we will see what #4 brings!

As endo suggested relaxation is the goal, so find something that wll help you relax and ride this coaster!

I just wrote an absurdly long response, and it got deleted, so I'll keep this shorter.

So far I've done two egg retrievals. Both times I had 25+ eggs. The first one we had 12 usable embryos (3 total transfers). The second one we only had 5 (so far 1 transfer). We put in 2 and I'm in my tww. There are recommendations for how much to put back and it is depending on age, but doctors also look at embryo quality, prior issues, etc. My first clinic put back 2 one time and 3 two other times, my new clinic said they will never do more than 2 (I am 32).

The best clinics in the nation have a success rate of at least 60%, but that is only with genetic testing. Come 2015, SART will be recording non-tested embryos separately than tested embryos since the numbers are so very different. Without genetic testing, clinics range big time, but are usually form 30 - 50%, meaning that percent of women that came to them got pregnant in an IVF cycle. Not as awesome of a number as one would think but wayyyy better than IUI. Keep in mind those numbers also include all frozen cycles, so my three failed transfers the first time counted as 1 for my clinic.

GOOD LUCK!!

Once I was cleared to start IVF, it took one Fresh cycle to get 38 eggs and one frozen cycle to transfer 2 embryos in. We ended up with a singleton pregnancy.

From the experience I had, I'd always transfer 2 or more in. It's so much time and effort to keep the womb going and the embryos need nearly perfect conditions. The slim odds of twins is worth it to me.

Yes, genetic testing makes a lots of sense. We probably should have done it. I felt strapped for cash and skipped it. The advantage is we would know which embryos would have the best chances over others. If we did another round we would know the quality, but that doesn't always translate into genetic viability.

We made extra effort to go to a good clinic. It think there's a bench mark that it's better if a clinic does 200+ cycles/year. (anyone else read that?) The one we picked was a 4 hour drive away. Most people probably live closer to a big city than we do.

Lastly, ordering drugs. Double check all the orders for accuracy. Only order 2 weeks at a time. Smaller orders if you're comfortable with that. It doesn't cost any more and you'll waste less $$ when they change the doses.

Good Luck!

Thanks guys for all your advice and stories. It really helps me put things into perspective. I am EXTREMELY

Ok....last comment was cut short...was saying that I am EXTREMELY nervous about the upcoming cycle! I'm not sure if anyone else has this problem or feeling but it's like...I don't want to say certain things out loud for fear that if it doesn't work...I will feel like a failure but if I don't say it and it fails...it's because I didn't have enough faith. Any suggestions???

I am just about to start my first round of IVF too and I am too am EXTREMELY nervous - wake up in the night thinking about it and trying not to jinx myself all the time. I am going to start back to yoga classes on Monday and have been doing acupuncture which is supposed to help and I find it quite relaxing. I have been told that taking deep breaths and thinking about what you can hear, what you can see, etc...keeping yourself in the present is supposed to be very helpful at calming the nerves. It works for me...when I remember to do it! I will look forward to hearing about your cycle as we are going through it around the same time - I start on day of AF about a week and a half away! OMG!

Good luck to you! After going through 3 unsuccessful iui's and 1 that did result in a pregnancy but I miscarried at 6 weeks, we took a few months off earlier this year then started our first IVF cycle this summer...and I'm currently 17 weeks pregnant with twin boys! We got 12 eggs, 11 fertilized, and we ended up with 6 great embryos. We transferred 2 and both took. No one (myself, my re, my husband) expected such good results. I'm 36, I have low amh, and I have endometriosis. You just never know. The ovary with more cysts on it even produced more eggs. I hope this is a successful cycle for you! (Oh, and I did acupuncture to help stimulate my ovaries.)

I am 27....never did IUI because the doctors said it would be pointless to even waste our money on that because we were 100% needing IVF to have a baby....after being in denial for years we finally did IVF, the retrieved 17 eggs, from that we got 7 good embryos, they implanted 2 and then froze 2, (the rest didnt make it). I am currently 16 weeks pregnant with 1 baby (iVF worked the first time for us)

These are good questions to ask your doctor as well because the amount of embryos they put back in are dependent on your age, embryo quality, what the doctor is ok with, what you are ok with..there are a lot of things that go into deciding how many they put back....other people who go to my clininc has more embryos put in based on their age....but the doc said given i am 27 the most he would do is 2 at a time.

Thanks guys for all your info. I LOVE hearing all the stories about how ivf has worked for you...it gives me more hope!!! I am scheduled to have my retrieval in exactly 4 weeks...wish us luck!!!