I had my follow up appointment today after our failed IVF cyle and it appears that I defy all the trends!
I was told that my age suggests that I should respond well as I am still young, by that they mean under 35, and that is why I was given a low dose of the stimulant. In addition having longer cycles suggests a high ovarian reserve and again therefore I should respond well. These factors combined meant that early on in my notes they mention I should proceed with caution as there is a high chance I will over respond.
Ha, well that didnt happen as I had a grand total of 3 eggs! The consultant didnt really understand why this was. The quality was also poor which he said can happen not only when someone overstimulates and produces too many eggs but also when someone under stimulates. I had never heard of this before but he is the expert. He thinks poor egg quality could explain the low fertilisation rate. Hubby's swimmers were apparently tip top and when he said this you could see the macho exchange of glances between hubby and the consultant. Whilst this is good it also felt like a bit of a kick in the teeth, just to rub in the fact that my contribution to the whole process was more than crap.
As far as doing things differently next time, we made it clear that I cant take the same down regulating drug as, though I can handle all the physical symptoms, it made my mental state very dangerous and hubby is concerned about how I started obsessing about suicide. As an aside, I find it strange that my mind went that way; the aim was to create a new life not to try and put an end to one! Kind of ironic.
I am pleased to say that he agreed the side effects of the suprecur were too dangerous for me and said he would put me on a short protocol which is normally used for older women who generally have a low ovarian reserve and are poor responders. It also means I dont have to down regulate and so avoid the suprecur.
I dont really know how I feel after all of this except that I now feel I have the eggs of an old woman rather than a 31 year old; great. Anyway, after every negative there is a positive so I am sure I shall pick myself up shortly!
