Information and Experience with IVF

L.,

I have a set of twin boys from IVF - 3rd cycle. The meds made me bloat, gain weight and get very emotional. I mean I cried at a Visa commercial...
Now, if you go to a reputable place, they will tell you that their goal is ONE healthy baby. You may end up with multiples and apparently, the older your eggs are, the higher the chance of egg splitting. Now, we went to Boston IVF and they were the MOST wonderful people and Doctor Bayer was so amazing that I have to say that I will miss him now that we are done. He is a lovely man. I ended up with multiples because they tend to maximize your chances by putting 2 fertilized eggs back and on this particular occasion, I had lower grade eggs (meaning less chance of taking) and I had 3 put back. I ended up with 2 boys and am thrilled. Since you have had children in the past, it may be easier for you to conceive because your body doesn't need to be "trained" with pregnancy hormones. See if you can get on a State HMO - in Massachusetts, the state based HMOs are required to pay for fertility (up to a point) so if you can plan ahead, do it! Because it is NOT cheap. Our insurance was amazing and we hardly had to pay for anything at all.
The egg retrieval will or will not hurt based on the number of eggs you have to retrieve. I had 30 eggs on one VERY memorable retrieval and I was in so much pain they gave me morphine. I remember asking the nurse if they had used the battering ram from Lord of The Rings...lol BUT, on the ones that had fewer eggs, it wasn't so bad. A little achy and crampy but not even as bad as period cramps. I have had IVF 7 times. The 3rd time gave me the boys. I was hoping for one more and tried 4 more times after that but couldn't seem to stay pregnant for very long. Of the 7 tines, I would say the last 4 were the worst because my body kept responding faster and better to the meds and I would get more and more eggs. OUCH.
Also, the weight you gain with IVF (or any fertility med) is harder to lose because it's messing with your hormones. And, often there are underlying conditions that can cause the infertility which also cause weight gain and slow to zero weight loss.

Just make sure you get a good doctor and a good supportive place.
Good Luck!

ps I apologize for any typos (no contacts yet this morning!)

Hello I saw your question about IVF. My beautiful daughter was conceived on our fourth (and last) try of IVF. My stomach was pretty bloated from the meds I had to take before egg retrieval and I was a little sore from the shots. Where I went I didn't feel the retrieval since I anethesia. We were lucky and had insurance that covered everything so we only had to pay for the copays on the medications.

hi, i have been trying to concieve baby number 2 for 3yrs now, with no luck i have done two cycle with clomid and iui's and am going for my 3rd cycle now, i will be doing ivf in 3 more cycles if this doesnt work, i myself cant give you any advice because i have not gone through that yet but i use the website yahoo answers, its awesome alot of times i search for already asked questions and find people already have the same questions i had, and you can read the answers people gave them, they have a whole trying to concieve section and i think its very helpful you can just type in ivf and a bunch of questions will pop up and any one that interests you you can read, hears a link yo one question about ivf, but you could look up more, good luck

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiD2NEVN36fz...

http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/index;_ylt=AkHOWCBaAFOFSj4Ba... this one is just the link t6o the trying to concieve section

L.,

We had our daughter almost 2.5 years ago via IVF with ICSI (second attempt) and are considering it again for #2 (we both have issues). As far as financing goes, I don't think you would be eligible for insurance coverage due to elective tubal ligation but it's always worth a try. The egg retrieval itself doesn't hurt (you are sedated) but you do feel very bloated and tight/crampy for about a week before (instead of 1 follicle maturing, you will have multiple). If you get nauseaus with anesthesia, ask for something in your IV (I only made that mistake once). I would say the worst injection was the intramuscular progesterone. That is by far the largest needle. The others were a piece of cake. I definitely gained about 5 pounds or so as a result of the meds (came off again after delivery). Best of luck.

HI,
I have a 4 year old boy that I conceived on our second round of IVF and twin one year olds that also took 2 cycles. The meds can be daunting at first ( you get a huge box in the mail) but not bad. I gained about 5 pounds and my belly got pretty bloated but nothing terrible. I would do it again in a heart beat. You are knocked out for the retrieval. I did hyperstimulate once but was put on pain meds and cared for very well by the docs. The emotional aspect is the hardest-not knowing if it will work. We went to UCONN. They have some of the best results in the country and we very kind to us. Good luck!

I was blessed enough to get pregnant my first cycle, though it's been less easy trying for a second. Retrieval doesn't hurt you are sedated & after you wake up I found them (brigham) very generous with pain meds :) I must say, it's not fun going through it, but you really forget it once you're pregnant. It's absolutely worth it :) The worst part for me was the lack of control over your life. The week or so before retrieval you have daily calls from the clinic, never knowing whether they will tell you to come in for u/s the next day or you're ready for retrieval.
Good luck!

Hi L.,
we had both our children via IVF - 3 yrs old and 6 weeks!
I conceived my daughter on the second try, and our son on the first. For me, the first time was so much harder, but that was the emotional piece - it had taken us so long to get to thata place and it was very difficult emotionally.
The second time, we conceived on the first try, and since I already was a mom, the emotional piece was so different.
I know some women have issues with the meds; my body tolerated them very well. The shots were no big deal on the first half, they sedated me for the egg retreival so it didn't hurt, but I was sore for a day or two afterwards. Your ovaries do get big, since they are making so many eggs (instead of one) - they did feel like bowling balls and I did feel some bloating and heaviness. also, once I got pregnant, they told me due to the hormones the swelling in the ovaries wouldn't go down for about 6 weeks! It feels like as soon as I found out I was pregnant my pants didn't fit! The progesterone shots were no fun, but I iced for about 10 min before and they were managable.

My insurance covered treatment, so we just had to do copays.
good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions!
Warmly,
E.

I went thru 5 cycles of IVF with Boston IVF and had no luck. I gained 45 pounds from all of the meds and couldn't lose it. It's funny because I see someone else recommended Dr. Bayer and I would scream to stay away from him and BIVF. It's a money making factory. I consulted another doctor with RSC who told me my homrone level was 500 times what it should have been. He ran 1 test on me and told me and my husband to stop all and any fertility meds. Low and behold two months later I was pregnant on my own. If you live in the state of Massachusetts and have HMO insurance they have to cover it for normal fertility issues. However, since you elected to have tubal you could be denied. I would try and get the reversal. IVF is so time consuming. Can end at any time and has very low success rates. I know a couple of people that have had luck with it. But going on my own experience and the emotional drain of two years - it's not worth the money or time. Good Luck!