Follow-up to failed IVF #5

Another morning at the RE. Another appointment looking at my RE across the desk. Another morning grasping for the tissues as he tells me how incredibly strong I am and how amazed they all are with how far we've come and how dedicated we are to the whole process..... what an oxymoron - tell me I'm strong and I cry.

I really, truly love my RE, but, honestly, I didn't expect him to say anything different. We are where we are. I was really going to this appointment because I was concerned that we were triggered too early in this last cycle and wanted to express that to him. Well, he addressed it right away by telling us that, in reality, where we thought we had 2 immature eggs, we really had 1 immature and 1 overmature, so, we were probably triggered just right and, well, sorry Lis, it was just another lousy cycle.

He also told us that my estrogen levels were a third lower than in the previous cycle, the one where we got 4 good eggs. He said that we can now use that as a barometer for what might be a better cycle for me. I guess hindsight is 20-20, but, I wish we had known that little fact before moving forward with this last cycle.

He does still very strongly encourage donor egg, but, says that we are still very open to continuing to try with my eggs. He had an intriguing recommendation for us to think about - do a donor cycle, which we could do fairly quickly because we are already at the top of the match list, and then, after giving birth (assuming we had a successful donor cycle, which he puts at 70-80%) come back and try again with my eggs, but fairly soon after giving birth (3-4 months). He said that, based on my FSH, which has always been good, he doesn't see a rapid decline in my already very low egg production over the next year and a half. It's an interesting idea....one that requires some contemplation.....

We have decided to go ahead and go for a consultation at a third clinic (we went for a 2nd opinion somewhere else in March '07), where I've have heard cases of women with low egg production having amazing results . I'm not expecting any miracles. Rather, my hope is that they'll be very honest with me and either say they think they can get more eggs out of me or they can't. I love where I go currently. I think I just need to know I've tried everything.

Whatever they say, we'll cross that bridge when the time comes (literally, lol, the new clinic is "over the bridge" in NYC!).