Cycle Three

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Cycle three started the following month with the usual medication and scans every other day. Unfortunately, only two follicles responded to the treatment. I was told that it was likely that this was due to my AMH level and that due to my low egg reserve I had one or two years of egg production left. The level of AMH can be an indicator of the number of follicles (and therefore eggs) in the ovaries. A low AMH level can indicate a diminished ovarian reserve. With this in mind, and with the high FSH levels I have spoken about previously, I decided to go ahead with this cycle, knowing I would lose some of my NHS funding. At the end of the week, two eggs were successfully collected and within the next few days, I was told the amazing news that they had both fertilised!

I went back to the clinic to have the ‘higher grade’ of the two embryos transferred. Embryos at day three are graded on two different areas. The number of cells in the embryo, and the quality of the cells. Grade 1 is the highest quality of cells, they are all the right shape and size. The lowest is Grade 4, which means that the cells are not a uniformed shape or size. Then the number of cells in the embryo is counted. For example you might be told you have a Grade 2, 8 celled embryo. This means the cells in the embryo are good quality, and there are 8 cells in the embryo which is a healthy number. The appointment to have the embryo transferred back inside me was relatively quick, and I had to have a full bladder to ensure the Doctors could implant the embryo safely. They even gave me a small scan picture to take home with me of the area in the womb where the little embryo had been placed! (The actual embryo at this point is too small to be seen by the naked eye). I found out in the following week that the remaining embryo at the clinic (the lower grade one) had not grown as expected, so would not be frozen for a later round if the embryo inside me didn’t ‘take’.

What followed next was the ‘two week wait’. This is where for two weeks, I had to continue as normal and booked an appointment back at the clinic for the end of the two week wait so they could do a blood test to see if I was pregnant. There is no other way up until this point to see whether the treatment had been successful or not. A home pregnancy test would not be as sensitive or as accurate as the blood test that would be taken at the Fertility Clinic. At the end of the ‘two week wait’, my husband and I returned to the fertility clinic for the pregnancy test. I’m so excited to say the test showed positive! The embryo transferred was a success, and after a few more weeks, I am now 7 weeks’ pregnant, and about to go back to the Fertility Clinic to have the 7-week scan. This is an early scan that most expectant mothers wouldn’t do, but for those of us that have been through IVF this scan measures the heartbeat, and a few other early checks to ensure everything is well with both mother and baby.

This is my story so far, and I hope you have found it helpful. This is only 1 story in a sea of thousands more. If you would like to have your story published here, please email me at heathersivfjourney@gmail.com and together we can begin to break the silence on infertility and IVF.