Would appreciate some ICSI success stories

Discussion in 'General' started by Twinrific, Mar 13, 2011.

  1. Twinrific

    Twinrific Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    We're starting our second IVF round this following week and doing ICSI this time around (will give some background on our diagnoses later in the thread) and I'm kind of freaking out. It's been such an emotional rollercoaster so far with more bad news around every corner. I'm very scared of yet another failed cycle and I really don't want to enter this cycle negatively so need to hear some success stories so that I can get my hopes up again and feel positive. So could anyone that has success with ICSI please share their stories with me. The infertility forum I visit doesn't have many success stories - either those that have success don't return or everyone is still in the same boat as we are: trying. I'm sure there must be success stories on here though so I would really appreciate hearing them. Thank you.

    Our diagnoses (I'll try and keep it short): DH is perfect but I have had several issues. (I joke that I'm an infertility overachiever - have to keep the humour sometimes) I have Hashimoto's disease (causes thyroid anti-bodies and underactive thyroid), PCOS, endometrioses (Stage 2 - was removed via laparoscopy last month so shouldn't be a problem any more) but our worst issue is my eggs. It was only diagnosed with our first IVF attempt when 12 eggs were retrieved and none of them fertilised. We were heartbroken, turns out I have an egg defect, the substance that my eggs are supposed to excrete to attract sperm and help them attach to my eggs is missing so my eggs can't be naturally fertilised. It's a chromosomal defect that apparently only affects a very small percent of the female population so our FS suggested ICSI to be our only solution. The good thing is that I am still young and have plenty of eggs left which should be able to handle the intrusion of ICSI.

    Give me some hope ladies, please!
     
  2. megkc03

    megkc03 Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    Anthony, Annabella, and Nicholas. There are three success stories! :) Oh, and I will add my nephew Jackson who is 8, and my niece Katrina who is 6. :)

    Best of luck! You know I am pulling for you!!!
     
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  3. rrodman

    rrodman Well-Known Member

    ICSI success here. DH has an extremely low count. No chance of pregnancy through normal methods or through regular IVF. If you have eggs and you have sperm, ICSI should work for you. Our fertilization percentage was 5 of 6. Now, only two progressed, but they were A and A+ quality.

    I have my fingers crossed for you Brenda. You know you have sperm. You know you have eggs. ICSI puts them together for you.
     
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  4. Twinrific

    Twinrific Well-Known Member TS Moderator


    Thank you Ladies! [​IMG] :hug: Meaghan and they are such beautiful success stories!

    Rachael you're right we have everything we need, now I just need to trust our FS and hope we get embies to transfer back and that they will stick. Heck I'll be ecstatic just to have some embies for a change, just to know we can make them! Ugh hopefully I'll feel better as soon as everything starts.

    I just need to pull myself together. Trying to stay busy but can't find anything to occupy myself with so I'm obsessing. How do you allow yourself to hope again while still protecting yourself from the possible failure?
     
  5. lovelylily

    lovelylily Well-Known Member

    You know our success story, but just to give you the numbers my fertilization rate with both cycles was 90%. I did IVF/ICSI when I was 24 and 25 and had 13 good - excellent quality embryos make it to either freeze or transfer. ICSI really does work the miracle that our bodies can't seem to produce. :grouphug:
     
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  6. rrodman

    rrodman Well-Known Member

    It's hard to keep hope Brenda. Until it happens, you feel like you don't have confirmation that it's possible. You just have to keep faith. It's hard whether you believe it will work or not. But they can do the impossible with ICSI. I am so hopeful for you.
     
    1 person likes this.
  7. KCMichigan

    KCMichigan Well-Known Member


    Same here.


    We went straight to ICSI ( no IUI or regular IVF) and have both severe male & female fertility problems. First try success here too! We had a low fert rate 6 out of 18 eggs. 3 left after 6 days. BUT out of those three- we put back 2 and got twins! Ours were slow to grow too....we did a 6 day transfer to give them more time to get past to the blastocyt stage. Attempted a FET - three years later w/ our remaining Embryo, but it did not survive the thaw- BUT the new freezing technique they use now (and not then) has greatly increases FET success rates, so even if a fresh ICSI/IVF does not work, FET have gotten MUCH better at success as well!

    Good Luck!
     
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  8. Juj

    Juj Well-Known Member

    ICSI Success story here. After 4 IVFs, I finally got pregnant. DH is a cancer survivor. One of the smartest things he did was bank his sperm. We started out with two IUIs and then we to IVF. The 1st IVF was quantity vs quality. I think they retrieve over 20 eggs. By the time the 4th IVF rolled around, they retrieve 5 eggs.
    It was at this IVF that the doc suggested Assisted Hatching along with ICSI (which they already did on the previous IVFs).

    They also informed me that getting pregnant on the 1st IVF was like hitting the lottery! Now that it is your second time, they know more about you and can adjust your meds and procedures.

    Sending you continuous hugs, prayers, good thoughts, etc. I just know you'll be writing your own success story soon!
     
    1 person likes this.
  9. MichelleL

    MichelleL Well-Known Member

    Oh Brenda, infertility is by far one of the worst things to go through. I am so sorry you are dealing with it. :hug:

    I am embarassed to say that when I joined TS and started reading about ICSI I realized that I have no idea if that's what we did. :blush: I realized after the fact that I was very depressed back then so a lot of the memories are a blur (or I chose to block them out because it was so painful for me? :pardon: )

    But either way, my thoughts are with you. :hug: :hug: :hug: Seek out as much emotional support as you can get during this time and always remember to take care of you. And PLEASE keep us posted. :hug: :hug:
     
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  10. Twinrific

    Twinrific Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    Thank you so much everyone! I really appreciate the replies and hope you're giving me. You all have such beautiful LO's it actually is making me excited again that we might just get our own soon. I'm feeling much better today - had a major panic day yesterday :blush:

    Also our FS is feeling very good about this round which makes us feel better about it too. As you said Julie they have a lot more information about me this time around than they did with the first IVF. Hopefully that will be enough to give us our bfp.

    :grouphug:
     
  11. sbcowell

    sbcowell Well-Known Member

    Due to mainly male issues we did IVF with ICSI, and during ivf I was too susceptible to ohs, so they did the cycle but didn't transfer any embryos, instead they froze them all. Then we waited 3months and thawed out two embryos, transferred 2 embryos and now have 2 kids (boy girl twins, so both took).

    It can happen, try and stay relaxed and positive as possible. good luck!
     
  12. jen8675309

    jen8675309 Well-Known Member

    Hi Brenda,

    My girls are the result of IVF with ICSI. My DH has low count and low motility and ICSI was key to our success! I agree with a PP that you should keep the faith- you are so young and have many eggs- that is really in your favor!

    Good luck!
     
  13. twoplustwo

    twoplustwo Well-Known Member

    :hug: I just wanted to jump in and give you some :hug:
     
  14. Twinrific

    Twinrific Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    Thank you Jen!

    aww Thanks Alison, you're the best :hug:
     
  15. Leighann

    Leighann Well-Known Member

    :hug: Brenda! Our first IVF resulted in really poor number and quality of eggs with none fertilized. Our next cycle we tweaked the meds and did ICSI. M&A were born 34 weeks later and we have 4 in the freezer. :hug: and best of luck with this upcoming cycle from one over-achieving inferile to another :grouphug:
     
  16. sullivanre

    sullivanre Well-Known Member

    My boys are ICSI babies--male morphology problem. Our first round of IVF was also ICSI; it was unsuccessful for no apparent reason, but the second round worked.

    It will work out. It took about 3 years for us, just be patient. The good news is that you are young, so you've got a long window of opportunity, and even if the egg problem persist there are other possibilities to consider. I'm rooting for you guys :grouphug:
     
  17. TwinLove

    TwinLove Well-Known Member

    I did not have this experience but I am jumping in here to give you a great big :hug: and :give_rose: and throw you a :air_kiss: It will happen... :grouphug: Love ya lady!!! :friends:
     
  18. Twinrific

    Twinrific Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    Thank you for sharing Leighann, :hug: I was starting to think we're the only ones out there that have to do ICSI due to female factor. Not that male factor isn't just as scary but I needed to hear that someone elses eggs made it despite previous failures so thank you. I was really concerned about that, I don't trust my eggies at all so it will be such a relieve if we manage to have some embies this time around!

    Thank you Rachel and your story also gives me lots of hope because even after all that and your precious boys, you had a beautiful daughter as well.

    I know our age is a huge benefit (even though sometimes it doesn't feel like it since it hasn't helped us so far) but at least it gives us time and we have lots of eggs to work with, I try and remind myself of that! Also we were very lucky to be referred to our FS early on and he's a genius and so kind!

    Liz you're the best :hug: Thank you lady! :wub: you too!
     
  19. Leighann

    Leighann Well-Known Member

    While that first cycle was such a painful failure, it really did give our RE a lot of information about what was going on with me. Before the cycle we knew I had antibodies against DH's sperm and possible blocked tubes from a previous abdominal surgery. Afterwards, we also knew we were dealing with an egg issue as well. So we went with guns blazing and started with pretty high doses of meds in the beginning and then tapered back. And then of course the ICSI too to make sure fertilization at least happened.

    Oh and I know how it feels to be the infertile one in the couple. The lab techs were always impressed with DH's stats. It was difficult even though DH constantly told me there way to know if it was all me (I was really into blaming myself back them). Good luck and many many gentle hugs. (I started the journey at 26 and finally had the girls at 31. I hope yours is much shorter than that).
     
  20. Heathermomof5

    Heathermomof5 Well-Known Member

    Ava, Addison and our new baby are all 3 ICSI babies!!


    you guys are in my thoughts and prayers!!!!!
     
  21. KCMichigan

    KCMichigan Well-Known Member

    We had both male and female issues. :aggressive: I had high FSH at age 26 (I am afraid of what it is now at 32!!), PCOS, and 'old' eggs. RE said that age was in our favor as well (at 26). Lots of my eggs were 'immature' upon retrival...and we did a late retrieval ( CD 16days or 17). I also had delays even getting started due to cysts.



    Infertility is SO stressful. :grouphug: Keep us updated.
     
  22. Twinrific

    Twinrific Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    I can also totally relate to that. I hate that it is my health that has put us on this awful journey but luckily Andre is also amazing, he really has been great at being there for me and not making me feel like a useless wife. He is extremely supportive and true to his style he keeps the humour going and makes me smile. I love him even more for it. Thank you Leignann. We started when I was 24 and I recently turned 26 - I'm really hoping that I'll be pregnant before another birthday shows up!

    I want to thank everyone for all their support. Thank you for also sharing Heather and KCMichigan! I really appreciate it.

    It's a long story but the ICSI has been postponed to next cycle (was at our FS yesterday) I'm heartbroken, was counting on getting the ball rolling again but maybe another month's break would be good. I will update you all on what happens when we finally get started again :grouphug:
     
  23. Juj

    Juj Well-Known Member

    Most definitely.

    Continued hugs, Brenda. I know you must be heartbroken. Taking a month off sounds like a wise thing to do.
    Rest your body (and your mind).
     
  24. ckreh

    ckreh Well-Known Member

    Our twins are ICSI IVF babies from our 1st IVF attempt after several failed IUI's and Clomid cycles. We felt that since we could really only afford one IVF that we should pay the extra $800 for any extra chance we could get at getting pregnant. We had low sperm count with DH and I had possible blockages from scar tissue from two prior surgeries near my tubes and ovaries that the HSG tests could not confirm. With me they could not tell for sure without doing an exploratory surgery and my RE didn't feel it was wise because he felt it could cause more damage so we proceeded with the ICSI IVF. We had over 10 eggs, but I can't remember the exact number and 6 fertilized. On our day 5 transfer 5 had survived, 2 were blasts, 2 were just about to the blast stage, and the last one was a B- or C grade embryo per our RE. We transfered the 2 blasts and one of the 2 that were almost to the blast stage. Our RE said with our situation and my age 2 would give us a 50% chance, 3 would give us a 60% chance, and 4 would give us a 65% chance. We were so scared that all 4 would take and we would risk my health or the possible babies that we transfered 3 of the embryos.

    Our RE believed all 3 took originally because in the early morning hours of the day we were to have our 1st US I woke up covered in blood. We rushed to the ER where after a 5 hour wait on a gurney they told me to go home because I was miscarrying without even examining me or doing an US. I insisted on a pelvic exam, which was done very roughly and showed my cervix was closed. When my RE's office opened they told me to get some rest and come in for my scheduled afternoon US appointment. At that appointment we saw two strong heartbeats and a large clot or mass of tissue that the RE believed was the 3rd embryo that did not survive. He said that was most likely causing my bleeding and put me on bedrest for 2 weeks. It was scary, but the bleeding slowed in a couple days and we had a pretty routine pregnancy.

    We are now about 2 months from the twins 3rd birthday. If I were to do another IVF I would do the ICSI again without second thought. Good luck to you and I am sending good thoughts your way.
     
  25. lianyla

    lianyla Well-Known Member

    Identical twin/ ICSI babies here!
     
  26. Twinrific

    Twinrific Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    Thank you Julie! Yes I hope the wait pays off.

    Thank you Kirstin for sharing your story. Very scary but so happy it all had a happy ending!

    Thanks Meredith.
     
  27. AmynTony

    AmynTony Well-Known Member

    here's another here here from an infertility overachiever - I had PCOS so bad that my ovaries were smooth as babies butts - I didn't ovulate.at all.ever! We didn't have to do IVF to get pg - just IUI (Tony also had super swimmers!) but I can relate to the monthly let downs, and the feeling that it was NEVER going to happen! We started trying in 2003 (I was 28) and I delivered the twins at 32

    :hug: you are a strong woman -

    PS - I do believe stress is a large factor...I never had my period from the time I was 18 (maybe once or twice a year)...I quit working last April and have had a regular 28 day or so cycle ever since! I know that the egg issue you have is certainly not stress related but stressing too much IS bad for overall health...
     
  28. twoplustwo

    twoplustwo Well-Known Member

    Any updates Brenda??

    Thinking of you. :hug:
     
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  29. Twinrific

    Twinrific Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    Aww Alison, thank you :hug:

    Unfortunately no real updates. We haven't been able to start with my ICSI cycle yet :( because AF is 13 days late! I'm going crazy (to state it mildly.) I finished the provera my FS prescribed, to help things along, this morning and still nothing. I am so frustrated! I really want to get back on the wagon and start with treatments.

    It's been a hard couple of weeks, 4 friends have given birth and my sister also had her second child (most adorable nephew!). I am ecstatic for all of them but it is so so hard being around all the babies.... Luckily the move has helped to keep my mind off of things. I will let you all know as soon as we get started again. Infertility has made me even more impatient, I hate all the waiting!
     
  30. twoplustwo

    twoplustwo Well-Known Member

    Sorry it's been hard. It found it really hard to see it all around me and I struggled to feel happy for them and them beat myself for not feeling happy for them. I would shame myself for the jealousy I felt.

    Hang in there. Delays like that are just miserable. They feel like someone is out to get you. When we were getting ready for our first cycle I had a positive pap and ended up having surgery on my cervix. It took about 5 months before we were able to do our cycle after re-testing, waiting for appts, having surgery then healing then getting back into the RE.

    Hugs to you. You are stronger than you think. You and Andre can handle anything together. :hug:
     
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  31. Juj

    Juj Well-Known Member

    Continued hugs, Brenda! Resting your body is a good thing.
     
  32. Twinrific

    Twinrific Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    Like always you hit the nail on the head Alison! I feel a lot of guilt, jealousy and sorrow and this wait is not making it any easier! Thank you, you always know just what to say :hug: :hug:

    Thank you Julie! :hug: You're right and mentally I realise a rest is good but emotionally I just want to get going again.

    Having a very down day, still no AF and my FS is on leave until next week, he said if AF still hasn't started by the time he's back we'll have a look again and take it from there. He also said if I get desperate I can always go in this week for a scan by one of the other doctors but I think I'll just wait. I prefer seeing my own FS.
     
  33. TwinLove

    TwinLove Well-Known Member

    :gah: I'm sorry B. :hug: :hug: :hug: Did he happen to mention what comes next to bring on AF? I don't blame you for waiting for him to come back. I'm frustrated for you my friend. :(
     
  34. Leighann

    Leighann Well-Known Member

    :grouphug:
     
  35. Twinrific

    Twinrific Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    Thank you Liz and Leighann!

    He said if I don't have any issues (cyst or something else which he doubts because everything was fine with the scan before I started the provera) we can try some more provera. Doesn't seem like there's really any other options than provera or waiting so I'm waiting. I must say we have faced a lot of challenges since this all started but for some reason this waiting is killing me! It really is so frustrating that my body just never wants to work, it really is. [​IMG] But I've had a good cry and self-pity party today so I just have to pick myself back up tomorrow. This isn't helping either.
     
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