2nd opinion

This morning we had an appointment with a new Fertility Clinic for a 2nd opinion & to discuss our options & any changes that might be made to our upcoming 2nd IVF cycle.

When we got there, we were taken into a consult room to go over both our history & last IVF cycle. We also went over how they do IVF at their clinic, what they wanted to do differently with my next cycle, we talked to the financial advisor to go over cost & then we got to meet & visit with the RE.

She was very honest, straight-forward & open with us about her thoughts on our next cycle which kind of bothered me at first but after thinking about it, it is what it is & there is no sugar coating the facts. I am 38 yo, my FSH levels are borderline average, I haven't responded well to ovulation induction meds in the past & we have a 35% chance that IVF #2 is going to work (according to their statistics for someone my age). Doesn't give us a lot of hope after you lay it all out there like that but like I said - it is what it is.

I think she sensed the disappointed look on my face after she went over all the statistics with us because she then told us that she wasn't going to count us out of the game just yet & she believes I will respond well to a different protocol (Microflare Protocol). She is going to be very aggressive with meds putting me on the max dose & seeing how I respond & go from there. She said she would like to see me get at least 12 follicles, then do a 5 day transfer & hopefully have a few embies to freeze. We also talked about OHSS in great detail since she said I would be at high risk for developing this with the aggressive approach to stims.

So, after going through everything in detail, we have decided to begin IVF #2 with the start of my cycle in Jan which is looking to be around the 3rd week with ER/ET around mid Feb.

All in all, we both feel it was a good appointment & I'm glad we seeked out a 2nd opinion. I am glad to hear they are going to be taking a more aggressive approach with this next round as it will be our last IVF cycle. I don't think I can mentally, physically or financially do a 3rd one!

I can't help but feel a bit negative about all the "facts" that were presented to us but I am somewhat hopeful that with any luck, we will fall into that 35% - or that we get a lot of follicles & have a few embies to freeze for later! So for now, I will continue to enjoy our "break", get through the holidays & gear up for IVF festivities in about 4 weeks!