Our 3rd Frozen Embryo Transfer

This week will mark our 3rd transfer for our second pregnancy attempt via IVF. It’ll be our 4th transfer of all time but our very first one resulted in our twins, Willow and Walker. We have stayed with that same clinic that originally helped us become pregnant back in August 2021.

Unfortunately, I have not had the best experience returning to this clinic and my same doctor. We re-engaged treatment in October 2023 and have felt like “just a number.” I had a second opinion with a clinic after my November transfer failed but I never fully committed to transferring over my care. I felt like it was a situation that was “the devil you know versus the devil you don’t.” We knew Kindbody was not the best but we were used to their processes, despite them being subpar. We doubted the other clinic would give a significantly better experience.

January 2024

In January, we stayed with our clinic for another frozen embryo transfer but we tried a natural protocol. My November 2023 protocol was the exact replica from the medications that helped me get pregnant in 2021. I watched a few TikTok’s and did some research that led me to suggesting we switch gears and try a “naturally modified” protocol for FET 2.

My lining barely made it to 7 which is the minimum for moving forward with a transfer. Overall, I felt better being on less medications than in October but I still wasn’t sure if it would help the outcome. My doctor also put me on an antihistamine protocol which is Pepcid, Claritin and Prednisone. Unfortunately, this transfer didn’t work and we were devastated to lose another PGT-normal embaby.

Prepping for our 3rd Transfer

I wanted to pump the brakes after losing our second embryo because I felt like we were going nowhere fast during our IVF journey. I think I also had the benefit of time because I already had my IVF success story. I had two, healthy, beautiful babies at home. I could take more time and step back from the process to analyze our situation.

I ended up doing a mock cycle with ERA in February and I saw a reproductive immunologist in April. I also received a second opinion with a new doctor, different from whom I spoke to after the first transfer failed. He had a lot of interesting things to say and I felt like his clinic might give us a fresh set of eyes for our case. His recommendation was to re-do the ERA on his protocol and also re-do my saline sonogram. I was against going through the mock cycle all over again, especially since my results weren’t even significant.

After talking to the new doctor, getting my results back from the mock cycle and seeing a reproductive immunologist, I felt like I had done everything in my power to make myself feel comfortable moving forward with a 3rd transfer. No news was good news in my case. We went searching for answers and while I wish I had received some, it ultimately led us back into our same clinic to try all over again.

New Protocol

The new protocol from my fertility clinic had reproductive immunology medications that I was unfamiliar with. This was a big reason why I also wanted to meet with an RI provider. I didn’t want to just take these meds without being certain that I needed them or they could help. Unfortunately, the RI didn’t see much from my initial consult so I just continued on the path forward with my RE (fertility clinic doctor).

The RI had mentioned my lining looked thin and that set off an alarm in my head. I texted my RE after the consult to see if we could switch back to medicated cycles instead of the naturals that we had done most recently. We were planning to do our third transfer at the start of my next cycle and my RE agreed to revert back to the medicated version.

May 1, 2024

The protocol for this transfer has been brutal in terms of the quantity of medications and the logistics involved. Additionally, it was recommended to be on way more supplements and vitamins. Overall, it felt like we were throwing the kitchen sink at my body with everything we were trying the last few weeks.

LDN, low dose naltrexone, is part of the immune protocol that I’m on for this transfer cycle. I also had a neupogen wash about a week exactly from my set transfer date. And finally, I did do an intralipid infusion at the clinic and will likely do 2-3 more depending on what my BETA looks like. Vagibiome is to encourage a good microbiome and it was one of the insights that came from my mock cycle.

Overall, I feel really good about this next cycle because I have no reason not to. I have unexplained infertility and to date, we have not found any other evidence to suggest that a frozen embryo transfer won’t work. Perhaps the odds are in our favor. I’m 32, using my 29 year old embryos and have already had prior success with IVF. Let’s hope and pray that the third time is the charm.

This is me getting my 1.5 hour infusion for intralipids at the clinic that is an hour + away from my home. I also did the neupogen wash here which essentially felt like an IUI. Logistically, this took about 6 hours out of my day during the work week. Once again, we’re throwing the kitchen sink at my body and I’m hoping it’s enough to support a full term IVF pregnancy.