I've been through 3 IVF and 2 FET cycles in the past 2 1/2 years. I'm 36 years old, have never been pregnant, and have been trying to get pregnant for about 5 years. After several IUI's and of course numerous attempts of BMS (some with ovulation kits), I had to see if there was something wrong. Much to my surprise, I found out that my tubes were blocked. I had surgery soon thereafter to open them up, but it was short-lived and it was onto IVF for me.

My insurance company at the time, didn't cover anything related to IVF. I found an RE, that I had heard about, who was much less expensive. During my first IVF cycle, I did really well as far as the number and the quality of eggs were concerned. I ended up with 12 embryos, but because of ICSI, 3 of them were damaged, and only 9 remained. I really thought that my IVF cycle was going to work, but 2 days before my pregnancy test, AF arrived. A few months later, I had my first failed FET (transferred 3 embryos). Then because of $$$, I had to wait almost a year before my final FET.

It was around this time that my RE mentioned a new study that showed how damaged, fluid-filled tubes can kill embryos and interfere with implantation. He suggested I have yet another HSG to make sure my tubes were still blocked. If they were, he recommended having them removed to improve my chances of a successful IVF. Of course my tubes were still blocked, but I decided against the surgery and went onto my 2nd failed FET (1 embryo survived the thaw).

For various reasons I decided to switch RE's, and was lucky enough to get U.S. Healthcare, through my DH's new company. This new insurance company covered everything except the meds. We decided to give it one more shot with my blocked tubes before moving onto surgery. I wish we hadn't waited. In order to get my meds for free, I was able to get on a Gonal F clinical trial. But I was only allowed to take 3 amps per day, and they wouldn't allow more than 3 embryos to be put back. I ended up with 4 nice quality embryos, but only 3 could be transferred and I had another failed IVF cycle under my belt.

At this point, I didn't even hesitate to have my tubes removed. They weren't doing me any good and were possibly interfering with my chances of getting pregnant. A few months later I had the surgery and didn't look back. Now, it was onto fresh IVF #3 in Nov/Dec '98. I really thought the third time was going to be the charm.

My tubes were removed, everything else seemed fine, and I was ready for a miracle to happen. I was taking 8 amps/day of various meds to try and get the maximum number of follicles. I did pretty well in quantity, but this time the quality wasn't that great, so all 7 embryos were transferred. During my 2-week wait, I had those same awful feelings like AF was just around the corner. The progesterone made me moodier than ever and I had uncomfortable bloating.

The day of my beta hCG, the clinic did an HPT in the morning that showed a very faint positive. Now I had more waiting to do, to find out my beta hCG level. My beta turned out to be 17 1/2, which was half of where it should have been. Yet it was still not a negative. I had to go back the next day and go through the agony again of waiting for the results again. My levels had dropped, so IVF #3 was history (or so I thought). I was finally starting to deal with the reality of another failed IVF and went to work on Monday feeling good. Suddenly I got these intense cramps like never before and figured it was just AF. AF did come, but these cramps were almost paralyzing. Somehow, I drove myself home from work and DH took me to the hospital. After several hours, when I was getting ready to leave, I noticed 2 very large clumps on my pad. It appeared as if I had suffered an early m/c. I told my RE about it and he said it was more likely from my lining, but I know what I saw and felt. I have never seen anything like that before. During this cycle, I had the support and good wishes of many, many wonderful cycle buddies who were also going through IVF. They became like a family to me. Without all of them, it would have been a much more difficult cycle. So now, here I am, about a month later and ready for one last try. I'm hoping to do my last IVF cycle sometime in May, but still need to come up with the $$$$$. This is certainly it for me, but I'm going to give it my best shot and hope for success this time. I will definitely come here to find some great cycle buddies, so we can share our experiences and help each other through this.