I am not a Doctor but…

I refuse to be a sitting duck for my next cycle.

You heard that right. I used to be very passive about my cycle and after all it was my first cycle. I just listen and follow whatever Doc told me to do. Dont get me wrong, I super love my current doc. He is the nicest person on earth and I know he really cares for me. He wasnt negligent in any way. On the contrary,  he has been careful with me and hoping I would succeed. I know some docs are bastards but he definitely isnt one.

So what I am trying to do then? I am trying to review my last cycle and what went wrong. I had 38 follicles, 26 matured, 11 fertilized. Embryologist suspects my eggs are over responding to the stim drugs. (I was on Gonal-f 300) That could have very much affected my egg quality and we wouldnt know if I have bad eggs by nature unless we dissect the eggs in me. So right now if we follow along this line, we can assume about the over responding.

I discussed with doc about next cycle and my concern on the dosage of the drugs. He expressed his concern that I may be a suspected PCOS case and for that, he is unwilling to reduce the dosage as he is afraid the eggs wont respond and I may not get a linear growth on the follicles. He would still put me on 300 but he may change the drugs for me. I am still very apprehensive about the dosage. Quantity eggs does not equal to quality eggs. I did some further research. I have a feeling part of the reason that I have so many follicles could be due to the fact that my AMH is high ( I am over the grading scale) Someone from twitter gang replied PCOS and high AMH should stim on lower dose. I went on into more detail research. Dr Sher from Sher Fertility thinks it is definitely an egg quality issue (he replied to my question on the web). This makes me more uneasy to stay on my usual dose.

I took the liberty to go for a 2nd opinion from another Doc. He definitely thinks that I can do with a lower dose and wants me off BCP and start cycle on my next menses instead of doing BCP first then starting stims on Puregon. That sort of made me happy because I am also curious at the fact the need for BCP as I have such regular cycles. He told me that there are at least 4 or more reports revealing BCP before cycles reduces the chances of bringing a cycle to success. He also explained that the chances of a D3 embryo will have an equal chance as a D5 Blast embryo and it all depends on the conditions. If I wish to, I can start my new IVF cycle in July instead of August. Boy was I excited! Of course I have not made any decision yet. I have to visit the new lab that my current doc wish to use this cycle to determine what i want to do.

The new lab is in one of the famous private hospital. They have really good service and posh facilities but I just have to remember the price tag that comes along with it. I spoke to the Embryologists and they have 90% success rates to bring embryos to blast stage. I was thrilled but going blast stage doesnt equate to anything isnt it?

I am torn, I really am! The new Doc seems very innovative with his approach, the new lab with the blast rates is seriously tempting. I love my current doc but he is a tad stubborn. I am apprehensive with changing doc because that is totally not my style. But then again, what do I have to lose? Argh! I hate this, I really do.