I had an IUI today, but the Doc isn't too sure how successful it might be. He's going to refer me to a clinic for ICSI. Anyone had this? My girlfriend across the country did and got boy/girl twins as a result, but she's away so I haven't talked to her yet.

ICSI is a part of IVF. It is Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection and it is when the RE inserts a single sperm into a single egg for implantation. It is usually performed when the man's sperm count is too low for a successful IUI. We have done ICSI with all of our IVF cycles.

HTH!! If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them!

Thanks Suzi. That is absolutely all I know about ICSI. I was looking for what do they do to prepare you etc. I know my girlfriend had to take all sorts of drugs and needles and stuff. I'm pretty sure they waited until they were 8 cell embryos or something too and picked the best ones to implant.

BTW, not to pry, but if you're doing ICSI how did you end up with an ectopic? Don't they plant the embryo in your uterus?

Well...first things first. IVF is a regimen of drugs based on a protocol for your particular situation. The RE will likely do cycle day 3 labs (if you haven't had them done already) and that will give them an idea where to start for your drugs. You start with BCP for about 30 days give or take and follow that with subcutaneous Lupron shots in the stomach which continue for around three weeks. About a week after you stop BCPs you go for a "down-regulation" ultrasound where they look at your ovaries and make sure they are "quiet" (ie there are no follicles or cycts).

From there you start stimulation injections. Depending on your protocol you do am subQ shots of Gonal-F/Follistim and pm shots of Repronex/Pergonal intramuscularly. You do those for about 12 days total. On the 7th day of stimulation shots, you go for the first progress check u/s where they measure your follicles and take a blood sample for an estradiol level (E2). Based on where you are you go back for another u/s and E2 2-3 days later and then another 1-2 days later and then every day until most of your follicles are in the 17-20mm range. Then you take a shot of hCG at the exact time your RE tells you and 38 hours later you are having a procedure done to remove all the eggs from the follicles. This is done with a very long needle/catheter inserted through the vaginal wall and into the abdominal cavity. While the RE does the retrieval, your DH makes his "contribution" and the sperm are washed. When all the eggs have been collected, they take a single sperm and inject it into a single egg and VOILA...the egg is fertilized!

The next day your RE will give you a fertility report - how many of the fertilized eggs are still growing and how many cells your embryos have. Those 24-36 hours are pretty nerve-wracking. On the third day after retrieval the RE will transfer back the embryos - depending on your age anywhere from 2 to 5 or 6. You have a beta blood test for PGY anywhere between 10-17 days later - this varies GREATLY by RE.

I hope that wasn't way more than you were wanting to know - or if you already knew that, sorry!

As for ectopic and IVF, ectopics happen more frequently in IVF - about 2-3% of the time as opposed to <1% in natural PGY. The RE does transfer the embryo/embryos back to the uterus but it takes time for them to implant and stick in one place. Until they do, the embryos are free-moving in the uterus and can and do happen to find their way to the tube every so often. When I had the surgery to remove the PGY, I had the RE also remove both of my tubes so there's not any chance of another ectopic - that was an AWFUL thing to go through. There's something very wrong with having to pay $10K to get PG and then pay even more to have that PGY removed...

Well Beverly, I hope I have not scared you off! :lol: If you have any more questions or I haven't been clear about something, let me know - I am happy to clarifiy anything!

And by the way... :crossfing: on your IUI today! GOOD LUCK!

That was more what I was looking for Suzi, thanks! What rigmarole hey? My girlfriend who had ICSI got so sick from those injections and then the high hCG from the twins. I guess you really need to be in the same city as the clinic for those times.

Hmmm....it's quite doable to be out of town for an IVF cycle. I am starting my 4th IVF and I have many friends on the boards who've done IVF and I can't think of one who got sick from an IVF. Uncomfortable the day of retrieval, yes...but sick, no. Sick from the anesthesia, perhaps.

As for beig sick from the hCG...every PGY is different. I was PG once a long time ago and I could barely stand to be in a 50 foot radius of ANY food. I was sick as a DOG all day long, my mouth watered constantly from being on the verge of throwing up. When I got PG with Julia I expected the same but much to my surprise, I wasn't sick for even a second - and I was PG with TWINS! Luck of the draw!