The best is yet to come
4/24/2017 02:52:00 AM
She was always gentle to the medical team.
Behind the smiling face,
We all knew the disappointments and frustration.
In the past six months,
No embryos were available for transfer.
She was a 45-year-old woman from Taiwan countryside, undergoing IUI five times and IVF twice. Still, no good news released. When she came to our clinic at the first time, she was arranged to take the oocyte-retrieval after two days for the observed dominant follicle. Unluckily, it was an immature oocyte. Since then, the fertility specialist recommended the natural-cycle IVF to her because of the declined ovarian function. No additional stimulation injections or oral alternatives were administrated, and supremon nasal solution was used as the trigger. From February to July in 2015, she visited the clinic almost every week, but no available embryo was collected.
She was always gentle to the medical team. Behind the smiling face, we all knew the disappointments and frustration. She told the doctor that she probably could not realize her dream. The fertility specialist encouraged her that there is not an only way to be a mother, and suggested her thinking about oocyte donation program.
Owing to the bountiful supply of oocyte bank at Stork Fertility Center, the matching process only took two months. In September of 2015, nine available blastocysts were derived and cryopreserved. Following with hysterosalpingography, hysteroscopy, and cervical bacteria culture, the doctor checked her uterine environment through several examinations. After the first cryotransfer, the beta-HCG showed negative. Her doctor ordered an auto-immune testing, and transferred her to the related specialists for further immune treatment.
In March of 2016, she took the second cryotransfer. The result was still upset. Why? Why? Why? She continuously asked the doctor and herself. Her specialist asked several questions about her life style after embryo transfer:
Her family owned a small business in Yilan. She needed to help and stand for a long time for the daily works. Although the doctor concerned the derived pressure to uterus, she refused to take a rest after transfer. The medical team did not give up and continue to convince her. Finally, she decided to grasp the chance.
The third cryotransfer was in July of 2016 after she arranged the backups for her family business. The fertility and immune specialists adjusted the post-transfer medications for her. She took two weeks for resting after the transfer and stayed at Hsinchu until the pregnancy test released. The beta-HCG showed positive this time, and the fetal heartbeat was detected after another three weeks later.
She was very happy and careful, coming back for the prenatal checks and related immune exams. In the 14 weeks of gestation, the non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) showed normal. Now, she was waiting for her healthy newborn.
I feel bloated—ovarian hyperstimulation syndromes (OHSS)
4/17/2017 12:33:00 AM
Ms. Helen started appointments with me since last year. She has been married for two years without preventing pregnancy, but still no good news released. By several examinations, I found that she has some features of polycystic ovarian syndromes.
ERA program (ERA procedures)
3/22/2017 09:04:00 PM
One step to start a family--
When to eat progesterone, transfer...and more!
IGENOMIX, a leading team of reproductive genetics in Spain, has developed ERA to analyze the gene expression of endometrial tissue. This method helps us determine if the endometrium presents the ideal condition for implantation of embryo (WOI, window of implantation), and thus pregnancy rate would be improved.
To know more about ERA: http://taiwanivfsfc.blogspot.tw/2017/02/endometrial-receptivity-array-era.html
Follow your dreams, they know ways.
3/17/2017 07:57:00 PM
Using the donated eggs or struggling with my declined ovaries made me confused on this journey.
I slowed down, and heard the voice in my heart,
"What do you really want in the very beginning?"
"Having a child, my Lord."
"Just follow your dreams, they know the way."
In the summer of 2015, I got an email overseas.
This mail was from Hong Kong, and also the first connection between she and me. She was my first "pen-pal" at the Stork Fertility Center, but not the first overseas friend here.
Our dean always said that there were four stations during the journey of having babies. Each person gets on the different trains in different times, at different places. The speed, the duration, and the starting/ending time are different as well. Ideally, this journey would be better at the age under 35 years. The second one was at the age between 35 and 37 years. Then it was at the age between 38 and 40 years. The last train was at the age over 40 years. On the last train, the cost was high and the duration was pretty long, but the terminal became uncertain.
When I received her mail, she was on the last train:
[I have undergone the IVF several times, and the harvested oocytes were very few. In the last one program, I only retrieved one oocyte while the ultrasound monitor showed that there could be four follicles. The only one had poor morphology and possible poor quality. My fertility specialist recommended me to take the donation program, since the ovarian function seemed significantly declined. I was very disappointed and confused. My mother expected grand children so much, and she was quite old. I don't know how I can do now.
I sat in front of the laptop, and googled for the donated eggs. I tried to slow down my thoughts, and heard a voice from heart,
"What do you really want in the very beginning?"
"Having a child, my Lord."
"Just follow your dreams, they know the way."
One night, I discussed the donation program with my husband, and achieved a consensus. We decided to visit your fertility center for the donation program.]
She mentioned the limited ability of Mandarin, and would like to prepare all the required documents before coming to Taiwan. I replied her questions step by step, and arranged the related body exams. Thanks to the developed SOP for overseas customers at Stork Fertility Center, she completed all the prerequisite preparation soon.
She chose the fresh donated-egg set, which the donor undergoes the stimulation and retrieval operation, and then the eggs are fertilized immediately rather than being cryopreserved. When I reported the outcomes of oocyte pick-up, she said, "how about the recovery? Is the process bad to her body?" She knew that the process could be very uncomfortable to some females, since she already underwent the IVF so many times.
Fortunately, everything went well. There were 16 available eggs, and 9 good blastocysts cryopreserved. In the following year, she underwent the first cryotransfer with a Day 5 embryo graded 4AB. Not too surprisingly, I received her good news from Hong Kong, and the precious video of fetal heartbeat. We both saw the primary photos of the baby in front of the computers.
This year, the healthy baby was delivered, and the mother recovered very well. She has promised us to bring the baby back for celebration.
2017, is a brand new beginning for her family.
