Hi Ladies,

Can anyone tell me how long it takes to go through an IVF cycle. I know everyone is a little different. The internet is a dangerous thing, I've read that its usually 4 to 6 weeks, but came across one site, and they seem to have women going through 2 menstrual periods? This seemed odd to me...

I'm going for my IVF orientation on the 29th (provided I'm not pg - 12 dpo today) so I guess I'll have more answers then. Just want to go in armed with as much information as I can.

Thanks all!

Well, here is my protocol in a nutshell:

Start birth control pills 01/21
Start Lupron 02/11
Stop birth control pills 02/18
Start FSH 02/25
Egg Retrieval 03/07 (approximately)
Embryo transfer 03/12 (approximately)
1st pregnancy test 8 days after embryo transfer
2nd pregnancy test 2 days after the 1st

So, it takes about 6-7 weeks, for me anyway. Most clinics will put you on birth control to regulate your cycle.

My protocol was the normal one with down regulation - my AMH result was 12.4 which meant that I was expected to respond quite well to stimulation.

7th October - CD1 - phoned the clinic to get booked in for treatment.
28th October - CD21 - started Suprefact for down regulation - had a period as expected.
12th November - had my first scan to confirm that the Suprefact had dampened my hormones - started stimulating with Gonal-F as well as Suprefact.
19th November - had second scan to check progress of follicles
22nd November - had third scan to check on progress of follicles
23rd November (late evening) - took HCG booster - Ovitrelle.
25th November - mid-morning - Egg collection.
28th November - Embryo Transfer.
12th December - Home Pregnancy Test.

I didn't take any BCP in my cycle leading up to treatment, as my cycle is a regular 26/27 days...



My friend went through treatment at the same time as me, but her AMH was 4.8 which meant she wasn't expected to respond as well to stimulation, therefore she didn't do down regulating.

Her AF started the day after mine and she had egg collection and embryo transfer the day after me. The difference for her, was that on her CD21, she had to start taking a tablet twice daily - Norister????? (something or other) - which delayed her AF from coming. Then when she stopped that her AF came within 3 days. On her new CD2 she had a scan and started stimulating with Gonal-F. On her CD5, she had to take Cetrotide to stop her from ovulating herself. She had approx 5 tracking scans and blood tests, to make sure she wasn't going to spontaneously ovulate. She then took her HCG booster - Ovitrelle - a day after I took mine.

All in all, the IVF treatment spans two cycles. You generally need to inform the clinic of your CD1, start medication towards the end of that cycle, have another AF, and then hope that it's the last one for a long time...

Good luck

xx

All depends on your protocol.

Some have BCP for a month & then down reg for 2 weeks & then start stims.
Thats normally the long protocol.

Some down reg for 2 weeks & then start stims,
Thats the short protocol,

I just did short protocol with no DR first,
That was wait for AF to arrive, have scan 2 days later & then straight onto stims,
after 5 to 7 days you have Cetrotide to stop you ovulating but still do stims.
I am now on my 2ww.

Thanks everyone,

I'm just going to have to wait and see what they say on Thursday. I'm nervous and excited about getting started. They are doing a scan on Thursday, some bloodwork, and I guess once they have all of that information they will be able to tell me more. I'm obsessively reading everything I can about IVF...

At least its keeping my mind off of this 2ww.