IVF technology has solved a major fertility problem for infertility patients, and after nearly 30 years of development, success rates have steadily increased. The IVF process is a lengthy one and many patients have many doubts before treatment.
The following is to give you a general overview of the most common clinical doubts and the routine process of doing IVF.
1. Is it very painful to do IVF?
The real traumatic operation in the IVF process is egg retrieval, but the procedure is only a few minutes long, and most patients’ personal experience shows that the pain level is still tolerable. However, some patients experience a significant increase in pain due to changes in the anatomical position of the ovaries as a result of pelvic adhesions. Painless egg retrieval is not yet common in China.
Patients will need approximately 5-8 blood draws during the entire IVF ovulation period. It depends on each individual’s protocol and how the ovaries respond to the medication.
In addition, you should be prepared for long term injections for IVF, for example, the most common long protocol, which starts from descending and continues until luteal support after pregnancy, and the duration of injections can be up to 2-3 months.
2. Do ovulation promotion drugs increase the incidence of tumors? Does it accelerate aging?
So far, there are no clear reports or studies that high doses of ovulation-promoting drugs increase the incidence of ovarian tumors and uterine and breast tumors. Even so, with the development of reproductive technology and newer concepts of patient safety, the dosage of ovulation-promoting drugs has been greatly reduced in recent years. Of course, patients who already have ovarian tumors, uterine and breast tumors, and other estrogen-dependent tumors, and who wish to obtain offspring through IVF must be evaluated by a rigorous oncologist and reproductive specialist prior to the procedure for their risk.
Many people know that a woman only ovulates once a month, but if a dozen eggs are retrieved at once, will the ovaries fail and menopause soon? This is also a concern for many people. In fact, in a natural menstrual cycle, although only one mature follicle ovulates, many small follicles die at the same time because there is not enough follicle stimulating hormone to follow. IVF technology is to use the follicle stimulating hormone injection to let those small follicles that would otherwise “die” grow up, which is equivalent to picking up these follicles from the “garbage pile” and using them, so theoretically it will not accelerate aging.
3. Are there any problems with the children born with IVF technology? Are they the same as normal ones?
In vitro fertilization only allows the sperm and eggs to unite in vitro, and then transplanted back to the woman’s uterus after 3-5 days of culture, during which time the fertilized egg has a superb ability to proliferate and repair itself. Currently, according to statistics, over the past 40 years since the birth of IVF technology, there has been no increase in the rate of malformations in children born through IVF technology compared to natural pregnancies. That is, most children born in normal pregnancies are normal, with occasional malformations occurring; the same is true for IVF. Therefore, patients do not need to worry all day whether the embryos put in will grow out of deformed fetuses, but in pregnancy must do prenatal checks in regular hospitals in strict accordance with the requirements of doctors.
4. What exactly is the process of IVF?
In fact, the process of IVF is not complicated, it just sounds very “high class”.
(1) Pre-IVF checkups for both partners.
The woman needs to have a full body checkup and a gynecological system checkup. Ovarian function tests must be done 2-5 days after menstruation (no fasting required), and leukorrhea and urine tests must be done 2-4 days after menstruation. For other tests, there is no time limit or fasting requirement except for liver function and liver and biliary ultrasound which require morning fasting. The semen test required for the male partner should be performed within 3-7 days of abstinence. Among the blood tests, liver function and blood glucose and insulin tests need to be prepared in the morning on an empty stomach.
It is important to note that each test has an expiration date. If the expiration date has passed, it is necessary to re-test.
(2) In vitro cycle.
Each patient will have different ovulation protocols and techniques to help them get pregnant. Once the protocol is determined, the IVF medication will be started at different times. Our ovulation protocol is based on each patient’s ovarian function, height, weight, follicle development, and changes in hormone levels in the body. Therefore, each patient’s medication name, dosage, and number of days of injection may be different. Therefore, you must keep in mind what your doctor has told you after each prescription during the IVF process, without comparing with others, let alone remembering her medication regimen for others. If you get the wrong injection, you may not be able to retrieve your eggs and other serious consequences. Once again, before you get your injection from the hospital and get ready to go home, double check that you have completely remembered the usage of the medication, and if you are not sure, make sure to go back to the doctor’s office to confirm with the doctor.
5. Do I need to have ultrasounds and blood draws frequently for IVF?
During the ovulation process, ultrasound and blood sampling are needed every few days to check hormone levels, so that the dosage of medication can be adjusted and the follicles can grow in line with the doctor’s expectations. Sometimes your doctor may even ask you to come every day when your eggs are close to maturity. Since everyone’s ovarian function, height, weight and follicle development are different, there is no need to compare with others who grow more eggs, nor is it better to have more eggs.
6.When is the night shot scheduled? What are night injections?
After the follicles are big enough, your doctor will ask you to take the hCG injection around 7-9pm to help the follicles to mature, and then take the eggs 36-38 hours later. Please make sure you keep in mind the time your doctor has given you for the injection. If the shot time does not match the preset time, be sure to contact your doctor! If you miss the scheduled egg retrieval time, you may not be able to retrieve your eggs!
In addition, a few patients are on a microstimulation or natural cycle regimen where the night shots are not at the traditional night time.
In short, you should not ask why my night shot time is different from others, just keep in mind your unique time!
7. How does the egg retrieval process work?
Usually the egg retrieval will take place in the morning, but some patients may have their eggs retrieved in the afternoon. On the day of egg retrieval, you should come to the Fertility Center nursing station with your husband at 8:00am for name verification and follow the nurse on duty to the operating room. In the lounge, you will change into your special gown and surgical cap and empty your urine before surgery.
The egg retrieval procedure is quick and over in a few minutes. The eggs are sucked out through a long needle into a test tube, where they are processed by a laboratory researcher and combined with sperm to begin the real “IVF” journey.
During the procedure, all you need to do is to cooperate with the doctor and nurse, position yourself as relaxed as possible, and insist that you do not move your position during the procedure, despite the pain, to avoid damage to the vital organs around the ovaries and bleeding caused by the puncture needle. If you experience any discomfort during the egg retrieval procedure, please speak up and tell the doctor and nurse immediately so that you can be dealt with promptly.
It is important to note that if it is difficult for the male partner to retrieve the sperm, he needs to tell the doctor a few days in advance to arrange for early retrieval and freezing of the sperm once again to avoid the dilemma of the eggs waiting for the sperm.
8. What is the post-transplantation period like? Does it hurt?
Usually, you can transfer the embryos on the 3rd day 3 days after the egg retrieval or the “blastocyst” 5 days after the egg retrieval. It is important to consult with your doctor as to which embryo to transfer.
The transfer is guided by an ultrasound in the abdomen and is not painful, except for some discomfort due to the opening of the vagina by the device. However, it is necessary to have a certain amount of urine in your bladder to allow the doctor to see the lining of the uterus more clearly. So don’t go pee when you are about to have your implant!
Do I need to stay in bed for a long time after the transplant? Can I go to the bathroom?
You can go to the bathroom after transplantation. You can live your normal life as usual, just don’t have sex or do heavy physical work. Holding urine, staying in bed for a long time, or even tying your legs up after surgery are all nonsense. Even some patients have mistakenly believed these rumors, resulting in urinary retention abdominal pain like strangulation, or lying out of the venous thrombosis. In addition, excessive stress and anxiety are not good for embryo implantation!
So, just maintain a healthy lifestyle and treat the little embryo in your uterus with a normal heart! It will never fall out because you are walking upright!
9.When will I know if I am pregnant?
Usually your doctor will order you to check your blood hCG 14 days after the transfer to know if you are pregnant. If you are pregnant, depending on the level of hormones in your blood, your doctor will adjust the dosage of “birth control” medication (in medical terms, we call this “luteal support”). If you are not pregnant, stop all medications and consult your doctor for the next step.
Since most patients are given hCG during the “night shot”, it is recommended that you do not draw blood early! A negative blood test may not necessarily mean that you are not pregnant, but a positive test may mean that the hCG injection has not yet been metabolized!