A chance of higher-order multiples...

[LiamsMommy31905]

Holy cow. Just went to the RE's office and they found 6 mature follicles ready to rupture.

A little background on us: I'm on 100 mg Clomid CDs 3-7 in preparation for an IUI this month. I've been waiting patiently to get a + on my OPK like I do every stinking month on CD 14...but today is CD 16. So uncharacteristic of my body. I called the nurse's line yesterday to ask what I should do and she told us to go ahead an BD last night in case I O'ed today. She also recommended that I come to the office this morning for an ultrasound...that's when they found these 6 huge honkin' follicles.

After the scan, the RE brought me into his office to talk about the risks of going forward with the IUI - 25-30% chance of twins (typical on Clomid is 8%), and a 10-12% chance of triplets of higher. He went on to talk about selective reduction, cerebral palsy, bedrest, etc., etc...but I just tuned out and about flipped out. He wanted to check my e2 levels before we make any decisions about the IUI....if my levels are above 1000, he'd like to cancel this cycle. This could also be a moot point anyway if we (by some miracle) conceived last night.

I'd obviously be REALLY irritated if we had to cancel a cycle especially since I've been waiting so long. However, I'm afraid of the risks. We're trying to weigh the other side of the odds (e.g., 70-75% chance of NOT having twins, etc.) to rationalize and perhaps intellectualize the statistics.

Ugh. I'm so stressed out. Anyone have any words of wisdom? Thanks for any insight you could provide.

[ItyBty]

Well - the way I see it, a 10% chance of multiples beyond twins is a pretty low chance, I wouldn't bother cancellng anything. If it was me, even if he did cancel the IUi, I would BD like crazy anyway. BUT, I've beentrying for 3+ years without success, so my logic would be that the chance of anything are so slim, I wouldn't even be worried about the chances of twins, triplets or beyond. I mean, you only have what, a 20% chance of sperm finding egg if everything is perfect, right?

That said, sextuplets can happen with Clomid, so just be prepared for the chance of it happening.

[YummyYarnAddict]

It's a very personal decision as to how averse you are to risking multiples. Only you and your DP can make that decision for how that fits in with your lives at this point in time.

I always took it cycle by cycle and weighed the pros and cons. By the time I moved from IUIs to IVF my doctor no longer made that decision for me, but rather gave me the information I needed to make the decision for myself. There were times that I transferred two embryos and once I made the decision to transfer five based on the quality of my embryos and how risk averse I was to the possibility of multiples.

Look at the numbers, talk to your DP, figure out what works for you and what feels right. What are your chances of conceiving twins versus triplets versus not at all and how would you feel if you tried versus if you didn't try at all? And would it be easier on your spirit and soul if your doctor makes the decision for you?

[LiamsMommy31905]

Thank you for the replies, ladies.

My e2 levels were sky high (2800) and the RE thought that I was about to release all six eggs within 24 hours so my IUI cycle was cancelled. The nurse basically begged me to start birth control pills ASAP so that the chances of the 72-hour-old sperm (from BDing on Tuesday) won't find all six eggs and implant are next to nothing.

This was not an easy decision for us. I'm absolutely irritated and depressed at the same time.

On to April. Thanks for listening.

[coome]

i'm sorry to hear that! just so you know, i produced 7 mature follicles the last 2 months on injectables and we did THREE IUIs on each of those cycles...the day of the HCG, the day after that, and the day after that...and i've got nothing to show! at least i figure i gave IUIs the best shot i could. now on to ivf where we'll be transferring 3 embryos. the chance of twins is about 20%-30% and triplets is 5%-10% with ivf..or so my dr. says!