My name is Hellynn and I live in the US, but I've traveled to Korea (where I'm from) to undergo multiple rounds of IVF. Being 40+ and trying to bring children into the world is hard, but I also have diminished ovarian reserve (DOR). For those reasons, I am doing back-to-back rounds of IVF.
Navigating this world of infertility is definitely a challenge - a million new acronyms, hormones and protocols to learn - it's A LOT. So I thought I'd just talk about everything I've been learning for the women out there who are going through similar struggles. I'm also here to guide anyone who is interested in traveling to Korea for IVF, since it's more cost efficient with high success rates here.
I am treating this YT channel as my diary, talking about the ups and downs of my journey to motherhood so that one day, my babies will see how they were created... with fierce, enduring strength and love.
I hope you find my videos helpful - thanks for stopping by.
Irrespective on whether you have gained weight or not, you are beautiful inside and out! And enduring such a journey only makes you even more beautiful. Sending you all the love ❤
Hellynn, have you tried red light therapy treatments? Look into it❤ I really like how the treatments make me feel and it's great for recovery after and so much more. On the same journey as you, keeping hope alive. Thank you for sharing your story, it can be lonely sometimes- I know- but I love your videos and how they help me feel less alone on this path❤
hey hellynn I came across your video while searching for something on RU-vid. I understand that the whole IVF and FET is a huge huge journey, but tbh I think it’s better for you to take a break and not to do these back to back egg retrievals and transfers. Even though your numbers might look good on paper, your body knows that you’re not “happy” and ready for it.
You are still beautiful just the way you are. I hope you are enjoying your well-deserved "vacation" in your home in CA. You’ve been through so much this year and you deserve all the peace, relaxation and a break from all these you were focusing on. Sending lots of love and positive vibes your way😘💖
Thank you for sharing and have a restful 'time off'. What your therapist said really hit home for me right now as my first FET was 2 weeks ago and my 3rd lab resulted today which had a decline in HCG :( . Now we wait for Dr instructions on next steps. Every wait feels like a lifetime. xx
@@_justjackie im so sorry to hear that… i know how that feels… happened to me twice this yr and it was brutal… I am sending you a hug💗 youre not alone babe
I had a high BMI when starting IVF, but only gained about 3lbs throughout the process. I'm now 9 weeks pregnant, but I wish I had lost a little weight before starting the process. Fortunately my BP and blood sugar are good so hopefully this will be a healthy pregnancy and labor.
I feel the same .. i have had my second loss.. i took blood test and it seems my thyroid not working goodly. As a matter of fact it didnt work goodly before my first IVF. I feel anger because why my doctor didnt say we have to heal it..i put all of my faith in my doctor and now it seems 1 year IVF 2 transfers, 2 early losses ( 4th and 7 th week) , due to Ivf i gained 8 kgs , water stack on my body, if you know what i mean, i lost my job because of ivf , i am depressed , i am looking like a monster and for nothing because i didnt even have chance from the beginning...i need heal in so many ways 😢💔
Thank you for your videos. They gives me hope. I am praying for you. I had 2 egg retrivals and 2 canceled retrivals and have also gained weight and am taking the summer off to relax. I have a question you mentioned winery in your videos can you drink some alcohol while on a break from IVF?
Thanks for your support! It makes me so happy to hear that you feel hope. I am only drinking maybe one or two glasses a week? If that. I used to be so obsessed with wine.. Ive really changed my lifestyle!
Did 1.5 years of IVF. Ended up gaining about 5 lbs but looks more like 15 lbs in how it completely changed my body composition. Like whoa. I exercised throughout whenever possible but my appetite was sooo high and bloating unreal through the egg retrievals & medications. Beyond an arduous process. Idk if my body will ever go back to the cute petite figure I had but that’s just not priority right now, healthy babies are. Btw, you are sooo lucky to be able to do IVF in Korea. It’s bankrupting in the US even with decent insurance if like most, it takes 1+ years.
Youre right, it’s not the priority right now as long as we are healthy❤ agree with you on appetite. I might have been eating healthy but i did eat a lot! You can always come to Korea if you feel its too expensive in the states. Ive set up bloomkorea.co so that we can help women from US and other countries come to get IVF in Korea. Wishing you so much luck on your journey. 🍀🍀🍀
Haha.. Me also got addition 5kg after my ivf last 4 month.. It's make me slight overweight now.. I'm still following u and hoping to hear your good news after this.. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart. ❤
I'm in the middle of the video but felt compelled to share. I have a BMI of 41 and I am currently 41 with a starting AMH of 0.13. After 5 rounds of stem meds, and four egg retrieval, we got three viable embryos and I'm currently 9 weeks pregnant after a successful FET. It wasn't easy. I gained a total of 20 pounds throughout the year between starting IVF and transfer. I started at RMA and finished my journey with Generation Next Fertility both in NY. I never had a clinic turn me away for being overweight but I believe others when they say it has happened to them. My advice would be to those who have the opportunity to look into different clinics and keep looking for one that doesn't discriminate. I am positive you can find a clinic that will work with you. ❤❤
Congratulations! Whenever I see a comment that somebody is pregnant, I really feel like it’s extra baby dust for the entire community! So thank you so much. Yes, I’ve heard of clinics discriminating based on BMI because they want to protect their success rates, but I don’t think this is right because as long as you have a chance, doctor should want to help. Fortunately, my hospital is not like that. Anyway, thank you so much for sharing your good news with me. Praying for a peaceful pregnancy for you❤
I cried when you cried 💔 one thing I know for sure is us women going through IVF are one hell of strong women!! I went through a nightmare right after my egg retrieval with a ear infection from hell excruciating painfully (had to be rushed to the emergency room) then a month later right before embryo transfer I had the strongest most painful flu!! I literally couldn’t even open my eyes or get out of bed with 102 fever 🥵 again I was rushed to the emergency room and I thought there was absolutely no way the embryo was going to make it . Those are the things no doctor or anyone prepares you for!! I am now 7 weeks pregnant by the grace of god. It’s been an incredibly hard journey physically and emotionally! I still have 3 more weeks of daily progesterone in oil intramuscular injections which is very painful plus estrogen 3 times a day and progesterone suppositories at night. I am still not celebrating and taking one day at a time. I also have “success guilt” for all the beautiful strong women out there going through it and not being successful 😢 I just want to remind you all out there to give yourself grace and take care of yourself! We have been through a lot and your time to become a mother is only closer than yesterday ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I went through 2 rounds of stimulation and didn’t gain any weight. But I had gained weight before the stimulation. I started gaining weight a few years ago, about 2-3 kg per year, and gained around 10 kg. Initially, I thought it was due to switching to remote work. Although I tried to walk more in the evenings and on weekends. Then, a war started in my country, and I began sleeping poorly and experienced anxiety and depression. When I left the country, things got worse and worse. My vision deteriorated, and I experienced dizziness. I started looking for reasons, but doctors attributed everything to psychosomatics and stress. However, the psychologist did not find any signs of PTSD in me and supported the idea that I should first get tested for basic deficiencies. When I was looking for what exactly to test for, I read on a forum that a drop in estrogen could be causing all these problems. So, I decided to check my AMH level. It turned out to be almost zero. Although it was a shock, I started to understand a bit more about what was happening to me. After the first round of stim, I felt better. My mood improved, the dizziness stopped, and I started sleeping better. I didn’t lose any weight, but I didn’t gain any either. I don’t know what will happen during the transfer; I really don’t want to gain more. My BMI is still normal, but there is little margin left.
Uni ivf is not an easy road, I really understand, I always tell myself these are things god is tested me , if I suitable for being a mom ? God wants me to cherish the baby if I really susseful for being a mom
Hey love, its a tough journey i know.. i am here for you. Imagine how much we are going to love our babies once they come to us. It will be so special. ❤
Hi my sis, Hellynn I am on the same page. give your self time and relax. Don’t lose hope don’t give up my dear. I do IVF then I have miscarriages the next month I don’t see my period I become pregnant naturally I am 12 weeks pregnant everything went well till now I am hoping my miracle baby continue to develop well I am praying for you miracle happen to you my dear.
Please join the Facebook support group so that we can support each other! I’ll share updates and info about getting IVF in Korea there for those interested. facebook.com/groups/1058899261969918/
In the last two years, I went through the 3rd cycle of ivf (icsi), 7 failed transfers, only one, 6. was a successful implantation that ended in a very early loss. In this cyclical process, I gained 12 extra kg, I feel broken emotionally, physically dissatisfied. I will also take a break through the summer, and try again in the fall. I'm trying to lose weight, I'm eating healthy, that's basically how I've been eating all the time, but I feel like the pounds have literally stuck on. Besides being sad about the seven losses, I still have to fight with the pounds that don't want to move down. I wish us both luck in the fall ❤️
Thank you for sharing your story and my heart goes out to you… I am so sorry for your losses. You have a very similar story to mine. I had seven embryos, and two of them stuck, but lost them. It is a very grueling journey, but we are strong 💪 I guess we’re on the same page having gained the same amount of kg! trying to exercise more and eat a tad less, hopefully by the end of the summer, I will be back to my normal self. Wishing you nothing but the best. Let me know how your progress goes, and have a restful and beautiful summer.💖
Wishing you the best! You deserve a break and in due time, you will get your baby! I was 41 and 45 1/2 when I had my daughters, natural conceptions. So, I hope that gives you some hope!
I recently went through 2 Egg freezing surgeries. The first one happened after a year of total imbalance, of not eating well, not sleeping enough, a huge amount of stress from work, from a really bad breakup. My AMH was .2 (I'm 31) and I only got 3 eggs. Then, i was fired, but it was the best that could happen cuz I could get my life back into balance. Eat well, sleep well, take a break from a toxic environment. I went through surgery again after 2 months of resting and taking supplements and this time I got 8 eggs! It really does help to give yourself a break! Wish you the best!
Thank you for sharing your story, how inspiring! I totally agree with you that sleep and rest will bring forth the best results. Wishing you all the best of luck in your journey, please let me know how it goes❤
Be strong and give yourself some time to relax. You are really an inspiration by sharing your story with all women around you in the same path. Best wishes! ❤❤
Yes. I agree with your therapist. Think of the law of attraction. Do not chase, trusting the universe that it will bring you what you are asking for. Let go of control.
After IVF and the miscarriages I had an immune therapy that helped me to not feel tired and to do exercise again. Finally I lost 9 kilos in three months, 5 of them the first 3 weeks, and it felt much much better for trying IVF again. I made 7 embryos after that I had lost all my previous others with 5 miscarriages, and I am getting ready for embryo transfer now in the next days. I totally understand your path. Have a very good time enjoying yourself back home! All the love
Thank you for sharing your story. First of all, I am so sorry for all your losses. My heart really close out to you and everything that you went through, but I am so happy and excited for your future. Good luck on your embryo transfer.. lots of baby dust!! 💖💖💖 I am also interested in learning more about the immune therapy for myself as well.
Just a quick search: Immunotherapy can be used in in vitro fertilization (IVF) to improve outcomes for patients with recurrent implantation failure or pregnancy loss. The idea is that immunotherapy can correct an immunological imbalance that may prevent the embryo from implanting and lead to a better live birth outcome.
Hi Hellyn! New subscriber here. I have the same condition, plus endometriosis and am the same age! Im in Norcal also. Wanted to ask you what your fertility doctor did about your lead follicle(s). Aside from increasing the dosage and dividing the dosage in the day and evening, did he prescribe you any estrogen pills to take a week before your period? My fertility doctor says it should help to hold back those dominant follicles while giving the smaller ones a chance to grow. I wondered if this was suggested to you and what your experimce might have been like. I'm soon to start cycle 2 of IVF and am doing back to back cycles like you did, except this time, I will try the estrogen pills if there is time before my period begins. I hope you respond 🙏 ❤
@@user-vg8ez9cu6u hi there! I’m so happy to meet a fellow Norcal resident😃 Thanks for watching my video and being part of my journey. Actually, I have tried priming with estrogen during my fourth cycle because I always had the problem of having one or two dominant follicles. Unfortunately, although I was able to get four decently similar sized eggs that round, none of them developed into embryos and the estrogen in combination with my stimulation meds made me sick. We came to the conclusion that I was not responding well to this combination of meds, so he stopped, prescribing the estrogen for the rest of my cycles. If it wasn’t for me feeling sick, I probably would have done it because I think it did help to even out the follicle sizes. Let me know if you have any other questions or if you ever need to chat. Happy to share ❤️
@hellynn_j Hi Hellyn! Thank you so much for creating this channel and for responding to my question! I've been following your journey for a while now and am wishing you nothing but the best! Your insights along the way have been invaluable. I hope you don't mind, but I have some additional questions for you that might benefit others as well. My doctor wants me to take the estrogen pills for 7-10 days before my period (dont know when that will be bc i just had egg retrieval) and stop taking them as soon as I start the stim meds. I'm hoping this doesn't make me sick. 1) Do you think the estrogen pills caused you to not have develop any blastocytes during your 4th cycle? Or do you attribute that moreso to C19 virus? 2) Do you remember the reason your doctor gave for dividing your doses of Follistim? You said 225iu in morning and 125iu in evening? The nurse i spoke to at my fertility clinic says she's never heard of this practice of dividing the doses. 3) Did you have your AMH checked at the start of each menstrual cycle to determine if it was an optimal month to start stims? For example, if it wasn't as high during month 2, you forego IVF for that month. Then, the following month, maybe your AMH is higher, so you move forward with stimming? Did you find that back-to-back IVF cycles netted you the highest quantity of mature eggs retrieved vs. selecting IVF months based on the AMH level for that month compared to others? 4)Looking back, if you had to start this process all over again from ground zero, what treatment plan would you have pursued/which do you feel your body responded to the best? Thank you so much for all your efforts to help the infertility community. I look forward to your responses.
🙏🏻 thank you for sharing your journey - you don’t owe anyone any updates and are free to do whatever you want!! 😊 I am just wondering why did they transfer 3 embryos this time? Did the doctor recommend that has a higher probability of success?
@@helenbubz thank you for the lovely comment and reminder ❤️ the doctor let me transfer three embryos because they were day four embryos and had a lower probability of sticking then the day fives. In Korea, there is a law that allows advanced maternal aged women to transfer up to 2 day fives and 3 day threes/fours at a time.
Hi, i am currently 40, on my 4th egg retrieval…. I had a fet transfer but didnt work. I had to do surgery to get rid of my endo, and to try naturally. It didnt work so im off to round 4 next month. Good luck with your journey
Hi Hellynn, I had a miscarriage last year from a natural pregnancy, 2 failed IUIs and 2 failed IVFs. They said that I have an AMH level of 0.7 with less than 5 eggs and I'm 37 years of age. I'm hoping this journey will end on a positive note eventually. I have been eating healthily, walking every day, focusing on my health and doing things that bring me joy but sometimes it's hard to stay hopeful. What you said about the sensitivity around pregnancy announcements and people trying to give advice, ie. adoption or egg donation really resonated with me. I'm curious about the Mira. Does this device work for women in late 30's with low AMH levels, diminished ovarian reserve and low antral follicle count? Thank you for sharing this video. It really helps to hear similar stories about the TTC fertility journey. Wish you so much luck and baby dust!
@@liyenwong3 hi there, thank you so much for sharing your story. I too have had a miscarriage from a natural pregnancy before and so I empathize with you and my heart goes out to you. Make sure that you watch my video on supplements. I made a couple of them in the past. As long as you have menstrual cycles Mira will be useful and tracking certain hormones. I will talk about some of that in my July 12 video. Please do not give up because 37 is still young, and you have a good chance. I would say that the biggest challenge of going through infertility is figuring out how to live your life to the best of your ability while still attempting to get pregnant and remain hopeful. It’s really hard though isn’t it!?! it’s definitely a balancing act. I am wishing you well and sending you lots and lots of baby dust. 💖💖💖 please let me know how it goes.
A big hug to you !! I am day 8 post transfer . My second cycle , last one was a chemical pregnancy. The roller coaster of emotions , hormones, fear of disappointing others … I am sure so many people resonate with you ❤ sending you love & positive vibes ❤ good luck dear !
I love the part where you said women should do everything in their power first then surrender to God. I've a friend who has been trying for over 5 years and is depending on God only!
My fertility expert also mentioned a duo stims protocol. I had never heard of such until yesterday. Will also have to study this. Wishing you all the best. We've got this! ❤💪🏻🙏
