New IVF clinic?

Question

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well. I haven’t posted a new topic in a while, but lately I’ve been getting baby fever again so I’m looking for some advice.

I had my first retrieval in April 2020 and ended up with 4 PGS normal frozen embryos (5BA, 5BB, 3AA, 3AA). In August 2020 I transferred my 5BA and as a result I now have a beautiful, healthy daughter who is perfect in every way (hence my inevitable baby fever). My husband and I will be making some big changes this year including buying a new house 2 hours away to be closer to family. There is one fertility clinic up there that’s rated decently well, but I’m almost tempted to just travel 2 hours to be able to use my same dr/clinic that I used before because I trust her and she already knows my history and the best protocol to use for my issues. I’m also super paranoid about something happening to my embabies if I move them to a new clinic😬.

If you were in my shoes, what would you do? Has anyone here ever had to travel for <a href="https://glowing.com/glow-fertility-program">IVF</a>? Is it a pain in the butt? Did you get a hotel and stay for a few weeks or did you just drive every time you had an appointment? Have you ever transferred your embryos to a new clinic? Is that process scary? I’m so torn on what to do because I remember having daily appointments before my transfer, which might be a pain if it’s 2 hours away. Any advice is welcome!

Answer

Hey, Mama! Hope things are going well! I'm loving your baby fever lol. You're such a trooper! 
I've transferred embabies from one clinic to another. It was a pain in the ass logistically but that was only because I had to coordinate with both clinics to ensure they would be ready and stored properly and arrive during business hours. I used a shipper from the new clinic (had to rent it for a fee) and FedEx expedited shipping. You could use a 3rd party company though. It's about double the cost but they do all the work. 
I'll say, if you love your clinic and doctor, 2 hrs isn't so bad. I had to drive 2.5 one way for a clinic. It wasn't bad but I did need a hotel for my retreival cycle. Just didn't make sense to commute that many days in a row. For the FET it wasn't so bad. Long days in the car. I think the only thing that would really suck is coordinating an entire day around appointments. Hubby and I tried to make a day out of it if he could tag along (maybe lunch, a movie, or shopping). Give it a shot. Worst case is you hate the commute during your cycle and have to switch before another transfer.

Answer

Hi Mama!!! I miss you and the ladies from 2020 FET IVF group. 
So exciting you are thinking about another transfer! I would stay with the clinic and your doctor. Personally I would hate to get to know/develop relationship with new doctor and staff. I would also be paranoid about embryo transfer between clinics. 
My husband and I started talking about it too. But we would have to start from beginning as we  have no embryos left.

Answer

I debated switching clinics for different reasons (not thrilled with the care this time around, had my son January 2020 from an ivf icsi transfer). Since Covid I think the clinic is very unorganized.
I ultimately chose to stay because I didn’t want to risk the frozen embryos being moved from clinics. 
Tough decision, sorry I don’t have more helpful info! Good luck 🍀

Answer

Hi Mama, how exciting you’re thinking about transferring again! 🥰 I think it’s most important to be happy with your clinic, so if you’re happy with your old clinic I’d stay with them, 2 hours isn’t ideal but it’s doable. I moved clinic sites (same company different location) and it was just under 2 hours away, and we did travel each time. It was a bit of a pain, especially travelling that far for a 10 min scan appointment, and it was a bit of juggling with work, but it was worth it to be totally happy 😊

Answer

I personally would stay with your clinic, since you’re happy with them! For my second round of IVF, we traveled to NY (from Ohio). It’s about 8 hours.  We had to go just for retrieval and also transfer, but I did monitoring at home through my OB office. My OB office is an hour away. We moved when my little one was just a few months old, and I love my OB so I decided to stick with her. I actually only had to be seen twice during my FET cycle and then was ready for transfer, so then we booked one night at a hotel near our clinic. Went for transfer and drove home immediately after. I mean don’t get me wrong, there’s some added stress going through a second round and having to travel there, not to mention having a little one at home that you need to make arrangements for for those early morning appointments. It was very different than my first round. I was so stressed having to spend one night away, I worried and worried and everything was totally fine lol. But for you, I don’t think you would have to do that, unless you wanted to of course. So yes, it wasn’t easy. But totally do-able. And also worth it:)

Answer

If you like your clinic and you had success with them I would stay for the next transfer. 2 hours isn’t to bad for an FET.

Answer

My sister moved state after her first FET. She was able to do monitoring at a local clinic and only made the drive to her old place for the transfer

New IVF clinic?

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