I've learned that my body doesn't want to make babies naturally. Infertility is fairly common, but very few people talk openly about infertility. I am.  

The Inevitable Delay

I suppose I should be used to delays. Last year, the start date of my very first round of IVF was delayed a week because of Hurricane Irma. Earlier this year, my laparotomy (fibroid removal) surgery date was delayed almost a month because the doctor came down with the flu the day before the surgery. This morning, I drove the 2.5 hours to Tallahassee for the pre-transfer scan — to make sure the estrogen I’ve been giving myself did the trick and increased the thickness of my uterine lining. I learned that yes, the 3 pills I’ve been taking twice a day (that have caused me to alternate between rage, depression, and an inability to deal with mostly anything for the past 13 days) did the trick and my lining is thick enough to support the transfer. Except that the scan also found evidence of a polyp at the exact spot where the implantation is supposed to take place.

What does that mean? Well, it means no transfer on Tuesday, as I’ve been anticipating, trying to plan around, and losing sleep over/generally freaking out about. It means I stop taking the estrogen and switch to a medicine that will induce my period to start (I can only imagine what this will do to my emotions). Once that happens — with no specific timeline since that’s totally up to my body’s response to this new med — I’ll call the fertility clinic to schedule the hysteroscopy for my doctor to remove the polyp. This will, of course, be done in Jacksonville, and since I’ll be knocked out for the procedure, my husband will need to come to drive me home (it’s a one-day thing, except since it’s in Jax it means a 2-day thing for us due to the distance). Then I’ll go back on the pill and start the whole process over again … wait to recover from the procedure, stop taking the pill, get a period, wait to get another normal-cycle period, and then start the estrogen pills to build the uterine lining. Again. The doctor couldn’t give me any timeframe as it depends both on the start date of the period induced by the meds and on the date they’re able to bring me in for the hysteroscopy, but I’m guessing this will push the transfer to early November.

I’m not really a “look on the bright side of things” person, but I suppose there are some positives to the delay: it means I can focus on getting prepared for next week’s house closing without also worrying about the transfer. It also means I can enjoy the occasional alcoholic beverage again for the next few weeks (and trust me, that is much needed right now). And, it means I can continue to go to the gym (hear that, gym accountability buddy?).

On the downside, for the past six weeks I’ve been trying to get mentally prepared for the transfer and what comes after it, and to have that suddenly pushed out to an unknown time frame is quite the jolt to the system, even without taking into consideration the various hormones that have been messing with my emotions.

That’s it. Next update will be when I know more about the hysteroscopy schedule.

The New Transfer Timeline

A Year Later, Preparing for the Transfer