The holidays are behind us, which means that it’s time to let all our livers recover, and it’s time for a blog update. As planned, I called the nurse when I got my period in December and finalized the timeline to prep for the transfer. We came up with a timeline that managed to work into account several variables: trying to get the transfer in before the spring semester starts and my husband goes back to work, making sure my lining check appointment didn’t fall during the two days I’m running a strategic planning meeting for a client, and ensuring that the first ultrasound (if, by some miracle, all goes well) wouldn’t fall the week I’m supposed to be at CookieCon.
Where did that leave me? With starting the estradiol (estrogen) pills at 8:00 am on Jan. 1 and the lining check today (Jan. 13). Waking up early to take meds and going cold turkey on caffeine are certainly one way to start the new year. For whatever reason, this time around the estradiol made me even more exhausted than I remember being the last time around. Everything has been an effort, and I spend most weekday afternoons wishing I could take a nap (alas, work calls). Of course, the fatigue is in addition to the normal side effects (or just a side effect of prepping for a transfer): depression, short temper, stress, etc. It’s a pretty great combination, I have to say. Thank goodness my husband is amazing at being my zen through all this.
The purpose of the estradiol is to build my uterine lining. This meant when my post-birth control period started much later than it has in the past (beginning 4 days into the estradiol pills instead of ending by that day), I grew concerned that I was shedding the lining that was supposed to be thickening. When I called the nurse last Wednesday to find out if I was over-reacting or if my concerns were justified, she agreed that it was concerning, especially since I haven’t had great luck building my lining in the past. She told me to add two additional estradiol pills as suppositories each evening, and recommended I do a pre-lining check lining check two days later (this past Friday) to get a sense of where my uterine lining was in terms of thickness in case additional changes needed to be made to my daily meds.
At first I thought I was going to have to drive down to Tallahassee on Friday, but then I remembered my OB-GYN in Albany had said they could do ultrasounds and whatnot, so I called them and got an appointment there. The good: I didn’t have to do a 5-hour round trip or miss a full day of work. The bad: I have to pay for the ultrasound since they’re not covered by the amount already paid to the fertility firm (fingers crossed insurance covers it).
After the scan on Friday, I emailed the report to my fertility nurse (the OB-GYN receptionist had given me a copy of it), since she hadn’t yet received the the promised fax from the doctor’s office. When we talked, she told me that my doctor wasn’t thrilled with the report, but he didn’t think reaching the needed threshold by Monday (today’s) appointment was hopeless either. He told her something like, if it’s not thick enough, I would just need to do a few more days of estrogen and come back for a second lining check. Except I couldn’t do that because the timing would have landed that follow-up appointment on day two of a two-day planning meeting I’m running for a client this week. I had a LOT riding on “passing” the lining check today.
The nurse told me that if I wanted, I could add two additional estradiol pills as suppositories in the morning, or she could call in a prescription for an estrogen patch. If I went the patch route, though, it was extremely important I put it low on my belly away from my breasts since too much estrogen can cause breast cancer (as if I wasn’t anxious enough about all of this). I told her that deciding whether or not to add more estrogen wasn’t really something I thought I should decide. I needed them, as the doctor’s office, to tell me what I should do, and if the estrogen pills worked just as well as the patch, I’d prefer the pills. So she said to add two more estrogen pills as suppositories to the morning meds.
I spent most of the weekend stressing out about today’s lining check. But, by some miracle, I met the threshold to move forward with the transfer. That means I now add in the additional meds — the two progesterone suppositories twice a day and the progesterone in oil shot in the butt every other day (yup, the sharpie target circles are back) — and the transfer is scheduled for this coming Monday, Jan. 20. Then I have to behave and eat as though I’m pregnant until a blood test on Jan. 30, which will be part one of determining whether or not the transfer worked. If that test (again, by some miracle) comes back positive, the follow-up blood test is then two days later, or maybe four since that falls on a weekend.
It’s the last embryo we have available (this is a frozen donor egg embryo), and so I’m both terrified that it won’t work and terrified that it will work. Although I’m supposed to remain calm and unstressed, it’s gonna be a long January.
Next update probably won’t be until the blood test at the end of the month unless something weird happens. Again.