FET Cycle 1 - Update 1

Well, it's been a bit!

I last posted after our first intrauterine insemination (IUI). IUIs have about a 15% success rate, and my RE was willing to try up to three of those. All three failed, which was not surprising but was a bummer. September is a tough month to not get pregnant because it means I won't have a baby before my next birthday (assuming a full-term pregnancy), but it was easier this year than the last few. If not when I'm 30, 31, 32, or 33, maybe 34...maybe.

After the third IUI failed, we talked with our doctor last Tuesday (9/7) about what was necessary to move forward with a frozen embryo transfer, or FET. We're now on our way!

As with my retrieval cycles, the first step in preparing for the FET was to take birth control. So, I started that last Tuesday. Since we are working with a limited number of precious euploid embryos--two to be exact--we want to take plenty of precautions to hopefully have a pregnancy that results in a live birth. Last December, I had laparoscopic surgery to check for endometriosis (and remove it once it was found). When we first met our RE in January, he explained that the laparoscopic surgery would buy us about six months before we would have to worry about the endometriosis returning. For those keeping score at home, it's been nine months since the surgery, so my RE wanted to check out my uterus for a status update before we went for a transfer. To do that, he recommended a saline infusion sonohysterogram, which is a fancy way of saying that he would inject some saline into my uterus and then look at it on the ultrasound to make sure everything was good. We did that this morning, and I rolled into the clinic in my traditional "This is terrible. Keep going" T-shirt and my good luck/friendship/happiness charms that I bring to almost every appointment: a friendship token from KT and a little squirrel from Cate. I held tightly onto them during the procedure. I have not had many issues with pain during the various procedures over the last few years, but this one was definitely the most uncomfortable of anything I have done so far. Not painful, but definitely uncomfortable. Fortunately, my reproductive system looked "very normal" according to my RE, so we are moving forward.

Tomorrow, my medications will arrive, and we'll be back to injections of Lupron. This is a different kind of Lupron from what I have had before, and we'll do it twice a day for two weeks. I'll discontinue the birth control pills next Thursday, and the Thursday after that, I'll go for an ultrasound and labs. Eventually, I'll start injections of progesterone in oil, or PIO, which is famous for being thick and requiring a large needle...cool. Pile it on top with the other medications, supplements, and procedures. Ha. 

Preparing for the FET is exciting, but I do feel more pressure than I did with the IUIs. If the first FET does not take, we will have to pause and decide if we want to try for another retrieval (or retrievals) or transfer the second one quickly. If the first one fails but the second one works, we would be out of euploid embryos, and I would be older. For now, however, I am doing my best to not think about that. Right now, we're going to give the first FET our best shot (no pun intended). 

I'll probably be mostly quiet between now and our next appointment on the 30th, as there will not be much to update.

Something that made today great: I had a dissertation homework party with Catherine and Diana, and it was so nice to catch up! (And we got our homework done!)

Time I woke up: 7:00 am