Happy Aloha Friday!! I don’t get to say that for very much longer, so I’m taking advantage of the aloha spirit while I can! It’s a little difficult when the Army throws a wrench into plans though, which happens alllll the time. This will now be the third weekend in a row that Dan has to work unexpectedly, and this weekend is 12 hour overnight shifts. 😦 We have some good friends leaving next week, so this is their last weekend on island. I know my husband, so I know he will go to the beach with us anyway…and might just be a zombie. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he sleeps at some point.
Ok, so back to our story…I left off with our one sweet blastocyst being frozen for us. At that point, we just had to wait. We were hoping the transfer could be at the beginning of August, but it ended up being scheduled for August 21st. That was terrifying, because at that time, we were supposed to be leaving island on August 24th. Then, for the first time ever, we were excited about one of those last minute Army changes I mentioned…they changed his leave date to October 24th! Dan was not thrilled at first, but I was so happy that it gave us more time on the island to deal with this stuff. It ended up being a HUGE blessing, because our FET got delayed. I’ll get to that shortly.
I went in for my baseline ultrasound at the beginning of August. All looked good, so I was put on estradiol (estrogen) pills to get my uterine lining to thicken up. They are little blue pills…that is important to the story. 2 in the morning, and 2 at night. The amount of estrogen holds off the natural cycle so it can be manipulated for the IVF cycle. I went in for bloodwork five-ish days later, and my estradiol level was a little low. They added an estradiol patch to the regimen. It is a fairly decent size round patch that can either go on the lower abdomen or lower back. I tried the back…it gapped and about fell off. So abdomen it was. I had to keep it on for 3 days, then switch out for a new one on the other side of my abdomen. I still have marks on my stomach from the adhesive, you can see exactly where those patches were. I went through 10 of them. Anyway, when I went back to check my lining a few days later, it was only at 5.5mm (needs to be at least 7mm). This again. I had been doing EVERYTHING I could…I basically read the entire internet on this subject and did all the things. I walked for 30 min daily to keep my blood flowing, drank pomegranate juice, did acupuncture, took extra vitamin E, was eating a diet high in protein and iron…and the hardest things…I had cut out all caffeine and alcohol. No coffee, no wine. I can deal without wine, but cutting out coffee was seriously sad. The dr said she wasn’t worried, we would just push it out a week and that usually does the trick. It didn’t stop us from being devastated, though. Again, I cried the whole way home. That happened a lot when leaving Tripler. We never seemed to get good news there. OH, and here is where the blue pill thing comes into play (this next part is a bit TMI – skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want to know). I had to start taking those pills vaginally. Yep, the exact same pills I was taking orally…I had to start sticking them UP THERE. And they are blue. Let’s just say I kept the pantyliner industry in business. It was interesting and not fun, though Dan and I did come up with some pretty hilarious jokes about it. Sometimes they fell out. Or I’d put one in, then when I put the next one in, the first one came out. I tried an applicator…they would just fall off because they were too small. Ahh, the things we do to have a baby.
We were supposed to go back a week later to recheck my lining, but then Hurricane Lane came along and tried to ruin our baby making party. They switched my appointment to a day earlier because they would be closed the next couple days in preparation for the hurricane that we were supposed to get. I freaked out and took an extra dose of the estradiol in a last ditch effort. I know, I know…I shouldn’t do that. But I did and it was fine, so moving on. We went in and it was at 7.2mm!! We were SO EXCITED! My transfer was then set for Monday, August 27th. I kept telling that hurricane that if it messed up this transfer, I would fight it. It must have worked, because it didn’t hit us on Oahu at all. It sprinkled for a few days…that was it! We were beyond grateful.
Side bar – Progesterone in Oil
These suckers get their own paragraph. The day my lining became thick enough, I had to start progesterone in oil (PIO) shots every day. Those are the giant needles you see at the top of the page that go into my bum. They suck. A lot. It is in sesame oil (literally), so it’s thick and has to be injected slowly. They are intra-muscular injections, which is why the needle is so freaking long and the gauge is so large. I iced beforehand, because let’s be real, I’m not trying to feel that shit. Sorry not sorry for the language. Dan did the injections for me because that is NOT an easy angle to get on your own. Afterward, he would massage the injection site with a warm cloth to get the oil to disperse a little (less lumpy that way), then I would park my booty on a heating pad. My right side was always worse than my left, not sure why. The muscle soreness would last for about a day and a half on each side, so it would subside just in time to do it again. If I would have been pregnant, I would have to continue these (and the fun estradiol pills and patches) for the entire first trimester, until the placenta takes over. As it was, I continued until I got the official negative result from the dr, which was 9 days after the transfer.
Now that you likely know a lot more about the IVF process than you ever imagined, if you know a couple going through it, give those people a hug. Tell them that they are strong, that they are warriors. Pray for them, if that’s your thing. They are going through SO MUCH, and are probably broke as a joke since most insurances don’t cover ANY of this stuff. Although, I just learned through my fb group (and many other online forums) that Israel is apparently the happening place to get IVF meds! It’s online, we don’t have to go there. US pharmacies jack up med prices so much, that getting them overseas is saving people THOUSANDS of dollars. My meds would be anywhere between $6-8k here, and only $3k from Israel…similar cost from a place in the UK as well. Several girls recommended specific sites, also recommended by their drs. So, though it seems a tad scary, I am trusting those recommendations. I will ask my dr as well though, before biting the bullet. It is looking like our next cycle, at a place with great reviews in Phoenix, will be about $13k out of pocket when all is said and done. While it is still a lot of money, it is better than the $18-20k that it would be at closer places. I’m still trying to reach the MTF in San Antonio that has the grant like Tripler does here. No one ever answers the phone or returns my messages, though. 😦 Don’t worry, I’ll keep trying. I’m persistent, especially about saving $6k!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!
Much love,
Michelle
Infertility can kiss my bruised, lumpy butt. 