ERA

prudence9-2

@kristimh80 I have a feeling you will be using PIO. If it is part of your protocol it should be part of the ERA cycle. 

I had lupron for 6 cycles. (4 FET, 1 cancelled FET & 1 ERA) each time for about 3.5-4 weeks. I usually started having side effects after few days. And it was usually really bad for the first 10-12 days of the cycle. Then I would usually start patches and that balanced my body.

kristimh80

@prudence9-2 Yep! You were right! I even asked the nurse on the phone this morning if she was sure...so good thing I contacted the main nurse.  Now I just need to hunt down an extra vial of progesterone. My hip still looks like it has red freckles from the last round lol

prudence9-2

@kristimh80 glad I said something! It would have sucked if you went thru this cycle and then have it fail because you didn’t do PIO. Crazy that the nurse this morning told you that you don’t need it!!!!

Will you do 2 biopsies? 

kristimh80

@prudence9-2 I don't believe so, but I wish they would. I always watch youtuve videos where the girls do one then 2 days later do another. I'd rather do that than have to come back another cycle, but we will see. I have my sonogram for the day after Memorial Day, so will double check. How's everything going with you?

prudence9-2

@kristimh80 I did 2 biopsies. One on day 6 and one on day 8. But the lab was nice to test one at a time. And since I only needed another 12 hours they ended up not testing the second biopsy, so I didn’t have to pay those lab fees!

how I’m doing in spoiler box...

I was released from my RE clinic after 9w. And that was the last US I had. I’m now waiting for 12w to get the NT scan. Long wait... I hope everything is still ok. I have absolutely no symptoms. ***TW*** my first pregnancy ended with a MMC so that’s always on my mind. As you have no idea something bad has happened. ***end TW***

kristimh80

@prudence9-2 Thanks for the update Keep trying to stay positive and thinking good thoughts! You're next appt will be here before you know, but I know how the weeks / time you don't have appts or things going on, can seem like an eternity! Feel free to keep hanging out with us...hope it makes time go quicker for you

prudence9-2

@kristimh80 thanks. I have 1 week and 2 days for my next appt. but who’s counting 

I’ll def keep checking on all of you! Hope you’ll join us on the other side soon

sunny_side

@prudence9-2 congratulations!! 
I only have 1 pgs normal embryo and waiting to see if 2 more will grow to day 5. My Dr. Mentioned he wants to do an ERA since I have minimum 1 to max 3 embryos to work with. I’m petrified of the ERA. I can give myself IM shots, I recover great after ER... I’m don’t think Im a total baby but this procedure gives me anxiety. 

Give it to me straigt... how is it? Has as anyone asked for anesthesia? I know t would be more expensive but i feel like I’ve already gone through so much that I’m not willing to put up with a painful invasive procedure. Thoughts? 

kristimh80

@sunny_side Great question! I've heard girls say it was nothing, to some feel it was awful. Guess depends really on your pain tolerance. I never think mock transfers or hysteroscopy's hurt, but I know some people think they are the worst. I'm praying my ERA is nothing but like routine stuff. One friend said her trick was to cough as they did the biopsy and it was no big deal. I was high risk for OHSS, so ER was the only thing I had to actually recover from. When do you plan on doing the ERA?

sunny_side

@kristimh80 very true. The HSG didn’t bother me at all but I heard from other people that it was excruciating for them. For me the SIS was very uncomfortable but others say that was nothing. My dr. Said ERA doesn’t hurt but he’s a man LOL. I think your friend is right, I’ve “coughed” for colonoscopy and for SIS and I think it does help! 

AFM, I have one pgs normal embryo and I have about 2 weeks to find out if my 2 new embryos make it to freeze. If they make it, I’ll have enough to transfer and would be looking at either a June transfer or June ERA/ July transfer. If they don’t make it, I’ll probabaly stim again

kristimh80

@sunny_side FX for your little one's! I have 1 pgs embryo left. We almost were going to do another retrieval to bank eggs, but think we are at the point of impatience at this point. My ERA will be the 1st week of June, then will probably transfer in July. Think we are at the point where we'd be ok with 1 child, then might adopt the second. But who knows...if July doesn't pan out, we maybe doing another retrieval as well. Some days in this process...I confuse myself  

sunny_side

That is wonderful @kristimh80 ! June is just around the corner. Hoping you don’t need another stim cycle and this works out! I totally feel the impatience too. Embarrassing - we watched a movie last night and a character all of a sudden had a huge baby bump and her husband was hugging her. It hit me and I started crying- I needed 2 min then was fine but things just set me off. I know they say being pregnant can be exhausting but NOT being pregant is definitely exhausting! FX this chapter of life is coming to a close! 

kristimh80

@sunny_side Awe don’t feel bad! I had a meltdown last week too! My boss announced she was 6 months pregnant. I’m super happy for her and love her but I went home that night and balled my eyes out as well. 

prudence9-2

@sunny_side since you asked one time I had uterine biopsy and it was painful as hell!!! They didn’t use any local anesthesia to go thru the cervix and I think that’s why it hurt so much for me. (The acrualy biopsy hurts like period pains but it’s very quick. About 30 seconds to 1 minute)

So I was terrified going to the era. I had two era biopsies. For the first one they had trouble going thru the cervix so they then used local anesthesia (outside the cervix) and it was not a big deall!! Then for the second era I asked them to use local anesthesia. But this time it did hurt a lot. My theory is that the area was already wounded from two days prior. So it was painful but only painful for a minute or two. 

So yes, it’s not a fun procedure. But it is a quick procedure! 

When will you have it?

sunny_side

Thanks @prudence9-2! Waiting now to see if my new embryos make it to freeze and get pgs reports. If they come back normal, I hope to have enough backup to not have to do an ERA. If only 1 makes it, I’ll be looking at a June ERA. I asked my Dr. what percentage of his patients do ERA and he said he’s done 38 (as of February). It wasn’t reassuring to me

prudence9-2

@sunny_side hopefully you won’t need it. 

But if you do, don’t worry about your doctor. Era is like a uterine biopsy. So for him it’s not a complex procedure. 

When will you get the day 5 reports?

JamieH2000

@sunny_side- I was expecting some really bad pain, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I built it up to be. Only lasts 5-10 seconds and its just like a bad period cramp. I had to have 2 biopsies for my first ERA, since she didn't get enough the first time. I also had a second ERA. It wasn't fun, but again, super short. I would do it again if needed. The answers are well worth the pain. If you want some hope about the ERA, listen the Beat Infertility podcast from last week where they talk about lining issues. Dr. Rodgers has had huge success from the ERA.

kristimh80

@JamieH2000 Thanks for mentioning that Podcast...I don't know why, I've never thought of there being fertility podcasts out there.

JamieH2000

@kristimh80- yes Beat Infertility has been around for 3 years now and it is really a great podcast. The created has gone through tons of IF herself and has quite the story. The expert RE that calls in is actually my RE and I switched to her because I loved her on the podcasts and she is so up to date on research. Def worth checking out!

Ilky

@kristimh80 Hi dear! I didnt do ERA, but just wanted to wish you luck! I'm praying it will give you some clear answers and you'll be pregnant to a healthy baby very soon 

kristimh80

@Ilky Awe thanks for much sweet friend!! I hope your 1st trimester if going well for you! Hopefully, I can join you on the other boards very soon!!  

@JamieH2000 That's wonderful that you found such a great doctor that's open to new research! It's a breath of fresh air, since I feel like some many doctors give the same blanket plan for most of their patients. I know my RE does 21 day FET for all patients, which annoys me some but I guess there's only 25% of patients that need the ERA for adjustments, so I kind of get it. 

kristimh80

Bumping this thread to see if anyone else is doing ant ERA right now...

bebesparrow

@kristimh80 Now I'm wondering if I should do the ERA biopsy.  I was asking my RE about it and he was saying he didn't recommend it yet.  Fingers crossed you will get more answers leading towards your positive BFP

kristimh80

@bebesparrow Thank you! Go with your gut on these things...I wish I had done one before I ever transfer just so I'd be 100% sure. But my dr thinks that's overkill, but there's always that 25% of people that need it

bpietronicco

Hi everyone! I just met with my RE and she has decided to schedule an ERA before transferring my only normal embryo (although we may have one more- waiting for it to be retested).  Thank you everyone for sharing your experience. My ERA is scheduled for 17 July.  I will be on Lupron- have never taken this before- how are the side affects??

kristimh80

@bpietronicco That's a great plan I've only taken Lupron as a trigger shot, but for me I just remember getting hot flashes from it. Mine was a compounded Lupron, so not sure if that makes any difference. 

katie35

@bpietronicco , I was on Lupron for a couple of my FETs and agree with @kristimh80 .  The only side affect I really remember were the hot flashes, especially in the middle of the night.  Other than that, I don't think it was too bad!

bpietronicco

Thanks @katie35!  It will be nice to know wha to expect and glad it seems to not be so bad. 

prudence9-2

@bpietronicco I was on Lupron for a total of 6 months (6 cycles... including the ERA). For me Lupron is the worst. It makes me super bloated and I also have a constant headaches with it. The good news is that once they add estrogen to your cycle, headaches usually go away. Also, headaches usually didn’t start on day 1...  

good luck with the ERA cycle!!!