June DE FET

lucyb1954

Hi Everyone! A safe place for June DE FETs. Coupla folks who are prepping?
@laurad75
@JamieH2000
@laurelew
@peaceful_angel

Anyone else I missed? @c-town18 were you able to get your pre-FET surgery scheduled? My HSG is scheduled for May 5-10ish. If all goes well, we will be starting prep for a June FET soon after that. 

laurad75

My monitoring appt is this upcoming Thursday.  I'm taking so much estradiol so I'm hopeful that my lining will look good but last time it took a while for it to be ready.  

laurelew

Thanks for starting this thread!  This will be my second DE FET.  Currently in the beginning of my mock cycle.  I always find it so much easier to do a cycle when I know what to expect.  So far the mock cycle has been relatively stress free since it is the same protocol as the first DE FET: Estradiol tablets by mouth, Estrogen patches, ultrasound on day 13, and then add in the PIO on day 14.

lucyb1954

Hi @laurad75 GL on your appt! How much estradiol are you on? I've never had a lining problem, but I want to talk to my doctor about how much estradiol to take...at a certain level, the estradiol makes me reallllly depressed. There was one time I was at 8mg daily and I hated it, so I'm going to ask her what the minimal amount I need for transfer is. @laurelew you're at a clinic abroad, yes? Hopefully after your ERA then flights and borders will be open again. CD1 is today for me, so I'm getting my despised saline ultrasound scheduled. HATE THAT THING. Last time I did it I made them do it while I was under for retrieval. However, this is a different clinic than the one I had the really painful, traumatic one at, so I'm hoping they're more skilled at it. Plus they did give me Valium and Tylenol 3. The first one I had at the other clinic they assured me it would be briefly uncomfortable...it was excruciating, and took them forever. They were a crappy practice anyway, so I ditched them. 

I've been quiet on the boards for the last couple of weeks because my dog has been really sick...I've had him for a decade and I just can't imagine life without him. He seems to be doing a bit better the last 48 hours, but man, this little guy has really seen me through some of the worst stuff I've been through in life. So I'm hoping he pulls through It seems like it's better for me emotionally to be on a thread just for DE stuff as well right now, so I wanted to start the chain.

I hope you both are doing well -- it's been really emotional for me with my dog, but I'm getting anxious to move forward and it's great to see that you both are moving forward as well!

laurad75

@lucyb1954 Oh that's so stressful that your dog is sick.  I hope he is feeling better soon. 

I'm on 8mg/day of estradiol + a patch that I change every other day.  I think I started at 6mg/ day last time and it took a little longer to get my lining up.  The first couple of days I felt off but that was also the start of my cycle and over the past year I have started getting migraines the first few days of my cycle so its just ugly until I get balanced out.  

lucyb1954

Gaahhhh 8mg a day and a patch???? I'ma wanna dig a ditch and just lay down in it until I can reduce it!!!!! I have gotten great linings from 4 mg a day...but anything can happen. I will just have to suck it up, eat a lot of chocolate, and watch a lot of crap TV. When's the next season of Love is Blind on Netflix out???? That show is a total trainwreck but...I can't keep my eyes off of it...Anyway, I'm pulling for you to have a lovely trilaminar lining tomorrow!!!!

laurelew

@lucyb1954 I am so sorry to hear about your dog.

I agree about how nice it is to have a dedicated DE board.  I'm at a domestic clinic close to home (fortunately I had a number of clinics close to me to choose from).  They coordinate the DE process, recruit donors and manage their care as well.  I've been very happy with them so far (yes, I'm not pregnant yet, but I don't think that's their fault, lol).

My estradiol protocol gradually increases and decreases throughout the cycle.  My estradiol pills are 2mg.  So I start with one pill once a day and two patches.  After a few days I increase to one pill twice a day and two patches.  This morning I am starting one pill three times a day and three patches.  The PIO gets added in around day 14 (I have a holding pattern for two days this month so I guess it is day 16 for me).  The next day the estradiol gets reduced to one pill twice a day and two patches again.  That would continue throughout the pregnancy if a transfer is successful.

I tend to have pretty bad PMS symptoms including pretty heavy depression one day a month, typically a day or two before AF starts.  I believe that it is tied to my natural hormone cycle.  Therefore, I was really worried about how my body would react to all of these hormones I've been pumping into it.  So far, surprisingly fine.  The worst for me is probably the breast tenderness (I'm already pretty well endowed without the extra hormones so once I reach that point -- ow!).  I also have never had any problems with my lining, at least not that anyone has told me about.

laurad75

I had my monitoring appt this morning and even with all that estradiol my lining was still only 6.4 so I'm sure everything will be pushed back a few days.  I know I'll get there eventually but I'm still disappointed.  

@lucyb1954 How's the pup feeling?

laurelew

@laurad75 I'm sorry to hear everything will be getting pushed back.  What is the plan of action at this time?  Are they changing your medication any or just giving it a few more days before moving forward?

laurad75

@laurelew I don't know yet.  I had my ultrasound and asked for the lining number (6.4) which I'm sure is not going to be enough to start PIO.  I will get my call this afternoon with more instructions.  I'm curious if they are going to change my dosage or just give me more time. 

lucyb1954

@laurad75 so sorry about that. One thing I get so so frustrated with with this journey is my body not doing what I want it to do. Sometimes it makes me feel like such a failure. Do they ever prescribe lupron for lining?  I always grew a good lining on lupron. You absolutely will get there but especially for us DE ladies, every setback is so difficult:( 

thanks for asking about my pup. It’s pretty much touch and go every day. I’m sitting outside the vet in my car right now. I just love him so much, I don’t want him to leave me now but I don’t want him to suffer either. 

@laurelew when’s your ERA? how are you feeling?

laurelew

@lucyb1954 My ERA is scheduled for May 19.  I feel much less stressed now than I did for my first FET in March (that time around I was stressed because I only had one female embryo and I really wanted it to work, then because of the early pandemic news stories, etc).  This time around feels familiar at least.

Both Tuesday and then today I have been hit with a wave of extreme exhaustion right around lunch time.  I'm very much looking forward to taking a nap this afternoon.  I felt some of this same exhaustion back in March.  At the time I had chalked it up to stress brought on by the pandemic.  Now I'm thinking it is probably more likely the estradiol. 

laurad75

oh @lucyb1954 - you are breaking my heart.  I'm so sorry you have this stress right now.  

The clinic called and they are pushing everything back one week to give my lining some more time.  I'm also increasing estradiol by 2mg a day so we will see how I respond to that.  I can't complain when so many others are waiting in limbo for cycles to start again.  

radmom27

Hello all,
I would love to join this group...Laurad75 I recognize you from my donor egg cycle a long time ago!

***TRIGGER*** I had a successful donor egg FET with the birth of my son in October of 2018. We are hoping to give him a sibling that is close to him in age. **

I had an unsuccessful embryo transfer in February and have been on hold since then.  I'm hoping to have my transfer on June 10th. If this cycle is unsuccessful, I'm up for an ERA.  

laurad75

Hi @radmom27! It’s great to see you here. 

lucyb1954

Hi @radmom27 welcome! I’m sorry your transfer failed but good to have you on the board. I have my saline sonogram Tuesday and that will determine my FET date but it will likely be June 10-20 somewhere. It’s a hard wait but I’m glad we decided to delay from May to June after all the stress with my dog. He’s home now with me with a feeding tube that we’ll hope to have out within a couple of weeks. But he definitely looks better than he did! Poor little guy. Lots of hugs to everyone this Mother’s Day, those with kiddos and those us in waiting!

laurad75

@lucyb1954 I popped on here to check up on your dog. I’m happy to see he is looking better. 

laurelew

Had my ultrasound this morning to check my lining and everything looked good to start the PIO tomorrow.  Still on track for the ERA next Tuesday.  Yesterday I was feeling very blue for no reason whatsoever.  I'm attributing it to the estradiol.  I'll be happy once I'm past the ERA and I can begin a transfer cycle. (FX)

lucyb1954

Hi @laurelew the estradiol does me in every time! At the levels of 6-8 mg daily it makes me really depressed so I wouldn’t be surprised if that was it. Honestly I’m struggling right now. Mother’s Day was rough for me as a friend announced her second pregnancy and there’s been several new pregnancies on another board and while I am thrilled for all of these folks, my soul also feels like it takes a beating at every announcement 😕 my dog is doing okay at the moment but he’s back up at the vet for bloodwork this morning and I’m worried. I’m glad your lining looked good!

@laurad75 how’s your lining doing?

laurelew

@lucyb1954 I know, I was thinking about you yesterday when I was feeling blue because I thought I remembered you saying you were struggling with the estradiol as well.  It sounds like you have a lot of external stressors going on in your life right now.  I know how hard it is to feel like all of the good things in life keep passing you by.

I lost my mom in January.  She had battled brain cancer for 6 years and the last year of her life was especially difficult for her and for us.  For the longest time it made me so sad to think that I would be going through this journey (of hopeful pregnancy and motherhood) without her.  I am still sad but I've decided that she was so excited to meet my future LO that she couldn't wait until he made his way into our world to meet him so she went to heaven early to take care of him for us until the timing is right down here.  I don't know what you believe (and sometimes I don't even know what I believe) but it's nice to think of them together while I try to practice patience and take it day by day.

laurad75

Hi gang.  I had my 2nd check-in today and my lining is still light.  I went from 6.4 to 6.8 over a week so I'm frustrated.  I will get a call this afternoon with instructions but I'm already taking 10mg of estradiol + a patch so I just may need to be patient.  

lucyb1954

GAAAHHH! I'm sorry, that's so frustrating to be so close yet so far away. Have you done acupuncture? My acupuncturist is open on a limited basis right now but maybe it would help? But like you say, you probably just need to be a patient patient right now. I'm sending good vibes for your uterine lining to kick into gear!

@laurelew I'm so sorry about your mom. My mom is 75 and all of a sudden she is looking frail lately and it makes me sad. But honestly, no matter how much time she would get to spend with a kid, I know it would be the joy of her life to see me have a kid after all I've been through and just know that I got to experience what I wanted so dearly. I often don't know what I believe either, but my dad passed on 15 years ago and there's ways in which I wasn't close to him too much in life but the inheritance I unexpectedly received 13 years after his death paid for my IVF and DEIVF treatments, plus the care of my sick dog right now. He wasn't very emotionally available in life but I know he is taking care of me the way he knew how. I also like to think that your mom is looking after you too

laurelew

@laurad75 How frustrating!  Please keep us updated on what they recommend this afternoon.

@lucyb1954 I love how you wrote, "I know it would be the joy of her life to see me have a kid after all I've been through and just know that I got to experience what I wanted so dearly."  I feel the same way about my mom.  And even though she's not here to be a part of that, I know I will carry the lessons she taught me with me throughout the rest of my life and that my LO will get to know her through me.

JamieH2000

HI Ladies!

Sorry I haven't been on much! Looks like its going to be a great summer for DE transfers. I am anxiously awaiting my period (day like 43 here). I'm def not pregnant- I think i got a cyst after my mock cycle from all the estrogen and it messed up my cycle. Our clinic is offically open again, but likely won't be able to transfer until end of June or early July. trying to be patient but its hard! #2 wasn't supposed to take 7-8 months! We first saw our RE in Nov and then did PGS, Saline, Hysterscopy, ERA and then COVID. There is always something right?

@laurad75- ugh i'm sorry girl! I had lining issues and its SO frustrating. What really helped me get mine thick was del estrogen shots. I was on SO much estrogen- pills, patches and shots. and I still barely get to 8 with all of that. but it worked for me. Hoping for good news today!

@radmom27- welcome back! Crazy how our timing is similar again!

@lauralew- So sorry to hear about your mom the ERA is not fun, but its so short! i really hope it gives you answers and then you can transfer again right away!

@lucyb1954- how are you doing? thinking about you and your pup   I'm sorry mothers day was rough. It was so hard for me each year. Even as a mom now, I still don't like it because I just hurt for everyone still waiting. and it brings up the years of pain on that day in the past.

laurad75

@JamieH2000!!!!  So exciting to see you here. 

Thanks for all the encouragement.  My clinic called and shocked me by saying that my transfer is a go for next week.  They are confident that my lining will be ready by then.  I start PIO tomorrow morning.  Ugh.  
@lucyb1954 Yes, I am doing acupuncture remotely right now.  My acupuncturist coaches me through mini-sessions with small needles.  My clinic is offering acupuncture for pre and post FET so I will do that day of.  I'm excited but nervous.  

lucyb1954

Hi @JamieH2000 ! Welcome! Thank you and @laurelew for the kind words...the last two weeks with my dog have been so hard. He's been with me through the good and the bad, for about a decade now. I'm taking a few days off of work right now, because every hour he needs food or fluids or meds through his stomach tube. If his kidneys don't start behaving properly in the next three days, we will probably have to let go of him. We got his immune disease under control but the prednisone he needs for that damages his kidneys. 

Sometimes I wonder if I will forever be triggered by new pregnancy announcements and mother's days. I have four lovely embryos awaiting me in June but it's still so hard to deal with these things and I just wonder when that will subside. 

I will likely be transferring around the end of June -- @JamieH2000 did you not PGS test when you created the embryos? So now you have to thaw and biopsy and test? Do you know if you are transferring a male or female embryo? I am alwaayyyysss prone to cysts ugh so I feel your pain. Right now I'm on HRT so I have some sense of when my period arrives. 

@laurad75 that's awesome that you're still a go! Do you have any more monitoring appointments until then? Your lining is so close! I wish I knew how to do some of the small needles myself for acupuncture...that sounds so relaxing. As far as I know from what I remember when I did research, there's not a whole lot of evidence surrounding the use of acupuncture in IVF stims, but I think there is good evidence in favor of using acupuncture for FETs. 

@laurelew one of things about accepting DE that has helped me was exactly what you wrote...thinking about the things that I want to pass on that I got from my parents and TBH those things aren't genetics. I'm very different from both my parents although I do look a lot like my mom. Plus my genetics aren't exactly fantastic lol...the Fragile X gene plus depression/anxiety aren't exaccctttlllyyyy fantastic! 

I am excited to see all the DE FETs this summer, new and returning! It's a wonderful thing to have the support of folks who understand this unique situation

laurelew

@lucyb1954 No matter what happens over the next few days, your dog has been blessed to have you in his life and your life has been blessed because of him.

I agree.  It is so nice to have other women who understand what it is like to go through this journey.  And I agree with you about being okay not passing on my genetics.  I have poor vision and bad allergies.  Not to mention all of these fertility problems on top of that I feel like I'm a wonderful person but maybe not the hardiest physically.

I also have four frozen embryos left.  All male.

radmom27

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! Still waiting for my period which is now 60 days late....Trying to be patient...My target transfer date is June 10th but that will be pushed back if Aunt Flo waits much longer.

@lucyb1954 I'm so sorry about your dog.  I'm hoping that he's able to fight through this and hang with you. I'm glad you were able to take some time off to be with him. 

@laurad75 Great news that your transfer is still on.  I always find that my lining is lazy until I start progesterone. Hoping that's the same for you and all goes well.  

@laurelew I'm so sorry about your mom.  I lost my dad 8 years ago this month and it still hurts. I like to think that he's always watching and keeping an eye on us from above. I have older children who share my genetics and my youngest who does not.  For some reason, he's the most like me...in both looks and personality. It's funny how things work out. 

@JamieH2000 So glad to see you here!!! 

lucyb1954

@laurad75 is today transfer day? Thinking of you!!!

laurad75

@lucyb1954 It's tomorrow but thank you.  It's very exciting but the wait between transfer and testing is going to be torture.  

wabash15

Dirty lurker**
   Good luck tomorrow @laurad75 i hope this one is your sticky rainbow. hugs and love!

laurelew

@laurad75 Good luck with your transfer tomorrow!  I know what you mean about the TWW.  We're here if you ever need to talk or need a distraction during that time.  FX

laurad75

Thanks @laurelew! 

Hi @wabash15. Thank you! 

lucyb1954

@laurad75 all best today, lady!!! I’m excited for you and sending you lovely thoughts and encouragement to that embryo! ❤️❤️❤️

JamieH2000

@laurad75- how did it go today!! Thinking of you!

laurad75

@JamieH2000 everything went fine on Wed. I was able to acupuncture before and after which always relaxes me. We took off for vacation Thursday morning which is a nice distraction for the week. I’m sure I’ll test early but that’s still a ways off. 

lucyb1954

GL with the TWW! I’ve not ever had a transfer so I can only imagine the anxiety. Really rooting for you though ❤️❤️❤️ Highly recommend puzzles and crappy TV. Making my way through the Mindy Project right now 🤓🤣

laurelew

@lucyb1954 How have you been doing this week?  How is your dog?

I started spotting on Thursday.  The spotting grew heavier yesterday so I called my fertility clinic to let them know I might have officially started AF (hard to say since this flow is very different than my usual pattern, could be on account of the hormone manipulation from the mock cycle).  I went in for my u/s and bloodwork this morning but they said my lining was still too thick to get started and to come back on Tuesday.  Definitely not a big deal but it did leave me feeling discouraged.  It could very likely be fluctuating hormones from coming off all of the estrogen and progesterone earlier this week that is making me feel more bummed than is warranted.  I think I'm also just super ready to get this party started that so even a set back of three days feels like a disappointment.

lucyb1954

@laurelew thanks for asking 🙏 I don’t know...my pup hasn’t been doing so well. He has a recheck at the vet today and if his kidney and liver values are still rising, we will probably have to let him go. He’s a tough little dog and he’s fighting but I don’t want him to suffer if there’s really no chance of him getting better. It’s so, so hard. He’s seen me through so much in the last decade. 

I’m so sorry to hear about your delay! And I totally know what you mean about it. We’ve already waited so long for this and every little bit more feels excruciating! Especially through the impacts of the virus and everything, I’m so sick of waiting. I’ll start FET prep in early June. I haven’t been able to think much about it but only because my dog has been so sick 😢 anything fun you can do or buy for yourself in the meantime? ❤️

laurelew

I know.  So interesting to be going through this in the middle of the pandemic with how quiet everything has been.  I've been trying to lean into the quiet and pursue old hobbies, etc.  I've definitely indulged in way too much shopping therapy this past month already!  I'll make it through.  I'm looking forward to finding out more about my June schedule next week.

@lucyb1954 So sorry to hear about your dog.  If what you expect comes to pass, I know that today and this week will be extremely rough for you.  Sending a virtual hug your way. 

JamieH2000

@laurad75- so glad transfer went smoothly!! How has it been a week already?! Any testing?!