FET for dummies

This post is an overview of what we're doing and where we're at so far.

I first called the clinic way back in January to get this process rolling (we wanted to transfer in July). There have been some issues with the testing and other problems that got the cycle delayed until now.

I've done a bunch of blood work and last month, I flew to Vancouver to have an SIS which is an ultrasound where they inject saline dye into the uterus to check if it would be a happy place for an embryo to live (ie no polyps or other issues). At that time they found I had yet another ovarian cyst but we are moving forward anyways in hopes that the combination of BCP and Lupron will resolve it.  If not, we'll have to postpone this even further.

There are a number of different protocols for an FET (frozen embryo transfer). The simplest is the natural cycle. That's where the women takes no medications, just goes through her regular monthly cycle. After she ovulates, the clinic thaws the embryos and then transfers them into her uterus. A natural cycle can also be supplemented with medications to tweak various hormone imbalances etc. depending on the women's medical situation.

The type of FET I'm doing is called a "Suppression/endometrial stimulation cycle". This is a completely artificial cycle for women like me who don't trust their reproductive system to do ANYTHING right on its own.

Here's how it will work:

BCP:  On the first day of my period, I started taking birth control pills.  This was for a couple of reasons:
1) to control the length of my cycle so the start of my treatment can be scheduled for a fixed date.
2) to prevent a natural pregnancy (ha ha! as if!)  If by some miracle, I got pregnant naturally, it would be dangerous to take Lupron or the other drugs.

Suppression:  On October 1, I will start a suppression drug called Lupron to prevent my ovaries from producing follicles or ovulating.  It will be like artificial menopause and I'll experience similar symptoms.  And yes, I do see the irony that the first step in trying to get pregnant is to take birth control and then step 2 is to completely shut down my reproductive system.  

Lupron (like most IVF drugs) is taken by daily subcutaneous injection.  The needles go in the soft fleshy part of the tummy (I got lots of that) and it's not as bad as it sounds because they don't hurt nearly as much as say a vaccination or a blood draw does.

Baseline:  I'll go for blood work and an ultrasound on October 14th to ensure that my ovaries are suppressed (and hopefully that cyst is gone).   

Endometrial Stimulation: If the baseline is good, I'll start taking Estrace (estrogen) pills to build up my lining (since I won't be growing any eggs, I won't produce any estrogen naturally).  I'll go for another ultrasound on October 28th to check my lining. 

Progesterone:  If my lining is good, I will start my progesterone supplement on October 31st.

Embryo transfer:  If all goes well, my transfer is scheduled for November 4th.  I live 12 hours away from my clinic so we will fly out there to do the transfer (the rest of my tests can be done here).  The plan is to thaw one embryo at a time and if it starts growing, we will transfer it.  If not, we will thaw the next one.

BETA: 9 days after transfer, I'll take a blood test to see if it worked.

Ok I promise that this will be the last boring post about protocols and hormones.  I'll even restrain myself from posting a explanation of how Lupron works - even though it's totally cool and I could draw diagrams of what the GnRH receptors look like.