Waiting, Waiting, and More Waiting

So I am still waiting to do my first FET which will be our first transfer of any kind. If feels like this waiting thing is taking FOREVER. We did our two retrievals in September and November and I am ready to go. Unfortunately, PGS testing and a few other things have made us have to push things back a bit. My transfer was supposed to be on the 19th but now it looks like it will be on the 26th (give or take a day or two). Here is why.

For the last week I have continued Lupron and have also been on Estrogen patches. I now have four on and each one is changed every 5 days. I did have one fall off but that was after a particularly intense workout. These patches do not like sweat which is a little frustrating. It is also really difficult to remove the reside after taking off a patch. I do not know if anyone has found anything that works (If so, please do share!).

I also feel a lot more emotional than normal. I am not sure if it is the patches, the upcoming FET, or a combination of both. My brain also feels a little foggy. I currently teach microeconomics to college students. A few times I have forgotten what I am trying to say in the middle of my sentence. I wonder if  my students think I am going crazy.

I had my first appointment since I started the patches today. My RE told me that my endometrium has a trilaminar or triple line pattern. I had never heard that term before. Apparently, if you are going to have an endometrium lining, this is the pattern that you want! It is linked to higher rates of implantation and pregnancy when compared to a homogenous luteal pattern. On a side note, I am still amazed at all the new stuff I have learned while going through IVF. I never would have thought to be concerned about the pattern of my endometrium.

My lining is developing as well but apparently we do need to let that continue a little longer than predicted. My RE assured me that this is not bad. Apparently mine just grows a little slower than normal. I had a similar issue when doing our retrievals. It took about four days longer than predicted for my follicles to mature.

I can’t help but wonder if this might be a cause of my unexplained infertility. Maybe it just takes my body longer than normal to get through these stages. In an unassisted cycle, I may just run out of time. It seems that things always do what they are supposed to do even though it takes extra time.

My RE is almost positive that I will be ready to transfer in two weeks. At that point I will ideally have an endometrial thickness of 10–113 mm and will have kept my fabulous trilaminar pattern. I wish I could hit the fast forward button and get through this transfer already. I am going crazy playing the waiting game! – Jennie