More Estrogen, Please

I began strengthening my uterus on October 20th.  Apparently, in order to provide an optimal environment for the adorable little embryos it is ideal to have a uterine wall that is greater than 7 mm thickness, ideally greater than 8 mm. I was slapping those patches on like a champ when I cheerily skipped to my Tuesday, October 29th ultrasound appointment.  The IVF Clinic appointment rooms line a hallway and in between each two patient rooms there is a shared bathroom. When I'm in those bathrooms I constantly recite to myself, "don't forget to unlock the other door." So I can remember. I wonder how many times the hospital staff have to unlock those doors.  These were my thoughts as I used the bathroom and then, I heard Jessi's and the doctor's voices.

Awkward! I had to use a great deal of self restraint not to yell out, "hey guys, it's me, Maggie!" I've got a good relationship with the doc's but that might be pushing it.

Based on tone and assumption but certainly not me leaning my ear against the wall to listen, I deduced that there was a doings a transpiring.  Then I diligently headed back to my room where I undressed from the waist down and hopped up on the table for an ultrasound that would indicate how my uterine lining was thickening. The doctor came in and we got down to business.

"Oh man!" He says. My uterine had NOT been progressing as he had hoped.  F.A.I.L. I immediately blamed myself, asked what I was doing wrong? How I could fix it? What's wrong with me? The doctor assured me that I was not doing anything wrong, but that my uterus was just not responding to the estrogen as quickly as they had hoped. In other news, Jessi was progressing more quickly than they had thought. So that she might be ready to go sooner rather than later. So we would need to boost my estradiol and thicken my uterine wall, or we would have to freeze eggs and wait for my uterus to catch up before doing the transfer. He said it was more important to have an optimal environment than to have freshies. Okay, he didn't say freshies, but I did.

Next stop, blood work.  Where Nurse Mo explained that I would have to take additional estrogen so we can try and force my uterus to grow. So in addition to the 4 Vivelle patches on my body and the shot of Lupron I would also get to take 2 doses of estrogen a day.

So yes. I failed my appointment.

Later that day, Ben, Jessi and I received an email from Mo with explicit directions regarding the next few days. It was long, so I'll spare you the details, but not the highlights:

** Retrieval is on Friday!! Jessi has specific rules about meds and not getting jostled.
** I was to take the estrogen tablets-not orally- I can stop the Lupron on Wednesday! And have an additional ultrasound on Friday to monitor progress, which will help determine the rest of the timeline.
**Ben had directions including, but not limited to the words "abstain", "sample", "fresh" and the phrase "not enough staff to receive it."

On Friday, my uterine wall, according to the doctor measuring the lining was still not thick enough. Moments after leaving the room, the doctor came back in the room and said to stay tuned because the "team" was scrutinizing over the image. Next stop, blood work. Again.

It was about a C+ appointment.

Later that day, I was told to start the progesterone, 3 times a day. And to come back in for another ultrasound on Sunday morning. Yay! Fingers crossed for more blood work! And if anyone is keeping track, I now would be taking 2 estrogen tablets and 3 progesterone tablets (not orally) each day and 4 estrogen patches being changed every 3 days.

Jessi and Ben picked me up on Sunday at 8:20 for my 8:45 appointment. We were ready for some answers! When the doctor came in he assured me that no matter what it said on the monitor, that it did not have a bearing on the likelihood of this pregnancy working. This did not convince me, but I nodded anyway, because I think that is how you are supposed to respond to doctor's. Obviously, if it didn't work it would be my insufficient uterus' fault.

Lucky for everyone, my ute was on the up and up. Turns out all those doctor's are not on the same page. They have conversations where they disagree about how each of them measure uterine walls. Plus, additional estrogen helps. And I like to think I've been willing my uterine wall thicker. For real.

And so there you have it. I'm ready. The embryos are ready. And then they give us an appointment.
Monday, November 4th at 2:00 PM.