Thank you for cheering our 'normal' little Diiorio!!
One more thing I never expected on this IVF train - the sibling detour. Goldie asked me a good question on my previous post that has been on my mind. Dr. M pointed out to me that I might want to consider doing one more cycle before the transfer of our little Diiorio in Denver, so as to ensure that there will be a sibling. Either now in the form of twins, or later as a frozen transfer. The idea is to create more embryos now with my 39-40 year old eggs, rather than later, with 41-42 year old eggs once this baby is 12 months or so. That would be a good plan, except:
1) we've waited two and a half years through trials and tribulations to get pregnant and don't want to wait anymore. Another cycle would take a few months to do it well.
2) we should see how we feel about having another child after this one comes, and if we're really ready for another one and it's meant to be, my eggs will cooperate
3) what if this one becomes identical twins? No need for a sibling!
4) if this one doesn't take, we'll have no choice but to cycle again so why not see what happens first
5) most importantly, we both feel like pausing this transfer for another cycle is a detour from what we really want to do.
6) Stef has lost all patience with this process (what? He didn't get a needle in the ass once!)
So that's the decision about our embryo bank....I did this post more for me than anyone...as I can't handle the fear of regret and needed to get the reasons down on paper. Or 'screen' I should say.
For my IVF gals who've had a FET
I have a choice of progesterone support. Suppositories or injection. Thoughts? I would do the once a day suppositories but heard the injections are more effective ?
Iveta...do the PIO injections. The endometrin suppositories are soooo..ah hem...messy, expensive and I don't know I just don't like that the endo is so hard to quantify in the blood stream compared to PIO. And once you get your BFP you will obsess over your P4 levels so in my honest opinion do the PIO. Yes, its another shot in the arse but it really wasn't bad. Simply warm the PIO in between a heating pad for a few minutes, have Steph shoot you up, then have Steph rub the injection site vigorously for a few minutes to make sure the warmed oil is rubbed into the muscle tissue so that you won't cause painful lumps. Then lay on the injection site with a heating pad for about 10 minutes to further disperse the oil and you shouldn't have any problem. Makes the injection site much less painful. I found it to be a piece of cake really. And I would take that over the constant "mess" all day long with the endo tabs plus you have to take them up to four times a day. The endo ran me $100 a week! But I sucked at making my own P4 so I needed both endo and PIO. But had I been on PIO from the start I think I wouldn't of had as much difficulty. Glad you get a choice!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've really thought it through and made a good decision. I can understand not wanting to wait to transfer in order to do another ER cycle. You've already been waiting so long! Don't know much about the suppositories vs the PIO, except Lisa is right - the suppositories are MESSY!
ReplyDeleteI would suggest PIO, even though the daily shots are a pain in the rear. My nurse also made me take one nightly Endometrin suppository. Taking the suppositories alone, your estrogen level will likely seem too low for comfort b/c it just doesn't show up in the blood as well. PIO is very detectable in the blood, and it is an amazing confidence boost to hear that your estrogen levels are 20+. I can't tell you how many times I have seen patients freak out about their low E2 levels b/c they are only taking the suppositories. I chose PIO from the start and had an E2 level of almost 20 even before transfer. It just gave me an extra little bit of confidence to know that my estrogen level was high enough to support a pregnancy. The shots are no picnic, but the peace of mind is worth it!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I gave you a moment to think about it. Somebody did the same for me. My own thoughts on this change day to day. I think I'm more open to donor egg for my second baby if my eggs are expired! I'm so ready to be a mom today. I'm wishing all kinds of luck with this transfer!
ReplyDeleteGlad that the decision to cycle again was an easy one. There are so many "what-if's" in this process that it always helped me to think one step ahead and plan based on the best assumptions I could make at the time with the information I had.
ReplyDeleteAs for the PIO vs Endometrin, I've heard both sides of the argument - the PIO shows up in your bloodstream, but the Endrometrin goes right to where it's needed most. I just use a pantyliner to mitigate the mess.
In my case, when I got a BFP, my P4 would drop substantially and suddenly within the first 2-3 weeks. My CCRM cycle #1 I was exclusively on Endometrin, but they added PIO when my P4 dropped, but it was too late. This time, they kept me on endometrin, but also started me on 1cc of PIO and the dr thinks this was the biggest factor contributing to my success (not, suprisingly, the Lovenox).
So, if this is going to be your only shot, I might ask if a woman can be on tok much P4, or if there's any harm of doing both?
I second heating the PIO in a heating pad prior to filling the syringe - makes the shots much easier.