The Details

Okay, I haven't really said alot, or enough about the FET.  It's nothing compared to a fresh IVF cycle, but it is still a long, drawn out event that is surprisingly anti-climatic when it actually happens.

First we went on a month of bcp, and then a month of nightly injections and a pill regime.  I had to travel with Lupron.   What's the big deal?  Lupron has to be kept refrigerated.  How the hell do you take a week long trip to Vegas and a week long adventure learning to sail with a tiny vial of meds that needs to be kept cold?  I found a small insulated lunchbox, and for those two weeks, carried it around with me, finding various spots along the way to refill big freezer bags of ice to keep things the right temperature.  It was a hassle, but worth it in the long run.  The most surprising thing is how many airport security scans never noticed that I had a huge bag of ice/water and a dozen needles in my little black lunchbox.  Totally got through Homeland Security... only the Canadian boarder agents caught the liquids and needles and did a thorough search and question session!

Then there was the whole Estridol thing.  Estridol is estrogen.  I have to take all these hormones because my body was not allowed to cycle naturally (ovulate).  So the ovaries were suppressed while we artificially tricked the uterus into a nice thick lining, and then into thinking I was pregnant.  Okay.  Back to the Estridol.  I've been on various meds, oral, injects and wazoo pills for nearly a year and a half.  I get tired of checking charts and calendars and dull needles.  And to boot, I was having a reaction to the Estridol.  My face was itching like crazy - especially the eyebrows and jawline.  I couldn't figure it out - did I contact eyebrow lice on the sailboat?  I mean, I was really scratching at my face about an hour after every dose.  My clinic was clueless - they'd never heard of a reaction and just suggested some Benedryl. 

Turns out I was od'ing on the stuff.  My pill container said '2mg twice a day'.  Most of my pill containers say '2 pills twice a day'.  Turns out each pill was 2 mg.  When I realized what I was doing I felt so stupid!  I never hurt anything according to the clinic, but I did cause myself a lot of discomfort and I did waste a lot of meds. 

On to the actual transfer.  I took my husband.  Remember, we have to travel 500 miles south for anything to do with my clinic.  One ultrasound I had at cd17 meant I got on a plane for just over an hour, then rented a car, drove 40 minutes to spend less than 30 minutes at the clinic from start to finish, then drove 40 minutes back to the airport, waited two hours and then flew home.  Over $500 for a 5 minute visit with my doctor... and I'm pretty sure our ultrasound techs here could have measured the lining pretty accurately.  But, I digress. 

So David and I went together for the transfer.  I set aside four days so I could be away from work and family and just relax and focus on gestation.  The actual transfer was uneventful, and as I said before, anti-climatic.  I arrived with a full bladder, got prepared (put on hospital gown), and got onto the table.  I was surprised that David was allowed in the room with me - and so was he.  We put in the three embies, while there was scottish music playing in the background (the embryologist is a wonderful, red headed scottish woman in her late 40's), and liked to play music for the embryos!  The staff were warm and gentle, my nurse actually touched me in comfort and took a lot of time to talk to us on a personal level. 

Then we were done.... spent the rest of the time relaxing and on my butt or back as much as possible.  We had rented a Mustang convertable and cruising around the city with our music and sunshine was one of my favorite memories with David.   I was really able to relax mentally, not just physically!