Yep, I officially have a bruise! 

It’s a really pretty purple/black color — I know you’re so jealous!! 

Hopefully in 1 WEEK from TODAY we’ll have our embies! We go to the doctor on Thursday. I’ll get an ultrasound and as long as my lining is as thick as they want it then the transfer will be 5 days later. So fingers crossed everything is good to go! 

On top of my estrogen pills, I’ve been doing a few “old wives tales” things to help my lining too. Do they work? Who the hell knows, but it can’t hurt right? (BTW, you can find anything on google! If they said to stand on my head then hop 3 times you’ll have a better chance for the transfer to work, I’d do it too, lol) 

I guess raspberries are good for fertility, women’s health and the lining of your uterus ( who knew, right?!) so I’ve been enjoying raspberries every week or so and raspberry leaf tea. 

Pomegranate juice is also supposed to help your lining. I add in a little splash of club soda and it’s oh so good! 

I’m back down to 2 estrogen pills a day and then my one shot in the stomach. That’ll be the name of the game until the doc says otherwise! 

(We went to visit family in Colorado so Laryen made me a makeshift banner for our pics- he’s so great!)

We are finally in the double digits! For both the cycle day and the number of estrogen pills I’m taking every day! 

  
One pill in the morning, another at night.  

 And for the next 4 days I’ll take 3 pills before I go back down to taking 2.

It’s nice that they don’t make me feel any different. You just never know how hormones are going to make you feel and it’s a nice relief that I haven’t been having any kind of reaction to any of the meds so far! Hopefully that means they’re working and not *not working lol.  I’ve read on some infertility boards and websites that some people have reactions to the meds but I guess everyone’s infertility problems are different than others. So who knows!

We’ll go back to the doctor next week and see how everything looks! As long as the lining looks good then our transfer will be on May 3rd! If it’s not there yet then I’ll stay on the meds and they’ll push it back another week. 

Either way we know it’s out of our hands. We just pray that this is the time for us. 

  
  

Estrogen is now in the system! 

I started taking 1 pill a day and now I’m up to 2 a day; 1 in the morning, another at night. I’ll take 3 pills in a couple of days then I got back down to 2.

We’re about halfway done with the meds. My stomach is getting a little tender from the shots so I’ll probably switch sides starting tomorrow. And good news — my headaches have pretty much gone away so hooray! 

We’re getting there! 

  

  
  
  
  

  

There really are so many fewer steps this time around! It’s so nice! Lol I’ll only be posting every couple of days or so since there really isn’t much going on! 

I’ve been having a headache for the past couple of days. Not terrible like I felt with all the hormones during our IVF cycle, but it’s still there.

Just one (teeny) shot a night continues! Easy peasy!  

  
Tomorrow night I’ll start adding estrogen to the mix. Time to get that lining ready to make a nice, comfy home for our embryos! 

  

  

 

Hello banner, it’s nice to see you again! 

  

It’s now officially the first day of our frozen embryo cycle. That means it’s time for shots (I’ve been missing them SO much!) 😉

It’s just a little guy, and I really wasn’t nervous this time around! I guess I’m officially a pro! I had to suck the medicine out of the vial into an insulin needle– then pinch the skin near my belly button, and voila! 

   
 This will be the drill for the next few days, then I’ll add estrogen pills into the mix. Fingers crossed my body responds well to the meds! 

Got the clear from the doctor: everything looks great so we are ready to start our frozen embryo cycle (or FET)! Day 1 is Saturday! In a nutshell, over the next few weeks I’ll be taking medicine to stimulate my uterus lining to get it thick enough to hold the embryos. Once it’s at the right thickness (the nurse said they’re picky little guys) we’ll do the embryo transfer, just like in the IVF cycle. This means I still need to take meds but not as many as during IVF.

Here’s a look at my very organized medication calendar:

It might seem OCD but I don’t want to miss any medication and possibly throw off the whole cycle! lol The calendar really helped us stay organized during IVF so I’m hoping it does the same thing this time around. The more organized I feel the less overwhelming the whole process seems to me.

I only need to take one shot this time around– HOORAY!! Ok wait, that’s a lie. I also need to take the dreaded progesterone shots but that’s not for another few weeks. It’s called Lupron. What it does is it temporarily tells my body to stop ovulating which also stops my body from producing any hormones related to that ie; progesterone, estrogen, etc. They don’t want my body producing any of these hormones or they can’t put our little embies in me. And we don’t want that.

Since that shot shuts everything off, they’re also giving me Estrogen to make my lining thick. It’s just a pill that I take every night, sometimes I need to take 2 or 3, just depends on the day.

 

 

And then there’s these big ol’ boys again. Yes, I need to take the progesterone shot again. But honestly, it’s really not that bad. My butt is still bruised from last time, but hey the only person who sees it is Laryen and if he doesn’t care, then I don’t care!! LOL! These shots will start close to transfer time.

Just like in IVF I also need to take Medrol. It’s a steroid I take around transfer time to make sure no infections happen in the lining which could result in my body rejecting the embryos, and we don’t want that do we?!

 

 

Oh and last but not least (how could I forget!) — more money for us to try and get our future kiddos. (I really hope they get a full ride scholarship for college!)

Everyone I talked to and a lot of the infertility blogs I’ve read say FET is a lot easier of a cycle and a lot less stressful. Fewer medication, fewer visits to the doctor, which I’m happy about. I didn’t feel stressed during IVF, but I know it’s a lot on my body- so who knows! My body could have been stressed because there was so much going on and maybe that’s why it didn’t work! Unfortunately we’ll never know.

I feel better about the whole thing now that we talked to the nurses, learned more about the FET cycle and got the all clear. I know we have to get our little embies! They can’t hang out in the lab forever! 😉 And we pray and pray and pray that this is the time God wants us to become parents. But if it’s not, that’s ok too. I keep telling myself over and over again what Laryen always tells me: “We will be parents.” And yes, we will.

If you have room in your prayer list, please include us over the next month or so. We’ll take all the prayers, hopes, and well wishes you can send our way. ❤