My Frozen Embryo Transfer Process and Journey
May 5, 2023
I started my day today by heading out at 6:30am from my home in Redondo Beach to the IVF clinic in Beverly Hills, which if you know anything about Los Angeles traffic is not the most convenient drive. I’ve been making this drive over the past 3+ months as part of my Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) process for Baby #2.
When we first went through IVF and our first FET it was 2020 and the world was mostly shut down due to the pandemic. The drive to and from Beverly Hills was a breeze! 20min each way. In today’s world where everyone is back to work and therefore back on the road, it’s more like 45min to 1hr 15min depending on my appointment time. Ooof. But, these are the things we do for our children (or soon to be children).
When I first spoke to my doctor towards the end of January, letting her know we were ready to jump back in for baby #2, I was thinking it would be a 2 month process…TOPS! I was wrong. It was the beginning of another joyous journey through fertility. I had just ended my period and the doctor told me to stop drinking alcohol, start a mediterranean diet, and begin avoiding cold foods and drinks and begin consuming more warm foods like soups and curries and drinks like caffeine free hot tea. She also suggested a slew of new vitamins including Thorne Basic Prenatal, Thorne methylfolate, Thorne Basic B Complex, Jarrow Ubiquinol, Nature’s Bounty D3, and Nordic Naturals DHA.
After the 4 weeks passed and my next cycle began, I went in for my day 3 bloodwork and ultrasound. The doctor seemed mostly happy with the results although she did point out my red blood cells were large. She asked, “Were you drinking frequently before you contacted me?” I awkwardly replied that I was drinking a few times a week. There was no getting away with people’s usual lie to their doctors that they only have a few drinks a week. The Holidays had just passed and if I’m being honest, I was probably drinking 4-5 days a week! The proof was in the pudding (or red blood cells) and she let me know the body typically takes 3 months to replace all of it’s red blood cells and success is better when they’re not enlarged. Needless to say, I haven’t had even a sip of alcohol since January! Additionally, she had pointed out my estrogen levels were high, which seemed unusual. She couldn’t be sure why this was but did point out it could be associated with polyps. In the past, I have had 2 polyps removed and she said there was a chance the elevated levels could have had to do with the prior surgeries but we’d keep an eye on it.
The next step was to go in on Day 11 of my cycle to check the thickness of the uterine lining and the activity in my ovaries. She was happy with my lining and ovaries but not so happy to report that they saw something that appeared to be a polyp on my uterus. The size of the polyp would cause a high risk of unsuccessful implantation or miscarriage. With only 2 embryo’s on ice to work with, there’s no way we’re chancing it. I had to get it removed.
Unfortunately, the polyp removal surgery has to be properly timed and coincidentally has to be done right around day 10-12 of you recycle. There was no way it was going to happen for me during this cycle. It was already Day 11 there’s almost no way you can get booked for a surgery appointment the same day or even within a few days. I was told, “We’ll need to wait until your next cycle.” Ahhh!! Are you kidding me? Here we were, 6 weeks into everything and now I was looking at another 5 weeks before I could get this surgery (I have 35 day cycles instead of 28 day cycles), followed by recovery (estimated at 4 weeks), meaning I’d need to wait for another cycle (5 more weeks) after that for anything to happen. I was beyond frustrated.
For anyone who has had fertility struggles, you know how excruciating the waiting game feels. Even someone who hasn’t experienced fertility struggles can relate to the “two week wait,” if they’ve been proactively trying to get pregnant and following their menstrual cycle to plan the timing. Time seems to slow down. Every day feels like a week, every week like a month, every month like a year. I was looking at at least another 11 weeks before we’d be in FET mode. Big - fat - BOO!
My next cycle finally came around and on Day 11, I went in for my surgery. All went well and the recovery time was set for 4 weeks. The hope was that within 4 weeks my body would be back to normal and ready for the embryo transfer. A time when my 5 week cycle was actually a bit of a blessing, allowing me that full recovery window. And so, I waited…
When my next cycle finally began, I went in for my Day 3 testing (bloodwork and ultrasound). I got a call later that day from my Dr. and the nurse, as I was strolling through Old Navy, letting me know my uterine lining was not thick enough. WTF??? How could this be? Was I going to have to wait ANOTHER cycle?? Thankfully, they stopped and asked what time my period had begun that Wednesday. I had started my period around 4pm on a Wednesday afternoon and my Day 3 appointment was Friday at 8am. It hadn’t truly been 3 days. They suggested I come back the next day (Saturday) so we could check again. There was hope!!
Back I went on Saturday morning for blood and ultrasound. I had a busy day (my sister in law’s baby shower) and before I knew it, it was 7pm and no phone call. What had happened? Was my lining thick enough? Could we move on? It was a Saturday and late in the day. There was no way I could get in touch with my Dr. or the team. I figured I might hear from them the following day. Sunday rolled on and suddenly it was 3pm - and still no phone call. I decided to send them a message in the user portal letting them know I hadn’t received a call and asking for an update. I was feeling incredibly irritated and I needed answers.
On Monday morning I received a text notification that I had a message in my user portal. I logged on to read, “...after review of your ultrasound Saturday the lining was still thick and not shed which indicates you need longer healing from surgery so we would not proceed with transfer this cycle. She advised you call Cycle day 1 of next menses and return to office cycle day 3 for labs and ultrasound.” ARE YOU F**KIN’ KIDDING ME??” I was PISSED. In an embarrassing act of white girl rage I took off my computer glasses and threw them across the room. Not only was I pissed that I would be waiting ANOTHER cycle. I was pissed that they decided to share this news with me in this way, especially after not connecting with me all weekend. It wasn’t their normal manner of sharing this kind of news and the timing of it was not ideal. I bitched to my husband, a texted my friend, I shed a tear. I was just SO OVER WAITING.
Within about 15 minutes my phone rang. It was the clinic. I answered to hear the gentle voice of my doctor (I really do love her). She explained what she had seen and why this might be the case but she offered to have me come in again that day (Monday) so she could be there and look at it with her own eyes. Typically all the bloodwork and ultrasounds are done early in the morning by a team of nurses and the results are shared with the doctor later in the day for review. My doctor was offering for me to come in at 1pm that afternoon and she would be in the room, looking at the ultrasound screen, and giving me her opinion on the spot. I dropped everything I was doing and got ready to head back to Beverly Hills. As the appointment began, she told me what she was looking for. She needed to see my lining below 5mm, ideally before 4.5mm. She said if it’s anything below 5mm, she’d give me the green light. I crossed my fingers as they placed the ultrasound wand into my vagina and everything came into view on screen. The ultrasound tech zoomed in on my lining and begin clicking the machine to activate the measurement. I couldn’t see the numbers well but my doctor quickly announces, “3.5mm! Perfect Jenna. We can proceed. I’ll meet you in the next room to discuss next steps.” I was ECSTATIC!
I met the doctor and 2 of the members of her team to discuss next steps. Unlike my first FET in 2020, the new protocol was to conduct a natural FET cycle. This meant a few less drugs (and cost savings) and apparently results in a lower likelihood of preeclampsia. They shared with me that I’d begin taking
Letrazole daily for 5 days and I’d need to begin taking Ovulation Predictor Kits OPK’s) daily. If it turned positive, I was to come in on the same day for bloodwork and ultrasound and they’d likely tell me to take my trigger shot and then schedule the transfer! Yay! But, alas things didn’t go so easily. Day after day I had negative OPK results. The week passed with no positive OPK so I was back in the clinic on Tuesday to take a look. The week passed with no positive OPK so I was back in the clinic on Monday to take a look. Everything seemed to be progressing well and they informed me I’d just need to continue with OPK’s and come back in a few days.
I had worked with an incredible acupuncturist who specializes in fertility during my initial IVF egg retrievals and my first FET and pregnancy. Everything had gone so well, I wasn’t going to skip out on it this time. I had been seeing her since speaking with my IVF doctor in January and she always wants an update on how my appointments go so she can customize my acupuncture based on what they tell me. That Tuesday afternoon she said, “Let’s make you ovulate!”
I thought for sure by Wednesday morning the OPK would be positive but alas, it was not. So I thought FOR SURE on Thursday. But again, no. I had another appointment with her on Thursday afternoon so she tried her techniques to encourage ovulation yet again. Friday - still negative. I headed off to my appointment slightly discouraged but glad to know they’d have some tangible information about what was going on. As the ultrasound technician measured my follicles I watched the numbers. 10.5mm, 11.3, 9.8mm. These were all numbers I had seen on Tuesday. It was as if nothing had changed! I couldn’t wait for the call from my doctor to find out what in the world was going on.
My phone rang around 1pm and my nurse dished the deets. She had spoken with the doctor and said my “lining is beautiful” but that the “follicles seem to be stuttering.” The great news is, something can be done! They prescribed me Follistim - an injection I’d have to administer myself daily for 3 days (Fri-Sun) to stimulate the follicles to continue growing and prepare for ovulation. I was to take OPK’s again over the weekend before 7am and if it turned positive, I’d need to be back at the clinic before 9am when they close the clinic. The weekend came and went with no positive OPK. I returned for my usual blood and ultrasound and received my call later that day. Again, my follicles hadn’t made much of a change so they prescribed one last Follistim shot and asked me to come back the following day (Tuesday) so that the doctor could see with her own eyes again. She said, “Jenna, your uterine lining is beeeeeeautiful! Those follicles aren’t growing but that’s OK.” It turns out I really didn’t need them to grow or release an egg (I don’t want that bad egg anyway!) so she said it was finally time to do the trigger shot and schedule the transfer! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?!!? HALLELUJAH!!!
They called me later that day with all the details and explained exactly what I’d need to do over the course of the next week, from trigger to 5 prescription medications and one last appointment to make sure everything was looking just right for the transfer. I saw my acupuncturist later that day and we celebrated the news.
That night I did my trigger shot at 10pm (so late) and then began my other prescriptions that Thursday. A cocktail of Medrol, Doxycycline, baby aspirin, Prometrium and Anaprox.
The surgery center contacted me to inform me that my transfer appointment was scheduled for 9:30am Tuesday. It felt surreal. After the last 4 months of preparing for this day, it was finally here!
