Tuesday, September 22, 2009

FET#1.5 - One Step Backward

Oh anxiety, please go away! I've had a rough couple of days. As positive as I desperately want to be, sometimes there's just no stopping those little fearful thoughts.

Yesterday morning started off with an acup appt. I had the owner of the practice this time and she's quite brilliant. She's from Shanghai and has been a Chinese MD for 30 yrs. She felt my pulses and said things were not good. She said my energy to my reproductive organs and hormones were very low and it was not a good time to be pg and to not transfer my embryo this cycle. Instant stress! She put needles in me from head to toe and checked me an hr later. She said that I just wasn't recharging, so she left me for another 30 mins. On a energy scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best, I came in a 3 and left a 4. I'm worn out and need a new battery.

Today I had my first estrogen level check.  They want it >50, I was only at 37. Last time I was at 79. I was shocked, and it turns out my acup was right.  Last time I had beautiful estrogen levels but a crappy lining. How can my lining get better with crappy estrogen levels?

After a painful wait, I got the call from my nurse. Dr. Schoolcraft wants me to add in Estrace vaginally every evening at bed time. This will help increase my estrogen and plump up my lining. I've never used this before but it's estrogen in a little blue pill.  I've read to be prepared to start leaking blue. Oh fun! Kerry said he's going to start calling me Smurfette.

I went over the details of my cycle with the nurse to make sure there was nothing I was doing wrong. The only thing we could come up with is that I've been putting the patches on my lower stomach right above my pubic area where there's not much fat. She said they require fat to absorb and to move them to a more fatty area. No problem there!

I asked her if this compromised my lining since I starved it of estrogen. She said she thinks I'll be fine, that she's seen people with estrogen at 12 and the Estrace was able to correct everything. Oh please let me be in that statistic!

Now I have to wait an entire week to see if this is going to correct the issue. That will give me a whopping 2 days before my flight before I'll know if I stay on track.

For the last 2 days, I've had a little bit of spotting trying to come in.  I asked her if that was from my low estrogen and she said yes.  So maybe if the spotting goes away, that will be a sign that the Estrace is working.

Ok, that was all blah blah blah depressing. Thanks for letting me vent. So let me end this on a funnier note.

Last week I went to my 1st acup appt and saw an e-stim machine on her desk.  I asked her if she could do electro-acup on me instead. She agreed. She put needles in my lower back, 6 in my butt cheeks and some in my legs/ankles.  Any time I have ever had e-stim in the past, they had always put the electrodes on the lower back and calf needles. She did it a little differently. She connected all electrodes to the needles on my butt cheeks.

Now I'm one of those "baby's got back" girls. As soon as she turned the machine on, I could feel my butt bouncing all over the place.  After she left the room, I arched my back to take a peek hoping that it just felt that way.  OMG, my bootay can dance! It was really hilarious when the cheeks got out of synch, it was like oompa oompa.

I put on my iPod and started listening to my hypno recording.  It was really hard to relax and then Lynsi had to say "relax all your muscles, let them be just like jello".  I spent the rest of the time trying to get this jingle out of my head... "watch it jiggle, see it wiggle, cool and fruity, jell-o brand gelatin".

Kerry just walked in with my prescription... I'm supposed to insert this dinky thing vaginally???  Oh how the fertile women miss out on so much fun!



Sis, I hope you enjoy those roller coasters that go in reverse!

16 comments:

  1. Oh man, I am sorry you have had so much stress! Hopefully that little blue pill will do its magic and plump your estrogen and lining right up! Sending you all the support I can muster!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awwwww, Jill, I'm so sorry for all the anxiety and wish it weren't so hard! I hope that little blue pill does the trick to get everything right back on track. Hang in there.

    BTW, smurfette and jell-o...too freaking funny.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your acupuncturist may be very knowledgeable, but does she understand ART and it's affects on the body? Does she understand acupuncture protocols for FETs? You are on lupron, so that is bound to screw up your pulses!! I have a very knowledgeable acupuncturist who has 30 years experience, but I'm his first IVF patient, which means he knows bupkus about it. I see my other acu for the knowledge of merging acu and IVF/FET. It is a whole different animal. One thing my acu told me who was an IVF nurse for 8 years is that you don't want to take any Chinese herbs while you are doing an FET cycle, because it can screw up your absorption of estrogen from the patches.

    Also, don't worry about not having enough estrogen. They can always give you more! That is why they are monitoring you! I don't know about the fat thing right above your pubic hair. I put my patches there, and it was fine.

    You may want to stop the wheatgrass juice because it is cleansing, and it might be cleansing that extra estrogen right out of your body! Just trust the hormones to work on this one, and the acu, and you should be fine. You aren't making eggs anymore, so you don't need most that other stuff. I would have to go back to your other post to comment on your other supplements. I never noticed the wheatgrass juice or the L-arginine to help my lining.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I hope the Estrace is able to do the trick for you! Lining can grow quickly - hopefully that will be your experience.

    Your story about the electro-acupuncture made me laugh. Can't say I've ever had an acu turn on the electrodes there. (Or put needles there, for that matter.)

    Best wishes for a successful transfer and beyond!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ah the joys of the blue pill!! Definitely the strangest thing I have had in my front bum. A very experienced Fertile Soul practitioner said to me that you didn't really have to 'do' much for a transfer. It strikes me that you are following instructions , which is all you can do, and am hoping the extra estrace will do its magic. Keep listening to Lyndsi - am sending you light xxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm with Phoebe on this one! The acupuncturist is very knowledgeable, I am sure, but Chinese medicine can only link so much with modern Western medicine and then you have to choose which to follow. I'm sorry you have to use the little blue pill...ewwww...oh the indignities us IF girls have to suffer! However, I am sure you will be fine soon...e2 will be rising and you will have a beautiful triple strip lining. BTW, I was giggling about your electro-acu session:-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I had the blue pill too - but I took it orally. So, good luck putting that in a different orifice. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. C'mon Smurfette! Let the magic blue mini-pill work! And I'll be sure to buy stock today in the panty liner company. I know you'll be buying in bulk!

    Hang in there, rest, and relax if you can.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ok, can't stop laughing about the dancing butt thing. :P I'm sorry your having to climb another moutain, but I'll be happy to see the muscles it creates. ;P I'm praying for you. Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10

    ReplyDelete
  10. First of all, the fatty issue for your estrogen is right. Sorry I didn't know you were doing this elsewhere or I would have said something.
    Next, why should this coaster ride be any less exciting than the others. Not finding out until 2 days before you flight is like being on the top hill of Kunda Ka and having to sit there all week.
    Oh and no not really a fan of riding backwards, makes me a little sick. So sitting here with you in the passenger seat again, anxiously waiting for you and Lyndsay. I think I need a Valium between the two of you. LOL

    Love you

    Sis

    ReplyDelete
  11. I had the estrace pill to insert vaginally too. I was doing it 4x/day and viagra vaginally 2x/day. Six liitle things getting shoved up my hoo-ha everday---not so fun. At least the estrace pills leak blue, but not that much. Make sure you wear a light pad so that the blue stuff doesn't get on your undies:)

    And I love the acu story! Too funny! I can just imagine you repeating that jingle in your mind and trying not to laugh hysterically while you are full of needles:)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh Jill, I loved the dancing butt thing...I truly can picture you glancing back trying to see what your bum was doing!
    Praying for you and just try to relax!!!! Easier said than done I know!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Jill, sorry you are so stressed out! I did the little blue pill thing vaginally too. Go buy a lot of panty liners!!!

    Sorry we haven't talked in so long. I don't even have time to do laundry!

    Scott is staying home from work tomorrow, so maybe I can call tomorrow while he is watching them!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh queen of the dancing butts.....hehe!!! This is just a "little" bitty upset compared to what you've already been thru......like other PP have said, that's why they monitor you like they do....that lining still has plenty of time to plump up......I think the rest of the cycle will be a breeze and you'll be bringing SEVEN home soon!

    love ya!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I much prefer the little blue estrace pill over the patches...in fact, you can still see the marks left from my allergic reaction to the patches. Blue pills anyday - although I got to take my orally and not up the woo hoo!! I'm so sorry for all the stress you're going through. Sometimes, I think that people get too wrapped up in their own approaches and methodologies and they forget that it is VERY beneficial to work with other disciplines to get the right result. Modern medicine is very powerful and can correct things like low estrogen and TCM and acupuncture can help correct the low estrogen too so I think her focus was too much on the "TCM or nothing". I think she forgot how powerful modern medicine is. Try not to worry too much (I know, easier said than done) but know that we're with you every step of the way. You're doing everything you can possibly do.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hey Girl!

    I know I don't post often but I am always cheering for you! I am excited about the next couple of weeks and what you are going to be telling us next.

    That is hilarious about your booty dance... :-) I wish I had a booty.... let alone one that could dance.

    I can't wait to meet Lucky number seven! Just to let you know, you have a babysitter already waiting in line!!! Miss you and hope to talk to you soon when things settle down and you are all preggy!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comment! Hugs, Kerry and Jill