This was the thickness of my uterine lining at my ultrasound at yesterday's appointment. It should have been double that, so it was disappointing news. The doctor told me that my body is not responding to the hormones the way it's supposed to, and if we're not able to get it thick enough for when Janelle is ready, we won't be able to do a transfer. Their embryos will have to be frozen. There's such timing with this whole process, where my body needs to be prepped and primed and ready to receive the embryos just in time. Once I get to that point, they can put me into a "holding pattern" until Janelle is ready for her retrieval and the embryos are ready to be transferred. Though finding out the news about my lining not being where it needed to be is not the end of the world, I left the clinic feeling deflated. I wondered if I should send a text message to Janelle to let her know how the appointment had gone, but decided not to as I didn't want to disappoint her on what would otherwise be a nice trip out.
So Janelle and her mom arrived in the evening, and it was so great to finally see them after what feels like so long of waiting! After everyone got settled, I got to check out her ‘protocol’ of needles/injections, and I definitely think I got off easy! My meds seem like a piece of cake compared to those needles.
Here's a pic of me checking out her stuff. The picture doesn't really show it all though. Will try to get some better ones.
I felt as if I'd sort of been dragging my feet a little, and finally told her what I thought was going to be terrible news. Instead of feeling like the 'bearer of bad news', I got good news, in that her body has been reacting slowly to her medications as well. At her last ultrasound, she had been feeling disappointed herself that her follicles were not as large as the doctor would like them to be. Apparently, after a hysterectomy there's not as much blood flow to the ovaries, which could play a big factor. As far as my body's schedule, I thought this was great news, in that more time may be needed to get her eggs to the point where they're ready for retrieval. That gives me more time to get my uterus up to snuff and where it needs to be. If one of our bodies' is going to lag, why not both of them? Maybe it's meant to be. We're both a bit delayed in the development, instead of just one of us. I felt so relieved thinking my body might not be the thing that holds up the show.
Janelle told me that it looks like she has got 4 good follicles maturing from one ovary and 2 from the other. Though this is not necessarily a high number, we're hopeful that the eggs they retrieve will be "top-notch" :) I keep saying that it only takes one!
Janelle had another appointment this morning, for another ultrasound and more bloodwork, and her follicles are now halfway there. Apparently they’re at 7 or 8, and need to be at 16 or 18. I’m not sure what the numbers are in reference to, but essentially they’re halfway there. So they are growing, just slow and steady.
Warning: the next bit may be a bit of “TMI” for some.
*TMI* - texting abbreviation for “too much information”. (Just thinking of my elders :P)
I thought about whether or not to include the following or not, and decided that I wanted this blog to be as honest as possible and an accurate journal of the process.
So now it is time for me to get a big, fat, thick uterus that will be ready to welcome their embryos. My estrogen is being increased again, and now in addition to the dose that I take orally twice a day, I am now inserting Estrogen pills vaginally each night. The hope is that the increased estrogen will give my body the boost that it needs to be ready in time.
There we go...that's it. No biggie, right?
Hope that didn’t make anyone too queasy.
On the flip side... I think I'm turning into a nut.
I just watched the season finale of "The Bachelorette" (crap TV) and got emotional when she gave the "final rose" to her bachelor as they prepare to live happily ever after.
Truly pathetic.
...Don't tell anyone - I'll deny it. ;)
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