Post # 1
Member
662 posts
Busy bee
hi! I haven’t posted here in ages, but wanted to see if any of y’all who have done/are doing ivf have any similar stories or insights.
I went in on Saturday which was cd2, and my ultrasound looked fine, but when they called with blood work they said my estrogen was more elevated than expected (102) so they wanted me to come in on Friday for another ultrasound to make sure there is no lead follicle.
When I emailed my doc, she said if there is a lead follicle we will likely just trigger it to control when it starts releasing progesterone and most likely this cycle will be on either way. I felt good about this for like an hour, and then I started to worry if this is the best protocol or if we are just “making” it work.
Anyone understand more about this stuff than I do and have thoughts? I used to consider myself pretty knowledgeable about ttc, but ivf is a whole other ballgame!
Post # 2
Member
2498 posts
Buzzing bee
LAZB : my estrogen was around 70 I think, they wanted it to be < 100. Did they do an AFC? An ultrasound should be able to tell if there’s a lead follicle. Were you on the bcp before this cycle?
ETA is this for stims or for the transfer? My info above was for stims, I haven’t had my FET yet
Post # 3
Member
1912 posts
Buzzing bee
LAZB : I just went through FET and I don’t understand. Are you doing retrieval now since foliciles are involved and you are doing the trigger? What medicines are you on? I stimmed for like 14 days. My doctor is also very aggressive. Did yours say how many follicles were big? To me it doesn’t make sense if there is only 1 and it’s only day 2 they would do a trigger so early. Every clinic does things differently but 2 days seems premature. For FET you’ll take estrogen and progesterone to help your body produce these for your lining and for the embryo to stick. Rereading your message… if you’re on FET cycle, did they have you do BCP first? They usually have you take BCP so they can control your cycle. You want to not ovulate before transfer however medicine can help with this. I’ve learned you have to trust your doctors. My lining wasn’t getting thick and he pushed me two additional weeks on just estrogen. My lining barely made it to a 7. I’m just over 4 weeks pregnant.
Post # 4
Member
3434 posts
Sugar bee
I’m following because I hope to do a FET soon. Waiting to see if any of our embryos made it to freeze. We are doing PGS so it will be a few weeks before I know what’s up.
Post # 5
Member
15279 posts
Honey Beekeeper
Are you doing a natural FET?
Post # 6
Member
4093 posts
Honey bee
I have done a natural FET and a medicated FET. What they are describing is switching from medicated to natural and just following your body’s natural timing for when you ovulate. I prefer this as you are not full of hormones and there have been studies that show it to work equally (and sometimes better) than medicated cycles. I would not worry, but make them explain this to you as they don’t want you walking away from appts confused.
Post # 7
Member
9207 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
LAZB : I’m confused as well. I just did a FET (and it worked!) and they supress ovulation leaving up to the transfer. Unless a natural FET is different?
Post # 8
Member
662 posts
Busy bee
Thanks for your replies everyone! I am talking about my FET cycle, I did the retrieval in June.
I was already on a different protocol than anyone I know (no bcp or lupron) so this made me extra confused.
whitums : I think you are right, and from my googling that’s what I was leaning towards too. I just wasn’t sure if switching in the middle would be a “Hail Mary” move, or if it happens sometimes and works fine. I will definitely ask when I have an appointment. At my ultrasound on Saturday They identified three small follicles, but nothing stood out, they weren’t concerned until they got my blood work results
Post # 9
Member
4093 posts
Honey bee
LAZB : I am surprised they did not suppress you at all before your FET…a good question to ask them! I imagine they would learn from this and give you a different protocol should you need another FET (hopefully you won’t!). I personally prefer natural cycle FET’s, although you do tend to be monitored more so they don’t miss ovulation.
I would consider doing OPK’s to track when you’re getting close to ovulation. I personally don’t like relying on just the monitoring appts as my doctor triggered me too soon once (OPK wasn’t positive, but hormone levels were high enough in his opinion).
Post # 10
Member
1188 posts
Bumble bee
LAZB : I would definatly ask your doctor or nurse to explain everything to you clearly!! You deserve to fully understand why they are making these decisions. So are you doing a natural fet? Are you on any estrogen? I did a fet without any lupron but I did get bcp. I have never heard of them not surprressing at all….but then again the more I learn about ivf the more I see there are so many different protocols! Good luck!!
Post # 11
Member
662 posts
Busy bee
whitums : apparently there is some evidence that suppression is not ideal for patients with DOR (Which I have), so I think that’s why. I think this is just a super weird cycle for me.
candy08 : I am on estrogen, so it’s not a natural cycle, but just no suppression. I will definitely ask more questions on Friday!
Post # 12
Member
662 posts
Busy bee
whitums : oh, and I will definitely start opks!
Post # 13
Member
303 posts
Helper bee
I just did a natural FET, transfer was last Saturday. When I went in for my second monitoring appointment, we discovered I had a pretty large lead follicle, so they had me come back to repeat bloodwork (LH, but no estrogen). My transfer got moved up 5 days, because I was pretty much ready to ovulate on my own. I triggered that night.
Sounds like your doctor is on top of it. Good luck with your transfer!!!
Post # 14
Member
15279 posts
Honey Beekeeper
It’s not unheard of to not suppress. My doc only suppressed for scheduling purposes, otherwise I wasn’t suppressed most the time. As long as things are quiet , no follicles, estrogen less than 50, progesterone and LH low (forget the limit) then it’s a fine baseline to start cycle or fet.
Post # 15
Member
662 posts
Busy bee
pinkshoes : so, what do you think since my estrogen was 102? Double the limit?
pigpug10 : awesome, good luck! Sounds like I might be in the same boat, I wouldn’t hate an earlier transfer 🙂