Our November FET

Once my cycle started after our IVF I was able to start preparing for our frozen embryo transfer (FET) in November. The process for this is much easier on the body than IVF is. I was thankful for less injections in the FET process. While I was proud of myself for being able to overcome my fear enough to do my injections that doesn't mean I wanted to do very many. Most of my medications were oral meds with one daily injection in the morning. Piece of cake compared to the three injections a day I was on with IVF. The process was also less taxing on my body in general. I felt better physically through the entire cycle.

Going into this cycle I had a lot of hope. This was it. This cycle would end with an embryo transfer and potentially a pregnant. This is what we had been working toward for almost six years. I was excited to get started. I was excited to go through the FET process. Things for our cycle went perfectly. At baseline my lining was around 4mm and my RE looks for it to be under 5. We started out on a great track. At my prelining ultrasound, the first ultrasound to check the uterine lining, my lining was at a 9.4 and my RE looks for it to be above a 9 for transfer. We were beyond excited. Things were going so smoothly. We weren't struggling to get the results we needed which only made the process that much easier. With my lining being where it needed to be we were set to transfer on Nov. 13th. After much discussion with our amazing Dr we decided we would only transfer one embryo. She recommended this due to my age and some concerns I had with the scar tissue in my abdomen. While we wanted to transfer two going into the process at the start we trust our RE a lot and went with her recommendation with the understanding that if it wasn't successful we would transfer two the next round.

Transfer day finally came! I felt like the week leading up to this day dragged slower and slower with each new day. At transfer they gave me Valium to relax everything so there is no cramping during the procedure. It made me chatty and giggly which was hilarious. We told jokes during the procedure, seriously my RE is the coolest. The transfer is very orderly. The call your name to the embryologist to let them know you're ready, the come in with the embryos and have you confirm your info, and then they transfer them through a catheter. It is very controlled and obviously for good reason. You get to watch the whole thing on an ultrasound screen and it's an amazing experience. John held my hand while they transferred our beautiful embryo. When they transfer the embryo(s) there is a flash on the ultrasound so you can actually see it which is really awesome.

Our beautiful embryo we transferred Nov. 13th

Then came the hard part - the two week wait (tww). My beta was scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving. A beta lab draw is used to measure the hcg in a woman's system to determine pregnancy. I belong to several IVF groups on Facebook for support. Many of the Ladies on there talk about how quickly they see a positive on a home pregnancy test. I initially wanted to wait to test the day before or day of beta. This way I would have an idea of the outcome and would not be testing super early. Well, I caved and started testing only four days after transfer which is pretty early. I tested all the way to beta day and they were all stark white. Going into beta I did not have a ton of hope it would work out due to my tests but knew my hcg could to be too low for the tests to register. On Nov. 22nd I found out my beta was negative. 

Up Next: Negative Beta and the Fallout