My lining wasn’t quite an 8, but I guess 7.7mm is close enough: I’ve been cleared for FET on Tuesday.
Some people bonk and have a baby nine months later. Me? I cut out caffeine and booze, and take this lovely cocktail of meds:
Clockwise from bottom left:
Estradiol (estrogen) patches. I slap four of these suckers on a different part of my lower abdomen every three days. I have to reinforce this brand with first aid tape. Yes, I have a rash. No, they’re not as effective as the previous brand (see Estrace, below).
Azithromycin (2 pink pills). DH and I both take a a short course of antibiotics to make sure I don’t get sick before transfer.
Folate (4 white pills). A whopping 4mg daily to prevent neural tube defects.
Estrace (estrogen) (2 blue pills). This time I’m not responding as well to the patches, so my RE upped my estrogen. I take one in the morning and one at night. Vaginally. Yes, they are the size of apple pips. Yes, it’s annoying. Yes, they’re blue. And, yes, I am a motherfuckin’ pro.
Baby aspirin (1 yellow pill). Because I’m trying to have a baby? Kidding! I don’t know why. Standard protocol, maybe it helps with getting blood to the uterus.
Prenatal multi-vitamin (1 dark red pill). Like, duh.
Alcohol prep pads. One for the top of the vial. One for my arse.
Progesterone in oil (aka PIO). Aka hurts-like-a-motherfucker, I’m told. I find out for myself Thursday night…
Little needle. This charming one-inch-long 22-gauge needle is what my dearly beloved gets to poke me in the arse with every night for 12 weeks if we’re lucky. And they said infertility wasn’t romantic! Fools!
Big syringe. Holy fuckballs, I am so glad that is to draw the PIO from the bottle and not destined for my cheeks.
Not shown in the photo: the hot water bottle I will have on standby post-injection; the liquid iron I take to help with my lining; and the Chinese tea pills my acupuncturist recommended I take for lining issues.
Also not shown in this photo: my wry smile and snarky eye roll which both acknowledge the difficult journey and the hope that there will be a little person at the end of it.
wow, that’s a lot of drugs and supplements! it’s crazy to think about what infertile/subfertile people go through. Different situations, different stories, but so much effort and expense and sacrifice.
Oh, I miss those arse poking days! LOL! My husband got really good at it. You HAVE to have a sense of humor about this, right? xoxo