Mock Cycle: Week Two

The second week of my mock cycle was fairly uneventful as far as protocol goes.  So this is a medical post for posterity and for anyone who is pursuing DEIVF.

After my second ultrasound, which showed my uterine lining was only at 4mm, it was decided that I needed to take the estrogen vaginally.  This would also help with the side effects of splitting headache and nausea (read: it felt like a hangover, minus the fun night before), so I gamely wiggled multiple pills the size of apple pips up my hooha twice a day.

This past Friday, I returned for my third ultrasound. Lining was between 6-7mm.  I needed to be at a bare minimum of 8mm. My estradiol from the previous week was at 172 (up from 46) so I definitely am absorbing the stuff. Seems like that diminished ovarian reserve is complicating things — women with low AMH are typically poor responders to IVF, so I wasn’t too surprised.  My RE likes to see if women can get away with taking estrogen orally or vaginally — it’s a lot less hassle and painful than taking it by injection.  All this means (I hope!) is that I will have to inject myself with estrogen during the actual donor-synchronized cycle (aka The Real Deal) next month.

A junior nurse came in and gave me a booster shot. Man, that estrogen bites when it first hits you! She also recommended that I ask the pharmacist for a 1″ needle, instead of a 1.5″ needle, when I fill my prescription, because I am skinny.

So, I learned a few things:

1. I am estrogen-resistant, presumably thanks to my barely existent AMH;
2. I guess I am doing injectables during The Real Deal; and
3. I should probably put on more weight.

In other news, we received the draft agreement between us and Nellie.  We are pretty happy with it and will discuss with our lawyer on Tuesday.

There are other things to write about — including gratitude to everyone who bolstered me this past week — but I need to carve out some time this week. Organising Chocolove was fun but took more time than I thought — there were 20 people to match and email! Thanks to everyone who participated!

Up next, a mammogram — Monday at 2pm PST (10pm GMT). My first. Hope it will be my last for a long while.

UPDATE (12/17): I emailed my nurse to ask if it was my low AMH that made me resistant to the estradiol. Her response: No, your response to the Estradiol is not due to your low AMH. Your response could be related to a decrease number of estrogen receptors in the uterus. Many times we do see that women can have a poor response to the oral estrogen but do far better on injectable or patches.