Ready to Try Again ~ IVF #7

Our canceled cycle in November was a huge sucker punch to the gut. It turned up yet another problem that doesn't have a cure or any good treatment. Apparently, my progesterone likes to start rising before ovulation. There is a narrow window of time when the uterine lining is receptive for embryos to implant. When progesterone rises too early in the cycle this moves up that narrow window of time so when the embryo is finally ready to nestle in, the uterine lining is no longer receptive. This is what likely happened during our chemical pregnancy. Try as they might, our poor little embryos didn't have much of a chance. The research I found shows an early rise in progesterone has a severe impact on success rates for IVF. And there really isn't anything you can do to keep your progesterone level from rising. But since it fluctuates like any other hormone, it is possible we can try again during a cycle where there isn't an early rise.

My body also decided to not have a period at the end of the 10 days of provera after my canceled cycle. Normally my period shows up within 1-3 days of stopping provera. Instead it took 2 weeks and was one of the worst periods I've had in a very long time. I passed several large clots that were extremely painful when passing through my cervix. Stupid cervical stenosis. It was awful. I could actually feel the clots as they were passing through my cervix. <shudder> On the bright side, my most recent period was pretty awesome with minimal cramping. So hopefully my body is recovered.



I went back on some Chinese herbs. I've been working with my acupuncturist to help bring some peace back to my battered body. I asked my acupuncturist last week if he thought my body was ready for another cycle of IVF. He said that from an eastern medicine perspective my body is actually well balanced, despite the crazy amount of stress I've been under the past several months. He thought it would be fine for me to try again.

We are tentatively going forward with my next cycle which could show up any day now. Scheduling these next several months is turning into a pain. We have tickets for a concert next week and I may end up missing it if my period shows up within the next three days and my progesterone level cooperates. If I skip this cycle then my next two cycles would conflict with a vacation we have planned. I really don't want to wait until April to get this show on the road. I keep going back and forth on everything. And if I really want to make myself laugh, I calculate due dates and see how much they would interfere with the out of town wedding I'm in this coming December.

There may be seemingly insurmountable odds against us; however, I am still cautiously hopeful we will finally get a take home baby.