The past 3 months have really been a test of my patience and of managing what I expect from my infertility clinic and doctor.

We began the drug portion of this FET cycle two-ish weeks ago. The first week was an easy one, with just one injection a day. Last week I began the pill popping, which has been much better this time around. I don’t feel nearly as many side effects as I did every other time. I think the big difference is that I’ve switched from generic estrogen to name brand. I think that the switch has also helped with the reason I have to take estrogen. For example, last cycle it took 3 weeks and 4 days from when I started injections to when I was able to do the transfer. This time around, it will once again be 3 weeks and 4 days, but my uterine lining is going to be much thicker (thicker=better) by the time we get there, and with less medication total.

I still plan to share what is going on, but I’m going to be a bit more vague with dates this time around. Based on my appointment this morning, I should have my final transfer before July ends. That means that during the first two weeks of August I will have at least one beta, hopefully more than one!

We are still planning to thaw and transfer our three remaining embryos, with the hopes that one or two of them take. I will once again be doing intramuscular progesterone, which means more injections. I know this may sound crazy to some, but I am looking forward to the pain, and hoping that I have it for several months.

Ah yes, managing expectations. The title of this post. I almost forgot! Both David and I were ready to start again as soon as possible after the D&C, but that was over 3 months ago. I didn’t think we’d be forced to wait this long, as many fertile people can get pregnant just a few weeks after a D&C. I’ve been pushing my doctor to shorten everything, because I know there is no medical reason to wait around this long to do another transfer. It has been horribly frustrating. And after I saw the numbers on the ultrasound this morning, I thought for sure they would schedule the transfer for 5 or 6 days from now, which turns out to not even be close. I was super disappointed when my nurse gave me the potential transfer date as it was way further away than I was hoping for. After thinking about it for a while, I’ve come to accept that they are just working on a preplanned schedule, and there was/is nothing I can do to make it go any faster (also frustrating as heck!).

Third times the charm, right?!