I called today to state that my new cycle has yet to start. No I am not pregnant.
I found out again from talking to Sarah at PNW that it will take them 3-4 weeks to make the embryos. Wait what?
Why does it take 3-4 weeks to make embryos? We aren't doing a fresh cycle. As far as I know it might take about a week to make the embryo and maybe another week to get it to blast stage. 3-4 weeks sounds mighty long.
So they aren't worried that my period hasn't started. I won't worry either. It will get here when it gets here. If it hasn't started by CD 40 I'll call my local clinic to get provera. Today is only CD 27.
Hmm...so maybe end of May/early June for the FET? Oh who knows! So my spouse and I were either mislead or confused when they told us 4-6 weeks from the time my period starts to the day of transfer at the three hour appointment. Most likely we just got confused.
Mind you this is my very first free-hand, my own drawing, and without an art course watercolor. I think I did this one back in 2001.
The next watercolor I did and will put up here is one that I painted when I was dating J, my wonderful husband. As you can see the colors are lighter. Again I have had no formal art training or drawing. So I'm warning you I'm not very good.
I was drawing, then painting this while sitting on J's grandmother's front porch in Lake Luzerne New York. Looking out onto her garden and paved walkway. J loves to remind me that my perspective is off, and yes it is. After that I shut down painting thinking I would never be good enough to even make him happy. Well painting makes me happy so that is what matters and I bought a small ruler to keep in my paint box to try to keep things more level.
I signed my last name on one of the logs in the pile in the painting. I'm sure you can see it.
Maybe to keep myself relaxed while I wait for this cycle to start I'll do some painting? I can't promise myself I will as life's little household tasks always seem to intrude upon my personal time.
I prefer to use Winsor and Newton but that is just me.
Just a little bump in the road before there is a bump on your tummy.
ReplyDeleteYou should start your paintings again :)
I just might start painting again.
DeleteFrom what I understand about donor egg cycles is that it can be tricky coordinating your donor's cycle with yours. You will probably still be able to do an April/May cycle. After this period you will have to be suppressed, sometimes with BCPs sometimes Lupro*n, and then next cycle would be CD1 and you would transfer 3-5 days after you ovulate that month depending on the age of the embryos you are transferring. So basically 6 weeks give or take from when your period starts.
ReplyDeleteYour paintings are very nice :)
The thing is, we are using frozen donor eggs,so there is no coordinating of cycles. All the eggs that belong to us are already on ice.
DeleteYou still have to be suppressed first. It is that which is holding you back from doing a cycle this month. A FET really takes two cycles, the cycle before and the cycle you thaw and transfer. You should still be able to get in a April/May cycle.
DeleteSuppression I know about since they gave us a mock cycle calendar but the April/May thing is now doubtful...most likely solid May if not early June. But I can hope.
DeleteAt one point my doctor and I were talking about not having to do suppression meds and doing a natural cycle to meet when I'd ovulate. Not sure how that would have worked.
Sorry that it's going to take a little longer than expected, but hoping it moves more quickly than you expect!
ReplyDeleteJ came home for lunch today and I told him what was going on. He said he could always file for an extension here at this installation if need be. Doesn't mean he'd get it or that we'd need it but it is nice to know that he wants this as bad as do I.
DeleteFrom what I have read on another blog and I think it was frozen eggs with PNW (Seattle based clinic). They thaw the frozen eggs, fertilize, grow to blast and freeze the resulting embyros. If they have the two blasts, they allow the cycle to begin. In a way that is nice because you know what you are dealing with in terms of embies. Otherwise you could be taking meds and prepping yor body for weeks only to have situations, like the eggs did not thaw or did not fertilize, etc. So I think its better to wait and know before you begin. Plus it makes the cycle less anxiety ridden since you know how many embies you have.
ReplyDeleteYour paintings are nice.....and if you enjoy doing it then you should start again. Its a wonderful creative outlet.
I think we are also in que too. So we have to wait for our day to have embryos made. I know they mentioned they dedicate a whole day to just our embryo creation in the lab and no one else's embryos. Makes for less screw ups too. I just have to be patient.
DeleteArgh! Delays are so frustrating. I do like the paintings, though. Do what makes you happy!
ReplyDeleteSo I can run naked through the streets? Just kidding but you did say do what makes me happy. Seriously though maybe painting will give me patience again. Too much water and too fast applied makes more a soup than a painting.
DeleteSucky to hear about the delay in transferring, but at least you know it won't be more than a couple months until it finally happens. Btw, I actually like the "creative" perspective in that second painting -- it gives the picture more movement and feeling, in my opinion. :)
ReplyDeleteNothing worth having ever came quickly. So I'll sit and wait for the best. Thanks for the input on the paintings. Now I need to find time for painting.
DeleteAww bummer that there is a delay in the transfer. :(
ReplyDeleteIt only makes me want it all the more.
DeleteWhile your husband may think the perspective is off, I think it's lovely. Much better than I could ever do. If painting is what makes you happy, then go for it.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about the FET delay.
Now I just need to find time to paint.
DeleteYes, Sunny is right. I've done this twice, as you know. They get the embryos ready and that takes 4-6 weeks because they need to find a day in the lab when there aren't tons of other things (retrievals, transfers) going on.
ReplyDeleteAnd they freeze the embryos because, as you've seen on both of my cycles, there are delays in getting my body ready. If they had the embryo waiting fresh, there would be a risk it is ruined.
It's 6 weeks from the start of the period that starts bcp. That'll hopefully be next cycle. You'll get there! But surprises and misunderstandings are never fun.
See 6 weeks from the start of the period is what I understood too but I didn't know it would take an additional 4 weeks before my period starts to make the embryos...that I wasn't told about at all. I was told they would start making them after the final payment and when my period started we would begin the FET suppression and so on. I discussed with them the deadline I had because I was PCSing too and they confirmed we'd be right on track and do a possible transfer the end of March beginning of April. So um, now that isn't going to happen because of 1) no period yet and 2) we have to wait 4 weeks before my period to make the embryos. Things have changed I guess.
DeleteAlso, make sure you know how many embryos you might get. I thought they changed the program and you only get TWO embryos, even if there are 8 eggs left after those two are created. That's what they told a woman I know who had her consult about a month ago. You mentioned that all the eggs frozen are yours, which sounds very different to what the woman I know was told.
ReplyDeleteThey said they would take a "handful of the eggs" (a lot of eggs can fit into a handful)and create embryos with them. I asked how many and he said upwards of 20 if need be. Then I got the donor I wanted and they didn't tell me how many eggs she had left but that I got the last of them. Ugh! Wishing J had also asked more questions. But they promised me only TWO blastocysts. If there are more then they will be frozen but they will stop when they get just those two made. Things have changed.
DeleteStephanie, I just emailed PNW and got a response as to how many eggs.
Delete"We do not know how many eggs – the Lab will use as many as needed (typically 6,8,10) for a guarantee of two blastocysts."
So HAHAHA! I still don't know. I think they are getting vague on me. So much for getting the rest of my donor's stash whatever number that was. At this point I just want 2 to transfer and hopefully some to freeze.
I'm quite sure they'll create the embryos regardless of your period. It's more based on payment. They started the creating clock well before my period came. We got the "you have embryos!" email two weeks into my cycle and that was about 3 weeks after the initial notice.
ReplyDeleteAlso, they are being vague in case they only need 2 eggs to make 2 embryos. I think they are trying to get out of the donor egg bank world because their options are WAY less friendly than they were when we first started.
Well with the amount they hiked the cost in a years time they must be doing well. They now cost more than SRM but they also have a higher success rate than SRM too. I told J I was miffed with them being so vague but I'm still really excited to know that they said to me in another email that I most likely will have not only my two blasts to transfer but two blasts to freeze as well. I would love to have 2-3 children but I'll settle for just one if it doesn't go well. Hoping this FET results in a baby for you.
DeleteSo I JUST, as in LAST WEEK finished my drawing class. I just LOVE how good and cleansing doing the art made me feel!! I also loved how it seemed to shift my brain in to a different mode,... one that was much better.
ReplyDeleteI love your pictures! Post more up when you can.
... and tell J that you took artistic license on the deck and that is how you interprete it :D