hard to believe

All of this is still hard to fathom.  I remain on cloud nine at this time!  I think we are all overwhelmed with the emotions of today and what is next.

I received word about my blood work results this afternoon from the nurse after review by Dr. Nair. 

As you know the endometrial lining looks beautiful and measures 8.3mm.
Your Estradiol level is 240 which is perfect (we like it to be at least 150).

Progesterone is 8.1 which is an indication that you have ovulated however it is not something that we will worry about since you will be on Lupron for the frozen embryo transfer cycle. Lupron is a medication used to prevent ovulation and is standard protocol for all gestational carriers.

I don't know what all of this means, but we are doing a fresh transfer, so I asked about that.  The nurse was quick to respond that fresh is correct and that I will still need to be on the Lupron.  I still didn't know details, but Dr. Nair called to speak with me this evening.  Basically the progesterone level is high and basically, I probably should not have started ovulating yet.  She said this is not a bad thing, but they want to make sure that for the real transfer, I am not ovulating.  In order to prevent ovulation, the Lupron will be extra shots for a few weeks prior to the normal shots/regimen to prepare.  From what Dr. Nair said, the Lupron will tell my pituitary to tell my body to go into a brief menopause state to ensure complete preparation.  As I tried to wrap my head around it all, I have a million questions but knew that Dr. Nair was needing to attend to her next patient, so I let her go.  However, she did mention before we hung up that she was very proud of my weight loss progress - it meant a lot to know she recognized that.  I would try to do some fact finding on my own about the progesterone and will likely reach back out to the nurse tomorrow.

With a little research, I saw that IVF transfers should not happen with a progesterone level above 2.86 because the data suggests that it can reduce chances of pregnancy.  I don't mind taking extra meds, but want Bethany to understand if there are extra costs associated (which I imagine there will be).  She will reach out about that and I will try to contain my excitement about everything and learn more about the next steps.