Frozen? Or let it go?

~ Pamela J

So my coordinator gave me the option to switch to a frozen cycle (same embryo profile), but it wouldn’t be until August.

A part of me is so resistant to that — I so badly want to get this show on the road — and the doctor thinks it’s just fine to be on Lupron for an extra week (in stasis, basically — the nurse says no one ever ovulates through it), and the egg donor is still scheduled (even though she was also scheduled at the earlier dates, and look how that turned out). Plus the nurse said no embryos would be guaranteed. They wouldn’t be guaranteed on a fresh cycle, either, but somehow I think I’ll get a worse deal if I’m the one with the leftovers instead of one of the fresh cyclers.

But — and I know this is totally silly — I got a silver snowflake charm in my Christmas cracker last year, which I took as some kind of sign that I’d end up with a frozen cycle. It’s just a silly cheap little ornament, and my writer’s mind is always trying to find meaning everywhere, even where none exists.

And I’m coming around to the idea that hopefully the med change will be fine and everything will work out and let’s just get this over with.

But I’ve rushed into things before, and nothing has ever worked out, so I’m feeling kind of paralyzed but also like I’m just being paranoid based on the past…

Ugh, every part of this is always so exhausting.

8 thoughts on “Frozen? Or let it go?”

  1. A couple of questions: so you would get frozen extras of her fresh cycle? Would they test them or just freeze at blast? I feel like you have had such a good feeling about this donor profile I would hate for you to miss out on it. A positive of a potential frozen cycle is a. You can see how the cycle goes and if there are enough blasts to freeze that is usually indicative of good fertility and good odds 2. There is some research suggesting frozen transfers yield as good if not better results 3. You don’t have to feel like the meds messed up your chances. You my input 🙂

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    1. Yes, they would freeze some of her embryos (if any good quality ones are left), but they don’t test them.

      1. Yes, that’s a big plus, seeing how it goes before I commit to transferring.

      2. I think frozen tends to be better for IVF, very slightly worse for donor FET.

      3. I am worried about the meds being weird — in all my internet research, I’ve literally never heard of someone being put on Lupron and estrogen, and then taken off estrogen or a week (but still on Lupron), and then put back on estrogen again. I guess it makes sense, since Lupron is supposed to shut everything down, so you’re just kind of sitting there in artificial menopause waiting for the drugs to tell your system what to do. But I’ve ovulated through estrogen before — who’s to say I won’t freakingly ovulate through Lupron, too?

      But my husband is worried we’ll end up with no embryos if others get all of them (or all of the good ones), and a two-month delay will be stressful in and of itself.

      You mentioned in an earlier comment that you had something similar happen on your successful donor cycle: “I did one round of estrogen then had to pause for a week then start again.” What did that mean exactly?

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  2. I actually did one day of estrogen then was told I had to go back on bcp for a week for timing. After hearing more details, my gut tells me you should just go for it but only if you can find a way to accept and have faith that they know the protocol they are using. Also- can you get a local ultrasound before you travel to make sure your ovaries are quiet?

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    2. Were you on Lupron at all? Seems to be so strange to be on BCP for just one week, but then again it’s supposed to do kind of the same thing as Lupron, that is, shut down your system.

      It’s so strange that almost the same thing happened to you! And it worked, so… maybe that’s a good sign for me?

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      1. I was never on Lupron. My ovaries are usually really quiet (major DOR) and my lining grew fine. Definitely a good indicator a week delay is ok.

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  3. I hope so. I’m just skittish since for me, it seems like everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Up to and including a Turkish military coup the same day my embryos were thawed.

    Ovulating through Lupron would be just another Tuesday… sigh. Here’s hoping.

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