# What was your fet protocol please?



## Baby Me

Can people tell me their fet protocols so I can get an idea of options and time frames ahead of my consultation?

All I know is ill be skipping the pill. 

Also do they only defrost one? I have two.


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## Baby Me

Anyone? Only thing keeping me sane is starting FET, jus want to know how long it takes and what drugs are needed.


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## Kaylakin

Hi!
I'm about to gear up for a FET, assuming this month doesn't work on our own (which it never does). I can give you the run down on the timeline and medications, etc when I find out. I know that I will likely skip birth control pills as well. I will be taking Lupron. If so, I"ll begin injecting on day 21 of my cycle, assuming I've ovulated at that point. My doctor said it takes 8-10 weeks for this protocol - but I believe he's including the 3 weeks that I'd be waiting to just start the Lupron injections on day 21. So, that would change it to 5-7 weeks from the beginning of injections. At some point, I would start estrogen - I believe after I get the 2nd period - then a few days prior to the transfer I would start progesterone injections. There are more medications than this, such as I'll take a steroid and an antibiotic, but those are the main hormones. 
Each place has their own protocol - some don't use Lupron at all and use an estrogen protocol instead. Some places do a "natural FET" which is different as well -much less medication. My doc wasn't too keen on that.
I've been so curious about the time frame as well. I just want to see a calendar and map out dates, etc. I can let you know mine as soon as I find out ;-)
As far as how many they thaw, I believe it depends on how many you plan to transfer. I plan to transfer two. The way my doctor explained it, he said they would thaw 2 the night before the transfer. If one of them didn't look good, they could thaw another since they can tell relatively quickly if the embryo survived the thaw. My doctor said some people may choose to thaw all of their embryos and then see which are the best, and transfer those back. He doesn't generally recommend that because then the embryos you don't transfer are lost - they don't refreeze them. I have 5 embryos frozen, so it may be a bit different in my case vs your case. There are many variations, and it's up to your and your doctor what you choose to do. 
I hope that helped somewhat. I will tell you when I know more about my protocol time line.
Good luck at your consultation!


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## Baby Me

Thanks kaylakin, that's so helpful. Longer than I expected though, I thought it would be about 4 weeks end to end. It's so annoying how they say to keep trying yourself between treatments, how often does that have good results I wonder. Yes, please let me know your timeline. Have you been given success rates?


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## MoBaby

I've done 3 fets:
First was medicated. Started estrace twice daily on cd1 and took all the way through. The clinic had me come in at some pout (day 20 I think) and do a Scan. When liking was over 7.5 I started progesterone and transferred blast 6 days later. Stay on estrace and progesterone. It worked but I bleed a lot and lost baby at 7.5 weeks.
Fet2 was a disaster as I ovulated on meds so it was a wonky cycle. We converted to a natural but it was chemical.
Fet3 was completely natural. I did ovulation tests and when I had lh surge I went in the day following. If u/s shows ovulation near and lh and progesterone show the same I took a Hcg trigger shot. Transferred blast 6 days later and started progesterone that day. Got a bfp!! And this is where I am now :) 
I never did lupron or bcp for any fet. Just times it with af.


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## Baby Me

That's interesting, after all the meds it was the natural cycle that did it. I do wonder how that would work for me, I always spot a week before af so wouldn't trust my lining.


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## Kaylakin

Baby Me,
For my fresh cycle (which worked) my doc estimated around a 50% chance of success..this was before seeing the quality of embryos I believe. I ended up having excellent quality for both embryos which must help. He even said the day of the transfer that there was a 34% chance of twins (I ended up with a singleton). For the FET, he said it is harder to give a % success rate. Each clinic freezes embryos at different times and have different standards for freezing, etc, so maybe it's harder to compare across the board in frozen cycles? I'm not sure, just that he said it's hard to look at the numbers with FET, but often they can be just as successful..
And yes, I don't know why I even try on my own anymore. I got pregnant once naturally after only 3 months, then had a mc, then couldn't get pregnant after that and did fertility treatments. I think that's why in the back of my mind I'm like, "I did it once, I did it again." My doc said it was most likely a fluke - so confusing.
When is your consultation? I'm waiting on AF for next week - then I'll give a call. He did say that if I did a natural FET with no medication, the process would be super quick because you're just timing it with your cycle, so I'd call at the beginning of the cycle and they'd transfer the embryos 3 days after ovulation probably. He then went on to discourage me from doing that each time I asked about it. I still think it'd work for me - but at least for this cycle I'll take his advice/professional opinion and see how it goes...


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## Kaylakin

Baby Me - 
Did you find out the timeline for your protocol yet? 
I just went in today for a baseline scan. I go back on day 21 for bloodowork/ultrasound and they'll show me how to do the Lupron. I will start the Lupron that day as well. I asked her about a timeline and she told me that after I get my next period, they'll have a better idea of a timeline. I don't know if that includes the time you're waiting after the transfer until the beta. I just want her to tell me specific dates so I know!! Argg!
Ok, just wondering if you'd learned anything new and which protocol your doc will be using...


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## Tinkerbell3

I'm just waiting for AF and will be doing a natural FET, no meds at all unless I want to go progesterone but been told not needed.
We have no choice as to how many to thaw as we only have one :sad1:


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## Baby Me

Kaylakin, yes found out yesterday. Have to have one natural cycle after miscarriage then start buserelin down reg injections on day 21 of next cycle. Take this for two weeks then start estrogen tablets for 2-3 weeks before transfer. There is a chance my transfer could be Xmas week in which case they would make me wait till following cycle as they are closed over Xmas. So my transfer is 3-4 months away. Forever! Good luck.


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## cranberry

I am in the US so this may be a little different. I had the option of doing a medicated or natural cycle. I chose medicated because I work full time and have a kid and I'm a single parent. Medicated gave me more predictability and allows me to plan.

Not including the time I was on birth control, it is a 4 week cycle.

I started with a baseline ultrasound and a mock transfer
Then I started birth control about CD3 and took it for about 3 weeks
5 days before I stopped birth control pills I started 10mg of Lupron
10 days later I went in for an ultrasound to check the thickness of my lining (the suppression check)
Then I reduced Lupron to 5mg and started estrogen patches (this was yesterday)
Will have a blood test to check my estrogen in a week
If all is well I continue the same 5 mg of Lupron while increasing estrogen patches for 8 more days then have another blood test for estrogen and an ultrasound to check my lining I'm assuming
Then progesterone in oil shots for 3 days
Embryo transfer


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## clarkea

Im doing an fet. They said to start down reg injections on day 23 and fet will be 5-6 after the start of injections x


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## Kaylakin

Baby Me,
It does seem like a long time. The waiting is the hardest. I almost feel like the fresh cycle is easier (in a way) because it seemed to go so quickly after stopping the birth control ( I did a short protocol - no Lupron with the fresh cycle). Hopefully you'll get in before xmas - that'd be great.


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## Kaylakin

cranberry said:


> I am in the US so this may be a little different. I had the option of doing a medicated or natural cycle. I chose medicated because I work full time and have a kid and I'm a single parent. Medicated gave me more predictability and allows me to plan.
> 
> Not including the time I was on birth control, it is a 4 week cycle.
> 
> I started with a baseline ultrasound and a mock transfer
> Then I started birth control about CD3 and took it for about 3 weeks
> 5 days before I stopped birth control pills I started 10mg of Lupron
> 10 days later I went in for an ultrasound to check the thickness of my lining (the suppression check)
> Then I reduced Lupron to 5mg and started estrogen patches (this was yesterday)
> Will have a blood test to check my estrogen in a week
> If all is well I continue the same 5 mg of Lupron while increasing estrogen patches for 8 more days then have another blood test for estrogen and an ultrasound to check my lining I'm assuming
> Then progesterone in oil shots for 3 days
> Embryo transfer

Cranberry,
Your protocol sounds similar to mine, except I'm not doing BCPs. I start Lupron on day 21 (in two weeks). After that it's 2-3 weeks of estrogen and then adding in progesterone a few days before transfer. I guess I would have the pregnancy test 2 weeks after the transfer.


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