The Waiting Game

Over the past 18 months, I have been keeping track of my menstrual cycles.  On average, my cycle is 34-36 days long (when not impacted by poor health, surgery recovery, or manipulation by birth control or other hormones).

After egg retrieval, the nurses told me to expect to get a period in 1-2 weeks, and my cycle began 12 days later.  Right on track!  Since then, I have been anxiously awaiting the start of my next cycle so that we could approximate the start date of our transfer cycle (likely the cycle beginning early July).  As of June 1, it has been 40 days since the start of my last cycle and I have not gotten my period yet.  

I spoke with a nurse at Mid-Iowa Fertility today to ask if I should be concerned about the length of this cycle, or if this is a normal experience.  The nurse said that they like patients to have a cycle every 35 days or less, so she recommended that I take a pregnancy test to confirm that I am not pregnant and then begin a medication called Provera (progesterone) to induce my period.  After learning that we are traveling to Jamaica in 12 days, she said she would like to do an ultrasound on Monday morning to look for a cyst (which could cause the lack of menstruation) and check my uterine lining.  If the lining is thick, I will start Provera to induce a period.  If the lining is not thick, I can begin taking birth control pills, which will prevent my period coming for three weeks, but insure that I have a period at the end of those three weeks.  

I took a pregnancy test after school and it was negative, as expected.  Even though we knew there was an almost impossible chance, it was still slightly disappointing to see the negative test result.  But after Monday's appointment I will know more about what to expect over the next two months and when to begin preparing for our frozen transfer!