New Year New Plan
Changing our FET protocol & finding new hope
Trying Something New
If you’ve been following our journey, you know we’ve already been through two frozen embryo transfers… both were fully medicated cycles. This means prepping and planning my cycle with birth control pills, daily estradiol pills and nightly progesterone-in-oil shots (in the butt!). Unfortunately, both cycles failed, despite all this help.
Recently, I had an appointment with my doctor to talk about what’s next. And honestly, for the first time in months, I’m feeling hopeful again.
This time… we’re doing a Modified Natural Cycle!
Why We’re Switching Plans
At my appointment, I asked my doctor what changes he suggested we make moving forward. At first, he was ready to simply continue on the same path we’ve been on. No changes in medication or plan. This is where I’m so proud of myself for doing my own research. I asked if he would feel comfortable trying a modified natural cycle. A modified natural cycle basically means we follow my natural cycle but still offer a few supports in hopes of our little embryo sticking.
Instead of layering in a ton of hormone support from the very beginning, we’ll let my body take the lead and only step in when we need to.
Here’s what that plan looks like:
Tracking my natural cycle & reaching out to the clinic on cycle day 1
When my body is near ovulation, we’ll administer an at home HCG trigger shot
This means we can time the transfer correctly and not miss ovulation. (Fully natural cycles have a high cancellation rate, so we want to avoid that as much as possible)
Lastly, instead of those oh so lovely intramuscular progesterone shots (PIO), I’ll use a still invasive, but much less painful vaginal progesterone suppositories.
Same support, different route. And honestly, a much gentler approach on my body and my mind.
Advocating for Myself
Words can’t express how proud I am of myself for asking about this! Two failed cycles is emotionally exhausting, and it would’ve been easy to just say “okay” and go along with whatever the clinic suggested next.
But here’s the thing:
Our embryos this round are graded exactly the same as the embryos we transferred previously. Nothing has changed there. So if the embryos are the same… why would we keep doing the exact same protocol and hoping for a different outcome?
Asking questions, pushing for variation, and advocating for something different felt necessary.
My Takeaways & How I’m Feeling
While I remain realistic… I’m beginning to feel hopeful again. Nervous. Proud. Anxious. All of it.
There’s something comforting about knowing we’re not just rinsing and repeating another fully medicated cycle. We’re trying something new, giving my body a chance to do what it naturally does, and supporting it along the way.
Maybe this is the change we needed. Maybe not. But at least it feels like we’re moving forward instead of staying stuck.
I also can’t begin to express how taking away those PIO shots are going to do wonders for my mental health. I’m hoping with a better mental state comes a better physical state.
