One Thing to Remember with IVF: Plans Can Change

I have heard and read from others that IVF cycles can be cancelled or changed for various reasons. I had a fear this would happen during our egg retrieval cycle. However, our retrieval cycle went as planned and we did not experience this issue. I thought this could be an issue later on, but did not realize that plans could change before they even officially start.

This morning I woke up excited to call our fertility clinic and declare that today is cycle day one for our six week long FET (frozen embryo transfer) plan. However, when it came time to schedule my diagnostic hysteroscopy with trial transfer and biopsy of the endometrium, I encountered a huge problem. The only appointment the clinic had available for this procedure is for this coming Monday, the same day that I am scheduled for jury duty. Yes, jury duty. It is truly amazing how sometimes everything seems to happen all at once or not at all. The clinic scheduler explained the office does not have any other appointments available for my procedure for next week at all. This is a problem. According to my current FET plan the procedure must be performed during day 5-10 of my cycle. I did not get a heads up that scheduling could be such an issue for this procedure.

Luckily, my husband came home early and was with me when I got the news. The clinic gave me the option to either delay our current cycle for another month or to talk to the doctor about placing me on birth control pills so that the hysteroscopy could be completed at a later date. The second option would prevent postponing the cycle. However, this would mean starting out this cycle with a whole new plan.

We discussed our options while waiting to hear back from the clinic. We even tried to find out a way to get out of the jury duty in the next few days. Then, finally at the end of the business day we heard back from my nurse. She told me that our fertility doctor was agreeable to switch our plan to the option with the birth control pills to prevent any delay in treatment. After getting all of our questions answered we agreed to switch. She called in 2 additional scripts and emailed me the new FET schedule and preprocedure instructions. I was instructed to call her back with any additional questions. Tomorrow I will need to pick up my scripts from the pharmacy so I will be ready. The new plan requires me to start the birth control pills on Saturday, cycle day 3.

It can be hard to be faced with such obstacles during a time when you already feel so little control and hightened emotions. I was thankful to have my husband here so we could make the decisions together with such short notice. I am also thankful the clinic was also able to provide another option for us.

Infertility treatments are not easy. We had no idea how complicated IVF could be prior to starting this process. Maybe it was a good thing we didn’t really know what to expect. However, not knowing what to expect has also created some challenges for us, like the one we faced today. We have learned a lot so far. This process has strengthened our faith and our relationship. It has tested our emotions and consumed much of our time and attention. It has impacted our finances. This journey has really challenged me to become more flexible. These fertility clinics require a lot of our time. This has created conflicts with work and other aspects of our lives. Starting a cycle also requires some planning, such as ordering all of the needed medications. Things can change a the drop of hat. When an unexpected change happens we can either throw in the towel or look for a solution. Sometimes the best solution may end up being to wait a little while longer. Thankfully that was not the case for us today.

Please feel free to share your experience or a word of encouragement for those facing unexpected obstacles or changes.