“One day, I will look at my child and tell them…I wanted you so badly, that I fought and walked through the depths of hell to get you here. THAT my child, is how much I love you”
-Carrie schnelzer
Helloooo Lovlies! Happy Monday May 4th. Today starts a new me, a new schedule, a new way of life for me over here. Making some much needed lifestyle changes, but thats for another blog post! I Had my ERA biopsy about a month ago, and given the openness of my journey, I naturally get a ton of questions about it, as well as questions from other women in the community that are faced with the same fate of having this test. This blog post will dive into my experience with this particular test, and hopefully it will help for others awaiting this journey to understand it more!
What is an ERA biopsy?
So before I talk about my experience, first lets get some understanding out of the way. According to Igenomix, the company that performed my testing, the Rationale behind the testing is this…
To locate the moment of the endometrial cycle in which the window of implantation starts, allowing the provider to personalize the embryo transfer.
Basically, the way they described it to me was that I would essentially do a “mock” cycle. I would take medication based on the protocol my particular office follows as standard, and instead of transferring an embryo, they take a biopsy of my uterus to see if I’m “receptive.” This test gives you sort of a “roadmap” to the best time to implant to give the embryo the best fighting chance on surviving and progressing. Now, I’m a nurse, I asked a TON of questions before they came to that explanation. I can only imagine what it must be like to do all of this with no medical knowledge. This is another reason I’m sharing this experience to refer people back to.
The cycle
Please keep in mind, my protocol, will be different from your protocol, and this explanation may be a bit different, but the test itself is typically the same, and let’s face it, thats why you are here!
My cycle started on March 13th a day or 2 after my period began. The 13th consisted of an ultrasound and bloodwork, or as I call it, the typical 2. I was given the ok based on my results to start medication March 14th. The oh so wonderful Estrace 2mg…vaginally…
Ugh…sounds fun right? Now I will admit. The suppository they gave me was an oral pill, not a typical “suppository” which wasn’t as messy as I’ve heard it described. I had to take these up the shoot 3 times a day, as well as baby aspirin to reduce the chance of blood clotting. This sequence went on until the 27th. LOTS of days of really getting to know my insides…(sorry if thats too much!) After my lining check on the 27th, I began solumedrol 16mg as well as the dreaded PIO shots (progesterone in oil,) that ended up not being so bad. Check out my blog post here for my experience with giving myself IM shots for the first time.
My body was being pumped so full of meds that just put me on a rollercoaster. Honestly, I’m thankful my marriage made it through! It was a bit hard for my husband to allow me to be emotional and touchy when it came to the step kids and still stay connected. This process isn’t easy for either of us…even though I feel I’m the one that needs the most grace going through it 😉 It made me feel a little out of sorts at times, I slept a lot, had a lot of headaches, and just felt icky most days. I set my alarm to make sure I took my dose at the same time every day. 1 ML in the syringe, twist and plunge into my love handle…lol Pretty much sums it up. You CAN do it yourself, this was the method I preferred. I was more afraid of my unexperienced husband jabbing me than inflicting pain on myself. (spoiler alert, it didn’t hurt at all)
da danu naaaaaaaaaa and the day comes…the dreaded biopsy day. On day 21…April 2nd
The biopsy
Started with a urine test…I chuckled at this. I wanted to scream, “are you for real” do you know why I’m here? my husband can’t get me pregnant…there is no miracle…the bridge is closed…burned…torn down. (for those of you who don’t know, my husband had a vasectomy…hence the IVF) IMPOSSIBLE!! but…I get it, I humored them. Negative…shocker…
Started just like any other lovely gynecological procedure or exam. Except…this came with an extra dose of buuuullllshit. No lube…yep…you heard me. Dry. Ass. Specula. OUCH. I wish I could say that was the worst.
So the MD obtains the sample (see photo above or video below) by inserting a small catheter, and scrapping the sides of your uterus vigorously to obtain cell samples. The feeling of the catheter advancing past what any “normal” woman would ever experience with a vaginal exam, is unlike anything I can even describe. It is the most intense cramp I’ve ever felt.
For those that are interested, I have had multiple colposcopies in the past for abnormal PAP smears. This was NOT the same…not at all.
She advanced the catheter, and I held my breath as she inserted the next tube and scrapped…and scrapped and scraped…removed and went to the counter to see if it came out correctly
Not once…not twice…but three times I had to experience this for her to get the adequate sample for the test. I felt as though my insides were exploding. Each time only lasting about 10 seconds, but felt like much longer. I took 800mg of ibuprofen and an Ativan…I can only imagine how bad it would have been without those. I laid on the table, so that I didn’t feel dizzy, which had happened before with other test, and the intense cramp subsided enough to be bare-able, and was essentially gone by the time I got back into the car with my husband.
Results
At the end of the day, everything horrifying above, ended up being incredibly worth it…even the $800 out of pocket price tag. about a week or 2 later (in the midst of the pandemic mind you, it may have taken less if not) I received a call from my doctors office informing me that I am considered “pre-receptive”. This essentially means, that I need another full day of Progesterone in Oil shots for my uterus to be accepting of an embryo. I’m so very happy I put myself through this to give my little embryo the best fighting chance I could.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions that I may not have answered, and please continue to follow my Journey to #babyschnelz. I pray, my one and only embryo will one day be pictured here on this blog as a happy healthy baby!
Please know that this is just a summary of my particular experience with my clinic. Please follow the directions and recommendations given to you from your clinic, I am not a doctor, and every woman’s journey is different!