Its been awhile since I have updated, life has been crazy. I started on Dr. Lessey’s plan of taking 5mg Letrozole (Femara) for days 5-9 of my cycle. On day 9 I had an ultrasound to check my lining thickness and it was 1.5mm, which is EXTREMELY thin. I also had a freakishly large 30mm follicle on the right side (I suspect leftover from my annovulatory cycle last cycle) and some other follicles, 7-16mm. I started taking 4mg Estradiol, vaginally, immediately and the next day my lining was up to 5.5mm and the 30mm follicle had collapsed, leaving a 18mm dominant follicle. The following day my lining was up to a much healthier 7.5mm, which is still thinner then they like to see but I had another day of Estradiol to take. So with my lining looking healthier, my husband and I decided to try this cycle and see if I could get pregnant and stay that way.
I took a trigger shot of 5000mu Pregnyl, and 7 days after the trigger I will do a booster shot of an additional 5000mu of Pregnyl. Pregnyl is the pregnancy hormone, HCG. Dr. Lessey wants me to do the booster to extend the window of implantation and give an early pregnancy some additional hormonal support. Due to this shot, I cannot take a pregnancy test until the day my period is due, since I could get a false positive result (since pregnancy tests measure the level of HCG in my system.)
So that is where we are, waiting to take the booster shot. Hopefully I will have some good news in the next couple of weeks!
Recurrent Chemical Pregnancies 
On what cd did u take the trigger shot of pregnly
I took it when I got a positive OPK, which was day 13/14.
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[…] did contact Dr. Bruce Lessey in Greenville, SC again. He was the RE that put me on the medicinal protocol that resulted in my successful pregnancy with Elliott and he is going to prescribe those meds to me […]
I have a question on 4 mg Estradiol vaginally. Did you insert 2 mg twice a day or once a day a 4 mg tablet? Thank you!
Peggy, I’m sorry it took me so long to respond, I was on vacation! I inserted it twice a day, morning and night.
The estradiol you used . Is it the oral one that you inserted vaginally or the vaginal type.
It was oral but I inserted it vaginally. Hope that helps.
I went to my doctor so he could prescribe me estrogen to strengthen my uterus lining as i have had 2 misscarriages, one chemical and the other i was already 7 weeks. However, he didn’t know what I was talking about or didn’t understand me. My question is what are the directions and strength of the estradiol because he advised me to buy it over the counter. I am going to see a different doctor next week and would like to know the strength and directions.
What exactly do those shots of HCG do? I am having my 10th miscarriage as we speak. I have had 9 chemical pregnancies, 1 very early miscarriage at 8 weeks-it was found during ultrasound that the baby was measuring smaller than 5 weeks though with a heart beat of 95 that continued to drop over the next few days, and 2 live births my son in 2007 at 38 weeks gestation and my daughter in 2009 at 31 weeks gestation. My daughter was born with NAIT, IUGR, I got preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome. Ever since her very complicated birth I’ve had miscarriage after miscarriage. it seems the babies have trouble implanting. Would these shots help my baby implant better?
Krystal,
As it was explained to me by my doctor, he essentially said that the HCG shots provided some early hormonal support to an implanting zygote. I started taking progesterone at 3DPO and took an HCG shot to trigger ovulation and another shot 7 days later to boost my HCG levels. Progesterone and HCG are both very important hormones in early pregnancy (and all of pregnancy really) so I guess the theory behind it is to have an extra dose in there on top of whatever my body was making. And seeing as my body wasn’t working well, I thought it was worth a try.
I’m so sorry to hear about the difficult journey you have been through. It’s incredibly frustrating and devastating. I would think the HCG shots would be worth a try. They aren’t expensive at all ($70-90 if I recall), certainly much less expensive than IVF, IUI, injectibles and a lot of other interventions available, and they have worked twice for me, for whatever that’s worth. The doctor who prescribed it to me said he had an 80% success rate with women using this protocol. Considering my personal success rate on my own was about 16%, 80 sounded good to me, and I’ve had a 100% success rate on it since I have had two successful pregnancies on this protocol (I’m counting my current pregnancy successful anyway.)
Hope this helps and I hope your next pregnancy brings a baby into your arms.
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Since you added the estradiol on your own, was it prescribed for you to pick up at pharmacy, or did you buy it over the counter. If you bought it over the counter, what did you purchase and was it from a local pharmacy!? And how did you know to take it pre ovulation. I personally do not ovulate on cd14 but later. Usually around cd17-20. It varies. So was there a plan on how many days prior to O you took it?? I’m experiencing 4th loss.
Danelle,
Estradiol was prescribed to me by my dad. Any OB-GYN or doc could prescribe it, if you can convince them to do it. It’s nothing you want to take long term, but really you should only take it on the 4-5 days leading to ovulation. Ideally, if you can get an ultrasound to look at the thickness of your lining around days 9 and 11 then you will know if you need to take it. A “good” lining has a triple stripe and is at LEAST 6mm, preferably 8mm+.
I’m so sorry for your losses, its horribly devastating. I hope that answers your question, please keep us posted.
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wow… this is all such good information. I have PCOS, so infertility is a large problem. I had a mc in september of 1992, april of 1996, a successful pregnancy from july 1996 to april 1997, resulting in my april fools baby girl who is now 17… decided to wait a few years for another, but never got pregnant, instead found out i have PCOS… lost another october of 2004… with finally a successful again from october 2005-july 2006 in which my son was born… I never intended on getting pregnant again… my son was born due to a mix of clomid for months, and metformin…. now recently i found out im pregnant, but im in the middle of a chemical pregnancy… sad… this wasnt expected but still hard. I almost want to try again… but i dont want to go thru anymore heartbreaks, i wish i had had my tubes tied with my son, then i wouldnt be feeling this all over again… but reading all this, i want to try the progesterone, baby aspiron, B-6, and obviously stay on the metformin… this was all a shock, but now i want another… 😦 what should i do…
Jenxxx,
I’m so sorry to hear what you have been through in the past and what is going on right now. Yes, it is all so difficult. Obviously only you know if you want to pursue another pregnancy…certainly there are options out there for you if you do. Have you seen a specialist (RE?)
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I heard that absent periods are sign of thin Uterus lining did you have this?
Samira,
I had extremely light periods but not absent ones. Absent periods could definitely be a sign of a thin lining but could also be caused by other issues like PCOS. Are you seeing a doctor?
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short and light menstrution that doesn´t last long are all signs of thin Uterus lining. I had two chemical miscarriage. I went for Ultrasound and they found out som fiberoids. Now, I am trying natural things, Fertiliy cleansing ( castro oil), alchemelia thee, Chastberrs, Curcum, Apple venigre, Vitamines plus Iron.in the past my period was short (25 sometimes 26) now longer 29. do you think I might have had thin Uterus lining?
Samira,
It sounds like you might. It is very easy to check for a thin lining. Your OB can do an ultrasound to check the thickness of your uterine lining around days 9-13 of your cycle. A healthy lining will be about 8-15mm. A thin lining will be less than that.
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Were you on progesterone for the first trimester as well?
I just had my 4th Chemical, my RE is basically no help, and now just wants to put me on progesterone. I live in a small town with zero other options, so I am trying to get a really clear picture of what your protocol was so I can push him. Thank you for sharing all of this with us!