When I started reading Catholic-Women-Infertile blogs, um, about five months ago, I was bored senseless by hormone level reporting. I didn't understand what the numbers meant, and it seemed so laborious to get a blood draw so often, I swore to myself I'd never be that woman. And I was sensitive to calling myself infertile after five months of trying without success in a group of people who have tried on average for three years without success.
So, I saw the light and taken the time to understand the numbers and now that the test results are back (I retrieved them myself from the lab because Dr. D's staff was not making it a priority to obtain them), I'm thinking that my estradiol levels mid-cycle are the problem (baring any physical obstructions/problems.) My highest estradiol at CD 13 was 329 pg/mL. CD 15 estradiol dropped dramatically to 39 pg/mL. All the pretty graphs on the PPVI website, random websites, and my college physiology book all have a peak estrogen level then a gradual down slope, not a dead drop. I'll spare you the details but all the progesterone and sundry hormones (LH, FSH, T3, etc.) were normal.
I'm voraciously reading the physiology textbook to get to the deeper meaning of a drop in estrogen but I haven't found a plausible theory quite yet. I suspect estrogen doesn't hang around my system long enough to produce enough CM. And perhaps my estrogen levels aren't around long enough to produce LH. Sometimes, my ovulation predictor kits have all come out negative for LH so there's a clue. But this hasn't happened all the time.
I've sent the results off to the NaPro surgeon and trying to schedule a phone consult to get her thoughts. Is an HCG trigger in my future?
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