Vivelle

I’m writing this post to share my personal experience with my estrogen Vivelle patches with the hope that the information will help someone else going through this process. So what’s my advice?

Get ready to be a lunatic. Just kidding. No I’m not. Shut up! Stop crying. You’re such a baby. Pull yourself together. Give me a break. I SAID SHUT UP!

Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.

Well, estrogen. Sweet estrogen. Perhaps I should wait to write this “informative” post on Vivelle patches. Perhaps I should write it when I’m not a crying raging psychopath. But alas, I am here (awake at midnight from the Lupron) so here we go!

Honestly, you’ll be okay. Don’t let the fact that you’ll be on ten times the normal amount of estrogen phase you. Seriously. I looked that up today after I had colossal meltdown #2. When I snap at my husband faster than a Venus Fly Trap, I want to know what’s up. And that’s what I found. I’m on 10x’s the amount of estrogen I have during a normal PMS cycle. Perhaps this post should be entitled, “Pray for the husbands.” Poor guy. He’s been great though. The other day (when I was still on only 1 patch) I asked him, “What are you going to do when I’m up to 4 patches?” He said, “Roll out of the bed onto the floor. And just keep rolling til I’m in the other room.” He’s laughing. I’m laughing. And crying. But mostly laughing at myself crying.

Here’s the skinny. About a month before my transfer, they started me on these Vivelle estrogen patches to build up my lining and prepare my body to accept the embryos. Every other day I would put on a new patch. I continued at 1 patch for the first week. Then I went to 2 patches. Then 3. Now I’m at 4 patches every other day until 10 weeks of pregnancy. At my first estrogen blood test they were looking to see that my estrogen was higher than 75. It was 97.8! At my next test, they wanted to see that it was above 450! That’s only one week later. Imagine the joy in my husband’s heart. I have that test tomorrow, so I will update the results when I get them.

As far as application goes, it’s pretty straightforward. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist. They are small patches. About the size of two quarters side by side. I put them on at 9pm, around the same time as my Lupron injection. You rip the patch open and remove the adhesive backing on one side, being careful to not touch it with your fingers. Once one side is on, you can push the backing on the other side off as you adhere it to your skin. Once on, you can just go over the entire patch a few times with your fingers (especially around the edges) to ensure that it’s securely placed. Jason does these for me–he’s become quite the pro. I alternate sides and keep them within 3-4 inches of my belly button. I’ve had no problems at all with the patches staying on for two days even after showering.

The tricky part is the removal. These buggars want to stay on, which is what they were created to do. But this poses somewhat of a problem come time for peeling them off. But I’ve found a magic technique that I just HAVE to share with you. It’s pretty simple, and takes both the pain and goo (see bottom left picture above) away. All you need is a cotton pad, baby oil, and a really good moisturizing lotion. Peel away a little bit of the top of the patch (peeling toward the ground). It will start to hurt, so stop after you get a little peeled away. Douse the cotton pad with baby oil, and press it into your skin right where you’ve peeled a portion of the patch away. Let the oil run down into the patch and continue wiping your skin as you slowly peel the patch off (down toward the ground). This has been the most pain-free method I’ve found. Once off, use the remainder of the baby oil on the cotton pad to gently remove any goo. Then, use a great moisturizer to protect and replenish your skin. I’ve had NO irritation and am easily able to alternate side to side with the patches.

Hope all that helps!

Now suck it up, stop crying, and get that body ready to be home to your baby! 🙂