What do the numbers mean? Does an increase or decrease in dosage mean something is wrong?
Women who conceive through egg donation take estrogen and progesterone to support the pregnancy. Since the recipient women have not ovulated during the treatment cycle, their ovaries are not making these hormones during the first few weeks. This support is critical until the placenta has grown enough to make these essential hormones. Programs may adjust the dose of hormonal medications in order to keep the woman’s blood levels of estradiol and progesterone in a certain therapeutic range. An increase does not usually mean that there is a problem that will lower the chance of pregnancy, and the medication doses may be decreased in a pregnant patient because the placenta is beginning to contribute to the total body pool of these hormones.
