Back From the Harvest

I'm home and sitting on the couch after a nice short nap. We had the ER at 9am and everything went smoothly. Actually, much better than what I had expected.

I have to apologize in advance if this posting isn't quite coherent -- I'm still a bit woozy from the meds. I don't remember anything from the procedure, but Dr. P did tell me that I woke up once during the procedure (I wonder what I said??). I don't recollect anything except waking up and asking them how many they retrieved and then 30 seconds later asking them again.

Overall, I feel ok. A bit hungry and some initial cramping right after the retrieval, but I'm feeling pretty good now other than being a bit woozy.

I was told they retrieved 10 eggs from 11 follicles, however, one of those eggs may be a bit overmature. Dr. P explained that it was normal for that to happen during long stim cycles.

Now we're just waiting for the fertilization results which we'll get tomorrow morning. These next 24 hours or so are going to be agonizing.

Have Our Marching Orders...

and we're set to go!

I have 4 follicles on my right all at 18.5 and another one at 16.5. I also have five on my left ranging from 19-14. So, I'm hoping that each of those follies have a nice little egg.

The only thing that has me a little concerned is my lining. I've never had a very robust lining and it's no different this time around. It measured at 8mm this morning and based on some research that I've been doing, 8 seems to be the minimum of "good." I think most docs really like to see it at a 9-10.

I'll be taking the HCG shot tonight (Nurse Sweetie drew a big circle on my behind to mark the shot) and we're set for the retrieval on Saturday at 8am!

And Yet Another Appointment

I just came back from my fifth monitoring appointment and another hole in my arm as a battle wound. To top things off, there were two car accidents on the freeway which made me both late for my appointment and late for work.

But, there is a bright side to this dark picture...My follies are almost there. I have 5 follies on my right ranging from 17 to 14.5 and 5 follies on my left ranging from 14.5 to 9. Dr. P is hoping that my follies on the right catch up a bit before the retrieval which is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, but doesn't want to risk losing the ones on my right. So, I go in again tomorrow for what is hopefully my last monitoring appointment.

Saturday is Doc's birthday and I mentioned in a post way back when that his family had planned a ski trip to Tahoe to celebrate his birthday and my MIL's birthday. Unfortunately, this was before we had started IVF and we knew when we signed up for this cycle that there would be a very good chance that we would not be able to make it on the trip. Nevertheless, we decided to go for it and now here we are.

We've been secretly making plans as to what our excuse will be for our very apparent absence. We're both thinking: Food Poisoning from an early birthday dinner celebration. That's our story and we're sticking to it. I know it'll seem suspicious, but there's no way in hell that we're telling his family the truth. His parents are not very tactful and I don't feel like fielding their questions (which I'm sure they'd have more than their fair share). And my SIL's sister, whom she shares everything with, happens to be the town gossip, so we need not have our dirty laundry aired for all to know.

I guess it's all downhill from here, right? Wish me luck!

Slow Going

That about sums it up. It's been real slow going with my follicles. I had an appointment on Saturday and this morning to check the size of my follicles and measure my E2. So far, my E2 has been tripling and I had 5 follicles on my right side and 5 follicles on my left. The biggest follicle being 14.5. I'm actually pretty happy that I have 10 follicles at this point. I was expecting a lot less just because my antral follicle count was only a 9.

Based on my numbers, Dr. P thinks that my retrieval will be on Sunday. That means I will have stimmed for 15 days. I don't have any more room on my stomach for shots! Oh, and for some reason the shots I gave myself on my left side have left some massive bruises. I think I must insert the needle incorrectly since I'm right-handed. To support this theory, the right side of my stomach has no bruises. Anyone else have this issue?

And another added bonus of stimming for 15 days -- more meds. I have now spent $6,000 in meds. The additional days of stimming have cost me another whopping $1,600. We're accruing points on our credit card like there's no tomorrow.

I go in again on Wednesday for another blood draw and follicle check and then again on Friday. I'm also running out of veins for blood draws. Joy!

Edited: Holy bloat! The gani.relix has just pushed me over the bloating edge. Seeing my distended, bruised belly has just put life in a different perspective.

Moving On Up...

To the top! Well, maybe not the top, but my numbers are finally moving. After 6 days of stims, my estradiol level is at a whopping 96. Yes, still low, but the way I look at it, it's tripled in the past two days. I was at 29 on Tuesday and now it's at a 96 -- that's good progress.

Dr. P didn't seem too concerned. He mentioned that we may be stimming for awhile and that the BCPs seemed to have suppressed me more than average. HA! You're telling me. My baseline estradiol was below 20.

With the help of the dildocam, he was able to find 3 follicles all at 7.5 and a few other follicles at smaller sizes (he didn't bother measuring those). Lining looks pretty good at 6mm and so now it's just a waiting game.

I go back in for another appointment on Saturday. Hopefully, I'll still be tripling numbers and I'll be in the 300s! Come on little ovaries -- wake up! Stop being so lazy.

At a New Low

I had one really s****y day. It started with the rain or should I say torrential downpour which made me late to get my first monitoring blood draw and ultrasound. By the time I got to Dr. P's office it was 8:30am. Ideally I would've been out the door and on the way to work at that time.

So, I get on the table. Dr. P uses his wand and voila! my follies are on the screen. On the screen but too small to do any measuring. He counted a possible 5 and 5 on each side, but he commented that they're not growing as fast as he'd like to see them grow. Wonderful...

After my stellar appointment, I hopped back in the car to fight traffic and head to work. But, as life would have it, I was not to go to work today...I spent one full hour circling my office looking for a parking spot. Nothing, nada, not even one tiny space to try squeezing into. In all, I spent 1.5 hours looking for parking, after which I gave up and decided to "work from home."

Side note: As you can tell, my office has a crisis -- a parking crisis. If you so much as think about showing up to work after 10am, you will find yourself in parking hell from which you will most likely never find a way out.

Getting home takes me over an hour (on a good day, it takes me 30 min) because there was an accident with a big rig and a small auto which blocked 3 lanes of a 4 lane freeway. By the time I get home, it's after noon. I'm hungry, tired, and very unmotivated.

I get on my computer and what good news greets me? Yes, my estradiol number. It's at an outrageous 29! Wow, my ovaries are working overtime, aren't they? WTF?! I search online and people are commenting that their E2 is low because it's at an 80-something. You want to compare low numbers?

As expected, I get the call from Nurse Sweetie and she tells me not to worry and just up my foll.istim to 300. This should get those follies growing and increase my E2. Yeah, whatever, man...I'll believe it when I see it.

Who Needs a Shot?

Just get in line and let me stick it to you -- I'm a pro!

After just three days of poking my tummy, I can do this in my sleep. Well, maybe not in my sleep, but I've definitely got it down. No more shaking hands, no more racing heart. I don't even need Doc's help anymore.

The foll.istim has been easy from day one, just because we have the pen and using the pen makes the process so much simpler. The men.opur not so much. This one is definitely a lot more complicated particularly since I'm injecting 150mg. The mixing and then ensuring that I have at least .7ml in the syringe was not so easy, but I'm getting the hang of it and yesterday night, I got the full .8ml!

I haven't felt any side effects as of yet. I'm feeling a little bloating, but nothing too bad. I can't tell whether that's a good thing or bad. Should I be feeling a little more bloated or something as an indicator to tell me that the meds are working their magic?

I go in for my first monitoring ultrasound and blood work tomorrow. I'm hoping and praying that the meds are doing the trick and the follies are growing big and strong!