I’m still relaxing in bed, but wanted to get this post out while my memory is still fresh. So, I’m coming to you live from my bed and I am accompanied by my friend the heating pad. Yesterday, we left our house for the egg retrieval and made it there in amazing time because of the Memorial Day holiday. Once we arrived, we filled out the necessary paperwork and they quickly took us to the main procedure room for my pre-op. We go through all the normal questions (and over again what I had just filled out, as is customary)...
As promised, here is my new set of protocol that I need to follow. Look at all the pretty colors! Somebody used every color in the highlighter pack…Anyway. It’s 5/29, so I began taking the Doxycycline which is an antibiotic that I will remain on until my egg transfer. The purpose for this is obvious, after any procedure they will prescribe antibiotics in order to ward off any possible infection. Tomorrow, I will take two tylenol with a small sip of water (this was stressed several times) at 7AM, and we will arrive for the appointment at 8:15AM, actual procedure will...
We had our final appointment before having the egg retrieval. Dr. Cass is very excited for us, and was happy with the growth on both ovaries. My Estrogen level yesterday was 1763, and today it is 1890. Doctors estimate that a mature follicle produces ~200 pg/ml of Estrogen. Meaning, that as of today I have about 9 follicles that would be considered mature. Personally, I was hoping for a higher number than that, but as I understand things, even after the trigger shot my follicles will continue to grow 1-3mm per day. Here’s to hoping that some of these smaller ones turn...
So here we are, on day 10 of stims, and HAPPILY – tomorrow morning is my last day of injections! They told me to take my Gonal-F tonight as normal, and then tomorrow to only take the Ganirelix and Menopur in the morning. Dr. Cass came in and very happily and said we are ‘on our way’! She then told me how her arm gets tired after doing my ultrasound because I have so many follicles on the right hand side. “I cant rest my arm while performing the ultrasound, and there’s so many!” She is now affectionately referring to my...
Another day, another appointment, another ultrasound, another blood test. I feel like I should be walking into the clinic with no pants on, and my shirt sleeve rolled up at this point. Though, I am pretty sure that there are laws against that… Anyway, I finally got to see Dr. Cass! I’ve been having appointments with other doctors because she has not been available each time I am in for monitoring. It was so nice to see her. The other doctors are nice enough, but she really has such a wonderful way about her. Dean and I both feel...
My follicles are growing, and mostly on schedule. The average size on my right size is 12-15mm per follicle, except for on the left side- where they are all around 9mm in size. My Estrogen level is 873, which they are pleased with, but the RE has requested that I stay on the same dosage of medication. I was actually scheduled to finish my stims tomorrow, May 25th at night. SURPRISE! NOPE! The Doctor has decided that they want me to complete another three days of medications before my trigger shot to help continue to grow my lining and my under-achieving follicles. This...
I had an appointment on Friday as part of my monitoring while taking my stims. They monitor my Estradiol (Estrogen – E2) levels to make sure that my follicles are developing on track. On Day 3, my E2 level was 156. My doctors were very pleased with that number, and told me to keep taking my meds at the same dose that I have been and that I would need to come in on Sunday for an ultrasound as well as another blood test. We currently have 15 follicles that they can see, ranging from 5mm-10.6mm. Here are : Right:...
So, my period decided to be even more of a jerk and elected not to show up when it was expected, and because of this, I was not able to start my stims on Sunday as planned. I had an ultrasound and appointment on Monday, where the nurses and Dr. Cass were both disheartened that I had not started yet. My lining was 11mm thick, which was apparently indicative that my period should have been starting at any minute. They scheduled me for a follow-up appointment for today (5/18/16), in the event that I did not get my period on...
Well, maybe not all the things, but enough things. Dean and I had an appointment this morning to specifically learn how to do my injections. We also picked up my medication – there is a LOT of it. I will post pictures of the medications later this evening. The most useful thing that they provided us with this VERY HANDY chart that you can see below: What you are seeing here is that I am beginning my ovarian stimulation (stims) on 5/15 – providing that I get my period. If I do not get my period, then I cannot begin...
Today was my follow-up appointment, after almost 3 weeks on birth control. Dean and I arrived at the appointment this morning for my ultrasound to see if the cyst has resolved. Well… The cyst is gone! Everything looked “perfect” according to Dr. Cass. I take birth control for another 2 days, and then on Friday we have another appointment. I will have another ultrasound, and then Dean and I are both going to learn how to administer the injections. Then on Sunday, I begin the stims. Everything is moving much more quickly now! We also pay the full price for our...
