I skipped over Stirrup Appointments 3 and 4 were on Wednesday and Friday of last week, when I reported my follicles. Appointments on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were numbers 5, 6, and 7. You know, the fertility center is surprisingly busy on the weekend - who knew?
#3 : Wednesday : 11 follicles, estrogen at 229
#4 : Friday : 13 follicles, estrogen at 622
#5 : Saturday : 14 follicles, estrogen at 727
#6 : Sunday : 15 follicles, estrogen at 1468 (!)
#7 : Monday : 16 follicles, estrogen at 1813
Monday was also the day of our trigger - scheduled for 10 PM that night. I had a bit of a breakdown at the doctor's office that day, because it felt like such an important point in the process, and I was confused. I had run out of Bravelle, but I was supposed to take 300 IU (4 vials) - which I was told I could get from the pharmacy at the hospital. When I got there to pick it up, they only had three vials, which is what my Rx was written for anyway. Enter confusion, since this contradicted what the nurse had told me the previous day. The pharmacist insisted that I should just wait 90 minutes for a courier to deliver more Bravelle, and while I was standing there, his colleague sold another person some Bravelle. I was confused, angry, frustrated, and upset - so we headed back up to the doctor's office to try to get some answers.
Enter sweet nurse Allison. God bless her. She took me to an exam room, sat me down, and listed to me explain what had happened. And she got it - she understood why I was so frustrated. She suggested that we go get a cup of coffee while we waited for that morning's lab results, at which point, she would immediately ask one of the doctors on staff what my final stim dosages should be. By then, the Bravelle should have arrived as well. Thank god for her. They did add more Bravelle - 300 IU in the morning, and another 300 IU in the evening. I can't imagine what kind of tailspin I would have entered into if we had left the hospital with one dose, just to learn that we had to go back for another.
Allison also told us that our trigger was scheduled for 10:00 that night - on the nose - and she gave us our instructions for retrieval day, which would be Wednesday. This was really happening, and although it wasn't easy getting there, we were finally there.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
11 is for losers. I'm feeling 13!
Cycle Day 12. Day 8 of stimulants. One more time - ultrasound and bloodwork.
Same ultrasound tech, but this time she's finished The Hunger Games, so she wants more book recommendations from me. I told her to read Divergent. She was not willing to give me as much information this morning - just told me that my follicles looked "juicy." I'll take it.
The nurse called a few hours later to let me know my test results. Estrogen, which started out Monday at 50.6, and rose to 229 on Wednesday, is now sitting pretty at 622! Talk about an increase! I'm really thrilled about that.
My lovely 11 embryos have taken on a couple of pals, to bring my grand total for today to 13 - still just five on the right, and eight on the left. Yet another ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow...
Same ultrasound tech, but this time she's finished The Hunger Games, so she wants more book recommendations from me. I told her to read Divergent. She was not willing to give me as much information this morning - just told me that my follicles looked "juicy." I'll take it.
The nurse called a few hours later to let me know my test results. Estrogen, which started out Monday at 50.6, and rose to 229 on Wednesday, is now sitting pretty at 622! Talk about an increase! I'm really thrilled about that.
My lovely 11 embryos have taken on a couple of pals, to bring my grand total for today to 13 - still just five on the right, and eight on the left. Yet another ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow...
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
And just like that, 11 is my lucky number.
Cycle Day 10. Day 6 of stimulants. I went in for blood work and an ultrasound.
The ultrasound tech wanted to talk about The Hunger Games, which I'm usually totally down with, but this morning I really only wanted to talk about what she was seeing on the screen. I didn't know if she would say, but when I asked how everything was looking, she replied "Good. I see six on this side...and five on that side." There were more follicles too small to measure, but to potentially have 11 of measuring size? I felt good.
Then the nurse called, and let me know that my estrogen was up from 50.6 to 229! Such a relief. She also confirmed 11 follicles, with 5 on the right and 6 on the left. After being disappointed and worried on Monday, I'm so happy to know that my ovaries are functioning like they're supposed to in this cycle. 11 seems like a great number - not so many that hyperstimulation is a concern, but enough that hopefully we'll be able to have some really good quality embryos at the end of this.
I'm headed back for an ultrasound and more blood work on Friday. Let's keep up the good work, ovaries!
The ultrasound tech wanted to talk about The Hunger Games, which I'm usually totally down with, but this morning I really only wanted to talk about what she was seeing on the screen. I didn't know if she would say, but when I asked how everything was looking, she replied "Good. I see six on this side...and five on that side." There were more follicles too small to measure, but to potentially have 11 of measuring size? I felt good.
Then the nurse called, and let me know that my estrogen was up from 50.6 to 229! Such a relief. She also confirmed 11 follicles, with 5 on the right and 6 on the left. After being disappointed and worried on Monday, I'm so happy to know that my ovaries are functioning like they're supposed to in this cycle. 11 seems like a great number - not so many that hyperstimulation is a concern, but enough that hopefully we'll be able to have some really good quality embryos at the end of this.
I'm headed back for an ultrasound and more blood work on Friday. Let's keep up the good work, ovaries!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Day Four of Stimulants
So, I've been injecting 300 IU (4 vials) of Bravelle and 75 IU (1 vial) of Menopur every evening, in addition to 10 units of Lupron every morning.
This morning, we headed over to the doctor's office so that they could run labs on my blood - see how my hormone levels are progressing. The nurse called this afternoon, and said, "Everything's fine - your estrogen level is 50.6" But, she also told me to increase my dosage of Bravelle. After tonight, I start injecting 225 IU (3 vials) of Bravelle in the morning and in the evening - in addition to the Lupron and the Menopur.
So, I'm nervous that I'm not responding well. Google, usually my BFF, has done me wrong in this case. All I read are terrifying stories of low estrogen levels and cancelled cycles. It's early in the cycle, and the chances that they can boost my estrogen (and therefore my follicles) are good. But it still makes me nervous. I really need to calm down.
This morning, we headed over to the doctor's office so that they could run labs on my blood - see how my hormone levels are progressing. The nurse called this afternoon, and said, "Everything's fine - your estrogen level is 50.6" But, she also told me to increase my dosage of Bravelle. After tonight, I start injecting 225 IU (3 vials) of Bravelle in the morning and in the evening - in addition to the Lupron and the Menopur.
So, I'm nervous that I'm not responding well. Google, usually my BFF, has done me wrong in this case. All I read are terrifying stories of low estrogen levels and cancelled cycles. It's early in the cycle, and the chances that they can boost my estrogen (and therefore my follicles) are good. But it still makes me nervous. I really need to calm down.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Stirrup Appointment #2
Well, I had my baseline ultrasound this morning, and it was pretty uneventful. All looks well, which is really all I can hope for.
I don't start stimulant drugs until Friday - it looks like the practice is keeping me on the calendar that they developed during our IVF orientation. Still hoping for a retrieval around Valentine's Day!
I don't start stimulant drugs until Friday - it looks like the practice is keeping me on the calendar that they developed during our IVF orientation. Still hoping for a retrieval around Valentine's Day!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Cycle Day One...
...and sincerely hoping that this is my last cycle day one of 2012.
Today marks ten days of Lupron, and my period is here. Even though I've been giving myself injections for a week and a half, this development really feels like we're making progress. This is the cycle during which we will *hopefully* conceive.
Tomorrow morning, I will head back to the Fertility Center for Stirrup Appointment #2 - or my baseline ultrasound. Once that's complete, we'll start stimulant drugs. Bravelle and Menopur, every evening. I'll keep up the Lupron every morning, although I think my dosage will go down.
After ten days on Cipro, on Friday I had a symptom (yes, just one) that led me to believe that I may have a yeast infection, and I may or may not have flipped the eff out. I know that a yeast infection is no big deal, but I was really concerned that it may throw off whatever delicate balance we're trying to create here. I left a panicky message with our nurse, and....she still hasn't called me back. I'm not happy about that, so I'll be mentioning it at the office in the morning.
I was worried it would delay my period, would delay my IVF procedures, would cause the whole thing to be cancelled...yes, it was an out-of-control spiral. Finally, Jared called a doctor friend who assured us that a yeast infection would have no impact whatsoever and suggested that I take a nibble of a Xanax and chill out. So I did.
I'll be back tomorrow, with a Stirrup Update. Hooray!
Today marks ten days of Lupron, and my period is here. Even though I've been giving myself injections for a week and a half, this development really feels like we're making progress. This is the cycle during which we will *hopefully* conceive.
Tomorrow morning, I will head back to the Fertility Center for Stirrup Appointment #2 - or my baseline ultrasound. Once that's complete, we'll start stimulant drugs. Bravelle and Menopur, every evening. I'll keep up the Lupron every morning, although I think my dosage will go down.
After ten days on Cipro, on Friday I had a symptom (yes, just one) that led me to believe that I may have a yeast infection, and I may or may not have flipped the eff out. I know that a yeast infection is no big deal, but I was really concerned that it may throw off whatever delicate balance we're trying to create here. I left a panicky message with our nurse, and....she still hasn't called me back. I'm not happy about that, so I'll be mentioning it at the office in the morning.
I was worried it would delay my period, would delay my IVF procedures, would cause the whole thing to be cancelled...yes, it was an out-of-control spiral. Finally, Jared called a doctor friend who assured us that a yeast infection would have no impact whatsoever and suggested that I take a nibble of a Xanax and chill out. So I did.
I'll be back tomorrow, with a Stirrup Update. Hooray!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Day Four
Today is day four of Lupron injections, day 22 of my cycle. So far, it's weird shooting myself in the belly every morning, but it's not awful. The needle to administer the Lupron is small, and the amount I'm injecting is pretty tiny.
I've found that the area to the left of my belly button is far more sensitive than the area to the right of my belly button.
No side effects to speak of just yet. I'm tired, but that could be because yesterday I was up at 6 AM, out the door at 8 AM, and not home until 9:30 PM. A smart girl would have gone to bed when she got home, but I had to stay up to watch The Bachelor. 6 AM came early this morning, but I'm hoping for an early night tonight to recover.
Jared was out of town for days 1 and 2 of the Lupron injections, but now that he's home, he is being wonderfully sweet and supportive. It's not that I expected otherwise, but the boy does love his sleep - I never thought he would be up with me at 6 AM. Well, he has been. He watched me do the injection yesterday and today, and he has been particularly attentive - which is so, so appreciated right now. This morning, before I got in the shower, he gave me a big hug and told me how proud he is of me. So sweet.
So now I'm just waiting for my period to begin. Hopefully before this weekend, so we can get started on the Bravelle and Menopur early next week!
I've found that the area to the left of my belly button is far more sensitive than the area to the right of my belly button.
No side effects to speak of just yet. I'm tired, but that could be because yesterday I was up at 6 AM, out the door at 8 AM, and not home until 9:30 PM. A smart girl would have gone to bed when she got home, but I had to stay up to watch The Bachelor. 6 AM came early this morning, but I'm hoping for an early night tonight to recover.
Jared was out of town for days 1 and 2 of the Lupron injections, but now that he's home, he is being wonderfully sweet and supportive. It's not that I expected otherwise, but the boy does love his sleep - I never thought he would be up with me at 6 AM. Well, he has been. He watched me do the injection yesterday and today, and he has been particularly attentive - which is so, so appreciated right now. This morning, before I got in the shower, he gave me a big hug and told me how proud he is of me. So sweet.
So now I'm just waiting for my period to begin. Hopefully before this weekend, so we can get started on the Bravelle and Menopur early next week!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)