My cycle in review...this is a doozy

Guess I'll begin at the...well, beginning.

First doc app was on Thursday 12/12. Everything checked out and I was ok'ed to start my Follistim injections that night.

My first appt to check follicles and hormones was on Sunday 12/15. I also had appts on Tuesday 12/17, Thursday 12/19, Friday 12/20, Saturday 12/21 and Sunday 12/22. That's a hell of a lot of appointments right? All the appointments during the week were for ultrasounds and blood work to try and pinpoint when it would be optimal time to trigger ovulation.

During Thursday and Friday's appointments we were following 4 follicles...one of those mature while the other 3 slightly behind. Also, the nurse found a blockage right behind my cervix on these days and I had to have the blockage aspirated during my visit both days. OUCH.

After Friday's appointment the nurse called and said it was go time and I was to trigger that night. The trigger is a shot filled with hcg. HCG is the pregnancy hormone but it closely mimics LH, the ovulation hormone. So when taken, the hcg will trigger your body to ovulate...usually around 36ish hours after the shot. I triggered around 6:00 pm on Friday and for some reason, my body did not like this one. While the Follistim injections stung every night the hcg actually didn't but it instantly made me dizzy. Mike was right next to me when I did it and said he'd never seen my face the way it was when I did the shot. Yuck. ::shudders::

Anyway, with the trigger shot done, I was to be back at the office 8am on Saturday and Sunday for my back to back IUIs.

Well after having the aspirations done on Thursday and Friday lets just say that the IUI's were a bit...uncomfortable. But whatever...they are done now and its the big waiting game. I'm back on progesterone suppositories until further notice and those are fun...said no one ever but I'll deal with those for the great good of possibly getting pregnant.


And now...without further ado...here is some of my weekend in pictures....

TRIGGER TIME!!!

WOOHOO! The trigger worked. If you remember, back at the other office I was given a trigger shot that didn't work and the dumb doctor tried to argue with me that just bc I didn't get a positive pregnancy test doesn't mean the trigger didn't work. He just couldn't admit he was wrong. So looks like this trigger shot worked bc there is hcg in my system. Yay for a fake positive pregnancy test.

Waiting around to be called back for IUI #1. Just doing a little reading...something I have't done enough of this year...HAHAHAHA

And the embarrassing moment when you realize you are about 6 months past due on a pedicure. No shame, no gain right? Showing you the good and the bad...lol.

Pulling into the parking lot on Sunday. Best part of having weekend appointments is the emptiness of the office complex

Waiting around for IUI #2...enjoying some yummy coffee from the office

Look at this wonderful empty office

Decided socks were the way to go today as not to show off my wonderfully un-pedicured toes...lol

Some stats and info about this cycle for me to remember:

5 blood draws

4 ultrasounds

8 Follistim injections (50iu)

1 Ovidrel injection

cd 5 stats: lining: 5.08, follies: 11.5, 9, 8.5, 7.5, E2- 184.71

cd7 stats: lining: 6.7 TRIPLE STRIPE, follies, 13, 11.5, 9.5, 9.5, E2- 461.25

cd9 stats: lining is 10+mm TRIPLE STRIPE, follies: 17, 13.5, 13, 12

cd10 stats: lining: 7.41 TRIPLE STRIPED, follicles: 18, 14, 15, 13.5

Brief Update

Today was day 4 of my Follistim and we are just trucking along. I had an ultrasound and blood work this morning (yes, on a Sunday...lol). Looks like I have 2 lead follicles on each ovary with smaller ones lagging behind. Biggest follicle is on my left side (which they call my right) which is my unblocked side. So that's good.

I go back on Tuesday for another ultrasound and more blood work and then once they analyze those we will go from there. I'm guessing I will probably trigger sometime later this week but that's just my uneducated guess.

Notes for me about follistim....
burns. wow. didn't expect that.
headache in front of head after every shot
drowsiness
no crazy mood swings or hot flashes...yay
face is breaking out

So folks...thats it. Another day, another shot in mah belleh.

Here we go. Lets do some SHOTS!

I'm ever the pessimist. Lol

AF arrived yesterday so I was told to come in today for my baseline blood work (fsh, e2, etc). Since I just had an ultrasound on Monday the doctor said it wasn't necessary to do another one (she had previously done my AFC...antral follicle count). I was in and out in 5 mins. The whole day, though, I sat wondering what could go wrong to stop my cycle from happening. I had this fear that I would be all psyched up to do my injectables cycle and it would be cancelled for some stupid reason.

Fears subsided when the nurse called and said everything is a-go and to start injection tonight! Eeek! So, tonight I will do a 50iu Follistim injection. I will do 50iu every night unless otherwise told. Doctor could up the dosage as my cycle progresses if need be. First ultrasound and blood work to check on everything is Sunday morning.

Oh also, after the nurse called me today to confirm everything the doctor even called me to make sure I had no further questions. I really love her. She knows I am curious about my blood results and had them ready for me when we talked. FSH still came in high this month at 15. Kind of a bummer but we know that my egg quantity and quality is diminishing so it's not too surprising. E2 was 40 which is actually quite low for me which I am super happy about. We chatted a bit more about the cycle and she said that she will be following me throughout everything and not to hesitate to call or email her.

So, its officially starting. My last chance at having a baby before we make some huge changes...mainly things like new employment or selling off everything we have to afford IVF. If this doesn't work I have no idea if/when we will be able to try again. So please please please keep us in your thoughts and prayers or send us any good juju you have. We need it all.

As of 7:30 my first dose is DONE. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Let's do this!!

Hallelujah

So how about that random snow storm that we weren't even supposed to get? Yea, glad we were all prepared for that...lol. Nate's school was cancelled but luckily my doc appointment for this morning was still a-go.

To say my nerves were out of control this week would be an understatement. I probably had 2/7 decent nights sleep this week bc I just couldn't shut my brain off once my head hit the pillow. I 'what if'ed the shit out of every possible scenario that could have played out today with this cyst.

But the worrying was all for nothing bc the cyst is gone!

Trying to figure out what you are looking at here? Top is pics of the cyst as of 4 weeks ago and how it takes up my entire ovary (and ultrasound screen) and bottom shows how it is now resolved. If you look hard enough you can see where the doc is measuring the residual cyst over towards the left side but in my mind, that is a good looking ovary. And you can even see some new follies ready to be stimulated by the follistim towards the top (tiny little black dots).

Doctor always checks my right ovary first and I knew as soon as she started that the cyst was gone bc the big black mass that was on the screen the past few months wasn't anywhere to be found. She found a follie that was 13mm which is probably the residual cyst but that is an ok size so no harm, no foul with that. She was just as happy as I was but told me before we totally celebrate we should check the left ovary too just in case. That ovary is cyst free as well!!!

No more birth control pills!!!

So plan for this month is....
Call on cd1 to get baseline blood work on cd2 or cd3. On cd3 I will start my 50iu of follistim daily...we will up the dosage if needed. Once I have some mature follicles I will trigger with my hcg shot and then do back to back iui's. The only catch is that we don't want more than 3 mature follicles or else she will cancel my cycle. So fingers crossed for a good response to the meds without over responding to the meds. Isn't science grand?

I feel like I am walking on cloud 9 right now. Feels nice to have good news for once.

I want to thank those of you who remembered today was my appt and sent me wishes saying you were thinking and pulling for me. <3

long time, no update

It's been a while since I did an update. Well, thats bc there is not.a.thing to update you guys on. Still sitting here taking my birth control pills and watching the days tick on by.

My last pill will be on Sunday and then Monday at 10am I have a follow up ultrasound to check on the cyst. This cyst has been around since the end of September so I'm praying it has hit the road since my last ultrasound so I can start my injectables this month.

Good thoughts and prayers are appreciated for Monday if you could spare them.

Oh and a funny I found today....so damn true....lol.