Thursday, October 25, 2012

It's time to GO!!!

Got the call from the clinic yesterday that all was well with my ultrasound and estrogen level. The doctors decided, after reviewing everything, to have me start microdose lupron this morning and then stimulation medications on Saturday morning. I had 27 resting follicles on Tuesday. Follicles are what they use to anticipate egg development. Not every follicle will house an egg and not every egg even retrieved will fertilize, but they are a good indicator of how many eggs you can expect. With such a great number of follicles already, they think I will stimulate faster than normal for this drug protocol (I've never done this particular protocol but I've stimmed faster than normal my two previous cycles too). I will have blood drawn on Monday to again check my estrogen level (developing eggs produce estrogen). If that number is on the high end, I will have an ultrasound on Tuesday to check follicle size. When the majority of folllicles reach 18-20mm, I will take a trigger injection to tell the eggs to finish maturing and release. Retrieval is 36 hours after that trigger injection. Most women require 7-10 days of stimulation drugs to be ready. That would put us sometime between Friday, November 2, and Monday, November 5, for trigger. I expect retrieval to be Monday the 5th but you really never know with IVF. We are at the mercy of my body and its reaction. Our clinic is in Irving and although I have been able to do most of my monitoring here, as time gets closer, I will need to be there. They want me there starting Thursday the 1st and I will stay until the day after my procedure, whenever that may be.

This is, by far, the most injections I've had in a cycle. 79 total. 60 of those 79 falling in a 10 day period. Add to that that one of those is Lovenox (high estrogen levels are a risk factor for clotting and I have a history of pulmonary embolism), and I will be one walking bruise. It will all be SO worth it though!

Here's what 55 injections look like. 

One down. 78 to go. If only they all used this little needle :)

Ivy has her monitoring appointment on November 1 to make sure everything is nice and welcoming for our embryos. Then 5 days after retrieval, we will transfer the best two developing embryos to her. Ah, what a process!

1 comment:

Jennifer said...

Hooray!! I love being "along" on this journey with you guys :) Praying this retrieval will be different and that you won't be hurling in B's car again!!!