the day of nothing

yay! a day of nothing - no shots, no medications, no blood draw, no dr appointments!! what an awesome break! i think i have done remarkably well on all the hormones.
not much of a report today - im anxious and so ready for tomorrow morning! i cant have anything to eat or drink after midnight tonight, so we defiantly went to in-n-out for dinner and sweet sammies for dessert!! mmmmmmmm!!

i have to report to the surgical lab tomorrow morning at 8.45a, and then will be taken to the OR to start my anesthesia around 9.45a with surgery scheduled to start at 10a and it will take about an hour. praying all goes well!

stimulation day 10 & hcg trigger

2097 – that is today’s estrodial level.  That is equivalent for OHSS (Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome).  OHSS is a complication occasionally seen in women who take certain fertility medicines that stimulate egg production.  Great!  No wonder I have been in so much pain the past few days in my lower abdominal region!  I feel like I have been carrying my stomach around all day today because of all the pressure.  We will just keep an eye on it and make sure that my levels don’t get too much higher and that I don’t have any of the symptoms.

Here is the best part:  OHSS affects up to 1 in 10 women who go through in vitro fertilization.  Additional risk factors for OHSS include:  Age younger than 35, very high estrogen levels while undergoing fertility treatments, or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) - HA – I have all those risk factors! Aye – thank goodness I have such a great Dr who will take great care of me through all this.

Today’s sonogram looked good – about 30 little follicles total combined between my 2 ovaries.  The follicles on the left ovary got much bigger, but the ones of the right didn’t grow very much.  There isn’t much room for more growth because they are so big.  Dr L told me that my ovaries are the size of navel oranges, or baseballs.  Ouch!

So I am set to have my sister give me my hCG trigger injection tonight @ 9.45pm.  This is one of the most critical parts of the IVF medication protocol as this is the final medication given before the egg retrieval.  It helps induce final maturation of the eggs, loosens the egg's attachment from the follicle wall & allows for the timing of the egg retrieval, which is about 36 hours later.

Surgery is set for Wednesday morning @ 10am.  I’m ready – I can’t believe that it is here!!

stim day 8

things looked amazing this morning at my appointment.  i have over 22 little (big really) follicles that are developing nicely.  my sono took about 45 minutes because dr l measured each one individually to make sure they were all about the same.  most of them were around 12-14mm and they need to be around 20-22 for retrieval.  most follicles will develop around 2mm/day, so we are looking around wednesday or thursday for the retrieval date!


the nurse called me this afternoon and my estrodial levels are at 775 - high, but still right on track there as well.  no medication changes, just keeping on the same amount of all 3 injections.  next appointment will be monday morning for more blood work and another sonogram to see how things are processing.


thank you doesn't even begin to express how thankful i am for those of you who have been texting me, sending me messages, and commenting on my blog to let me know that you are thinking of me.  this is an extremely hard time right now since i feel like I'm going through it by myself. i hate to call friends and tell them what all is going on since most probably don't care about my e2 levels and follicles, but its so exciting and I'm glad that i can share it on my blog - just to write it down and feel like I'm sharing a little bit.


off for more shots - hopefully only a few more days of stimulation!!

stim day 6

12p

OMG – these shots are terrible.  Im a raging lunatic!  Headaches, bloating, and moodswings, OH MY! Had my blood drawn again this am to see what my med changes will be for tonight.  Im just ready – Im tired of waiting – I want the retrieval NOW!!  HA – did I say I had hormone issues?:-)

5.25p

Got my lab results back - estrodial at a 372.  Things are still looking really good and they are going to keep me on the same amount of meds for the next 2 days.  I will be back in the office @ 9am on Saturday for my first sonogram to measure folicular development and for more blood work.  I think things are going pretty slow - Im just hoping that my retrieval will be around Wednesday next week since my sister is coming from CO - don't want it to be a wasted trip!!

Off to give myself 2 more shots:-)

wednesday's words

Joy comes not from our happy circumstances, but by looking into the face of God & knowing HE is all we ever need!

stimulation day 4

things are moving right along.  the nurse called me tonight and my estrodial levels are not too elevated - yay!  no sign on hyperstimulation yet, thank goodness.  the dr is really worried about my ovaries "blowing up" since i have PCOS and have so many small follicles/cysts on them normally. so we now add in the menopur 75 u daily every morning and continue lupron 10u, but decrease the follistem to 150u.  there will be another blood draw on thrusday to determine how adding the menopur in works out.  a friend who i met here at the clinic told me that this week moves so fast now that you are in the treatment - but for some reason it is just dragging!  im ready for retireval already - so nervous - just come on!

stimulation start

Tonight was rough.  I gave myself the 2 injections and I just started crying – tears rolling down my face.  I didn’t cry because it hurt but because I really can’t believe that I’m doing this.  I never thought that IVF would be part of my vocabulary or that it was going to be a reality in my life.  I texted a few of my friends and my friend M came back with “Let’s go pop a blow-up” – you know, those horrible things that people put in their yards during the holiday season! HA!  That made my night better for sure!  The worst part was that Big C was at the library studying for finals – he wasn’t even there for a little emotional support.  I know I have been giving myself shots for a week now – but this was the start of something big!

Im better tonight as I sit here and write this.  I think right now the emotion that Im trying to deal with is disbelieve – trying to wrap my head around the fact that I don’t have power over the situation at hand – that I have got to give this all to the LORD – He is my rock and my salvation – I will turn all my worries to Him!