Ready for Take Off

Ultrasound is clear.

Estrogen has dropped.

No cysts.

All resting follicles healthy and happy.

Is this seriously going right for once? Why yes...it is!!!

I had about 14 resting follicles (all uniform in size) on my ultrasound this morning. My estrogen level has bottomed out which is where they want it. I am officially in artificial menopause at the ripe age of 30. The reason they do this is so that they can have full control of my cycle...IVF is all about perfect timing. They cease my body's natural hormone fluctuations and replace them with the medications I am taking by injection. Click here to read about this time last cycle.

I had a little scare this morning when I was handed my instructions for the coming days.

I was supposed to decrease my Lupron from 20 units to 10 units this morning? I already gave myself 20 units! I was supposed to add a low dose HCG injection this morning? Andy was supposed to start his antibiotics this morning? Um, what?

Keep in mind that it was already 10 am and my medications are supposed to be done no later than 8 am. In a frantic I jumped in the car to get back home as fast as I could so that I could inject myself with the other medication and grab Andy's medication to take by his work. On the way back to my house, I phoned my work to let them know not to look for me anytime soon. I also phoned my clinic in Charleston to find out why they waited until this morning to tell me this rather important information. We did, after all, pay them the equivalent of a 5 series BMW this year, so I expect nothing short of awesomeness from them.

My nurse is out of the office on vacation. Sweet ridiculousness. I left a voicemail with one of the other nurses explaining the situation and she called me back not even 5 minutes later. She said that it was okay that I took the extra Lupron and that we would just lower it tomorrow morning. The HCG injection could be given this evening with my Follistim injection, Andy could start his antibiotics tonight, and HCG could be added with the lower dose Lupron tomorrow morning. Whew. I'm confused. I know you are too.

The truckload of meds arrived last Friday and I already have them organized and ready to go. Thankfully I don't have to deal with the fear of the unknown this time. Looking at all of the vials isn't quite as overwhelming.

I took my first Follistim injection this evening to begin the stimulation phase. I'm so ready for my ovaries to feel like bowling balls again. Please let it work this time...I don't know how much longer my body and mental health can take this! I will say that this will be the ultimate test to find out the true quality of my eggs. If they are still degenerated after this perfect cycle without a cyst, then we may have a major problemo.

My next appointment is this Thursday. I believe they will just be doing bloodwork. I will probably have to go in sometime this weekend for an ultrasound. Please keep us in your prayers! I will be in touch:)

Word of the Month: Ridiculousness

I'm sure most of my infertile blogger friends read Naomi's blog on a daily basis. If not, check it out. It may not seem funny to fertiles, but it's the raw truth about infertility jacked up with sarcasm. This girl cracks me up!!!

999 Reasons to Laugh at Infertility


Hey, I have to find some way to laugh at the ridiculousness that has become my life...

Everything continues to go as planned. I'm still doing double Lupron injections every morning. I'm starting to get some belly bruises, but not too bad yet. I started my cycle this a.m., which was expected after stopping the birth control pills. I am ecstatic because this didn't happen on time during our first cycle! This means that the cyst is definitely not there and that my estrogen level has dropped. I go back for a scan and bloodwork on Monday morning to make sure everything is clear so that I can start the stimulation meds. They will also do an antral follicle count so that I can get an idea of how many possible follicles there will be to stimulate. It varies month by month...last month I had 17. So far, this has been a textbook cycle.

I can't wait to take a picture of this truckload of meds...they increased the doses which means I will probably have to choose between keeping food or medications in my fridge!

In other news, I'm about to be an aunt for the second time this year...my sister is about to have her baby girl! Anytime now!

Andy is heading down to Charleston tomorrow to drop his load at the clinic. Lucky him.
They will be separated and frozen so that they won't be hastily searching for soldiers on retrieval day. We should have plenty to choose from this time. Now, if the eggs will just cooperate.

Geez, I could have used a little more couth up there...you have to admit it was pretty funny though. Besides, we've lost all modesty nowadays. Wanna know how we accomplished that? I've put my legs up in stirrups about 500 times in the past 4.5 years. Andy has become a professional sharpshooter into the depths of a sterile container, all the while cheap porn drowns out the laughter of lab personnel on the other side of the door. Top that.

Ridiculousness. Lol.