Good numbers!

The nurse finally called me back this afternoon with my 7dpo results.

Estradiol - 114
Progesterone - 16

She said both of those are great numbers! I wish there was some indication of pregnancy in there though!

*crosses fingers*

One more week to wait...

And yes, I POAS this morning. BFN. :)

I Don't Even Recognize Myself: AKA Monitoring Update #2.6

I'm not going to hem and haw and try to be all literary with this blog post. I'm just going to stick to the facts. And the fact is I'M A FREAKIN' ROCKSTAR!!!

Jem is truly truly truly outrageous!

My E2 yesterday was 1130. I never even got that high last time AFTER trigger. I bet I get to 2k after trigger this time. My highest E2 last cycle was between 1000 and 1100. This is CRAZY!! My lining is 17 and trilaminar. Like i've said - my lining doesn't seem to be my problem. At all.

Measurements... check out these babies!!!!

• left ovary: 23x17, 18x17, 19x16, 17x14, 25x16, 19x17, 18x15, 19x19
• right ovary: 19x17, 19x17, 20x16, 19x16, 23x14, 18x13, 19x18

Dr Z thinks we're going to get 12 mature eggs at retrieval!!! Oh, and speaking of retrieval; it's going to be Wednesday. I'm triggering tonight!

So, now I'm just waiting for the call. Sometime this afternoon, Nurse F will call me with the details for my trigger and retrieval. The trigger has to be given at an EXACT time. I was able to find someone to work for me tonight, so I can leave at 7pm and be home by 7:30pm. Hopefully, trigger will be after that, but i'll take it to work with me, just in case. One of the nurses has done IVF, and she knows that i'm cycling. I'm sure if I need her to, she can trigger me.

Is it weird that I'd rather have Mr DB do it, instead of a trained nurse?

Who cares... I can't believe it's happening!! And I can't believe my ovaries are working! It took maximum doses for 10 1/2 days... but it's working!!!

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Trigger is tonight!!

Exceeding Expectations: AKA Monitoring Update #2.5

The first thing that came out of my mouth when I saw the 22mm follicle:

"Holy Sh*t".

Dr B didn't really hear me - but later he asked me what I said and I told him. He laughed.

I like Dr B.

In other news, I'm still an egg machine. Follicle sizes for this morning are as follows:
right ovary: 17x14, 16x11, 16x14, 18x14, 18x16, 16x15 and 4 small
left ovary: 17x16, 19x16, 16x11, 18x16, 22x14, 18x10, 18x17 and a couple small

Dr B also said my lining looks great at 16tri. It's good that I have ONE thing going for me... my lining doesn't seem to be my problem at all.

My E2 yesterday was 899. I was hoping for something near 1000, so 899 is pretty darn close. And Dr B said that at this point, they're actually shooting for 800, so i'm exceeding their expectations now.

I like exceeding expectations.

So, it looks like I'll trigger tomorrow and be set for ER wednesday.

March came in like a lion - let's see if it can go out with a baby....

I'm a machine - AKA Monitoring Update #2.3

Okay, so I obviously don't have my E2 back yet, but that hardly matters. I'm not worried about it.

I repeat - i am NOT worried about it.

That's right. Me. Dandelion Bud... not worried. Did you just see that cow fly by? Seriously.

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I am an egg MACHINE today. My awesome Nurse F couldn't even stop counting follicles. We were up to 13 when Mr DB's voice recorder on his iPhone stopped recording, but there could have been as many as 15, if memory serves... there's 16s, and 15s, and 14s... oh my!

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My lining is 12mm trilaminar. Dr Z says not to worry about the lining. In his experience, there's no such thing as too thick. And honestly, I feel pretty darn good that everything is working right.

I started ganirelix as soon as I got home this morning, and will now be taking it once a day, with my gonal-F in the morning.

I'm starting to feel really achy and bloated. I can't wait to hear what my E2 is.

In other news, Mr DB and I are trying to get a supplemental short term disability policy in place for me before I get pregnant, because we realized that if I have ANY pregnancy complications, with my job, I'm going to get pulled out of work in a flash, and we will be in big trouble without my income (my STD policy through work sucks).

In NJ, it's fairly hard to get an individual supplemental STD policy. There are very few companies available that sell to anyone other than group/employer.

We met with an agent from Mutual of Omaha yesterday, who brokers for dozens of companies. He's going to double check with the underwriters in the morning, and get back to us, but it looks like because we've had treatment for infertility in the past 10 years, if I have any pregnancy complications, they will NOT be covered.

So essentially, because I can't get pregnant without IVF, and because I'm trying to be fiscally responsible and protect my budget, my home and my assets if I DO have a pregnancy complication, I'm screwed if I have a problem.

I will never understand why society is so damned concerned about how people get pregnant.

I'm going to leave you with this thought... I WISH this was still playing off-broadway. That would have been a great road trip! You have to check out the soundtrack on amazon.com... my favorite is "I have sperm in my pocket and I'm talking to Eileen" about collecting an SA.

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Hopefully, the next time I check in, I'll have great E2 news, and a good update about the STD policy... but i'm not holding my breath about that one.

Monitoring update #2.2

Wait – what is this bizarre emotion I’m feeling?

Is it possible that it’s…

I never updated the blog on tuesday after my first monitoring appointment, but somewhere around 3pm, I got a call from Dr Z’s office that my estrogen level (E₂) was 143! Comparatively speaking, at the first monitoring appointment last cycle, my estrogen was 52. Um, can you say significantly improved?

But what I really want to talk about is that this morning, I left my REs office without something to be concerned about for the first time since the beginning of my last uber failed IVF cycle. My E₂ HAD to be good, bunches of measuring follicles, uterine blood gone (without any bleeding, but who cares - it probably went out my tubes) and my lining is 9mm and trilaminar.

Check me out, all responding and crap. Who’d ‘ave thunk it?

I can’t remember the last time I felt this positive.

And then to find out this feeling could get better.

At 10:30 this morning, I got the call from Dr Z’s office. My E2 this morning was 480 on day 7 of stims. Comparatively speaking… last cycle on day 7 it was 80.

YIPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Ganirelix is most likely going to start tomorrow (my lead follicle is 13 today - and they like to start at 14).

I'm getting fairly bloated, and I love it!

Day 3.5 of stims and all is... well....

So, today is day 3.5 of stims (i started friday night, and except for that night when I took the whole dose at once, starting saturday morning i've done gonal 2x a day). I can't believe how quickly I felt side effects this time. GI symptoms, headaches by the end of day 1... and i can definitely feel activity in my ovaries since day 2. I didn't feel this for a few more days last time... but here I am, day 3.5 and already feeling a little bloated and crampy in my ovaries.

Tomorrow morning is my first monitoring appointment and i'm nervous. I'm scared i'm going to see that same look of disappointment on Dr Z's face when I go in for my ultrasound.... that look that says "something is wrong here". That the phone call I get with my blood work results will have the same panic, with an E2 level in the toilet.

I KNOW that's not going to happen. Feeling all of these symptoms this soon tells me that. But the little tiny irrational part of me that I can't beat back still whispers in the back of my head....

I scheduled an extra acu session for this week... i'll do some extra meditation... i'm wearing penguin socks... i have more lucky charms ON me than in a cereal box:

• The beautiful fertility charm from Taiwan, sent to me by Jenny
  
• The rose quartz shaped like a heart from Lani
• The St Gerard medal, given to me by a concerned coworker

I know it sounds really silly... It's not a beta. It's not my retrieval.. it's not even my transfer. It's just my first monitoring appointment of the cycle.

Can you guys just send me some positive thoughts for the morning?

Update: Follie Check #1

I had my first follicle check this morning.

My lining is at 5mm and is still homogeneous. I was concerned about this, because at my suppression check it was 7mm. I didn't understand why it would get thinner. The RE that did my US this morning (not Dr Z but his associate Dr B) said that since I still had my period at my US and spotted for another 2 days following, that my lining would get smaller because of that and it will likely start growing from here. I'm very comfortable with his explanation, but I'm going to start drinking my pomegranate (pom) juice anyway, to try to fluff up my lining.

My follicles seemed good too... on the right, I had 5 small follicles, unsized, with a lead follicle at 11mm and another at 10mm. On the left I had 5 small follicles. Dr B said that it is okay for now and that today's visit was mostly to make sure I wasn't moving too fast. I also had blood checked today for my estrogen levels (E2).

Well - my follicles might have looked okay for a first US, but we're guessing that my E2 was in the tank. I got the call around 3:30pm.

They're stopping the lupron (the suppressant) and DOUBLING my menopur and gonal-f (the stims). So, of course, I was concerned that they think i'm over suppressed now. However, the great ladies on the infertility forum convinced me that everything is going to be okay - it's probably a reaction to my low E2 (which will rise as my follicles get bigger). The ladies say I probably just need a jump start to get the party started.

So, now my protocol is, 150 units of Gonal-F in the mornings and at night 150 units of Gonal-F and 2 vials of Menopur.

My next US and E2 check will be saturday morning at 7am.

Until then, please keep me in your thoughts and prayers.... follicle wishes and thick lining dreams.