Holy Follies!!!

I couldn't wait until I get home to share... I have NINE little follicles ready to go! They said I needed at least 4 that measured over 1.0cm to continue on to retrieval... and I've got 4 that are almost at 1.5, another 4 are over 1.0, and 1 little guy that's at .96

It looks like I'm responding very well to the meds and egg retrieval may take place this weekend.

I'm scared to even say it...but I'm feeling really good about the whole thing.

Just a Fly-by

Quick update for the inquiring minds...

Lupron suppression part of the cycle sucked. I was depressed, "flat", and it was a general preview of menopause. Blech.

I'm on all the stimulation meds now and going for blood work and testing every other day. Compared to the suppression meds... stim meds rock! Yeah, I look like a pincushion, I'm bruised all over my stomach from the injections, my arms look those of a junkie, I'm bloated beyond belief, I'm exhausted - but mentally/emotionally - I feel great!

Things of note with the shots:
- They give you a drawing where you're supposed to inject... luckily, I have a huge fat roll right there, no chance of missing the spot 2 inches below the belly button
- My arms really do look like a junkie's. I went for blood work yesterday, and they refused to take blood from the good arm because it's too bruised and they wanted it to have a few days to heal - but the "bad" arm has veins that always jump and collapse, so it looks twice as bad as the good arm after one blood draw
- The first night on all the stim meds took me an hour to figure out how to do all the shots, it's down to about 15 mins now
- I've only been on the stim meds since Thursday, and I'm really bloated. If my stomach expands too much more, I'm going to start calling in fat/nothing to wear to work

Tomorrow is the first appointment where they'll be able to see how many little follicles are growing, keep your fingers crossed! I'm having nightmares that there won't be enough eggs to do the retrieval and this will all be for naught, but there's no sense worrying about things that are out of my control.

Off to nap and stab myself a few more times. Hopefully this time next week I'll be scheduled for retrieval and down to just one shot a day. Right now I'm on 3, and I'm running out of space to inject that isn't already bruised.

Do you ever have that dream?

You know, the one where you're back in college and the final is tomorrow and you forgot to study for it? That's the anxiety I'm feeling this weekend.

Tomorrow I go for a round of blood work, and if the numbers confirm that I've ovulated, I start my Lupron at night.

For those who have asked, here's the schedule

9/20 - Blood work and if ovulation has occurred, start Lupron injections at night. 10 units every night until period starts

Once I get my period, I call the office and schedule baseline ultrasound and blood work. Continue taking 10 units of Lupron until the confirm Lupron has suppressed my ovaries.

Once suppression has been confirmed, I drop to 5 units of Lupron every night, 300 mg Follistim every morning, 150 mg of Menopur every night. Ultrasound and blood work every 2-3 days until day of retrieval.

HCG trigger shot and then egg retrieval.

Start taking doxycyline and Medrol every day for 3 days (day of and after retrieval).

Here's the Baron's big part...... day of retrieval he needs to provide a "fresh sample". He's got it rough.

They fertilize the eggs the day of retrieval, and based on the results of fertilization, I'll start progesterone shots the day after retrieval.

The fertilized eggs will all have a single cell taken from them and sent to Reprogenetics for genetic testing.

Hopefully, based on the results of the test, the fertilized eggs chosen will be transferred on Day 5 after retrieval.

Progesterone shots continue. They will do a pregnancy test approx 2 weeks after retrieval (might be a few days longer, as they usually do transfers 3 days after retrieval, but testing will mean 5 days for me).

And then we wait. If everything goes well, we still have a 4 1/2 month wait (18 week ultrasound) before we know everything is ok. Oh yes, and they tell me that at some point they do stop the progesterone shots, but that may be up to 4 weeks, depending on how the numbers are looking.

I haven't even reviewed the slideshows on shot injections again - I'm so not prepared for the shots to begin. Wish us luck!!!!