CD6 Ultrasound/ 4 Follistim injections

Well, yesterday afternoon I made the trip up to the big city. It was time for my first ultrasound after starting my Follistim injections. The 2+ hour trips (one way)are getting old and quick. It's bizzare to sit in the car for so long, go to a twenty minute appointment and then do it all over again. I will do what I have to do, and it's a bummer sometimes but at least I get out of work early sometimes. :)

I got to Dr. Chang's office and went for some blood work. They check your Estradiol (E2) levels at every visit to make sure you are in normal range. I am still a newbie when it comes to the rules of the E2 levels. So far all I know is mine have been fine. Then I went into the exam room, undressed from the waist down and waited. This five or ten minute wait really leaves your mind racing. Usually I try to focus on the fact that I wish I would have painted my toes or what socks I should wear next time.

Dr. Chang then preforms a vaginal ultrasound. If you don't know what that is. Here's a picture.

That sure looks like a ton of fun! NOT.

She first checked the lining of my uterus and said it is thickening nicely. She did the measurements but I sort of forgot to pay attention to the exact numbers, since she said everything was just fine. Next she looked at my right ovary. I should have asked for copies of the ultrasound photo's. The right ovary had 12 eggs (medicaly known as follicles) and she measured them one by one. The largest was at 10mm. They need to get to a whopping 18-22mm before they are mature enough to ovulate. Here's an example (not mine) of an ovary with many follicles.

My left ovary had 12 eggs. That's 22 total! I am really excited about that, seeing how my biggest fear was id show up and the meds wouldn't be working on me. Although most of them are on the smaller side of 9's,8's, and even some 7mm. So my little eggies aren't even half way there yet. I'm okay with slow and steady wins the race!

She decided to increase my dosage just to help them mature a tad bit faster. She raised my dosage from 100IU to 116IU. That gives me hope, if my small little eggs were a lost cause I would think she would have raised the dosage quite a bit.

From my reaserch if six or more follicles mature to the point of ovulation they will cancel the cycle. It could make me very ill and that puts me at risk for way too many multiples. I am hoping that at least 4 or 5 mature. The idea of all five implanting really scares me, but I know people who ovulate 3 follicles and end up with only one viable implantation. I think doctors are most comfortable with 1-3 big follicles.

I have another ultrasound appointment on Friday to see my progress. If I have really sped up the timeline, I'll come back for monitoring again on Saturday morning. If things are still going at a slower pace my next appointment will be the following Monday. I have a feeling after Monday's appointment I will be ready for my "trigger" shot a few days after. Then it's time for our IUI! I'm getting excited. But the percentage of success of all of this is still at a really low 25-30%. I wouldn't bet on those odds. But hopefully, just hopefully this is our lucky cycle!