I went to the clinic today for the blood draw to check E2 Levels.  They want it at around 200 to 250.  If it is a lot higher than that, it means you are responding too much to the medication.  THe concern here is that on can get Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (hyperlinked to Wiki page), a painful condition which can cause hospitalization and cycle cancellation if severe.  If the e2 levels are too low, you are not responding to the medication enough.  If less than 75, the chances for a successful IVF cycle or pregnancy significantly decrease.  So your doctor does a delicate dance of trying to push your body with medication enough to produce lots of good eggs, but not so much that your system hyperstimulates.

My levels were at 178.3, just shy of the perfect 200.  This is no big deal at all, it just translates into an increase in the dosage of the injections.  My medication protocol is very conservative at this point.  I was on 75 menapur and 75 follistim.  On fertility forums (a great resource and support network for women going through this procedure)  I have seen women taking as high as 600 follistim.  Such high dosages generally correlate to issues surrounding egg quality (indicated by an AMH or Anti-Mullerian Hormone test)  and egg reserve (# of eggs you have left)-neither of which of are my particular issues.  As far as we know, my issue is purely mechanical-bad tubes-not hormonal.  So my medication protocol started out as more conservative to lower the risk of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome.  With my levels on day five being just shy of the 200, my doctor has upped my Follistim dosage to 100 and kept my Menapur dosage at 75.  We will continue this particular protocol tonight and tomorrow night, then I will return on Monday for another E2 and ultrasound….we will get to see how many of these bad boys are actually cookin’!  THAT I am excited about!!!!