My egg retrieval is tomorrow at 10 am.  This has caused some sort of warp in the space-time continuum, where minutes are now hours and time has slowed down to a near halt.  I look at the clock-swearing that an hour has gone by, and it has only been 10 minutes!  But this too shall pass, and we will be on our way tomorrow!

The trigger shot went great last night.  The biggest needle and intramuscular, this was somehow the least painful.  Walking is difficult.  I am doing more of a waddle.  Very, very tired all the time.  I ended up taking a half day at work and nap time was my friend.  Got the call from my nurse that everything was looking great, my e2 level jumped to around 3400-a nice big number, but not TOOO big (We don’t that painful hyperstimulation syndrome).

So tomorrow I will go in, they will give me some feel good anesthesia, and then the retrieval begins.  This involves going in through the vaginal wall and sucking the contents of any good size follicles out.  That fluid should contain an egg that was in each follicle.  They will figure out how many are mature and give us a number! Those guys will then go into the petri dish of love and let the magic begin.

So I am not a betting girl (except when in Vegas!), but my bet is that they are going to get 10 eggs.  My husband bets 13.   My mother-in-law says 14!  (weigh in Mom and everybody).  We shall see!  I am feeling very positive and ready for this next step!

So after a rough day yesterday, we will finally be taking the trigger shot tonight at 11 pm.  Friday night, they halved my medication because I was responding so well.  Well, ultrasound and E2 yesterday showed a drop in some of the follicle size AND a drop in my E2 (from around 2000 to 1800).  The doctor decided to increase me to 150 menapur and 150 follistim and bring me back in this morning.  It felt like getting to the top of a mountain and then riding a semi-landslide back down.  I made myself get a lot of rest and drink lots of water last night.  Today, another ultrasound and I prayed the whole way there it would be my last one-in a good way.  I seem to be back on track…My follicles measured: 19.8, 23, 16, 19.22, 19, 16 on the right and 21.5, 21.5, 25 (WOW–Too big) 13, and 14.5. My E2 levels rose back up to 2400.

The nurse just called with my instructions for the day.  It is officially TRIGGER DAY, which is the last step before the retrieval.  The trigger shot is called Novarel and is composed of hCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin).  Its purpose is to initiate the final maturation of the eggs in the follicles.  They also trigger the egg to release from the follicle wall and start floating around in the fluid, ready to ovulate (burst from the follicle).  I take another Ganirelix to prevent that bursting from taking place.  Trigger time is 11 pm tonight.  Then, no more medication or shots!  At least for a couple of days.  Tuesday is my retrieval day!!! I can’t believe I am already at retrieval.  In some ways this has flown by, and in some ways it feels that it has take FOREVER.  I am looking for the few days between retrieval and transfer when my body is officially off duty.  A chance to relax, rest, and ramp up for the next step.  Feeling exhausted right now…so I am off for a lovely afternoon of couch time and some Parks and Recreation watching!

Blood results are in..E2 levels at 1911!  Jumping up!  The nurse said things were looking great!  Last time she said “good”  now it is “great”!   They brought my meds back down to the original 75 follistim, 75 menapur, and the Ganirelix (They don’t want me to overstimulate).  I think my doc just wants to give those few laggers one more day to get in the game.   ANOTHER ultrasound tomorrow and I am willing to bet my favorite pair of cowboy boots that I take the trigger tomorrow night.  And boy am I starting to feel it.  Feels like I am walking around with two water balloons in my lower belly.  Tonight, you shall find me on the couch watching some sort of lovely TV marathon.  I can’t wait for tomorrow to get here!

Today I had what I hope will be my final ultrasound before the retrieval.  Lookin’ GOOD!!! Lefty the Troublesome Ovary is making a real comeback.  The nurse was able to see six follicles on that side @ 19 mm, 18.84 mm, 18.75 mm, 17.9 mm, 14mm, and 9 mm.  The right side continued to chug along with six follicles at 18.69 mm, 18.63 mm, 17.1mm, 16.5 mm, 12.5 mm, and 12.2 mm. Looks like we will get at the very least 9 mature eggs (Plus the other ones might catch up or they may be some more hiding somewhere)!  Happy!  This process has me constantly amazed at what our bodies and minds are capable of doing.  I feel so grateful that I live in a time where options such as IVF are available to me, and cannot imagine the heartache women faced 20-30 years ago when the answer to infertility was just “Sorry..There is nothing we can do”. 

Now, I wait for the word on what my doctor wants to do (3 pm phone call).  I, of course, hounded the nurse for her best guess.  She felt the doctor would instruct me to take the stimulants 1 more night to try to give the little guys one last chance to catch up.  I would then take my ovulation trigger on Saturday night and have the retrieval Monday morning!  Wow!  For however stressful this process has been, I feel like it has FLOWN by.  My husband, however, would adamantly disagree.  Last night he just kept repeating, “I am ready for this part to be over.  Whatever happens next, I am ready for this part to be over!” He has been a trooper though.  It must be such a nerve-racking experience for the guys too.  He knows he needs to give a good sample on retrieval day and he also knows that his best samples come from 3-4 days of abstaining.  But you can’t plan for that because each day is a “anybody’s guess” on what day the retrieval will actually be!  Since he is a guy that likes to plan and work in absolutes, these little unknowns are causing big time stress.  But, like I keep comforting him, we have a totally PERFECT sample on back-up in case the one that day is a bust.  And I mean PERFECT.  250,000 million, great morphology and motility, and very little DNA fragmentation.

We are getting so close!  Then it is on to phase 2!  Retrieval….or as my husband refers to it..The Harvest.  Sounds a little too Children of the Corn for me…..

A lot of people ask me what I am doing extra to increase my chances of a successful cycle, or just fertility in general.  See, I am a little bit of a hippie girl and have always believed that changes in what we eat can translate into big stuff involving our health and well-being.  I have personally witnessed my husband’s sperm count do a complete 180 after changes in his diet.  He went from a count in the 4-15 million range to a count > 250 million with excellent motility and morphology. (I’ll post more about that later).  While I obviously believe in the miracles of science (Hello IVF!), I am also a big believer in herbal/holistic remedies.  So what am I doing this cycle?…

1)  Bee pollen/Royal Jelly- This is what is feed to the queen bee in the hive.  Royal Jelly is rich in amino acids, lipids, sugars, vitamins, and proteins. It contains high levels of vitamins E and D, and also has iron and calcium. The way I see it, anything that helps that queen lay up to 2000 eggs per day has GOT to help this little bumblebee make more than one!

2)  Super-B complex-So must of us know that a prenatal and folic acid are especially important when trying to conceive.  Folic acid helps prevent neural tube defects in your baby. So I take these and then add a Super-B complex vitamin every other day.  The  B-complex family of vitamins are necessary to produce the genetic materials DNA and RNA. Together with vitamin B12, folic acid works to ensure that your baby’s genetic codes are intact.  All of the B vitamins seem to be pretty essential during the pre-conceptual period.

3) I haven’t been eating much meat, so I have to make sure I am getting plenty of protein and iron, as well as whatever I feel will help.   I was soooo tired of trying to find a way to fit all the things I needed into my day-to-day eating habits.  One day I realized, “I don’t really care what this takes like!  Just get it into my body so it can do its thing!.”  My solution was to make what I now refer to as my “baby-makin’ casserole”.  Going back to my southern roots, I convinced myself that if I didn’t like the way it tasted, I could just cover it in hot sauce.  The thing is….I think it tastes AWESOME!!  So in my biggest casserole dish I combine..

• A layer of quinoa (a  great “complete” protien and high in iron)
• A layer of black beans (protein, folate, fiber, B1)
• A layer of sweet potatoes (Vitamin A, Vitamin C, @ Beta Carotene-which promotes a healthy hormone balance and may decrease risk of miscarriage)  mixed with butternut squash (B6, Fiber, folate).
• DIced red onions and a variety of chopped hot peppers for improved circulation and antioxidant/anti-inflammatory benefits
• Two cut up bananas (Potassium, B6, and B12)
• Chopped up fresh garlic because garlic is one of those superfoods that does just about everything awesome

I then pour some sort of Indian curry sauce over the dish…the hotter the better for me.  I have tried both Jalfrezi and Vindaloo–both worked (I consider “worked” as making me fan my mouth after the first couple of bites).  I cover with foil and back at 375 degrees for about 1.5 hour until the potatoes are soft .  Sometime I eat the dish plain or with spicy humus and chips.  The result is what feels like a Caribbean/African/Indian dish…hot, with a little sweet, and LOADED with good stuff for me and my fertility!

4)  An Acai/Goji/Noni/Mangosteen super juice blend.  One ounce a day. This provides the wealth of benefits you get from juices including free radical scavenging, immune system support, and lots of energy!

Whew!  That is a lot of stuff!  But I feel healthier, happier, and like I am somehow acting as a partner to all this crazy science, IVF stuff.  I have cut out alcohol (BOOOOO!), caffeine (double BOOOO), and limited my meat and white carb intake.  If you are on this crazy infertility ride, please remember that there is always conflicting  information out there on that lovely beast called the Internet.  I encourage you to do your research and make the choices you feel are right for you.  But seriously…try the baby makin’ casserole….especially if you like it HOT!!

I wanted to give you guys a little visual of what I am seeing during the ultrasound. I had the nurse print out some pictures for me.  So without further ado…let me introduce you to my ovaries……

The top is of ol’ lefty. Those black grape shaped objects are the follicles.  Each time you go in, they take measurements.  Lookin’ good,  right!!!??  TThis is just one view (you can only see two of the three that were there.  The nurse rotates the wand around to get multiple angles.  The bottom picture is the right ovary.  You can see about 4 of them.  Ain’t science cool?

This will be quick!  My E2 levels came back at 974!  So a good descent jump from 571 yesterday.  The results have been Day 2@ 34, Day 5 @ 179, Day 7@ 552, leveled off Day 8 @ 571, and now a good rise day 9 @ 974.  The nurse stated anything over 800 translated to “being in the clear”.  Thanks to everyone for checking in on me, giving me support, and sending messages of encouragement.  It means so much to both of us!  Back for bloodwork again tomorrow!

Just got back from my ultrasound!  Gotta say…once “wanded”….I just closed my eyes and waited for the news that my eggs were not growing.  This was not to be the case, however!  They are looking “very nice”, according to my nurse, and I will take “very nice” any day of the week.  Ol’ troublesome lefty was willing to work with us today.  She could see 3 good size follicles (the fluid-filled sacs holding the eggs) @ 14.52 mm, 14.69 mm, and 15.98 mm (the leader of the pack)-and a few under 10 mm.  The right side showed 7 follicles @ 14.5, 14, 14.92, 11.8, 13.48, 10, and 9.  The little ones might not catch up, but we have a great chance of getting 8-10 eggs.  On the day of retrieval, most likely Sat or Sunday, anything over 15 mm has a good chance of containing a viable egg, or so they say.  Follicles generally grow 1-2 mm per day.  So, they are basically waiting for some to reach the 18-20 mm range, and then it is GO TIME. I would have like to have seen a few more eggs, but I will take what I can get with a smile on my face!

My uterine lining was a 11 mm (wanted to see over 8mm) and starting to take on the triple striped pattern that the doctors covet.  That means it is growing nice and fluffy for the embryo stick in.  So now I am just waiting for the final word that my E2 levels didn’t plummet-that dreaded 3 o’clock phone call.  But the sun is shining, my eggs are growing, and things are looking way up!

So today is my first day of getting nervous…really nervous….that something/anything/everything is going to go wrong.  My blood test showed my E2 levels leveling out.  Yesterday was around 550.  Today around 570.  It should have jumped up ALOT higher than that.  As in getting close the the quadruple digits.    My nurse explained that sometimes when you add the 3rd medication, the Ganirelix, the E2 levels can “sputter out” for a day.  Ganirelix is the one that keeps you from ovulating, so that makes sense. Supposedly (Hopefully!) they will begin to rise again.  They doubled my dosage of Menapur as a line of defense against the Ganirelix E2 suppression effect.  So now 100 Follistim, 150 Menapur, and Ganirelix. Best case scenario-the levels will be on target tomorrow.  Worst case scenario-my body is not responding to the medication, my levels are bottoming out, and the cycle will be cancelled.  I believe it will be the best case scenario…but I am still super anxious.

When I began this process,  I didn’t anticipate what a roller coaster EACH DAY would be.  I figured I would take the meds each day, and then we would find out the day of retrieval how many eggs we got.  Not much too worry about in the in-between. Instead, each day you get new results, things are tweaked, nerves are shot, and then you have to hold out hope for the next day’s visit.  Things can change in an instant!  The day begins to center around that 3pm phone call from the nurse.  Tomorrow I go for another E2 draw and an ultrasound, so we will REALLY get to see how things are progressing.  So keep hoping and praying for us that we see some good >13 mm follicles and a strong e2 level! I am not ready for this crazy train to end!  For now, this human pin cushion is going to bed.  Tomorrow can’t get here soon enough!

Hi!  Today was the 7th day of my IVF cycle and will be my 6th round of shots.  This morning I went for an ultrasound and blood draw.  The ultrasound uses a vaginal wand (not an “over the belly ultrasound”) to try to get the most complete view of the ovaries.  The images of my right ovary showed 6-7 follicles (which contain the eggs), all ranging between 8.5 mm and 11 mm.  Right on target..and it is good that they are all so close in size.  Sometimes you get a “leader” that grows much faster than the others.  That one gets close to ovulation size while all the others lag behind…gets the doctors all wringing their hands.  But all of mine are all in a close bunch. The whole process was simple and painless.

This was not to be the case with my left side.  I don’t know what it is, but my left side has always struggled-with EVERYTHING.  My bones are smaller on that side, any medical issue I have ever had- from eye problems to foot problems-has always been on my left, and my left tube is the one that had to be removed.  Its the Curse of the Lefties.  The ultrasound on my left ovary proved to be no different.  As soon as she moved the wand to that side, I started wincing.  Maybe there is left over scar tissue or bruising…but MAN it was tender-and hiding.  No matter how she poked, prodded, or stirred-she could not get a clear image of the left ovary.  After about 10 minutes of trying, I finally asked her for a break.  I went to the bathroom, cried (Go easy on me, my emotions are ALL over the place), gritted my teeth, bounced up and down in an effort to jiggle things around, and went back to the stirrups.  Eventually, she was able to see at least 3-4 with at least 1 around 10 mm. Thank God it was finally over. My and my left ovary are going to have a serious come to Jesus meeting before the next ultrasound…….

My uterine lining was now 8 mm, which is right on target.  My E2 level was 552. It was 179.3 last time, and they like to see that it has at least doubled.  I will stay on the same med protocol (100 Follistim/75 Menapur), but now a third shot will be invited to this lovely party-Ganirelix.  Ganirelix keeps me from ovulating too early.  Early ovulation=cycle cancellation.  So as the follicles get bigger, they add Ganirelix into the rotation to keep the eggs from releasing.  I go in for another E2 draw tomorrow.  We are definately getting close!  I predict the egg retrieval will be Sunday!!!! Lefty…you better get in line!!!