follicle check sunday, 11.7.10

Super awesome. It just deleted my whole effing post. I will try to duplicate.

Egg is at 16.4mm, exactly 3mm larger than it was on Friday. It's growing! Slow growing, but still progressing.  It's just a lazy potential-Garcia.

As of now, I've been instructed to grab an OPK (ovulation predictor kit). They're in the neighborhood of $60+, so I'm going to get the week supply, since I only need 2, for $20.  I wish I had time to shop online, I know I could find them cheaper--but I don't have the time. Plus, if this cycle doesn't work out the way we hope, maybe I'll have a use for the other 5.

Dr Chen wants the egg to be at 20mm before the IUI.  My uterine lining surprised us all when she checked it today--it was like a normal ovulating woman's uterine lining! I think it was 5? With that news, (the lining is supposed to thicken when a maturing egg is in the making to prepare for baby/implantation) she thinks I just might ovulate on my own, since the rest of my body is shockingly acting 'normal.' That would be amazing.  I'm a 'natural' type of person, so this process has been a mix of emotions for me.  I'm thankful and excited that we have a real shot at this with the aid of modern technology, but at the same time the more I can 'do' on my own the better I feel, the more grateful I feel.

Backtracking a bit.  The high dose of Clomid (I'm sure I've mentioned this) thins your uterine lining, and you need to be supplemented with estrogen. I'm so happy we're not going to need more estrogen.  Moving forward. Our instructions are to buy the OPK, use one tomorrow morning (Monday, 11-8) and Tuesday morning (at the same time I did it Monday morning).  God willing, it will be positive come Tuesday morning. If it is positive Tuesday morning, I am to call the office, tell them the good news and make an appointment for a Wednesday IUI.  If negative Tuesday morning, I will still call the office, but it will be to make (another!) ultrasound appointment for Tuesday to check the egg's progression.  By this time, at the rate it's been growing, it should be 20mm.. or damn close.  She'll give me the hCg (hGc?) shot to trigger ovulation and we will also make a Wednesday appointment for IUI--though I believe it will be a different time of day as opposed to the positive OPK appointment. Either way! Wednesday is the day, assuming nothing crazy happens. :)

Oh, I've been reading the famously ridiculously informative (and sometimes silly) book 'What to Expect When You're Expecting.'  Many things I knew prior to picking up the book, quite a few that I didn't, and some I laughed at. At any rate, I am much more informed than I was before.  I'm reading it alongside Sebastian and his book, 'What to Expect When Your Wife is Expanding.'  His is mostly just hilarious. I bought them both on Amazon a couple weeks ago for about $11 total (including shipping). Of course, in his book the front page is devoted to a wonderful dedication about what a great dad Ronald was going to be in September, 1993.. but it was a sweet dedication, so I just crossed out Ronald's name and put in Sebastian's. And replaced John and Kim's name with mine.

they grew!! ultrasound 11/5/10

Well, one grew! One is better than none, but not as great as two or more--but nonetheless we have a ripening eggie! So we get to move to the next step this cycle. I have an appointment this Sunday at 8:30a to have another ultrasound to make sure that the egg has reached at least 18mm. Today it was just under 14 (13.6) which is more than double since the last ultrasound on Monday. Things are lookin' good!

A mature egg needs to be 18-20mm for the trigger shot followed by the IUI. She has no doubt it will be at least 18, but the date for the shot is up in the air.  Could be Sunday or Monday. We'll see! I'm excited that I'm going in on Sunday because Sebastian will get to go with me and not take any time off work.  Of course, for the IUI on Monday, he'll have to take time off work but the less time he takes off the better.

Well that's about it for now.  More good news to follow on my Sunday post. :)
Oh, and did I mention I have to give myself the shot? Super!

Ciao!

egg progression

Had my 'egg check up' this morning. There are two eggs (one on each side) that are growing, but not all that great. She figured they'd be farther along now, but she was happy that they were at least bigger than before the Clomid. They're at 6mm and they were at 4 or 5 last week.  They need to be about double what they are now to receive the trigger shot and IUI.  So, here's hoping they double by Friday! I have an appointment Friday at 9:30a to check their progression again.  She's thinking they'll be 11 or 12mm by then, and we'll do the trigger shot Sunday and have the IUI Monday. If things don't look bigger and better, then we know that no amount of Clomid will work for us and we'll move to the injectable medications.

I'm a little bummed, but still hopeful.  You're supposed to ovulate 5-10 days after your last Clomid pill (read it online, not from Dr) which would put us in a range for between this Wednesday and next Monday. I also read that people need trigger shots when they are on high doses of Clomid (150+) but that some people don't need them.  Dr Chen seems to think that I do, and I trust that she knows what she's talking about!

So keep your fingers (and toes!) crossed that we get some serious egg growth by Friday!!

Clomid, Cycle Day 4-CD 8

After getting mildly chewed out by sweet lil' Dr. Chen, I had my ultrasound to check egg development.  Apparently, I should have called her as she would have preferred to start me on Clomid Saturday as opposed to today (Monday).  Lucky for us, Clomid isn't as time specific as the injectable fertility meds are, so we should be just fine. My eggs look fine and dandy, which is nice!

The jist: I will be on a very high dosage of Clomid for 4 days. 150mg daily. Most women start on 50mg daily.  I really love how aggressive she is in fertility.  The way she (and I) sees it, there is no sense in doing 3 or 4 rounds of Clomid at 50 mg increments, why not start at the top? Then you know if it will (or won't) work and what the next step will be if needed.  I do feel for Sebastian though. With higher doses of Clomid, women tend to experience serious mood swings and hot flashes. Good times. ;)

So, I will stop the Clomid CD 8, which is the 29th of October. She suspects I will have a mature egg (or eggs) on November 1st (our anniversary!)--I have an ultrasound appointment on the 1st at 8:30a to check on our lil' eggies.  If/when the egg/s are ready to go, I will then get a 'trigger shot' to release it.  Then I believe the IUI would follow shortly after.  During the egg-check appointment, she will also check my uterine lining.  Clomid can make the lining thin/weak and if it looks to be the case for me, she will start me on a medication to remedy that (can't remember the name, but it's 2x a day).  Hopefully all is well, the less meds the better I'm thinking!

So, transvag ultrasound was fine.  No pain, nothing. Which is great, since I'll have another one a week from now.  We're going away for the weekend to celebrate our anniversary early since it's on a Monday. Kind of doubly exciting seeing as how my uterus and his.. parts... will be on-call the next couple weeks or more.  So it will be nice to have some time to get away and be alone and relax.

It's becoming more and more real to me that we just might be pregnant this time next month. For what a 'process' this has been, it's actually going really, really fast.  We're very excited! :)