Monitoring Visit #2

We are getting closer! I can't believe how fast this cycle is flying.

Today, the nurse found 8 follicles that she could see. She did say that there may be some hiding behind the others. So far, I have been on stims for 5 days. I asked her if that was a low number, being that some ladies have 15-20 by now, and she said that it is more about quality over quantity. She said that some patients have 4 follicles and are successful.

I guess that I was hoping to be one of the ladies to have more, so that we would have left over embryos for a future pregnancy attempt, if we are successful. The reality is that this will be the only and last time that we will be paying for IVF....unless we get a rock star insurance company that will cover it.

My next appointment is on Saturday for another u/s and follicle check. Until then, my instructions are to stop taking Lupron in the morning and to increase my Menopur dose to two vials (150IU), instead of one. Follistim will stay the same. I had to call in a refill of my prescriptions because they keep upping my dosages. I thought that my ovaries wouldn't need any additional help, so I just purchased what I would have needed if nothing changed. You can't return medication, so I didn't want to have any left over. That would have been a waste. We were told when we started IVF that it would be a flat fee for the 6 attempts, but then meds can fluctuate depending on the patients response. We were told that meds can run from $2,000-$6,000 per cycle. C and I spent $1,500 initially and just spent $1,100 a couple of minutes ago. This crap is expensive! So, that's a grand total of $2,600 for meds this cycle. That does put us at the bottom of the $ range, but still. Damn! No complaining though. Some people are paying $6,000. If it's Gods will, we will have a bundle or two to show for it soon...... I pray!

Their growing!

This morning I went in for my first u/s and blood work appt since I started stims 3 days ago.

On the u/s the tech was able to see 4 follicles on the left ovary and 2 on the right (6 total). I got a call from the nurse to up my dosage of Follistim to 187IU, from 150IU. I have read on the net that the goal is to have at least 10-12 follicles minimum. I'm almost there! Follicles, in the ovaries can have no eggs, or more than one, so I'm hoping that everything is growing as it should!

This is an example of what your ovary looks like with multiple follicles (eggs). When the nurse did the u/s this photo is similar to what I was looking at.

My next appointment is this Thursday, 10/30 to do another u/s and blood drawl. According to my IVF calendar the remainder of my cycle should go as follows:


10/30 thru 11/3: More U/S & blood work visits
11/3 HCG Trigger (releases the eggs for retrieval)
11/5 Egg Retrieval
11/10 Transfer of embryos
11/20 Pregnancy Blood Test (approx)

Cycle Day 3

I went to the RE's office today and had my day 3 ultrasound and blood work. The ultrasound showed no cysts in my ovaries. While we were out running some errands a nurse called with the results of my blood work (around 2:30 PM). She said that all of my levels were perfect and that I can start stims this evening.

When we got home, I went and got out the box the pharmacy sent me when we first ordered our meds. As I started pulling things out of the box, I thought taking a picture of all our meds would be good for posterity.