Fert Report

Double digits, baby!

Of the 14 retrieved, 11 were mature. And 10 fertilized normally.

Most ever fertilized for me. I am over-the-moon happy. Now, I know we are far from out of the woods, but this is has been so different than I feared it would be just a week ago. Just goes to show you, IF is a roller coaster, and there is not rhyme or reason to any of it. I just hope the up swing keeps up for a awhile longer.

Stay tuned for Tuesday, the fateful Day 3 report. I'll also update y'all about if we will do genetic testing this round - it's still up in the air.

Quick update

ER went well yesterday - we got 14 eggs! A personal best.

I'm pretty sore this morning, but better than I felt yesterday. I slept 11 hours last night, and am planning on taking it easy again today. Mr. P is here, which has been so nice. We fly home together tomorrow.

Fert report later today. Keep your fingers crossed.

Ode to Pho

Oh, pho, how I love you. You are beefy and anise-y and noodle-y. You warm me and make me feel like the world makes sense again. I can customise you in so many ways, with all the fresh green basil I want, a squirt of lime here, a dash of sambal there. The crunch of sprout, the squish of noodle, the chew of beef strip. You are all things, the healer of all ails, good for any meal of the day.

I love you very much pho.


Oh, and yeah, the tummy bug has lessened, and I had a yummy bowl of pho today for lunch. Now I am certainly cured. I am convinced pho should be prescribed to everyone. The world would be a happier place, I'm sure.

And, in non-pho related news, I am triggering tonight! After my monitoring visit this morning, I was not thinking it would happen. I had about 8-9 over 16mm on the right, largest measured at 19mm. And 4 bigger than 16mm on the left. But here's what I'm thinking - there is a wide discrepancy between u/s techs. The one I had today was certainly on the conservative side, I could even see her cheating me a mm here and there. When my bloodwork came back at e2 = 2869 (!) they said trigger. Which I agree with. Can you believe, estradiol increased over 1000 in a day? Yeah, I'd say I'm ready.

So at 8:30am on Saturday, I'll be under the knife, or needle, or vacuum, or whatever the hell they use to get those eggs. And most fancy of all, Dr. Famous is on this weekend, so he'll actually be doing my ER. Fancy.

C'mon eggs, let's all be grown ups here! Let's be mature!

Queasy-peasy

Things are still progressing well. My right ovary seems to be fully on the program now, with about 9 measurable follies over 10mm, with about 6 between 15-18mm. Those are growing at the expected pace of 1mm/day. The left ovary is clearly riding on the short bus, it has about 5 measurable follies over 10mm, but only 2 at 14-15mm. And it is growing at about half the pace of what's expected. So I'm hoping to trigger tomorrow (please!) and we'll have more good righties, and less lefties. Last time I was concerned they pushed me an extra day in hopes of getting the slow pokes to catch up, and I think I had some over-mature follies. So if the right reaches decent size tomorrow, I'm ready for a Saturday ER. E2 was at 1838 today, so that is also progressing well.

But all is not sunshine and butterflies around here. Starting late yesterday afternoon, I started feeling queasy. I made dinner (lots of protein and veggies, as I've been having for the last week) but I could barely eat it, it made me gag. Into the trash. Then the back end kicked in, and I've had the "runs" since last night. Ugh, bad, gut-spasm "runs". The nurse did not seem concerned today, just to keep my liquids up. Given my E2 is not that high, it couldn't be OHSS, so it's likely a little bug I picked up at the movie theater (I saw "Nine" yesterday, which was shiny but sorta lame). All I've had today was weak chamomile tea with honey, a few bites of plain white rice and some cran-grape juice mixed with water. Blech, I got the serious queasies going on.

But I can live through it, only a few more days here. A few more days til Mr. P can take care of me, a few more days of this cycle. I'm in the home stretch, and given how this time last week I was not even sure I'd make it to ER, I am happy to be here now. Queasy and all.

The worst is over (I hope)

I think Saturday was the worst of it. Starting Sunday, I woke up in a better mood. I took myself to the outlet mall to walk around and buy a few things. And best of all, I started to feel the ovary ache by afternoon.

This morning I had my monitoring appointment, and it went much better. We saw about 5 measurable follies on each side, right maybe a bit bigger than the left, with the largest at 14mm. So ranging in size from 9 to 14mm. I was relieved to see something measurable at all, and this was better than I hoped. Talking to the nurse, we estimated my ER would be this weekend sometime. If I were a betting girl, I'd go with Sunday. Now mind you, I was supposed to trigger tonight for ER Wednesday. So way behind, but at least not canceled. Then they took blood, and sent me on my way.

I went for an acupuncture appointment, which was so great. I swear, I love me some acupuncture. She did the electro-acupuncture on me, to really wake those ovaries up. It was so relaxing, helped me get some whiffs of zen again. I'm going again later in the week.

Then, the nurse called with my E2 - 1050! I was expecting like 800-900, after the 550 on Saturday. What a great sign! Finally, things moving in the right direction. It's like I'm back to my normal stim self, just 5 days behind. It makes me wonder, could the Sai.zen have suppressed me? After stopping that stuff, my body began to respond to the meds. Who knows, but I think it is an odd coincidence.

So I'm here for almost another week, but at least I have a chance to have a somewhat decent ER. Mr. P is coming Friday, which will be nice. I sure do miss him and my cat. But I am feeling better all around, so I can make it through another few days. I think being here without seeing progress really bummed me out. But now that things are looking up, I'm doing better. Let's keep it going, ovaries!!

Clash of the Titans

There is war going on around here. It's a pretty good match up, the adversaries are both strong, wily and cunning.

It's Zen versus FreakOut.

And today, FreakOut seems to be winning.

I went for my monitoring again this morning, and it is still really slow. Biggest is only 11-ish. Barely any growth from yesterday. Maybe 1mm for some. Some others, nothing much.

As I met with the nurse to discuss the ultrasound, I started to cry. I asked her if I would be canceled, and she seemed to think no. But she seemed less than certain, so she consulted with the doc who was there that day (Dr. G for those in the know). He also said no canceling yet. All I could think and say was "This is going so badly." The nurse agreed it was a much slower response than last time, but again reminded me that doesn't mean bad. I'm not so convinced.

My E2 has also been really poop, Wednesday it was 101, Friday 300-something, and today 550-ish. So it is going up, but man, how low is that?? I was in the 900s on my first monitoring appointment last cycle. WTF? I'm still thinking this is bad.

So they are giving me tomorrow off from monitoring, keeping my stims high, and I'm also starting Cetro.tide. For those of you that have done this antagonist protocol, does it matter when I take the Cetro.tide? I know it has to be at the same time each day, but does it matter when?

I feel on the verge of tears all the time, and hell - I know it can't be the hormones, 'cause they are low says my bloodwork. I just can't believe how badly this is going. So FreakOut is winning today, Zen has left the building it seems. Mr. P is not around either, he is at a bachelor party this weekend (yeah, for the friends that got whoopsie-pregnant at age 40 before the wedding, Mr. P is the best man in this wedding).

Sigh, I miss Zen.

Molasses in January

SSSSSSlllllllooooooooow. So slow. It is January, and my ovaries are made of molasses.

The monitoring appointment this morning was no surprise, it is still very slow going. About 8 measurable follies, but the largest is only 10mm. Woof. They are growing, but so so slowly.

I'm trying very hard not to freak out, and the nurses keep telling me it is not a bad thing that they are slowly growing. But I am feeling anxious. I have never had such a slow response, and this is supposed to be the "big guns" protocol. What the hell is wrong with my ovaries? Wake up, down there! Get with the program! I have another monitoring appointment tomorrow, so we'll see how they are doing then.

I made an acupuncture appointment for Monday, more for the relaxation than anything else. Yes, I find acupuncture very relaxing, and I'm hoping by then I will feel more bloated, so it will help with that too. God, how sad is it that I am wishing so much to feel bloated and yucky. But at least then I would know they ovaries are working.

I'm also keeping myself entertained by going to the movies. Today I saw "It's Complicated" with Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin. It was amusing, no great thing, but a good way to pass a few hours. Tomorrow it will be "Up in the Air" with my long-time boyfriend George Clooney. I'm looking forward to our date. I'm also sampling different theaters in the area, just to mix it up a bit.

So that's it. Slowly moving, trying not to freak, hanging on to the zen with my fingertips.