22 February 2013

Day 13 - Scan

The end is in sight!

Had my scan this morning.  The doctor said that Tuesday would really be better for collection as the goal is to have as many good eggs as possible and I do have some follicles lagging behind.  I'm sure that I could question him for his reasoning and thinking, but as my IVF experienced friend said, "What is he going to tell you really except that this is what he thinks they should do based on all the other patients they've seen and the results they've had with different protocols?".  It's true really.  Whatever they say to me isn't going to be the magic pill that "promises" the prize.  Either you trust your doctor, and the clinic, or you don't.  So lesson of the day- be very happy with your clinic and doctor because that's really all you've got.

At any rate, he counted 13 follicles and there may have been a couple others.  They are getting big!  He suggested that I should be looking at 5-10 eggs.  Of course there is a massive difference between 5 and 10.  And there is absolutely nothing I can do about it except wait and see.  Obviously I hope for 10 and I will be disappointed with 5 but it will be what it will be and lets just hope that it's not any less than that which is of course, also entirely possible.

So I have my final drugs now, and I need to be back at the clinic at 8:30am on Tuesday morning for my procedure at 9am and I might be able to go home by 10 and hopefully by 11.

Tonight, I'm on the same drugs as usual- Gonal-F at 225 and Cetrotide.  Then tomorrow I do them again but the Gonal-F reduces (I have it written down- I think it's one eight something or other).  Sunday at 7pm I take the Cetrotide and then at 8pm I do the Ovitrelle which came pre-packaged and is currently in my fridge waiting for me.  Monday- no shots!  Hooray!  Before I head to the clinic on Tuesday morning, I take a suppository.  I think it's a painkiller.  I'm not sure, I'll need to double check, and I will post more about all that later.

This has of course prompted me to consider does the procedure actually hurt? It may sound stupid but it hadn't actually particularly occurred to me.  Then of course I made the mistake of looking at the internet which is full of both sides- people in pain and people feeling nothing.  Well, there just isn't any way to know what it's going to be like until it happens.  I'd say my tolerance for pain can be pretty high, but I do tend to flinch.  Hopefully I get enough sedation to just knock my ass out.

I've arranged for my friend to come meet me at the clinic and go home with me.  It's all heading to the finish line now!

I did say to the doctor today that my ovary feels uncomfortable, my digestive system seems to be a mess, and I've been feeling particularly grumpy.  He said it's all normal.  At least I can be objective at the moment.  The hormones haven't gotten that bad yet!!

4 comments:

  1. YAY Kayla! I'm excited for you! I'm sure you'll get closer to 10 eggs which would be fantastic!!

    I heard from my nurse about an hour ago with some of my blood results. It does look like I am having my period due to the low estrogen even though I'm barely bleeding...this afternoon I've basically stopped! Not sure what is going on but they didn't seem to be too worried about it this morning. SO, I have the go ahead to start BCP tomorrow morning. She will email me my FSH level in the AM. The FSH will determine what type of meds/shots to prescribe. Since my AHM was low, I'm expecting my FSH not to be where it should be for my age either, but I'll just have to wait and see what she says tomorrow. I also asked my nurse about seeing my doctor during some of the ultrasound appointments and she did change my day 6 of stimulation appointment to the office location where my doctor will be on that day - whew! Feel better about that! I also told her that I really want my doctor to do the retrieval, especially since my fibroid is causing others not to search for my right ovary hard enough like she does. The nurse said that shouldn't be a problem since there will be 35 hours notice of when my retrieval will be and my doctor can arrange her schedule accordingly - whew again! I will be having my injections teaching lesson on March 4. That should be interesting!
    Some of the worries of the day over with! Now, I just wait some more...
    -Meghan

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  2. Hi Meghan-
    Great news about your period! Hopefully the BCP will give you a bit of relief from the fibroids. Also good news about getting to see the doctor. You should reiterate to her that you really want her to do the retrieval as well to make sure she allows to schedule for it. I'll be curious to hear what an injection lesson is like. I had a nurse planning meeting but it didn't go so far as to doing an injection, just showing me all the kit in detail and what to do with it. US vs UK, it will never cease to amuse/confound me! :) Also, I've had no blood work at all since starting the process. Every US person talks about their estrogen levels and I have no clue. Also they didn't do FSH either. It's really like being on the frontier of science!

    -K

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  3. True that it is different for everyone. I didn't really have much pain after the procedure -- I rated it a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10 (mostly in my vaginal area -- not in the ovaries). My ovaries, which had been massively swollen before the procedure felt great! But I did get some pain and swelling later that day and for the 3-4 days following, which was exacerbated by getting mild OHSS. OHSS was not fun at all, but it was mostly uncomfortable versus painful.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the info CT. It does seem everyone is different, and it also seems different clinics use different procedures. Like so many things once you decide to go down this path, it's just going to be what it's going to be, and all you want to know is what it's going to be like (or what are the results going to be) before you get there. I guess all I can do is hope for a good outcome, and deal with it if it isn't.

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