Fiber loading

I promised myself that this cycle I would eat super healthy, of course, but also that I would eat a ton of fiber. Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell you! In the spirit of nothing-is-too-embarrassing-to-reveal ideology of blogging, I have had several ultrasounds over the past year when getting a good peek at my ovaries (especially Ol' Leftie) has been hindered by gas or what the techs call "bowel mass" - lovely!

Ol' Leftie is alot smaller than Young Rightie and tends to hide out. Also, I tend to retain gas on the left side apparently - the things you learn about your body during IF! What would I have done in my life if I never knew that fact? (Live happily ever after, I'm sure). One kind u/s tech told me that FSH medication causes excess gas and constipation -- all the other ones are just happy to make me feel like a smelly, backed-up old man, apparently.

So, I'm going to eat fiber like crazy this cycle, trying to move things along. This morning I had a giant watermelon, raspberry, blackberry and wheatgrass smoothie. Watermelon, for those not aware, is great during the follicular phase of the cycle - it increases blood supply to the ovaries. Raspberries have the most fiber of any fruit I've been able to track down. I was suprised when I learned that, I figured it would be apples with their skin and grainy texture. The wheatgrass is just a superfood in general, and I would try to drink it every day of my life if it wasn't too vile to drink in less than 99:1 dilution.

Adding that smoothie to a lunch of split pea soup and I'm already almost at my daily fiber quota. But, there's more! I'm going to make black bean soup for dinner. Good thing I like legumes. If today's menu doesn't accomplish what it's supposed to, I'm in trouble. I just hope it kicks in before tomorrow's u/s!

Cleared for take-off

The nurse finally called me back at 4:30pm this afternoon with the results of my Day 3 b/w - I was beginning to panic that I wouldn't hear from her before the weekend. If I hadn't heard from them by the end of the day, I know I would have invented all sorts of scenarios in my head that they knew the awful, terrible results but couldn't bear to tell me. But thankfully - for NoodleGuy's sake especially - they made it just under the wire.

In order for my insurance to green-light IVF, my FSH needed to be < 15 and my E2 < 100. Praise be, they came back as FSH 11.3 and E2 76. It was actually Day 4 when I had the blood draw yesterday, so they may have even been little falsely elevated. But who cares!?! More than good enough and the FSH in particular was better news than I was expecting. Still in the expected "diminished ovarian reserve" range, but on the low-end rather than the high-end. So, in the relative world of TTC crappiness, this is good news!

Now I bide my time and wait for the RE's financial coordinator to call me and let me know that all the paperwork is completed. I give myself until maybe next Wednesday before I add her to speed dial.