Follie check #3

Welcome back to the slowest and most boring stim cycle ever! In today's news: almost nothing (as usual)!

The gory details:

• E2 level: 254
  
• Nubile Rightie: 17mm, 8mm (teeny) follie. 2-4 tiny ones, too small to measure.
  
• Ol' Leftie: She was seen! 2-4 tiny ones, too small to measure.

Reaction?

• Nice that E2 has doubled since Monday, but all signs still point to a single follie (the 17mm one) in play.
• Hoping hoping hoping that the ganirelix holds the 17mm at bay and the 8mm can catch up.
  
• Well, I see that the wench has decided to come into the sunlight. Interesting there is even anything to see on her surface area since I had pretty much chalked her up to an empty husk ravaged by time, tequila and her boyfriend endo.

Next check: Saturday a.m., continue stimming (gonal-f 450 + menopur 150) and toying with my hormones (ganirelix) through then.

Recap: Nurse D said the phrase sure to make my head explode "cautiously optimistic". Anyone who has ever had a doomed pregnancy with slow rising betas is sure to know that trite nugget. I laughed bitterly (when did I turn into an 18th century spinster?) when she said that and said "I'm glad you're optimstic, because I'm not". I KNOW this is bad, I KNOW I'm supposed to be all shiny and happy so that my ovaries feel the love. But that hasn't worked for me yet, so I'm trying the alternate tack, while still choking down my wheatgrass and watermelon.

On Saturday, all I'm willing to get my hopes up about is that the lead follie (Graafian, for science nerds) will have allowed the 8mm right follie to catch up and I can have my first IUI with more than one follie next week. If somehow a 3rd sprints to the finish line and I can actually make it to IVF, I'll keel over and NoodleGuy will need to drag me into the OR, caveman-style.

Title: Follie check #2, Subtitle: Devastation

The gory details:

• E2 level: A crappy 137
  
• Nubile Rightie: one 13mm follie, possible one more <12mm
• Ol' Leftie: "hard to visualize". Jerky ovary.
  

Reaction?

• Completely pathetic, especially with these estrogen patches I've been wearing.
  
• Well, the "2 to 4" line from the first follie check is clearly not on the higher end of the scale.
  
• I had a better tech this time, she found the left ovary, but it's just too small and in a spot that is tough to get good pix. Suffice it to say that the E2 levels show that there's not much going on here.

Next check: Thursday a.m., continue stimming (gonal-f 450 + menopur 150) through then. Adding ganirelix into the mix on Tuesday night, as my LH is beginning to elevate and that 13mm follie should be approaching release soon.

Recap: I'm completely crushed. Like, totally and utterly. I really, really, stupidly had gotten my hopes up for at least 4 follies. Is that so much to ask? I routinely read about women years older than me who get 20+ follies. I just want enough at this point (3) so that my RE does not cancel the IVF. However, I have ZERO hope that things will look better on Thursday. I'm expecting to be cancelled and converted to IUI. It's really beginning to sink in now that I may never have my own biological child. This has been one shitty day.

Follie check #1

The gory details:

• E2 level: 96.4
• Nubile Rightie: 2-4 follies<12mm, possibly some smaller ones
  
• Ol' Leftie: couldn't see

Reaction?

• Meh, would've liked to see the E2 higher due to these patches I've been wearing, but I'll wait to panic about this
• PRAYING the 2-4 is more on the FOUR end. Plus, that a few of those "possible" ones pop up
• GRRRR. The u/s tech told me she got a shot of Leftie after I did all sorts of interpretive dance moves on the table to try to force this Greta Garbo of a egg factory into the limelight. But no, that tech did not get a shot of it. LYING LIAR. I'd like to imagine that there are 10 lovely follies growing in seclusion somewhere in there, but in reality I know I'll be lucky to get anything from Leftie.

Next check: Monday a.m., continue stimming (gonal-f 450 + menopur 150) through then.

Recap: E2 disappointing but acceptable for now, Rightie is producing at her expected low levels but dependably, Leftie and the u/s tech are deadbeats. More to come on Monday!

Now I'm confused

After Friday's news about my estradiol levels dropping and my LH and progesterone elevating, along with sky high BBT temps over the weekend, I went into ultrasound and bloodwork #4 (CD18) pretty much assuming that it was only a formality, as I had clearly ovulated a sub-par follie on Friday.

Well, the moral of this story is that my body is completely unpredictable. Immediately jumping out on Rightie were two nice follies, one at 21mm and one at 16.5mm. Anything 14mm or larger can contain a mature egg but REs like to see 18mm or larger on a medicated cycle. As they grow 1-2mm per day, even the 16.5 should get there tomorrow.

I'm so confused. Clearly it looks like I ovulated on Friday, and I know you can obviously ovulate more than one follie per cycle -- but can it be 3-5 days apart?? My brain hurts. I'll have to wait to hear from the nurse this afternoon on the RE's plan and my bloodwork. I'm not getting my hopes up, but I'm hoping they at least let me do an IUI to pass that final insurance hurdle for IVF. I figure cautious pessimism might work better for me than cautious optimism.