Day 8 of stimulation, follicles plentiful

Today they scanned my ovaries for follicles. I have been feeling a bit of tension in my lower abdomen for the past few days. It just feels “crowded” down there,  as if there are lots of little follicles cramped together in a small space.  And so it is! 25 follicles of various sizes, from 5 to 25 mm. The 25 mm one is likely to be a cyst which sounds like a problem but the nurse wasn’t worried so I won’t worry either. There were 12 follicles of size 10 -17 mm which she said were likely to contain eggs. 12 would be a terrific number. I am so pleased and proud of my body.  Uterus lining is 6.6 mm and has to grow to at least 7 mm until the day of embryo transfer.  She also took a blood sample to check the estrogen levels. This and the follicle size will determine when they do the egg collection. They are likely to ask me to come back for another scan either on Sunday or Monday and then do the egg collection on Tuesday or Wednesday. I will be 41 years old by then. Saturday is my birthday. Guess what I’ll be wishing for when blowing out the candles?

The whole process so far feels quite benign to me. I was so scared that I would feel really bad physically because of the down regulation and emotionally because of having to do it on my own. But in reality it is not very different from the DI process only that I take more medication. I feel fine physically and mentally as well.  A bit more tired maybe than normal.

By the way, I did not stop exercising or changed anything else in my life.  I do yoga 2-3 times a week and run on the treadmill 2-3 week for 30 minutes.  I try to avoid caffein and alcohol but I am not religious about it. I feel fit and healthy and certainly not like I am 41 tomorrow.

looking good so far

Back to the clinic today. On day 14 the follicle was a whopping 21.5 mm and the lining 8 mm. That’s really good for my (poor) standard. Actually just as good as the last time I got pregnant. I had my LH surge this morning and the follicle looked like it had just started to break down. The timing couldn’t have been better.  I have a fertility charm in my pocket – the daughter of a friend gave it to me. I am sure it’ll help

On the IVF front: I will go to the information evening at the clinic next Wednesday. I really hope I won’t have to do it but if I have to I’d rather not delay anything.

 I forgot to mention. My acupuncturist asked me to get checked for anemia and thyroid problems. Both blood tests came back normal. The TSH (thyroid stimulation hormone) was 2.5 and within the normal range of <3.5. I did read many times though that the best range for conception is 0.5-2.  I can’t worry abouyt anything else right now so maybe just let it go.

make this one count

Another DI cycle today.  Day 11, 16 mm follicle and 6mm uterus lining. The lining is slightly better than in the previous months so at least things are moving in the right direction. They did the insemination because they think it’s quite likely I will ovulate on the weekend. I think it’s going to be Monday so I’ll be back there for a top up. Until then I will try to relax and keep my fingers crossed.

I still think they should treat me on the weekend as close to ovulation as possible.

number 4

Cycle number 4 today. I went in on Friday for scan (day 11 ) and I had one follicle (11mm) and a very thin lining of 4.2 mm. They asked me to come back in four days – assuming the follicle grows at 2mm per day that would lead to 19 mm follicle, just in time for insemination. And voila, 4 days later I have 18.8 mm follicle (and my LH surge). The nurse did her magic. This time it was one of the really nice nurses, she is just so positive one can’t help but believe it has to work.

I also had an acupuncture session today; ears, legs, toes and tummy full of needles (I looked like a hedgehog). But it does make me feel very calm. Job done. waiting starts…..now.

update with no real news

I did go back on day 14 for my “top up” because I had my LH surge that day. Funnily the uterus lining measure 5.8 mm which really makes me doubt the usefulness of all these measurements. It can’t have gone down in 24 h from 7.1mm to 5.8 mm. One of those measurements must have been wrong. When I asked the nurse about it she just shrug her shoulders and said that she can only measure what’s there and that it doesn’t matter anyway. If that’s the case, why bother measuring it at all?

I also had a second acupuncture session yesterday. If nothing else I hope to become a bit more calm and less anxious and it seems to work to a certain extend. This time she put a needle in my forehead, apparently a strong point for relaxation. Good, I can do with that.

I noticed that I feel my body more than in the last 2 months since the miscarriage. I always used to feel my body responding to hormone changes during my cycle and that completely went away until last week. Maybe that means that my hormones get back to normal?

I also noticed that looking at pregnant women does not fill me with pain and jealousy anymore. I can see them and think that one day that will be me and let it go. A sign that I am moving on from all the hurt of the miscarriages?

third try for a baby

Another try yesterday. This was my third scan this month. On day 9 it still looked quite undecided, two follicles of 10mm each on the right and one with 11 mm on the left. The uterus lining was 4.8mm. Two days later, on day 11, I had a leading follicle of 14mm and the lining had grown to 5.7mm. Three days on and I feel like I am ovulating, nice clear mid cycle mucus, LH surge detected in the morning, a 20.8mm follicle. The lining is 6.7mm and quite thin but apparently it looked healthy with clearly defined outer layers which shows up as a white line on the ultrasound. So they did the insemination and I will go in today for another checkup. If the follicle is still there they will do it again. Ready to get pregnant again.

What I didn’t realize until know is that you shouldn’t test first morning urine for an LH surge. Apparently the surge happens between midnight and 8 am for most women but the hormone doesn’t show up in the urine until 4 hours later. So best to test from 10 am onwards or you may get the date wrong. Insemination (or sex!) should then happen 12 -48 hours after the surge has been detected mid day.