Friday, March 14, 2008

Stim Start appointment.

I had my stim start appointment this morning.

Before I get to the details, it was a great appointment. I saw the main RE today and he was awesome. Besides the huge laughs we shared, I even got a hug. And it was actually a "I really mean it" hug. So that was a feel good moment.

On to the details ...

My insides looked great. Still haven't started AF (although I can feel it approaching) so my lining is sitting at 6.4. There are no cysts present. I have "a lot" of follicles waiting to grow. He didn't count them and he even said he should have, but we were in the midst of laughing during the u/s so he was distracted. He did say he was comfortable that they didn't need to be counted and my blood work will tell what they needed. So baring any unforeseen issues with my blood work, I'm to start stims on Sunday. Two days away!

~ 175 UIs of Follistim in the morning.
~ 2 vials of Menopur in the evening.
~ continue with 10 units of Lupron each evening also

Next appointment will be labs only on day 3 of stims, next Tuesday. My next u/s will be done on day 5 of stims.

Holy moly. This is actually really happening. It really, truly is happening.

12 comments:

Candi said...

Congrats!! If you don't get AF, will they still do the ER? I am so confused because I don't get AF without my RE giving me Provera. He never gave it...but I'm nervous he won't start me on stims if AF doesn't show.

Kaci said...

OK, stupid question that I can totaly google to get generic info, but do you have a sort of "IVF for dummies" post that reviews what your steps are, and what's involved? A timeline?

It's all greek to me, but I'm cheering for you! I used to bitch about cheering with girls who didn't know squat about football, now I'm cheering without understanding...

Unknown said...

It's so exciting! I am smiling at your enthusiasm, and wishing the best at the start of this phase.

Morgan Owens said...

Wow Nancy I'm so excited for you....I mean this is a whole new door opened for you now and I can TRUELY feel the excitement with you. Although I may not leave comments often, I'm still guilty of reading your blog several times a day :) Congrats on getting things started and break a leg! Well I better not say that considering all of your surgeries in the past ;) Goodluck Nancy!

Denise said...

Yay for starting stims! Things will really start moving along now. But I'm a little confused as to how they will let you start stims without getting AF.

nancy said...

Denise - Well, I did get AF today. But I did ask her if I will still start whether or not I get AF today or tomorrow or the next day - she said due to the supression and bcps, they start everyone on the same stim schedule, regardless where AF was. Everyone is due for it, so apparently they work around it. I don't have an "RE" after my name, so I can't begin to try to explain it.

Jen said...

Congrats! The real fun begins! I hope IVF #1 is your only one!

nancy said...

candi - I asked my nurse this morning about starting stims without getting AF and she said I'll start regardless. I guess that it's not necessary to have that bleed - it's just necessary to have the follies quiet.

nancy said...

kaci - hell, I dunno. I'm sure there is "IVF steps" out there in google. But here are my steps:

3/05 - start lupron (already done, but stay on it through cycle)

3/14 - Get AF. Check!

So far, my follies have been just "grabbed" and chilled out by the lupron. Now it's time to bypass the "one follicle rule" most ovaries live by and grow as many as freaking possible.

3/16 - Start injecting miracle grow into my belly and ass.

After 3-5 days, I'll be getting daily blood draws and ultrasounds to check on growth. Hopefully I'll grow tons. I'm hoping for the upper teens, but would be happy with 10. Some women get 20, 30, 40.

Around 3/27 - the follies should be ready for harvesting. Small surgical procedure called "ER" (egg retrieval) to get em out.

Same day, they'll take my hubby's sperm - one for each egg they get (hopefully I'll make eggs) and they'll inject one sperm into each egg through a process called ICSI.

Wait for growth. Each day they'll call me to let me know if any are growing and how well if they are.

3/30 - 4/01 (tentatively based on ER) will be ET, Embryo Transfer. This is done hopefully on 5 days past retrieval and would be called 5dt (5 day transfer). They like to grow the embryos to day 5 to prove their growing abilities. But if they start to not look too good, they may choose to do a 3dt to get it in the warm oven, hoping my body can nurture them to grow into babies.

6-10 days later, I'll find out. Ack.

BFN - Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

BFP - I can't even imagine.

Unknown said...

Hey, we DO have the same protocol. Actually, the doctors told us that Mr. doesn't have to take the doxycycline afterall, since we are doing ICSI also. He said it's mostly to prevent bacteria from impeding the fertilization process when the sperm and egg are floating around in the petri dish, and since there is no floating for ICSI, we could bypass it. I'm a bit nervous b/c others including you are still on it even with ICSI. Anyway, I'm pretty bloated. It's actually a little uncomfortable sometimes when I take a step, or laugh. I've gained about 5 lbs-- tragic. Honestly. We have to go to a wedding in an hour and I'm putting off trying to get into any of my clothes.

Anonymous said...

I am sooo excited for you! I dont get a chance to get on here everyday and check on you but when I read this this morning I couldnt help but smile for you! I hope that everything works out and this is the only one! Congrats on the stiming!

~Lindsey
(lav1983)

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the stimming! I hope everything goes perfectly!