Another day, another monkey wanding.

I had yet another u/s today to check on my lining. There is nothing I like to do more than get up earlier than normal to make a 715am appointment with the blood girl and the ultrasound machine.

The blood letting went quite well actually - she got me in only one stick. This is crazy because another nurse got me with one stick on Monday. Unheard of, I tell you. (My veins only give it up in my hands and it usually takes 3-4 sticks on average. When they can't get it from my hands, they move to my feet. Foot IVs is a mighty strange thing.) They've stumbled upon the secret and they're sticking with it. Baby heel warmer on my hand first thing and they pull with a normal syringe - not a butterfly, not one of those needle things where you pop in the vial. Just a normal syringe.

The ultrasound was next. Lining was a 5.8 at its very thinnest and a 6.8 everywhere else. Although I was 6.8 on Monday, I was up and down all over the place. I've filled out everywhere now and he said it was finally looking like a great pattern all around. He actually said "I am happy with your lining", which I've pretty much never have heard before, so I'm still reeling from the comment.

My "Learn Something New" moment was all about lining. He explained that while in a stimulation cycle (fresh IVF), he can't grow the lining after 13-14 days (due to all of the hormones). But with a FET cycle, studies have shown he can grow the lining for up to 4 weeks without repercussion! This is good news because we don't have time limit set in stone. I don't have any follicles growing anymore, since the femara induced follies shrunk back down after the addition of estrogen, so we aren't racing against ovulation.

I asked about the thickness he's looking for to move forward with me. He said "I would ~love~ to see 9-13mm". So I countered with "Well, what would you ~like~ to see?" He didn't get my joke so I had to explain.

He said 8mm, even 7mm, can sustain a pregnancy. He mentioned he saw a 6mm lining on a recent pregnant patient. But he doesn't like to proceed with 6-7mm because of the higher risk of miscarriage even if the embryo makes it through implantation with a thin lining. He also told me he cancels on the other end when a lining gets too thick. They'll talk cancellation at 14-15mm, but will definitely cancel if it's 16mm or over. I told him he doesn't have to waste his breath talking about that.

So it seems we can proceed at 8mm, but he would really like to wait until it gets to a 9. He cancelled on my fresh cycle when I was 7mm, so I don't think that would be sufficient. This means all I have to do is grow a measly 1.2mm within the next couple weeks. I certainly hope it's not a couple more weeks, but that's the time frame I do have left to accomplish it.

I am to keep doing the Viagra, Estrace and Delestrogen injections. He's going to double or triple my estrogen regiment, but I'm to wait until he looks at my E2 levels today.

As we were wrapping up the appointment, he wanted to take some notes on the side effects of the Viagra. This is still an experimental drug in the aspect of what we're using it for, so he's very interested. He took out his clipboard and started asking me questions ... "How is your libido? Has it increased? How does your vagina feel? Do you feel more moisture? Does your vagina feel swollen? Is it uncomfortable? Does your vagina itch? How are your orgasms?"

I sat there and answered them all. When he got to the last one, I said "That one, yeah. Noticeably stronger and longer. We noticed that just a few hours ago." The nurse cracked up and said something about sharing too much and I explained that I'm going to answer whatever I'm asked. She just laughed and my doctor said "Well, I'm glad you had such a great night!".