(Non)Pregnancy Symptoms

I have no idea what it feels like to be pregnant since I've never experienced it first hand, but I can definitely say with confidence that I'm not a fan of the symptoms of being not pregnant. The periods coming off a medicated cycle suck in so many ways, and I feel horrible on this birth control.

I was on birth control for almost 10 years and had a really good fit hormonally. It was a pretty low dose pill, somewhat obscure, and I could take it without side effects and feel good. What I somehow managed to forget was the initial first year of trying to find the right fit. Different pills, different doses, different hormones, months and months of feeling crappy. It wasn't my idea of fun.

Each clinic has prescription agreements with different companies. Kaiser used mostly Ferring, for Menopur, Endometrin, Ovidrel and the current bane of my existence, Sprintec. I asked my nurse about taking my original birth control but she said no, Kaiser only uses Sprintec birth control pills for infertility cycles, which contain a different form of estrogen than my old pills. I am not a fan. I don't know what USC Fertility uses, but thus far Dr. K has kept me on the Sprintec.

Thus far, mixing birth control with coming off a medicated cycle has got me:

• Cramps, cramps and more cramps. These come for free, without the birth control. 
• Insomnia, it's taking me at least 1-2 hours to get to sleep every night. 
• Exhaustion. I feel like I need a nap every day or like I can't wake up in the afternoons, even though I'm still getting a good amount of sleep despite the insomnia.
• Bloating, because it's impossible to escape from. It's a side effect of everything.
• Stomach pain, because I can't escape from that either. Definitely from the birth control now. 

Underneath the annoyance, I'm somewhat amused that I would have more uncomfortable side effects from a comparatively low dose oral hormone medication than from several daily injections containing enough hormones to make an elephant ovulate. I guess it makes sense since we know I'm estrogen deficient and sensitive to synthetic estrogen whereas I seem to respond only grudgingly to mass quantities of FSH and LH. Still, you've got to appreciate the irony.

We're about a week away from my next ultrasound now, so I'm wishing and hoping with everything I've got that the cysts are gone and there are tons of antral follies.