The first stop was the lab for my estradiol draw. I asked the phlebotomist for a butterfly, warned him that I have difficult veins and pointed out the exact spot on the vein that would be easiest to draw from. He seemed really nice, confident and I thought he'd get it in one go.
Boooooooooy I was I wrong.
The first stick brought no luck, so he tried again. He wiggled the needle a bit here and there, tried to poke it in at a different angle, moved it a bit more and then tried again. I know I'm a difficult draw but at this point I couldn't help but compare him to the nice Kaiser tech in the infertility lab who always got my vein on the first go and used to chat with me about his weekend plans. Another wiggle, an under the skin angle adjustment, another poke, a particularly painful jab and the phlebotomist gave up. I was already bleeding, starting to bruise and he seemed no closer to reaching my vein than he had been before he put the needle in. I was seriously unimpressed at this point and starting to sweat, which is my go to physiological response whenever I'm in pain and nervous. Ugh.
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| This one still hurts. That's all blood underneath the bottom tape. |
After conceding defeat, he announced that he'd have to draw from my hand. Um, what? He promised it wouldn't hurt more than a bee sting (last I checked, bee stings aren't fun), had my flex my wrist and make a fix, and then stuck the needle into the top of my hand. He was right, it did in fact hurt like a bee sting, but since he'd finally struck blood I decided not to complain so I could get the hell out of there. Two cotton ball and tape band aids later I was free.
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| I've never had a hand draw before. I see many more in my future :( |
The next stop was the ultrasound, which went off as it usually does. The tech was nice and efficient, sympathized with my many cotton ball bandages and didn't have to push hard in any direction to get a clear view. My ovaries are nice and suppressed from the birth control with seven little antral follicles snoozing away. The teensy simple cyst is still there on the left side but doesn't seem to be hurting anything. My estrogen eventually came back at 20, confirming the suppression.
The next decision is what to do about stims. I am clear to stop the birth control today, wait two days, and then start stims on Saturday. However, they only just shipped my Menopur from the UK. I'm supposed to have rush shipping but I have a hard time believing they will be here that quick. I have 15 vials of Menopur left over from my last IUI but that's one short of two days. If today is the last day for birth control and I bought one more vial of Menopur at Kaiser, I would have meds for Saturday and Sunday but my package would have to be here Monday morning for my morning injection. I don't see that happening.
The nurse said I'm clear to stay on the birth control pills a few more days if I want. She said I could easily take them through the weekend with no problem and not be over suppressed. I'm thinking maybe I'll split the difference, wait to take them until I hear more about my shipment. If it's coming right on time, I'll stop the pills on Friday or Saturday, and if it's running late I can get some Menopur from Kaiser or stay on the pills till Sunday.
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| Owie :( Nasty bruise is already forming |
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