Trigger Time!

I'm so excited, the follies look absolutely wonderful! I woke up this morning feeling bloated, tender and sore so I knew my ovaries must be ready to pop, especially that right one. A quick ultrasound confirmed that I still have 9 follies on that right side so no wonder I'm sore. I took my 4 vials of Menopur before my appointment and immediately felt it, plus I look like I'm about 6 months pregnant and I'm too tender to bend over @_@

There were so many follies there that it took the tech a bit longer to measure each of them, but the scan showed the fabulous fourteen were in prime condition, with 9 synched up, mature and ready to go. They looked like a bunch of overlapping grapes, I was really impressed she was able to keep track of them at all.

Fabulous Fourteen Follies!

Our doctor was really pleased too. He said that day 12 was the best day to trigger for the best quality embryos and we are likely to have mature eggs in at least the nine out of fourteen, 21, 20, 20, 19, 19, 19, 19, 19, 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12. Numbers 14, 15 and 16 might have mature eggs as well, but we aren't counting on that since they were later recruits.

My retrieval is going to be Monday morning at 10:45am so I am triggering tonight at exactly 10:45pm. I have my Novarel ready to mix up and I'm so glad I only have one shot this evening. I also have a double check appointment tomorrow to run labs and make sure the HCG was properly absorbed into my system and I'm trying to squeeze in an acupuncture appointment afterwards. You're supposed to do a back treatment on your ovaries before a retrieval, but since my acupuncturist S is out of town, I need to get in and see one of her coworkers. 

After over 2 years TTC I can't believe we're actually getting ready for our first retrieval. I am so hopeful and excited and jittery, I just know these embryos are going to be good!

Holy Follicles!

I think you could knock me over with a feather right now. 

I have 14 follicles. 

FOURTEEN follicles

Holy Shit!

I am totally and completely in shock. Where did they come from??? I only had 7 antral follies at my baseline, where the hell did the other 7 come from?!?! For someone who was told they'd never have more than 3 eggs to harvest I just can't wrap my mind around 14. Um, have I mentioned holy shit??

As you can see, they range from about 11-19, with one teeny one measuring -3 which is actually 7mm . I think 14/15mm is the smallest size that can contain a mature egg, so they still have some growing left to do before I can trigger. Originally I thought I might get away with only 9 days of stims but it looks like I'm on the hook for at least 12 days.  My poor belly isn't thrilled but I'll do whatever it takes to get these eggs to mature. My lining is also looking excellent, 11.6 today which is wonderful. I'm super hopeful that once we finally make it to transfer, our embryos will have a nice cushy home waiting for them.

Beautiful follies!!

Since I'm out of some of my supplies and meds, my nurse went through the cabinets to try and find some samples. She scrounged up one injection of Ganirelix, which is another brand's version of Cetrotide for me to take tonight. That saves me about $105 so I was really pleased :) The only problem is the packaging. I'm sure I've written before about how I'm allergic to Latex - I'm not deathly allergic, but it does give me a fairly unpleasant rash and I can't take the flu shot or other meds that contain Latex. This package of Ganirelix says right on the box that the "packaging" contains natural rubber latex. I asked both the nurse and the doctor about it and they all said I should be fine to take it but I'm still a little worried. Does that mean the rubber plunger on the syringe is latex? Will I react to the liquid since it's been in contact with the plunger, or will it be no biggie since the plunger itself wont touch my skin?  I'm skeptical but will give it a go since they both said it should be okay. 

My next appointment is tomorrow morning to check in and see how quickly those smaller follies are catching up. If everything looks good, I might be able to trigger on Sunday for a Tuesday retrieval. If they need another day, I'd trigger on Monday for a Wednesday retrieval. 

Come on follies, grow, grow, grow!