Things are speeding up!

Tuesday was my first blood draw after stims had started. I got to the doctor’s office first thing at 7am and had to wait a little while before they called me back.  She drew my blood and that was it.  I made sure to drink lots of water before this appointment so the blood draw would go easily.  I also asked the phlebotomist if it was normal for one side of my belly to hurt more with the shots than the other, thinking about how much more the left side hurt the second night compared to the right side on the first and third nights.  She said that was normal and that I could do all of my shots on my right side if I wanted to.  I’ve decided to give the left side a second chance; that perhaps I was just doing something slightly wrong. 

By the afternoon, the nurse called back with my estradiol level – 406.  She said this was excellent and to keep my dosage the same that night.  She also said that they wanted to see me Wednesday instead of Thursday for my first scan.  I made the appointment with one of the physicians doing the scan since the nurse I spoke with wasn’t available.  It got me really nervous that my scan was moved up and that my numbers were so high already.  My mind started jumping towards having too many follicles growing already and that I was headed for a difficult experience. 

Shots Tuesday night were done at my parents’ house because we went over there for my dad’s birthday dinner.  I tried it in my left side again and it worked okay.  I think I wasn’t darting the needle in quick enough the second night.  I still don’t like the Menopur needle because they are slightly bigger than the Gonal-F pen.

The appointment this morning went a long way towards easing my mind.  I got my blood drawn after I got to the office. Then I was shown to an exam room and got undressed from the waist down.  The doctor came in and asked how I was feeling.  So far my main symptoms have been bloating/gas and a bad back ache, which I told her.  I guess those are normal, because she didn’t really have much to say about that.  Then she proceeded with the ultrasound, measuring my lining and the largest follicles on each ovary.  She said my lining looked great. I have 3-4 follicles on the right ovary measuring about 7-8mm each, plus lots of smaller ones that ought to catch up.  My left ovary had 2 large follicles each measuring 8-9mm, plus many smaller ones.  My cyst is still there, but is small and didn’t seem to worry the doctor.  She said I’m progressing just fine and is exactly what they want to see.  I mentioned to the doctor that I was worried about my exam being moved up and she said it’s normal; they are just trying to figure out when to start the antagonist (Ganirelix in my case; this is what keeps me from ovulating on my own).  That put my mind at ease.

I got the phone call from the nurse later in the afternoon. She said my estradiol level is at 592.  I’m supposed to start the Ganirelix on Thursday.  The part that makes me more nervous again is that she wanted to change my appointment so that a doctor does the scan, not a nurse.  I’m sure it’s nothing, but it seems like maybe I could be kind of high risk if the doctors have to keep doing my scans and not just a nurse.  I’m probably worrying too much.  But I’m actually surprised at how zen I’ve felt about most of this experience.  I expected to be much more anxious about every little detail.

Shot/blood draw counter: IIII IIII I

Symptom tracker: Bloated, slightly crampy, ilioscaral joint (where hip bones meet the back bone) aches, hungry