Cool or creepy?

We're leaving for the airport shortly to pick up my parents, who will be joining us on this big adventure this weekend. I realized yesterday that, if this cycle works, my parents will be with us at the moment their grandchild is conceived. And thanks to the miracle of modern medicine, neither Brent nor I will be present for that conception.

Final follie check; Mood = Trigger happy

We're a go! The follicles showed amazing growth over night, and Dr. R. definitely thinks we're looking at 8-10 eggs. I'm so excited I could jump out of my skin. Dr. R says if I'm anxious now, just wait until I'm full term. Brent's work starts tonight; he injects me with the trigger shot at 10 p.m. And then retrieval is 9 a.m. Saturday. We'll be back with an update in the afternoon.

Follie check #5; Mood = Getting excited!

Is this pregnant brain? I'm always a little forgettery, but I'm losing my train of thought in the middle of a sentence and am unable to get it back! If the meds are doing this, what would actual pregnancy do?

I had another good appointment this morning. There were 13 follicles, 8 that look big enough to contain eggs (though there's no guarantee). Although the biggest has reached 18mm, the doctor is going to put off retrieval one more day in the hope of getting a few more mature. So I have on more night of stimulation, then we'll "trigger" ovulation tomorrow night, with retrieval on Saturday morning. My folks will be here for the weekend, so I'll have lots of people holding my hand.

After a rough weekend (fortunately the Bl@ckberry survived!), my zen is back. And I'm feeling pretty good.

Follie check #4; Mood = Relieved

We're up to 10 or 11 follies this morning. They're still poking along, so I'll continue on the high-doses for two more days and return to the doctor on Wednesday. But both nurses said to me, "Slow and steady wins the race." I asked specifically, "They won't be overripe if we stim for more than two weeks?" And I was assured that slower was better than faster. It means our schedule remains in the air. The retrieval is likely pushed back again, maybe to Sunday, give or take a day or two. I'll probably start daily monitoring with my Wednesday appointment. I'm anxious to get there; but I'm more than willing to wait if it means more eggs and, hopefully, more embryos.

In other news, it appears I'm still employed for another year. Big sighs of relief all around.

Follie check #3; Mood = A wee bit frustrated

The good news is that there were nine visible follicles this morning -- that's more like it! But the biggest has only grown about 2mm, where 4mm would be expected. It's possible that the biggest is really a cyst, not a follicle. If that's the case, then the rest are growing at an appropriate rate. If it's a follicle, then it's being very sloooooow. Dr. R. keeps reminding me that the human body is unpredictable! The upshot is that retrieval has been pushed back a day or two to the end of next week. I go back on Monday for another check.

Follie check #2; Mood = Better

The good news is that the follicles are growing at an appropriate pace (about 2mm a day), and the biggest one on the left is now 12mm. So we're looking at a Tuesday or Wednesday retrieval next week. The less-good news is that there were still only six or seven visible. So we're probably looking at low numbers of eggs. I'm bummed, since we'll likely lose some at each step of the process. After some aren't mature and some don't fertilize and some don't grow, we may be lucky just to get two to transfer. But I'm handling the news, and life in general, better today. I'm physically exhausted and looking forward to retrieval and spring break and transfer so I can sleep for days and days! But my mood is brighter, which is nice. I stay on the high-dose of my evening med for two more nights, then back to the doc on Saturday morning.

Follie check #1; Mood = Blue

At this morning's ultrasound, I had four follicles on the left and two on the right. The largest follie is 7.2mm. Six is definitely fewer than I would have liked. The average number of eggs retrieved at my age is 12. But since mature follies are 17-18mm, we've got a long way to go. And Dr. R. was adamant that I not be discouraged; more follies could appear. My morning shot is discontinued, though my evening shot will be doubled over the next two days. Since this is the one that is now causing me giant, angry, red, itchy welts, more discomfort is in store. We go back on Thursday morning for another check.

Fortunately, B will be going with me on Thursday, as in the last week, I've had a reduced ability to cope with anything. Minor challenges have either put me on the edge of tears or filled me with dread. I finally figured out this morning that it's all these drugs (plus, you know, the fear that this is not going to work). I'm a little slow on the uptake.