Ovulation Watch 2012: The Wait Continues

Clearly, not a lot has been happening here. Well, at least not a lot that can develop into a life. I have, however, broken Dr. D a little and made him give me real answers instead of vague phrases.

It all began on Monday. I went for bloodwork again. It was CD 17. I got a call in the afternoon, that, not surprisingly at this point, said nothing was happening with my estrogen. Keep waiting. Keep testing. (note: this might be the exact length and detail of the original message).

I almost cried with frustration. And worry. By CD17 every other cycle, Dr. D has seen something worth calling me in for. And now nothing? And how nothing was it? Since I never get any information from him, I was left wondering whether ovulation was likely to happen next week, or if Democrats and Republicans would be holding hands and singing Kumbaya together before it ever happened. So, I did what I never do. I called back, I asked questions, and I got forceful. And you know what? It kind of worked. I got an appointment for Wednesday.

So on Wednesday into Dr. D I went. Ever the optimist, I brought along my Lupron trigger thinking just in case. And while I did not get to use it, I did get some answers. For ease of my looking back (and ease of your skimming if you don't want to know everysingledetail about me) I am going to break it into categories.

The Good: I have an egg! We think. It was measuring at a measly 13mm on Day 19, but it seems to be an egg. Dr. D said we would follow my bloodwork and if I tested on Thursday with estrogen levels in the 100s, we would be ready to trigger this Saturday! Of course, that lead me to ask him what my estrogen levels currently were which leads to...

The Bad: Apparently the average ovulating woman, Jane Doe off the street, has estrogen numbers in the 40s before she ovulates. Not right before - then they go up to the 100s. But at like CD2, they just hang out in the 40s. Me - My first estrogen number from last week was a 17, which he likened to a pre-menopausal woman. Great. Feeling super fertile. I then snail climbed to a 25 and on Monday leaped up to a 46. So - not much going on. Jumping to the 100s on Thursday seemed pretty unlikely to me. Which, of course, they didn't. But they did go up to a 66. So, he says the growth is good. He just added ( using my least favorite word in the entire dictionary at the point, only beat possibly by the word relax) "wait until next week. Get blood work again on Monday and we will see where we can go from there."

The Ugly: I have a cyst on my left ovary. It appears to be about 28mm. It really could be the subject of its own post, but let's just say that thanks to some Nancy Drew detective work on my part, we've put together that I have probably had this cyst ever since I first saw him back in September. According to Dr. D, if it is still there after my period comes this month, then next month we will likely have to aspirate it. I have no idea what this means in terms of having a chance this month or how much of a delay we would have to take after the surgery. I am really hoping it is an ABC cyst and it will "C it's way out of here" (you know, cause I still like to use snide middle school put-downs. Ha - Take that Cyst).

So, it was a mixed bag kind of week. I am glad I got some answers from Dr. D. At one point he literally grabbed my chart and tried to leave the room to see other patients and I had to call out, "wait one more question..." (good thing he stopped since he conducted this entire conversation with me while I had my paper sheet on and running after him would have been more than slightly awkward. Maybe he though that would keep my questions to a minimum, but at this point my impatience knows no shame). And I am hopeful that Monday's blood work will show that my little egg (i've dubbed her "13") is doing her thing and growing. But I am worried about what this cyst might mean. And to be totally honest, I find it more than a tad disheartening that the Dr. is already talking about "when you get your period this month..." When your RE stops pretending that you might get pregnant, that can never be good.