Here's a little breakdown of what's been happening:
4/16: CD1
4/17: CD2 ~ trip to the Dr. for bloodwork / US ~ started 75 mg of follistim.
4/20: CD5 ~ bloodwork / no US ~ dropped me down to 50 mg ~ had momentary lapse in judgment and thought my body might be responding to something fast.
4/22: CD 7 bw and US - four follies counted and my lining was an 8 ~ I started to get cautiously optimistic. Told to keep at 50mg. However, after my bloodwork came back, they raised me back up to 75 mg.
Today: CD 9 ~ another round of bw and ultrasound. Now, Dr. only counted three potential eggs and my lining was a 7.4. Plus, they had only grown about 1 mm since Sunday (two days prior). Dr's orders are to keep at the 75mg of follistim and come back on Tuesday.
So I guess I am just at a point where I have more questions then answers - here's what I am wondering:
- Is it normal for lining thickness to fluctuate like that? I know the same thing happened to me last month, but I was hoping that was the fault of Clomid. I felt a lot more confident with my 8 versus this 7.4.
- Should I have so few follies? I actually think it is only 2, because I have had the 11mm one on the left for over a month (I think she has become friends with the 26 that has been there since October -- lazy follies). I was hoping to get more with the follistim and this seems paltry.
- Should they be growing this slow? I know it is only CD9, but I thought it would be...faster? That seriously could be greedy, given that left to my own devices my ovaries typically don't get good and ready until past the CD20 mark (on a good month) but I am just wondering. We are on day 8 of the injectibles and the dr. said the typical course was 7-10 days of them. At this rate, with just 13s, I feel like we are going to go past the 10day mark...
Ooooh, you are a data girl like me. You should see my excel sheet full of juicy data from every appointment I've had for the last 17 cycles.
ReplyDeleteI've done 4 cycles of Gonal-F (also an injectable but works on a different mechanism) and looking back at my records, I have had up to a full 1mm thinning of my lining before. As far as # of follies, just remember- for each one there is a chance of fertilization. My RE won't work with anymore than 3 or 4 (she prefers 1 or 2). Any more than that, she'll cancel the cycle. And as far as growth, between 1 and 3 mm a day is "average" but I've had some that get big fast and then stop or start really slow and then balloon up in 1 day and some that have just up and up disappeared (technically they are reabsorbed). Since this is your first injectable cycle, getting the dosage right is tricky. But it really sounds like you are doing well!
I can't tell you how much I love your feedback! I literally breathed a sigh of relief and was like, "ok, this seems to be a normal course." I find I just get so invested / need immediate gratification I turn into Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and am all, "But I want it noooooooow".
DeletePS- love that you have an excel sheet. So far I just have a google doc set up, but I could see that being a great way to include D in this whole process (he is an engineer and would get a thrill from anything that might graph or chart my data...I think he was more sad than me when I gave up on fertility friend!).
Oh, mine is a Google Doc too (I call all spreadsheets Excel) :) It's been an AMAZING way to track and look back for trends, lab numbers, etc.
DeleteI totally understand how invested you get. Remember when I was up and ready to cancel my IUI because I thought I'd already ovulated? I was 110% positive and it turns out- I was totally wrong. But that's ok. We need to know that everything we do is giving us the best chances possible. I've also found that with the more meds and money we spend- the more scrutinizing I get that. :)
I think that is definitely it! It is hard not to get so invested when you are going every two days to the dr and sticking yourself every night. But I do need to remember that (as much as it may pain me to admit at times) the Dr.'s actually have degrees in this and most likely know what they are doing!
ReplyDeleteIt's a complicated issue and when I say "trust your doctor" it really isn't that whole story. I also think you should question the heck out of them. Not all doctors are equal and I think trust is only earned over the long haul. So though I trust my doctor NOW (but still lay the questions on nice and thick) I'm glad that I doubted her at times- because it helped build my confidence in her when she proved me wrong. You are your own best advocate so checking on things to make sure they are doing the right thing for you is so, so important. You are doing the right thing hun.
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