So I found out something tonight that is making me wonder about labor and delivery. I was talking to a friend who lives in this area and it turns out she’s been seeing the same RE office as I am, though she hasn’t been in a couple of years. She mentioned that the office also has a ob/gyn group in that office… different set of doctors and nurse, same waiting room and office. (Which explains the old woman who was in the waiting area the other day. THAT confused the hell out of me.)

The thing is, when I looked up this group’s info on the web it said that they deliver at the women’s center… you know, the place I mentioned before as where I wanted to give birth at, as opposed to the actual hospital. When I asked my midwife where they deliver she said “***”, the hospital that includes the RE and women’s group. But I’m wondering if she meant specifically the hospital itself? I’m wondering if other obs can deliver at the women’s center, other than that group of obs? Questions, questions… ones that may have answers I don’t like. If it turns out the midwife only delivers at the hospital, not the birthing center, I have a hard decision ahead of me… which one is more important to me, staying with my midwife, or birthing in the women’s center?

I guess that’s a decision to be made at a later date – after I’m actually pregnant, and after I know exactly what the situation is. But it’s something I didn’t know about before.

:: ::

I am impatient tonight. Counting down the time. I’m excited about tomorrow, but not in a huge jumping-up-and-down way, but more of a focussed, determined, let’s-do-this kind of way. I want to find out how many eggs they get… how many fertilize… how many keep growing. I’m nervous about the IV though. Last time did not go well and that was the most painful part of my entire surgery. Here’s hoping it goes well!

I arranged with my cat job to have wednesday and thursday off (I usually work part of thursday) to recover… I worked today instead. And then of course I talked with my new client who wants me to work in his office for a day or two so I told him I can come in thursday (since wednesday is out of the question, and friday I’m busy all day). Well, at least it’s a seated office job, right? Just hope I’m okay to drive and concentrate. Everything I’ve read said I should be fine to work the day after the retrieval. But hopefully it will only be for a couple of hours!

ETA … Did I mention that the nurses/doctors think I’m a possible candidate for OHSS? (Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome – Not A Good Thing.) My E2 levels are over 5000 (even though I coasted that last day) and I have tons of follicles. They mentioned that it’s proably all those follicles that is causing my E2 to be so high. But they got me to take only a half-dose of the HCG trigger. She said something about it doing the job, but lessening my risk of OHSS. I’m only just now starting to get concerned about that. I forgot OHSS is an issue after retrieval (and not before).

My stomach says OW. It’s definitely bruising up all purple, and it is very very tender to the touch. Sleeping on my stomach? No-go. In the grocery store I reached up and forward to grab something and my stomach bumped the cart handle right on that spot and I nearly jumped out of my shoes. Doh. I hope this goes down soon.

Also, my boobs are continuing to be Not Fun. Just walking my dog out to the woods without wearing a bra was painful. (I rarely have to wear a bra, my boobs just don’t bother me very much, even if they are a C-cup. So this is very weird to me. And irritating.)

And yet my ovaries, where everyone said I’d be so uncomfortable by this point? Don’t bother me at all. Go figure. Snort. My body can’t do ANYTHING right.

I got my call yesterday while at work. My E2 yesterday was 5521 and I’m scheduled for retrieval at 8:30am on Wednesday. I’ve made arrangements at work to go in today and have thursday off (and I usually have wednesday off) just in case I need that time to recouperate. I probably will be fine on thursday, but an extra day can’t hurt. (It seriously is fabulous having a supervisor who is completely up-to-date on everything. It saves a lot of explaining when I need a day off!)

My trigger shot was at 8:30pm last night. In some kind of fitting irony, it bled afterwards and is bruising… and it perfectly matches the still-fading bruise from my first stims shot. It’s even in the identical spot on the opposite side of my belly.

No more shots!! Can you believe that? I can’t. I think I’ll miss getting everything together every PM and mixing it all together. It really helped me feel productive. After the retrieval I move on to estrogen patches and progesterone suppositories. Mmmm, fun.

Oh, and here’s the ultrasound of my ovary. Remember that this is just a cross-section of one ovary! All those little black spots are follicles. It’s really neat to see her wand over the ovary and have all these black spots come in and out of view. (click for bigger version)

I also forgot to write that the U/S tech was talking to apparently a student U/S tech who was in the room with us. And she was saying how it’s good that my ovaries are long, because if they bloat up sideways it’s a bad risk sign. So apparently long and lean is the name of the game. (They look funny to me.)

And they (nurse and U/S tech) kept saying that I have a nice long torso, which is helping me out and is probably why I’m not feeling a lot. Because I’m not… every once in a while I get an ache, usually from my left ovary, but other than that I’m feeling remarkably little.

Oh, but… my boobs hurt. A lot. They’ve been tender for a few days… but this past day they have definitely gotten worse!

Since I won’t be home until late tonight I’m popping on from work to give everyone an update. This time I wrote down what the ultrasound tech said outloud, so I have a slightly better record. I also asked her for a photo of one of my ovaries, which they did, so I’ll scan that in later. Most women who have been through IVF are probably pretty familiar with it, but I think it’s so cool looking.

Okay, my rundown:

Left side has 14 total follicles. The big ones are 19, 18, 17, 16.5, 16.

Right side has 17 total. Big ones are 18, 18, 17.5, 17.5, 15.5.

I think that’s all the ones she scanned, but she was mumbling a bit to herself so I might have missed a couple. In any case that’s 10 big follicles. Could be better. :? I hope they get more eggs. But I only need one, right? One blast.

Anyhow they’re all big enough so I’m triggering tonight and my retrieval will be Wednesday morning. I’m waiting to hear what time I’m scheduled for (and thus when I need to take my trigger tonight).

It’s unfortunate my morning was so screwed up… I woke up late, rushed out the door, the tech said apparently everyone in Western Mass needed an ultrasound this morning as the wait was very long, which made me late for meeting my client. So I was stressing out in a big way. Tried to focus on my breathing and everything, but as usual once they started scanning me I focused on that and was fine. I just hate the sitting there, waiting.

I forgot to post… while I was napping today the doctor called and left me a message. My E2 was at 3484, and she wants me to coast tonight (no follistim) and come in again tomorrow morning for another ultrasound. She seems to think I’ll be ready by tomorrow… we shall see! That would mean a Wednesday retrieval.

Tomorrow morning I’m going to write things down as they’re scanning me (which will be interesting to do from flat on my back – maybe I should bring a pencil), and I think I’m also going to ask if I can have a picture of one of my ovaries for my scrapbook. I try describing it to Den and he doesn’t really get it. I find it truly fascinating! I mean, I was amazed when, during my clomid cycles, I had four follicles in one ovary. I thought it was crazy looking! Now my poor ovaries look like giant distended balloons packed full of bubbles. :lol: I’m really shocked that I don’t feel more than I do.

Early morning ultrasound after a late night out does not bode well. I did NOT feel well sitting there in the room, waiting for them to come in. And no, I hadn’t been drinking… I was eating. A bridal shower and then going out to dinner…. I ate a ton of food and oh boy did I regret that this morning. My stomach was doing backflips and gurgles and I had to sit there half-naked for over 10 minutes. Ugh. But luckily once they got in and we got started I was fine… just sitting there waiting with nothing to do but think of how bad my stomach felt wasn’t good.

The “bad” news (and I say “bad” because it’s not really bad news, it’s just not great news) is that I’m not fully baked yet, so no retrieval on tuesday (which would have been ideal for both Den and my schedules). But I have a ton of follies in there… more just keep joining the party. I don’t know the exact count because for some reason I thought they could give me a run-down afterwards, but they showed no inclination of doing so. When I asked how many she said, “33 total” but that includes a lot of small ones.

I was watching intently as the ultrasound tech measured each one… I have a bunch on my left that are 15-20mm, all squashed in there, along with several at 10. On my right they average smaller, with several of them at 14-15mm, then I remember there were 9 at 10mm and about 4 or 6 less than 10. So, given my memory of events, I’d say that of the 33 half are pretty good size and half are too small. Given that last ultrasound I had 6 on my left and 8 on my right that were all 10mm, my left side has been a bit of a hog and they grew bigger, while the 8 on the right are being somewhat lazy.

I also have some “free fluid” in my left ovary, I don’t know how bad that is? Between that and the bunches of big ones on my left explains why I’ve been feeling my left side but not my right. I don’t know, for some reason I thought it would be worse. Maybe it’ll get worse…. but even if it does, it won’t be horrible for more than a day or two. I guess this whole process has been a lot easier than I expected/feared.

The Dr was there and she said that she’ll call me after they get my E2 results back, but that I’ll need another day or two before trigger. I only have two days left of menopur, but she said it shouldn’t be more than that. So we’re looking at a Wednesday or Thursday egg retrieval… I’ll find out later this afternoon what day I need to go back in for another ultrasound. She also said they’ll probably be reducing my dose a little bit again.

I had my annual exam with my midwife today. Yet again I was reminded how much I love her and that office. The office itself is quiet, comfortable, organized. It’s modern and nice without being stuffy. And the midwife… well, what can I say! I love her! She’s always so bubbly and excited. She gives me this impression of really knowing what she’s talking about. And even though she needs to consult my chart while talking (I mean, it’s been a year since I’ve seen her) she speaks to me like she knows me. I can’t explain it – she’s just very personable, and just makes me immediately like her and trust her.

The nurse who took me in back and asked me the usual questions hit the jackpot with, “Are you on any medications?” I laughed. She didn’t see what was so funny. She couldn’t spell them. I don’t think she had a clue what they were, either. The midwife did though… she asked who my RE was, chatted a little. She hopes to see me again soon.

While giving me my breast exam, the midwife asked if I do self exams. I said yes I do. She continued palpating and said, “They feel a little…” Her brow furrowed as she searched for the right word. “… hormonal.” I laughed.

She said everything’s looking very healthy, and I’m all set until next year… unless, of course, I manage to come down with a case of pregnancy. (I wonder if that’s sort of like me and chicken pox…)

I do think I’m feeling my ovary today… but strangely it’s my left one that I’m feeling, the one that had less large follicles. It’ll be interesting to see how the next few days go for me. I mean if I’m due to trigger on sunday or monday there really isn’t many more days left!

Oh, and note to self: choose injection sites farther away from my belly button. Tonight’s was the second one that seemed to have hit a nerve straight into my belly button. What a weird, painful feeling that is. (I have a very sensitive belly button.)

And now it is time for sleep, because I have a bridal shower to go to in the morning and I am exhausted. Yawn.

Yesterday at my ultrasound the nurse was saying that discomfort and aches from my ovaries are totally normal. I told her I haven’t felt a thing yet. She replied, “Oh… you will.”

This morning I’m feeling little twinges of what could be my left ovary, could be some kind of stomach pain. I’m just going to keep running on the notion that I’m not having any side-effects. ;) But I plan on wearing a skirt (elastic waist) to the bridal shower I’m going to tomorrow. You know… just in case. (Besides…. I am not so sure that any of my “nice” pants will even button up at this stage. And I don’t blame the injections for that one.)

Just got a call from one of the nurses to tell me that my E2 level was 796 and that they want to reduce my dose a little to 125IU of Follistim – something about the small follicles trying to catch up. Works for me! Everything else is to stay the same.

And I go in Sunday morning for another ultrasound. :)