The appointment with Dr. R went well. It's nice to be on the same page, he said he was going to call for a meeting if I hadn't done it first. Love him! Anyway, here's what we're doing:
We're going ahead with the last IUI, but we're stepping up the game a little. I'll be using the Femara and Ovidrel like normal, but we're adding Follistim (or Gonal F depending on which manufacturer you get it from). What is Follistim, Weezy? Well, my non fertility speaking computer friends, it's an injection that helps to stimulate my follicles to like actually grow an egg. My last cycle I was on Femara and Ovidrel, like normal, but it just took forever for my eggies to grow. So, basically, Femara pills starting on cycle day 3 thru cycle day 7, 'Stim on days 5, 7, and 9 and then Ovidrel (meds to make me ovulate at a certain time) when my eggies are 18-20cm.
The only issue I see with this is that I'll probably have to give myself the 'stim shot instead of my husband. He's a champion shot giver, having practiced with allergy shots on our Mara cat. He's never overdosed me and only overdosed her once, but that's a story for another time. Long story short, Mara's still alive. Anyway, Dr. R showed me the needle they use for 'stim and it's tiny, thankfully. The idea of giving myself a shot still creeps me out.
Odette (my right ovary) is still alive and well, she's just moving slow. It's nice to know that I'm not working with only Olivia (left ovary). Dr. R addressed my concerns about OHSS (Ovarian Hyper-Stimulation Syndrome). It sounds painful and it's more common in patients with PCOS. Thanks, ovaries. Thanks so much. He promised he'd do everything to prevent OHSS (although, I'm pretty sure he has to prevent it anyway). Basically, I'll go for ultrasounds and blood tests more often with 'stim to monitor Estrogen levels and see how my follies are doing.
I'm also pretty sure he heard my biological clock. We told him that our niece was born the day after Christmas and yay, so exciting (not being sarcastic, seriously)! Then he asked the first day of my cycle, I answered with Dec 27th and without missing a beat he says "Oh, the day after your niece was born. That must've been hard." I love this guy, he totally gets it. I agreed that yeah, it was kinda hard and it felt like my body was giving me a big F you.
Anyhow, my darlings. We all agreed that if this last IUI doesn't work we're going ahead with IVF. Hanging out in the kiddie pool of infertility has been nice, but unproductive. The big kid pool looks inviting, but I wonder if the water is warm?
You'll never know how the water is until you wade on in....or in your case....maybe jump in the deep end. Either way, the water feels warmer once you are in it! Prayers and hugs!
ReplyDeleteYour doc sounds awesome.
ReplyDeleteAs you may be aware, my bf knows how to do shots so mebbe he can help u if u need? And ck this link out. It's about cold water showers and their benefits. I turn the water from hot to cold a few times at the end of my shower. Anyhow. Long story short. Hydrotherapy was used back in the day before meds. I use it to prevent flu and stimulate white blood cells. And my friend, an ER nurse, says the whole shower doesn't have to be cold, but if you go from as cold as possible to warm, back & forth a few times at the end, you are good.
BUT.. when I found this webpage & read down, it talks about how it helps fertility issues, particularly for the DAD-TO-BE.
Snippet from page: "the University of California at San Francisco did a study with men who were exposed to 30 minutes of “wet heat” (hot baths and such) a week. When the men cut this exposure out, their sperm count went up by 491%, and their sperm’s motility improved as well. While switching from a hot to cold shower may not have as dramatic an effect, if you’re trying to create some progeny, it surely won’t hurt."
And link for whole article:
http://artofmanliness.com/2010/01/18/the-james-bond-shower-a-shot-of-cold-water-for-health-and-vitality/
-m!