After my ultrasound on Wednesday my nurse gave me instructions to be on the Femara for 3 more days (till Saturday) and to come for an ultrasound on Friday just to make sure things are progressing correctly. In today's ultrasound we were all happy to see a follicle at 15mm on the right ovary. The remaining one on right and 3 on left are all in the 8-9mm range. So I get to stop Femara today which is one day early. I am glad cause I have been having a migraine everyday for the past 10 days. Now I start peeing on the OPK's from Sunday and if I do not see a surge then I go back for an ultrasound on Tuesday and possible trigger shot. Since I have never surged on my own in the past, I am thinking that I will be most likely needing the trigger shot. Again since I have just one follicle I am not going for an IUI this cycle.
I am happy that the femara has worked a little better for me than clomid. I think injectables are better because ovulating on day 19 is still late and having just one follicle after 12days of fertility medication is also not so promising.
In another news, I went to meet a pregnant friend at the hospital yesterday. I have known the couple only for a few months and this is their second pregnancy but they are a really sweet couple and her water broke 2 days ago. It was only 35weeks for her so she was hospitalized and they were hoping that she would be able to keep in the baby for at least till 36weeks. Both me and my husband went to wish them well and offer any help that they needed. This morning we got a call that she went into labor early this morning and had a healthy baby boy. I am going to visit her again this afternoon and have already volunteered to make dinner for them for tomorrow. While coming back from this morning's ultrasound I had some time to think and was wondering what was different in this friend's pregnancy that it is not hurting me as usual. Maybe it is because I am not too close to her or maybe because I am crazily busy at work and do not have time to sit and worry or crib or maybe because I am in the middle of this cycle and thinking positive thoughts already. Either way I was happy that I am not feeling negative about this. I am not sure though, if I would feel the same way after seeing the baby this evening. I really wish well for the couple and the kids but it might hurt me a teeny tiny bit. I hope God forgives me for this.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Cycle 4 - CD12 - Femara
I have been taking 2 of the 2.5mg tablets of femara starting from CD3. I have the same side effects as clomid (hot flashes, insomnia and migraines) but it only lasts for half a day. Femara also causes yeast infections. The cost of Femara is much higher than clomid. It is not as expensive as injectables but it cost me 165$ for 14 tablets (2.5mg each) whereas the clomid cost me 30$ for 21 tablets (50mg each).
Today in my ultrasound there was one dominant 11mm follicle on the right ovary and 2 smaller 9mm follicles. On the left there was just one 9mm follicle. If you look at my previous cycle my follicles reached the 11mm size only on CD18. So I guess femara is a little better than clomid for me, but I am still not happy with the idea of taking femara for a long time and having a delayed ovulation. My lining was at 6.1mm and the nurse assured me that it was fine. The nurse wanted to consult with the doc before deciding on how many more days I continue the femara. Most likely she said that it would be either 2 or 3 more days. I would be ovulating mid to end of next week (around CD19-21). I think this is better than last cycle where I ovulated on CD30.
Work is very very busy and so I have not read most of your blogs in the past couple of days. Will try to finish reading by the weekend. In another news I am planning on joining a quilting class that starts this Friday. This is just to keep me busy and distracted from the IF world. I have never used a sewing machine before so after lots of consultation with my friends I bought a Janome 8077 sewing machine from Hancock fabrics over the weekend. Currently I am practising to sew in straight lines. Will keep you guys updated regarding my sewing expeditions too.
Today in my ultrasound there was one dominant 11mm follicle on the right ovary and 2 smaller 9mm follicles. On the left there was just one 9mm follicle. If you look at my previous cycle my follicles reached the 11mm size only on CD18. So I guess femara is a little better than clomid for me, but I am still not happy with the idea of taking femara for a long time and having a delayed ovulation. My lining was at 6.1mm and the nurse assured me that it was fine. The nurse wanted to consult with the doc before deciding on how many more days I continue the femara. Most likely she said that it would be either 2 or 3 more days. I would be ovulating mid to end of next week (around CD19-21). I think this is better than last cycle where I ovulated on CD30.
Work is very very busy and so I have not read most of your blogs in the past couple of days. Will try to finish reading by the weekend. In another news I am planning on joining a quilting class that starts this Friday. This is just to keep me busy and distracted from the IF world. I have never used a sewing machine before so after lots of consultation with my friends I bought a Janome 8077 sewing machine from Hancock fabrics over the weekend. Currently I am practising to sew in straight lines. Will keep you guys updated regarding my sewing expeditions too.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Cycle 4 - CD3
Finally I have moved on to the next cycle. AF arrived on Saturday making the previous cycle almost 60days long. I went in for my day 3 baseline ultrasound and blood tests. Everything looked normal at the ultrasound. I have 12 follicles on the right ovary and 24 on the left. With PCOS I guess having so many follicles is normal. I get my blood test results tomorrow and if everything is normal then I start Femara on Wednesday.
I get to take 2 of the 2.5mg tablets during CD5 - CD11 and go back for ultrasound on CD12. Only the ultrasound will decide if I have to continue taking the tablets. I think 5mg is the maximum dosage available so if I don't respond to this then we move on to injectables.
I also need to get an endoscopic sinus surgery done. Lately my sinus problems have gotten worse and the doctor I saw 2 weeks ago strongly recommended surgery. He said that it would be an 1 hr outpatient procedure and I would be asleep for it. He said recovery is about one weeks time and I can get back to work after that. Me and my husband are thinking that this week would be a good time to get it done. I have a few concerns though.
1. Will Femara affect my surgery?
2. If I ended up ovulating next week on time (CD14- Aug29) then I will not be able to take painkillers for a week after the surgery. (Honestly I don't think that I will ovulate that early)
3. Will my body not respond to Femara because it would be in trauma?
I so badly want to get the surgery out of the way as I need it badly and I cannot get it done if I get pregnant. Even though I am terrified about this procedure and pain, I am more worried about how it will affect my cycle. It is very frustrating that every aspect of our lives are revolving around IF and even making simple decisions get so complicated. I am waiting to hear back from my sinus doctor to see if they can squeeze me in this week.
I get to take 2 of the 2.5mg tablets during CD5 - CD11 and go back for ultrasound on CD12. Only the ultrasound will decide if I have to continue taking the tablets. I think 5mg is the maximum dosage available so if I don't respond to this then we move on to injectables.
I also need to get an endoscopic sinus surgery done. Lately my sinus problems have gotten worse and the doctor I saw 2 weeks ago strongly recommended surgery. He said that it would be an 1 hr outpatient procedure and I would be asleep for it. He said recovery is about one weeks time and I can get back to work after that. Me and my husband are thinking that this week would be a good time to get it done. I have a few concerns though.
1. Will Femara affect my surgery?
2. If I ended up ovulating next week on time (CD14- Aug29) then I will not be able to take painkillers for a week after the surgery. (Honestly I don't think that I will ovulate that early)
3. Will my body not respond to Femara because it would be in trauma?
I so badly want to get the surgery out of the way as I need it badly and I cannot get it done if I get pregnant. Even though I am terrified about this procedure and pain, I am more worried about how it will affect my cycle. It is very frustrating that every aspect of our lives are revolving around IF and even making simple decisions get so complicated. I am waiting to hear back from my sinus doctor to see if they can squeeze me in this week.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Cycle 3 - CD54 - Waiting to move on
Sorry I have been MIA for a while. Work has been very hectic and there was nothing significant happening in the IF area so I did not have much to update. I am still on this stupid cycle as I haven't got AF yet. A week ago I went for a blood pregnancy test and then started progesterone to bring on AF. So I am on the progesterone till Sunday and should get AF by Tuesday-Wednesday and finally move on to the next cycle.
This week we met my RE to go over my treatment and the plan for the future. I have to say that he is the most patient doctor ever, who writes down almost everything he says and gives me a copy so that I don't have to come home and try to remember medical names and stuff. He said that I have 4 options for the next cycle and I am going to list those based on his preference.
1. Extended Femara Cycle - Femara is similar to clomid but works a little differently. So I would take Femara on cd5-cd11 and then based on ultrasound take it for more days if needed. He also promised that we would not wait forever in this cycle and if there is no significant growth by day 20 we will move on to the next cycle. I do not want to have another 60day cycle.
2. IVF - Yeah you read that right. His second preference was IVF as he feels that I will be producing multiple follicles in an injectable cycle and it might get risky. Also my insurance does not cover IF treatment so an injectable cycle would cost me about 2000$-3000$ (including medication, blood tests and ultrasounds). He said that an IVF cycle would cost me anywhere between 15K - 17K and because of my age I will have atleast a 75%-90% chance in the first try.
3. Injectables - Their clinic uses gonadatropins and he said that I would start at the lowest dose possible and be monitored very carefully. Also he spoke to us about multiples and the risks involved. He said that if there were more than 3 follicles then we might have to do either follicle reduction or fetal reduction else cancel the cycle.
4. Extended clomid cycle - Continue the same clomid cycle and tweak it further to help me better. I was totally against this option though.
So finally we decided that we are going to try Femara for the next cycle (honestly I think it is just a waste of time) and then one to two injectable cycles and then IVF. I am also planning to get an endoscopic sinus surgery done between Cycle 4 & 5, if I am not pregnant at that time. Again I am not so hopeful about this cycle now but that might change over the course of Cycle 4. I will be reading all your blogs over the next few days. Hope all is well with everyone.
This week we met my RE to go over my treatment and the plan for the future. I have to say that he is the most patient doctor ever, who writes down almost everything he says and gives me a copy so that I don't have to come home and try to remember medical names and stuff. He said that I have 4 options for the next cycle and I am going to list those based on his preference.
1. Extended Femara Cycle - Femara is similar to clomid but works a little differently. So I would take Femara on cd5-cd11 and then based on ultrasound take it for more days if needed. He also promised that we would not wait forever in this cycle and if there is no significant growth by day 20 we will move on to the next cycle. I do not want to have another 60day cycle.
2. IVF - Yeah you read that right. His second preference was IVF as he feels that I will be producing multiple follicles in an injectable cycle and it might get risky. Also my insurance does not cover IF treatment so an injectable cycle would cost me about 2000$-3000$ (including medication, blood tests and ultrasounds). He said that an IVF cycle would cost me anywhere between 15K - 17K and because of my age I will have atleast a 75%-90% chance in the first try.
3. Injectables - Their clinic uses gonadatropins and he said that I would start at the lowest dose possible and be monitored very carefully. Also he spoke to us about multiples and the risks involved. He said that if there were more than 3 follicles then we might have to do either follicle reduction or fetal reduction else cancel the cycle.
4. Extended clomid cycle - Continue the same clomid cycle and tweak it further to help me better. I was totally against this option though.
So finally we decided that we are going to try Femara for the next cycle (honestly I think it is just a waste of time) and then one to two injectable cycles and then IVF. I am also planning to get an endoscopic sinus surgery done between Cycle 4 & 5, if I am not pregnant at that time. Again I am not so hopeful about this cycle now but that might change over the course of Cycle 4. I will be reading all your blogs over the next few days. Hope all is well with everyone.
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