Cycle1, CD20 - IT SUCKS

IUI CANCELLED DUE TO OVER STIMULATION

Friday Ultrasound:
Lt ovary: 21mm, 17mm, 16mm, 14mm
Rt ovary: 14mm, 13mm, 12mm
Lining: 12.9mm

I was given the go ahead to do the trigger shot at 10pm that night and IUI was scheduled for Sunday morning 10am. I was really excited that this time we had 2 good ones to work with. Sat night I have some mild stomach bloating and pain.

Sun morning before IUI I asked the receptionist to check with the nurse if I needed an ultrasound because of the pain and they said that I didn't. So my husband went ahead with the sperm collection and we were waiting for the IUI. Since my insurance does not cover any of this we paid for the IUI too. Just before putting the cath in the nurse suggested that we do an ultrasound to be sure. My ovaries usually are not that visible during vaginal ultrasounds so the tech had to do it abdominally. Then we are back in the room waiting for the IUI, the nurse walks in and says that I have too many follicles and hence we need to cancel. She goes on about multiples and the risks associated with it. I guess I had 5 above 16mm and 2 around 15mm. The lining was at 20mm. Both me and my DH were so disappointed. The on-call doctor (a different RE from the same practise) also walked in and told us the risk involved and was trying to push us to towards IVF for the next cycle. We told him that it was too expensive for us (without insurance coverage) and also it was too early as we've only tried one cycle. I was still in shock and didn't know what to do. We came home and I was upset the whole day.

Today when I look back at Friday's results I am so confused. I did have a lot of 14mm and 16mm on Friday so why did they not cancel it on Friday itself? Also they did not recommend an ultrasound before the IUI so did that mean that they were not worried about the other ones maturing? Why did they not do the ultrasound before the sperm collection (We have ended up paying for a cancelled IUI)? Can the lining go from 12.9mm to 20mm in 2 days? Why did they increase my dosage from 225IU to 300IU on Wednesday? I have spent about 2100$ on medications this cycle and that's a lot of money for a cancelled IUI. My RE's office has still not returned my call. So I am still mad and with no answers.

Cycle1, CD15

Ultrasound:
Lt ovary - 15mm, 12mm
Rt ovary - 10mm, 10mm
Lining - 11.3mm
Estradiol - 152 (a lil better)

Last time my lining was at 10.4 during trigger so I am beginning to worry that its going to be too thick (even though the nurse assures me that its OK). Also the follicles are taking forever to grow. The plan is to take Menopur 150IU and Bravelle 150IU today and Menopur 300 IU tomorrow, and go back for an ultrasound on Friday (CD 17). Hopefully I should be able to trigger then and have the IUI over the weekend. I am still waiting to hear about the estradiol values.

By Friday I would have used 23 Menopur vials (75IU) and 6 Bravelle vials (75IU). The last time I used 30 Menopur vials (75IU). So I guess we are pretty much close to that and the additional Femara this time has done nothing except causing low estradiol values. My body does take its own sweet time to grow eggs and never grows more than one in a cycle. Lets see what happens this time.

Cycle1, CD14

HSG on CD7: After some initial difficulty finding my cervix they were able to find it and cath it. The radiologist came and the die was inserted. The uterus looked good and both the tubes were open and good. The whole process lasted about 20-25min and my husband was allowed to stay in with me. I had some minor cramping for the next two days but nothing too bad.

I took Femara 5mg between CD3-CD7 and Menopur 150IU between CD8-CD9. Estradiol on CD3 was 65.
CD10:
Ultrasound showed no significant follicles yet.
Lt ovary: a lot of small ones
Rt ovary: one at 10mm
Lining: 8.4mm
Estradiol: 21 (low)

The plan was to increase and continue the Menopur. Took Menopur 225IU between CD10-CD12.

CD13:
Ultrasound revealed some good follicles.
Lt ovary: 13mm, 9mm
Rt ovary: 10mm, 9mm, 8mm
Lining - 9mm
Estradiol: 38 (still too low)

They think the Femara is still in my system and is causing these low Estradiol values. Plan is it to increase the dosage to 4 vials - 300 IU. I did not have any medication for yesterday hence the clinic gave me some Bravelle to take instead of Menopur. I am not sure if it is good to switch during the cycle but do not have another option. So took Bravelle 300IU on CD13 and will be taking Menopur 300IU on CD14. Will be going back for ultrasound & blood test tomorrow morning.

I am slowly beginning to loose hope as it is taking too long (as usual) and the estradiol values are so low (something that's never happened before). Hopefully I will have some good news tomorrow.

Cycle1, CD7

So I started this cycle last week and went for the usual baseline ultrasound (on day 2).

Left ovary: 19 eggs
Right ovary: 15 eggs
Uterine lining: 5.3mm

Everything looked good and I believe the blood tests were normal too as I was given the go ahead to start the leterozole. This cycle we are doing a combination with leterozole and menopur. So far the plan is to take leterozole for days 3-7 and then menopur (150IU) for 3 days. I go back for an ultrasound on Friday and based on that I will take the menopur for more days if needed. I also have my HSG scheduled for this afternoon. Hope they find my cervix this time, else this cycle is a bust. Also if they find something wrong with the tubes or the uterus, then this cycle is a bust. It will suck as I would have finished taking the entire leterozole by then. This cycle we are also going with an IUI, as that's what worked last time.

Things are so different this time around as I do not have a lot of free time worrying about the whole process. My daughter and my job keeps me busy for the most part and I am too tired to stay up and think. I hope less stress means good news for IF so lets see how things progress.

Back again for the second round

My daughter is about 2 years old now and we think we are ready for the next one. For the first year after her birth my cycles were regular. Then they started getting irregular typical PCOS style. We went back to the clinic 2 months ago and met with the doctor to come up with a plan. The plan is to test AML (mine was at 6.2 again its high which indicates PCOS) and do a HSG before starting any other treatments. I also went back on Metformin extended release 1000mg two times a day. This time the metformin is giving me a lot of nausea and I am hoping that my body will get adjusted soon. I did go for a HSG 2 weeks ago but it was a major flop. The guy tried for 45min and could not find my cervix. The whole process was both painful and uncomfortable but not too bad. I do have good pain tolerance I think. It was also day 10 of my cycle so I could not schedule another one this cycle.
I am back on progesterone to bring on a bleeding and once I start the next cycle I will get the HSG done at a different hospital. Also we are going with leterozole and injectables for the next cycle as the cost might be a little less doing a combination instead of only injectables. My insurance does not cover any infertility treatment costs. My body does not do well with both clomid or leterozole. The last time I did leterozole I got a lot of migraines and the egg growth was slow. I am hoping that the combination might work better. The doctor is also worried about overstimming but knowing my history (3 clomid rounds, 1 leterozole round, 1 injectable round) I have never grown more than one egg per cycle, I am not so worried.
DH is still not completely on board with this as he thinks its a little too soon but I want to start as we never know how long it is going to take this time. Just because it happened in 6 months last time does not mean it will be the same this time. Also I have a very active toddler to deal with at home and a full time job.
I did continue reading some of favorite blogs and I guess pretty much everyone I followed has a kid now. That's a lot of good news. Wish me luck friends and here's wishing loads of luck to all of you out there.