Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Cycle2, CD21, 1DPO

After the cancelled cycle last month the nurse practitioner that I regularly see called to answer all my questions. She did not agree with the cancellation. She explained that all that matters is the number of mature follicles before the trigger and not two days later. Since it was a weekend I had gone to their main office (not the one closest to me that I regularly see) for the IUI and there was a different nurse there who cancelled my IUI. Anyway since nothing could be done after that I waited for AF. AF came early at 12DPO and I started cycle 2. The plan was to be more cautious and go with only injectables (no Femara) this time. Also we decided to do a sperm analysis on DH since his last was done on Apr 2008.
The results were not good. His count and mobility were great, but morphology was bad.
Count - 114million (normal - greater than 20mil)
Mobility - 65% (normal - greater than 50%)
Morphology - 1% (normal - greater than 14%)
The doctor is not sure what could be the reason but with such low morphology our chances of getting pregnant even with an IUI is really really low. We got the results on CD10 and I had already taken about 15 of the Menopur vials. So we decided to continue with this cycle. They have recommend lifestyle changes and vitamins for DH and it might take up to 3months to see an effect. Below are the details of this cycle.

CD2:
Lining - 4.5mm
E2 - 13

CD3-CD4: 150IU Menopur
CD5: 150IU Gonal F

CD6:
Lining - 6.4mm
E2 - 47

CD6-CD8: 150IU Menopur

CD9:
Lining - 7.5mm
E2 - 31

CD9-CD11: 225IU Menopur

CD12:
Lining - 10.4mm
E2 - 77

CD12: 300IU Menopur
CD13: 150IU Menopur + 150IU Gonal F

Cd14:
Lining - 9mm
E2 - 124
Rt ovary - 11mm

CD14: 300IU Bravelle
CD15: 300IU Menopur

CD16:
Lining - 9.4mm
E2 - 415
Rt ovary - 14mm
Lt ovary - 13mm

CD16-CD17: 300IU Menopur

CD18:
Lining - 11.7
Rt ovary - 17.1mm, 12.1mm, 9.5mm, 8.4mm, 7.5mm
Lt ovary - 15mm, 10.8mm, 9.1mm, 8.5mm

CD18: 300IU Menopur

CD19:
Lining - 9.9mm
Rt ovary - 20.5mm, 12.8mm, 9.9mm, 9.3mm, 9mm

Lt ovary - 18mm, 10.8mm, 10.6mm, 10.1mm

The reason for a mix of medications is because I kept running out of meds and my favorite nurse tried to help me with whatever she had at hand. In fact one day FedEx misplaced all their packages from the fertility pharmacy and so I had to get some replacements from my nurse. I am beginning to think that the universe is conspiring against me.

HCG 10,000IU trigger shot on CD19. Because of my husband's low morphology we decided to do 2 back to back IUI's on CD20 and CD21. The IUI's did not hurt and his post wash count was a good 55.5million on CD20 and 33.3 million on CD21. So officially I am in the 2 week wait. Because of my risk of over stimulation we are not doing the HCG booster shots for Luteal phase support. Instead I am going with the progesterone gel (Crinone) for 2 weeks. I go back in a week for my progesterone test (to see if I ovulated).

On CD18 (Saturday) I had to go back to the main clinic 1.5hrs away for my ultrasound. The nurse there convinced me that I need to go 2 more days, but I insisted that I want to be checked the next day. I drove another 1.5hrs on Sunday and I am so glad I did. My follicles suddenly grew fast and were the right size for trigger. If I had listened to the nurse then they would have been too big on Monday and I might have had another cancelled cycle.
I am slowly beginning to not like this clinic as they are not too aggressive and all of the nurses are never on the same page. Also my favorite nurse is leaving. We have a really really low chance of pregnancy this time with only 2 mature follicles and 1% sperm morphology. We have decided to take a break for 3 months to see if his morphology improves. At the end of 3 months he goes back for another sperm analysis. If the morphology improves we try another injectable cycle (with IUI) with another clinic. If the sperm analysis results are the same, then IVF with ICSI is our only option. So far I have spent about 6K on meds and tests for the past 2 cycles. Since insurance does not cover any of this, the cost of IVF would be about 20K. With our savings we might be able to do one IVF cycle without going into debt. I am really hoping that we get pregnant soon and not have to go the IVF way.
Also at home things are not easy and both me and DH are getting mad at each other for everyday things. I think the 3 month break would be good for us and also help us think with a clear head on what to do next. Although the head understands all of this the heart wants to be pregnant asap. What to do I am a heart person for the most part. So now I am onto micro-analyzing my symptoms, stopping my morning coffee and telling the eggs & sperms to fertilize & implant.