Cycle 5 - Beta Results

HCG - 211
Progesterone - 19

They wanted to see HCG atleast at 50 or above and progesterone 20 or above. My HCG levels are good for a singleton (since I had only one follicle) but the progesterone is borderline low. I get to go back on Wednesday for a repeat blood test and I start getting weekly progesterone shots from then. I am hoping I will see a good number on Wednesday and then I can rest at peace.

Cycle 5 - CD 40 - 16DPO

YAY! I AM PREGNANT

What does a POAS addict do during the two week wait? Test like a maniac. Ever since I wrote my last post a week ago I started to notice some mild symptoms. My nipples were very sore, I had hot flashes and some cramping. I decided to POAS on Friday evening (13DPO) and immediately saw a positive. Even though I've always thought and imagined different ways to share the news with my husband, the reality was so different. He had gone to collect our mail from the mailbox and when he came back I asked him to come to the restroom and look at the stick. He did see a positive but he was upset that I tested early. I was supposed to wait till 16DPO and so he was doubtful if the positive was real or because of my HCG booster shots. We did not celebrate. He suggested we pray and then we decided not to talk about it. I again tested Saturday evening and it was a positive. By then I was having more cramps and mild nausea. I also threw up once Saturday night. Sunday morning I tested again with a different brand HPT and it was positive. So this morning I tested with a digital and was really ecstatic to see PREGNANT appear on it. I went to my clinic for the blood test and am waiting for the results.

I know its really really early and it could go either way. One minute I am happy and the other I am so doubtful. I guess IF does change a person and nothing can be done to undo that. Please pray for me. I will consider myself pregnant and enjoy the feeling at least till I get the results. I will update as soon as I get the results. Meanwhile I am just pretending to work at my office. I know you guys will understand.

Cycle 5 - CD33 - 9DPO

Tender boobs - NO
Cramps - NO
Nausea - NO
Feeling tired - NO

Pregnant - Most likely not

I finished the third dose of my HCG booster shot yesterday. My 8dpo progesterone level was at 16 this month. Its not bad and not great either so I still have to wait till the weekend.

Tomorrow is my Birthday. Yesterday both me and my husband went shopping and he bought me a ton of clothes and a beautiful Sapphire ring. We both love blue and that is the only color gem stone that I don't have. I have decided that I am not letting IF drag me down. So tonight both me and husband will bake my birthday cake and we are having some friends over. Tomorrow night we are going out for dinner. Please do keep me in your prayers.

Cycle 5 - CD26 - 2DPO

My first IUI experience was not painful at all. The nurse had some problem finding my cervix and was digging for a while and that was a little painful but after that things happened smoothly and fast. My husband's sperm count was more than excellent. Post wash count was 117million. The nurses were all smiling after looking at his numbers. I did not care to ask the pre wash number. We were also advised to do the deed at home over the weekend. So I am officially in the 2 week wait now. I have to give myself the HCG booster shots on 10/13, 10/16 and 10/19. My progesterone test is on 10/18 and 10/21 and HPT on 10/27.

Since we did an IUI this cycle from now on my insurance does not cover anything. Every ultrasound will cost me 150$ and the blood tests range from 60-90$. The IUI cost me 500$. I guess from now on I will have to watch how many tests and ultrasound we have to do. I know its not much but with my really long follicular phase I end up getting about 10 ultrasounds and estrogen blood tests every cycle. So along with the medication cost, IUI and progesterone tests it comes to about 4k-5k per month for an injectable cycle. I might consider one more of that and then we are planning to take a break. I hope this cycle works and I don't have to worry about the next one but I have already asked my clinic for a plan for the next cycle.

Thanks for all you fellow bloggers for letting me know about the Follistim. I am going to try and fight it out with my clinic. Lets hope I win and get the donated medication for the next cycle.

Cycle 5 - CD23 - Only one follicle

I guess the title says it all. After 30 Menopur injections and 3 Ganirelix shots my body can only produce one follicle. Today at my ultrasound I had one big follicle at 19.2mm on the left ovary and 3, 9mm ones. On the right there was one 9mm. They had me trigger this morning and IUI is set for tomorrow AM. Even though the nurse kept assuring me that one follicle is all that takes I am still not convinced. So far my body has produced only one follicle each cycle with oral medication so when they spoke to me about multiples and selective reduction with the injectable cycle I was really hoping for 2 or 3 good ones. My estrogen was only up to 138 on CD 21 and I don't think I was anywhere near over stimulation. I am beginning to think that my doctor is over cautious and needs to be a little more aggressive. I am not sure if I have to go for an IUI this cycle but my nurse thinks I should, I guess it wont hurt. She suggested 2 IUI's but I opted for just one. I don't know if doing the IUI 24hrs after trigger is a good idea. My insurance does not cover any of this so the total cost so far is 2K and I guess it will cost another 600$ for IUI and progesterone tests. I am not too hopeful about this cycle and have already asked for a plan for the next cycle.

My clinic has a bunch of donated Follitism but they keep convincing me that it wont work for PCOS patients. I wish they let me use it for one cycle so that I can start saving for IVF (if I have to). I have seen online that a lot of PCOS patients have ovulated with Follitism. Can someone please tell me their experience if they have PCOS and have used Follitism before.

Cycle 5 - CD19 - Follicle update

I was busy with some training at work and was not able to update my blog. The results of last weeks ultrasound and blood work are below.

CD15:
Rt Ovary- 6mm, 7mm, 9mm, 8mm, 7mm
Lt Ovary- 10mm, 8mm, 8.5mm
Lining- 9.5mm
Estrogen- 109

CD17:
Rt Ovary- 10mm, 7mm, 7mm
Lt Ovary- 10mm, 10mm, 10mm, 10.5mm, 11mm
Lining- 10mm
Estrogen- 114

CD19:
Rt Ovary- 9mm, 8mm, 8mm
Lt Ovary- 14mm, 11mm, 11mm, 10mm, 9mm, 8mm
Lining- 10mm
Estrogen- ?

I am still waiting to get my estrogen level. I am still on the 2 menopur (150IU) shots a day and based on my estrogen level I might have to start the Ganirelix. The nurse thinks that I might have 3 or maybe 4 mature follicles and might be ready for trigger by Thursday. The only side effects of Menopur that I have is that I am getting tired a lot. I guess it is not one of the worst side effects and since I don't get crazy migraines I will be content with this. Last Thursday I was really low after my ultrasound. I guess it showed on my face and everyone at the clinic were super nice to me. They all hugged me and said that it will be OK and the nurse who drew my blood let me watch some sperm under the microscope. It was really fun to watch them move crazily and it cheered me up. She also showed me how they wash the sperm for insemination and how they count it. Weekend I kept myself busy quilting.

Today my nurse was very excited about my progress but I am still doubtful. It is already CD19 and most likely I will be ovulating around CD23. I also keep thinking that the 11mm ones will stop growing and only the 14mm one would grow. That would suck because I really want more than one follicle after all these injections. I guess I will have to wait till Wednesday to know what my body has in mind.

Update:
Estrogen was at 123 so I take 2 vials of Menopur today and 2 vials of Menopur tommorrow along with ganirelix and go back on Wednesday for an ultrasound. This morning the nurse told me that she was sure that my estrogen would be atleast 300. I am kinda feeling low again. I hope the follicles keep growing.

Cycle 5 - CD12 - Follicle not growing

It has been a really frustrating day so far. Last night both me and my husband had a big fight. It was a very simple issue but it kinda got out of hand. It was time for my injections and usually DH gives me my shots every evening. I filled up the syringe and then I told him to close the blinds and he said that it was not necessary as it was quite bright outside. I still felt bad and I told him that I want the blinds closed. I guess I said it quite harshly and he got so mad. He said that I have been yelling at him for everything lately. I lost it too and I said that I would do the injection myself. I took it from him, went to my bedroom and gave myself the injection and then started crying. I guess it was not about the fight but was mainly about the fact that I have to go through so much everyday. IF does take its toll and maybe both me and my DH are stressed and are taking it out on each other.
I wish he was a little more understanding. I usually do well with the injections and it doesn't hurt much so he thinks that these injections are no big deal. It is a huge deal to me. Last week when I told him that I will have to do ganirelix injections along with menopur so that would be two shots a day he shrugged it off saying it would hardly hurt. Little does he know that it hurts maybe little physically but a lot emotionally.
This morning I went to my ultrasound with a heavy heart and my ultrasound was pretty disappointing. I have one follicle at 8mm on the left ovary and 2 at 8 and 7 at the right ovary. I have been on the injections for 8days now and no significant growth yet. In fact the right one measured at 9mm, 3 days ago. The nurse who spoke to me after the ultrasound was surprised that they did not have me double the dose on Friday because my estrogen was only at 40. The only good news was that my lining looked good and measure at 7.2mm. I cried the whole way back to work (30min) and am still pretty depressed.
Anyway my estrogen level for today was at 57 and so they have decided to double my dosage. I will be doing 150IU of Menopur for 3 days and go back for an ultrasound on Thursday. The medications have cost me 1100$ so far and if I go the IUI way then that's another 600$. I wish this cycle eventually works out but honestly I am so low now that I don't have any hope at all.

Cycle 5 - CD9

My first ultrasound of this cycle was this morning. I have been on the lowest dose of Menopur (75IU) for 5 days and today my follicle measurement was a 9mm and 7.4mm on the right and a 6.5mm on the left. The ultrasound tech also mentioned that my lining looked really good compared to all my previous scans. I forgot to ask her the measurement. So now I will have to wait for my nurse to call me with the estrogen values based on which she would tell me to either stay on the same dosage or increase it. Once my follicles reach a certain size I will start taking ganirelix along with menopur for the last few days. This is to prevent premature release with my own LH surge (not that I have surged on my own in the past). I guess they want to go the HCG trigger way so that they can time me for the IUI.

I am slowly beginning to agree with my husband about taking a break. With all these medications I feel sick (migraine, nausea) most of the time and I am always tired. I am beginning to forget how I was before all this started. Based on how this cycle goes I will be seriously considering taking a break.

Ever since I started my quilting class I have been pretty addicted. I will be finishing my first lap quilt this weekend. I got a pattern from the Internet and started this even before I started my class. I have already bought material for 2 king size quilts and one baby quilt. My neighbours 18month old daughter is diagnosed with cancer in her stomach and she is undergoing chemo to reduce the tumour size. Once its reduced they will be surgically removing it from her tummy. Both me and my husband feel so much for this little girl so I thought I will make her a baby quilt with animals and flowers. Lets hope I finish it before her surgery.

Cycle 5 - CD5 - Menopur

After my last Thursday post I started bleeding heavily so it was considered my Cycle 5 CD1. I went to the clinic on Saturday for my baseline ultrasound and blood work. Everything looked normal in the ultrasound and I am still waiting for the blood results. The plan for this cycle is to be on Menopur 75IU injectables and try to slowly grow my follicles. The doctor is really worried about overstimming me because of my PCOS but with my really pathetic response to clomid and femara I am thinking that it wouldn't happen.

My clinic had some donated medication and so I got about 7 days worth of free medication. I am going back on Friday (5 days after stimming) for an ultrasound and blood test. Based on the results my dosage will be adjusted and I will have to buy the additional medication. I would love to hear from people who have used Menopur in the past regarding cost of medication and side-effects.

Last thursday I was telling my husband that maybe after this injectable cycle we might have to move on to IVF. He was shocked at the idea and said that we are moving too fast and we need to slow down. We got into an argument and I guess since it was my CD1 I was very vulnerable and burst into tears. He was trying to justify that since IVF is the last option we need to keep it for the very end. His concern is what if that doesn't work then we have no other option left. My justification was since we are young (both of us are 29) we have a very good chance at IVF (producing eggs is our only problem so far). And its not like we jumped into IVF right away. We did try clomid and femara and my response was not so good. This cycle we are trying injectables and maybe if I respond good I might even consider another round of injectables but if I develop too many eggs or too less eggs then IVF is our best bet and I do not want to delay it. Finally he said that he understands my point of view but we need to set a deadline and take a break as my body needs rest. I had to take 15 imitrex tablets during my last cycle for my migraines and the recommended dose is 5-6 per month. Without the fertility medication and migraine medication I am already taking 14pills every day out of which 11 are to help me get pregnant and 3 are for my heartburn. I guess he is right. My body is going to break down soon if I do not give it some rest. We will be making a decision based on my response this cycle. If we do go on a break then it would mean that I will not ovulate on my own so I will need either birth control pills or progesterone to shed my lining. Hope this cycle will work and I do not have to worry about my next cycle.