DAY FIVE

Another injection has been added to the daily collection and that is the Orgalutran. This injection is to be done in the mornings at the same time every day (7AM for me) just as I’m about to get up for work. What this drug is for is to stop premature ovulation from happening. It blocks the effects of the other drugs (Puregon and Menopur – which help to stimulate my follicles) so my body doesn’t ovulate before the egg collection procedure.

For some women this drug does sting a little when you are injecting it (always below the belly button), but I do find if you do it slowly, it reduces the sting a little. I’m not promising that it will work for every one but it does work for me on the odd occassions. I continue to take this injection every morning up until about two days before egg collection.

This drug is also kept in the fridge. I store all the injections in the deli section of my fridge. Haha! 😀

DAY SIX

Blood test and ultrasound day

So I’ve already had my first blood test and (vaginal) ultrasound done earlier this morning. The blood test is to check on my estrogen levels that I’m sky not rocketing and that my body isn’t getting a little too excited with all the drugs that’s flowing though the system (i.e. meaning that I’m not about to experience OHSS – over hyper stim stimulation). I should get those results very soon. But with the vaginal ultrasound so far, they could see I have two follicles that are responding on my right ovary and on my left, there was about three or four follicles responding more or less well. My left side has always seemed to respond better than the right. I don’t know why.

Once the ultrasound was all done, I was left there alone in the room so I could get dressed, I sat there staring at the television screen right in front of me. I felt a little deflated. Deflated because so far I only have two follies (i.e. follicles) on my right and three or four on my left. I know it sounds so silly and its still only early days but still you can’t help but beat yourself up. I just keep comparing it to all my other cycles that I’ve done where with my right ovary I normally would get around five follicles and on my left get around ten to eleven follicles and it won’t ever be the same at ever cycle but still. IVF just makes you so much more aware of your whole body and the reproductive organs. You dissect and (over) analyse every part of it each time a blood test, ultrasound, egg collection and embryo transfer is done. And if something just isn’t responding well, you beat yourself up over it because you feel your body is letting you down, and if you feel let down by your own body then you start to think (and feel) you’re letting down your husband. It’s a complete mental torture you do to yourself and you lose all control over it.

Anyway we will see in a few days of what the next blood test and ultrasound reveal. Fingers crossed there’s more follicles that might pop up out of the blue (wishful thinking) or that I have really good size follicles.

By the time you go to egg collection, they like to see that your follicles are just over the size of 16mm. Maximum size they get to is 24mm, anything over that size could mean that your egg has over stimulated and may not respond well when they inject the sperm into it.

One of many things I have always done to help my follicles grow and help with my uterus lining is the following:

Drink pomegranate juice up to four times a day: (supposedly) this does is help improve thicken the lining
Drink green tea every day: helps remove toxins from your body and helps with improving your egg quality
Place heat bags over my uterus/ovaries: increases blood flow to the area and for the follicles, help grow a little more
Eat more protein based foods (such as eggs): again, to help with your own (human) eggs and follicles
Wear thick warm socks day and night: the chinese say, ‘warm feet, warm uterus’

Yes, yes, yes I know it may be all a wives tale and I yes I read about it from one lady who said it to another lady, who said that it worked for her and then the other lady said it worked for her best friend and so and so on and so on. But let me tell you, when you are doing IVF you will go WAY above and beyond, and do everything imaginable to try and help your body produce and do the very best it can and help it along as best as you can. Whether its all bullshit or not, I would rather do it the most craziest things so I feel like I am doing something extra to get my baby.

Now what’s really going into full force mode is the hormones!

Oh my Lord!

I have zero patience.

Zilch.

Nada.

Forget about it.

Serious warning: don’t even come close to me. Just slowly back away, quietly. *LOL* 😀

My pissed off (hormonal) rage starts at zero and goes straight to a thousand in like, ooooooooh I reckon, 2.5 seconds!! It doesn’t matter who I’m speaking to whether it’s my mum (I’m really really sorry mama!) or my gorgeous husband (so so sorry baby!) or my work colleagues (truly sorry) or even the TV remote control that decided to have its buttons stay glued down because it wants to mess with your trashy television viewing pleasure and you are trying to lift up the buttons with even the butter knife… ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!!! It’s like I’m magically transformed from being such a kind hearted sweet person into a dark stark mad raging crazy hormonal lady who is so much more scarier than what Freddy Kruger or Jack The Ripper both combined – told your, hormones!!!

I truly am TRYING so hard to keep it all under control, I truly am… but these drugs in this cycle. OMG! (cue in the exasperated very loud sigh)