I'm starting to get more answers than questions, which is something that makes me VERY happy. I actually am able to see the allergist on Thursday after they discussed me today (versus late October, which was initially the "first appointment" they had open). Apparently, I piqued their interest enough to get me in the door quickly. Diagnose and treat me, please!
With my well-earned MD using Dr. Google as my tenured professor, I am about 99% certain of what I have:
Autoimmune Progesterone Dermatitis
Sounds kind of scary and awful, right? In reality, it might not be that bad. And something identifiable can be treated, so that's pretty great. The allergist will need to either do a skin flap test or an antibody test to ultimately confirm my ailment, but I'm pretty positive that we'll be able to move on pretty quickly to treatment once that occurs.
Some key points from Dr. Google:
-Autoimmune progesterone dermatitis (APD) occurs as a result of an allergic reaction to a woman's own progesterone.
-APD may be caused initially by a woman taking birth control pills or another hormone supplement containing progesterone that results in sensitization to the hormone. Like progesterone in oil shots!!!!
-APD can have a variety of different symptoms, although most, if not all, include skin rashes. I am feeling my itchy feet and the breakouts on the rest of my body right now!
-Symptoms typically occur anywhere from 3 to 10 days prior to the onset of menses, and begin to resolve within 1 to 2 days after the onset of menstruation. Mine have almost always started at 3 days past ovulation (about 10 days prior to my period) and clear up by my period.
And the good news:
-Treatment of APD may be successful with the use of antihistamines and oral or injected corticosteroids
And the BEST news:
-The cells responsible for this are the CD 19+5+ cells. By 10 weeks of
pregnancy these cells are usually suppressed to normal numbers and the
progesterone allergy is less of a problem.
One thing to note is, as with any condition, there is a wide spectrum of how the symptoms show themselves. My itchiness seems to be at the more minor end. Some people can go into anaphylatic shock due to their allergy and ultimately must have their ovaries removed as the only treatment. I am VERY thankful I do not appear to be in that category and my heart goes out to the people that are.
So I'll update on here what the ultimate result and treatment was, especially for those poor folks that have been googling "progesterone allergy and pregnancy" in panic for days on end, and stumbled across this post. It sounds like there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and hopefully this is just one more hurdle that we can conquer!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
My own worst enemy
While not 100% confirmed, evidence continues to support a theory I have had for some time.
I am allergic to myself.
Awesome, right?
The story starts back to when I was blogging specifically about our IVF cycle. As part of normal IVF protocol, you are put on progesterone support since your body is not making any on its own. In a natural cycle, when you ovulate, the follicle evolves into something called a corpus luteum. This corpus luteum starts producing progesterone. The progesterone production peaks around seven days after your ovulation, then tapers off from there. The complete reduction of the progesterone is what triggers the onset of your next period. (Progesterone is also responsible for your increased body temperature during the second half of your cycle -- which is how I knew my period was coming when my temperature dropped). If you become pregnant, your embryo starts producing the pregnancy hormone, and that signals the corpus luteum to keep on producing for the next several weeks to help the pregnancy.
I never had any problems, at least not that I was aware of, prior to IVF. However, in IVF, you are not necessarily replicating the natural production of progesterone by utilizing the shots. Rather, you are injecting very concentrated progesterone into your body, essentially hitting it all at once vs being a steady source.
At the time of the IVF, I did have a reaction to the shots -- horribly itchy painful feet. We assumed it wasn't the progesterone itself, but rather the medium it was delivered (sesame oil). Switched to a vaginal solution, and the symptom did clear up quite a bit. It didn't disappear completely until I was completely off progesterone, but I just figured it would take awhile for the sesame oil to clear out of my body.
Fast forward to the next several natural cycles....every cycle around 3-4 days past ovulation, the feet would start to itch again. I say itch because I don't know how better to simply describe it, but it is essentially pins poking at my feet on the bottom and alongside the inside arches. I noticed it, but it was very minor during these cycles, so pretty much ignored it.
Last cycle on Clomid, it was much worse. I was putting gel Benadryl on my feet at night, which helped, but it further supported my theory that the progesterone was indeed causing this issue. I studied the progesterone hormone quite a bit, and found graphs that illustrated the level in the body and different times of the cycle. My symptoms aligned with that graph perfectly. This first Clomid cycle, my progesterone was measured at 44 (15 is fairly normal for a medicated cycle).
This current cycle has been horrible. I can't sleep. I'm crying. I put ice packs on my feet at night to numb them, because the Benadryl doesn't do shit. . I have to get up in the middle of night to trek to the freezer for a fresh one. My sleep is then uncomfortable because of the numb feet and because of the weird contortionist way to sleep to ensure both feet are touching the ice pack. My ridiculously awesome coworker suggested getting ice pack sleeves that I can actually slip onto my feet. I'm definitely following that advice. I figured my progesterone HAD to be higher than last time for these worse symptoms. I asked the RE to get it measured -- if it was higher, it is only further support that this is a progesterone allergy. If it wasn't, I'd have to reconsider the source. It was 65.
Anyway, my RE has referred me to an allergist. The allergist herself was out this week, so the nurse talked to me and was pretty dumbfounded by my issue. We're supposed to have a call on Monday to discuss further and I'm hoping that they can (1) officially diagnose me and (2) treat me. The realization that this can occur is fairly new, but there are studies on the internet that show going a birth control is a great method to control. Obviously that isn't the objective here.
My biggest concern is that if you do get pregnant, your progesterone only continues to rise. I"m worried that I will have 9 months of crying myself to sleep with ice packs. Ultimately, if that is the case, I am up to the challenge. I'm just really hoping that isn't the case, because if we are able to get pregnant, I do want the chance to actually enjoy the pregnancy without this staring me down from the start. Another concern is that this is actually preventing me from getting pregnant, although research shows that miscarriage is more of a symptom then simply not implanting an embryo.
So that's the update. It is very feasible that the allergist and RE will agree that I simply shouldn't get pregnant. And that will be that. Please keep your fingers crossed that we can find another option than that.
Sorry this was so long, but I vented this story to a friend of mine last night, and needed some further venting today. Thank you guys and gals for being my wonderful audience for my issues (or realistically, thank you Dad, T, and gals)!
I am allergic to myself.
Awesome, right?
The story starts back to when I was blogging specifically about our IVF cycle. As part of normal IVF protocol, you are put on progesterone support since your body is not making any on its own. In a natural cycle, when you ovulate, the follicle evolves into something called a corpus luteum. This corpus luteum starts producing progesterone. The progesterone production peaks around seven days after your ovulation, then tapers off from there. The complete reduction of the progesterone is what triggers the onset of your next period. (Progesterone is also responsible for your increased body temperature during the second half of your cycle -- which is how I knew my period was coming when my temperature dropped). If you become pregnant, your embryo starts producing the pregnancy hormone, and that signals the corpus luteum to keep on producing for the next several weeks to help the pregnancy.
I never had any problems, at least not that I was aware of, prior to IVF. However, in IVF, you are not necessarily replicating the natural production of progesterone by utilizing the shots. Rather, you are injecting very concentrated progesterone into your body, essentially hitting it all at once vs being a steady source.
At the time of the IVF, I did have a reaction to the shots -- horribly itchy painful feet. We assumed it wasn't the progesterone itself, but rather the medium it was delivered (sesame oil). Switched to a vaginal solution, and the symptom did clear up quite a bit. It didn't disappear completely until I was completely off progesterone, but I just figured it would take awhile for the sesame oil to clear out of my body.
Fast forward to the next several natural cycles....every cycle around 3-4 days past ovulation, the feet would start to itch again. I say itch because I don't know how better to simply describe it, but it is essentially pins poking at my feet on the bottom and alongside the inside arches. I noticed it, but it was very minor during these cycles, so pretty much ignored it.
Last cycle on Clomid, it was much worse. I was putting gel Benadryl on my feet at night, which helped, but it further supported my theory that the progesterone was indeed causing this issue. I studied the progesterone hormone quite a bit, and found graphs that illustrated the level in the body and different times of the cycle. My symptoms aligned with that graph perfectly. This first Clomid cycle, my progesterone was measured at 44 (15 is fairly normal for a medicated cycle).
This current cycle has been horrible. I can't sleep. I'm crying. I put ice packs on my feet at night to numb them, because the Benadryl doesn't do shit. . I have to get up in the middle of night to trek to the freezer for a fresh one. My sleep is then uncomfortable because of the numb feet and because of the weird contortionist way to sleep to ensure both feet are touching the ice pack. My ridiculously awesome coworker suggested getting ice pack sleeves that I can actually slip onto my feet. I'm definitely following that advice. I figured my progesterone HAD to be higher than last time for these worse symptoms. I asked the RE to get it measured -- if it was higher, it is only further support that this is a progesterone allergy. If it wasn't, I'd have to reconsider the source. It was 65.
Anyway, my RE has referred me to an allergist. The allergist herself was out this week, so the nurse talked to me and was pretty dumbfounded by my issue. We're supposed to have a call on Monday to discuss further and I'm hoping that they can (1) officially diagnose me and (2) treat me. The realization that this can occur is fairly new, but there are studies on the internet that show going a birth control is a great method to control. Obviously that isn't the objective here.
My biggest concern is that if you do get pregnant, your progesterone only continues to rise. I"m worried that I will have 9 months of crying myself to sleep with ice packs. Ultimately, if that is the case, I am up to the challenge. I'm just really hoping that isn't the case, because if we are able to get pregnant, I do want the chance to actually enjoy the pregnancy without this staring me down from the start. Another concern is that this is actually preventing me from getting pregnant, although research shows that miscarriage is more of a symptom then simply not implanting an embryo.
So that's the update. It is very feasible that the allergist and RE will agree that I simply shouldn't get pregnant. And that will be that. Please keep your fingers crossed that we can find another option than that.
Sorry this was so long, but I vented this story to a friend of mine last night, and needed some further venting today. Thank you guys and gals for being my wonderful audience for my issues (or realistically, thank you Dad, T, and gals)!
Friday, August 3, 2012
I'm ready for IVF
We did our fourth (and last!!!!) IUI this morning. I will officially let the world know that I unequivocally hate Clomid. I hate IUI. I hate monitoring sperm counts. I'm not sure someone could pay me to do this again. My body will thank me profusely when this damn Clomid is out of my system.
I'm still hoping for a miracle, as I do every other two-week increment, but I'm looking forward to our likely upcoming IVF cycle. We'll take a month off after this cycle, and then start up again after that. Ignoring the financial aspect, I really love IVF (relative to IUI). There is more rigor behind it, and it appeals to my analytical side much more so than IUI. The stages are better defined, and you can actually pinpoint where the issue may be (such as implantation). That doesn't mean you can necessarily solve that issue, but the knowing aspect is a huge relief. With IUI, I just feel that we throw a bunch of crap at the wall to see what sticks.
While this TTC madness is ridiculously life and relationship consuming, T and I do have an existence outside of it (although sometimes that is hard for us to believe). We attended my stepdaughter's band concert last night, which was SO much better than the last one where we heard more squeaks than audible on-key notes. She is an amazingly awesome and accomplished girl and I couldn't be prouder of her. Her tween angst is starting to shine through though, so we'll have to keep a look out for that. I only have to think back my own tween/teen years, and I then consider myself adequately forewarned.
Our August is chock full of family, friends, and fun. We'll have multiple visitors over the next several weeks, are attending some concerts, and just are generally looking forward to some respite from the insane temperatures of the last month. I'll be honest. Sometimes, T and I have to consciously remind ourselves how truly good we have it. Almost all of our friends are in the midst of baby mania of their own in some way or another, and it can be easy to dwell on the fact that we have been so unlucky in that area thus far. In reality, our lives are so permeated with love from each other, our extended families and our awesome friends, that it sometimes seems petty to ask for even more. But that one small thing that we desire is truly the biggest thing that would ever happen in our lives, so we'll keep on truckin'.
The most fabulous news on this Friday is that we have NO plans tonight. We were meant to hang out with some friends, but switched it to a different weekend since we were unsure if our IUI would be today or tomorrow. So, friends, while we love you, we are greatly looking forward to some T and C time. Wine will be flowing, grill will be grilling, and big screen basement TV will likely be playing an awesome movie.
(On the movie note, we watched a REALLY good movie this week. If you like creepy, but not scary, movies, and can handle foreign films, rent "The Orphanage (El Orfanato)". It's in Spanish, and is a technically a ghost story, but is ultimately about how much a mother loves her adopted son. I totally cried and thought it was great).
Have a phenomenal weekend! I keep promising an adoption post, and I have one percolating in my head, but I'm not quite ready to get thoughts to paper (screen) on that one yet. So sometime soon...
I'm still hoping for a miracle, as I do every other two-week increment, but I'm looking forward to our likely upcoming IVF cycle. We'll take a month off after this cycle, and then start up again after that. Ignoring the financial aspect, I really love IVF (relative to IUI). There is more rigor behind it, and it appeals to my analytical side much more so than IUI. The stages are better defined, and you can actually pinpoint where the issue may be (such as implantation). That doesn't mean you can necessarily solve that issue, but the knowing aspect is a huge relief. With IUI, I just feel that we throw a bunch of crap at the wall to see what sticks.
While this TTC madness is ridiculously life and relationship consuming, T and I do have an existence outside of it (although sometimes that is hard for us to believe). We attended my stepdaughter's band concert last night, which was SO much better than the last one where we heard more squeaks than audible on-key notes. She is an amazingly awesome and accomplished girl and I couldn't be prouder of her. Her tween angst is starting to shine through though, so we'll have to keep a look out for that. I only have to think back my own tween/teen years, and I then consider myself adequately forewarned.
Our August is chock full of family, friends, and fun. We'll have multiple visitors over the next several weeks, are attending some concerts, and just are generally looking forward to some respite from the insane temperatures of the last month. I'll be honest. Sometimes, T and I have to consciously remind ourselves how truly good we have it. Almost all of our friends are in the midst of baby mania of their own in some way or another, and it can be easy to dwell on the fact that we have been so unlucky in that area thus far. In reality, our lives are so permeated with love from each other, our extended families and our awesome friends, that it sometimes seems petty to ask for even more. But that one small thing that we desire is truly the biggest thing that would ever happen in our lives, so we'll keep on truckin'.
The most fabulous news on this Friday is that we have NO plans tonight. We were meant to hang out with some friends, but switched it to a different weekend since we were unsure if our IUI would be today or tomorrow. So, friends, while we love you, we are greatly looking forward to some T and C time. Wine will be flowing, grill will be grilling, and big screen basement TV will likely be playing an awesome movie.
(On the movie note, we watched a REALLY good movie this week. If you like creepy, but not scary, movies, and can handle foreign films, rent "The Orphanage (El Orfanato)". It's in Spanish, and is a technically a ghost story, but is ultimately about how much a mother loves her adopted son. I totally cried and thought it was great).
Have a phenomenal weekend! I keep promising an adoption post, and I have one percolating in my head, but I'm not quite ready to get thoughts to paper (screen) on that one yet. So sometime soon...
Friday, July 20, 2012
Clomid is an evil, evil wench
I'm not "officially" out yet, but my temperature dropped this morning over 0.6 degrees to my coverline. That was probably only meaningful to like two people reading this. Translation: period is coming and coming fast.
I was noting to T all through this last week that it wasn't successful as I was having no symptoms at all. He would be quick to remind me that early pregnancy symptoms (i.e. before a positive test) could be a bunch of hogwash, which is certainly true. But I still figure I'd feel something.
Then yesterday, my body went a little crazy. (This is where we enter the "too much information" section of the blog. Move along if you don't want to hear about my boobs being on fire.)
I'll step back and note that I really don't get PMS symptoms. Maybe a little cranky one day, but I'll get some very specific cramping about 12 hours before my period starts. I'll maybe get some shooting pains in my boobs a day or so before. Then once it actually starts, I'll have more generalized cramping for about an hour. Then I'm on my merry way.
So yesterday, day of boobs being on fire, made me start thinking something was HAPPENING. Hmmm...I thought...here is the "different" I was searching for. I also had crazy itchy nipples, which I NEVER have, along with that generalized cramping I get normally after the period starts. At this point in our "journey", I have definitely learned to not get ahead of myself, so off to the googles I went.
In all my preparation with Clomid, I read extensively about side effects while you were actually taking it early in the cycle. I didn't read about (nor knew about) the impacts it can actually have on your PMS.
Boobs on fire? Quote from random girl on internet: "I never had sore breasts in PMS. But with Clomid, I almost wanted them to fall off to just leave me alone."
Itchy nipples? Whole post on one of my websites entitled "Clomid sore and itchy nipples 2ww" with multiple respondents.
Crazy cramps? Chalk up to Clomid as well.
So my moment of hope only lasted about 10 minutes. I actually had a visual of the Clomid witch running away cackling while I chased her with a raygun powered by the Google engine. God bless the interwebs.
The docs do test my ovulation after Clomid by taking a blood sample about seven days after the supposed ovulation. They want to see the measurement (of progesterone) over 15 which simply means you ovulated. Mine was 44. I ovulate like a boss.
We're trying this one more time, but then I'm done with this IUI crap. It's time to pull out the big guns of IVF again. We'll probably end up exactly where we are now, but it definitely won't be without a fight. Plus I've decided I like shots better than Clomid crazy as it sounds.
Now I'm going to concentrate on the positive side of not being pregnant: drinking. We're going to St. Louis this weekend to watch the Cards crush the Cubs with my parents (my husband is a Cubs fan - ha!). $9 beers for all. And next weekend we have tickets to a dinner at a new brewery opening in town -- multiple courses paired with local beers. I'm happy. I like beer. Life will be just peachy these next few weeks (and that was not sarcasm). Have a good weekend yourself!
I was noting to T all through this last week that it wasn't successful as I was having no symptoms at all. He would be quick to remind me that early pregnancy symptoms (i.e. before a positive test) could be a bunch of hogwash, which is certainly true. But I still figure I'd feel something.
Then yesterday, my body went a little crazy. (This is where we enter the "too much information" section of the blog. Move along if you don't want to hear about my boobs being on fire.)
I'll step back and note that I really don't get PMS symptoms. Maybe a little cranky one day, but I'll get some very specific cramping about 12 hours before my period starts. I'll maybe get some shooting pains in my boobs a day or so before. Then once it actually starts, I'll have more generalized cramping for about an hour. Then I'm on my merry way.
So yesterday, day of boobs being on fire, made me start thinking something was HAPPENING. Hmmm...I thought...here is the "different" I was searching for. I also had crazy itchy nipples, which I NEVER have, along with that generalized cramping I get normally after the period starts. At this point in our "journey", I have definitely learned to not get ahead of myself, so off to the googles I went.
In all my preparation with Clomid, I read extensively about side effects while you were actually taking it early in the cycle. I didn't read about (nor knew about) the impacts it can actually have on your PMS.
Boobs on fire? Quote from random girl on internet: "I never had sore breasts in PMS. But with Clomid, I almost wanted them to fall off to just leave me alone."
Itchy nipples? Whole post on one of my websites entitled "Clomid sore and itchy nipples 2ww" with multiple respondents.
Crazy cramps? Chalk up to Clomid as well.
So my moment of hope only lasted about 10 minutes. I actually had a visual of the Clomid witch running away cackling while I chased her with a raygun powered by the Google engine. God bless the interwebs.
The docs do test my ovulation after Clomid by taking a blood sample about seven days after the supposed ovulation. They want to see the measurement (of progesterone) over 15 which simply means you ovulated. Mine was 44. I ovulate like a boss.
We're trying this one more time, but then I'm done with this IUI crap. It's time to pull out the big guns of IVF again. We'll probably end up exactly where we are now, but it definitely won't be without a fight. Plus I've decided I like shots better than Clomid crazy as it sounds.
Now I'm going to concentrate on the positive side of not being pregnant: drinking. We're going to St. Louis this weekend to watch the Cards crush the Cubs with my parents (my husband is a Cubs fan - ha!). $9 beers for all. And next weekend we have tickets to a dinner at a new brewery opening in town -- multiple courses paired with local beers. I'm happy. I like beer. Life will be just peachy these next few weeks (and that was not sarcasm). Have a good weekend yourself!
Monday, July 16, 2012
It's really a miracle anyone gets pregnant
If you have an hour to spare (and it really is worth it), check out this documentary entitled "The Great Sperm Race". T and I consider ourselves somewhat experts in how reproduction works, and there were still some interesting tidbits here. It's a very quick hour!
Friday, July 13, 2012
It's my birthday!
Looking forward to fun times with friends and family. I'll ignore the fact that I'm getting older and my eggs are rotting even more :)
Please keep your fingers crossed for good news for us these next couple weeks!
Saturday, July 7, 2012
It's always something!
I almost had to go to the ER last night. For anyone who knows me and my husband, that probably elicits more laughter than fear. Between the two of us, we seriously go to the ER 1 or 2 times a year. My stepdaughter has not been since I've known her (more than 4 years now). But yet, T and I are intimately familiar with the nice new hospital near us on the west side of town.
Somehow I rammed my foot into T's foot while at a music festival last night. At first, I just spewed out some expletives since it just hurt a lot - like stubbing a toe. Then I made the mistake of looking down. My big toe's toenail was flipped backward and blood was gushing out of my toe and pooling up on the ground and my sandal. Awesome. We found the first aid tent and they wrapped me up all nice (while the tech's girlfriend ran away screaming -- I'm serious). They said if it still hurt, I should go to the ER because they couldn't tell if there were lacerations and I may need stitches. It did hurt this morning, but I decided to just go to the walk-in clinic instead. All's good and the ER was avoided, but I apparently won't have a big toenail for 6 months to 1 year. And I had to get a tetanus shot, so now I have a super cute bandaid with butterflies on my left arm. I'm guessing the hipsters at the music festival tonight will find it ironic, and I'll start some major trend.
Hopefully we'll be able to tell our kid someday that he/she was conceived on that crazy weekend where I almost lost my toe! Since this was our first month on Clomid, we went in on Friday for an ultrasound to check out the progress. Friday was cycle day 13. Per my instructions, the ultrasound should technically be on CD14, but they won't schedule them on weekends. However, when we got there, the nurse said that really they should be on CD15. So she was concerned that the ultrasound would be too early. Since we are paying out of pocket (an ultrasound is ~$300), she wanted us to consider coming back on Monday. I normally ovulate on CD15 (Sunday this time), but wasn't sure how the Clomid would change things. We hemmed and hawed and then said it's only money and went ahead with the Friday ultrasound.
The nurse immediately said we made the right choice, as there was no way we'd last until Monday. They are looking for follicles on both ovaries to see how many eggs we could potentially have. A follicle is considered mature around a size of 20mm and grows about 1-2mm a day. We were hoping for two follicles -- or at least one REALLY good one that was maybe "better" than my prior natural cycles".
I had THREE follicles > 20 mm (one 25mm, one 22mm, and then one right at 20mm). I also had one at 14mm that could feasibly have an egg, but would likely not. So she called them 3.5 follicles. She was shocked they only retrieved six eggs during my IVF while I was on the grandaddy of meds versus these 3.5 follicles on Clomid. I think this definitely shows if we need to do IVF again, they will be changing my drug protocol, because I can definitely react to something!
T and I had originally said that we'd go forward with the IUI with three follicles, but not with four. The 3.5 of course put us in the gray zone. After some chatting with the nurse, she reminded us that the follicles may not all have eggs, and of course even if they do, all eggs may not fertilize. We took a deep sigh and decided to go for it.
I had not seen a "smiley face" on my ovulation predictor yet, so she wanted to go ahead and schedule the IUI for Saturday morning since we were obviously ready to burst. She was afraid we somehow missed the LH surge that gives you the smiley face. We were supposed to wake up Saturday morning and test again -- if it was negative, we'd come in for the insemination on Saturday. If we did get the smiley face, then we'll know it's working correctly and reschedule to Sunday (day after the surge). We indeed got the smiley this morning, so Sunday morning (CD15 - right on schedule), I'll go in and give this whole crazy thing a try again.
We do always manage to get excited on cycles where "something" is different - whether a better sperm count or more follicles in this case. So fingers crossed that this results in something fun (and ideally not quadruple the fun!).
Somehow I rammed my foot into T's foot while at a music festival last night. At first, I just spewed out some expletives since it just hurt a lot - like stubbing a toe. Then I made the mistake of looking down. My big toe's toenail was flipped backward and blood was gushing out of my toe and pooling up on the ground and my sandal. Awesome. We found the first aid tent and they wrapped me up all nice (while the tech's girlfriend ran away screaming -- I'm serious). They said if it still hurt, I should go to the ER because they couldn't tell if there were lacerations and I may need stitches. It did hurt this morning, but I decided to just go to the walk-in clinic instead. All's good and the ER was avoided, but I apparently won't have a big toenail for 6 months to 1 year. And I had to get a tetanus shot, so now I have a super cute bandaid with butterflies on my left arm. I'm guessing the hipsters at the music festival tonight will find it ironic, and I'll start some major trend.
Hopefully we'll be able to tell our kid someday that he/she was conceived on that crazy weekend where I almost lost my toe! Since this was our first month on Clomid, we went in on Friday for an ultrasound to check out the progress. Friday was cycle day 13. Per my instructions, the ultrasound should technically be on CD14, but they won't schedule them on weekends. However, when we got there, the nurse said that really they should be on CD15. So she was concerned that the ultrasound would be too early. Since we are paying out of pocket (an ultrasound is ~$300), she wanted us to consider coming back on Monday. I normally ovulate on CD15 (Sunday this time), but wasn't sure how the Clomid would change things. We hemmed and hawed and then said it's only money and went ahead with the Friday ultrasound.
The nurse immediately said we made the right choice, as there was no way we'd last until Monday. They are looking for follicles on both ovaries to see how many eggs we could potentially have. A follicle is considered mature around a size of 20mm and grows about 1-2mm a day. We were hoping for two follicles -- or at least one REALLY good one that was maybe "better" than my prior natural cycles".
I had THREE follicles > 20 mm (one 25mm, one 22mm, and then one right at 20mm). I also had one at 14mm that could feasibly have an egg, but would likely not. So she called them 3.5 follicles. She was shocked they only retrieved six eggs during my IVF while I was on the grandaddy of meds versus these 3.5 follicles on Clomid. I think this definitely shows if we need to do IVF again, they will be changing my drug protocol, because I can definitely react to something!
T and I had originally said that we'd go forward with the IUI with three follicles, but not with four. The 3.5 of course put us in the gray zone. After some chatting with the nurse, she reminded us that the follicles may not all have eggs, and of course even if they do, all eggs may not fertilize. We took a deep sigh and decided to go for it.
I had not seen a "smiley face" on my ovulation predictor yet, so she wanted to go ahead and schedule the IUI for Saturday morning since we were obviously ready to burst. She was afraid we somehow missed the LH surge that gives you the smiley face. We were supposed to wake up Saturday morning and test again -- if it was negative, we'd come in for the insemination on Saturday. If we did get the smiley face, then we'll know it's working correctly and reschedule to Sunday (day after the surge). We indeed got the smiley this morning, so Sunday morning (CD15 - right on schedule), I'll go in and give this whole crazy thing a try again.
We do always manage to get excited on cycles where "something" is different - whether a better sperm count or more follicles in this case. So fingers crossed that this results in something fun (and ideally not quadruple the fun!).
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