I have realised something. I do so much better with the injections if I don't bother icing my skin beforehand. I really thought it would help to numb my skin and make it easier, but tonight I forgot to ice and it was sooo much easier! So from now on, the ice stays in the freezer.
I had to give myself a small dose of Pregnyl today, so that's 3 injections in the one day - eek! But luckily for me I only had to do the Pregnyl once because it is very tricky.
Monday is definitely going to be the day of egg pick-up which happens to be my son's 3rd birthday. Luckily it is one of the days he goes to daycare anyway, so my hubby will be home with our daughter and they will drive me into the day surgery for my procedure, and my lovely recipient has offered to come in and see me afterwards and drive me home to save Matt the big trip. So sweet! It will be great to see her again and to be able to share the moment with her right after they have taken the eggs that she will carry, hopefully to full-term.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Day 13 blood test results
It seems everything is going great guns. My levels are up at 4000 now which is right on target, and egg pick-up is pretty much all set for Monday.
One more set of bloods and another scan on Friday morning, and until then I remain on my high dose of 400 of Puregon plus the Orgalutran. Tomorrow is my first day of giving myself a very small dose of Pregnyl which I am quite confident in now.
Only 4 more days of injections to go!!!
One more set of bloods and another scan on Friday morning, and until then I remain on my high dose of 400 of Puregon plus the Orgalutran. Tomorrow is my first day of giving myself a very small dose of Pregnyl which I am quite confident in now.
Only 4 more days of injections to go!!!
Day 12 & 13
The blood test results from Monday's blood test were fantastic!! They were hoping for me to be over 500 and my levels were 2156! :)
So the ball is rolling, everything is working just as it should and I am feeling very happy and confident about everything.
This morning I had my next scan and blood test. The scan went very well. It seems I have 9 follies growing, with 8 of them being nice and big and strong. The largest one is a whopping 20mm, then most sit around the 15-17mm mark, whilst the 9th follie is just 10mm. But the nurse this morning said that by Friday's scan they should have pretty much all caught up to each other and be roughly the same size. I think they like to do egg pick up when they all measure somewhere around 18mm.
I have been getting little pains in my ovaries every now and then, nothing extreme, just something I can feel for a short period of time before it goes away. Apparently that is just because the eggs are growing much bigger than they normally would so I can feel them in there. Plus I am fairly bloated pretty much all the time, particularly at night, it's a touch uncomfortable but all that will go away once the eggs are retrieved.
It is looking like the egg pick-up will happen on Monday - the day of the Jay Z & U2 concert. I am soooo hoping it can be scheduled for another day but unfortunately it looks like I might be missing the concert :( But if I can make a little human life out of this then missing a concert will be well worthwhile! It just sucks that I never seem to do anything exciting, and then on the day of my one big planned event, something else comes up. Murphy's law, right?! It happens everytime, ha ha.m Not to worry.
Now I await my next blood test results, and hopefully all is going well there.
So the ball is rolling, everything is working just as it should and I am feeling very happy and confident about everything.
This morning I had my next scan and blood test. The scan went very well. It seems I have 9 follies growing, with 8 of them being nice and big and strong. The largest one is a whopping 20mm, then most sit around the 15-17mm mark, whilst the 9th follie is just 10mm. But the nurse this morning said that by Friday's scan they should have pretty much all caught up to each other and be roughly the same size. I think they like to do egg pick up when they all measure somewhere around 18mm.
I have been getting little pains in my ovaries every now and then, nothing extreme, just something I can feel for a short period of time before it goes away. Apparently that is just because the eggs are growing much bigger than they normally would so I can feel them in there. Plus I am fairly bloated pretty much all the time, particularly at night, it's a touch uncomfortable but all that will go away once the eggs are retrieved.
It is looking like the egg pick-up will happen on Monday - the day of the Jay Z & U2 concert. I am soooo hoping it can be scheduled for another day but unfortunately it looks like I might be missing the concert :( But if I can make a little human life out of this then missing a concert will be well worthwhile! It just sucks that I never seem to do anything exciting, and then on the day of my one big planned event, something else comes up. Murphy's law, right?! It happens everytime, ha ha.m Not to worry.
Now I await my next blood test results, and hopefully all is going well there.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Day 11
Today is Day 11 and I went this morning for my ultrasound and blood test.
It was a new nurse so I told her about my low levels of Oestrogen and she said that the follies will still be small. So she got the beloved dildo-cam out and had a look. She counted 8 good follies with a few more that weren't so important. She was looking for them to be in clusters and of a good size.
Her first remark was that they are all growing nicely together at the same rate which is a really great sign. She measured them and they were a good size with the biggest being 13mm and the average somewhere around 10 or 11mm. So now we just have to wait for them to grow a bit more and then we will be ready for the egg pickup.
I also got another blood test so I should be hearing back about that within a few hours, so I will come back and let you know how my Oestrogen levels are looking.
But I am feeling good again about everything now and am no longer worried that I am not doing a good job :)
It was a new nurse so I told her about my low levels of Oestrogen and she said that the follies will still be small. So she got the beloved dildo-cam out and had a look. She counted 8 good follies with a few more that weren't so important. She was looking for them to be in clusters and of a good size.
Her first remark was that they are all growing nicely together at the same rate which is a really great sign. She measured them and they were a good size with the biggest being 13mm and the average somewhere around 10 or 11mm. So now we just have to wait for them to grow a bit more and then we will be ready for the egg pickup.
I also got another blood test so I should be hearing back about that within a few hours, so I will come back and let you know how my Oestrogen levels are looking.
But I am feeling good again about everything now and am no longer worried that I am not doing a good job :)
Days 9 & 10
Days 9 & 10 happened over the weekend and all went well.
I went to the clinic to have my small dose of Pregnyl, and the nurse described it to me like this - think of it like a casserole. We put all the different drugs in to make up the recipe, but sometimes you just can't tell how much flavour it will already have, and how much you need to tweak it. You are like a casserole that needs a pinch of salt, and the Pregnyl is your pinch of salt. It's going to bring the casserole together and make all the flavours work well in the one pot.
So now I need to have the Pregnyl once every three days just to boost my system a little bit and keep everything working nicely together. Phew! Not as bad as I thought it was.
I went to the clinic to have my small dose of Pregnyl, and the nurse described it to me like this - think of it like a casserole. We put all the different drugs in to make up the recipe, but sometimes you just can't tell how much flavour it will already have, and how much you need to tweak it. You are like a casserole that needs a pinch of salt, and the Pregnyl is your pinch of salt. It's going to bring the casserole together and make all the flavours work well in the one pot.
So now I need to have the Pregnyl once every three days just to boost my system a little bit and keep everything working nicely together. Phew! Not as bad as I thought it was.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Day 8 - blood test results
It seems my system is not reacting to the drugs the way it should be and my levels of Oestrogen are sitting at 432 when it really should be up over 500, so now my dose of Puregon has increased to 400 (it has doubled!) and I have to go to the clinic on the way home from work to get an injection called Pregnyl. Usually it is used to bring on ovulation (releasing the eggs) but I will be getting a very small dose which they are hoping will just boost my system a bit and get things powering to where they should be.
I also have to go back on Monday for another blood test, ultrasound and one more shot of Pregnyl.
I hope my body starts reacting the way it is supposed to, I don't want it to be letting down the team :(
I also have to go back on Monday for another blood test, ultrasound and one more shot of Pregnyl.
I hope my body starts reacting the way it is supposed to, I don't want it to be letting down the team :(
Day 8 - blood test and ultrasound
I wake up this morning and instantly feel my belly - it is still a touch swollen but I take a look and the redness has gone completely. It is no longer itchy or painful either. Phew! I have an ultrasound this morning anyway so I will make mention of it and see what the nurse says.
I go to my appointment, which is for an ultrasound and blood test. The reason they want to do the ultrasound is to take an early look at my eggs to see how many there are and what measurements they are. Before she starts the scan she tells me that because my Oestrogen levels were low that my egg count won't be great, but it's nothing to worry about. Now that they have upped my dose it will improve and we should see the improvement by my next appointment on Monday.
She inserted the camera up my hoo-haa (it is affectionately known as dildo cam for obvious reasons) and took a look at what was going on with my ovaries. I had 5 eggs from my left ovary and 4 eggs from my right. Those numbers didn't seem very good to me at all and I felt immediate disappointment. I had one of these scans a few months ago just after I had agreed to become an egg donor and I had 8 eggs on one side and 11 on the other - and that was with no drugs at all, so I hope that I can pull those sorts of numbers this cycle, or better.
Then she gave me another blood test to see how my levels of Oestrogen are going now after having the higher dose of Puregon for a few days, and my nurse will call me later today to tell me the results and if there is anything that needs changing.
I tell her now about my adverse reaction to the Orgalutran last night and she says that it is a very normal reaction. A lot of patients get a red mark that is about the size of a 20c piece. Mine was long and oval, more like the size of an Arrowroot biscuit, but she didn't seem concerned. She told me to ice it if I have any dramas as that will help reduce the swelling and the pain. Also, she said she will make mention of it to my nurse today who will then call me with the blood test results and speak to me about my reaction and if there is anything else I can do.
It seems like the egg pick-up is going to be on Wednesday or Friday of next week, only 5-7 days away, but I truly am hoping it can be the Wednesday, as my son's 3rd birthday party is happening on the Sunday and I want to be up and about and be able to enjoy the day. If the egg pick-up happens Friday there is every chance I will still be in a bit of pain from the procedure, so here's hoping.
I go to my appointment, which is for an ultrasound and blood test. The reason they want to do the ultrasound is to take an early look at my eggs to see how many there are and what measurements they are. Before she starts the scan she tells me that because my Oestrogen levels were low that my egg count won't be great, but it's nothing to worry about. Now that they have upped my dose it will improve and we should see the improvement by my next appointment on Monday.
She inserted the camera up my hoo-haa (it is affectionately known as dildo cam for obvious reasons) and took a look at what was going on with my ovaries. I had 5 eggs from my left ovary and 4 eggs from my right. Those numbers didn't seem very good to me at all and I felt immediate disappointment. I had one of these scans a few months ago just after I had agreed to become an egg donor and I had 8 eggs on one side and 11 on the other - and that was with no drugs at all, so I hope that I can pull those sorts of numbers this cycle, or better.
Then she gave me another blood test to see how my levels of Oestrogen are going now after having the higher dose of Puregon for a few days, and my nurse will call me later today to tell me the results and if there is anything that needs changing.
I tell her now about my adverse reaction to the Orgalutran last night and she says that it is a very normal reaction. A lot of patients get a red mark that is about the size of a 20c piece. Mine was long and oval, more like the size of an Arrowroot biscuit, but she didn't seem concerned. She told me to ice it if I have any dramas as that will help reduce the swelling and the pain. Also, she said she will make mention of it to my nurse today who will then call me with the blood test results and speak to me about my reaction and if there is anything else I can do.
It seems like the egg pick-up is going to be on Wednesday or Friday of next week, only 5-7 days away, but I truly am hoping it can be the Wednesday, as my son's 3rd birthday party is happening on the Sunday and I want to be up and about and be able to enjoy the day. If the egg pick-up happens Friday there is every chance I will still be in a bit of pain from the procedure, so here's hoping.
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