I've Got Growing Follies!

I had my first (of many) monitoring sonograms this morning. The drive wasn't too bad. I just put on K-Love and went into defense driving mode in the slow lane. Watch out world, there's a Subaru Tribeca on the freeway with a crazed, hormonal infertile woman behind the wheel! :)

For being the little dare devil driver during my college years in San Diego, I've turned into quite the wimp on freeways now.

So, needless to say, I felt tense the whole way there and back, and quite emotional at times. Whenever I hear "The Revelation Song" by Phillips, Craig & Dean, I seriously ball! And, of course, I heard that song both up and back. I'm such an emotional wreck. Oh, and if I simply begin to think about Aaron and Ella, I get emotional. Okay, here comes the tear-glazed eyes!

These darn medicines are really messing with me, but I guess that was to be expected.

Okay, back to what I initially wanted to write about before I started rambling. :)

I've got follicles! That's right! There are 14 little follies right there in plain sight (courtesy of the sonogram machine). They look like little black M&Ms. The nurse found 8 follicles on my right side, with a bunch in the back that she couldn't measure quite yet, and 6 on the left side. They ranged from 6mm to 11mm, with a majority being 8mm to 9mm.

Here is a picture to give you an idea of what I saw. My follicles were much smaller, but it might help those of you who have never been through IVF understand what's going on. :)

Courtesy of Google Images.

The nurse explained that my next sonogram will be able to reveal more, especially of the little guys hiding in the back. She predicted that my right side will be the winning side, with already having 2 more than my left side and with that huge hidden cluster.

I kept asking if what she sees is good, if the numbers are good, if the stimulation injections are doing what they are supposed to be doing, and she kept reassuring me that everything is normal and NORMAL IS GOOD. She said the size of my follicles are mid-range, just as I would want them to be.

I was then about to ask what most women experience at this stage, to see if they typically have more or less follicles, or if their follicles are bigger or smaller, but then I remembered the negative impact of comparison. So, I stopped myself from asking.

No good would come from me knowing about other women's experiences. If my results are better, my confidence would grow, which is not necessarily a good thing. And, if my results are worse, I'd feel discouraged. I am only going to focus on myself and on my little follies, one or two of which will release the egg(s) that will fertilize with Aaron's sperm and grow inside of me for 9 months! Amen!

Anyway, I received a call back from RSC. Based on my sonogram and blood results, Dr. Weckstein wants me to continue on the same dosage (150 IU of Follitim and 75 IU of Menopur). He likes the way my body is responding to the medication and doesn't see a need to adjust the dosage. That makes me so happy to hear! 

The estrodial level is still relatively low in my blood, which that combined with my small- to mid-sized follicles, means I don't have to go in for another monitoring sonogram until Saturday morning (which is good because I'll be missing a lot of work in the next two weeks). After this next sonogram, the nurse says I'll need to go in every other day at the minimum, and most likely everyday until the trigger shot!

Dr. Weckstein wants my follicles to be 16mm and bigger, with a majority being above 18mm. So, my little guys still have some growing to do (and boy, do I already feel the cramping, bloating and discomfort from the past few days' growths that I can't imagine what it'll be like once they are all full-sized!).

If all goes as planned, my egg retrieval is set for next Thursday, December 9th. :)