Day 7: Bloodwork and Ultrasound - Holy Wow.

Last night, around 8pm, I realized I totally forgot to make my appointment for this morning's b/w and u/s. Oops. I called and left a message as soon as I remembered that I had forgotten, but of course, the office was closed by 8pm. So, I made the executive decision to show up at the office ass-early today, at 7am, in hopes that they would have time for me. When I got there, the office was completely empty, except for the receptionist. This is strange, since the mornings are usually busiest at a fertility clinic. That is when you need to get your ultrasounds and bloodwork done, and trust me, there are a TON of women who need this done every day. But today, it's empty. So, of course, they could see me.

 The nurse who saw me today was joking that the schedule must be off, since they are usually very busy on a weekend morning. She took my blood and asked me how I was doing. I told her that I was "feeling it" since this morning I woke up very bloated, and my pelvis feels heavy. As I've already been through this twice before, I know that means that my follicles are a-growin' even if it's still pretty early in my stims.

 After bloodwork was done, I was put into an exam room. Soon after, Dr. W. came in to do my ultrasound. I told her I was excited to see what was going on in there. When the ultrasound began, she measured my uterine lining first, then turned the wand toward my ovaries. The first thing she said was, "Wow!" And there, on the screen, of just one of my ovaries, were lots of round follicles, growing nicely and evenly, from what I could see. She laughed and said, "You are really going to start feeling this soon." To which I replied, "I am already feeling it, trust me." Then she joked around and added, "Well, when it comes time to count ALL of these, you may as well take a nap, since we are going to be here for awhile." That's a great thing to hear, really.

 She also asked me if I was going to freeze any this time. I told her that I want to, but I've never made it that far before. And she said, "Oh yeah. Well, I think you this time around." She checked on my other ovary, and that one is doing just as well as the first. When the ultrasound was over, I asked her how many follicles I have so far. She said the biggest ones are around 11mm at the moment, but I have, at least TWENTY follicles ON EACH SIDE. Of course, she reminded me that all of these probably won't grow or hold mature eggs, but she's very optimistic that a good amount will.

I have never had TWENTY on each side before. At the most, I've only ever had maybe fifteen combined. So, this is great to hear. The doctor said that depending on my e2 levels, they may want to see me back tomorrow, because of how many follicles I have growing.

 She would like to see /any/ rise at all of my e2 level, but of course, if it has sky-rocketed, they will have to drop my dose and keep an eye on me. With this many follicles, OHSS is definitely a factor and something they'll want to avoid. Not to mention, it's something I would like to avoid, as I don't want to end up in the hospital for Thanksgiving. I will update later this afternoon with my estrogen levels. :)

***UPDATE*** My e2 rose to 430, and I now have about six measurable follicles (ones that are big enough at this point to matter). So, that's not so bad! They raised my menopur from one vial to two vials, and I start the ganarelix tonight, then tomorrow morning and every morning after that. So, now I'm at three shots a day. Party on!