Cycle Day 9 Update

Although today is the 20th day of my daily injections, today is called "Cycle Day 9" of my IVF cycle. It's a little confusing (as all of this is), so I thought I should explain that title. It is called Cycle Day 9 because it is the 9th day of my cycle. I have a feeling that hasn't cleared anything up . . . sorry. I don't know how to explain it in a more precise way. Anyway, today was a big day. Here are the details - in order.

Estradiol (E2) Blood Draw

At 8 am, Dave and I headed to Quest Laboratory one building down from Dr. Ahlering's office to have my blood drawn. The purpose was to test my estradiol levels. Dr. A was going to get the results today, but I just realized I haven't heard from my coordinator how it turned out. I will e-mail her tomorrow. The estradiol levels give info regarding the response of my ovaries to the hormones. It is one of the clues that Dr. A uses to determine my injection dosages for the next few days. If my E2 levels are low, they usually increase the dosages, because there is a small window of time to get my eggs to mature to proper size. It is an exact science for Dr. A to get everything tweeked just right.

Ultrasound

At 8:30 am, we hopped over to Dr. A's office to have a vaginal ultrasound. Dr. A looked at the lining of my uterus and the number and size of follicles in my ovaries. To state it simply, he said that my uterine lining looks good. It is supposed to be getting fairly thick - and it is. Dr. A failed to mention exactly how many follicles were developing, but we saw them. It seemed to me that there were several, probably 10-12. They were all a little smaller than he had hoped. They measured between 10-12 mm each. They are mature somewhere between 17-25 mm, it is preferred for them to grow about 2 mm per day. So, he increased my dosage of Gonal-F for tonight and tomorrow night from 225 IU to 600 IU. It sucked. 

Just as a reminder, an egg is produced inside each follicle in my ovary. This is a picture of someone else's ovary I found on the internet, but mine looked similar. The big round black blobs are the follicles. They usually are all different sizes. They don't mature at the exact same rate.

Intralipid IV Infusion

After the ultrasound, my nurse coordinator, Andrea, started an IV in my right wrist. She gave me Intralipid. It was very cold and it hurt quite a bit. It took about 20 minutes. The IV site is still sore tonight. The purpose of the Intralipid is to suppress my immune system. As I mentioned in previous posts, I have elevated levels of a couple of different immune cell types (Natural Killer Cells and another that has escaped me) that promote immediate pregnancy loss. If I do become pregnant, I will have at least one more Intralipid IV. Dave took a few pictures during the infusion.

Acupuncture

I saw Christine Kleinschmidt, a license acupuncturist, to have my first acupuncture session. She was great. It was a nice experience. She used 17 of those little needles. She placed them in my left ear, my chest, my left wrist, my belly, my left leg, and the top of my left foot. I felt them as she placed them, but it never hurt. Once she placed the needles, she left me to relax "on a beach" for about 35 minutes. After about 20 minutes, I started to feel tingly, warm and very relaxed. It was unexpected, but I did feel a physical change. I am returning to see her Thursday, as well. I felt pretty relaxed the rest of the evening.

As a result of my appointment with Dr. A today, he doesn't want to see me back until Thursday morning, March 26th. Usually, they would want to see me sooner, but my follicles are not cooperating. He wants to wait until they are bigger. So, we came home to Kirksville tonight. Dave and I each had a separate car, so he left at about 2:30 prior to my acupuncture appointment and I left at about 4:45. 

I am sitting in my own bed as I write this on my laptop. I am going back to St. Louis Wednesday afternoon. I told Dave he can stay home and work Thursday and Friday if he wants to, but I think he is still debating. Dr. A said that the egg retrieval will probably be Sunday. That is later than they originally expected. My prediction is that it will be Friday or Saturday. I know my eggs and once they are given a boost, they do work quickly! This scenario has happened before. We'll see. It is time for me to get some sleep. I will catch up with you all tomorrow.