First Scan

Yesterday I had my first scan of this cycle. It was at this appointment on my first cycle that I found out I was a poor responder (at that point I had been given more typical doses of stim meds, instead of the boat-load I have been prescribed in my last three cycles). Unfortunately, by that point it is really too late to recruit any more follicles, so we just had to work with what we had (which, for my first cycle ended up being only 4 eggs, 3 of which were mature and only one of which fertilized).

Much to Marge's surprise and delight (remember, I don't think she has said more than two sentences to me in the last month that didn't contain the words "poor responder" or "diminished ovarian reserve") the scan revealed a good number of measurable follicles. It seems like she counted maybe 8 to 10 in my right ovary (who has always been my champ) and 4 or so in the left. They were of various sizes, but all fairly close in diameter (more about that below). When Marge called yesterday afternoon with my lab results, which indicated an estrodial level of 602 (compared to 150 at this time in my first cycle, roughly 800 with my second cycle and in the low 700s with my third) she said that both she and my RE were pleasantly surprised. Finally, some optimism!

This picture isn't from my scan, but it gives you an idea of what follicles look like on ultrasound. Those pink dots are markers to measure the diameter. As I mentioned, the goal is to have as many follicles as close as possible to each other in diameter, because this would indicate that the eggs within are maturing at the same rate. The eggs themselves don't show up on ultrasound, so the docs make assumptions on the growth and maturity of the egg within the follicles based upon the size of the follicle and also the levels of estrodial in my blood. Upon retrieval eggs can be too mature or immature, neither of which will fertilize, so the goal is to prescribe the exact dose of medicine and the exact number of days of stimulation to have the most eggs be mature, but not too mature.

I am to stay on the same medicine doses (225u of Follistim in the am and pm, 10u of microdose lupron in the am and pm and 10u of low-dose hCG in the pm) through Monday and I go for my next scan and bloodwork nice and early Tuesday morning. If everything stays on track, I will go in for retrieval next Thursday or Friday (I am hoping for Friday so I don't have to take off work, since I haven't told my boss about this cycle).

Angie is still plugging along, taking her lupron shots and sporting her estrogen patches. She has a funny story about training herself to crave the prescribed nightly baby aspirin like Pavlov's Dog... but she says she doesn't want to write any embarrassing stories about herself. She must have forgotten that she has described the color of her undergarments on this blog in the past. I imagine she will be going in next week so they can check her lining to make sure there is a nice cushy spot for an embryo to take up residence.

As you all know, Hurricane Ike smashed into Houston over the weekend (some of you more than others... I am thinking about all of you girls in H-Town, hope you are staying safe, and if you are reading this I take it as a good sign that your power is back on). The Smykay family, however, has benefited from the storm, as IAH was shut down, so Trevor's flights yesterday and today were cancelled and he has been home taking good care of me. I feel pretty good overall, just a little tired. However, this morning, the back pain has started here and there (as you probably guessed, this hyperstimulation of ovaries is not exactly natural and during stim your ovaries increase in size from that of an egg to that of a softball, which isn't exactly comfortable) and it will just get worse which is not good, especially considering I have an adorable little 21 lb boy to lug all over the place.

Will post more on Tuesday!