Visit with baby doc went great yesterday! Antral follicle count isn't great, but fortunately does not seem to have deteriorated since I had it checked last year. For those of you not in the know on this fertility talk, antral follicles are the the resting follicles that can be seen on ultrasound (they appear as black dots on the ovaries). It's a good indication of how many eggs will be retrieved. However, even though you have, say 6 antral follicles, you might not necessarily get 6 eggs or they might not all be mature enough. Of course, on top of that, the eggs that do mature may not all fertilize, even if you use ICSI (that's where they inject a single sperm into the egg). I think they generally like to see 8-10 antral follies on each ovary. Low antral follicle count=diminished ovarian reserve. But hey, IT ONLY TAKES ONE GOOD EGG! That's what I'm holding onto!
So, I have 3 follies on the right (last year there were only 2), one seen clearly on the left, but he thinks there are a couple more there. I ovulated so I have the corpus luteum cyst. It's big and he says it's probably obscuring a couple more. Last year 3-4 were seen on the left side. Speaking of eggs and sperm doc said, "Hey you should at least get them together for dinner at the same table. If they don't like each other, so be it. At least you will have introduced them!" So, it's full steam ahead!
Also he did a trial run on embryo transfer. He inserted the catheter and followed it on ultrasound. He measured how far in he had to insert it so he'd know how far to go when it's the real deal.
Because of my issues with blood clots, he's not going to put me on bcp first, nor will he do any estrogen priming. He wants me to start heparin injections, I think he said on day 3 of stimulation/shots. As my multiple follicles mature, my estrogen will rise. Rise in estrogen=potential for clots, so the heparin is to offset that risk.
Just spoke to a nurse coordinator and it looks like the stars are all aligning properly. We're just waiting for clearance from my hematologist, the pharmacy will get the authorization for my meds (which I bet are way more expensive than crack) and we're good to go. I'll get a baseline ultrasound next week to make sure my ovaries are nice and quiet before we fire 'em up. On Friday the 13th, I'll go to a class to learn how to stick myself. S will be outta town on business, so he'll get in on the tail end of the stabbin'. We'll be aiming for egg retrieval right around Thanksgiving and embryo transfer over the weekend. Woo hooo! If this all works out, we will have so much to be thankful for!
We popped into Jamba Juice today for my wheatgrass shot. Funny how they serve it up with a slice of orange to bite into afterwards. It's like tequila, just green, gross and without the buzz! Don't know what it was about today's shot, but it totally made me want to hurl. Very nearly, right on Steve. Bleh.
Saw a cute little mixed baby today while taking Steve for a post op appointment. We were all AWWWWW! We're gonna have one of those! LOL!
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