Back into the two week wait

Month 20, Cycle 16, Day 11, Ovulation Day?

I was strong enough to give myself the Gonal-F (FSH) shots Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday morning, once I arrived at the clinic, before the ultrasound, I was supposed to have my blood drawn to check my estrogen levels. I had just had the diabetes test earlier this week and had 3 pokes in my arm which left 3 distinct bruises in my elbow space. I joked with the medical assistant showing her my arms and said, "which space you want to bruise some more today?" She laughed and picked the arm that had the least amount of bruising. She attempted to find a vein, and eventually did, but did not get very much blood from this vein. Another tech walked up and said, "are we trying to get a few drops at a time?" And still there was very little blood. The medical assistant insisted that I was dehydrated and needed to drink a cup of water. She had me drink water and said she would try the draw again after my scan. I drank 2 cups of water while I waited for the scan, because needles and I are not friends.

I was greeted in the room by my dear ultrasound tech, Francie. She looked into my uterus via vaginal ultrasound and discovered that my lining was 13mm thick. I asked her if this was too thick, since it was supposed to be over 7mm. She said, "no, this is great. Is has to be over 7 to be good enough and we like em thick." When I got pregnant in September it was just under 8mm. So, 13 sounds great.

Francie looked at my right ovary and found 4 follicles. She measured each one individually. The size the clinic likes to see is 18mm or higher at this stage in the cycle. If there are 1, 2 or 3 over 18, then chances are that they will allow me to give the trigger shot. Francie saw one at 18.5mm, one at 19mm, one at 15.5mm and one at 12.5mm. So I have two mature follicles on the right side. She looked at the left ovary and saw no follicles. But, from the looks of this ultrasound I was fairly confident that they would call later in the day to say that the doctor wants me to give myself Ovidrel to trigger the release of my eggs.

I then had to return to the area to give more blood. The same MA decided to try again, and still after digging around under my skin, was unable to locate a vein. She pulled the needle out and put a cotton ball on it and had me bend this elbow while she attempted again on the other arm. I told her that I didn't feel dehydrated and I had drank two cups of water and thought that I was so cold and that is why my veins are constricted. While I was telling her all of this, she stuck the needle into this other arm and again was unable to find a vein. I told her that maybe I need to have a warm compress to pop the veins out. She agreed and went to get a warm wet washcloth. In the meantime another MA saw me sitting there and asked if I needed help. I told her what was happening and she asked me which arm she was able to take blood from earlier this week. I told her the right one and I lowered my elbow, blood was gushing out of the site the other MA had tried two times earlier. So, this new MA takes out a needle and after cleaning my skin was able to get the draw on the first try. So glad that was over.

I got the call that I could give myself the ovidrel at 2pm. I knew I had to wait until evening to give it, and since I had to work 2nd shift, my hubby and I did what we needed to early in the day.

At 6:30pm, I was cramping and had a spot of blood in the toilet. I called the emergency number for the clinic because I knew that bleeding in between periods is not normal and I didn't want to give my ovidrel shot in case I was overstimulated or whatever. The doctor on call said he thinks it was from the intercourse earlier in the day, so not to worry. He told me to give the shot and he would look over my ultrasound in the morning and if he thought the uterine lining was unstable, he would prescribe me with Progesterone. I haven't heard from him yet, but hope that he was right about intercourse.

The plan is to 1)get busy each day this weekend 2)take a progesterone test on Friday to see if low progesterone is the culprit for miscarriages 3)test for Pregnancy the following Friday.

Father, I thank you so much for you love, your provision and your comfort. I am amazed at how you provide for me. Thank you for special people I have met as a result of my losses and infertility and thank you for allowing my story to help others. I pray that you allow me to conceive again this month and that you allow me to finally be a mother. In Jesus' name, AMEN!



After the scan,