Hi! Thank you so much for asking about me. Mentally, I'm feeling really good. This cycle is so much different, and easier, than any in the past. I guess because I know what to expect, and also there aren't alot of what if's out there for me like there was before (ie. what if I can never have a baby? what if IVF doesn't work, etc.). I know I can have a successful pregnancy and if for some reason I can never have another one, at least I have Grant. It's just much less stressful for me.

Physically, I've felt pretty good up until about yesterday. I'm really crampy and bloated, and very very tired. I feel really exhausted and dont have much energy. They say that's because of my hormone levels.

I'm doing really good with my cycle. I have been going in every day for blood tests and ultrasounds to monitor my progress. Since I respond as good as I do, they have to be careful with me so I dont overstimulate like I did before. For those of you interested in the specific stuff, here's how I'm doing.

When you do IVF, they give you medication to stimulate your ovaries (this med is called Follistim). It makes your ovaries produce follicles, which are fluid filled sacks each containing 1 egg. Normally, a woman produces one follicle per month. With the Follistim, you produce many. I have about 17 on my left ovary, 11 on my right. I have a few others on each side but they aren't big enough to bother with. Basically, every day I have an ultrasound to see how big my follicles are. They want to see the majority of them between 18-19mm in size before. Once they get to that point, they give me a shot of something to finalize the maturation process and basically prepare my body to ovulate (they call this a 'trigger' shot). This shot is given exactly 36 hours before when they go in and take my eggs out (egg retrieval). It has to be timed perfectly because the medication will force your body to ovulate within a certain amount of time. They have to do the egg retrieval before I ovulate, otherwise, the follicles will release the eggs and they'll just absorb into my system if they're not fertilized. This is bad.

Along with the measuring of the follicles, they also test my Estradiol (Estrogen) level. The more follicles, the bigger follicles, the higher your E2 (this is the abbreviation for Estradiol) gets. This E2 is what makes my body overstimulate, and can cause they to have to cancel a cycle. If your E2 gets too high, it basically means you have way too many follicles, and they're too big. Your ovaries are just overresponding and it can be very dangerous..life threatening actually. The more Follistim they give me, the higher my E2 gets. So they have to find a balance between keeping my follicles growning from the use of the Follistim, yet not giving me too much so that I wont overstimulate. They've had me on a very very low dose pretty much all along. It's causing my follicles to grow, but pretty slowly, but it's keeping my E2 under control too. It's still on the high end but not dangerously high like it has been in the past.

So overall, medically speaking, my cycle is going REALLY well. Sorry for all the technical stuff I wrote above, but unless you kinda understand how things work, it's hard to know what I'm taking about.

I will go back in tomorrow for another ultrasound and see how I'm doing once again. It's likely they'll trigger me tomorrow night and do my retrieval Wednesday. It just depends how big my follicles have grown tonight. The average size of them is around 14mm right now.

Sorry for writing a book!! If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading!! I'll keep you posted after my appt tomorrow!! :-)

I'm so happy you're progessing well.

Keep writing "books;" I find this all so fascinating. It's no less a miracle just because we know the terms and details. I find it all so awe-inspiring.

Hang in there. Grant's little brother and sister are getting closer and closer.

Cool! Sorry you're feeling tired, that's tough. We're saying prayers and shakin' the baby dust around!! :)

Blessings,
Haley

I have all my fingers and toes crossed. Thanks for the info. I for one find it extremely interesting.

Shirley

I am happy to know things are progressing!
I've been thinking egg-ie thoughts for you! ;)

Sounds like things are going well so far!! Will keep the good thoughts going for you!!!

Wow! That's so cool. Completely fascinating. I saw "boy & girl" are you trying for twins?

No, danihoney, we're not trying for twins, but with IVF, that's definitely a chance you take. They will put 2 embryos back inside so it's possible they'll both implant.

Thinking good thoughts for you Steph. I hope it works.
Leslie

That whole procedure is so interesting. Just think of all the people back in the day who would have given anything to be able to benefit from today's science. I feel guilty for having the ability to get pregnant and have a great pregnancy. I had 6 children, 2 daughters and four sons. I felt so good when I was preggers that I was considering carrying a child for someone who may not be able too. I am 71 now, I guess it is too late for that. I pray you will be able to conceive and carry a sibling for Grant. Vique.

Wow, that's great news Steph. I didn't realize you were doing this again so soon (or maybe the time has just flown by). I'm sure we will all be thinking of you the next few days and look forward to updates. Good luck!

Keeing my fingers crossed and saying prayers for you Steph.....

Thank you so much everyone for all your good thoughts and best wishes!!

I had another appt today and my follicles don't seem to be quite ready, I'm right on the edge so I have a feeling they'll push me one more day and my retrieval will be Thursday.

I'm waiting for a call from them so I'll post when I find out.