Cycle Day 8: Grow Grow Grow

My estradiol level was 480, my lining was 13 (they want it over 6), and I have some growing follies. The largest one was 14, but I think there was a 13 or two, maybe an 11, and a 9. So the plan is to continue 150 of gonal-f for tonight and tomorrow night and then go for another scan Saturday morning at 8:00 am. The doctor today thought I might be triggering on Saturday. Or it could be Sunday. Also Saturday morning, we're getting our eye exams. So it's shaping up to be another busy weekend.

Cycle Day 5: Money Money Money

I started giving my gonal-f injections Saturday night. I had forgotten about the smell. It's very band-aidy. Today at lunch I picked up a couple more boxes of the gonal-f and a box of novarel. $424.50. Sweet Jesus.

Also on Saturday we went the funeral of the mother of one of my sister's friends. I had never met her, but this particular friend is essentially an extra sister. She's been on family vacation with us. Sitting at the funeral we heard about what an amazing woman her mom was. She will definitely leave a void in the community and in the lives of her three children. It was a good service and more than once I found tears running down my face. I had waffled about going, but I'm glad we were there. Funerals are for the living, and I hoped the family was able to see how much they are loved.

Cycle Day 1: The Plan

So today I started my cycle (hence the title of this post). It was supposed to be CD 26. So I wasn't quite prepared. I was wearing white underwear, gray boxers, and a light colored dress. Thankfully I only sacrificed the panties since I don't have time to run home and change today. Ugh. And lest you think I tossed the panties . . . no they're still on only with a bulky complimentary pad from the bathroom. So huzzah! Then on my way to a meeting I stopped at Target for a quick bathroom break and when I left the restroom a woman stopped me to tell me the back of my dress was tucked into the shorts I was wearing underneath. And now I have cramps. Amazing.
So any whowho. I did the call the doctor and I am going to get back on the horse this cycle. Sigh. So starting Saturday night I'm doing 150 of the gonal-f every night through Wednesday. Thursday morning I go in for the blood draw and ultrasound to check on my dear sweet follies.

Cycle Day 11: Onward

At today's ultrasound I had one follie at 21, one at 14-something, and more at 10. So we're moving ahead with the trigger shot. The IUI will be on Sunday. I don't have all my instructions yet, but just knowing the general order of things is helpful I guess.
The blood draw this morning was time consuming. Apparently they were short some people, so there was a lobby full of hormones just chomping at the bit. I had a book and I hate bitching about waiting room times, so I kept to myself. But there were some that were just feeding off each other. Sheesh. Was I happy about waiting over half and hour? No. Was there anything I could do? No. So I kept my mouth shut and read my book.
I had my doctor for the scan, so I felt more confident about everything. Mostly. My Wednesday estrogen level was 708, so it will be interesting to see today's. Wednesday and Thursday I dropped down to 75 units of gonal-f, so I still have 2 vials of Bravelle and one unused gonal-f pen. Hopefully I won't need them, but they're there if I do, I guess.

Today was another $44.43, so my running total thus far is $594.08.

Cycle Day 4: TGIF?

Last night marked the beginning of my injections. I picked them up from the pharmacy yesterday and spent $444.65 all together (gonal-f, novarel, and sharps container). It was going to be in the $600s, but apparently there's a discount program for gonal-f. So hooray.
Even though I still have 3 vials of Bravelle left, I started with the gonal-f pen last night. I was curious to see how it would work. It's supposed to be kept refirgerated and it's a pen with a "dial-a-dose" dealy, so yeah. When you prime the pen, a small bit of the meds comes out. My husband and I both thought it smelled bandagey. So that was weird-ish. On the whole it's a slightly different technique, and I'm not sure I like it just yet. With the Bravelle, it's an actual syringe and the plunger depresses MUCH further and it just feels like you've actually done something. But oh boy I'll sure get that feeling when it's time for the trigger shot. :(
We ran again on Wednesday and will go again tonight. I was slower Wednesday, but I think it was due to a combination of feeling like crap and 80 degree temps. Today's high is supposed to be 60, so we won't have that problem again. Still feeling a little jiggly in the butt area, but hopefully we can keep up the running through November and I'll get some muscle tone back. It'll still be under a layer of flab, but still . . .
And of all the things I'm not looking forward to . . . in-law visit on Sunday. Ugh.

Cycle Day 1: Part Two (The Plan)

Starting Thursday I'll be back to my injections. I'll finish off the Bravelle (2 vials at a time) and then we're switching to gonal-f (150) because that's what the insurance covers now. Thanks, insurance for doing my doctor's job for her. Gonal-f is a bit different in that I don't mix the meds. They're in a pen and I just dial in the dose. Crazy. Monday I go for my first ultrasound.