Stim Check #2!

Went in today for Stim Check #2 and so far, so good - we are still on track for the ER to be this Friday - THIS FRIDAY! Yay! Actually saw a doctor this time. In the past, it's usually one of the nurses who draws the blood, does the ultrasound, etc... The only time I had seen an actual doctor was at the HSG/SHG. Not that I mind - the nurses are great. I was just curious if the only time I'd see them was at an actual procedure! lol


But nope, saw one today. He did the actual measuring. He only measured the top 5 on each side - the others were small, so I'm guessing he didn't bother measuring those. He said my lining is looking great, too! Here are the measurements as of this morning (mm):


Left: 16.2, 16.1, 14.8, 12.2, 11.3

Right: 17.7, 15.4, 13.6, 12.2, 12.1


Not bad - they're getting there! They kept me on the same Follistim and Lupron protocol and I go back on Wednesday morning for my next check. Honestly? I can't wait!


I look forward to each each time to see how things are progessing. They asked me today how things were going and how I was feeling. I told them I actually like doing the shots - makes me feel empowered - like I'm actually doing something about it, you know? Does that make sense? Although I do have to admit my belly is getting a little sore from the injections - to the touch. I think I need to vary up my locations more than I do. I've got some nice bruises and needle prick marks in this belly of mine! My latest Lupron actually resulted in a nice little bump - it eventually went away, but it was pretty funky to see!





The biggest, and honestly, the only side effect I really have right now is I can feel my ovaries. With every step I take, when I go to the bathroom, when I sit down, etc... I can feel them. I sometimes feel this when I am on a regular cycle, but not nearly this much. I can definitely tell I'm growing a bunch of follies in there! It's kind of a sharp ache in each location - not really sure how to describe it. Kind of annoying/uncomfortable, but nothing painful by any means. Guess we'll see how I feel in another day or so when they're even bigger!


Speaking of bigger - I know they want the follies to be between 18-22 mm for the trigger. But I honestly never stopped to think about how big that really is. I tracked down a metric ruler today at work just to see for myself. Definitely bigger than I realized! And to combine that with about 14-16 of them in there? No wonder I can feel them and girls feel full/heavy at the end! haha


OK, guess that's it for now. Time for bed. In case you haven't noticed, I pretty much ramble and type as I "speak it' - don't really supress any of it - so if you've made it this far, nice job!

Stim Days 3-4

Nothing too special to report. Still not really feeling any side effects. I once again have a headache and am exhausted. But I still can't be sure if it's from one of the drugs. I always have a headache and I didn't sleep much last night. So who knows. And I also felt pretty emotional today, but that could be due to either the meds or due to the stress I have at work and with Riley who still isn't 100% yet - still not eating well and vomiting (although not that much).

My sister and her fiance were supposed to be coming down to visit this weekend, but due to the gas prices, they've changed their mind :-( I was really looking forward to their visit, but I totally understand. They have to drive from VT to PA in a couple weeks so it made sense to save gas/money and not come down. Oh well... I did just see them this past weekend! And, now I guess we don't have to worry about hiding our meds in the fridge where they can't find them and hide doing the shots - it's quite a small house to hide that kind of thing! haha

Had an odd experience tonight with the stim shot. Nothing actually injected! haha Not sure what we did wrong, but it was really easy for DH to push in so that made us curious. And when I went to take the "empty" cartridge out (remember, it still has a little leftover in it), it's still about half full. Oops! So we just did it again and it worked. So bizzarre!

I go in for my first stim check tomorrow. I really hope there are some follies growing in there and they look good. Please, please, please!

Stim Day #2

Nothing too exciting last night and still not feeling anything different. I'm really tired today, but that most likely has nothing to do with my injections but who knows. Guess I'll wait it out and see.

On a side note, I haven't actually checked, but I think the needle in the Follistim pen must be thicker than the one I use for the Lupron. I say this only because both nights so far I have felt the Follistim needle going in, but not the Lupron. That and every time I pull out the Follistim needle I bleed. I don't with the Lupron needle. So, whether it's true or not, I'm sticking with my theory! ;-)

Also - I learned valuable lesson last night. Always read the labels/boxes that come with things. My Follistim cartridges are 300 iu. Each night, I inject 150 iu. So one would think that after two nights, the cartridge would be empty - you know, 150 + 150 = 300 = empty cartridge. But nope - there was some left over. So I freaked out a bit thinking - did I dial the pen wrong? Did it not come out? Did I not give myself the right dose?

But, thanks to the wonderful ladies on the Nest's TTTC, they kindly pointed out that they always overfill the cartridges - and, go figure, it's right on the box and the insert had I actually bothered to read it. Oops! Good to know, though - that way there's always enough to fill your pen and, if I for some reason need to stim extra, I may be able to fill up the pen with the leftovers from each cartridge. Not bad, eh?!

OK, guess that's it for now.

Stim Day #1

So tonight was our first stim injection. DH was kind of nervous because the Follistim pen (blue & yellow item in pic below) looks so different than the regular sub-q needle, but he did think it was pretty cool that it literally looked like a pen - just fatter! lol


In case anyone's curious about what's in the picture: (clockwise from top/left)

• Alcohol and cotton balls since I ran out of alcohol wipes
• 5 boxes of Follistim cartriges and needles (silver)
• The inside of one of the boxes (white/pink)
• Lupron (little bottle)
• Lupron needle
• Follistim pen
• Follistim case

So we walked through the instructions together to load it and put it together - and then he injected me! So far, so good - it's only day one, so not really expecting to feel anything just yet. But I hear that towards the end of stimming, I'm going to feel quite hormonal, bloated, sore belly, and just "full/heavy" feeling. Then off to the egg removal and embryo transfer!!