Cycle Day 4: Getting Used to It

The morning Gonal-F shot was a breeze.  I even primed a new pen, and I didn't have to read the instructions.  I'm a Gonal-F pro.

I was not looking forward to the night time Menopur shot, but I came home straight from watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, and I must have had Harry, Hermione and friends on the brain, because I mixed the Menopur like a medical professional and wielded the syringe as if it were a basilisk tooth and my stomach were a horcrux.  (For those of you who don't get the reference, horcruxes are evil things that must be destroyed, and stabbing it with a basilisk tooth is one of the few ways to do the job).  I still had felt that unpleasant stinging at my skin, but I plunged away like a pro.  I didn't even ice the injection site beforehand.

I go in tomorrow morning for my Cycle Day 5 ultrasound and blood test.  After we see how my follicles are progressing, I will be given new instructions on my dosage amounts (which may stay the same or may increase/decrease).

I was surprised to get an e-mail back from my doctor today since it is Sunday.  His response to my request that he contextualize my treatment strategy was:

"Your follicle count was good and your hormone levels were normal… 12 eggs would be above average for a single cycle of egg freezing. 

Let’s take a look this week and we can get updated information.

So far so good.."

I admit that I wasn't totally happy to read that e-mail.  I know that he's trying to manage my expectations, but as someone undergoing egg freezing at a relatively young age, I do want somewhere near 12 eggs.  I know that there's nothing I can really do to control this, and I have to be OK with the potential disappointment that my "harvest" may not be especially bountiful, but I have to hold out hope.

Tomorrow, I plan to take advantage of my short time with the doctor (whichever doctor I see during the ultrasound) to drill down on a few questions:

• What is the follicle-to-mature-egg retrieval ratio?
• What is the average number of mature, viable eggs retrieved?
• Do they screen to make sure that eggs are "spindle positive"?  (I suspect yes.)  Does this screen for chromosomal abnormalities?  (I think not).
• What are the stats these days for converting retrieved eggs into successful IVF babies?
• When am I likely to retrieve?

In terms of side effects so far, I don't feel like I have many.  I did some light yoga today (doing the modified poses I've written about here), and I did feel like my ovary area felt "heavier" than usual on the left side.  I hope that means the hormones are working...

Cramps, Crankiness, and Countermeasures

I've been on the Pill for about 18 days now, and today I started getting really bad cramps, as if I were about to get my period.  I'm certain that my body is rebelling against the hormones, which makes me a little bit nervous because I am more likely to produce more/better eggs if I respond well to the hormone medication (rather than fighting it).  I'm already feeling so bloated and I'm wiped out by 10pm every night, plus I'm definitely a bit cranky and hypersensitive.  I have to be careful about acting as normal as possible at work.  I'm seriously wondering what's in these pills-- and what will happen when I switch to hormone injections!

So I end my Pill popping on July 18.  On July 22, I will go in for a blood test, and assuming all goes well, I will begin my twice daily hormone injections.  I am going to be on Menopur, Gonal-F, and Ganirelix (which starts a few days in).  I'm told that I should be consistent with my injections.  Given that I need to go in for bloods every other morning by ~8:00am, I will probably be getting up at 6:30am to give myself injections.  Ouch.

I am nervous about pumping my body full of hormones and not being able to regulate my mood through regular exercise.  I turn to yoga in these trying times, especially headstands, and unfortunately, due to the hyperstimulation of the ovaries, I'm at risk for "torsion", i.e., when your ovaries get twisted up from too much movement.  "Bouncy, repetitive motion" is forbidden during hormone stimulation, and nevermind inversions like headstands.

So I took a private yoga lesson with one of my yoga instructors who taught me a number of cool poses I could do in my delicate state (I sound like I'm preggers).  She says that the hormones will make my ligaments stretchier so I have to be careful about protecting them more.  The one pose she said is absolutely the best for relaxation and quieting the body is supta boddhakanasana aka "reclined bound angle pose" or "Goddess Pose", as my instructor calls it.  Here's an example of it.  For me, my instructor said that I should lay on a propped up bolster for more support (so instead of flat on the ground, so like I'm sitting up more).  See the blocks under the knees-- these are to support the hip joints lest my hip ligaments overstretch in my hormonal state.  She said that doing this pose for ten minutes a day is all the yoga I need.

I'm also considering going to acupuncture for treatment, if only it will help me to relax.  I once sought acupuncture treatment for lingering pain from a minor hernia surgery several years ago, and I will never forget how the acupuncturist was able to help "melt away" some of the tightness and pain in the surgery area in a way that no doctor, medication, or massage would.  I've heard that acupuncture can help with "fertility", so I figure it can't hurt.

I may also treat myself to a full body massage to help with relaxation as well as improve circulation in my body.  I'm assuming that this can only help, not hurt, fertility.

In the last few weeks, I have avoided caffeine and greatly reduced my alcohol intake after reading this Guardian article, and I think this is making me cranky.  I have few vices, but I miss my chilled wines and iced teas in this hot weather. 

So tired, need to go to bed now.