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...
