Added to the Lupron injections, 2 vials of 75 iu Menopur and 300 iu of Follistim AQ. Today is Day 4 of these stims and my first follicle monitoring appointment.
The Report:
Lining: 5.5
around 10 follicles, all under 10 mm.
E2: over 300 (maybe 315? I didn't quite catch the number)
This is my first IVF and I feel like I know nothing about what is supposed to happen. Are you thinking, "only 10???" Now tell me it is early and more will develop--like DOUBLE! E2 is good though, no?
The nurses had a power point slide at the IVF orientation teaching. A triangle that showed the typical fate of eggs during an IVF cycle, with average numbers ("DO NOT FOCUS ON THE NUMBERS," they said):
20 follicles --> 15 eggs --> 12 mature eggs --> 10 fertilized --> 6 good quality embryos on day 3 --> 4 blasts on day 5 --> 2 transferred and maybe 2-3 to freeze
So yes, I would like my current number of follicles to double. But do they double or do they decrease at this point? How can I not focus on the numbers?
I will not focus on the numbers...
7 comments:
E2 sounds about right for 5 days into stims. I think mine was right around there. I can't tell you what is 'normal' in terms of follicles, my PCOS ovaries had lots of follies from the beginning, but didn't end up producing a ton mature eggs in the end. I have most of the stats from blood draws/ ultrasounds from IVF#1 in my timeline tab.
I've never done IVF, but even with the low doses of meds they gave me for my IUI, in the beginning I had 6 follies <10 with "additional smaller ones noted." There are lots of little ones in the beginning, and with the protocol you're on, they'll be encouraging LOTS to keep on developing and growing. It's just hard to even measure them all when they're under the 10mm mark. I'm sure your number of follies will keep increasing as the days go by. Hang in there!
I'm just as clueless darling. However, I'm here for you! I'm over from Josey's blog and can't wait to follow you on your journey! Congrats on the Leibster Award!
I don't want to disappoint you, but the follicle count might not double. A few more could easily pop up, sometimes they can't see them. Think quality over quantity. You just never know what will happen and 10 is really good.
Hang in there, I found the stimming phase really stressful, but know that you are doing everything you can to make this work.
I agree with Jill. LIkely you won't get 20 follicles at this point, but I'm rooting for those ovaries in a big way. Try to let the numbers go. You can't do anything yet but just focus on one day at a time. Easier said than done, I know :-)
I'm not going to tell you not to worry about the numbers cause I was freaked out the whole time.
But....for me, at retrieval, I had 11 eggs, 10 fertilized, and after we transfered two, I had 5 excelleng blasts to freeze, so that means out of 11, 7 made it to day 5.
Doc said it is about the quality, not quantity, and she was correct for me.
I have no idea which way they'll go -- it seems sometimes follies just pop out of nowhere. I know that at my early appointments they weren't too concerned with a total count --- just making sure everything was at the same size and getting bigger. The nurse didn't even seem to be looking too closely at what might be hiding until later on.
Sending lots of good vibes your way.
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