All righty then. . . . well, I guess I have overshared on here even more than I realize, since my last post asking for unanswered questions about me did not garner a single comment or email. LOL. You must all know everything you want to know about me (and more?).
I visited Local Fertility Clinic this morning for my baseline monitoring appointment for my mock cycle. I had blood drawn for E2 and P4 levels and a (lovely) vaginal u/s. Not surprisingly, the doctor who did my u/s asked why I chose to go to St. Mungo's for treatment when they have a DE program at their clinic. I was diplomatic and stressed my (not made-up) concern about using a donor who lived locally and didn't even mention the difference in the two clinics' success rates (which is considerable: Local Fertility Clinic reported around a 65% rate for fresh cycles compared to a 85% rate at St. Mungo's). No apparent hard feelings.
Dr. didn't tell me specifics about my lining, just said it looked "fine" for this point in my cycle. I had 18 antral follicles (not that this matters much, since we won't be using my eggs) and no cysts. So far, so good. I will get a call from my St. Mungo's nurse this afternoon with further instructions, and I anticipate starting my estrogen tonight.
I also went yesterday and had 4 tubes of blood drawn (at an outside lab, not at Local Fertility Clinic) for all my infectious disease testing and for prolactin and TSH levels, all required by St. Mungo's before cycling. MM had his blood drawn for infectious disease testing, too, and will be going in for a semen analysis tomorrow (he's really looking forward to it--NOT).
Assuming all that testing comes back OK--and I have no reason to think it won't--the only other test I have to have done besides completing my mock cycle is a sonohysterogram, which I will do while I'm on BCPs after the mock cycle. Oh, and we have a joint counseling session in a couple of weeks to discuss the psychological issues involved with the use of donor gametes for conception.
So many hoops to jump through, but in a way, it's good. Every item I tick off the list brings us that much closer to our real cycle. It feels like we are making progress.
ooh I'm sorry, I did read it and then I told myself I would think up some questions but I never came back LOL
ReplyDeleteI do have a question now. That's a lot of antral follicles, how is it that you start out with so many?
Cherbear, I have had between 15 and 20 antral follicles in every cycle where I've had baseline monitoring. According to what I've read and heard, that is very good, and most REs would predict good response to stims and a high pregnancy rate from some with an AFC of 15-20.
ReplyDeleteI did respond well to the low doses of stims I took for 4 cycles of IUI with injectables and produced 3-4 follicles each cycle but one. But obviously I never got pregnant.
Just goes to show that, as with so many things in life, it's quality not quantity that counts. ;-)
I remember the never ending DE to do list well...almost was like a second job to get it all done!! OH and I have a question...how did you and MM meet?
ReplyDeleteLike a second job indeed!
ReplyDeleteMM and I met via a popular on-line dating site. We both started with the intention of dating casually--me because I had broken up with a fiance six months before, MM because he was enjoying playing the field--but we were exclusive from the first date (by preference), and within a few months, we were in love. ;-)
things will move fast now!! its going!!
ReplyDeletexoxo