Thursday, April 7, 2011

CD 10 and second monitoring appointment

I visited Local Fertility Clinic this morning for my second monitoring appointment, and lo and behold! Who should perform my vaginal u/s but my actual RE. In the two-and-a-half years we have been patients at LFC--albeit not always in treatment during that time--I actually had never had him personally do any procedure on me. I've had two of his partners and a few of his nurse practitioners, but never Himself.

Anyway, LFC is a busy practice, and he is a busy man, so I'm not always sure he remembers me when I see him for appointments. (He also has a bit of an "absent-minded professor" air about him which probably contributes to my impression.) Nonetheless, he was friendly and gentle, which was appreciated.

My uterine lining measured 8 mm in a proliferative, triple-stripe pattern, which is just what is needed for successful transfer of embryos. (St. Mungo's requires >7 mm.) Yea!

In checking my ovaries for follicles (side note: I'm not sure why this needs to be checked when we will not be using my eggs, but these are Dr. Dumbledore's orders), Local RE noted that I had "a good number of follicles for a 30-year-old." I said "But I'm 40," and he replied "I know." (I guess he was trying to make a joke, and I didn't get it.)

He went on to say that the number of follicles I had was in the "top 10%" of 40-year-old women he's seen in his practice. I made a comment to the effect that it was suprising that with all those follicles, I haven't managed to produce a single decent-quality egg which resulted in an ongoing pregnancy in three years of trying. He agreed that this was surprising to him, too.

Is it just me, or is it ironic that my ovaries and their follicles are garnering praise when I'm about to embark on a treatment cycle that is not at all dependent on their performance? ;-)

I got a call from our nurse with my E2 and P4 results a little while ago. E2: 180, P4: 0.99. These numbers don't mean much to me, but the nurse said they want to see an E2 level of at least 100 and "low" progesterone and that these levels are fine.

So I have officially "passed" my evaulation cycle! I don't have to do any more monitoring appointments and can start progesterone tonight.

We are on target for a transfer the first week of June! Yippee! I am (momentarily) giddy with excitement!!

8 comments:

  1. Sounds all great to me S...this was your mock cycle right? Sorry about the comments about your ovaries/follie count. I don't know but if it were me I'd feel a little offended by such comments when about to undergo DE...for me it would feel like rubbing salt into a wound but that's just me. Wow...June will be here before you know it!!

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  2. @Lisa, I know what you mean. At first, I wasn't sure if he was trying to say subtly "You shouldn't move on to DE, with all these follicles you'd have a GREAT chance with your own eggs."

    I am trying to be more zen and positive, so I took it as a somewhat backhanded compliment to my ovaries. Poor little things, they are doing their best. . . they just don't have any good quality eggs left! LOL

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  3. I have never tried to get pregnant so take this for what it is worth -- those comments, and your whole experience in general, ALWAYS make me think that it is a sperm, not an egg issue... even though all MM's tests have come back fine. That said -- GOOD LUCK with your next steps! Rooting for you in MN!

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  4. this is wonderful!!! I agree with the previous poster. I would be like.."um...doc...do you know that we are doing DE?"
    I had a nurse ask me not once, but on two occasions "have you had a post-coital test yet?" and my husband has ZERO sperm!!! I was thinking, um would you PLEASE take a look at my chart before you ask a hurtful question like that??

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  5. You are on your way! Three cheers for a great lining, and weird follicle comments from the RE notwithstanding, you are doing great so far!

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  6. Holy Crow - that's so exciting!!! Crossing everything that things continue to go so smoothly!

    What a peculiar comment to make about your ovaries - sometimes I think they just can't come up with anything else to say...

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  7. That's great that it went so well. Nice to hear positive feedback from the doc. My doc told me that as a woman gets older, her ovaries get "better" in some ways - who knows what he meant by that.

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  8. You are really on your way! What a great lining! It's so exciting! :)

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