Not Enough Eggs!!

The first ultrasound during my stimulation period was Wed. 3/7. I prayed hard and often for a good outcome, but wasn't expecting much since my E2 level came back at a 58 when they should have been around 100.

I spent Monday and Tuesday (3/5 & 6) crying randomly because of my poor E2 levels. I felt like a failure. I wondered why I couldn't seem to produce enough eggs now, yet I'd already given birth to 3 children without any outside help.

It was the moment of truth. I would find out just how many follicles I had produced. I hoped for 6 or 7.

The Dr. came in a began the ultrasound. I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't thrilled with what he saw on the monitor. He told me we only had 4 follicles. He also reminded me that just because I have 4 follicles doesn't mean I'll have 4 eggs.

I was discouraged and mad at myself. I walked into his office where he told me that we may want to stop everything and restart all medications. The benefit would be, a much higher dosage of medication in hopes I would stimulate more follicles. He followed that with a grim outlook on doing that, but telling me that I probably wouldn't produce many more even with a higher dose of medication.

My heart sank. I wanted to cry. He assured me that he still felt like everything would be ok, that he can work with 4 follicles. It's just not ideal.

He said, we would make the decision on Friday (3/9) after taking another look at my ultrasound.

There were a few things he noticed that day that were discouraging. I began to spot. This is not good! He told us that he cannot do a transfer with a lining that looked like mine that day. It was measuring a 7 and my understanding is that it needs to measure 10+.

He also found a cyst on my right ovary that wasn't there before. This was a whole new concern.

He put me on Estrodial twice a day to improve my lining and said he hoped the cyst would go away on it's own.

My husband and I left that appointment feeling a bit heartbroken and sad. We continued to talk about the positives the Dr. had told us and that overall, he still thought we'd be successful.

On Friday we arrived at the Dr's office, in hopes we'd get some good news...and we did.

After the ultrasound, the Dr. told us that we were still a go for a retrieval and transfer the following week. I was so happy. However, he reminded me that my E2 levels are continuing to come back low. The one drawn on 3/7 came back at 200. While this is an improvement, at this stage, I should be around 200 per follicle and I was far from that. He told me he wasn't concerned with that right now.

The cyst didn't seem to be a concern either at this point and my lining had improved from a 7 to a 10+. He instructed me to continue the estradiol for now.

He scheduled us for weekend appointments. This way he could monitor my follicle development.

On Saturday my follicles along with my lining were looking good. He instructed me to stop taking the estradiol and to return in the morning.

The next morning, 3 of my follicles measured at 18 and one at 17. This meant they were mature and ready to come out!! I was so excited! This also meant I could stop my injections!!

At 1:15am Monday morning I administered Ovidrel into my stomach. It would be the last injection in my belly for this cycle. It was important that this medicine be administered at the exact time as instucted. According to reports I've read, the ideal time to remove follicles is exactly 36 hours after Ovidrel is administered.

On Tuesday, 3/13 at 12:15 pm, I went in for my egg retrieval. To read about this, please see my blog "Egg Retrieval".