Daily Ultrasounds

On Wednesday June 24th I went in for my ultrasound and labs. The ultrasound again measures my lining as well as all the follicles in each of my ovaries. I have been very very bloated and so loose baggy clothing are my BFF right now! Since I am so bloated and my ovaries are growing very fast this ultrasound was pretty uncomfortable. The ultrasound showed that in my left ovary I have about 7-9 that are growing pretty large, and the biggest one is 16mm. In my right ovary I have about 7-11 growing and the biggest one is 17mm. Which is great considering that two days before the biggest ones were 11 and 13mm. They still have some growing to do until they are able to come out. They also saw in my left ovary that I had a free fluid pocket. This is normal in people that have so many growing follicles but I have to really take it easy and not be on my feet so much so the fluid doesn't increase. I was able to get some pictures of what the growing follicles look like.

The little black dots are the follicles.

Here is the list of the measurements they took of each follicle. In the column that says CM is actually the MM measurements.

I got the day off on Thursday the 25th (that was super exciting for me), so my next appointment to check on the follicles and get my blood drawn was on Friday the 26th.

Friday when I went in they told me that everything was still looking good but that my Estrogen and Progesterone levels were really elevated. This is to be expected because I am pumping in all these extra hormones and I am pretty young to begin with. The only concern with this is that if the levels get too high then there would be a concern for ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome. This is where your ovaries become swollen and fill up with fluid which causes a lot of pain. It could also cause severe problems and make it to where the IVF cycle will have to be put on hold after egg retrieval. The doctor said he would know more after my labs came back later that afternoon. He would call me to tell me my next dosage of medications and what the future plans were. During my ultrasound they found at least 15 growing follicles in my left ovary, with the biggest one being 20mm. In my right I had 13 growing with the biggest one being 25mm. Things were looking very good and close to getting these things pulled out!! Thank Goodness because at this point even walking was pretty painful. 

Later that afternoon I got a call from the nurse stating I did not need to take my night shot of Follistim but to continue my morning shots on Saturday and to come in for what would hopefully be my last appointment for labs and ultrasound. She also gave me the bad news that we will not be able to have a fresh transfer due to my ovaries being a little too big and my levels being highly elevated. Its upsetting but better to play it safe and not put my body through anymore strain right away. 

A look at what my stomach looks like on the last morning of shots.

Saturday the 27th I went in for my labs and ultrasound and they found about 24 actively growing in my left with the largest few at 24, 22 , 21, and 20.5 mm. In my right they could see at least 20 active and the largest ones were 26.5, 24.5, 23.5, and 20 mm. All looks good because the goal is to have the majority of the growing follicles need to be at least 20 mm before they will remove them.  

This picture shows both ovaries touching each other and all of the growing follicles inside both. 

After the doctor looked at my results of the growing follicles he was happy with the size they were and gave me the OK to give myself the trigger shot. I did not have to take my follistim any longer just the dexamethasone. I also was instructed to take my Lupron shot at 11:45 pm and then again at 11:45 am on Sunday for an egg retrieval date of Monday. I was instructed to take .8 ML of the Lupron, which requires two shots!! One with the syringe filled to 50 units and another filled to 30 units..... WOWZA that is A LOT of medication. 

Just some info on what exactly the trigger shot does.... Lupron injection induces a surge of LH and FSH hormones from the pituitary gland that works to induce proper maturation of the eggs. 

Here is my Trigger shot supplies