Hooray for Follie-wood

Another good report today! My appointment at RBA this morning got pushed back some in an attempt to see my doctor, but we didn't get to see him after all.  We'll for sure see him tomorrow.  So the hub and I both did acupuncture first thing before heading over to RBA.  I've never done it that early in the day - at least not on a week day.  It was so nice... I just wanted to pull the blanket up over me and go to sleep for three hours.  No such luck though... had to run up the street for ultrasound and bloodwork!

 

It's amazing how fast those little suckers can grow in only 24 hours... yesterday I had 15 total measurable follies (meaning at least 1cm in diameter) and today I had lots more!  I know one side had at least 10 and maybe 12 on the other?  So at least 20 total.  I forget the actual numbers, but I'm sure the hub remembers.  It's so funny because he gets so excited to see how many we have each time.  He's so fascinated by the ultrasound and is always hitting up the tech with tons of questions.  Today he noticed a dark area on screen.  "What's that?" he asked.  "Gas."  Ha!  So funny.  I was like, "yeah that's right, don't get too close down there!"  All we can do is laugh at this point.  And give each other "the rock" when we score more follicles.

 

And am I still fat?  Yes, yes I am.  Guess those fatty follies need room!  It definitely wasn't the Mexican food yesterday.  I know y'all warned me against it, but I hopped on the scale this morning and sure enough... still there.  As if I couldn't tell by my bulging stomach and love handles!  It's just seriously fascinating that it appeared not even "overnight," but over lunch yesterday.  A huge, visible difference in a matter of hours.  I don't care - I mean, sure it's annoying that I've got to wear my "fat" pants, but it's just wicked crazy how FAST it came on!  Acupuncture helped some this morning - I don't feel quite as gross.

 

Definitely still feeling the action going on in the ovaries.  They are working hard.  And my belly looks like it was used as a punching bag.  OK, that's a bit dramatic... not quite that bad.  But it has little bruises and pin pricks all over it from my drug habit!  It's still quite tender to the touch, so please no one hit me in the stomach.  It's hard to avoid the occasional dog paw, but I'm surviving otherwise.  Also have recently noticed just some overall achy/soreness - like kinda sore breasts.  I guess that's normal, I don't know.  I'm not one that gets sore boobs before a period so it's not a normal thing for me.  Mood has been pretty stellar so far except for last Thursday.  I think chocolate definitely helps with that.  (Little bits though... it's totally not Moo Goo friendly. So shhhh...)

 

But yeah, great progress!  I'll be back tomorrow morning bright and early for another ultrasound and to meet with my doctor.  Really excited to get his thoughts.  At this point, I think Friday is their best guess for retrieval, but we won't know for sure until two days before.  Basically, I'm on Ganirelix, which prevents you from ovulating.  Once I'm to the point growth-wise where they want me, I'll stop the Ganirelix and take a trigger shot that evening which will trigger ovulation.  The egg retrieval will be scheduled for 36 hours after the trigger shot.  Exciting! 

 

We're very encouraged and hopeful this first cycle works, but if nothing else, I'd be so thrilled if we walked away with lots of good embryos to freeze for later!  As I've mentioned, a frozen cycle is WAY cheaper than a fresh cycle and a LOT easier on me - it's not near as exhaustive of a process.  So keep at it, follies!  More tomorrow...

 

Current mood: Hopeful