No way it has been 4 days since I wrote last! Time seems to be on speed.
Follistim has been pretty uneventful, thankfully. My first injection was probably the easiest. Not that any have been difficult – but I did feel it a very little bit after the needle was in. I think because I’m not holding it steady while I’m ‘counting to 5’ before withdrawing it. Yesterday (day 4) we had some trouble seeing the drop that should form at the needle tip before injecting, to know the meds are flowing properly. The Follistim pen is pretty smart. Since it was already at 50IU and we didn’t want to lose any, we turned the dial all the way past the highest dose, when the pen dial then ‘releases’ and you can reset it back to 0. Then we clicked it up just one notch and squooshed out a drip (or a little more than a drip). Then I injected and all was right with the world.
Naturally, because nothing seems to come easy, there’s been some drama with the next follicle check I’m supposed to have (on the day after I stop the Follilstim injections (for 6 days)). We were all set to go to our local ob/gyn for the sonogram – MUCH less inexpensive, and much closer to home. Long story short, because we’re obsessive and called the specialist to see how this was going to play out as far as the HCG shot (since someone has to administer it to me after the results were analyzed by the specialist), we found out that we can’t go to my local doctor since they need bloodwork done also. I’ll need to get an FSH blood test, that they’ll analyze right away (they have an on-site lab, while my local place doesn’t).
After the phone call from the nurse at the specialists office, who assured me it would probably be okay to get the ultrasound at my local office…but couldn’t tell me anything until she saw the sonogram….The nurse said they ‘may’ need these results to go ahead with the shot (but might not…) Needless to say, my pressure was up and we were stressed about this seeming lack of attention and/or concern by the nurse. My husband said right away that it was all too loosey-goosey for him (okay, he didn’t use ‘loosey-goosey’ but something much more europeanish and MUCH more adorable, I’m sure!) and that we should just make the appointment with the specialists office so we didn’t have to wonder or stress about the results being read and whether or not we’d blow the whole cycle because they couldn’t get blood test results same-day.
So, we’re on for Thursday… a very early morning trip for a 9am appointment. Lets hope we have good results – too few follicles and my paperwork says they may want to continue Follistim for a few more days (of which I will have none at that point …!?#$@#) and if there are too many follicles, they could cancel the cycle, which means no HCG shot. What confuses me is what happens to all those follicles…does just one egg mature and release? I have to find the answer to that question regardless of how this cycle goes, because it bugs me that I don’t know the answer!