IVF#4 - Suppression Check

So as I said in my last post, my IVF nurse said as long as I start AF by 9p, I would count the next day as cd2. Well guess what time AF arrived? Last night at 9p! Talk about being on the fence.

So today is cd2, the big suppression check, will I pass? Kerry gave me a kiss goodbye and said "happy wanding" as I headed out the door to my u/s.

I arrived at my appt. This clinic's sole practice is performing u/s on pg women. I was surrounded by cute pg bellies. Every single one of them was rubbing their belly. I wonder if I'll do that when I'm pg? I just starred, wishing and hoping that some day, I'll too have a bump like that. I was able to smile as right now, I have hope again.

The sonographer called me back to what I was expecting to be a quick peak at my ovaries to make sure there's no cysts. Nope, I got the most thorough u/s I have ever had. She spent about 20 mins on my belly looking at every angle of my uterus. She kept focusing on a black circle, repeatingly measuring it. I asked what it was and she said she wasn't sure, that the doctor would need to take a look.

She then move onto the vaginal u/s... real fun when you're on your period, ugh! I was really hoping it would be quick, but nope, another 20 mins. That's a long time to be in such a, ummm, vulnerable position. She spent more time on the uterus and that black spot. The entire time I had my hands behind my neck in a situp position, head cocked sideways, desperately trying to watch the monitor. She finally grabs a remote and turns on the monitor in front of me so I could lay back and relax. I thanked her and apologized for rubber necking. She thought that was pretty funny.

She then moved onto the ovaries, finally! I was intently watching the measurements that were flashing on the screen. She only measured 3 follies, but I saw a couple more. That's not unusual for me, I tend to start off with a very small antral count and next thing I know, follies are popping up everywhere. But who knows what will happen on this new protocol.

Here's my full u/s report:


The follies she measured we're at 6.7mm, 7.7mm and 8mm. So definitely no cysts or lead follicles, wahoo!

I guess that small black spot on my uterus is a small fibroid. I then remembered the sonographer mentioning a possible fibroid at my one day workup back in Sept. I looked up my info and saw that I had a 5mm fibroid then and now it's 8mm. I asked my IVF nurse about this and she said it is very small and is not intruding on the lining, so it's fine. She also said that that it will continue to grow while on stims and during pregnancy, great! She said it will shrink back after delivery and practically go away in menopause. I wonder if this the cause of all my premenstrual spotting? I don't know, it's so small.

Next I was off to my ob/gyn's office for blood work. Had my blood drawn and was right back out the door. While in the elevator, my arm and hand went strangely numb, I glanced down and about freaked. I had a huge knot protruding from my arm where the needle was. I rushed back into the clinic. It was a rather large hematoma. They ran a few tests on me and determined that the large knot of blood was pinching off a nerve giving me the numbness. They put a compress on it and sent me on my way.

After waiting alllllll day, my hormones results finally came in:
Estradiol: 32 (needs to be < 50)
Progesterone: 0.86 (needs to be < 1)

CCRM called and said I'm good to go. I start stims tomorrow morning! Good thing that I got around to ordering my meds!

We just booked our hotel, got a great deal on Priceline for $40/night + tax for a very nice 3-star. We also booked our rental car, again got a bargain through Priceline.

Alright, here we go!!!!