We are in another waiting phase of the infertility journey. That’s what this whole thing seems to be, hurry up and wait. We had another ultra sound on Friday to see what the progress of the most recent large cyst is. I had had some lower abdominal pain a few days prior that was a bit concerning, but it went away after a short time, so we are figuring that it was just a muscle pain of some kind. The ultra sound showed that the cyst was completely gone!
Continue reading “Hurry Up and Wait”
Tag: results
And Yet Another Cyst
We had another doctor’s appointment with Dr. Amols last week. During the ultra sound we found that while my uterine lining is fine, which was a possible concern as the fertility meds can possibly cause the uterine lining to thin over time. Continue reading “And Yet Another Cyst”
More Test Results and More Waiting
We got our most recent blood test results back. My prolactin has gone down, which is awesome. It’s down to 23.4 ng/ml, normal is considered between 4 and 23 so it’s a little high, but much better than it was last time. My AMH levels are at 2.49 ng/mL which is well within the normal numbers. So we are back to who know why the IUIs aren’t working. I’m starting to have to come to the realization that maybe me getting pregnant just isn’t in God’s plan for me, or at least not yet. Continue reading “More Test Results and More Waiting”
Third Time May Be The Charm
So we are now officially in the third cycle of treatment. Last cycle was another BFN and we are hoping this cycle will be the one. Dr. Amols said that if IUI is going to work, most couples will conceive by the third cycle. Since last cycle with 4, count them 4 follicles didn’t work and we had to do 2 more injections past what was originally planned we are going with a slightly more aggressive treatment plan with a different injected hormone at a higher dosage. Before I was taking Follistim which is a follitropin beta injectable hormone, and I will not be on Gonal-F which is a follitropin alpha (or alfa as the box spells it) injectable hormone. In doing my own research I’m not finding a lot of difference between the two medications. I have found 1 study (so take the results with a grain of salt) that says the follitropin alpha can have a higher chance for success than follitropin beta, but I’m also finding a lot of people that didn’t have success with alpha but did with beta. So it may just be how your body reacts to the different types of follitropin. Continue reading “Third Time May Be The Charm”
Not the News You Are Looking For
The two week wait has come and gone and sadly the pregnancy test was negative. It was harder on me than I thought it would have been and I spent a good deal of the day moping and periodically crying. Church was hard because we weren’t telling anyone it was negative yet and so I wasn’t able to get any support. A good friend of mine came over and we talked and she got me into a positive mood and ready mentally for the next cycle. We have now had some time to get used to the negative test, and wanted to let people know before Christmas to avoid being a downer at the family gathering. The odds weren’t great for the first cycle as it was with only two mature follicles. It is not uncommon for the first cycle to fail as the doctors are still trying to figure out what combination of medications will work best for you. Continue reading “Not the News You Are Looking For”
Finally Starting Treatment
So we had our cycle day 3 baseline ultrasound on Sunday and got some awesome results! We are ready to start treatment and try to get pregnant! I started taking Clomid on Sunday evening and will continue to take it for another couple of days and then we get to wait a few days before our next ultrasound on the 23rd to see how many follicles I have ready to go. If there aren’t too many (Dr. Amols has yet to mention what that cut off is) and they are ready to go, and my uterine lining is ready for pregnancy we will do the trigger shot and then 36 hours later we will do the IUI procedure.
And Yet Another Ultrasound
So we had our 3 week follow up ultrasound to check on the progress of the cyst and see if it has gone away yet. Thankfully, it seems that the birth control has done it’s job and deflated the cyst in the ovary! The cyst now measures much smaller and looks kind of like a flattened blob. I also have fewer un-developed eggs in both ovaries which I think is also a positive sign as the mature eggs will be easier to see and count once we have started treatment. Dr. Amols said that I should finish the pack of birth control (which will be today) and then call them when I get my period again so we can do another baseline ultrasound before putting me on the fertility medication.
Results and The Next Steps
We had our “what do we do now” appointment with Dr. Amols this week. We got all of our testing results and went over what all of it means, and discussed what to do next. We finally got the results for Matthew’s testing. There is good news and bad news. The good new is he has a super high sperm count and they are all of good quality, the bad news is he also makes a ton of the fluid that transports the sperm. The end result of this is that while his sperm count is high, it is also very diluted because of the high fluid amount. Continue reading “Results and The Next Steps”
Random Thoughts Before Appointments
So, our next appointment is in a few days and it got me thinking on a few things. We now know my prolactin levels are high (as previously mentioned), which makes me wonder if maybe I don’t have PCOS but I just have the high prolactin levels which are causing the symptoms for PCOS? This is something we will be discussing with Dr. Amols next Wednesday. I was told we would have to re-test the prolactin levels in about a month so I’m not sure if that means we will have to delay treatment or if we can go ahead with treatment and just test again in a month to see where we are at. Continue reading “Random Thoughts Before Appointments”
Test Results and More Waiting
The HSG was today. Everything went well, there was a little cramping but not as much as I had been afraid of. Apparently the horrible period cramps I had when I was younger prepared me to be able to deal with it. We got the results today as well and praise the Lord! My tubes are wide open and my uterus looks exactly like it is supposed to. There isn’t anything weird inside it and it is what would be considered a normal shape and size. Continue reading “Test Results and More Waiting”
Are They Twins? 