I had all intentions of being a lot better about documenting more regularly throughout these days of injections for this IVF cycle, but we have been soo busy & with the 4th of July holiday falling right smack in the middle of treatment, I just haven’t found time. I was finally able to find a few minutes to give you guys an update on how things have been since starting FSH over a week ago.
Sunday the 29th of June was the day I started my injections. I was instructed to take 100mg of Gonal F (FSH) 2 times a day for five days. All of this went perfectly well. Big thanks to cell phone reminders keeping me on track. On Thursday we had our first ultrasound since starting injections. We had 13 follicles on the right and 15 follicles on the left ranging in sizes from 10-14mm. Once you follicles start measuring over 14mm it’s time to start Ganirelix which is an additional injection that you take 1 time a day to stop ovulation from occurring. I was instructed to continue FSH for the next five days, same dosage as before & take one dose (prefilled syringe) of Ganirelix at 2:30pm each day. I’ve been taking my FSH at 6am and 6pm each day.
So far I’m feeling pretty good. I’ve been prescribed Doxycycline to help prevent OHSS (ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome) and I’ve been taking in a ton of electrolytes. I have some minor bruising on my abdomen from the injections, but not terrible. The Ganirelix shots are a little more painful, but definitely tolerable. I constantly feel full & I can feel that my ovaries are pretty full, but other than that I have no signs on symptoms of OHSS. The only side effect I’ve gotten, and I’m not even sure if this is from the meds or not is a really nasty couple of cold sores. I’ve gotten cold sores all my life since about 5th grade, but the last few years they’ve really subsided. I used to get about two a year, now I get maybe one if that. The downside was that I started feeling it on Sunday and wasn’t sure if it was safe to take my anti-viral (Valtrex) or not with all of the other meds I’m on. I take a huge dose, two 1 gram pills twice a day for two days, it really knocks them down fast. Luckily I called the doc in the morning and I was cleared to take them!
Today was my follow up ultrasound. My follicles had grown significantly, the largest measuring over 20mm. They decided that the retrieval needed to be moved forward to Wednesday! So tonight we will trigger at 11pm and start Dostinex at 9PM. Dostinex helps alleviate the bloating and cramping from the stim meds. Tomorrow night we will stay over night in Rockford to make sure that we are there with plenty of time. I can't believe that we are finally to this point! On April 11th when we decided to move forward with IVF and cancel our IUI, I never thought this day would get here, especially as fast as it has!
Please note that I will be absent from blogging for the next couple weeks as we find our way through this journey. I appreciate, from the bottom of my heart, the love and support that we have gotten since starting this journey. You are all so amazing & I want to sincerely thank you all for all of your sweet words of encouragement! Let's do this!
Please note that I will be absent from blogging for the next couple weeks as we find our way through this journey. I appreciate, from the bottom of my heart, the love and support that we have gotten since starting this journey. You are all so amazing & I want to sincerely thank you all for all of your sweet words of encouragement! Let's do this!
