Doctor Visits and more Doctor Visits...

Hi again,

Let's chat about doctor visits during IVF.

IVF is a very fragile and timely process so I totally understand the importance of the doctor visits. I guess I just wasn't ready for the number of visits we had. With school and work weighing really heavily on me in May, the doctor appointments just added that much more. At the beginning the visits were great because they were pretty interesting, but the more and more we had them I guess I was getting nervous things weren't going according to plan. But my mind wasn't completely stable either.

Each doctor's appointment starts with a vaginal ultrasound (I've been probed so many times I think I've lost track :) ) to check on the harvesting progress - ovaries and endometrium lining. This was really cool! At the beginning we had a doctor visit about twice to three times a week. So it was fun to look on the monitor and see how many follicles were developing and how big they were getting from week to week. After the ultrasound, there was also a blood test to check my estradiol levels. So my arm was pricked pretty good, but the doctors were great. I only started to bruise at the end of the process so I didn't have to look like a druggie for too long :) The blood tests were crucial to check my hormone levels.

After the first couple weeks, things seemed to be going well. They thought I might have about 15 follicles on each ovary. We were still on progress for our tentative retrieval date. But after that it didn't seem to be going as well as they would've hoped. Not all of the follicles developed, and some were overpowering the rest. Our retrieval date was being pushed back after each visit and we had to see the doctor more often. For some reason, which could've been just random, my estradiol levels were lower than wanted and my follicles weren't growing as fast as wanted. So my nerves tended to take over and I was thinking I did something wrong from time to time. The doctor visits turned into every other day (including Sunday mornings :). I thought a Sunday at the doctor's office was kind of funny.

Even though the doctor visits were so frequent, it helped me relax because the doctors and nurses were so awesome. Despite the way things were progressing they made Chris and I feel like we were doing everything perfect and everything will be just fine. That was so awesome and we can't thank them enough for being so supportive. I still feel like I'm walking into Cheers when I get to there because everyone has gotten to know us and they are all so supportive. Plus we tended to make everyone chuckle at least a little bit when we visited.

When it came to the week of the retrieval I was definitely feeling my ovaries. My tummy was hurting as those follicles were growing - which was also awesome! We went to a movie the night before the retrieval and I could barely make it through. Crazy!

Our retrieval date was on May 23rd! Bring on the eggs :)