Suppression #3: All is Quiet

Now that my ovaries have made their point that they will do whatever they damn well please, they have quieted down. Or maybe they just wanted to let everyone know that they work just fine on their own, thankyouverymuch.

I had my THIRD suppression check this morning. No cyst! The nurse called with my blood work results this afternoon and I pretty much have no estrogen in my system. I may have heard incorrectly, but I thought she said 5.4 (recall last two weeks were 124 and 137). They want under 30. Check! I think this also explains the headaches I keep getting.

I start stims on Saturday! I'll get the calendar updated soon.

Dr. NFB also did an antral follicle count. Each month in normal functioning ovaries many follicles start to develop and pretty quickly in the process, one emerges as the dominant follicle and releases hormones to suppress the rest. The other follicles and the immature oocytes (eggs) inside just die off. If the ovaries are observed early enough in a cycle, the doctor can count how many tiny fluid filled antral follicles are hanging out waiting for FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) to start competing for development. Too few is a sign of diminished ovarian reserve and too many is a sign of polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Dr. NFB counted nine in my right ovary and 11 in my left. These are excellent numbers. The Lupron is preventing my pituitary gland from releasing FSH and LH so without the stims, my ovaries will just keep hanging out at this stage. With controlled hyperstimulation we are going to try to get as many of those follicles to develop mature oocytes as possible. We hope to prevent a dominant follicle as it will shut down growth in the rest. Also, I will continue to take Lupron to prevent my body from ovulating on it's own. If it does that, they can't retrieve the eggs and therefore, no IVF.

In theory, if every one of my antral follicles respond to the stims, they would retrieve ~20 eggs. But, not all may respond or some may not contain an oocyte. I would be thrilled with 12-15 follicles at retrieval containing 10-12 mature oocytes. However, let's not count our chickens before they hatch. I'm just excited that I'm finally properly suppressed and have a great antral follicle count. Next appointment is Tuesday, 11/8 to see how I'm responding to the stims and adjust the dosages accordingly.

P.S. The nurse handed me a zip lock bag full of syringes because I've been on Lupron WAY longer than planned. I will be very close to running out of the vial by the end of this. Amazing how fast things change - I didn't find it odd to carry a stash of syringes in my purse the rest of the day.