Quest for Info

Let me start by clarifying something….although Brandon and I have not discussed it yet, I’m pretty sure that if we are successful in having a baby we will not be naming it Chase. I have come to realize that several people have misinterpreted my blog title. Cathy's Baby Chase is referring to our “quest” for a baby. Although, given the cost of this “quest”, Chase might not be a bad idea. Chase Citibank Sanspree does have an interesting ring to it. We may have to reconsider…

Sunday night I hit the next phase of the process. I’m now shooting up 2 times a day….Lupron in the morning and now FSH at night. FSH is the follicle stimulating hormone (not to be mistaken for Rogaine) whose purpose is to…you guessed it…stimulate the follicles in my ovaries. It’s amazing how much I can actually feel this drug working. Within an hour of taking the second shot I could almost feel my ovaries stimulating…well, maybe it was just gas, but humor me please. I like to think that we’re making progress. Thankfully the FSH doesn’t have the same effect as the Lupron did. At least with this drug, my personality isn’t going to split any more than it already has! The injections have become a normal part of the day. When I started I was so careful to make sure I followed proper procedure and make everything as sterile as possible. Wash hands before starting process. Use separate alcohol swaps for cleaning the vial and prepping the injection site. Use sterile gauze pads to apply pressure to the site after injection. Well, now my process is much more lax. The other day, I dropped the alcohol wipe on the floor, picked it up and dusted off the cat hair before using it to “sterilize” the injection site. Then after the shot I applied pressure with my used dinner napkin. Don’t worry, I don’t have plans to pursue any career in the medical field. I’m relatively sure that my lessened protocol won’t result in our child being born with gills…..hopefully not.

Today we went to Nashville for our first set of tests since starting the FSH injections. I had an ultrasound and blood work done. Like previous visits, I had built this appointment up in my head and was sure it was going to be the MOST informative visit so far. Once again, I WAS WRONG. We were there less than 30 minutes and only had about 10 words spoken to us…but they were very friendly 10 words. The ultrasound tech came into the room and asked Brandon to right down what she calls out. This was troubling to me since Brandon’s handwriting is like that of a 6 year old serial killer surgeon (another mental note for baby names…Doogie Bundy Sanspree). I was afraid that whatever numbers she had him write down would later be mistaken for GPS coordinates for the nearest Best Buy. But she seemed sure that his writing would be fine. When she was done with the ultrasound, she said that we were done for the day and she’ll see us on Friday. My head was screaming “Wait a minute lady. I just let you violate me with an obscenely long object and you aren’t going to even tell me what you saw??” But instead of listening to my “voices”, I politely asked if everything was good, bad, anything she could tell us? She very promptly reminded me that I must have forgotten that we were told at the Fertility Class that the ultrasound techs would not be able to tell me anything. The doctor would have to review it and I should check my voice mail box this afternoon. Remembering to smile, I said I must have forgotten that. Thanks for reminding me and I promise I won’t ask again on Friday. And with that, we were done and I left disappointed about the lack of info at the appointment and really wanting to "use my words" with that ultrasound tech.

I checked my voice mail 3 LONG hours later and got the results. The IVF nurse said that my estradiol level was 326 and I was to continue with 5 units of Lupron in the morning and 225 units of FSH in the evening. She wished me a nice evening and said sweetly that she’d see us on Friday morning. Again, WTF???? That’s it????? I have no f#@$ing idea was it means that my estradiol level is 326. For all I know that could mean that we’re going to give birth to a little blue thing with white footed pants, a hat and answers to Papa Smurf.

OK, OK…I realize that I probably need to be talked off a ledge at this point and that I’m letting stress get the better of me. So I decided to email the IVF nurse to find more out. Here’s how it went:

Jen,
Thanks for my voicemail and test results. I have to admit that I feel a little in the dark about the results since this is my first IVF cycle. You said my estradiol level was 326. Is that a good range for day 4 of stimulation? I can only assume (and hope) that by keeping my medication at the same level that means that all is proceeding as expected and planned…..but I was just wondering if that was the case.

Sorry to bother you as I’m sure MANY women are just as stressed as I am and are asking constant questions!
Cathy

Cathy,
First off, don’t apologize for asking questions-that is why I am here! Anytime you have questions, ask me. IVF is too stressful to have unanswered questions on top of everything else. There is really no set estradiol level we look for as you go through IVF, we just want to see it continue to rise throughout the cycle, letting us know that your body is responding to the medication. With that being said, your estradiol level this morning is a good level for day 4-not too low and not too high! Keeping your medications the same is a good sign and does mean things are progressing as planned. Let me know if you have any more questions-please do not hesitate to ask!!
Have a great day and see you Friday,
Jen


Well, her response makes me feel better…for now. She was too sweet for me to keep being pissed off....the bitch. Tomorrow’s another day and another opportunity for me to think irrationally and fly off the handle at the drop of a hat….it’s good times at the Sansprees.

More to come…