poke #10 - almost at the end of the road!

I went in this morning for the usual blood test, had coffee at the Patisserie again, and was called back for a second blood test. I was told to come back for a scan at 2:30pm and it was none other than Dr T, the famed doctor of the ARGC! It was such a privilege and even the women in the same queue as me found it such an honour. Obviously this man is held in very high esteem and to get him to do our scans today was like striking the mini jackpot (the large jackpot is of course getting pregnant and giving birth).

Dr T actually has a sense of humour. He asked me if I'm keeping up with my fluids, I said yes, and he asked if it's 30 or 40 litres. Ha! Then he looked at my ovaries - how full they are! My follicles are huge. I asked how many eggs he thinks I have and he replied in a offhand manner, "Oh, about 300 or so" and broke out in a grin. Heh. I like him.

He then gave me the good news that I will most probably do the trigger tomorrow which means egg retrieval will be on Thursday! Yay! I will have to go home straight away and poke myself with Cetrotide. Oh joy.

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Here is a step by step guide to poking Cetrotide, you know, just in case if you ever find yourself at the verge of ovulating 300 eggs.
[No, you know the rules: please do NOT try this at home. These are powerful drugs you are messing around with with potential serious side effects.]


Step #1: Open one alcohol swab



Step #2: Open the lid of the vial with the white powder and use the alcohol swab to wipe the top of the vial



Step #3: Remove the cap from the syringe containing the clear liquid



Step #4: Screw the yellow needle onto the syringe



Step #5: Poke the vial and inject all the liquid in



Step #6: Leave the needle in the vial and gently dissolve the white powder until all that remains is a clear liquid. Try not to shake the vial too hard as the less air bubbles we have, the better.



Step #7: Turn vial upside down and draw all liquid back into the syringe. It is essential that all liquid is drawn.



Step #8: Remove any air in the syringe



Step #9: Remove the yellow needle and put the grey needle on the syringe



Step #10: Use the remaining alcohol swab to wipe the injetion area, which should be below/around the belly button



Step #11: Poke!


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More stats:
Friday, 27 Nov 2009 PM: Oestradiol 5159
Saturday, 28 Nov 2009 AM: LH 9.2 IU/L Oestradiol 10,353, Progesterone 2.6
Saturday, 28 Nov 2009 PM: LH 5.9 IU/L Oestradiol 12,440
Sunday, 29 Nov 2009 AM: LH 0.3 IU/L Oestradiol 4853, Progesterone 1.4
Sunday, 29 Nov 2009 PM: LH <0.1 IU/L FSH 3.7, Oestradiol 4161
Monday, 30 Nov 2009 AM: LH 1.6 IU/L Oestradiol 11,410

how many more days? i can only guess

Today is day 9 of stimulation. I went in early (enough on a Sunday) for a blood test, then had coffee and a fabulous chocolate eclair at the Patisserie at Marylebone High Street while waiting for the ARCG to call back. Another blood test at noon and back home now. Instructions for today is 75 units of Gonal-F immediately.

Yesterday was a bit of a strange one though. I went in for the usual blood test and the results must have been crazy because I was then told to poke myself with Cetrotide, a different drug. What this drug does is to delay the LH surge, which means it just delays my body from ovulating. My eggs are not mature yet - they need to grow just a bit more - so LH level has to come down.

Cetrotide comes in a big box with two alcohol swabs, a large syringe, two needles and a vial with white powder. It's like doing Chemistry at O Levels all over again! After mixing the solution I poked myself below the belly button and it was actually quite painful, and painful to watch too as it was a large syringe and everything had to go in. I decided I don't like Cetrotide very much.



==

I had bouts of nausea that come and go but today was better. The only side effects of all the drugs (so far) are the sore area where I poked the Cetrotide, the bloatedness where my ovaries are and a bit of a headache. But the latter can be just because of the cold. I actually woke up to hailstorm this morning! Rubbish London weather indeed.

But everything I go through is nothing compared to the joy and happiness that T and G will have if this works. I saw a pair of twin boys at the Patisserie this morning and it reminded me of what T told me - that she thinks she will have twin boys from my donated eggs. I wonder how they will look, with a little bit of myself and G mixed together. Hmm.

Dr C told me last week when I was still in Hong Kong that the first recipient of my donated eggs, M, got pregnant but subsequently miscarried. I was really disappointed but I'm sure M will be trying again soon. I just hope that my seeds of labour will bear fruit. Really, spending time with T and G just made my realize how some people are destined to be great parents - and if anyone deserve to be parents, it's them.

Fingers crossed!

Poked #6

I'm now poking myself with three different drugs in one single jab: Menopur + Gonal F + Cetrotide. Here's a little introduction to what the three different drugs do:

Menopur: stimulates the follicles and also helps the eggs mature and release.

Gonal-F: helps to develop more eggs in the ovaries; essentially it is a hormone identical to follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) produced by the pituitary gland

Cetrotide: helps control the body's hormonal responses which affect the development of eggs. It assists the delay of a hormonal event known as the "LH surge". If LH surge occurs too early in a cycle, the eggs will be released before they're expected and that's no good as we want the eggs to be released on the day of the surgery.


It all sound a little oxymoron-ish to me but at this point, I just want to stay as healthy as I can and get to the big day without any drama!