I got up the nerve to get a photo of the monitor at my visit on Wednesday. This was my last E2 and ultrasound (yay!). I don't know why I felt it was a covert operation because I could have gotten a print out if I had just asked.
At each of my monitoring visits, the ultrasound tech, Patty, looks at my right and left ovaries and measures each follicle one by one. She calls out numbers like 11x15 or 12x13. I write them all down and then I meet with my IVF nurse, Jennifer to discuss it. She adds the two numbers and divides by 2 to get something like 13 and 12.5 for each follicle. When I have several that are at 18 or above, it's time to trigger ovulation. So, tonight, I took two shots of Ovidrel at 9:30pm. That medication induces ovulation exactly 36 hours after injection. So, my egg retrieval is scheduled 35 hours post-injection at 8:30am on Friday. In order to retrieve the eggs, they have to still be in the follicles.
Normal ovulation is very similar to this process. The body develops lots of eggs at the beginning of a cycle (actually, eggs are recruited for development about 3 months out), then somewhere along the way, one surpasses the others and that's the one that is ovulated at about 18mm. I've read that it's rare for an egg less than 15mm to produce a pregnancy. So, whether it's the IVF process developing lots of eggs or the body in a natural process, the egg has to be to a certain level of maturity before pregnancy can occur.
Today, I go back for E2 but not monitoring. And, the best news of all, NO INJECTIONS TOMORROW!!! I get a free day before diving headfirst into progesterone injections later this week.
Considering we have a busy week already, our cows haven't exactly been helping us any. Saturday, #1 had a cow. Then, yesterday about 1:00, Greg ran down the barn steps with binoculars in hand saying, "You need to come look at this! You may never see something like this again!" So up I ran and looked out the front window into the wooded area where #7 (the cow we thought would have a calf first) was standing. Obviously in labor.
Well, that went on and on and on.
Jared, a college kid from church, was helping me with some Studio Calico work, but quickly diverted his attention to helping Greg with the cow. He was in nursing scrubs from his clinical rotation, so he donned my dad's carhart overalls, coat and hat and headed out.
Then, around 5:00 we decided to call the vet and get her up.
If you're not used to farm-speak, you might think "get her up" means to make her stand up, but you'd be wrong. "Get her up" means to get her up in the pen and in the chute, where we can pull a calf if need be.
The vet came at 6:00 but it took awhile to get her up.
So, it was around 8:00 before she was in the chute and he could palpate her. If you don't know what that means, I'm not explaining that one.
She was fully dilated and tired, so they made the decision to pull the calf.
Thankfully, it all worked out, momma and baby are fine and resting in some hay because it's cold tonight.
We'll check on them this morning and hopefully the calf will be on the boob-tube as Jared would say. I plan to take photos, but it was dark last night, so not the best opportunity.
4 comments:
thinking of you tomorrow during retrieval..
alex loves dirty jobs. therefore, i know what you meant. LOL.
April, I’m a blog subscriber who basically subscribed for your awesome scrapbooking skills, but getting your posts has really tugged at my heart. I too (non IVFer), have 2 healthy babies (Christian 4 and Alivia 1). I got pregnant with both of them within 3 months of trying, but those 3 months SEEMED like an eternity!! I really felt like it’d never happen (dramatic, I know). I had 2 prior miscarriages (one just 3 months before my second pregnancy). I’ve come to realize - throughout my journey - how totally not in control we (the moms who want and carry these babies) are. It just is not in our hands and that is so humbling and...well, scary. I remember with my son, I worked at A Birth Center - and delivered both babies there - I couldn’t wait until my 3rd month...I had it in my head that 3 mos.when all the worries or risks should go away, right? I mean, this was my honest belief. On the day of my 3 months, one of my fave. patients came in, miscarrying her 36 week baby. It was her first boy after having 4 girls. He was wanted so badly. They had to have a funeral and everything. I went into the bathroom and balled - on the floor - like a baby! I quickly realized that I wasn’t “out of the woods”, there is no “magical” time period that guarantees me a healthy baby. I decided that day that it was out of my hands. If I wanted to stay sane, I’d have to stop relying on my own understanding and trust. trust. trust. And pray. Everyday. Many times a day. I don’t know why I told you that. I guess to say that in the strangest of ways, I relate to you. I just wanted to say that you are obviously a woman of God, I can tell you have the faith needed to carry you through this season of your life. I hope this is the day. I want you to know that today a complete stranger in S. Florida is praying for you. I’m wishing the wish of wishes for you. I hope you feel that in your heart. Right now. At this very moment, I hope you feel the comfort and peace that cones from someone praying for you.
I also wanted to say that I totally relate to Meagen who commented that she, too, was a non-IVFer. It is true that we moms sometimes take our children for granted (maybe this isn’t the same for IVRers - I really don’t know). We wanted our babies so badly, and love them dearly but gosh, being a mom/dad can be so tough! I love them more than anything in this whole entire world, and they fill me with so much joy - it’s honestly immeasurable. However, we also stand by a “pretty strict” 8 o’clock bedtime. Being a mom/dad it is mentally and physically draining (I’m sure I’m not bursting some bubble for you, I’m sure you know that parenthood is not bliss all the time). I have been at work at the end of a 10 hour day, and been so exhausted that I actually wish the kids would just be in bed when I get home. It’s like, “please, today let there be no crying, fighting, or complaining” - I feel like I just don’t know if I’m any good at it. This is so hard for me to even say, because what I wanted to be “when I grew up” was...a mom. Sometimes, I feel also greedy for wanting alone time myself (these scrapbook pages don’t make themselves!!) or with my hubby (which is so few and far in between that sometimes we don’t have a “real” conversation for days). I feel so ungrateful for feeling this way. There truly is nothing like a “mother’s guilt”. Anyway, I hope I’m not alone with having these inequities - otherwise, I’ll have to check my insurance company to see what our mental health coverage is ;). Thank you for being so real and raw and honest. At the end this IVF journey, I know that you’re going to be there on the other side with your integrity in tact, a baby in your arms, and joy in your heart. I can’t wait. I’m praying for you. Longest comment ever...sorry ;)
Poor Momma #7! How exhausting, but a good turn out in the end :)
And I'll be thinking about you, and praying for a good, easy retrieval.
i'll be thinking of you guys tomorrow, april...praying that everything goes well!
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