Looking on the bright side

Friday's IUI went relatively well. For the first time, I was treated by the only female doctor at my fertility clinic and she was great. When she entered the room, she introduced herself and apologized for keeping me waiting. She asked me if I had any questions and then took the time to answer them all. After she inseminated me, she covered me up with my paper sheet. She really made me feel like an actual person, rather than another infertile body.

Later that day I received a call from my RE, Dr. L. He had been out of town on vacation last week, so he called to review the cycle and discuss steps moving forward. Dr. L has a metaphor that he likes to use to describe an IVF cycle. He likens it to having one foot on the brake and two feet on the gas. He agreed that my taking BCPs for so long may have acted as a second foot on the brake, thus impacting my ability to stim. However, he was reluctant to take BCPs out of my next protocol. Instead, if the IUI does not work (he has given us a 5-10% chance of success), I will take three weeks of BCPs and no Lupron. I will then start stimming with a higher dosage of Follistim and Menopur. He also recommends adding a GnRh antagonist to prevent premature ovulation.

Although one of the ultrasound technicians informed me that an IVF cycle with four or more mature follicles would go to retrieval, Dr. L would not commit to a retrieval with a low number of follicles for me at my age. He suggested that an older patient who’d already had a cancelled IVF cycle would be a more likely candidate for retrieval with only 4-5 follicles. Instead, Dr. L is hoping for at least a dozen mature follicles next time around with our new protocol. Finally, he expressed some concern about my lining and e2 levels. Hopefully, the upcoming IVF cycle (if necessary) will yield better results.

If our beta (scheduled for May 5th) is negative, Supernurse will email me our new protocol and will work us into the IVF schedule, stimming to begin in late May.

There is some comfort in knowing that we have a plan, in the likely event that we will need it. As always, thanks for all of your kind words of support.