My follow-up ultrasound for the infertility medications was today. I spent the last week or so taking Clomid and/or Gonal-F for the first time, and therefore, experiencing hot flashes like nobody’s business. Overall, I was nervous about the outcome because it wasn’t clear whether or not I actually needed the medication to stimulate my side of things. That said, I was worried that they may have overstimulated me.
The ultrasound itself was probably the worst one I’ve ever had. Typically, I don’t find them to be painful, just awkward. This one, however, was painful and I was cramping almost the whole time. That may have been because it was an intern doing the ultrasound and she didn’t seem to be all that confident in finding and measuring my follicles. I don’t think the doctor was all that confident either because he repeated the ultrasound. The corpsman/nurse who was “observing” also felt that it was appropriate to clean up the whole room afterwards, with the door open while I was still sitting on the exam table half dressed. Talk about awkward, and rude.
Anyway, the results weren’t quite what I was hoping for and I may have been slightly overstimulated. The doctor said that typically follicles in the range of 14-18mm are considered borderline mature and I’ve got one follicle that’s just about ready to stake its claim for this cycle, at 17.7mm. Either fortunately or unfortunately, depending upon how you look at it, I’ve got another six or so follicles in the 13.1-13.7mm range. With those follicles closing in on maturity size, and us definitely not wanting to risk having a brood of kids at once, the doctor had me inject the Ovidrel then and there to stimulate ovulation for the 17.7mm follicle. Also, the doctor told me that my uterus was also borderline for this cycle because its thickness was only 6mm. I was told that was a side effect of the Clomid, and therefore, if we have to do this again, I’m only doing injectionables.
I really didn’t get an all-around great feeling from the doctor, so it was a surprise when he said that we could try for timed intercourse tonight. That would have been fine, I guess, except that the other doctor that I saw for my last ultrasound recommended an IUI. When I brought that up, this doctor glanced through my file and decided that was okay too. Not quite sure why this doctor never seems to want to read my record before actually talking to me, but at least we’re still on course.
Tomorrow is IUI day, with the procedure scheduled for the afternoon. I’m hoping all goes well, but considering the state of my uterus and the uncertainty of my follicles, I’m not really getting my hopes up. At least after this, we’ll know what to expect for next time, if there is a next time.
The Cautious Crow 