Day 30 - Half Way Through

Today marks the mid-point of our cycle and I happened to get my period this morning too. I called my doctor and we scheduled an appointment for this Wednesday (3 days from now) to have my first sonogram and some blood work that will determine if and when I start injecting the stims. In the mean time I continue with the Lupron.

The sonogram is conducted trasvaginally...yes, that means up there. (Get ready cause I'm about to explain it and it might make you blush.) I lie back on the exam table with my knees bent and feet in the stirrups just like during a pap. (Every ladies favorite positions...right? NOT!) My doctor then places the (phallic) sonogram probe, called a transducer, into you know what. As if that isn't mortifying enough, my doctor first covers the probe with a condom and blue sonogram gel. OMG! I was horrified the first few times of this procedure, but during IVF this practice is repeated almost daily so you'd better get used to it or it's gonna be a long, awkward ride folks! So as embarrassing as it is in the beginning, it becomes very routine and by then end it's hardly a big deal. Since this is our second run through IVF I am prepared (or desensitized) for what's to come...like I said earlier, the medical process is now under our belts (no pun intended.) Anyway, the probe sends out sound waves, which reflect off body structures, ie. my ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus. A computer receives these waves and uses them to create a picture on the nearby TV monitor that my doctor can read.

During my first lovely visit with "mr. probe" my doc is checking to see that my ovaries are 'down regulated' or quiet from the Lupron injections. If they are he will give me the thumbs up to begin the shots that grow my eggies! The blood work will both confirm what the sonogram shows, and determine the amount of stimulation hormones I will inject.

It's hard to believe that in 30 days we could learn that we are actually on our way to becoming parents. IVF # 2 countdown: Thirty days down, thirty more to go!!