Fan-freaking-tastic!

When I went in on Thursday, I felt great.  When I left the office, I was bummed.  Lots of follicles, but the doc was worried that the e2 would be too high (because it had doubled from Monday to Tuesday).  But I got a call from the nurse later that day and things were great: e2 came in at 1355.  I continued the 100u of Follistim and was told to come back for more blood work and another ultrasound today.

When Dr. Thomas walked in wearing a Santa Claus hat, I should have known today would be an even better day.  I told him that if he wore that hat on my embryo transfer day, I could say that Santa Claus got me pregnant.  He said it would put a whole new spin on the song, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".  I was going to up the joke ante by saying something about Santa coming down the chimney, but I behaved myself.  And all you Victorian-era prudes out there don't blow a gasket, there was a female doctor in the room, as well as my best friend, Barbarella.  (She tagged along to learn how to give me my PIO shot when Jeff is gone from the 15th-18th.)

Madames et monsieurs, I am pleased to announce that I have 26 measurable follicles, total.  In case any of you obsess over numbers like I do, lemmie break it down:

Polly was the leader with thirteen (all numbers are in millimeters):
16.1x15
20x12
15.7x15.3
16x8.7
14.6x14.3
13.5x12.9
11.1x12
13.1x11.4
18.2x10.9
16.4x13.9
22.2x12.4
14.7x6.3
13.9x7.5

Heidi was only one away from a tie breaker, with twelve:
15.4x14
16.9x11.7
13.4x10.5
21.1x12.8
14x10.2
22.9x8.7
19.3x18
12.4x11.8
18.4x13.3
10.2x12.1
21.6x13.9
13.9x11.3

From www.inciid.org: Follicles generally need to be at least 15-16 mm to contain fertilizable eggs (although it is possible in rare cases for follicles to be as small as 14 mm and still contain fertilizable eggs).  Follicles grow 1 to 2 mm a day both while taking ovulatory stimulants and after the HCG shot.

So, to sum up, my smallest comes in at about 12mm.  If it grows 1-2mm every day for the next 2-ish days, I could be looking at 14-16mm.  Now, just because I have 26 measurable follicles, doesn't mean the shark is going to be able to retrieve 26 eggs, or that even if it does, all 26 are going to be mature.  (But it never hurts to hope!!)

My uterine lining (because you want to know this) is 9.9 ( they want it to be above 7, so this is great) and my e2 came in at 2975.  Santa Claus, sorry I mean, Dr. Thomas had guessed it would be somewhere near 3500, but this number is good.  

When Dr. Ifeelhorriblefornotbeingabletorememberhername called me earlier this evening, she told me that I would be triggering on Sunday!  WOO FREAKING HOO!  She told me to take 5u of Lupron and my last (hopefully the last one, FOREVER!) follistim shot tonight and then tomorrow at 11:30pm, take another 5u of Lupron and a shot in the ass (no, she didn't say, "ass") of 10,000units of hCG.  Don't freak out, I know it sounds like a lot, especially because I'm only taking 100units of follistim, but the hCG is concentrated or something.

On Monday, I get a shot mini-vacay and on Tuesday, Jeff and I need to be at the hospital at 9:30am for our egg retrieval at 10:30am.  Two awesome things about this: 

1. FREE valet parking.  That's right kids, all we have to do is pull up to the front door of the hospital and they park our car.  AND give it back to us when we're done.  FOR FREE.  Sorry, but when you're shelling out $15,000 for a medical procedure, you kinda lose your mind over freebies.  (Like my awesome, purple, CRH rubber band bracelet!  Oh!  And in the waiting room, all the Keurig coffee you can drink!)

2.  During the procedure, I can't do the fun "hooker toes" (nail polish is a no-no), but I do get to wear my nifty, new Santa socks.  $5 at Target, you can't beat that! 

After Pike babies are made in the lab, they usually hang out for a few days and then two embryos are put back inside the Mother Ship.  At that point, technically, I get to say I'm pregnant.  But don't expect any announcements until Christmas Eve, when I get the results of my beta pregnancy test. 

Oh, and keep those funky-cool band aids coming!  I'm going to need about 7 more to get me through the PIO shots.  Anybody have any of these?  Send 'em if ya got 'em!