Is It Time To Go Home Yet?
Mrrggh. Today is my first day back at the office post-honeymoon. I had a whole glorious week off after the wedding, and it spoiled me a bit, I’m afraid. I can’t help but notice that I am no longer within ambling distance of wine, and even if I were, its consumption would likely be frowned upon. It is amazing how quickly one can become accustomed to a more genial, less productive, lifestyle. Before the wedding I had never, in all my working life, taken a week’s vacation. Never! What a fool I was.
Anyway, I am back now and subject to all the nuisances of working life—chief among them being work itself—and feeling cross about it. Adding to my annoyance (and embarrassment) is the fact that I am apparently a big, fat baby when it comes to fertility drugs.
Letrozole is the bunny slope of ovarian stimulation. It is the wispy hair on the lip of a preteen lothario compared to the bushy, Tom Selleck-esque flourish that is injectable gonadotropins. It is known to have virtually no side effects at all. And yet, it does not seem to agree with me. I have had an excruciating headache since Saturday morning. Saturday night I had a brief panic attack and two crying jags, one of which was prompted by the opening credits of Kate & Allie. I have never responded well to hormonal changes (extreme anxiety before periods and after miscarriages, a bout of birth control-induced hyperemesis as a youth), but I expected to handle fertility treatments, especially the kind that practically come with training wheels, with a bit more aplomb. A bit more aplomb and a bit less agonized head-clutching.
In an attempt to fool myself into thinking I am delighted to be back at work, headache and all, I brought a vase (read: milk bottle) of large, fluffy peonies into my office. They are the fattest, most-scrumptious-looking peonies I have ever seen. I was going to tell you that they are the size of softballs, but I just realized I am not sure I have ever seen a softball, so I can’t vouch for the applicability of that particular metaphor. But they are each easily bigger than a cat head, if that helps. Flowers do brighten this grim corporate cove just just a bit, though alas, they do nothing for my headache. Or to keep my linen pants from wrinkling. Or to cause the two woman loudly conversing outside my office to disperse, returning a moment later with a cool cloth for my forehead and a cookie. But perhaps I expect too much.
Does anyone know what I can expect to see at my ultrasound on Friday? (I am looking for a more detailed answer than “your insides,” you in the back). It will be day 10, and I am curious about what my follicles might be doing. Three of the four times that I have managed to ovulate naturally have been on day 18, and one was on day 21. Presumably the Letrozole will move that timeline up a bit. What size were your Letrozole-induced follicles on day 10, pray tell? My abdomen feels pinchy and clenchy, which I hope is a favorable sign. Though maybe it’s just gas. *Sigh.* Isn’t this fun?
I’m going to go get my own damn cookie.
13 Comments
I’m always impressed with people who can remember numbers from their cycles. I don’t even recall how many eggs were retrieved and how many were fertilised in my IVF cycle. To remember follicle sizes on day 10, well…forget it.
I’ve just gone to my archives and found this:
“I am not one to obsess over follicle size, so don’t ask me how big my measly two are at this stage (day 11) of my cycle. WHYBAML did tell me that he’s not worried that I only have two, as he believes these two to be particularly strong.”
So yeah, that’s helpful. I just hope they can find your uterus, as WHYBAML had difficulty finding mine for IUI #4. You know, since you and I are Innard Twins and all.
Good luck anyway, I hope someone can help.
So if you haven’t seen a softball, is it safe to assume you have seen the “wispy hair on the lip of a preteen lothario”, up close?
You will see some gray graininess with some black spots (hopefully follicles) within some additional gray graininess.
Yes, it would have been more helpful if I had just gave you the answer you were fearing: your insides.
Welcome back! And have two cookies… real life sans spa massages and free flowing liquor blows.
Pictures. I need pictures.
Hmmm . . .it depends? That’s the other nebulous answer to what you can expect on a day 10 ultrasound.
Sorry, but it really does just depend. It’s pretty frustrating.
But at least it’s tomorrow.
I can’t remember exactly the size of my follies on day 10 but I do remember there were at least 5 nice sized ones and a few smaller ones developing. I was on a low dose of Puregon though. I was all twingy down there also so that’s probably a good sign. I ended up triggering on day 13 which was very early for me so don’t be surprised if you trigger much earlier than your usual O date. By trigger date I had 2 nice sized ones on the right (I think 20 and 23) and one on the left (around 21), had the IUI the next day and ended up w/twins! BTW this was my first injectible cycle. So hang in there and good luck. Oh and the O pains after trigger were brutal so don’t be surprised at that.
Just combed through my archives…I am happy that my extreme anal retentiveness can now go to some use! On day 11 of my one and only letrozole cycle, I had two 12-13 mm follicles on the left and one 19 mm follicle on the right. I ovulated on my own (no trigger) within the next couple of days.
Left to my own nonmedicated devices, I’d ordinarily ovulate on day 30 or so, so yes, the little orange pills do move things up. But it depends…on Clomid, I generally had nada (or “multiple less than 10″–multiple follicles
Getting back to reality after a vacation absolutely blows. That is for sure.
Good luck with your ultrasound.
Hi Alexa, I’ve been lurking here for a while and really enjoy reading your archives. I have no perspective to give, because I’m waiting to start my first Letrozole cycle, too (I also have PCOS). I will say this–on one of my Clomid cycles, I had one 11mm follicle on CD13. RE thought I was sunk. He was wrong. I ovulated on CD18. So don’t be too depressed if the number isn’t as high as you hoped it would be.
Don’t feel all wussy about responding badly to letrazole — I get way worse headaches on it than I ever did on clomid. The doctors LIE about it having less side effects; it simply depends on how your metabolism reacts to the drug.
I’m too lazy to check my archives, but I’m pretty sure my day 10-ish u/s last cycle showed one large follicle (around 15 mm) and a smattering of smaller ones in the 8-13 mm range. I had to go back on CD14 for another scan before they would let me trigger.
I think everyone reacts differently to different drugs. One woman I know wasn’t affected by clomid (my only point of reference even though I skipped the bunny slopes) and another almost took to a clock tower in texas. Same thing for your response - hopefully you don’t have too many follicles though - kwim? tylenol doesn’t help the head?
Your ovaries should look vaguely like softballs, er, em - hey wait a minute - you get to see your ovaries?!
Oh how much i love peonies. good luck on day 10 - i do not have any guesses on what you get to see
Hey, who doesn’t cry after the Kate & Allie credits? ;) I, too, had never taken a week off until last year and then I understood why: Any longer and I would never return.
Sympathies for the hormone situation–I can definitely relate. Job stress in April led to the most jacked up cycle of my whole life in May/June and it is just now letting up. Maybe you could put up a sign on your cube, “MIGRAINE IN PROGRESS: no talking. cookies welcome.”
Best of luck with the ultrasound.
Wow - with your history, I would make sure you are prepared for some challenges in your pregnancy. If you find you begin to get very sick, get help quickly. Those of us who react so strongly (I had to get IVs twice) to birth control pills often have much more nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. See the HER Foundation - http://www.HelpHER.org - if you need help managing your pregnancy.
Best of luck!