September 2016 - IVF #4, Trigger Time!

Wednesday's check showed good progress, and I asked for a printout of my left ovary scan, so I could show what the 3 left-side follicles look like on the ultrasound.  The black blobs are the fluid-filled follicles, and in this shot they are measuring about 14mm each in diameter:

Black blobs are the 3 follicles on my left ovary.  Sep 21 ultrasound, day 9 of stims.

Thursday evening, I mixed my shots with a glass of wine.  2011 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon.  It was a good pairing.

3 shots, from top to bottom:  Gonal-F, Cetrotide, and Menopur, paired with a beautiful Alexander Valley Cabernet

Friday's check continued to show good progress, to the tune of about 1mm / day for each follicle.  All of the follicles were in the 16-19mm range, so very close, but not quite ready for trigger.  My RE prefers that the lead follicles are 20mm before triggering.  We were called back for a Saturday (today) scan and blood test down at the Piney Point location west of downtown.  After the check today, this is what round 4 has looked like:

Bars represent follicle diameters (red = right ovary, blue = left ovary), and the trend line is my estrogen level

Friday, my estrogen level was over 1300 ng/ml, which is a personal record at this point in an IVF cycle.  Saturday/Today, as you can see, it has plateaued quickly, which means it's time to trigger.  I got my instructions to take my trigger shots (2 ovidrel shots and 1 lupron shot) at 11:00:00pm this evening.  With the lupron included, they need me to come in for another blood test tomorrow morning before I take the second lupron shot at 11:00:00 am on Sunday.  I'm not fully sure what they are looking for in these tests, but it will be estrogen, progesterone, and LH that will be tested.  I will ask for more info on why they perform this extra test, which wasn't a part of our prior rounds (none of which included the lupron trigger).

So, at this point, this is what round 4 has looked like, and will hopefully look like post-retrieval.  Assuming they can retrieve some good looking eggs from my good looking follicles, next week will be the week of waiting on the embryo reports: