TIME FOR OVULATION!

Yet another trip to Mayo today for a blood test and ultrasound today to check on the follicles and see if they are mature enough. We were hoping to hear that the follicles were big enough and that we could trigger ovulation tonight with the hCG injection. The hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) is a hormone that supports the normal development of an egg in a woman’s ovary. It basically stimulates and kicks in ovulation which releases the eggs.

We really wanted the hCG shot to be tonight, due to the fact that that would work best with Nick’s work schedule this coming week. And because we were almost out of some of the medications and would have had to get it last minute from the specialty pharmacy in the cities. Or maybe at Mayo, but we would have had to pay full price, because my insurance didn’t cover the medications from there.

The blood test needs to be done before 9am and our ultrasound was at 10am. So between those times, we went to our newly found favorite quaint bakery, and ate there for Sunday brunch. We also sported our Minnesota Vikings gear, ready for the big game later that afternoon.

We met a new doctor today who did the ultrasound, and she was wonderful. She gave us great news and said my follicles are lookin’ great. I have about 18 or so, with 9 or 10 that are big enough, so we’ll see how many they “use” for embryos. (Normally you have 1 follicle in a normal cycle with no drugs - so with 18 - my ovaries are working overtime! No wonder I have such pressure and bloating!)

There is one follicle that has blood in it, but I guess that can be common and so they don't use that one. My uterine lining is "beautiful,” in the words of the nurse! The doctor also checked the computer system quick around 10:30am to see if our blood test results were miraculously in, as she said they sometimes aren’t there until 1pm. She didn’t expect them to be in, but they were there! The results were great. So, she told us right then and there that we’d be triggering with the shot tonight. It was exactly what we wanted to hear and we didn’t even have to wait long for the results. Wonderful!

So - we'll take the HCG shot tonight, which will trigger ovulation! As they say, "timing is crucial" so we take the shot at 9pm tonight. And retrieval is approximately 34-38 hours after.

The hCG shot is given intramuscularly, which means “super long needle that goes right into your muscle above your butt” and involves all that crazy mixing of vials. I can’t shoot myself in the buttocks, so that means someone else has to give me the shot. And that will be my Miracle Nurse, my sister, Jesse. I don’t think anyone has seen my butt as much as she has! HA!