Hanging Tough

When I was younger I begged my oldest brother to take me to a New Kids on the Block concert.  He did not oblige, and I don't blame him, but I was a big fan of NKOTB.  Their song, "Hangin' Tough," is the inspiration for this blog post.  Here is why we are hanging tough.

We are now on cycle day 9 of our first round of in vitro.  I have had 15 shots, 3 blood draws, and 2 ultrasounds.  My levels and ultrasounds have confirmed what the doctor suspected all along which is Poly Cystic Ovaries.  They can't call it a syndrome because I don't have a couple of the important characteristics of PCOS.  Most likely our infertility this time around can be chalked up to damaged fallopian tubes from scar tissue and PCO.

The PCO aspect throws a little bit of a curve ball into IVF.  My body responds to very low doses of the shots.  They are being very careful to ensure that I don't overstimulate, so things are VERY slow going.  It also makes it hard to know what are follicles and what are cysts.  He said we basically have to hope for the best that there are actual mature eggs to take out.  This makes us on the late side of the cycle where they probably won't even take the eggs until sometime next week.  On the positive side, he counted around 18 follicles which would be amazing if there were mature eggs in them all.  The more they can harvest the better for trying for multiple rounds of IVF.

We are still remaining hopeful despite the challenges.  It is amazing the things you will do (like getting 15 shots in 7 days) when you really want something.  I will go back in on Thursday to see how my ovaries are progressing.  Please pray that the follicles would be easily recognized and clear so that they can more accurately decide when to do the retrieval.  We are hanging tough and taking things day by day.