Beginning Clomid

On Saturday, CD 2, I got my blood drawn and another ultrasound to check my follicle count. Later that afternoon I got a call from the nurse telling me that my FSH count went up from the following month. It was at a 12.9 now from an 11. I didn't get a specific number of follicles but from what I understood it was less than what I had the following month and to top it off I had a small cyst. I was driving my car when she told me this and was so taken by surprise so I didn't ask too many questions. Before I knew it the conversation was over.

Basically, this was not the news I was hoping to hear. I was hoping my levels would go down since I heard that your chances with DOR to respond well to fertility med are only as good as your highest FSH level. Before I allowed myself to go into full panic mode I decided to call the office again, ask questions and get some additional information from the nurse.

I asked her if clomid would be a bust this cycle since my levels were elevated from the prior month and she assured me that they were not. She said that if my FSH levels were closer to the 18 range then we would have to go straight to IVF. She said my success rate with clomid for this cycle with my current FSH levels would only go down a couple percents.

During our discussion I decided that I didn't want to do this cycle unmonitored anymore. I figured that by monitoring this cycle I will know for sure if my body reacted well to the clomid or not. It will also take away any guess work as to if I'm ovulating. I felt a million times better after making that phone call and changing our treatment plan.

Then I waited for the evening of CD 5 to my first Clomid pill. The following morning, yesterday, I felt like pure crap. My head was pounding, my mouth had a metallic taste to it, and I was nauseous. The whole nine yards. I realized quickly yesterday that if I ate small snacks throughout the day and kept hydrated I felt a lot better.

I'm not a breakfast person but this morning I made myself eat some a toasted pb&j first thing in the am with my morning coffee. I feel great. No headache. No nausea. No nasty taste in my mouth. I am feeling some twingies in my ovaries so hopefully that means something positive is going on down there.


The game plan now is to keep taking the clomid at night until CD 9 and then see the RE on Monday to see it it helped. In the meantime I'm sending good follicle producing vibes to my ovaries.

Diminishing Ovarian Reserve

That was the outcome of my appointment this past Saturday. My ovary production is in the 25% for women my age. Even though there is indeed an issue he said that I was by no means in the freak out zone. I do need help. That is for sure. The way I see it this is my body's way of saying hurry up.

During the u/s they took a week or so ago they look for approximately 10 follicles in each ovary and I had 7 on each. My fsh hormone and amh hormone was also elevated higher than average.

He assured me that my having a period at a younger age had nothing to do with this. Nor does any birth control I took in the past. The count I have is what I was born with. As I'm getting older its diminishing. End of story. (Which was a major relief to me. Gianna could have an early period, like me and the rest of the women in my family, but that doesn't mean she will go through this BS. I was really worried about this.)

He said I have three options: clomid, injectables, and IVF. Basically it is up to Hubs and I on how aggressive we want to be.  Each option has a different success rate and an increase chance in having multiples. He said that getting an IUI vs doing it naturally does not change our success rates with clomid or the injectables. Having achieved a pregnancy on our own prior to this diagnosis only adds 1% to our success.

I asked him if he was in my shoes what would he do. He said considering that I've never had any types of fertility medication he would try clomid first to see how my body reacts to it. 

His suggestion was that we try that for a few months. Then move on to something more aggressive, as long as my body reacts well to it. If it doesn't react well to the clomid then we would change plans more quickly and move on to something more aggressive. 

I asked about natural remedies and supplements and he flat out said to NOT use any. I cannot "fix" this and things like Royal Jelly and wheatgrass do not help my situatiion. He said accupuncter is fine but he doesn't believe it helps or hurts the process.

My final question to him was what the state of my ovaries would be if I do succeed achieving a pregnancy quickly and want to try again in three years for another. He couldn't give me a straight up answer. He said as woman age their ovarian reserve decreases. That is a fact. He cannot tell me right now if my ovaries are on a steep decline or not. So it's basically a we will know when we get there type of thing.

So Hubs and I had to make a decision pretty quickly since I was already in my 2 week wait and expecting my period very soon. I'm to call as soon as I hit CD 1 which is due today. Then we are to proceed with our plans right away. 

Hubs and I had a long talk about it and we decided to give Clomid a shot. The RE plans on putting me on 100mg that I need to take from CD 5-9. I will test later on to see if I will need to take progesterone too. We are not going to go the IUI route.


I feel better. In fact, I feel hopeful again. Its not an ideal disgnosis but it's not destitute. Now I have to just show my ovaries who's boss and those bitches are gonna find out real quick that it's not them. Not anymore at least.

So that's that.