Same Story Different Day

I just finished my third cycle on Clomid and second IUI.  This cycle my FSH level was the lowest that it has ever been at a whopping 7.  I felt like screaming the news to the world.  Its a 7! Seven! SEVEN!!!! Much like Monica on Friends.  This was my first FSH level in the normal range ever since they started testing it four months back.  On top of that, the persistent fat and ugly cyst that was hanging around on my right ovary for two cycles suddenly vanished and my righty responded very well by growing five follicles.  The dominate follie was at a 20 while the others were in the 15 range before my RE had me trigger.

This morning I had my IUI and thankfully Hubs sperm stats were again off the charts great so now I am officially in my 2 week wait.  So we wait.

We spoke to our RE earlier in the week to talk about the next steps if this Clomid cycle doesn't work.  His suggestions was to go a more aggressive route and I couldn't have agreed more.   He wants us to do an injectable cycle next.  Our hope is that if this cycle doesn't work than the injectables will.  If not, the Hubs and I decided that we will proceed with IVF after that.  At that point I feel that we played all our cards and at that its time to bring out the biggest guns we have.

So its the same story just a different day.  Testing, meds, ultrasounds, more testing, more meds, fingers crossed and then wait.

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.