There isn't much to say about our second visit to the clinic yesterday except that we learned a few important new details regarding the progress of my follicles the doctor examined. It was a busy day at the clinic yesterday, compared to the previous day where there were no other patients in the waiting room. This time there were hardly any seats, and our 10am appointment was pushed back until nearly an hour later. I got yet another blood test, testing my Estradiol level again, and our doctor did another ultrasound. Sure enough, my follicles have grown considerably in the 24 hours since last we met in this very same position! This time Mikey & I remember to pay attention to the numbers. He counts 9 on my left side, and 8 on the right. Of the 9 on the left, he dubs one of them an "18", and of the 8 on the right, he calls 4 of them "18s". That is their size, I presumed, as the others were "17s" and "16s", etc. Then he looks at me and says they're ready. He will see me in 2 days! On Saturday, July 3rd at 10am we will be back for my egg retrieval!!!
The next thing we do is sit down with a nurse to talk about the changes we will be undergoing in the next 3 days with us. First, we are to stop all fertility medications (the Lupron/Bravelle/Menopur injections), as well as no more aspirin, but to continue Heparin shots AM & PM until Friday. Friday is the day before the retrieval, and since it is a surgical procedure, I can't have any blood thinners beforehand, so I can't have my Friday night or Saturday morning Heparin shots (what a shame, right?). I was also instructed to not have anything to eat or drink after midnight, as is usual for surgeries. I was put on fluid restriction since Thursday night and am only allowed to drink 1 liter of fluid in the form of Gatorade or Propel. No water. I bought Propel because Gatorade is just gross. Mike's only instruction was to refrain from ejaculation until Saturday when they will require a fresh sample--Wednesday's sample was just a backup one just in case. ;)
His experience was pretty amusing, actually. I won't get into too much depth, I promise, but I had to laugh when he told me about it. He said that a nurse led him to a very uninspiring room with a couple of chairs. One of the chairs was covered in what we had earlier joked from the ultrasound room was one gigantic paper towel. He presumed that must be the "jack-off" chair. The nurse handed him a sterile cup and a remote to a TV (which he later determined was clearly porn of two dudes and two chicks going at it,) then she left him there to do his thing....
The most important thing we were instructed to do was to give me the HCG shot Thursday night when we were called to do so. As our doctor put it, it is the most important shot of this whole process. It triggers the ovaries to ovulate. A call from the clinic later that afternoon confirmed our 10am appointment on Saturday as well as the exact 11pm HCG injection time on Thursday night. Timing is truly everything! It has to go along with the egg retrieval time, so that's why they have a specific injection time. I was exhausted, and both of us fell asleep, but woke up a few minutes after 11pm last night to do the shot. We finally got it done by 11:20. Hopefully that 20 minutes isn't too crucial, but I'm not too worried. At least we didn't completely forget. I think I would have killed myself.
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