Much Better Day

Special Puppy

After many phone calls and rushing my old records (which were supposed to be transferred over a month ago) we finally got what we wanted.

Provera & Pregnancy Tests

They gave me Provera.  Same 10mg but seven days this time.  I'm on day two of seven and I usually get AF 14 days after the last pill.  So CD1 in about three weeks.

Before the Provera they made me get a pregnancy test.  A urine PG test.  What is that?  I thought I would explain the two types of PG tests.

• Qualitatively - Meaning you get a "yes" or "no" if hCG is found.  Never a maybe.  This is with all urine tests (lab or at home) & some blood tests. 
• Quantitatively - You get a number of how much hCG is found.  Results are based on the number, so < 5 is not PG, 5 to 25 maybe, and > 25 is pregnant.  This is always blood and used by all REs.  I've never heard of an RE using a urine test.  This is also good because after multiple blood tests they can look at the trends in number to see if there is a problem with the pregnancy.  In the infertile world this is simply know as "beta".  

After being infertile this long I feel like a urine test is too much work for me.  Blood tests I just hop up on the chair, they stick me with a needle and then 30 second later I'm patched up and out of there.  It's more "painful" for me sitting in the overly crowded waiting room than the actual needle.  The urine test they gave me a bag with a cup, wipes and stickers and told me where the bathroom was.  Next I'm standing the the bathroom looking at the 12 steps on the wall of instruction on how to give a urine sample.   Then wondering to myself if this is enough pee to fulfill their 30ml requirement.  This is too much work, just stick me with a needle next time.  Anyways, it was negative.

Clomid Increased 

They decided to give me the Clomid this cycle, as long as I go to the high risk appointment on the 26th.  This also means I am doing Ovidrel with IUI.  Yay!

Last week they wanted Clomid 50mg for me.  After reviewing my records today they decided to increase my dose to 100mg.  Though I still hate Clomid I have more hope in 100 over 50.  

Frozen Sperm

We went into Seattle to freeze Bean's sperm yesterday.  It went well.  I don't have a count or any other numbers.  But he did produce one vial worth for freezing.  It's sperm in the freezer so I should be happy.  And we do plan on doing it a couple more times in the next few weeks.  But does one vial per ejaculation sound normal?  I'm trying to Google and it seems like only one is used per IUI.  Sustained all of Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  

I'm so grateful that Bean goes along with these ideas.  I know it's not easy to jerk off in a strange room with people walking around outside. 

Blood Work

Last Friday I has another series of blood work, seven vials this time.  I looked at my hand after he got done and it turned purple with white spots.  It was pretty amusing to me.  Today I picked up the results.

	Selbe's	Normal Range
Estradiol	134	27 - 433 pg/mL*
DHEA	205	18 - 391 ug/dL
LH	14.31	1.2 - 103.03 mIU/mL**
FSH	6.28	1.79 - 22.51 mIU/mL ***
Prolactin	10.53	3.34 - 26.72 ng/mL
Insulin	8.86	1.9 - 23 uIU/mL
Creatinine	0.8	0.6 - 1 mg/dL
ALT	32	30 - 65 U/L
Fasting Glucose	92	70 - 110 mg/dL
TSH	1.38	0.34 - 4.82 uIU/mL
Testosterone	68	2 - 45 mg/dL
HgbA1C	5.1	4.3 - 6.1 %
17-OHP	79	< 285 ng/dL ****

* Estradiol - Mid-follicular phase: 27-122;  Periovulatory: 95-433;  Mid-luteal phase: 49-291

** LH - Follicular phase: 2.12-10.89;  Mid-cycle: 19.18-103.03;  Luteal: 1.2-12.86

*** FSH - Follicular phase: 3.85-8.78;  Mid-cycle: 4.54-22.51;  Luteal: 1.79-5.12; Postmenopausal: 16.74-113.59

**** 17-OHP - Follicular phase: <185; Luteal phase: <285

A few of those with the *'s depend on where I am in my cycle.  Since I'm CD60 I'm guessing I'm in the luteal phase?  I'm sure that isn't right because I never ovulated.  The only number that is high is my testosterone and that is common for a women with PCOS.

IVF

I was told yesterday the IVF wait list is at about 9 months right now.  But it could become shorter if other people drop out of the program.

-Selbe