Uh-oh, a case of the Mondays!

Today was CD 11 and boy was it a crazy one!! Must have had a case of the Mondays, for sure!!

My u/s was scheduled for 8:20 am. Normally that gives me plenty of time to get to work before 9. However..... this was no ordinary CD 11 u/s!!!

For starters, I had nurse Kristy for my u/s today, who I think is the friendliest and most personable of all the nurses. I like her. Except... she was having trouble finding anything in there, like, you know - my ovaries. In case some of you have forgotten your biology classes, ovaries are actually a pretty important part of the whole reproductive process. There, now don't you already feel smarter from reading my blog??? Time well spent, right? Right!

So, yeah - no ovaries were in sight. Yikes!! But then again, for some reason Kristy always has trouble with my u/s (the others do not.) So she went to get nurse Patty to help her. While I was laying there (naked from the waist down, of course) on the u/s table waiting for Patty, the fire alarm went off!!! Kristy came running back in to tell me to get dressed and go down the five flights and outside. I scurried to get dressed and ran down the five flights - all while hoping that, in my hurry to get dressed, I had actually gotten my undies and my pants put on in the right order... (I had!) So, then we were all waiting outside - and it was a mighty beautiful morning!! Good thing too, because we had a bit of a wait. So, I waited and Facebooked my IF group friends. Ahh, so nice to share the fun!

Eventually, the firemen cleared us to go back in. So I went up and got half naked again, then Patty did my ultrasound again. As expected, she had no problem finding my ovaries, but unfortunately, there are no follicles to mention. Not good!

So, Kristy came back in and told me they'll test my estradiol to see what's happening and that she'll call me in the afternoon with the plan. She also had me make a u/s appointment for Thursday morning. Thankfully, she also gave me a free parking pass, which I really appreciated because I ended up there much longer than I should have.

So I sat in the waiting room for the lab to call me, but everyone was behind because of the fire drill. I emailed my employees to let them know I'll be to work as soon as I can. Ahh, however did we manage before smart phones??

Finally, the lab lady came out for me. Unfortunately, and this is not unusual for me, she couldn't find any veins. Yes, apparently I have no ovaries AND no veins - gee, it's a wonder I'm only infertile and not dead. So she sticks me a few times before eventually turning to my hand. I really hate hand draws, by the way.

Meanwhile she was small talking and asked me where I work. When I answered her, the other lab girl nearly dropped all her supplies as she spun around and exclaimed, "Really?? You work at the ______!?" I said, "uhh, yeah!" and then she went on to tell me how she really wants to work there but that she hasn't been able to get in etc etc. At this point, I really just wanted to actually get going to said work place, but I tried to give her some tips about getting in there. However, it did occur to me that she maybe shouldn't be networking with patients in front of her coworkers... Oh well. Just kinda strange.

Next, on to the pharmacy to pick up more Bravelle! I hadn't thought I'd need more - I thought I'd probably have the IUI on Tuesday or Wednesday (days 12 or 13). Anyhow, the pharmacy was packed and they were also behind because of the fire alarm. More waiting. I confess that I felt a bit miffed at the girl in front of me, who was refilling her birth control. I mean, how dare she need birth control when I need a birth catalyst... Ahh, but such is life, right? Besides, she was easier to focus on than the 7 month pregnant looking ladies!

Well, eventually I did get to work. It was 10:30 - only an hour and a half late. It was indeed a very loooong morning. Then work was crazy, but I'll only bore you with the more IF related details here. Lucky you, eh?

So, work work work, and then in the afternoon I got the call from nurse Kristy - she left a message. The message made NO sense to me whatsoever! I listened to it three times, but I couldn't do the math.

See, this cycle, I started off with double doses of Bravelle for 4 nights. The last couple days we dropped to single doses. Kristy's message said to start doing 1.5 doses, specifying to use 1 cc (instead of 1/2 cc) of the diluent with 2 vials of Bravelle, but to only inject half - and save the second half for the next night. See, that math just doesn't work. Two vials divided by two nights is just a single dose each night, not the 1.5 dose Kristy mentioned, right? Plus, it would be more diluted with 1 cc of diluent. Ugh!! I was sure I was just misunderstanding, so I felt like a fool, but I had to call her back to clarify. As soon as we started talking, she knew she told me the wrong dose - she apologized like crazy and was so embarrassed. Hey, I was just glad my simple math skills are still as sharp as a marble!!

So, now I am doing 1.5 doses tonight, Tuesday, and Wednesday and u/s on Thursday.

If you got through all that and are still reading, please leave me a comment because I should probably send you a cookie for getting through it!!

Anyhow, it's starting to look like IUI might not be till maybe Saturday... which isn't good because Ar and I are to work a show (for his business) on Saturday morning - one that we always do together, and one that we enjoy. Saturday is CD 16 so I really thought we'd be safe.

Well, sweet and wonderful Ar, as always, just says "this is more important, we'll work it out." He's the best!!

We're also supposed to go out of town on Sunday, so we'll see about that too. I'd really, really like it if we could IUI on Friday!! But I'm also worried that IUI might not be at all, at the rate I'm going - or not going!

I can't figure out why my follies aren't growing - especially after all the double doses. Normally I start slowly, so I didn't worry too much on CD 8 when there was nothing - but normally by now we have some follies to measure. I really expected more this cycle and am baffled (and worried!)

Am I doing something wrong? Did we screw up the shots? Did they accidentally give us placebo? Did I not eat enough shrimp? Too much milk? Too little? Am I not walking enough? Too much? Am I stressed? Did the sands in my hour glass run out?? Did I turn left when I should have turned right? Who knows - ugh!!! (Yes, I know it's probably none of the above, but it's hard to not wonder.)

Ar thinks it's because maybe I'm already pregnant. He's so dear and sweet. Unfortunately, he's not correct about that one, but I love that he's always so hopeful!

So, that was my crazy, hectic cycle day 11. Then I finally came home! Yay! Ar made fish and spaghetti - yum!! We watched some tube (a certain favorite football player of mine, performing on a certain dancing show finals!!! Whooo - DD!!!), then we took an evening walk, as is becoming our habit. So it's been a nice evening anyhow. I am thankful for that. And I'm thankful that I could actually laugh about all the ridiculous craziness today. Two years ago I'd have been freaking out completely. I am worried - but just a bit.

And so we'll hope for a better tomorrow!

Grow follies, grow!!