The New Plan

No news is good news...right? Not this time... Sorry for the late notice but we haven't had a computer working for the last week so I haven't had time to update. Thursday afternoon clinic called and told me to stop all medication and that Dr. Kopher was canceling the rest of the cycle. Besides the fact that I was devastated, I was thinking now what. Now what do we do? What is the next step? If this isn't working do we have to do Invitro? The nurse who called told me that Dr. Kopher wanted to talk to me in clinic the following day. She left me at that and didn't tell me what he wanted to talk about. Was it good or bad? I immediately called the clinic back to talk to someone but none of them could really answer my questions. The nurse I usually talked to wasn't there that day. Since I was so upset, Eli didn't go to work Friday and went to clinic with me.
Dr. Kopher talked to us about why he cancelled the cycle. Apparently when I missed that dose my estradiol levels kept decreasing. They wanted the levels to come down one day but the next it was supposed to come back up and it didn't. He said they weren't good follicles anyways because if they were my levels would keep increasing. He also cancelled because I had over 13 active follicles and we would have had a worse case of Hyperstimulation this time. He said my ovaries are very sensitive and have become sensitive to this medication. So now where do we go from here?
We went over our options with him. We could try the injections again but adding a new medication called Lupron. Lupron would be an additional injection each day with the Follistim. Lupron is a man-made form of a hormone that regulates many processes in the body. Lupron overstimulates the body's own production of certain hormones, which causes that production to shut down temporarily. It reduces the amount of testosterone in men or estrogen in women. He is hoping that this will help with the overstimulation.
Another option is try a surgery called ovarian drilling. Its a laproscopic surgery with a laser that drills holes in the ovaries to drain some of the multiple follicles that I have. However, it is still an experimental surgery and can cause scar tissue on the ovaries causing more problems with infertility. I told Dr. Kopher this wasn't an option for me. I do not want anything else hindering our chances.
Another option would be to go on a drug called Metformin and see if I get me cycles back on my own. We could also try Clomid again with this medication.
He also brought up Invitro. He said he wasn't saying that we needed to do it or that I wouldn't be able to get pregnant any other way, but he just brought it up. I asked him if we did invitro would I get pregnant. He didn't hesitate or anything and said Yes, you would have no problem.
After discussing with Eli we have decided to do the injections again with the new drug Lupron. If this doesn't work we are leaning towards Invitro. Not because I am convinced I need to but because I want to. I am tired and emotionally drained and just want this over with. We start the next cycle before July fourth weekend. I will update more as I find out more.
Thanks for all of your encouraging words, thoughts and prayers.

Love, Kristen & Eli

Tuesday June 9th I went to clinic and from Monday my Estradiol level jumped from 410 to 1267. At that time 8 follicles were measurable! They were not all mature, but measurable over 1cm. I was not to take any medication yesterday, just "coast" for the day and see what happens. Today I went into clinic and there were even more measurable follicles, however my Estradiol level went down some to 1157. Apparently that is what was supposed to happen, so today I got to take the medication again. I go in tomorrow morning and see whats happening. Dr. Kopher doesn't want to have to cancel this cycle, however its still a possibility so that I don't end up in the hospital again with Hyperstimulation. That is why they are taking extra caution with the follicle growth. I really hope some of the follicles stop growing and only a couple of them mature. I will update tomorrow or as soon as I can, our computer isn't working right :)
Thanks for all of the support.

Love, Kristen & Eli

Update

I had my 3rd Ultrasound this morning, Sunday June 7. Still not ready yet. There are 2 follicles growing on my right side and still small ones on the left. Dr. Kopher predicts everything will be ready for insemination by the end of this week if not earlier. It seems like no matter the dose it always takes about 2 weeks. I'm not sure of my estradiol level today, but on Friday it was 135. Still slowing increasing. I keep thinking about this working and not working...how can god let me down yet another time...this time just has to work out :)

Love, Kristen & Eli

Update

It has been a week since I've started round #3 of the injections. I think things are going well. Much slower than last time as we have decreased the dose of medication. Dr. Kopher decreased the dose to try and prevent Hyperstimulation again. I had my second ultrasound this morning, still not much change but there is one measurable follicle on the right side. Hopefully things start to take off soon.
There is some good news....last Friday when I went to pick up the injections from the pharmacy the total was $0!!! I was stunned and surprised, I had my check ready for that big payment. Apparently we hit our max out of pocket for insurance. It makes things a little less stressful not worrying about how we are going to pay for things.
My estradiol level on Monday was 67...I will update later on what it was today.

Love, Kristen & Eli