Today is Cycle Day (CD) 11 of our 3rd IVF cycle. I’ve been feeling fatigued and tired since the last update, but nothing too terrible. My bloating seems to be worse at night, and I feel most fatigued in the afternoon. I have had a few moments were I wanted to burst into tears for no particular reason– mostly at inappropriate times like when I was trying to help a 9th grade student fix a printer jam or while grocery shopping. It’s all part of the IVF game!
Despite the fatigue, this is actually a gentler cycle than my previous ones. My CD 9 blood work showed that my numbers were significantly lower (but still good) than my previous two cycles on Day 9. The interesting thing is that I still had the same number of follicles as my 2nd cycle: 19! Several follicles are good to go now, but I need another day or two for the rest to catch up. My RE gave me a Ganirelix shot yesterday, and I’ll take another one this morning. Right now, it looks like my trigger will be on Thursday (CD 12) and the retrieval will probably be on Friday (CD 13). I’ll have another blood draw and ultrasound today to confirm those dates.
Yesterday after my RE appointment, my husband and I met up at our church to be prayed over by three pastors there. It was a very moving and humbling experience to have three men pray over this cycle. They anointed us with oil, laid hands on us, and prayed for strong embryos, God’s peace, and God’s will to be done. (If you’re unfamiliar with the practice of anointing with oil and laying of the hands, this article from the Assemblies of God gives a basic explanation. I don’t belong to the Assemblies of God denomination, but I think the article is still helpful).
I’ll post another update when we have our retrieval.
Thanks again for all the prayers, email, tweets, and good thoughts! It’s hard to respond to every one individually, but I do read them all and I’m so appreciative of each and every one.
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