According to some fertility clinics, it usually takes about 8-12 days of IVF medicines (daily injections in the morning and evening) to "force" multiple follicles to grow large enough that when they're finally triggered (yet another shot telling the body it's now time to ovulate since the morning shot is preventing ovulation), there is a greater chance of getting multiple healthy, mature eggs. Apparently my body wants to take things slow and steady, and will require at least 14 days of stimulation meds. At my check-up yesterday, the doctor was surprised there were no follicles seen on my very first monitoring scan, which was done 4 days into the process. "Well, sometimes people just get started more slowly," he told me. I don't know -- when I get a new project, I prefer to dive deep into it and work until it's complete. Apparently my ovaries feel differently than my brain.
Taking longer than 12 days isn't that unusual, though, and the doctor was pleased at the number of follicles that are now growing in both ovaries (listening to him read off the measurements for the nurse to record in my chart was sort of like listening to a quarterback before the ball gets spiked: 14, 13, 10, 10, lining 9!). Plus, I'd much rather have more "baking" time than end up with no mature eggs -- which is still a not-entirely-impossible outcome -- but I'm exhausted. I drove to/from Tallahassee (about 3 hours each way) on Friday, did it again yesterday, and will be doing it again tomorrow. I also squeezed in a day trip to Atlanta over the weekend to see a show with my husband and friend because a girl can't do long-distance drives only for ultrasounds. I'd end up hating driving, and given how far we live from our family, that would be bad.
The doctor thought I was close to being ready for the triggering -- I need some follicles sized between 18 and 20, and my largest one was a 14 yesterday -- so the expectation is that at tomorrow's appointment I'll either be told to take the trigger shot that evening or the next evening. Then my husband and I will drive out to Jacksonville the following day to be there for a morning egg retrieval (I'll experience the fun of being sedated). Let's hope that my follicles continue to grow exponentially so (a) there's a greater chance of harvesting mature eggs, and (b) the triggering can happen within the next three days because giving myself shots now really kinda hurts, I'm super bloated and can only wear pants or skirts with elastic bands, and walking around/moving/sleeping on my stomach is super uncomfortable. I don't regret any of this because the hopeful end result is worth it, but I could really use a break.
On the plus side, one of the nurses recommended a pizza place for lunch where I was able to get an honest-to-goodness slice of NY-style pizza, and it was delicious. For anyone who knows me, this is HUGE.