Aftermath

I'm still not quite right from an emotional standpoint after this cycle. I vacillate between feeling numb, angry, and extremely sad. It took so much out of me to do this cycle. I was on freaking BCPs for 5 weeks before this cycle...I could have cycled within a cycle for how long it took to get to this cycle. And now I have to wait 4 to 6 weeks to heal from my sclerotherapy before I can go onto another cycle? I spend more time waiting than anything else. I just hope that the sclerotherapy took. I'm still having pain in the right ovary, the one that had the three endometriomas. Maybe it's residual pain from the procedure. I'm going to ask for a follow up U/S at 2 weeks post sclero to verify that the cysts are gone. I'm on deproprovera tabs for two weeks so that my AF will come on time. My ovaries should be nice and quiet the next two weeks. If they're not, I'll know that something's amiss.

I emailed Dr. Italian after my dismal retrieval...I asked if we could please test my hCG levels to see if it the levels that remained would be considered normal for how many hours I was past trigger. I just can't understand why this cycle didn't work. At all. The geek scientist in me wants, NEEDS, to know WHY. I want closure.

So I went to the clinic at 11AM today, precisely 3.5 days after trigger and had them draw my blood. There's a normal range for how much hCG is left in your body after trigger given the known half-life of hCG. This excellent article, "Bioavailability of hCG after intramuscular or subcutaneous injection in obese and non-obese women" demonstrates the declining normal ranges over time.

I had my blood drawn at precisely 84 hours after trigger (3.5 days). The value, if normal, should have been around 100. It was 110.

So the quality of the hCG was fine. The injection site (my upper arm) was fine. What I am thinking at this point (and a number of you readers have echoed this point) is that I triggered way too early.

My lead follicle was 18mm the day before I triggered. It should probably have been more like 22mm, which would have given the stragglers more time to catch up. I guess my question now is why he didn't have me take couple days of of Gonal-F and ganirelex and then come in for another U/S?

Grrrr.

At least it makes sense now. I know what to be angry about and that helps tremendously.