My Dominant Follicle Grew 5mm in One Day. IUI tomorrow

So, I went to the doctors today to have the usual ultrasound and blood test. I think the doctor said that I have 4 follicles? He said that 3 of them are too small, but my dominant follicle is 24 and ready to go. Yesterday it was 19 and the next day it's 24? That doesn't make much sense to me. I don't understand why medication makes one of my follicles grow super fast, but the other ones hardly grow at all. I thought that the medication was supposed to give you more follicles, not make one of them go out of control and grow rapidly. I'm only on cycle day 8, isn't this too early to be having a follicle that big?  It's funny that I ovulate too early on mediation but ovulate late without any medication. I don't know what is going on with my body, but I don't think it's doing what it should be doing.

My doctor told me to trigger today and have the IUI tomorrow. I'm pretty sure that my LH started to surge before my HCG shot because this morning my ovulation test looked positive. I wanted to wait one more day to trigger because I was pretty sure that my blood test this morning would have shown an LH surge, but the doctor told me not to wait just in case. On CD 3 I told the nurse that I wanted to do a back to back IUI, but when we went up to pay, the receptionist told me that they don't do that anymore and that if I wanted it I would have to get permission from the doctor. I thought that since I told the nurse what I wanted to do and that she was fine with it that it wouldn't be a problem, but I guess I was wrong. I'm going to ask the doctor who is doing the IUI tomorrow if I can come back the next day for another one, but I have a feeling that they will say no. Maybe there's no point in doing a second one anyway, it could be too late. I don't know why I want to have 2 IUIs since I'm 99.99999% sure it won't work. I would say 100%, but nothing is 100%

DH quit smoking in the summer and started taking vitamins a few months ago. I'm pretty sure that I'm the problem and that my eggs are just too shitty for a successful pregnancy, but I'm curious to see if quitting smoking and vitamins has helped my DH's sperm count. It's always less than 10 million after a wash. We will see.

We have to go in between 7-8am to drop off the sample and then go back at 10am for the IUI. Then I go back for an ultrasound and blood test the next day to see if I have ovulated.

Gonal-F isn't working :( Femara worked better, why?

I don't understand why medication that cost $6 worked better than the one that cost $1000. Does this make any sense whatsoever? Last cycle with Femara I had 2 mature follicles and some smaller ones, but this cycle with Gonal-F I only have 1 mature follicle and one very small one. The biggest is 19 and the smallest 13. I have been taking 150IU for 4 days, shouldn't I have more follicles? The doctor of the day said that they aim between 2 and 4 follicles, so this is a bit discouraging. A year ago when we did Gonal-F I started out on 100IU and finished off taking 125IU and got 3 mature follicles so I don't understand why I got less follicles with a higher dosage. I also don't understand why Femara works better. The scariest part of all this is that the doctor said Gonal-F is used for IVF, but what's the point if I'm only going to get 1 egg when usually they transfer 2 embryos. I have seen online that there's a certain protocol that is used for women who don't respond well to injections, but apparently my clinic has never heard of this and will treat me like they treat everyone. Is this normal, or should I get a second opinion before we move on to IVF?

The doctor of the day told me to take 150IU tonight and come back tomorrow. He said that my 19mm follicle is mature and could rupture at any time. They took my blood and will call me if my LH is surging. If it is, we will do an IUI the next day. He said if I don't surge and the follicle gets too big they will trigger me. I'm not sure if I even want to have the IUI with only one follicle because it could be a waste of money, but the odds of an IUI are better than TI so we're going to do it. I am never taking injections again unless we are doing IVF because I don't see the point in having needles in my stomach every day and spending that amount of money on something when there's something else (femara) that works just the same and is WAAAAAAY cheaper.

I didn't ask what my lining was, but while I was getting the ultrasound I could have sworn I saw her enter 7.9 into the computer.

I'm convinced that there is something seriously wrong with me. Compared to what I see online, I'm not normal. I have a bad feeling that we will never have a child of our own. I think my eggs are too bad and I will be going into menopause in 5 or less years. It runs in my family. My grandmother was only 35 and my aunt was only 39. I know that other relatives were also in their 30s. I suggested to DH that we skip trying and go straight to adoption, but he said hell no lol. He wants to do at least 2 IVF's before we think of going down that route. I don't even think IVF will work with my crappy eggs. Donor eggs are as expensive as adoption, so I think that's out of the question. On the fertility clinic's website it says that donor eggs are $23,000! YIKES!

What the hell is wrong with this world, why do people who don't want kids or shouldn't have them pop them out like crazy, but others like DH and I are going through hell and back trying? This really makes me question things.

IUI and Gonal-F Cycle Day 2

Today I went to Isis where I had an ultrasound and blood work done. I had an AFC of 8, 4 on each side. I'm going to take Gonal-F 150 IU for 4 days starting tomorrow. On CD7 I go back to see how the medication worked and to see if it needs to be adjusted. The last time I had injections I think I started at 75IU and then they had to raise it to 100IU and then to 125IU? It was something like that anyway. My doctor said that this time they would start me on 150IU because I have low ovarian reserve and the last time I was on injections my follicles weren't growing together. We bought a 900IU pen wich cost $972, but luckily DH's new insurance covers 80%. I have to mail them the receipt today.

Once I have mature follicles we will have a back to back IUI. They say it doesn't make a difference whether you have 1 IUI or 2, but I want to anyway because the more sperm there the better. I also want to make sure the timing is good. What if the first IUI is too early?

When we went to pay for Gonal-F, we were reminded that we needed to pay for our annual cycle monitoring payment. We were supposed to pay for it in October, but they must have forgotten until now. Cycle monitoring for the year is $300 which isn't too bad. It's covered by the government, but our clinic likes to charge $300. It's only covered by the government if you see a doctor, so most fertility clinics aren't covered because they don't have doctors to see every day, only nurses. The government won't pay for it if you see a nurse and not a doctor. Our clinic has a bunch of doctors and every day you see a different one.

A B2B IUI With Injections Next Cycle.

I found out yesterday that DH's new insurance plan covers 80% on fertility drugs including injections. That's a huge savings. DH suggested that next cycle we do a back to back IUI with Gonal-F. The IUI's aren't covered and they cost $450 for 2 of them. The last time we got Gonal-F it cost around $1600, but with an 80% discount, it will only be around $320 (this all depends on how much Gonal-F I will need) The HCG costs $85, but now that will be cheaper too. I'm so excited about the new insurance. This also means that if the IUI cycle doesn't work we can have IVF sooner.

Our IVF information session is on April 26. DH said we will have IVF as early as May. I hope that I don't need it. I don't like the sound of a needle going through my ovaries.

My Progesterone Test Was Normal!

I just called my FS to make an appointment. I asked the secretary if she could take a look at my 7dpo progesterone test, and I'm shocked because it was actually normal without taking progesterone. I'm not sure why my luteal phase is going to be short this cycle if my progesterone was normal. I guess that's something to ask my doctor when I see him next Tuesday. Anything above 10 is normal and mine was 15.1. I know that is still a little low since most women I have met online have a progesterone level that is way higher than that, but I'm still happy with my 15.1 since it's way higher than 2.2.

This is Going to be a Short Cycle

I guess my progesterone test was pointless. I know it's going to be low since my temperature dropped today and I'm having some pms signs. My mood is all over the place. The other day I was depressed, yesterday I was hopeful and positive, and today I am just mad and angry. My hands are filled with needle marks and bruises from all of the blood tests. My butt hurts from where they injected the HCG. I'm having headaches from the Femara. All of the things I go through on a monthly basis is all for NOTHING and it pisses me off! How many more needles, medication, probes, suppositories, tests am I going to have to go through before I get pregnant and have a baby? I know that not many things in life are easy, but why does this have to be so hard?

Progesterone check tomorrow...YAY

I'm not on progesterone and haven't been for a while now. The last time I was being monitored I saw my doctor. The doctors change from day to day, so I was glad to see him. He told me to get a progesterone test tomorrow. I was on Femara, so it should be more than 15 to be normal. The last time it was 2.2. I would be thrilled to see anything above 10, the normal. I released 2 eggs, and our timing was good, but will it be. Probably not, but there's always next cycle.

For my next cycle I want a progesterone test while taking it.