Cranking It Up

I heard back from Nurse E today, with instructions for my next cycle.

We will be ratcheting things up a bit more, and now this is the most agressive that we can do, short of IVF.

She said that if I don't get pregnant with this protocol (not necessarily this cycle, but within the four more IUI cycles that I've got coming), "there was nothing else you could do to make it happen for the IUI route."

So, let's hope it does the trick, and if it doesn't, at least we'll know that we tried everything we could, before bringing out the really big guns (and the big debt).

So, the plan from here on out is:

Clomid 100 mg, days 3 - 7 (same schedule, but the dosage is doubled)
FSH injections, 150 IU, days 5, 7, 9 (same dosage, but an additional injection)

As it turns out, that won't cost much more than the previous protocol.

The Clomid is only about $5 / pill, so it will be $50 instead of $25. Not a big deal, in the grand scheme.

The Bravelle (FSH) comes in a box of five 75 IU vials, so it takes 2 vials to make one injection.

As you may remembr, on the first medicated cycle I ended up with a third injection on short notice, so I used all five vials, plus a sample that Nurse E scrounged for me.

Last cycle, I only did two shots, though, so I have one vial left.

That means that the one box that I would have needed anyway will give me enough to do all three shots.

At about $350 / box (of which I pay 50%) I'm very relieved to not have to buy a second box.

My understanding of the theory with behind the meds is that we're probably getting egg and sperm together, or at least seem to be getting them all in the same place at the same time, but that most of my eggs are duds.

In the prior medicated cycles I still only had one (maybe 2) mature follicles the first time and two (possibly 3) the second time.

Hopefully, by upping the meds, I'll have more like three or four (but not five or six!) eggs dropping at once, increasing the odds of at least (exactly!) one being a keeper.

I'm really hoping that this will make the difference - preferably this next cycle.

In addition to, of course, the whole wanting of the baby now, damn it, the financial side of it is really starting to freak me out - especially with this whole car issue looming over us.

The other night I added up what we've spent so far and I couldn't believe it.

With nothing to show for it yet.

You know, it would be much simpler if we just rolled up hundred dollar bills, and shoved them up my hoo-ha.

(I can't wait to see what kind of freaks Google themselves into the middle of that sentence.)