Me + prune juice 4EVA

Eight days down! And things are starting to get awfully uncomfortable in the ovary region.

It's weird how this process gives you SO MUCH information, and at the same time still leaves you guessing so much. I'm going in every other day for bloodwork and sonograms at this point, but I still don't *really* know how the cycle is going. They call me after each appointment to check in and give me my dosages for the next few days (they set up a protocol with your meds and dosages up front, but based on these frequent monitoring sessions it's not uncommon for the med dosage to be tweaked mid-stream if things are not progressing at the ideal rate) and so far there has been no change to my prescribed protocol.

One of the few concrete data points I have access to is the number of follicles I'm working with. Except each time I go in, I get a different count. (In general, more follicles = good, because you want to start with as many viable eggs as possible. However, TOO many follicles = bad, apparently; you can end up with lower quality eggs if you have too many, and/or you're at higher risk for a fairly alarming condition called ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, which can at the very least cause you some intense discomfort, but can also force a delay in the process where they need your body to calm the hell down before they'll put an embryo in, or worst case can even lead to hospitalization.)

ANYWAY. At my very first appointment to start this cycle, they counted 9 follicles in each ovary. Which is good! 18 is a decent showing. But at my Friday appointment, the nurse only counted 6 on each side, which seemed to me like an alarming drop, but the nurse didn't seem troubled by it. Then yesterday, they counted 10 on one side and 12 on the other. Follicles, u cray.

Meanwhile, whether it's 22 or 12 or 18, that is a hell of a lot more bulked up follicles than I usually carry around in my ovaries, and their presence is starting to make itself known. My abdomen feels... full. Uncomfortably full. It's almost like the feeling when you eat too much, except... below my stomach. Basically my ovaries have overeaten.

I've been lucky with the symptoms so far, probably because I'm on really low doses of the hormones. But I can now authoritatively say that The Bloat Has Arrived, and it is no joke. (Although after 4 straight days of a close personal relationship with prune juice, at least SOME of the bloat and general.. uh.. "fullness" in the region has been alleviated today. I have never gone more than like 2 days without pooping before. This was a full week. A WEEK. Praise Jeebus for prunes, is what I'm saying.) But man, even with The Bloat in full force, there is still not enough room for all of my plump new follicle friends.... and I still have several days left before they go in and relieve me of my clutch of eggs.

And all of this is BEFORE the myriad discomforts of pregnancy! #blessed