Stims Day 5 - A Slow Start

Yesterday, I had my first monitoring appointment and it all went well. The nurse was pleased that a few more follicles popped up over the weekend bringing the count to 20+ but they were all still too small to be measured at this point.  I got my blood results later that evening and my E2 was only at 168 so I've been instructed to stay on the current dose of stims but discontinue the Lupron. I'm super excited not to be doing 3 shots every day, but a teeny bit nervous.

I'm sure the reason I'm discontinuing the Lupron is because my RE thought that after 3 days of stims, my E2 would be higher.  Last IVF, after 3 days of stims at 150 Gonal-F and 75 Menopur my E2 was at 185. I was then instructed to up my meds to 225 for the subsequent 5 days. So I can see the difference and am glad we're not upping stims just yet - simply eliminating the suppression drugs for now. 

I guess when I was worried about starting on 225 Gonal F, I should have trusted my doc. I'm 2 years older now and I guess my ovaries need a little more of a push this time.  Just hoping they don't need a huge shove.  I am hopeful though because last cycle, I felt I was on the border of OHSS. This time, maybe we'll do a bit better on that front because I really want to trigger with the full dose of HCG. HCG really helps the eggs mature better at trigger time and I feel like the 1/2 dose I did for the last IVF might have been the reason why we only got 1 embryo that worked.  I would love to have fewer, better quality eggs this go round and not be pushed to the limit like last time.  Of course, last time worked so what do I know.

We're still undecided on the PGS. I'm trying to put it out of my head until after retrieval.  I go back in tomorrow for blood work and US and I'm crossing my fingers that we have some good measurable follicles in there and my E2 is up.

E has a HUGE interview today in NYC. I am so nervous about it I can barely think. It's actually 5 interviews back to back and I probably won't hear from him till sometime this afternoon. It's going to be a long day.