My husband and I were really freaked out by all of the needles involved in Follistim, but it really hasn't been so bad- especially because we are finally, finally seeing some changes so it all feels worth it. Side effects have been minimal (follistim farts and gas pains, :) and are a piece of cake compared to Clomid and Femara. I wish we could have just started here to begin this journey.
Fun, follistim freebies:
a. The nurse mentioned that there might be some extra meds in the 300iu pen and turns out this is quite common! It has given me two free days! Woo hoo! I love free when it comes to this pricey adventure! Well, I love free when it comes to anything! (Hotel shampoos and Starbucks Splendas anyone?)b. The cool red container for the needles from the pharmacy below the fertility clinic. You can get fined if you discard the needles inappropriately so you bring this container back to the doc to empty it there. Multiple times this weekend, I have wanted to use it as a vase. Maybe I will when I can celebrate the end of this process!
c. Rubbing alcohol wipes. When the nurse taught us how to use the follipen, she asked if we had alcohol in the house to prep the injection site. Dead serious, my husband responded intently and matter-of-factly, "Oh yes, vodka. Got it." HA! I almost died on the spot! She was very gracious and corrected him. We had to get some from the pharmacy and when the woman at the pharmacy saw us looking for it on the shelf, she gave us a huge stack of single wipes for free!
Follistim Day 6 Monitoring (Saturday)
-Bloodwork showed my Estrogen increased to 74 from the 20s!
-3 follicles growing larger (2 on the right, 1 on the left) and lots of little ones, largest at about 12 mmm
-My husband and I were so excited that two follicles were growing on the right so even though you are supposed to switch injection sides each night, we excitedly decided to inject only on the right to be closest to our potential little gifts. Silly, I know, but everyone needs something to keep their hopes up!
-Severe gas pains have subsided, not sure if it's from the interaction between the metformin and the follistim or what. Thank goodness !
-Continue with 50iu injects nightly
-My husband and I were so excited that two follicles were growing on the right so even though you are supposed to switch injection sides each night, we excitedly decided to inject only on the right to be closest to our potential little gifts. Silly, I know, but everyone needs something to keep their hopes up!
-Severe gas pains have subsided, not sure if it's from the interaction between the metformin and the follistim or what. Thank goodness !
-Continue with 50iu injects nightly
Follistim Day 8 Monitoring (Monday)
- Bloodwork showed increase in Estrogen to 102!
-6 larger follicles now, largest at 14.5mm! (Getting closer to the 18mm needed to trigger!) Hilarious that the largest ones were now on the left and 1 large on on the right. I guess it doesn't matter where you inject! Felt amazing to see such a large follicle today. I could really tell the difference and my ultrasound technician was so excited for me. We were both celebrating! Hoping that I got the first glimpse of our future little one this morning!
-Filled with so much hope! Just hoping and praying that only 1-3 will get big enough.
-Going back in two days to see if anything changes!
-Continue with 50iu injects nightly
-Continue with 50iu injects nightly
Follistim Day 10 Monitoring (Wednesday)
Went in again for monitoring- good news!
-three follicles measured 19.0, 16.6, 10.7
-estrogen
level is 248.
-trigger this evening with
the Ovidrel injection and get busy
-start
prometrium on Saturday
-schedule for pregnancy test two weeks later
