45

One of my favorite movies of all time is Alice in Wonderful. Now, I'm not talking about any old (or new) version. I'm talking about the 1985 made for TV movie starring uber famous people like Red Buttons, Carol Channing, Scott Baio, Sammy Davis Jr, and Ringo Starr.

There is a part in this beloved movie where sweet little Alice starts crying because she's locked in a room with many doors. That, and she also happens to be about 20 feet tall. She cries so much that when she eventually shrinks down to the size of mouse she finds herself having to swim in her own tears because she had gone and flooded the place. What's the point you might ask? Today I found myself crying so hard I looked down and realized I had literally created a small puddle on the floor. I then thought to myself, if I shrunk I would have to swim in my own tears like Alice.
Here is the reason for my distress. You know, other than the fact that were smack dab in the middle of IVF. I had some blood work done yesterday to determine my hormone and estrogen levels. I got the call last night that my estrogen level was way too high (it should be at 1000 and I was sitting at 2,000.) I had to go in today for some more blood work and an ultrasound to take a peak at how the ol' ovaries were doing. After I got off the phone call I immediately did what every other normal and totally sane person would do...I hopped on the internet and googled it. I'm teetering on something called Ovarian Hyper-stimulation Syndrome. Get ready for an anatomy lesson. All these shots I'm taking don't actually grow eggs...they grow follicles. When a female ovulates her body creates a follicle, which is like a big empty sac. Eggs call these little babies home. Follicles themselves produce estrogen. Too much estrogen and I run the risk of fluid buildup in my pelvis and abdomen area. Let's just say that its not a good thing.
After much googling I realized that if the hyper-stimulation got worse it could potentially cancel our IVF cycle or postpone it. (Meaning, all embryos created would have to be frozen while my body returned to normal and then they could be transferred in. I think that usually takes a month or two.) So there I am: in the bathroom, sobbing, praying and pleading for a smoother IVF process. It's bad enough we can't do this on our own like everyone else. Then we have to deal with polyps. Now I'm facing hyper-stimulation. Where's my white flag because I feel like throwing in the towel.
Enough with the dramatics, let's get on with it shall we? I went in today and had more blood drawn and an ultra sound performed to look for follicles. An average, woman will have around 20 follicles, or 10 on each side. I have 45!!!!! Can you freakin' believe that. I have 22 follicles on my right ovary and 23 on the left. This is both awesome and painful. Every follicle won't necessarily have an egg in it, but the more follicles the better my chances. Here's the bad part...women get incredibly uncomfortable and crampy and hurty (yes, I made that word up) when they have an average amount of growing follicles. I HAVE DOUBLE THAT AMOUNT. Let's just say these next several days are not going to fun.

Oh ya, so the way we are trying to keep my estrogen levels down is by reducing my Gonal-F shot from 150 units to 75 and by drinking gatorade. I'm totally serious about the gatorade. Apprantently the elecrolytes help with reducing fluid build-up. My doctor literally said, "we are going to prescribe you at least 20 ounces of Gatorade a day." Let me tell you, its the best medicine I have ever tasted. Well...other than smarties.

As we sit right now I will have an ultrasound and get my blood drawn EVERY DAY. Not kidding...I'm pretty damn tired of needles. Yes, I said a bad word. I'm sorry...but I meant it. I'm going to leave you with a picture of the sweet little bruise on my tummy.