Another Day at the RE

I had my mid-cycle appt today. For the first time in the last 4 months the bloodwork showed I'm not ovulating yet. I had 2 follies, one on the right measuring 22 or 23mm and one on the left at 15mm. The doc and tech seem to think the 15mm will grow and release as well, but I have my doubts. The one on the right is definitely dominant. SHOCKER!! I was hoping for several close in size. But hey, you only need one right? My lining was a little thinner than previous months at 7.8mm. The tech said it just needs to be over 7 and since I'm not quite ovulating yet it's got a few days to get thicker.

I told the RE about my monster headaches and everything while on the Clomid. So he's switching me to Letrazole(Femara) next cycle. Supposedly it has less side effects but does the same job. The FDA hasn't approved it for infertility. It's actually a breast cancer prevention drug. He said not to google it because there's a lot of unneccessary scary info out there. I, of course, googled it as soon as I got home. What else would a good TTCer do? Anybody have any experience with taking it or any knowledge about it, let me know. As far as I can tell there's mixed reviews, pretty much same as Clomid.

I also asked THE question that's been on my mind since I found out last cycle failed. Where do we go after this? What's the next step if this doesn't work? His first words - In Vitro. My reaction - long, uncomfortable open-mouthed stare. So he proceded to tell me that IVF has a high success rate of 55 to 60% for someone my age. It's expensive, about $12000. Yeah, no shit. He said you have to be ready both emotionally, physically, and financially to take that next step. But best case scenario we end up with a pregnancy and some frozen embryos for the next time. Yeah. I'm aware of all that. I just don't think that's a road we need to go down. If there was some sort of problem that IVF would solve, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'd spend the money, do the shots, deal with the side effects of all kinds of ridiculous hormones and go through the procedures. IN A HEARTBEAT. And if we'd spent all this time trying and never getting pregnant, maybe we'd eventually move on to that. But, seriously, it seems like everything is working properly now. And I've been pregnant twice. We just need to get that lucky cycle where that little embryo takes hold and stays put. I don't think IVF is necessary for that. I think we just need time. This coming from the most impatient woman in the world!

We also talked about moving on to injectables but he's not that excited at that option for me. It's also pretty expensive at about $1200 a cycle just for the drugs. He says he would want to be aggressive with it since I'd be spending so much money on each cycle and then you run the risk of being too aggressive and having to call off cycles due to too many follicles. Basically he wants to keep me on the Femara for a while and see how that works. And if we want to throw in an IUI we can. At this point I think I would just need to request an IUI in any given cycle and they'd schedule that. Personally, I'm scared of that procedure. Both HSG's were so incredibly painful from the moment the catheter went in. And IUI uses a catheter. Freaks me out.

So, my plan is to do Femara for 3 months and see how it goes. If that doesn't work we move to injectables and possibly IUI if I can muster up the nerve to go through with that. I, of course, could change my mind about all that at any given moment. :)

So that was my day at the RE. I go back on Friday for another check with the dildo cam. Wish me luck!