Wednesday, August 4, 2010

The clomid challenge...

The clomid challenge has officially started! I just took my first little white clomid pill and I'll continue to take one pill twice a day until Sunday (Cycle days 5-9) then on Monday (cycle day 10) I'll go back in for another blood test and we are hoping for the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) to be below 11. The way the clomid challenge test works is a little confusing, but basically they are testing the message that your pituitary gland sends to your ovaries, and by the amount of FSH your pituitary is sending the doctor can predict how good or bad your ovarian reserve is. The title of this post is a link to a website that explains it much better than I ever could. My doctor explained it to us, so did the nurse I saw on Monday and I've read everything I've found online and I still don't think I have a good enough grasp of it to be explaining it to someone else, so please click the title to learn more.

I am starting to get a little nervous about how my body will react to all this tampering though and it is going to be a busy week. I've gotten my tests booked and the first one will be next week. The HSG procedure on Monday and the hysteroscopy on Wednesday so I have to start taking an antibiotic this Sunday, in anticipation of filling my uterus up with dye and salt water I suppose. Then after all of these tests are finished I'm going to be given a shot of hCG to make me ovulate. All in all there will be a lot of foreign substances flowing through my veins and I'm just feeling a little anxious about all of it. I'm really glad that it will be a short month though because I'll be ovulating about a week, or maybe even more than a week, early so if I don't get pregnant this month, we will be at the next month in no time. I'm just thrilled at the way my doctors have been handling us, they are aggressive in doing all that they can to figure out what is going on in my body so we can decide the best way to get me pregnant as soon as possible. There is still waiting and there will always be waiting (about 2 weeks of it every month!), but at least now I'm waiting with an action already decided and in place for when the wait is over.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the world of feeling like a lab rat! It is an exciting feeling, anxious feeling and feeling of.."ok, it can happen now"..so not as bad as it sounds! I know everyone has different experiences on these drugs and I remember reading some bad ones..but I am proof they are not that bad. The clomid makes me a little emotional and lots of hot flashes, but that is it. Mild compared to stories I have heard. The HSG test is a little painful, take tylenol before you go and the HCG shot is not bad at all. Best of luck, I will be thinking about you during all this and saying some prayers your way. I have to think these specialists will work for both of us...they have to! Not sure if I can handle 1 more person telling me they are pregnant..just had another today..I think the count is up to 9 friends in the next 7 months will have babies..ugh! I am running out of nonpregnant friends!
KB

Kay Bee said...

Yep, let the poking and prodding begin! Luckily I have you to tell me it isn't so bad and don't worry because you can always count me as one of your nonpregnant friends!

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