Fertility Blog » Fertility Treatments by the Week: Week Two

Post details: Fertility Treatments by the Week: Week Two

09/27/07

Permalink Posted By: Faith   05:51:29 am, Categories: Ovulation Prediction, 433 words   English (US)

Fertility Treatments by the Week: Week Two

Spiky Plant (c) Lynda Bernhardt

Week Two was always a busy week for me during fertility treatments. By week two, I would have already completed a round of Clomid, and I would be suffering from the side effects. The migraines would blessedly have ended, but they would be replaced by hot flashes. (See Taking Clomid While Dining at a French Restaurant for an amusing tale about hot flashes.)

Because my cycle was erratic, I would need to begin ovulation testing early enough to ensure that I did not miss my ovulation that month. Because my shortest cycle was generally 29 days, I needed to start testing at around day 11 or 12.

Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPKs)

Early into fertility treatments, I tracked my ovulation through over-the-counter OPKs. If you are using OPKs, be sure to shop around because the cost varies greatly from store to store. I was surprised to find the best deal at a drug store.

Using OPKs was cumbersome for me. Because my doctor instructed me to use the test after 10:00 a.m., I frequently had to use the test while at work. This meant that I had to refrain from using the bathroom for a couple of hours (not my strength first thing in the morning), and then I had to make sure I was not scheduled to attend any 10:00 meetings. I also had to leave my desk unattended for about 10 minutes to administer the test. I chose to be very open about my fertility procedures with my bosses so that they would not think I was just goofing off on the job.

Follicle Tracking

Later into fertility treatments, my doctor used follicle tracking to determine when I was ready to ovulate. Follicle tracking is performed in the doctor's office, which meant I had to schedule the appointments and then take time off from work for one or two follicle tracking appointments. Fortunately, the physician's assistant was very good at judging when I would be ready to ovulate, so I generally only had to come in once or twice before I ovulated.

The physician's assistant would use a wand ultrasound to examine and measure the size of my follicles. When they reached a certain size, then I was ready to ovulate, and the nurse would give me a shot in the bottom with a very long and scary-looking needle. Then, I would be ready for an intrauterine insemination (IUI).

Related Topics:

++++++++++++

For information/instructions on how to subscribe FREE to this blog, please visit this link.

Comments, Pingbacks:

No Comments/Pingbacks for this post yet...

Leave a Comment: You need to login to leave comments.:

Login      Register

SPONSOR

Sponsors

Our Bloggers

Faith
January 2008
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
<<  <   >  >>
  1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31      

Search

Our Blogs

Syndicate this blog XML

What is RSS?