HISTORY

Treatments
BABY #1- 6 Clomid cycles, 2 IUIs with Femara, 1 IVF with 3 embryos transferred, 2 more IUIs with Femara & Follistim, and finally 1 IUI with Follistim.
BABY #2 - 2 Follistim cycles and natural conception
BABY #3 - natural conception, miscarried at 10 weeks
BABY #4 - natural conception

Timing
Decided to start a family May 2005. After testing & un-related delays, began first treatment cycle Oct 2005. First pregnancy confirmed Sept 2007. Second pregnancy confirmed Mar 2011. Third & fourth pregnancies - 2015.

For other IF couples
If you want to skip back to our infertility adventures, please see the history on the right hand margin. There you can find our journey from 2005 through 2007.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Ouch... my ovaries!

This afternoon I was chatting with my MIL on the phone and we got to talking about my latest cycle news. I mentioned that I was having minor pains, just twinges really. I said 'my ovaries hurt' and she laughed. Not at my pain, but at what I had said. She really thought that was funny, and to be fair, it is a pretty unusual thing to hear someone say.

For you boys out there who don't know, women aren't usually aware of their ovaries.. kinda like your liver or a kidney. It's just an organ that you know is in there doing its job (or in my case quietly not doing it's job) and unless something specifically goes wrong, you're oblivious to it. But sometimes in fertility treatments, the ovaries become enlarged (overstimulated) and they can be downright painful. They call that OHSS (ovarian hyperstimulation). Of course, OHSS is more likely in patients with PCOS (lucky me).

It's possible that I might have a very mild case of OHSS, but even if not, my ovaries are making sure that I don't forget about them over the last few days. They've been just tender enough to make me take notice and occasionally led me to feel like lying down (more comfortable). Before IVF, I honestly could not point out the exact location of my ovaries. I knew roughly where they should be, but had never had any feeling in that area. That certainly changed this year starting with IVF. But if it means these guys (ok maybe I should call them gals) are working, then I'm all for it. No pain no gain right?

Countdown: 10 days to hpt

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