12 is a lucky number!

I was so anxious heading into yesterdays scan, I didn't sleep well the night before and I dreamt that Dr S could only see four tiny follicles. As he was doing the scan, he said "it all looks good" I didn't quite believe him. I was still thinking about Fridays phone call "low range of normal".

After the scan, I went and had blood work done. I saw my nurse for the first time this cycle! I really like my nurse, at the start I found her a bit hard to get along with but as time has gone on we've built a relationship and she has been wonderful. She assisted with my first IUI and was the one to call me with both of the negative betas.

Dr S had come over to his office in between egg pick ups so I didn't really have time to ask him any questions. But when my nurse opened my file and read over the notes from my scan and she was so excited for my husband and I. She said it looks great and that she could book me in for egg pick up on Monday.

She showed me my file and said that Dr S had seen 12 follicles! 9 on my right ovary and 3 on the left. All measuring between 10mm and 12mm. And the large cyst that was on my left ovary has shrunk down nicely and is now much smaller. I was anxious that it'd taken a few extra days to get to this point, but my nurse explained that with PCO slow and steady is the best way to avoid OHSS.

I really need to just trust my doctor and remember that there is no normal protocol, it's different for every woman at my clinic.

I also asked my nurse about the nausea I've been getting. It only starts about 2-3 hours after the Orgalutran (ganirelix) shot and then lasts for most of the day. She confirmed what I thought and said that would definitely be the Orgalutran. It's an uncommon side effect, but unfortunately a few woman do suffer from it. Small frequent meals, load up on the protein, snack on raw almonds and if I do suffer from vomiting or it's a particularly hot day make sure to have a bottle or two of gatorade or powerade on top of the 2-3 litres of water a day. And if I find that I'm not able to eat I need to be having 2-3 glasses of low gi Sustagen to keep up the protein and nutrients.

I haven't eaten a full meal since I started the orgalutran five days ago. I'm either not hungry at all, or after a few bites I feel ill and think I'll be sick if I eat any more. Or I'm feeling that nauseated that I can't even think about eating. Nausea and vomiting are my biggest fears, I really hate feeling this way.

On the plus side, I haven't had any hormonal mood swings or crying fits. I'm just starting to have a few twinges around my ovaries today but it's just a twinge or two. It's not cramping and I'm not bloated at all or in any sort of pain.

I have monitoring again tomorrow morning, a scan during my doctors regular office hours so I'll be able to ask him any questions (but I think my nurse answered all the ones I had) and another blood test just to make sure everything is still on track.