Cleared for take-off

I had my baseline check today, and we are cleared for stimulation.

I was a little put-off by the midwife who did the scan for me this morning. She wasn't very gentle with the wand, and she couldn't even find my left ovary. She just told me that it would stand out if there was a cyst on it, so it must be okay if she can't see it. Nor did she do a blood test.

I told her that I responded very quickly to Menopur, so she booked me an appointment for Tuesday (day 6 of stims), only to call me and move it to Wednesday (day 7 of stims).

I am not very good about standing up for myself. I don't know what is normal and what is not. Should I have requested a baseline blood test? Should I have insisted on a Day 6 scan? Or do I just need to relax and trust that this clinic knows what they're doing?

IUI#4 CD8

I woke up very excited this morning. I love the chance to spy in on my ovaries and see exactly what they are up to. I had my first ultrasound of the cycle today, and everything looks great. My lining is already at 4.4 mm (red dotted line) with a triple stripe pattern, and for once my follicles are not racing ahead. I have a sub-dominant follicle on my right ovary at 7.1 mm, and a dominant follicle on my left ovary at 10.1 mm (red unbroken line). It looks like 37 units of Menopur per day is a good dose for me. Looking at this, I guess that we'll probably do the IUI around Sunday on day 14 - must more respectable than day 9 with the first injectables attempt.

IUI#4 CD3

Yesterday was the first day of Menopur shots. Considering that I ovulated on day 9 last time, they have cut my dose in half. So I take half an ampule each night, keeping the other half in the fridge until the next night. My husband is doing a wonderful job mixing everything together and giving me the injections.

Protocol:
CD2-CD7: ~37.5 IU Menopur
CD8: Ultrasound and bloodwork - Menopur dose as advised
CD9-17: Possible ultrasounds and bloodwork - Menopur dose as advised

It has now been two years since I started ovulating again after eleven years of hormonal contraception. Twenty six cycles, twenty six ovulations, twenty six thermal shifts. Fertility friend tells me that my second year-long VIP membership will expire next month. Do I sign up for another twelve months?