After I got dressed, we met with one of our nurses. She mixed our Novarel (HCG medicine, the one that triggers ovulation right before the egg retrieval) for us. Since the HCG shot is such a crucial step of the cycle - they want to be the ones mixing the medicine together to eliminate any unecessary heartbreak due to a mixing error. After it is mixed, it also has to be refrigerated - so my husband took it back home with him. We don't know when the egg retrieval will be, but they asked us to bring in the Novarel today so they could mix it. So now at least our Gonal-F pens have some company in the fridge. :)
This afternoon I got a voicemail from the IVF department. She said that my estradiol (estrogen) levels are rising just like they want them to be. Today my level was at 433 - a big jump from the 17 from last Friday! (I looked up estrogen levels during IVF online and it looks like they will want it to get to 1000 right before the egg retrieval.) She said that they want me to keep the same Gonal-F dosages and to come back on Saturday for bloodwork and an ultrasound. So far, so good!
Now I will explain the purple folders. When we started our IVF cycle and met with them to review our protocol and schedule (back on December 28th), we were given a purple folder that contained a bunch of injection instructions, helpful material, our calendar, and a bunch of forms to help guide us through the process. I'm actually using one of the forms right now to log all of the daily shots. Anyway, today in the parking lot I saw 2 women with purple folders. And in the waiting room of the lab I saw about 3 more purple folders. We might as well have a big sign on our foreheads saying "IVF." You would think that we would all talk - but it's kind of an awkward thing since you don't know them and don't know how they would react to you. Maybe they should give us a pink folder if we're open to chatting about our IVF experience with co-patient strangers - so that we can know who wants to talk and who doesn't. :) For now, I just give a big smile if I happen to catch the eyes of any of them. Hoping for good results for all of my fellow purple folder peeps.
Oh, and I came across this link on my doctor's office website - looks like he was voted Best Infertility Doctor back in July 2010 by his doctor peers. Here's a link to the article and video for those that are interested. Alrighty - enough IVF talk... it's time for American Idol!! :)