What I Love About IUI Days

We are scheduled for an IUI on Wednesday morning! My estrogen came back at 3,200 today, which is really high. Dr. H. herself called to let me know that. She's never called me before. It made me nervous to hear her voice on my voicemail! The highest I've ever been was 1,970 back in July. Apparently there's an increase in the chance of multiples when your numbers are that high, but that's good news to me! I have one mature follicle at 1.92 cm, and two almost-mature ones at 1.66 each (they'll be close to mature by Wednesday). Then there are so many smaller ones that I lost count. They're too small to matter though. However, it's all those little ones that I think spiked my estrogen. When my estrogen was high this summer, I had mild OHSS (ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome) after the IUI. That's when the ovaries swell and the follicles fill back up with fluid, which puts a lot of weight on the ovaries. Your abdominal cavity also fills with the fluid and swells. It's pretty uncomfortable and can be dangerous when it's severe. Dr. H. said I should expect it to be a little worse this time than it was in the summer (not severe though). I'm okay with that. Now I have the perfect excuse to leave all vacuuming, laundry, and housework to Karl! :)
I'm very excited about our IUI though! I have come to look forward to and treasure our IUI days. This is the day when we could make a baby! We normally get to the hospital around 7:30. We do what we need to do to get what we need from Karl (I'll spare you the details), and then we have an hour and a half to piddle around while they get everything ready for us. We use that time to go to the Starbucks in the main part of the hospital and get coffee and vanilla bean scones. We always enjoy people-watching during this time! After that, we visit the gift shop and browse through a couple magazines. Normally by that point, it's about time to head back upstairs. When they take us back to the room, I get situated, and then a doctor comes in to do the actual insemination. Dr. H. always prays over us at this point when she does the IUI. That's just one of many prayers that is sent to God from us that day. We have about 20 minutes of time alone after that, and I stay flat on the table to prevent gravity from messing things up. Sometimes they do an ultrasound to check and see if I'm ovulating, but sometimes they don't. Then we're free to go. On the way home, we stop for lunch, and then I spend the rest of the day resting in bed or on the couch. I know it doesn't sound like an exciting day, but it could be the beginning of my child's life, and that is the most exciting thing in the whole world! It truly feels like Christmas day with all the anticipation and excitement that go into that day, and then the thrill and joy of the day itself. It really is a wonderful and special day.