A Game of Snakes and Ladders

Continued from previous post The Little Wins.

So, I’ve survived the hormone injection phase… and I’m still in one piece!

Stimulating Ovulation

For the first four days, I was a human pincushion, giving myself a single ovulation-stimulating shot each evening. By Day 5, I added a second jab to the mix—this one to keep my ovaries from jumping the gun. I had the pleasure of sticking this one into my upper thigh at the crack of dawn between 07:00 and 07:30. What a delightful way to start the day!

As Day 7 approached, the suspense was killing me. Every step of this journey felt like a game of chance. I was trying to stay optimistic, but I knew my ovary might decide to take a nap instead of responding to the hormones. To keep my sanity, I booked some fun distractions with friends and family before the Day 7 scan.  

Ovarian Rockstar!

To my delight, the news was fantastic! My ovary was not only awake but throwing a hormone party! Out of the 7-8 follicles spotted in the baseline scan, 5 were having a great time responding to the medication. Even better, they were all partying at the same pace, which is crucial for the retrieval stage. The nurse also took some blood, just to keep things interesting. 

When I got the news, I was so relieved I cried happy tears! I felt like throwing a parade for my hardworking little ovary. Yes, I had totally started talking to it like it was a tiny, overachieving sidekick. I couldn’t wait to share the good news with my amazing support crew of family, friends, and colleagues. This journey would be a lot tougher without them.  

With one step closer to my goal, the next mission was to keep up with both injections and head back to the clinic for a Day 9 scan. Again, the Day 9 scan showed my follicles were still in party mode. Four had grown to meet the size requirement (at least 16 mm in diameter), while the fifth was fashionably late to the party but catching up. Good news all around! 

Image created using WIX AI image generator.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

But, in this rollercoaster game of ovarian Snakes and Ladders, my joy was short-lived. Just as I was about to roll the dice, the nurse hit me with a plot twist: my ovary was apparently hiding behind my uterus. This meant the doctor might not be able to perform the egg retrieval—a curveball I wasn’t ready for and definitely not on my flowchart! Ah, the unpredictability of assisted reproduction.  

Back in the Game! 

So, the plan was to wait. But luckily, not for long. That afternoon, the nurse called with the good news that the doctors had given the green light for the retrieval process! I had climbed a ladder on the board and was back in the game!

During the same call, I got the lowdown on the remaining injections and my grand entrance at the clinic two days later. I was instructed to add a third injection exactly 36 hours before the egg retrieval—precision was key since this was the hormone that would trigger ovulation. All I had left to do was cross my fingers and toes!  

So, there I was, back in the hopeful and happy zone, crossing everything I could and praying to anyone who’d listen to keep me there as long as possible!