Where we are in the cycle now...

Dawn has started her stimulating drugs. These drugs will encourage all the the resting follicles in her ovaries to begin producing eggs.

She is taking a drug called Follistim, unlike the Bravelle that I took-in which the FSH came from highly purified urine of post-menopausal women, Follistim is made from recombinant DNA technology. I am not sure if I would rather have post-menopausal woman urine or something genetically altered that was derived from Chinese hamsters** see below, but either way it gets the job done I suppose.

Of course there are always risks with any medication. We are not going to talk about any of those because we are praying that none of them actually occur.

Dawn will take this drug for anywhere from 8-12 days depending on how her ovaries respond. She will be monitored by ultrasound until the follicles are big enough to begin final maturation.

Her drug dose will be increased or decreased depending on how many and how fast the follicles develop.

She also will continue the Lupron which will suppress ovulation until the follicles are ready.


I also will continue Lupron to suppress ovulation, Estrace to build up the lining of the uterus, and baby aspirin-why a baby aspirin you may ask? Evidently it helps with blood flow to the Placenta*** see below


We are both taking our vitamins, and hoping for the best. I have an Estrogen level tomorrow morning, and Dawn has her first Follostim monitoring ultrasound Wednesday!

That's all for now....thanks for reading!


**http://www.follistim.com/Images/FollistimAQCartridge_PhysicianPrescribingInfo_tcm643-169242.pdf
***baby aspirin may help keep placental blood vessels open. It is already frequently prescribed for this purpose much later in pregnancy, for women with preeclampsia -- a pregnancy disorder associated with high blood pressure and protein in the urine. It is thought that this condition occurs when the blood vessels constrict too much because of an imbalance between two compounds in the body -- one that causes blood vessels to constrict, and another that causes blood vessels to dilate. The use of a single baby aspirin daily blocks the vascular-constricting compound, while not interfering with the compound that promotes placental blood flow.