Here We Go... Again.

Our meeting with Dr. J was quick and painless.

He made funny faces at Bo* and then we were all business. One of the few good things about having 5 cycles under my belt is that there isn't a lot of questions or discussion. I know what is going to happen and how it is going to happen. Honestly, I think I would be a great cycle coordinator!

Dr. J looked at my chart and seemed disappointed that we do not have any frozen embryos. He said that he will probably increase my meds this cycle to produce more embryos. He asked what I wanted to do and I responded that I figured he would put me on OCP* at the start of my next period and then I would cycle in January. He said, "Sounds perfect. I'll have the nurses order the pills and the other drugs and you can come back in early December for a start cycle appointment." And that, was that. Short and painless.

As I've found in the past, RE's seem to be the one type of doctor that actually appreciate it when their patients are informed. He always seems so thrilled that I'm a "cut to the chase, let's do this" type of girl who is educated and informed about my treatment options.

The plan of action is to head back for my start cycle appointment on December 9. I'll start Lupron around Christmas and stop the OCP on December 30. Dr. J is targeting a January 11 retrieval, if everything goes according to plan.

I can't believe all of this is going to start again so fast. I'm still nursing so Bo will need to be completely weaned before my next cycle. I don't anticipate that being a problem (Bo is 15 days away from being 1, and that is when I planned to wean anyway) but there definitely won't be any downtime to regain some semblance of normal hormones before I start the OCP. I've been taking some type of hormone(s), pregnant, or nursing for 2 1/2 years. I guess there is no reason to stop now. When we finish family building I'm not going to know what it's like to be in my own skin without seven million other hormones going on.

Here we go... again.

*And yes, I am "that woman" who took her child to the RE's office. I refrained from buying a t-shirt that said "I am the result of 5 IVF's" and luckily we only saw one other patient and she didn't give us a dirty look. Unless unforeseen circumstances occur, he shouldn't need to go to any of my other appointments.

**OCP is Ovulation Control Pills. Yes, it is the exact same thing as Birth Control Pills (BCP) but Dr. J calls them OCP, which I find to be very infertile friendly. :) And really, if you think about it, it is a much better name. They control ovulation, not birth.