Trigger Testing - Ovulation Induction with Ovidrel

Follicular Phase

After being told I had the option to do Ovulation Induction, I had decided to give it a month or two then if I'd still not had a cycle or fallen pregnant, I'd start a cycle of OI. Then I got some blood tests to see what my hormones were doing, and the results lined up with my suspicion that I had ovulated a week before. I was told to expect my period in a week.

That week came around and I thought for sure I had seen a faint line on a test. It wasn't there, and then it was, and I was going crazy with waiting to see if it would get darker or if it was even there at all. My period was a couple days late, and I knew that it HAD to be due, because of the blood test and also my LH tests supporting ovulation more than 14 days earlier.

Then my period came.

And I was so heartbroken, so fed up with the pressure and pain of waiting. Never knowing when I was ovulating, if I would ovulate, was one of the hardest struggles. So on Day 1 of my cycle I rang up begging to start ovulation induction that cycle. The following day I went to the nurses and picked up my scripts, learnt how to do my injections and raced to grab the scripts that afternoon.

I started Letrazole 2.5mg for 5 days (don't tell anyone, but I forgot to take it one night and was about 12 hours late on a dose, but it didn't seem to affect anything too much). I kept track of my test results, and I kept track of my LH throughout the whole cycle, curiosity getting the best of me.

At first nothing seemed to happen. Then finally, on day 10 my estrogen started to rise, measuring at 199 E2. LH at the time was 3, and progesterone was so low it was immeasurable.

By the 31st, estrogen was up even higher, at 589, LH was 4, and progesterone was still nothing measurable. I had a blood test the next day, as well as an ultrasound to check my follicles.

Tuesday morning showed up, and drama commenced. I almost didn't realise that I had my ultrasound on that morning, as usually the notification I got with my blood test results was the same each time; the date, the results, my next blood test, a bunch of information on covid and then at the very bottom special instructions not to have unprotected intercourse. It had been the same every time, so I'd just not scrolled any further down.

Well, apparently, this time, under the covid information, was the fact that I had an ultrasound that morning. Luckily Hayden touched my phone whilst I was on the results and scrolled down so that I happened to see the fact I was meant to be showing up at 7:30am for an ultrasound. I got up bright and early (not too early for me as I usually start work at 7am Tuesdays), and started the journey across Perth from SOR all the way to Joondalup hospital.

I got to the Clinipath up the road, struggled to find parking and finally got a spot and raced in at barely three minutes past opening at 7am, and there was already a line. The phlebotomist also seemed to be chatting happily with one of the first patients there, as they were friends, and it soon became clear I was going to be pushed to make it in time. I got directions, and Fertility North was a 10 minute walk away. I was determined to leave at 7:20am.

Then 7:20 rocked up at the guy in front of me had just gone in. I waited, but unfortunately he didn't speak English well and hadn't fasted for his test, so the phlebotomist spent some time explaining how to fast and what it meant to him, while he didn't understand a thing she was saying. I was bouncing on my feet, so rushed.

Finally he came out and I went in, she took my blood surprisingly slowly, and I got out of there at 7:28am.

Parking at Joondalup hospital is ridiculous, and I had no time to find parking, so I left the car and I RAN. I've not run so far so fast in a very, very long time. I ran well over a block and jumped in the elevator (which was terrifying as it was so early the lights weren't on yet, so once the doors closed it was pitch black until they opened again... might I add I have a fear of elevators!). I got there at 7:32am.

I had a drink, sat down, stood up, went to the toilet to void as needed, and then sat to wait a bit longer, still panting. Whilst I was waiting, another lady showed up for her ultrasound, and I recognised her from the pathologists. I joked that she walked a lot faster than I did when she came in, and she admitted that she gave up waiting at the pathologists and left right after me. Then she got called through, and the nurse saw me waiting and asked my name.

And it was then that we realised I'd made a mistake. I didn't have an ultrasound at Fertility North, I had one at Ultrasound North. She gave me a map, and I started running again, on the phone as I made my way to the place I was meant to be, now it was about quarter to eight. The receptionist was lovely and reassured me that the person after me had gone in early, and I didn't need to rush too much.

I still ran. And to make matters worst, the bloody sonographer's place I was meant to be at was right nearby the pathologist, so I had to run back UP the hill I'd sprinted down, and all the way passed where I'd parked and initially come from to reach Ultrasound North. I felt so out of breath and unfit I was on the verge of throwing up. I'm surprised I didn't.

It was also very, very cold that morning and I'd been running in the freezing air, so despite sweating my skin was terribly cold and my teeth were aching terribly from the wind between them, becoming so, so sensitive.

I was called in, apologised profusely to the sonographer, who reassured me she would be late for the person after me and then that would be it and she'd be caught up and it was all going to work out. Luckily the person behind me was a mum of a toddler and was there for a pregnancy ultrasound, and her partner had yet to find parking. So my being late may have actually meant her partner got to be there for the ultrasound, so I was happy about that.

I got my results, and found that I still had polycystic ovaries, though not quite as bad as last time (this time there was more follicles on the right than the left), with the most being 18 on my right, much improved from last time. And, sitting on my right ovary, was a 22mm dominant follicle. Just a single, dominant follicle.

The sonographer said from experience she believed I'd ovulate later that day, possibly tomorrow. My test results that came in that afternoon said to take my Ovidrel 8pm that night and gave me the all clear to 'baby dance' and have unprotected intercourse to try to conceive, which we actually struggled to do in the time frame, and just managed to later that night. And that's how we got through the follicular phase and reached ovulation on the 1st of June, 2021.