Pre-Party Time!

I got AF on Saturday and went into today's ultrasound with Dr. Mottla with a lot of optimism that my cyst was history. To my surprise, the damn thing was STILL there! Dr. Mottla believes that it's just filled with fluid and not blood - I suppose that's good news. However, despite nothing happening cyst-wise, I was encouraged by the fact that I actually DO get to proceed with IVF # 1 in October. I'll take the birth control pills for yet another 21 day period to see if we can combat the cyst that way (which I doubt we will), but if it's still there at my Lupron evaluation, I will need to schedule an appointment to finally get it aspirated and then I can begin my stims immediately afterwards.

What's interesting is that Dr. Mottla is going to put me on the MDL Flare Protocol this time. I'm not really sure why he decided to switch me from the Ganirelix Protocol since I never really got a chance to see how my body was going to respond to that protocol. I'm a bit concerned about this protocol because it seems that a good number of poor responders did better on the Ganirelix protocol. However, I wasn't really looking for MDL Flare success stories then, so maybe there are just as many, if not more, success stories on this one. I actually did ask him why he put me on the MDL Flare and he told me it's "because it's the strongest one [they] got." Hmm. Now I have to spend time googling this protocol. I won't invest any time or energy in the differences because it really doesn't matter, does it? But I'ld like to know what to expect from this protocol before I start - so I suppose that will be this evening's project.

Here's what I can expect:

08/31/09: Start BCPs (21 days)
09/21/09: Lupron Evaluation
09/23/09: Start MDL - 20 units BID (and Children's Aspirin)
09/25/09: MDL - 20 units BID; AM-Follistim (300); PM-Follistim (150); Menopur (150)
**Rest of stim schedule TBD**
10/07/09: Estimated ER
10/10/09: Estimated ET

I feel good about this upcoming IVF - I really do. October is a good time to get pregnant and it falls in perfect alignment with my busy schedule. When things are "easy," that's when the time is right!

Sidenote # 1: I got AF two nights after my last Provera / Progesterone pill.

Sidenote # 2: My mammo results came back A-OK!