grow follicles! grow!

So, this morning's appointment was much, much better. The other follicles are catching up! The nurse who was doing my ultrasound said that they would definitely want to try to capture every singe follicle that they can, so that means we are going to have to manage my stims very wisely these next few days.

I didn't write down my stats, but I do have one follicle at 18 mm today with the smallest of the 10 coming in at 9 mm. The median range seemed to be 13-10 mm. I have heard that things develop quickly toward the end of the stimulation phase so I'm just praying and letting God have the wheel on this.

I'm going to let the numbers surprise me. One of these eggs will help form our child.

I'm taking it easy today. Preparing some food that will get us through next week. It sounds like we will be triggering on Monday or Tuesday with the retrieval 36 hours after that and the transfer 3 days after that - depending on how the embryologist feels about everything.

Thank you God for the improvement and THANK YOU ALL for your kinds words of encouragement and support. I can't tell you how grateful I am. Truly grateful. I would be going crazy with anxiety without all of your support.

Sending love:

Jillian

raise your smoothies in a toast!

It's so good to hear good news! Today one of my fellow bloggers announced that she was pregnant after her first IVF. (You can find her near the top of my blog roll.) That's so great. I truly wish her a healthy and safe pregnancy and I can't wait to follow along through her blog. You girls (and guys) keep me going.

I've never come across a more positive and problem-solving inventive group of people in my life. Yes, I'm standing by positive as a description of the IF community, because even though we do get knocked down - even though we have some legit things to gripe about - many of us find ways to cope and stagger back to our feet. Every time one of you stumbles and pulls yourself back up and returns to the blogger-sphere to tell your story it gives me courage to keep going.

Of course I wish it was me who got to post a BFP . . . I know my day will come. It's either a BFP or a call from our facilitator saying they have a match with a birth mother for us.

I had to readjust my expectations this afternoon after I got off the phone with our clinic. It looks like the earliest time we can schedule our egg retrieval and fertilization is early September. Darn, in my head I was like: "We are doing IVF this summer." September feels so far away. I'm just gonna roll with it. September is a good month. It's gonna be our month.

Back to the main reason for this post - some infertility recipe goodness.

Cinnamon Avocado Smoothie

1 Banana 

1 Avocado

1 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup organic ground flaxseed

1/2 t. organic cinnamon

Whip it up and serve!

So, we've probably all heard how good avocados are for preparing for IVF, but my research also shows how beneficial ground flaxseed and cinnamon are - just for everyone. Watch how much cinnamon you consume, though - there is a daily limit. 

I'm not a doctor or anything - I'm just trying to find ways to improve my health and increase the odds that our fertility treatments will work. I would love your feedback and suggestions for ways to boost my diet to improve my fertility. 

Happy Monday Y'all!