I thought I would update you all on the progress so far:

Day 1/2

Sunday 29th August 2010 - day 1 of my cycle. Which means I had to go for a scan on the Monday to check everything was okay to get started. The Monday was a bank holiday in England so I was worried the clinic might not be open or be able to fit me in. I left a message on the nurses helpline voicemail and they called me at 8.30am on Monday to say come in for a scan. So we went for a scan, everything was looking good (they are checking that the uterus lining is coming away properly, that there are no follicles from the previous cycle kicking around and that the ovaries are cyst free. All was good, so then the nurse went through how to inject the menopur and supervised Chris giving his first injection.

I have to confess that the injections are nowhere near as bad as I expected. I am a self-confessed woos when it comes to needles, but you hardly feel it. The needle only goes in 8mm, so not a big deal. We are using an autoject pen (similar to what a diabetic uses for insulin but much bigger as there is much more fluid going in). So just press against the upper thigh and push the button. A few seconds later you see a yellow marker appear in a window to let you know the deed is done. Gently remove and blot with cotton wool if there is a spot of blood.

So the Menopur injections are every night at 10pm (the time we thought would work best for us).

Day 6

We were back at the clinic for a scan to see how many follicles are growing and what size they are. We were disappointed to discover that there are only 3 follicles growing (normal numbers are closer to 15 sometimes up to 30). The biggest was measuring 11mm. Because of my low AMH levels, we knew there wouldn't be as many as a normal patient. Some clinics don't continue with the treatment if you have less than 4/5 follicles as they think statistically you have a much lesser chance of it working on so few follicles. Thankfully, Coventry understand this is as good as it is going to get for me, so we are carrying on regardless!

I started an additional drug today - Cetrotide, which is a drug that acts as a block on the pituitary gland to stop a rise in my Lieutenising Hormone (sp?) which is the hormone that lets your ovaries know its time to ovulate. They don't want you to ovulate until the follicles are the right size and of course, they want to collect the follicles in one go, rather than trying to track them down in your fallopian tubes! This one is a bit scarier, its a bigger needle, no autoject pen and goes in your stomach underneath the belly button. Worryingly, the nurse just handled the needle to Chris and said "here you go - you kno what you're doing" Err, hang on a minute, this is a bit different to using the pen! I quickly informed her we had been using the autoject pen so far, so she then showed Chris what to do! That one has to be done when I wake up each morning and stings - ouchie!

Day 10

The Cetrotide has made me feel ill all weekend with nausea and a splitting headache :-(

Back for another scan to see how we're going. Some good news. They can now see 4 good size follicles with a 5th smaller follicle (but it is unlikely to be mature when its time for collection). The biggest is measuring 14mm. My endometrium (uterus lining) is starting to thicken and looking "nice and cosy" (the nurses words, not mine!).

We are due back on Wednesday for another scan to see how things are progressing. All being well, I will be due to take my HCg shot with egg collection on Friday.

Fingers crossed - grow follies grow!