Day 15
In hopeful anticipation, we go in for another ultrasound to see what’s going on. The technician entertains our questions about follicles and eggs. I will admit I don’t remember much from the reproduction section of my health class over 20 years ago so it was insightful to learn more about what’s going on inside my body.

I do remember that each female is born with all the eggs they will have in their lifetime. So I was unsure of what role a follicle plays.

Apparently, follicles grow inside the ovary and house 1 egg each. They are to grow to be over 18cm before they break and the egg is released into the fallopian tube which is ovulation. Typically only one follicle will ‘break’ and the remaining will die away, with the egg never to be used again.

Some follicles won’t have an egg inside and there is no way of knowing one way or the other if someone doesn’t become pregnant.

In the case of using Clomid, multiple follicles can grow over 18cm and break and release eggs, which is why the possibility of multiple births increases.

On my ultrasound, there was the 1 follicle outside of my ovary (which the doctor is not concerned about. Apparently, many women have these ‘hanging’ follicles). In addition were 2 nice sized follicles measuring 18cm and 22cm. Wahoo!

The doctor is happy with what the ultrasound reveals so he orders a trigger shot to be given to force ovulation.

What is an HCG Trigger Shot? It is an injection of a medication called HCG, which causes the eggs to complete the maturation process.

Some people don’t produce the HCG that will induce an ovulation, which is why the Trigger Shot is so helpful. The technician told me that HCG is the same hormone that is released when one becomes pregnant and that HCG is the hormone that pregnancy tests detect, fascinating!

At 3 pm I was stuck with the needle, little did I know this would be injected in the cheek of my bottom, ouch!

We left with specific instructions: Be together 24 & 48 hours after the shot and let nature take its course… so that’s what we will do.

I won’t lie though, I find myself wanting to help nature along, such as putting myself in the best position for gravity to help the swimmers (articles say this doesn’t work) or being together more than 2x in that window (the doctor gave specific instructions NOT to have sex too often, wanting the swimmers to be strong so waiting 24 hours can help the build up).

We are both excited at the possibility of becoming pregnant. Here we could see two viable follicles that may both contain eggs that might possibly be met by swimmers. Could this be the week that the rest of our lives change?

It’s amazing to me that there is such a short window of time for one to become pregnant. Thinking about all the people who become pregnant without planning, it’s fascinating to me how this all happens.

Once the egg is released from the ovary, it lives for 12-24 hours. On top of that, it can take anywhere between 45 minutes and a couple hours for sperm to reach the fallopian tubes. This means, there needs to be sperm already in the fallopian tube region. But not just any sperm, they need to be strong so they need to be there within a few days prior.

Timing is everything, isn’t it!