Femara gave me occasional hot flashes, minor nausea and a headache of maybe 6/10. No emotional mood swings that I could tell. So all in all, not too bad!
I went to the Layton office for the first time on cycle day 2, and it was really nice there. A very friendly receptionist, a water/stone/soothing display in the waiting room, free water bottles, and just a general feeling of zen. It was very nice. I was taken back to the room and also shown the bathroom where there were free products to use. Dr. S came in to the room and we talked for a little bit about what labs I would need today and how my appointment went with Dr. A with Maternal-Fetal Medicine. I think he was still considering if it was ethical or not to get me pregnant! haha. He then did the ultrasound (mandatory before a medicated cycle to make sure there aren't too many follicles that could release multiple eggs). He said I had 7 follicles on each side, and he had hoped for 6. Yay for exceeding expectations! Then he wished me luck, left the room and I got dressed again.
After the ultrasound, I got my blood drawn to test my ovarian reserve again. He wanted to make sure my first AMH level was accurate, since it had been low for someone my age. Then I went into a consultation room and met with the nurse. She gave me an outline of what I should be doing on each day of this cycle on Femara. I went home feeling very optimistic!
I took Femara 5mg days 3-7. I started taking my basal body temperature at 5:30 AM every morning I was home, or 3 PM on days when I had worked all night beforehand. The key is to get 3-4 solid hours of sleep. I definitely noticed a drop in my temperature on day 10. I also started using the ClearBlue Easy Digital Ovulation Prediction Kit (OPK) on day 10, but it was negative that day. I used one of my Wondfo pink dye OPK strips that I had been using prior to seeing Dr. S, and it was almost positive. I thought that was interesting. Dye is definitely more sensitive than digital!
Another negative on the CBE OPK on day 11. Then, on day 11 at night at work, I started cramping and bleeding for about 6 hours. Usually when I ovulate I get a feeling of heaviness and have some spotting. This was hardcore ovulation going on! I called Dr. S's office when I got off work in the morning and they said to call back if the bleeding starts again. Days 12-15 I had negative CBE OPKs still! It didn't make sense. I called Dr. S's office on day 15, and my progesterone level (which tells if you've ovulated or not) was 28. Normal ovulation is around 5-10. Medicated ovulation is 10-15. So yeah, I definitely ovulated! It was weird that the CBE OPK didn't pick up on it. So now we wait and pray and fast and cross our fingers and wish upon a star!
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