19 punctures and counting

Today was day 8 of my cycle, which means day 5 of stimulation! Time flies by, and goes abnormally slow when you are in this process. I have 19 puncture marks on my body, 4 on my right arm from taking blood, 1 on my left arm since the right one looks like it will fall apart with one more needle, and 14 marks and a bruise on my stomach!

Nineteen marks that show I am doing everything I can to get pregnant. 19 marks ready to become 23 or 24 tomorrow. 19 marks that show my conviction and determination. 19 marks that remind me of what we are doing every time my clothes press against my stomach or I sit too fast. The marks and the pain are constant reminders of what we are doing.

I have hope this cycle, I have so much hope, so much illusion, so much faith.

My follicles are doing great! I have more than 14 follicles total that they can count, and of those 7 are between 10 and 14mm  in size. SEVEN! I have 4 on the left side and 3 on the right side with those sizes. I joke with J and tell him we could have seven kids LOL I know not all might have eggs, and I know not all might be mature enough when the time comes, and not all might fertilize and not all embies will make it to day 5, but I also know that God is big, He is HUGE, and He is listening. So I have hope.

Not my picture, but each red dot represents a follicle, in this case 16 of them in 1 ovary.
These ones are between 2 and 8mm, so 7 of mine are bigger, and about this many are divided in 2 ovaries.

Tomorrow is another day of waking up at 6 in the morning so I can be at the doctor at 7am. Today marks 6 straight days of waking up early to be pinched and probed, and you know what? I am extremely happy. Not necessarily happy of getting pinched or having my blood taken, or waking up that early, but I am happy that my body is doing great. I am happy that my heart is happy. I am happy that my brain is excited and calm. I am happy that the moment is coming, and maybe, just maybe half of Amanda or Miguel is already growing inside me.