Rule of Thirds

Rule of Thirds is a composition technique. It is supposed to make things better. More beautiful. More interesting. That is not the case in regards to infertility, and that's where we find ourselves.

We have 1/3 the numbers we had in our last cycle (which failed), so you can imagine how excited and optimistic I am about the current cycle.

1. Eggs- 1 vs 3. There was a chance that we had 2 follicles this time, but I'm pretty certain that there was only 1 functional follicle and the other is a follicular cyst. I'll give my evidence later.
2. Swimmers- Sam's numbers are still above what the doctor wanted, but the post-wash count was almost exactly 1/3 of the last IUI sample. I know "extras" aren't really giving us better chances, but it certainly seems like a scenario in which more can't hurt. (By the way, we are pretty certain that Sam's count was down due to increased baby dancing before the IUI, as last time we abstained for 50+ hours.)
3. Progesterone- last month my count was 45. It was so high that my doctor felt that I didn't even need a check this month. She felt it was safe to assume that my body was doing what it was supposed to in this aspect. Well, apparently not. My chart looks like crap. I have the lowest temperatures post O ever! So I requested a check. I went in today: 13. What the?

My thoughts on this are possibly unfounded, but it makes sense to me. Progesterone is produced by the corpus luteum (leftover follicle). Last cycle, I had 3 follicles so it makes sense that I had high numbers. This cycle, I have 1/3 as much progesterone being produced because I have 1/3 the number of follicles.

This is also why I think I only had 1 follicle, or at least partially. I just can't imagine where that 13mm cyst went. It doesn't seem likely that it dissolved while on meds.

So there you have it. I'm guessing we have about 1/3 the chance we had last time, so that'll be a no. I'm mostly frustrated. The fear, and sadness, and other stuff will come, I'm sure, but for now I'm just irked.