Watermelon woman

Just a quick update. I trigger tonight. In the unlikely event that anyone reading this isn't familiar with the IVF procedure, this is the final shot before egg retrieval, which matures the eggs to their final stage and triggers ovulation 36 hours later. I have been on pretty huge doses of stims this time (600 IU for the first few days, then reduced to 450) and my belly does indeed look a bit like a watermelon (the size, you understand, not the color ;)) but otherwise I feel quite ok and I don't think I'm in any danger of hyperstimulation. Which makes me think 2 things. Firstly, isn't it unfair that while I'm going through my 7th IVF which is, let's be honest, statistically likely to fail, my belly looks like that of a pregnant woman, giving rise to the inevitable questions from those that don't know better?  And secondly, why am I, at the age of 36 not hyperstimulating on such huge quantities of drugs? I always have a little guilty voice at the back of my head about my few, but fairly heavy, years of smoking. Did they ruin my eggs for good?

Ah well, for better or worse, I am about ready to lay!