I had my doctors appointment on Friday morning for a blood test and an ultrasound to make sure we were on track to start the stimulation medication. As usual, I was worried about the results of the ultrasound, but as luck would have it everything was quiet on the uterine front. So I went home all excited and ready to begin the fun process of waking up my ovaries. They put my on 1 vial of Menupur and 150 shot of Follistim, divided 75 morning and 75 night, but the first night I had to take the full 150 to kick off the shot show! They reduced the Lupron to 10 iu's from 20 every morning.
The Follistim is really easy to take because its basically preloaded in a pen. All you have to do is dial it up and shoot. Just needs a needle tip change prior. The Menupor on the other hand is a bit harder. You have to take the correct amount of saline solution and inject into the vial of powder, roll the vial around to mix the solution, pull it back into the syringe, then change the needle tip to a smaller needle all before injecting. This is my 9 o' clock routine.
After adding these 2 new medications to the daily routine, I have learned just exactly how spoiled I was with my Lupron shots. The only unpleasantness is the initial pinch and then basically I don't feel anything while its being injected. These new shots are a whole nother story. The Follistim doesn't hurt while its being injected, but after its in there it hurts my belly for a few minutes. The Menopur, I guess because its a mixture of chemicals, hurts kinda bad going in (stings a little), but once its in its fine. The Menopur is the one that I really don't look forward too. Definitely my least favorite. According to my husband, it also makes me extra specially moody and bitchy. I've also had this crazy headache for like 2 weeks now.
On a more positive note, I'm starting to get excited about this whole process. You'd think that the last thing I'd be is excited after adding all these shots, but my retrieval is a little over a week away so I have that to look forward to and my husband has that entire week off to spend with me so I also have that to look forward to. I don't know if getting excited is the right thing to do because I don't want to get my hopes up too high, but I also know that if I go into this with a bad attitude, or I'm too stressed out, or I think to negatively that those could affect my chances of getting pregnant and every little bit of hope counts in a positive way.
For now we are still praying.
Showing posts with label In Vitro Fertilization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label In Vitro Fertilization. Show all posts
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
First appointment with the IVF coordinator
Well, we had our first appointment on Monday with the IVF coordinator. We made ourselves sick worrying about it because we have never gone to that doctors office and had a good appointment or gotten good news so we were wondering just WHAT was in store for us. Every time it's "well you have a huge ovarian cyst, or you have a blood clotting disorder that makes it harder to get pregnant, no the clomid didn't work again, no the IUI didn't work.. I see some fluid in your uterus and I don't like it" Seriously, not ONCE have we had a good appointment, but this time, the stars aligned and for once all was right with my uterus. Thank you Jesus for that.
So, the very first step in the IVF process is going on birth control so I don't ovulate this month. It's so nice to not have to pee on ovulation sticks for once, but it's a little strange going on birth control. He says he has to time when I get my period so he can time everything else. So I've been on birth control for 2 weeks and my ultrasound looks great... the cyst is completely gone, the fluid is long gone, nothing negatively new in the old baby making basket (They also did an infectious disease (STD) test before the whole thing started and we were both completely fine. Let me tell you-- no matter what anyone says, even if you're 100% sure you don't have any STD's, it's still a huge relief when they call you and say you're perfectly healthy lol).
Here comes the best part... So we're on this mega high from having our first GREAT ultrasound and the IVF coordinator comes in with our next step in the process. Now we were both under the impression that the shots began November 4th, AND that they were injectables like my eppi pen. We couldn't have been more wrong (this is another great example why you should never believe what you read on the internet). So the IVF coordinator comes in with this syringe and this little tiny glass bottle or fluid and she starts showing my husband how to fill it up and where he will be injecting me. And I think time stopped for a whole 45 seconds and then the blood left my head so fast I thought we were both gonna pass out. She made it looks so simple. "Oh it's so easy, the Lupron should come in the mail by next Tuesday and you will need to start the injections on Thursday morning. It's so easy!" the nurse kept on saying how easy it was and even she could do it but I mean come on, you're a nurse of COURSE you can! This doesn't come second nature to us non-nurses here. Especially my husband, who expressed great concern months ago when we began entertaining the idea of in-vitro.
It is something we're gonna have to get used to though. Once the Lupron shots end, we start shots of the fertility drug. If all goes well and babies magically appear in my uterus at the end of all this, I will need to go on Heparin shots for my first whole trimester, so basically shots start next Thursday and (fingers crossed) end sometime in February!
Still praying, but mostly saying thank you to God this month. Our biggest fear was that SOMETHING was gonna happen and they were gonna tell us we had to postpone it another month but nothing like that came up. Kinda sorta starting to get excited now. Just kinda, though.
So, the very first step in the IVF process is going on birth control so I don't ovulate this month. It's so nice to not have to pee on ovulation sticks for once, but it's a little strange going on birth control. He says he has to time when I get my period so he can time everything else. So I've been on birth control for 2 weeks and my ultrasound looks great... the cyst is completely gone, the fluid is long gone, nothing negatively new in the old baby making basket (They also did an infectious disease (STD) test before the whole thing started and we were both completely fine. Let me tell you-- no matter what anyone says, even if you're 100% sure you don't have any STD's, it's still a huge relief when they call you and say you're perfectly healthy lol).
Here comes the best part... So we're on this mega high from having our first GREAT ultrasound and the IVF coordinator comes in with our next step in the process. Now we were both under the impression that the shots began November 4th, AND that they were injectables like my eppi pen. We couldn't have been more wrong (this is another great example why you should never believe what you read on the internet). So the IVF coordinator comes in with this syringe and this little tiny glass bottle or fluid and she starts showing my husband how to fill it up and where he will be injecting me. And I think time stopped for a whole 45 seconds and then the blood left my head so fast I thought we were both gonna pass out. She made it looks so simple. "Oh it's so easy, the Lupron should come in the mail by next Tuesday and you will need to start the injections on Thursday morning. It's so easy!" the nurse kept on saying how easy it was and even she could do it but I mean come on, you're a nurse of COURSE you can! This doesn't come second nature to us non-nurses here. Especially my husband, who expressed great concern months ago when we began entertaining the idea of in-vitro.
It is something we're gonna have to get used to though. Once the Lupron shots end, we start shots of the fertility drug. If all goes well and babies magically appear in my uterus at the end of all this, I will need to go on Heparin shots for my first whole trimester, so basically shots start next Thursday and (fingers crossed) end sometime in February!
Still praying, but mostly saying thank you to God this month. Our biggest fear was that SOMETHING was gonna happen and they were gonna tell us we had to postpone it another month but nothing like that came up. Kinda sorta starting to get excited now. Just kinda, though.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Oooh, where to begin.
I stopped writing after last month because I was upset. I thought writing a blog would be an easy way to get my feelings out but in fact it's a lot harder to do than I thought. The clomid didn't work the first time around and my husband and I sort of gave up hopes of ever getting pregnant. We didn't give up trying, we just both sort of came to the conclusion at the end of July that we didn't really believe it was ever going to happen. I've said it before because we've been feeling this way for a while but now we're getting scared that that's the ultimate truth. Despite what the doctor says about us being young and healthy and what high chances we have. So we gave up for about a week. After that, we pulled ourselves together and snapped back to reality and decided to keep on going. It's been very hard for us and that's partly why I've been so quiet on here lately but a lot has gone on and I thought I'd write in with an update because the next few months I think there are going to be A LOT of updates.
Well this month, September, we were supposed to be starting the fertility shots. We did one round of clomid in July and the next step was the fertility shots. By the way I went to the doctor this morning for a routine ultrasound and my ovarian cyst from the clomid is gone, as is the random fluid in my uterus that he kept seeing during every other ultrasound. I am in tip top uterine condition for the first time in about 6 months or more.
Now, before I go any further let me explain about our insurance. We have great medical insurance because my husband works for Verizon and even though they are still negotiating their new contracts (they were on strike for 2 weeks over this!!), the medical covers just about everything including infertility specialists. The problem, however, is that it only gives us a certain amount of money towards this. Forever. Once that money is gone, we're done with the fertility treatments. then we just try on our own from then on. Ok back to where I was.. We had a meeting with the doctor to discuss the next step, that being fertility shots, and he said he would see us in a month when it was time to begin.
Well last week I went by myself for a meeting with the doctor. Now that the strike is over I have to attend these meeting and make all the big decisions by myself since my hubby is working overtime! Well we started to talk about the shots and what that would entail. He explained the whole thing to me and I kept asking him what was the difference between the shots and clomid. I still think they are virtually the same thing except one is a weak series of pills and one is a strong series of shots. They both work on the same principal: use them, pee on ovulation sticks, get inseminated or have sex on the right day and maybe, possibly get pregnant that month. Then he offered me a third option.
He pulled up my insurance info and we started chatting about how much was left before we capped out and how much everything would cost and how many rounds of this or that we could do. We weighed together our chances and mixed it with costs and he then suggested in vitro fertilization and he said that it was covered by our insurance and we could do it for 2 rounds before capping out at our coverage limit. He told me everything there was to know about it and exactly how to process worked and how long it would take. He offered us this option the last time we saw him but we turned it down because we didn't think our insurance would cover it. Now that we know it does, I made the decision to jump on the chance. The whole process takes about 3 months so the actual fertilization part won't be taking place until mid-late November, but we are looking forward to it and I will try my hardest to keep blogging during all steps. I haven't stopped praying, no matter how hard it has been or how hopeless it seems. Talk to you all soon. Step one is calling the IVF specialist when I get AF this month.. Looking forward to that phone call! :)
Well this month, September, we were supposed to be starting the fertility shots. We did one round of clomid in July and the next step was the fertility shots. By the way I went to the doctor this morning for a routine ultrasound and my ovarian cyst from the clomid is gone, as is the random fluid in my uterus that he kept seeing during every other ultrasound. I am in tip top uterine condition for the first time in about 6 months or more.
Now, before I go any further let me explain about our insurance. We have great medical insurance because my husband works for Verizon and even though they are still negotiating their new contracts (they were on strike for 2 weeks over this!!), the medical covers just about everything including infertility specialists. The problem, however, is that it only gives us a certain amount of money towards this. Forever. Once that money is gone, we're done with the fertility treatments. then we just try on our own from then on. Ok back to where I was.. We had a meeting with the doctor to discuss the next step, that being fertility shots, and he said he would see us in a month when it was time to begin.
Well last week I went by myself for a meeting with the doctor. Now that the strike is over I have to attend these meeting and make all the big decisions by myself since my hubby is working overtime! Well we started to talk about the shots and what that would entail. He explained the whole thing to me and I kept asking him what was the difference between the shots and clomid. I still think they are virtually the same thing except one is a weak series of pills and one is a strong series of shots. They both work on the same principal: use them, pee on ovulation sticks, get inseminated or have sex on the right day and maybe, possibly get pregnant that month. Then he offered me a third option.
He pulled up my insurance info and we started chatting about how much was left before we capped out and how much everything would cost and how many rounds of this or that we could do. We weighed together our chances and mixed it with costs and he then suggested in vitro fertilization and he said that it was covered by our insurance and we could do it for 2 rounds before capping out at our coverage limit. He told me everything there was to know about it and exactly how to process worked and how long it would take. He offered us this option the last time we saw him but we turned it down because we didn't think our insurance would cover it. Now that we know it does, I made the decision to jump on the chance. The whole process takes about 3 months so the actual fertilization part won't be taking place until mid-late November, but we are looking forward to it and I will try my hardest to keep blogging during all steps. I haven't stopped praying, no matter how hard it has been or how hopeless it seems. Talk to you all soon. Step one is calling the IVF specialist when I get AF this month.. Looking forward to that phone call! :)
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