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Posts Tagged ‘IVF Shots’

IVF Shots Day 13 – Stim Day 4

Monday, July 27th, 2009

BLAHHHHHHHHH. Yesterday sucked. (So far today’s not much better.) I was such a crab all day yesterday I was even getting on my own nerves. It didn’t help that the lasagna I’d spent all afternoon making ended up burned. I mean, underneath the rock-hard crunch layer was a pretty good lasagna. I was fuming I was so mad!!

We did have my mom over for dinner, and I served her the burned lasagna, and she pretended to like it so much she took some home. (Is that what moms do? Eat their kids’ burned lasagnas?) It was nice to have her over for a little bit. Maybe she was having an off day too because we just bitched and complained for an hour about this, that and the other. Shelton went downstairs and returned about half an hour later and said “God! Are you guys still bitching?” Yes, Shelton we were. And if you knew what was best, you’d go right back downstairs and stop asking questions.

Last night we started the Menopur. This one has been causing me anxiety because it’s like… chemistry lab or something! We have these powders and sodium chloride and it all has to be mixed and injected into this needle and then into that needle. Certainly more complicated than what we’ve been dealing with, but totally manageable. We’re scheduled to do that through Wednesday, but then I believe we’ll start penciling in our doses each day after that.

This. Headache. Will. Not. Go. Away. EVER!! Where are we, like day 7…8…9? I can’t keep track. All I know is that it’s like an inconvenient zit that not only won’t go away, but keeps getting bigger and more conspicuous all the time. I’ve simply stopped taking anything for it. Nothing works. I’m not a big “take medicine” person anyway, and considering all the stuff I’m on right now, if it’s not alleviating the problem then I’m just not going to worry about it.

I had a mini meltdown last night. Much like the others, out of the clear blue sky, completely unprovoked. I just start crying. Told Shelton I’m tired of doing this. I mean, really? I’ve had final exams that were worse than this has been. If you’d tried to tell me that last night, I’d have probably scratched out your eyes. It seemed completely rational at the time. This morning I’m thinking, what a drama queen! It could have also been that I was so tired all day long and, guess what, I didn’t REST or take a NAP or just CHILL OUT! Instead, I worked all day. I put in a full work day yesterday… working right up until bed time at 11pm. Shelton was a little peeved about that, reminding me that I need to rest.

So here we are, Monday morning and we’re starting our third week of shots. Here’s to hoping everything continues to trend toward the positive.

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Tags: IVF, IVF Shots, menopur shots
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IVF Shots Day 12 – Stim Day 3

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

Yesterday, I’m not going to lie, was pretty good. My nagging headache still nagged, but stayed in the background. I managed to get in a little extra sleep, but no naps. I didn’t really leave time for naps though. As I’ve mentioned before I’m a total busy body and I kept myself pretty active yesterday.

Shelton failed to turn off his alarm for the weekend, so yesterday morning at 6:45 the alarm sounded. He hit snooze three times until I finally snapped “TURN IT OFF!” We drifted back to sleep about 7:15. At 8:30 I woke up in a panic thinking I’d missed my Lupron shot. With 30 minutes to spare I tapped Shelton and told him we needed to “juice.” He’s such a doll. I stayed in bed, which is now our regular routine, and he prepped everything for the shot and then stuck me. I immediately went back to sleep and got up at 9:30. Shelton, on the other hand, slept until 10:45. There aren’t a lot of Saturdays that look that way around here and we’ll take them where we can get them.

The rest of the day was busy with house cleaning, grocery shopping and other errands. We made plans to spend the evening with my cousin’s family. We’d decided to meet them at 6pm for dinner at her mom’s house followed by games and shenanigans. After we made the plans I had this OMG moment… my Gonal-F shot had to be done between 7 and 9. For a moment I considered canceling, then knew I’d just be depressed all night that we’d sat around and done nothing because of a shot that takes 15 seconds. So I packed the Gonal-F pen in a cup with some ice, packed my injection supplies in a baggy in my purse, and then at 7:15 did my shot in their bathroom. The whole thing was, of course, no big deal.

We were out until about midnight. Probably not the best move, because I was wide awake when we returned home and ended up sitting awake until 2am.

To summarize this post – IVF wise, yesterday was completely uneventful.

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Tags: gonal-f shots, IVF, IVF Shots, lupron shots
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IVF Shots Day 11 – Stim Day 2

Friday, July 24th, 2009

What is a stim day you might be asking? It’s short for “stimulation” day. We actually started stimulating my ovaries yesterday. Full on sky rocket of the egg production, folks!

Today was like a 5 out of 10, if we’re grading things. I got to sleep in a pinch today and then powered through a full work day. I didn’t change out of my jammies until 6:00pm when Shelton got home, and then only because we needed to go to the grocery store. I’m still just so tired. I keep telling myself to take a nap mid-afternoon, but emails and whatnot tend to take priority. We’re not talking some long afternoon snoozefest, like a 30-45-minute cat nap to just refresh. Alas, it’s the weekend and maybe I’ll stock up on sleeping in and nap times for the next two days.

I think this headache might become a permanent part of who I am. Much like a new freckle or an inconveniently grown hair. I think this headache started on Sunday… I feel like I’ve lost track. The title of this blog should be IVF Shots…. – Stim Day 2 – Headache Day 94. It’s getting to be a bit ridiculous. Advil does not work. Tylenol does not work. I was recommended Excedrin Migraine, but that just makes my teeth chatter uncontrollably and I feel like I’m on a magic carpet ride. I asked the pharmacist tonight what she recommended. When I said I’m currently taking Lupron and Gonal-F she just stared at me blankly as if I were talking to her about something NOT in her area of expertise. Like car repair or modern plumbing.

So I bought ice cream. I love the no-sugar-added Edy’s Slow Churned. The texture is awesome and it tastes fantastic, and I don’t feel as guilty for loading up an oversized coffee cup drizzled, make that doused, in Hershey’s syrup. I also made sloppy janes for dinner (with ground turkey) and guacamole. And a sweet pickle. I told Shelton this was a practice run for bizarre pregnancy cravings.

The Lupron shot was easy this morning and the Gonal-F shot was fine tonight, except that since the injection spot is very sore. A friend asked if I were starting to feel like a pin cushion yet. Maybe a little. Shelton really is doing a great job administering the shots. He’s always takes the best care of me, but lately I’ve noticed him being a little more attentive. I told him last night that I feel like I’m loving him more lately. I’m anxious all day for him to return from work and all I want to do when he gets home is be with him. I was laying in the bed tonight waiting for my Gonal shot, watching him in the bathroom prep the needle, and I just thought how surreal this all is. That we’re actually doing this. That he’s been sticking me with needles for 11 days. Thinking about why we’re doing this. And I’m proud of us. Proud of us for coming as far as we have, for not letting this break us, for remaining positive, for talking about all of it.

It’s very true what they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. We are most certainly that. I’ve heard so many stories about couples whose relationships completely crack, and in some cases shatter, under the weight of infertility and IVF. Our pieces are securely in place. If we get nothing else out of this, I’ll be glad for the stronger relationship we have because of it.

Tags: gonal-f shots, IVF, IVF Shots, lupron shots, marriage
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IVF Shots Day 10 – Stim Day 1

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Shelton and I had a conversation tonight in which we were discussing the next few weeks of our IVF. I said something to the effect of “we’ll be pregnant in a few weeks.” And his response was that it’s really odd to be able to say that. Like “oh, no big deal, on this day we’ll be pregnant.” WHO SAYS THAT?!?! People doing IVF do. Just a reminder of the bizarre little journey we’re on.

This morning I had an appointment at the clinic to do my first sonogram and blood work to check my estrogen levels. I was told if I didn’t get a phone call from “M” then everything looked fine. In other words, no news is good news. We did not get a phone call today! My sonogram took just a minute and the tech/nurse told me that my endometrium layer looked exactly as it should. So we’re progressing the way that we should be. Yay!

Today we had one of those moments that confirmed my reasons for thinking Dr. T is fantastic and how happy I am that we found our way to him. We were not scheduled to see him this morning, yet during our walk from the lab to the waiting room he stopped us to check in. I’ve never had a doctor who just stops to see how you are doing. He asked Shelton about his surgery and how that went, how he’s doing now. He asked me where I was in my shots, how I’ve been feeling, reacting. I told him that I had a few days of hot flashes and that I still feel a little fatigued and have headaches. He said if I’ve done this well with the Lupron then the rest of it should be a breeze.

That was welcome news as tonight we started our Gonal-F. The Gonal-F must be refrigerated; it’s spent the past few weeks in the bottom drawer on top of the “guest” Dr. Pepper. (We don’t drink soda, but don’t mind accommodating those who do.) It’s also a little more complicated than the straight-forward Lupron shots. It’s in a pen, and there are all these instructions to prime it. I re-read the information given to us in our IVF handbook. Then Shelton and I watched the instructional video on our pharmacy’s web site. I primed the pen, and then Shelton must not have thought I did it right because he pulled the little button out and squeezed it again and this long stream of medicine shot out of the needle. I said “i told you so” and then reiterated that the pen cost us $1,000 and that we don’t have any to just go spraying in the kitchen.

This injection went into the right side of my stomach. Considering the left side looks like it has a black eye after this morning’s Lupron shot. He must have hit a blood vessel or something. He drew blood for the first time and this evening I happened to lift up my shirt and noticed the 1” black and purple spot.

I’m very much looking forward to the weekend tomorrow. I’m anxious to SLEEP!!!

Tags: Fertility Clinic, gonal-f shots, IVF, IVF Shots, lupron shots
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IVF Shots Day Nine

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

Wow! Has it seriously been nine days already? This is flying by, I really hadn’t noticed. Today we’ll mark as a good day!

I woke up at 6:30 this morning to tackle some work so that I could take off a few hours this afternoon. My friend and I took her daughter to the zoo and had a great time feeding giraffes, turtles, bunnies and even flirting a bit with a leopard. Mildly sunburned we headed back home where the baby took a nap and I got back to work.

It’s been interesting having them here this week. I think my ovaries are boycotting this whole baby thing now. I’ve watched poop roll out of diapers onto feet UNNOTICED! I’ve listened to screams that would make a dog cry. Heard the word “no” more times than on a high school date. What my ovaries don’t know is that really, it’s all pretty worth it.

Tomorrow we start two-a-days. No, we won’t be practicing football in the sweltering heat, but we will begin doing two shots each day. I’m continuing the Lupron in the mornings for a little while, dropping down to 5iu, and will start the Gonal F in the evenings. I have an ultrasound tomorrow to check-in and see how things are progressing.

Tags: gonal-f shots, IVF, IVF Shots, lupron shots
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IVF Shots Day Eight

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

Yesterday was much better than the past few have been. I’m still maintaining this nagging headache, but free of any nausea or hot flashes. I’m still feeling pretty sluggish, but doing my best to rest when I can.

I also spoke with “M” regarding my spotting and it turns out it’s not spotting it’s the real deal. She said that’s it’s OK as I stopped my birth control over the weekend. This is expected and supposed to happen. So clearly I’ve been confused this entire time thinking I was just supposed to skip it. Maybe this is the last one of these I’ll have for a LONG time!!!

Totally unrelated to IVF, my BFF is in town this week and we snuck out to watch Harry Potter last night. Kind of disappointing – what was such a great story in the book seemed like a pretty dull and boring movie. Reaffirming that I’m glad I read the books.

Tags: IVF, IVF Shots
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