The First Day of Injections - IVF

Brad and I met with Dr. Norion yesterday morning. I had my blood drawn (piece of cake) and then had an ultra sound. The ultra sounds are uncomfortable, but the information that Dr. Norion gets from them is well worth the discomfort. Since stopping my birth control last Sunday (I took it for eleven days), I currently have many bunches of follicles growing on both of my ovaries, which is due to my PCOS. In theory, more follicles means more eggs retrieved, so I'm okay with that. Actually, since being diagnosed with PCOS, I haven't found too many down falls about it (excluding the not getting pregnant naturally part of it). I don't struggle with the most common side effects of PCOS, which are irregular ovulation, irregular periods, and being overweight, so that's good. I do have mild acne, but if you read my last post about that (A New Way of Thinking About the Word "Perfect"), I'm not suffering from the mental impact of it any longer. I'm not letting it bother me. So really, the only "negative" effect of PCOS for me is more follicles on each ovary, which seems like kind of a good thing when undergoing IVF. The more eggs removed, the better. Based on the ultra sound, Dr. Norion said everything looks good and is right on schedule. He decreased one of my medications, which is better than increasing them. I go back in again on Monday. If all looks good then, I'll go back in again on Wednesday and Friday. I'll find out on Friday when my egg retrieval will be.

After reading my last post, one of my really good friends suggested that I ask my doctor if I could use Quest Diagnostics to have my blood work done on Wednesday (the day of the field trip). Since there's  a Quest Diagnostics in the city I live in, and since they open really early, I'd be able to make it to the field trip on time. She's a smarty for sure! Dr. Norion said he'd allow that for Wednesday. HRC has the ability to draw blood there, so they normally don't use Quest Diagnostics, but they can if needed. Yay! And I don't have to pay an additional charge, either (double yay!). If Wednesday is the day that I do need to go in, I'll go to Quest to have my blood drawn in the morning, then go to school, and then go to HRC in the afternoon for the ultra sound with Dr. Norion. That should work beautifully! My mom suggested that I make an appointment with Quest (another smarty), so I could get in and out fast. I won't get my lab slip from HRC for Quest until Monday, so I'll make the appointment then. One of the perks of sharing my story with people is that I get wonderful advice and suggestions!

After meeting with Dr. Norion, Brad and I signed a ton of legal paperwork. Our nurse said that one of her other patients compared the paperwork to purchasing a home. I would have to agree. We were actually given the paperwork at our last appointment, so we had time to look over everything. We couldn't actually sign anything until we came back to HRC because we needed a witness and a notary. The paperwork gave Brad and I a ton to discuss. Since we are freezing any extra embryo that we don't use, and they'll already be fertilized by Brad's sperm, we had to answer questions about what we would do with the embryo if one of us died or if we got a divorce. We had to choose between destroying the embryo, donating the embryo to someone going through IVF, or donating the embryo to research (they'd be destroyed after the research). Heavy stuff. Brad and I were on the same page about our decisions, so the process was smooth. Honestly, whenever I thought about people freezing their embryo, I thought they did it before being fertilized. If that was the case, the woman would own the embryo, so in the case of divorce or the death of the husband, there wouldn't really be a tie to the male, since the embryo hadn't touched the sperm. But IVF is different.

Once the paperwork was all done, our nurse brought out the needles and training kit for how to administer the injections. There was even a fake little ball that was used to represent the part of stomach that would be injected. Our nurse went over a ton of information. Everything was foreign to me. Brad had already planned on administering my injections, so he took really good notes. He's more of the note taker in our marriage anyway. I thought I only was going to be given one injection per night, but it is actually two and then three starting next Wednesday. That surprised me. Our nurse told us to pick a two hour window that was the same every day for administering the injections. We chose between 5:45-7:45 p.m. (no one call us during that time, okay? Just kidding!). When our nurse was mixing the saline and the Menopur, I saw a large needle. I asked if that was the same needle that would be used for the actual injection, and she said no. Thank goodness! A large needle is used to take out saline from a vile, and then to put the saline into the vile of Menopur. Once the Menopur is all mixed, the needle is changed out to a much smaller one. Our nurse showed me a picture of different places I could get the injection, but she said that the legs should be my last choice. I asked if I could ice the area and she said I should for about five minutes. She also said to pinch the skin together, inject the needle, and then let go of the skin before injecting the medication. I also asked if it was okay to let the Menopur rest for about 15 minutes before injecting it. I read on someone's blog that Menopur burns and that letting it rest for a bit took off some of the edge. She said that was okay to try. Oh, she also recommended to let a drop of the Menopur come out of the needle before injecting it. Something about how that first drop seemed to sting the most. Honestly, I heard and saw  everything, but wasn't really processing it as much as I had thought I was (which I found out later that evening when it was time for the injections). I'm so very grateful that Brad took such good notes and was paying attention to everything!

To end the appointment, Brad and I got to pay for IVF. We were expecting the amount (it was given to us at our consultation appointment and by a friend of mine who had gone through IVF), but it was still pretty crazy. We purchased a small car yesterday ;) The cost included the IVF, freezing the extra embryo for a year, ICSI (they're going to hand pick the best sperm and inject it into the embryo that pass the genetic testing), genetic testing, ultra sounds, blood work, and some other things. Paying for everything made it all seem real. I think the paying part is all done for now. We bought all the medication already and then we paid HRC yesterday, so I guess I can keep my purse at home from now on ;)

Follistim Pen all set to inject

Fast forward to last night at around 5 p.m. I started feeling a little anxious about actually getting my first injections. I didn't know what to expect. Would Brad have to use a lot of force to get the needles to go in? Would the needles go in all the way? How long would I feel the medication that was injected for? Would I bruise (I forgot to mention that my nurse said we should switch up injection sites and avoid areas that are bruised and tender) after the first two injections? Once 5:45 p.m. came around, Brad and I went into the kitchen and started unpacking all the goods. Brad organized everything while I helped out when needed. Yep! He's wonderful. There were a ton of needles because we never use the same one again, even for mixing. Brad mixed the Menopur first. Thank goodness he was paying attention about how to put the needles on and do all the other small but very important details. If it had just been me, I don't think I could have figured it out. It was all a bit intimidating. Brad put the saline into the Menopur, swirled it around, and then let it sit.  I iced my stomach while he was mixing. As the Menopur sat resting, Brad put together the Follistim. I remember our nurse saying that was easier than the Menopur, but it still seem complicated to me. At HRC, I thought I had the whole injection thing down, but at home, I was lost and confused! Now I know how my students feel!

Injecting saline into Menopur

Anyway, when Brad was ready setting up the Follistim, he came at me with the needle. He grabbed some of my stomach skin and...I kind of freaked out and pulled away from him. I wasn't ready yet. We decided that me standing up for the injection would be good (I'm going to lie down for the injections tonight though). After a couple minutes, I was as ready as I would be. I looked away and Brad injected the Follistim. I didn't feel the needle going in, but I did feel the medication going in. It wasn't bad, I just felt it. After realizing I could handle it (I knew I could ;)), I was ready for the Menopur. Oh, the only thing we forgot to do before taking the Follistim was wiping my stomach with an alcohol swab. I think that is pretty good for our first time. Brad injected me with the Menopur. I felt that. It felt like Brad was moving the needle around going from side to side. I asked him if he was doing that, and he said the needle was perfectly still. Just as I was about to say, okay, we need to take the needle out, it was done. After the needle was out, I felt uncomfortable. I sat down on the couch for about five minutes while Brad cleaned everything up. I though the injections would be like shots where it burns when the medication is being injected, but then stops burning after the shot is done. Wrong. I felt it for about five minutes. And then, it was gone. I had made it. We had made it.

Later on that night, I asked Brad if he had enjoyed poking me. He said he didn't. I asked him what he had thought about it, and he said he thought it was cool. Ha! Well I'll take cool over dislike any day. 

Today, I have felt sore all day. I didn't want to put my jeans on for work because I didn't want any pressure on my stomach where the injections had been administered. I feel like I did an ab workout yesterday, and I am definitely babying my stomach. I normally let Betty Boo jump up on me (don't judge) when I get home, but not today. I have been working on visualizing my stomach healing. I don't see any bruises. Honestly, it's a little scary thinking about having seven more nights of injections, and doing them on an already sore stomach. I know I'll be okay. I know I'm strong, but those scared thoughts have snuck their way in. I can't help but think about all the women that have done IVF before, many of them having done it multiple times, and about how strong they had to be both mentally and physically. IVF is no walk in the park, but I am so grateful for its existence!

I got a picture this time (just before injection)

My stomach before any injections