Today is day 1 of my IVF cycle. Which means no more alcohol and the beginning of a whole lot of hormone supplements. I've mentioned to few people that it has been really strange having an actual stop date of when certain things need to cease - like drinking alcohol and caffeine, eating sushi, certain cheeses, deli meet etc. - instead of when you're "trying" to get pregnant and it is somewhat of a surprise end date when you see the "pregnant" lines on the pee stick looking back at you. I did make sure to enjoy a few glasses of our recently purchased wine & freshly kegged sour beer that is now on tap at my house before my clock ran out :) Anyways...
This morning Mike and I met with our IVF nurse and doctor to go over instructions and timelines for the meds I will be taking before, during and after the embryo is transferred and to do a saline infusion ultrasound to make sure my uterus is in perfect condition to begin the process. Injecting saline into the uterus helps them see what is going on in there more clearly and rule out any possible abnormalities. That was a bizarre, but cool, experience watching saline go in on the monitor (since most of the time in these ultrasounds I have NO idea what we are looking at). The doctors blow my mind when they are calling out measurements and what things are where in nanoseconds of looking at the screen! All looks great and so I got cleared to begin the first of my medications this evening.
I knew the medication list was intense on paper, but finally opening the box of everything I got shipped last week was a huge reality check. Which, by the way, the nurse reprimanded me for not opening sooner to be sure I got everything I was suppose to since it could potentially ruin our timeline. Oops. Thank goodness the shipment was correct. I already have an immense amount of respect for women going through the IVF process, especially because they are usually going through an egg retrieval cycle as well with an entirely different and massive medication regiment, but going through all the medications verbally and seeing them all pulled out of the box was daunting to say the least. Luckily, they ease you in.
This is what was in my Box-o-fun. I just need to pick up a bottle of aspirin to add to the collection.
They currently have me taking birth control and prenatal vitamins and as of today I added in an injection of Lupron. That one I get to do myself into my stomach and it really wasn't terrible. I am not one that is afraid of needles but it was still really strange to be holding a syringe and talking myself into doing the injection. But, easy peasy. The scary part is in a few weeks Mike will be having to give me an additional injection with a needle that is an inch longer. I'll let him worry about that though (no pressure Mike!). So this week it's the 3 meds and next week I will add in taking an aspirin a day as well as estrogen 3 times a day. Why aspirin you ask? Well, it is known to promote blood flow to the pelvis and to thicken the lining of the womb, which helps women get pregnant. So if you are trying to get pregnant, may as well talk to your doctor about adding in an aspirin a day with your prenatal!
Thank you magnet white board! Between this and alarms I have set in my phone, I may actually keep on track! I did also order a 3 times a day pill organizer for when I start adding in aspirin and estrogen next week.
I'll be an injection pro in no time!
My next appointment is at the end of the month to do another ultrasound, normal this time, which will determine my baseline and see how the medications are working and when to start me on the next injections to prepare my body for implantation. So I have a little over a week to get some back tracking blogs posted!
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