Alright, guys!
Sorry my blog update was a little delayed,
but I decided I wanted to wait until I started experiencing the side effects of the injections
to make things a little more interesting.
:)
So my first injection was given to me at my appointment by the nurse,
and I had my poker face on - so it went fine.
I've been meaning to take a video of how we mix the meds into the syringe.
it's pretty neat.
Don't worry, I'll get that video and put it up here within the next few days.
My first injection at home, however, was a different story.
Poor Colin, haha!
I cried, I admit it... and I did that panicking thing where I grabbed his wrist and wouldn't let go.
We sat there for like five minutes before I would let him do it.
When I finally calmed down, he was able to pinch some fat and
insert the needle into my tummy
(subcutaneous is the official term for this type of shot)
The needle itself doesn't even feel like anything going in,
it's the Bravelle and Menopur mix that bites a little going in.
Honestly, though, that's it.
Colin is SO great at it, I don't know what I'd do without him.
He's so patient and he's never tried to do it until I'm ready,
which is really comforting.
I love my husband, with or without the crazy hormones raging through my body right now. ;)
My husband is the best.
(who woulda thought a man holding a needle in front of you could be so hott??)
Anyway, my first appointment last Monday consisted of an ultrasound and a blood draw -- in addition to the injection training, which only took about ten minutes.
That appointment went well, ultrasounds are pretty simple and I don't really sweat those anymore.
and...
the same with the blood draws!!
That one's a pretty big deal for me.
You may think I'm weird for being so proud of myself for that,
but really - coming from someone who consistently passes out giving blood
that's a pretty big step.
The only thing that sucks about the blood draws is my poor arms get SO bruised!
The tech told me that it's because I'm taking the low dose (baby) aspirin,
which is kind of a blood thinner, so I will bruise more easily.
No bruising on my tummy, though, because Dr. Hubbs has taken such good care of me! ;)
After my Monday appointment, I was instructed to administer the
Bravelle/Menopur injections every morning around the same time.
Simple enough, and we got used to the routine pretty quickly.
My next appointment was on Friday,
which was another ultrasound and blood draw.
They look at each ultrasound to measure how my follicles are doing,
and as of today they are progressing really nicely!
I actually was told I didn't need to keep my Saturday appointment,
and then I had my fun Easter appointment (totally sarcastic).
I can't remember the exact moment when it started happening,
but I'm assuming it must've been Saturday
because my Friday appointment was super easy.
But I started feeling my follicles growing,
or something like that, I don't know.
It's really hard to explain the feeling, but it is NOT pleasant.
My ovaries feel really heavy, and if I sit wrong or walk too quickly I start feeling a lot of heavy pressure.
I wouldn't call it painful, necessarily, but it's just really uncomfortable.
I also swelled up like a freaking balloon.
I've never felt more bloated in my life.
But I need to get used to it, I guess.
:(
So on Easter, the ultrasound took probably two to three times as long
because they were measuring each individual follicle in each ovary.
I'm not gonna lie, I cried.
It was the first time that an ultrasound had been genuinely painful,
and it felt like it lasted forever!
They did count 41 follicles total, though, which is an awesome number!
They also informed me (very casually, I might add) that because my uterus is tilted back towards my tail bone, my pregnancies are going to give me "extreme lower back pain".
Which makes me TOTALLY excited...
(okay, that was sarcastic, but I'd take an uncomfortable pregnancy over infertility any day of the week)
After the blood draw
(which they do each appointment to check my progesterone levels, by the way)
the nurse came back in and informed me that the Dr. would like me to start the daily Ganirelex injections now and increase my Menopur by 1 vial.
(so when I finally post the video, you'll see I mix a sterile water with 2 vials of Bravelle and 2 of Menopur)
So the Bravelle/Menopur help in the development of the follicles,
and the Ganirelex basically stops me from ovulating.
She then showed me the measurements of my follicles,
the biggest one I had was in my right ovary at 14.8 mm!
They told me that my right ovary had larger follicles than the left,
the biggest one on the left was 11 or 12,
but the measurements were good enough to where the Ganirelex was needed.
So now I get to take two injections a day. Lovely.
The Ganirelex kind of scares me, too,
because each injection HAS to be within 24 hours of each other.
You can't even go a minute past 24 hours,
or else you risk ovulating and losing all of those pretty follicles you've worked so hard to develop.
:(
So I took my first Ganirelex last night
(we decided to do this one in the evenings)
and it was awesome!
The needle is the same size as my other syringe,
the medication is ALREADY mixed and ready to go,
and there is absolutely no sting to it!
I didn't even feel anything, which was SUCH a big relief!
Anyway,
I got to skip my appointment today
(the appointments are very tentative at this point).
But I'll be there again tomorrow for another ultrasound/blood draw.
As of right now, things are looking good enough to where my egg extraction surgery will probably be on Friday or Saturday.
Maybe even Thursday, but I kind of doubt it.
Five days after that, our little embryo(s) will be ready to transfer!
It's kind of freaky to think about,
and I was a lot more nervous about it this time last week,
but I'm not as much anymore.
I've been waiting so long for this to happen,
and I've been really good about doing what I'm supposed to do with all this,
and honestly the only emotion I'm having now is eagerness.
Let's get this show on the road, people!
Haha, but really, it's finally here! :)
I may post another update between now and the surgery if anything changes.
If not, I'll try to get a detailed account of how the surgery goes.
I'm going to be completely anesthetized, but I'm sure they'll fill me in. :)
Again, feel free to message me with any questions!
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