Yesterday our meds arrived! We were also able to go and pick up all of our over the counter items that we needed and our prescriptions that we can get at local pharmacies. It was so overwhelming seeing such a big box of medicines! The cost of our meds so far have been just over $3,000. It was nice being able to pay cash though! I gathered everything together to get a picture of all the meds and items needed for IVF. It was crazy to think that all of these meds will be going in me (and a few in Taylor, but only pills, no shots). I had to remind myself once again to just take it all one day at a time.
Things seem to be moving along with our house. We are hoping it keeps going well and fast so that we can move as soon as possible. It would be nice to be moved before we start all these meds. We have our whole house packed except the things we still need to use. We could move tomorrow. I wish everything could go through that fast!
August 25, 2016
We were able to move into our house on Saturday and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. We have really wanted to get into the house before all the shots for IVF start. We had a lot of family and friends help us move and it was so appreciated! Taylor and I both started Z-Packs on Monday. It is pills that you take for 5 days to get rid of any bacteria you may have in your system. It is just precaution to make sure we have the best chances possible for success. Tomorrow morning I do my first shot! It is crazy that it is here!
August 26, 2016
Yesterday Sara and Kyla came over to help me clean my house some more! They were life savers! I have really wanted to get as much with the house done as possible before starting shots since I don't know how they will effect me. We were able to get a lot done and I couldn't have done it without their help!
When Sara came over she brought me this cute basket since I am starting shots. It is to keep me entertained during my down times during IVF, and during the two week wait. It was so fun to get! Some of the things included were treats, a coloring book, lucky socks (it is a well known infertility tradition that you wear lucky socks to your egg retrieval and transfer), a few funny movies (I looked up a bunch of things people claim will help IVF work better and one of them was to laugh a lot during the two week wait), activity book, etc.
This morning I had to get up at 7am. That is when I will be doing shots every morning. I will get up at 7am and prep the shots, and inject at 7:15am. It has to be done at the same time every morning, no matter if it is a weekend or a weekday. Taylor was very supportive of this first shot. He came down to the kitchen where we have our "IVF Station" set up, and was there in case I needed help. I only had to do one shot today. The shot I did today was 10 units of Lupron. Lupron basically shuts down my reproductive hormone system. I will do just these shots every morning for about 2 weeks. After 2 weeks I will then add hormone shots to the regimen to start growing follicles, while still taking Lupron, so I don't prematurely ovulate.
The hardest part of doing the shot was actually jabbing the needle into my stomach (all shots will go in my stomach). It didn't hurt once I actually did it, but just the thought of jabbing something into your stomach makes it hard. After I did the shot I got a red rash where the shot was and got a small bump that was a bit itchy. All of this is normal for this shot. One shot down, with at least 50 more to go!
August 28, 2016
Today was the 3rd day of Lupron shots. I am getting more used to stabbing the needle into my stomach which is the hardest part. However, the bouts of nausea and headaches have started. It has been nice that it has started in over a weekend so I am able to see how I can best deal with it before going back to work. I have been finding little tricks to deal with the nausea that I am having. I eat very small amounts a little more often throughout the day and I have sprite on hand to sip on as well when I need it. I have also been using peppermint oil for both nausea and headaches. Hopefully things keep going relatively well with the shots.
September 2, 2016
Yesterday was an exciting day. When I realized that it was the first of September, I told Taylor that it's finally baby month because we have a chance of being pregnant THIS month! We won't technically know if we are pregnant until the first part of October, if everything goes as planned, but we would still be pregnant this month. It is really exciting to think about. We have gone from years, to months, to weeks of waiting!
Today was my 8th day of shots. There have been a few days that I haven't had any side effects at all, and other days I have a lot of side effects. The side effects I have had are nausea, headaches, and acne. I just have to take it all day by day. Next Thursday, September 8th, I have my baseline ultrasound, blood work, and we also have to turn in all our consent forms and make our final payment for the process. If everything looks good on the ultrasound and blood work, I will start my stimulation shots (the ones that make as many follicles as possible grow) next Friday, September 9th!
September 9, 2016
Yesterday I had my baseline ultrasound and blood work done. The appointment was at 8:30am which was nice so I didn't have to think about it all day. The ultrasound was first and they said my lining looked perfect. They checked for antral follicles and counted them on each ovary. There were 10 on the right side and 12 on the left. These are follicles that they are hoping to stimulate to grow. All of them may not grow and there may be others hiding, but it was a good estimate. They like to see 5 or more on each side. I also didn't have any cysts or anything so the ultrasound looked good from what the nurse could tell. I then went and had to have my blood drawn. It was fast and painless. I then turned in all of our consent forms and went to make our payment for the cycle.
We had all the money saved in an HSA account, however, when they ran the card I forgot I hadn't told the doctor's office that our address changed. They ran the card and it was rejected. They changed the address and it was rejected again. I called the card company and after the card was ran the first time a hold was placed on the funds in our account, so when they ran it a second time it rejected because we didn't have double the amount in our account. It was really frustrating to run into that when we were dealing with so much money. I was panicking a bit because we were supposed to make the payment that day to continue our cycle. However, the office was understanding with it and said we could wait a few days to pay until the funds were cleared since they knew we had the money. Luckily it looks like the hold was removed this morning and the payment was sent through, so we should be good to go! That was quite stressful for a bit there!
A few hours after the appointment I got a call back from the doctors office saying that the blood work results had come back and Dr. Foulk had reviewed them. He said everything looked good on both and he was giving us the green light to start stim shots!
This morning when I woke up to do shots, I had to do 3 instead of just 1. I still had to do the Lupron, but I have also added Menopur and Gonal-F now. These medications are to stimulate my ovaries to produce as many follicles as possible. The hope is that each follicle will have a mature egg. I have heard that the Menopur stings so I decided to do that first. I drew up all three shots at the same time, but then injected the Menopur first. It stung a bit, but nothing like I was expecting. There is a lot more to inject though compared to the Lupron. I then did the Gonal-F. This one also has a lot more to inject than the Lupron. However, when I went to give myself the shot I couldn't get the needle to puncture my skin. It was a dull needle. I had to push really hard to get it to puncture the skin to administer the injection. That was not fun. I then did the Lupron which wasn't bad because I am so used to it now. I have been pretty nauseous and tired today. I also have had a small headache on and off. It is so exciting that we are moving on with this next step in this process!
(From left to right: Lupron, Menopur, Gonal-F)
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