Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a serious needle phobia. Crying and getting dizzy when we even talk about a needle touching me kind of phobia. So when Dr. M told us back in June that the IUI would be partnered with injections, I was not thrilled. I did my research though and had a few months to accept the subcutaneous stomach injections that would be coming along. Until Saturday this is...
We were in the exam room having just completed the terrible uterine sounding, when the medical assistant told me that she might as well teach Mr D. how to do my Menopur injections while my pants were done... excuse me? She tells me to roll over onto my tummy.
Butt injections. Intramuscular. 1 1/2" needle. NO THANK YOU! She had Mr D. practice with a saline injection, he did a fabulous job. It hurt like hell. After a blood draw and a meeting in Dr. M's office, we were on our way home, armed with a prescription for a whole lot of needles and even more anxiety.
Sunday morning I cried through the whole process. My poor sweet hubby had to jab a giant needle in my butt while I cried uncontrollably. He is such an amazing man. He comforted me and rubbed my bum until I stopped crying. He told me how brave I was and how much he loved me. And just like that, I became a human pincushion.
We continued with 150 unites of Menopur in the AM and 75 units in the PM along with Lupron injections. The Lupron is a small diabetic needle in my stomach. The needle is tiny and doesn't hurt a bit. I take .20 in the AM and .20 again in the PM.
It's been over a week now. The Menopur injections still hurt a little, but not nearly as much as those darn Lupron injections! We are trying to get creative with where to inject them in my abdominal area, because the space around my belly button hurts SO badly at this point.
Friday evening I had an ultrasound and blood work done (did I forget to mention the blood work Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday?) They are monitoring my estradiol levels closely because they help indicate the number and maturity of the follicles. The ultrasound shows lots of follicles that are somewhat large but we are hoping they will get larger. In order to push along the follicles, we started injecting Gonal-F.
Gonal-F comes in a pen pre-loaded with the medication. You set the dial on the pen, confirm the dose and inject it in the tummy. These ones are my favorite so far. They don't hurt a bit, the needle is so tiny that I literally can't feel it go in. Can't they all be this easy?
Yesterday's blood work came back good, so we are off the see Dr. M again today for ultrasound and blood work again. Think big, healthy follicles! Only 3 more injection days before egg retrieval!!!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
A Change of Plans and Ouchie!
I got my period last week and had to spend Friday at home with a heating pad, thanks endometriosis. I promptly called Dr. M and made my appointment to learn how to do my shots and talk about how the IUI process would work. My appointment was scheduled for Saturday morning.
I had Matt come with me because he would be the one giving me the injections in my stomach. We showed up and I went back so that I could change for the ultrasound. Dr. M came in a little (okay a lot) late and asked me if I had ever had an internal ultrasound before. I told him I was used to them because of my cysts, so we got started. The good news was that the left ovary that had been so beat up in surgery earlier this year was looking good and healthy. The bad news was the the right ovary is now covered in cysts.
Dr. M decided that we needed to do whats called a uterine sounding in order to measure the depth and angle of my uterus to prepare for IVF, yeah, that's right... IVF!
Little did I know that this uterine sounding business was not going to be a walk in the park. He inserted a speculum and then the medical assistant told Matt that he would probably want to hold my hand. They cleaned my cervix with iodine and then clamped my cervix in order to insert the measuring tool. That part hurt, bad. The medical assistant told me that this pain would help prepare me for labor! OUCH! The pain didn't last too long and the cramping went away about 10 minutes after the procedure was done.
They taught Matt how to give me the Menopur injections, which are actually intramuscular and in my butt. I'm not going to lie, the needle is REALLY big and does not feel good. We went into Dr. M's office and talked for an hour or so about our options and why IVF is the best bet. We should have a 50% chance of success with this method and are pretty excited. Dr. M took my blood and showed us how to do the Lupron injections in my stomach.
We went home overwhelmed, scared and excited (and feeling a little bit like a pin cushion already).
More to come on the adventure that has been this week, details on injections and how I'm feeling so far!
I had Matt come with me because he would be the one giving me the injections in my stomach. We showed up and I went back so that I could change for the ultrasound. Dr. M came in a little (okay a lot) late and asked me if I had ever had an internal ultrasound before. I told him I was used to them because of my cysts, so we got started. The good news was that the left ovary that had been so beat up in surgery earlier this year was looking good and healthy. The bad news was the the right ovary is now covered in cysts.
Dr. M decided that we needed to do whats called a uterine sounding in order to measure the depth and angle of my uterus to prepare for IVF, yeah, that's right... IVF!
Little did I know that this uterine sounding business was not going to be a walk in the park. He inserted a speculum and then the medical assistant told Matt that he would probably want to hold my hand. They cleaned my cervix with iodine and then clamped my cervix in order to insert the measuring tool. That part hurt, bad. The medical assistant told me that this pain would help prepare me for labor! OUCH! The pain didn't last too long and the cramping went away about 10 minutes after the procedure was done.
They taught Matt how to give me the Menopur injections, which are actually intramuscular and in my butt. I'm not going to lie, the needle is REALLY big and does not feel good. We went into Dr. M's office and talked for an hour or so about our options and why IVF is the best bet. We should have a 50% chance of success with this method and are pretty excited. Dr. M took my blood and showed us how to do the Lupron injections in my stomach.
We went home overwhelmed, scared and excited (and feeling a little bit like a pin cushion already).
More to come on the adventure that has been this week, details on injections and how I'm feeling so far!
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