OVARIAN STIMULATION PHASE
11/27/16- Continue taking Lupron; remain on dosage 0.1 ml (10 units) injections once daily. Start taking daily dexamethasone at bedtime. Begin your evening (between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.) fertility drug (Gonal-F and Menopur) injections following the treatment schedule provided. You will need to be available by phone or email between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. each day that you have a blood test and ultrasound performed. Your medication instructions and your next appointment date will be given at that time. You will probably require about 10 days of ovarian stimulation (fertility) drugs.
The part that scared me most about this step was all the injections involved. Not only were there injections involved, but I would have to actually do the injecting part! Yikes! I felt as though people should have some sort of medical degree in order to stab people with needles. I definitely didn't feel qualified!
A nurse explained how to prepare and administer the injections at our previous appointment. She did a pretty good job and I took a lot of notes, but I was still overwhelmed with all that was involved. Thank goodness Adam was there to be a second set of ears. He helped prepare the injections and offer moral support for each round of injections. I ended up giving myself 3 different shots each evening. I had the option of combining the Lupron with another injection, but all the mixing and switching of needles was just too much for me to handle. Besides, the Lupron injections turned out to be pretty painless and straightforward.
The other two injections were more complicated. The Gonal F required mixing different vials together and doing math to make sure I drew up the correct dosage. Then any leftover Gonal F needed to be refrigerated. It got easier as the days continued, but that first evening was pretty stressful. Preparing the shot was harder than injecting it. The actual injection was very similar to the Lupron. A small needle was used and I stuck it into my belly fat, so it didn't hurt.
The Menopur was a different story. It also had to be mixed and prepared before I could inject it. And it burned when you injected it. Again, a small needle was used and it was injected into my belly fat, but the actual liquid burned as it went in. It wasn't as bad as I anticipated it being after the nurse warned me about it, but it certainly wasn't pleasant. The good thing was that the burning didn't last very long. Just a few seconds.
Along with the injections, I also started taking dexamethasone, which is just a pill you swallow. The purpose of the Gonal F and Menopur was to stimulate my ovaries. Each month, women typically grow one follicle which has the possibility of producing one egg. The goal of ovarian stimulation is to make your ovaries grow as many follicles as possible so lots of eggs can be retrieved.
I didn't seem to have very many side effects from the medications. I did end up having some hot flashes, which seemed to flare up in the mornings when I was blow drying my hair. I would just turn the ceiling fan in our bathroom on full blast and sometimes I even rolled down the windows in my car while I was driving to work. My stomach also got very bloated and full-feeling by the end of this phase, which is to be expected. I definitely was a bit emotional during this time, but I feel like it was more due to the stressful nature of the situation rather than because of the medications.
On a side note, I would recommend not reading all the side effects listed on the medications. When I first got the medications in the mail, I started reading all the different side effects listed. And then I stopped a few lines into the first set of side effects. There were gobs listed and they didn't seem particularly pleasant. From then on I just blindly took whatever I was told to take. I figured I would know if something terrible was happening to me. But thankfully, nothing ever did.
The one thing that helped make all these injections bearable (except for the possibility of a baby, of course) were my shot gifts! My sweet mom gave me a bag full of little gifts. She told me I could unwrap a gift each day I finished giving myself the injections. Is that not the sweetest thing in the world?! The gifts were things like band-aids, lip balm, lotion, candy, socks, etc. If you know anyone getting ready to embark on this IVF adventure, I highly recommend getting them a bag of little gifts. It definitely gave me something to look forward to! Thanks, Mom!
Once I started the ovarian stimulation phase, I went into my fertility clinic every few days to have my blood drawn and do an ultrasound. The point of those were to see how I was responding to the medications. I'll save information about those for the next post since this one is getting a bit wordy!
As someone who is deathly afraid of needles, this was a difficult time for me. But I surprised myself (and those who know me well) by doing okay with all the needles. You actually get kind of used to it all and it really wasn't all that bad.
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