Another Update

Got a call from the fertility this afternoon after they reviewed my bloodwork and re-reviewed my ultrasound.  My RE decided I should double my Menopur and start the Ganirelix tonight.  That essentially pushes up what was on my initial protocol by about 2 days.  My husband is also supposed to start Doxycycline to prevent any infections in his sample.

First Ultrasound after Starting IVF Meds

Today was my first ultrasound and bloodwork appointment after starting my IVF meds.  I had 6 follicles.  Not sure if that's good or bad (will start Googling & torturing myself on the fertility boards and likely find everything from it's great to it is horrible!).  It also pushed up my protocol by one day. My husband will start taking doxycycline tomorrow instead of on Friday to prevent any possible infections in his sperm.  I will add Ganirelex to my injections tomorrow (to prevent ovulation) and also increase my Menopur to 2 vials (I'm guessing to help the follicles grow).

This morning was the first morning since I started stimming that I woke up without a migraine, so that is a plus! The RE said that the migraines are generally caused my low estrogen (which makes sense as I generally get them the first day of my period when estrogen tanks) and that it should get better from here.  I hope so!

Tonight I am also trying a Reiki session for general healing and hopefully to help with the fertility.  (Hey why not try everything?) I will do a post on how that goes.

First Day of IVF Meds

Tonight was my first day of taking my IVF meds for stimulating my follicles to grow. My protocol is that I take one vial of Menopur (75iu) and 300 iu of Gonal-f.  In my teach class I learned how to mix the meds so I take one injection instead of two.

So basically it's take 1/2 cc of sodium chloride, inject it into the Menopur vial (Menopur comes as a powder that needs to be mixed with sodium chloride). Then add the Gonal-f to the vial, draw everything's up into the syringe, add the proper gage needle and inject. I'm over simplifying as I'm sure if you're doing IVF meds your RE and/or clinic will instruct you as to how to administer yours. 

My nerves about the injection was how much pressure I would need to use for the needle to puncture the skin. As it turns out, very little. I am not squeamish so maybe that's why it was easy for me, but I simple pinched some of my skin on my stomach, inserted the needle, pushed in the meds, held for 3 seconds as instructed, released, and pulled the needle out. There was no pain (the expected feeling from inserting the needle but really it's the same as any injection, probably less so than your typical vaccine which is intramuscular rather than subcutaneous). I had read that Menopur stings/burns, it didn't. The only thing I was surprised by was that there was a bit more blood than I expected and when I say that, I mean that I expected there to be no blood and there was enough that I did need a bandaid. (Whenever getting vaccines I always thought the bandaid was overkill and thought how much blood could there be for a tiny needle. I guess there is actually some.)

So basically that was my first experience with doing my IVF injections. I think as with most things in life, the anticipation and concern about it is more than the reality.