Day 8 of Stims

Stims: Day 8 - 4th morning of Cetrotide (25 mg)
7 nights of Gonal-f (175-150 IU) & Menopur (75-150 IU)

Today is my 8th day of injections. The veins in my arms are a little bruised so blood draws are a bit harder for the phlebotomists. During the u/s, the sonographer found 10 follicles in my left ovary and 14 in my right. She said that I could expect to make appointments for every day this weekend. I keep forgetting that the fertility clinic is open 24/7, because the doctors, nurses, sonographers, etc. need to be ready at any point in time to retrieve eggs and implant embryos! Reminds me of when I worked at an emergency vet hospital all during grad. school. Memorial Day is Monday, and they don't get the day off.

I didn't get a call from my nurse this afternoon so I called the after-hours number and the nurse on-call called me back to tell me that the doctor wants me to decrease the Gonal-f dosage from 150 IU to 125 IU, and to keep the Menopur and Cetrotide doses as is. I have another appointment scheduled for tomorrow morning (Saturday).

David comes tomorrow night, so I am excited. It's been lonely and difficult not having him here, and I know he's been bored at home by himself so hopefully this will make things a little easier. David coming means that the egg retrieval is right around the corner! We don't have the date set yet, but it should be some time next week!

Day 7 of Stims

Top: Gonal-f
Bottom: Cetrotide in its "Lunchables" pack

Update
I started stims on Friday (5/20/16), had a check up on Monday (5/23/16), and again yesterday (5/25/16). On Monday, during the u/s, the sonographer found 9 follicles in my right ovary and 10 in my left, and was able to measure a number of them that were 10+ mm. That afternoon, my nurse called and told me that they were surprised to see how quickly I was progressing (she assured me this was "a good problem to have") and that the doctor wanted to dial back on my Gonal-f (from 175 IU to 150 IU), to increase my Menopur (from 75 IU to 150 IU) and to add in a morning injection of Cetrotide (0.25 mg). My estrogen (estradiol) level was at 109 pg/ml. Yesterday, the u/s showed that more follicles were enlarging, and when my nurse called she said that my estrogen level was now at 781 pg/ml. My next appointment is tomorrow (Friday, 5/27/16).

Stims: Day 6 - 2nd morning of Cetrotide (25 mg),
5 nights of Gonal-f (175-150 IU) & Menopur (75-150 IU)

Starting Cetrotide
I was a little nervous to inject the Cetrotide, as I've heard it also burns and can cause an itchy rash at the injection site, but I found it to be pretty unremarkable. It is refrigerated, and comes in its own little "Lunchables" style pack, with syringe pre-filled with sterile water, powder vial, and alcohol swabs--I like how convenient this is. My only problem with it is getting all of the powdered medicine to dissolve completely. The injection itself didn't burn for me and only itched a tiny bit the first day, but nothing like a mosquito bite or anything. I did bruise at the first injection site. This morning when I did the injection, I accidentally stabbed my middle finger as the needle bent and went through the cap. I'm not sure if it was the throbbing pain in my finger or the medicine, but I got super nauseated and dizzy, and it was all I could do to rifle through my parents' bathroom drawers to find some Neosporin before I passed out. Luckily, I just barely made it to my bed before falling over. It was a rough morning.

The trigger
I got some good news from my nurse. I have been a little anxious about my upcoming trigger injection, as most of what I've read has stated that they need to be injected intramuscularly (i.e., in the butt muscle). We were prepared to hire a nurse who would be on call for 3 consecutive evenings (cost ~$125-$175) to come give me the injection, which could very well be in the middle of the night. My nurse told me that all my medications including the trigger injection will be given subcutaneously in my abdomen. She explained that there are 2 types of trigger injections: Lupron and HCG. "The reason why some physicians use one over the other is the mechanism of the trigger. For those patients who have a lot of follicles or are at risk for developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), you would use the Lupron, as this medication is in your system for a short amount of time. The HCG trigger is for the patient who will have an average response to the stimulation medication as the HCG medication is in the system longer." So I don't need to hire a nurse, and I can do the trigger injection myself!

Exercise
I was told I could continue my normal cardio and strength training during the early stages of injections (days 1-5), but by day 6, I would want to decrease the intensity and focus on non-impact exercises (yoga, light elliptical, swimming, etc.). Yesterday was day 6, so I took Noah for a 2 mile walk. Today I am going to do the same, but also hit the gym for a light elliptical workout (decreased intensity/time). I did an entire week's worth of cardio/strength from Saturday-Tuesday, so I was at least able to get that in...but it's going to kill me a little to not be able to do strength training as usual. Oh well...I'll live.

Mickey Collector's Series Band-Aids

Little treats
I've decided to reward myself after my nightly injections with a little treat: popsicles. I am loving these little Outshine Fruit Bars. They're only 35-45 calories a pop (ha!). I also got some Mickey Band-Aids, because who doesn't love Mickey? Little things like that, walking the dog, and working out, have helped keep me sane. I've been getting daily headaches which I am able to treat (for the most part) with Extra Strength Tylenol, lots of water, and naps...I've been taking lots and lots of naps!

1st and 2nd night of Stims

I did it. I gave myself 2 injections last night.

Last night I went to see my friend, Vince, play a show in WV, and then left early to get home before 10:00pm to give myself my first injections. My mom was by my side, but I insisted on doing everything myself.

Currently, I am taking 175 IU of Gonal-f and 75 IU of Menopur. Gonal-f is refrigerated, and can come in the Redi-ject pen, which is a disposable, pre-filled, and ready-to-use. You just dial your dosage, screw on the needle, and inject. Gonal-f (Gonadotropin FSH) is a follicle stimulating hormone that basically makes multiple follicles (cysts containing eggs), and causes multiple eggs to grow to a mature size. The Menopur needs to be reconstituted with sodium chloride solution (sterile water). Then you draw it up in a syringe from the vial and inject it. Menopur has 2 kinds of hormonal activity: FSH (which helps increase egg production, like Gonal-f) and LH activity (which assists with ovulation).

I did the Gonal-f first, because I knew the Menopur was going to sting. I will say that both needles were small and did not really hurt that much going in. The Gonal-f does not sting, but the pen trigger bothers me because I'm not able to watch as the medicine goes in, the way you can with a regular syringe. Mixing the Menopur is an art form, and I had to watch the instructional videos several times. It's really hard to get every drop of medicine out of those vials into the syringe. The Menopur does sting, and it seems to sting more toward the end. It's not unbearable, it's just uncomfortable. 

Left: Look how cute this little Sharps container is!
Right: The Menopur comes with vials of sodium chloride solution you use for reconstitution.

Last night, I felt good after my injections and I was really proud of myself. Today I am feeling a little depressed realizing I'll be doing this everyday (and eventually twice a day) for a couple weeks. I really cannot imagine doing multiple rounds of IVF. There is so much involved!

I think the hardest part, for me, is the isolation. This is a very lonely process, especially with my husband and friends nearly 2,200 miles away. Since we haven't told many people, I can't really post about anything on social media, which is hard. I am one of those people that really thrives on the support and encouragement received from others on social media...and since I can't really talk about my experience, I am relying on the support and encouragement of the few people that know about it...and of course, most everyone is super busy and preoccupied with their own lives, so I don't want to trouble them with my woes.

Right now I really just want to lie on my couch under my favorite blanket, snuggle my Golden Retriever, watch a cheesy Lifetime movie, and cry. Part of me wants to tell everyone, "Hey, this is what I'm doing. Look how brave I am giving myself injections every night. I'm doing this so that maybe we can have a baby. This. Really. Sucks." But I can't. 

So instead, I am trying my best to stay sane...I'm working out as much as I can within the restrictions I've been given. Under doctor's orders, I've eliminated alcohol and caffeine from my diet, and the only painkillers I can take are Extra Strength Tylenol (meaning my normal go-to for headaches, Advil, is out.) 

This is going to be a long couple of weeks...

Baseline Appointment & Starting Stims

I finished my birth control pills yesterday, so today was my baseline appointment at the clinic. They drew my blood and then did a (vaginal) ultrasound (u/s) to check the follicles in my ovaries. The doctor said that my uterine lining is thin (as expected) and although it took them awhile to find my left ovary (which was hiding), all my follicles look evenly sized, which is good.

My nurse called this afternoon and said my bloodwork (bw) and u/s results look good, so I should begin my stimulation (stim) injections on Friday. I will start with 2 injections in the evening only (Gonal-f and Menopur) and then they will do more bw and another u/s on Monday, and then again on Wednesday. 

I am super nervous about giving myself the injections. My parents have offered to do them for me, and my mom also has a friend (former nurse) who has offered to help, but I feel like I need to suck it up and learn how to do it myself (at least the subcutaneous injections). Even though I'm only doing them once in the evening now, I may eventually need to do them twice a day, and it's likely I will have to give them to myself at some point. I've read that the Menopur stings, so I'm apprehensive about that. I had to give subcutaneous injections to my dog before, so hopefully I can learn to do it to myself too.

I asked the doctor and nurse if I can continue working out, and they both said that moderate exercise should be okay. Hopefully that will help keep me busy and my mind from worrying!