A Day For Firsts

Let me start by saying the word "firsts" looks so odd to me, I re-wrote it three times. Anyhooooo...

I'm going to keep this short, mostly because I'm typing it on my iPad while eating ready for work & getting the shot ready. I'm also exhausted. Mom & Fred came up for the weekend. We didn't do too much (motor home shopping for the retired-folk, Warhawk museum, food!), but I'm still tired! 

I actually typed this up on April 1st, but decided I wanted to put pictures up, so I am not posting until the 2nd so I could get pictures in the morning of the chemistry lesson. 

Today was my first day at my new job. It was a usual first day: meeting everyone, but not remembering a single name. Waiting a few hours for a computer. Pillaging for supplies.  I will be getting most of my old claims back, which is wonderful, because at least I will know what was going on. 

I had my first resting ultrasound today. Now that I've been on the Lupron for 2 weeks, everything is sleeping. All looked good. My ovaries were asleep, which is what they want. Each ovary had about 20 resting follicles. The goal is to try & make about 2/3 of the follicles make an egg each, so that's a great number! 

I started the Follicle Stimulating Hormones (FSH) shots today. We are doing one different medication this time around, and I was a bit overwhelmed! 

First I draw up the saline, about 1cc.  Then I put that into the powder Menopur and mix them. 

Then I draw up the Gonal-F (3ml). 

Then I mix that into the Menopur. 

Mix all ingredients together and inject. 

I still do the Lupron shot as well.  So, I'm only doing 2 shots each day because two of them are mixed together. I'm already bruised from yesterday's FSH shot. Oh joy! But, they don't hurt. Still a tiny needle, as you can see. 

Sorry it's a boring post, I'm all out of funny for the day. Next visit is Saturday to see how the follies are responding to the stimulation (C'mon, it sounds a little dirty, right?!). 

Let's get this party started!

Tomorrow, March 18, I start The Lupron shots. What is Lupron, you ask? 

So, I asked the smart interwebz invisible doctors and this is what they said: 

Doc Holliday says "Lupron (leuprolide) overstimulates the body's own production of certain hormones, which causes that production to shut down temporarily."

Doctor Quinn, medicine woman says "Leuprolide usually causes women to stop ovulating or having menstrual periods."

Sally asks: "What is Lupron and why do I need to take it?"

Dr. McDreamy says "It is used to decrease the amount of hormone you make for a short time and to prevent an “early LH surge” or ovulation. This LH surge happens when the ovaries release the eggs (i.e. ovulate) before the desired time or before the time of the egg retrieval."

So, there you have it. A bunch of smart people explain stuff for us. Gotta love the world wide dictionary. 

Yep, so I start this magical shot tomorrow to put my reproductive system to bed for a while. I will continue taking my mint flavored birth control pills (not only are the minty fresh, they taste this way to encourage youngsters to chew them if needed. So many things wrong with that statement).  Considering the stupid birth control has had me spotting for three weeks (WHOPPEEE, not), maybe the Lupron with smack that bitch down.  

Last week, I took K's back-up sample on down to Doc Slater for washing & freezing. His swimmers we nuzzled in a biohazard plastic bag between my boobies on the trip there. A friend called it the clean-freak's pearl necklace. 

This past weekend, I got all productive and got my crap in order. I made our fertility calendars for the next two months.  I wrote down our appointments and medication schedules. We both get to be on Doxycycline for 10 days for some reason I'm not clear on.  That starts tomorrow with my Lupron shot. 

Here's the calendars. They will be updated April 1st after the baseline ultrasound and they add in the FSH shots (follicle stimulating hormones). Looks like I will be on 3-4 a day from that point forward. 

Here is what 2 months of calendars look like for our cycle:

Here is what $3,000 of cold, hard cash will get you in the pharmaceutical world. 

 

In case counting isn't in your evening plans, that's 10 boxes of injectable fun, 4 bottles of oral fun, and 28 days of vaginal suppository fun!  Oh, and a shit-ton of needles, alcohol swabs, baby band aides, and a sharps container to tie it all together.  This picture does NOT show the horse-size prenatal vitamins, or the baby aspirin I forgot to buy. Or the minty flavored-possibly chewable-birth control. 

I'll keep you updated on how the shots progress. Tons and tons of exciting things happening for me in the next few weeks that I can't wait to tell y'all about!