Tuesday, November 20, 2012

A Fun Package

Well, here it is! My fun package of drugs and needles has arrived.... it was terribly fun to pull it all apart and look at everything. But sadly I must pack it away for now. Hopefully it will only be another 2 weeks (or less maybe?!?) until I get to pull it out again....

Everything, all together...seriously hoping they went a little overboard on packing needles...eek!

The meds include Lupron, Progesterone in Oil (PIO), birth control pills, a steroid and estrogen patches.

This is the enormous needle for the PIO. Sadly, the entire needle tip must be inserted into my rear end  as it's an intramuscular injection. Thankfully, I don't think the actual injection will hurt much worse than getting a flu shot...but I'm guessing that since I'll eventually be doing this daily for several weeks, I can pretty much expect to have a sore bottom for a good long time. (it will be worth it) And since my husband (who has no medical training and an aversion to needles) will be doing these injections for me, I'm a little anxious about how bad the first few might be!

This is the tiny (by comparison) needle for the Lupron injections. It is an insulin needle and only a 29  gauge.  This particular injection is for my well-padded tummy and is only subcutaneous, so it goes just under the skin, rather than into a muscle. Yay! 


Just for comparison's sake... I think it's a safe bet to say the guy with the orange cap will be my  favorite. 


Friday, November 16, 2012

Make Way for the Meds!

At my last update, I'd had my baseline blood work and ultrasound done. I did get a phone call a few days later and they asked me to start taking the birth control pill so that when the egg donor started her next cycle, I would be already in a "holding pattern" and could be synced to her cycle immediately. I'm currently about to finish my second week of pills. When I run out of active pills, I get to skip the inactive "placebo" pills and skip right on to the next pack.

I did get a call from the pharmacy last week. They confirmed all my information and told me that they'll be shipping my other medications to me the day before Thanksgiving. According to their records, I'm to start medications the day after Thanksgiving, but I haven't gotten the official word from the clinic yet.

No major complaints so far. I gained about 3 pounds my first week on the pills. According to Dr. Google, weight gain from water retention is a common side effect of BCP (birth control pills). It's been almost 8 years since I've used them, so I can't say that I remember it all that clearly. I did get hit with some nausea too the first few days, but it wasn't terrible and so I started taking the pills at night and that took care of the problem right away.

I'm very excited to get started on whatever comes next. My guess (if I remember correctly from my appointment ALL the way back in June or July) is that estrogen patches are first, then I move on to injectibles.

The last I heard from the clinic and from the intended parents is that we're tentatively looking at an egg retrieval at the end of December and a transfer at the beginning of January...I sure hope it works out with no further delay! That would be such a fantastic start to the new year!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Getting Started

It's the start of another cycle and I was very happy, when I called the clinic, to be told that they wanted me to start taking the birth control pills so we can get ready for cycling with the egg donor. Apparently, they are still waiting for her to have another cycle before we start the IVF protocol, but it seems that she's only a day or two behind me, so perhaps soon, I'll get word on what we're doing next.

I did get to take a trip to the clinic for baseline bloodwork and an ultrasound. They called later to say that everything looks good. So now, more waiting to hear what's next. It should be just a few days until I get a phone call...