(Shows I'm currently watching: Bates Motel, New Girl, Last Man Standing, Hart of Dixie, Better Call Saul, The Big Bang Theory, Fixer Upper, and Property Brothers).
As of I Monday morning, I OFFICIALLY became an IVF patient. Yay!
My period started Sunday evening. I had been anxiously awaiting for it to come. We technically could have started IVF a month ago right after we received our Miracle Fund acceptance letter, but I wanted to mentally prepare myself for this experience, educate myself more on what to expect, and get a mapped out time frame of all the what's, when's, and ifs well in advance so that I wasn't diving into the unknown so quickly. We have been given a very precious gift and I wanted to treat it as such by becoming more prepared for it.
Vance and I spent last month figuring out how the intricate time frame of IVF works, meeting with our nurse about everything, and learning how to use the medications. It was a very valuable month to prepare ourselves, and to also calm my nerves before diving into the intense unknown.
Last week, I waited all weekend for Aunt Flo to arrive, checking myself every so often. I had my finger on my phone ready to speed dial my amazing nurse at any time and let her know it's go time.
Monday morning I went into the SLC office for my first visit as an IVF patient. I had a trans-vaginal ultrasound to make sure my ovaries and everything looked okay. We had a little scare when they noticed a cyst on my right ovary. They said that depending on the kind of cyst it was, I might not be able to start IVF this month. (Insert the sound of my heart shattering). They said it was possible it could just be a leftover cyst from a previous cycle, which wouldn't cause any harm, but if it was a new active cyst they wouldn't want to continue with IVF this cycle because it could greatly narrow my chances of success.
They drew my blood right after the ultrasound, and from the blood tests they would be able to determine whether this cyst would be detrimental to an IVF cycle or not. Because of this unexpected fork in the road, my nurse couldn't let me know the exact game plan yet moving forward. Therefore, I wasn't able to pick up my medications right after the appointment like I was originally planning on doing.
They sent me home and told me to expect a phone call from them later on that afternoon with the blood test results.
I said a little prayer in the parking lot that everything would look okay, and then drove to work and tried not to think about it. A couple hours later I got a phone call from my nurse. Everything looked good and I was given the okay to start this month! (Insert much inner rejoicing). I was given my IVF schedule, and would start taking medications that night.
I called Vance and asked if he could drive to SLC after work and pick up the medications. I sent him the list of all the medications he would need to make sure were ready for pick up. I knew there was a lot of medicine, but I didn't realize just how much of it there would be until he sent me this selfie while I was still at work.
I laughed out loud. Look how cute he is! It looks like he raided the entire pharmacy. The pharmacists were so nice to him and wished him the best of luck. They even packed little ice packs for the medications that need to be refrigerated so that they would stay cool on the hour drive home.
Here is a list of all of the medications:
• Gonal-F
• Menapur
• Doxycyline
• Cetrocide
• Pregnyl
• Progesterone
When Vance got home, we laid all the medications out on the counter. So many syringes and needles! Eeek!
I nearly cried when I saw the receipt. Of all the expensive medications we received, guess how much we paid?
$25.
$25, that's it! For the progesterone which the M.F. doesn't cover. I felt overwhelmed with love all over again for the amazing M.F. people who made this possible. What a huge blessing they are to us. Going through IVF is already stressful and overwhelming enough, I can't even imagine worrying about the financial aspect of it right now. It is such a huge relief to not worry about money as we go through this. I honestly don't feel deserving of this gift, but I am beyond grateful it has been given to us.
We spent an hour Monday night watching and re-watching medication videos to make sure we did everything just right. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't overwhelmed. I didn't want to mess anything up, or mix up the medications wrong, or accidentally be given the wrong dosage. You know, just typical me, worrying about everything. Vance was sweet and calm though. After we felt confident enough to give it a go, he gave me my two shots on the right side of my stomach; Menapur and Gonal-F. These two shots help egg quality and growth. The needles on both of these are very thin and pretty short, so it isn't that bad. They remind me a lot of the trigger shots I have had to do in the past with IUI's, so we knew kind of what to expect when injecting these. It feels like a bee sting going in, and stings for a few minutes afterwards, but it's not too bad.
Vance always calls me on his breaks and asks me how my tummy is doing. He is so sweet and wants to make sure that my stomach isn't sore from all of the poking. I am doing just fine so far. I don't feel sick, bloated, or crazy, and I don't have a zitty pizza face.....yet!
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| What would I do without him? |
Tonight will be our 5th night of doing this. We alternate sides of the stomach each night, and I have an ultrasound tomorrow morning to make sure everything looks okay. I went in yesterday for another blood draw to make sure my estrogen levels are where they need to be at this point in the medication process, and so far, everything looks good. I will be adding Cetrocide to the medication list tomorrow morning when I go in for my appointment. I'm so excited to see what they find in the ultrasound tomorrow. Things are starting to feel very real around here.
Thanks everyone for your love and support through this. I honestly don't feel like I deserve to receive the outpouring of love, prayers, and support you have all given me. I am a very lucky lady, and I hope you all know how much I love you and am grateful for you in my life.
Again, sorry my posts are so long (and probably boring). I just really want to remember this journey. It's an incredible ride for Vance and me to take and I am loving it so far. We can't wait to FINALLY start our family! It's going to happen....it just has to!
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