Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us. –Samuel Smiles
So today is the day! This is what all the blood work, tests, surgery and failed IUI’s have led us to. Our first round of IVF. Over the past two years we have had ups, downs, disappointments, and renewed hope. To say that we are excited would not quite be the right word. We would use the word hopeful. We understand that this process comes with no guarantee, but we knew we had to at least try. We have now finished our two weeks of follicle stimulation (stimming) and, we headed to Memphis yesterday (at 5:30 a.m.) for our retrieval surgery. The embryologist will give us a call today to let us know how many eggs were retrieved, how many of those are “mature” follicles, and how many of those fertilized. Over the next several days we will become very acquainted with our embryologist as they call to give us updates on our little one/ones. This may not be an everyday occurrence because they prefer to leave them in the incubator as much as possible, but we should have a final count after 5 days.
If someone would have told me that one day I would have to face on of my biggest fears (needles) in order to start my family, I probably would have been horrified and said they’re lying. Alas, it has come to that. Thank goodness Drew is injection certified from school. He passed our injection training with perfect scores. So that definitely eased some stress from all the shots I would need. So the fun officially began at 6 a.m. on Jan 6th. I pulled out my Buzzy my mom bought me (ladies going through stim please look this little gem up). Essentially, it is a none invasive numbing product and it’s super cute (see picture below).
So the white gel pads are placed in the freezer and then attached to the Buzzy when you are ready to use it. It also vibrates and the noise is a bit loud, but overall I would highly recommend this cutie for anyone having to take multiple injections who may be afraid of needles like me :).
So we starting on 1/6 with 75 units of Menopur in the morning (this one was the worst for me). It seemed to burn, but overall with the Buzzy it didn’t last long at all. Then at night I took 225 units of Gonal-f. We continued this routine until 1/12 when we added in our Cetrotide. We were to take the Cetrotide in the a.m. with the Menopur. Now ladies this is where I’m going to be frank STOP READING THE MESSAGE BOARDS!!! They psyched me out so bad I almost broke down from how “painful” everyone said it would be. So I used my cute pink and white polka dot ice pack and woke up a little earlier that usual, and then used Buzzy so I was good a numb, and you know what it ended up being fine. In between all of the injections I also had to go to Memphis every other day for monitoring appointments (more labs and ultrasounds).
Then on Friday, Janurary 13th I had my first “forgetful” day. DH (dear husband) had continuing education to complete in Little Rock on Jan 14th. We thought it would be a wonderful excuse to get out of Helena for a night, have dinner with some friends, and just enjoy ourselves a little. We made it to LR about 5:45 and after getting checked in and ready for a night out with friends I ask Drew where he put the cooler. You can guess how freaked were both were considering I take my evening injection at 8 p.m. every evening. Needless to say my DH being the amazing man he is didn’t give me any grief. He simply grabbed my hand and we headed back to Helena. Although, it was less than ideal we made it home in time for my evening injection grabbed a bite to eat, and then headed back to LR. It is definitely a story we won’t forget. Our last injection (the Pregnyl trigger shot) at 8:15 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 15th. This one was intramuscular so it was not bad, but I would I definitely would call it pleasant either.
The retrieval surgery went really well. Our Dr. and his staff are absolutely wonderful. We have been blessed on this journey to meet some truly amazing people and gain some even better friends. For now we rest up from stim and surgery and wait to hear how our embryos are doing. From there we will give my body a rest and then plan a date for transfer (more ultrasounds and labs, of course).
In the meantime we want to thank our family and friends for all the love a support on our journey to this point. We could not have gotten this far without y’all!
Blessed is She ... 