December 5, 2005 - afternoon

Now it's the afternoon. More time to post. So - I'm back in the saddle again - or more accurately, the stirrups. My last IVF cycle has begun. I start the drugs on Saturday. I got the expected headaches yesterday from the one drug. I expect that sometime today or tomorrow I'll have the usual emotional explosion. Picture what it's like to be PMSing - and multiple that by 4 or 5 times. When you are taking these drugs, your estrogen level increases dramatically. That's what sets off those emotional explosions.

I'm back to the same regimen that I did for my first IVF cycle. I figured I would explain what it's like.

I started with one dose of a lupron on Saturday. It's a shot given with a teeny tiny needle, done sub-cutaneously. I do it in the stomach. Beginning Sunday, I added gonal-f and continue with the lupron. I do this twice a day. The gonal-f comes in a pen. It's really neat. You dial up the dosage you need, pull the plunger out and stick the needle in. For me, one pen gives four doses. For others it's more. This also has a small needle and is done sub-q (I'm real good with the lingo now) and is done in the stomach as well. I think that some women do the shots in their thighs - but for whatever reason, I picture that as hurting. The shots really do not hurt more than an occasional pinch. I sometimes bleed a little and get bruising. Backtracking a little - a week before I started the shots, I started taking one baby aspirin per day. Being on the aspirin leads to a little more bruising than normal. The first shot of lupron gets your ovaries producing somehow. The rest of the lupron shots actually keep you from ovulating. The gonal-f is a hormone that causes the follicles in your ovaries to mature, so that you get more than the one that is normally produced. Later on in the cycle, I will take a shot of human chorionic gonadatrophin to push the follicles to final maturation prior to the eggs being retrieved.

So that's the shots part. The stirrups part is the checkups. The doctors monitor you very carefully. You get ultrasounds and bloodwork on a regular basis. As I get closer to the retrieval, it may be every day. It's really not bad. The only "bad" thing is that I end up with ugly bruises in my arms where they draw the blood. In the summer, that's hard to hide and prompts questions.

That's part one. I'll post about the egg retrieval and transfer and what follows as that comes closer for me.

I'm feeling good about this cycle. It may not work, but at least I will know that we tried everything possible. All along, since we started talking about trying to have a baby, I've pictured us as having a little boy. I want a little boy who looks just like my husband. Funny thing is - as I've started this cycle, I've been thinking more and more about having a little girl. Either way - I hope that if we have a baby, they get my husband's hair! His is a nicer color and it's curly. Mine is a blah brown - well, when it's not dyed that is - and it has no body whatsoever. The biggest negative to this cycle - but well worth it if it works - I have to go through the Christmas party season alcohol free! Like I said though - well worth it if it works.