Hello ladies!
How is everybody doing? I figure that many of you went back to work today! Aaaaah... I share your pain!
I went to the clinic this morning for my first Lupron shot and to pay for the procedure. I had been counting the days, almost! I showed my husband many times that I was impatient to be there! And once I found myself in the waiting room... hehehehe I was not so sure I was even happy to be there! I was nervous because in a few minutes I was going to inject myself for the very first time. And I was reminded once more that I belonged to the infertile crowd. And I was happy because that appointment meant I was well into my cycle. And I was anxious to see the nurse count our money on the desk because I was telling myself, "well, this better work, because that's a lot of money!"
Aaahhh the roller coaster ride!
The self-injection was a piece of cake, really, but right before I did it... I was scared. My hands were shaking! I just could not push the needle in! It seemed so
long against my skin and I did not know if the piercing of the skin would hurt! And I had to push it
all the way through! I did not know if the needle would burn, if the meds would burn, and so on. I tried twice, then took the needle away from my skin and said, "I'm unable to do this!", then tried again, and bingo! Went right in effortlessly and it did not even hurt. The meds burned a little bit, but about a minute after I had removed the needle, so it's no big deal at all. I don't even feel anxious about my next self-injection tomorrow, and let me tell you I'll fuss much less.
Nevertheless, when my husband saw that I hesitated twice before being able to do the injection, he offered me to do the injections himself. He just wanted to help, but with the emotions I felt at the moment, it ruffled my feathers a little bit because I saw it as if he saw me incapable of doing it myself, as a sign of weakness. hehehe he was just trying to help, poor thing, and we did not quarrel at all! but HA! I'll show him tomorrow that I can do it in three seconds and a half!
... and earlier today I rewarded myself with low fat chocolate milk and a cranberry muffin. Life is sweet!
And about the down regging - Lupron confusion... I think one of the sources of confusion, at least for me at the beginning, is that Aunty's list is labelled "having warm moments" for the down regging part. Not that it's Aunty's fault per se, but when I tried to figure out the term, I checked the list...
Lupron creates the mini-menopause, so it's down regging. In my case, Puregon will do the stimming, or stimulation, part.
...hehehe I keep doing a little check every hour or so to assess if I feel irritable or hot... lol nothing so far!
I guess it will take a few days... beware!
I asked a few questions about the 2ww. The nurse insisted on the fact that implantation will happen within 3-5 days after ET. She said it was important to take it easy during that time, avoid intercourse until the blood test, violent sports and lifting things over 10 pounds, but she said the clinic did not recommend bed rest at all. She laughed when I told her other clinics told their patients to avoid taking baths. She said the clinic would give me a paper to miss work if I really wanted to, but said that it's really not needed of me to miss more than one day of work (e.g., the ET day), especially if I mostly work in a sitting position. Just thought I'd share that; the clinic's stats are very high so I guess they know that they're talking about.
I believe even more in what that lovely woman from Australia wrote on the Do's and Don't sticky thread about how doing too much can be as bad as doing too little, that the most important was to continue living and enjoy life as much as possible during those two weeks. I understand the "I want to do everything possible to avoid feeling guilty later on" argument... but given what the nurse said, I don't think I'll miss more than one work day... I'll stop flamenco until the blood test because of the jumps and shocks involved, but I'll take baths as planned; I think it will help me relax a great deal. After the nurse's reaction, I don't see why I would deprive myself of that.
Charlie Thanks for clarifying the dates with me. After my appointment this morning, I have a more precise idea. I have an appointment on the
18th for a blood test to see if my ovaries are shut down properly. I bet it will be the case; I'll be on Lupron for 16 days! I'll start Puregon, or egg food or stimulation, on the
19th. Then on the
23rd, I'll have another blood test and be scheduled for an ultrasound on the
25th or
26th. They will check my follicles; the nurse told me that in 11 years, only one woman got the trigger shot after that first u/s. I'll be scheduled for another u/s two days later, so on the
27th or
28th. Usually, people have the trigger shot that same night, some others need a third u/s. Given my age, I might not need to extend the stimming period to a third ultrasound. So my ER should be around Jan
29-30th and my ET, 3 to 6 days later. Either way, my pregnancy blood test will be 16 days after my ER, so either on Valentine's Day or the day after.
...wouldn't it be cute to have a BFP on Valentine's Day?
So anyway... according to my dates, do you think we'll still be quite close in our cycles?
Haylie hehehehe thanks for your empathy! But my coming back to work was not that bad after all. I'll finish really early and because of the appointment, tadaaaaa, I kept the car so I won't waste time in public transportation. I'll be home in about 40 minutes. Joy!
Ange Thanks for your empathy, too, and I laughed at your attention span!
I understand that you must be scared and excited at the same time... but try to focus on all the precious info that your last cycle gave you and your doctors. They have a pretty good idea of what happened, and it's better than to be left in the dark and give it another try. They will know how to shape your next cycle even better. I think that knowledge would help me a little bit... but, like you, I would be cautious. *hugs*
Jackie Yes, by all means, you can PM me about accu and femoral massage! I asked the nurse today about the clinic's view of accupuncture. They'll let me have an acupuncturist at the clinic with me, no problem... "But as far as
recommending it... no," she added, with a face... lol it really looked like, "well, if you want to reassure yourself with that, fine, but in my opinion, bringing your Teddy Bear would have the same effect!"
TansRN Glad you enjoyed your honeymoon in Europe! It's such a lovely place... I'm really looking forward to explore it even more. I've been to France, Belgium, England, North of Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg and right through Germany so far. Hehehehe... and now that I think of it... I saw a lovely couple of storks in flight near the highway while we were driving!
Shantala,
Aunty, thanks for noticing about me starting Lupron today!
A sweet attention!
And
Aunty YAY for AF's visit! Whoohoo!!! I'm sure it was the Disco jig... sure of it! Even without the smiley, I just KNOW!
Take care ladies! Have a great day!
Sophie
downregging is where they shut your body down compared to stimming where they stimulate your body and make your follicles grow. i can never figure our which one lupron is used for.
)
