I looked at our calendar and over the past few months here are all the drugs I have taken to get us to this point....
-42 birth control pills to help regulate my cycle
-116 baby aspirin to thin my blood and prevent blood clots
-46 Lupron shots in my thigh to quiet my ovaries to prevent early release of eggs
-28 doxycycline pills to prevent infection
-7 Flagyl pills to prevent bacterial vaginosis which can cause early miscarriage
-6 methylprednisolone pills to decrease my natural immune reaction system to help with implantation of the embryo
-9 Repronex shots in the thigh to help produce lots of eggs!
-9 Follistim shots in my arm to help produce more mature eggs
-2 Ovidrel (hCG) shots to release the eggs from the follicles before egg retrieval
-24 Vivelle patches to balance my estrogen and progesterone levels
-1 Prometrium suppository to relax my uterus prior to embryo transfer
-1 Valium pill for anxiety
-16 Zofran pills for nausea
-? hydrocodine pills for pain after egg retrieval
-180 Prenatal vitamins (I am still taking these)
-70 progesterone oil shots in my butt to maintain the endometrium to prevent miscarriage
PLUS
-20+ blood draws
-10+ internal ultrasounds
-1 painful egg retrieval
-AND 1 perfect embryo transfer!!!
Andrew has been an amazing nurse for me and is a pro at giving shots now. There were a few nights that I told him he was the "worst shot-giver ever", but it was usually because I was bleeding a lot and was fighting back tears...he knows I didn't really mean it :) In his defense, the progesterone oil shots were getting really difficult to give the past month because my upper butt area is so calloused and bruised from repeated shots. The progesterone oil shot was one where I had to ice before the shot, then it took about a minute to inject because it is an oil, and then I had to heat the area after to break up the oil. We are so thankful to be done with that shot and have our evenings back! No more 9:30 curfew to do shots!!
Speaking of...we have had to do shots in some interesting places. Since we had to do shots at a certain time each night (9:30)...we had to get creative when we were out on the town. One time we were on a party bus and had to shoot up in the back of someones car. Another time I was at the bar and had to shoot up in the bathroom. We shot up a lot a friend's houses. AND we even took our drugs to the fair...but decided we didn't really want to shoot up in the corner of the midway...so we went home early :)
Here is a picture of me at the bar with my spider man and Barbie ice packs since the drugs have to be kept cold. I had to get creative :)
I will admit, I am a little nervous to be drug-free. My body has been dependent on them for 6 months....I hope my body knows what to do to sustain and maintain a healthy pregnancy. We had our 12 week ultrasound on Thursday and everything looks great so far!
Let us know if you want to get together...we would love to hang out (and we don't have a curfew anymore :)
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