IVF Round #1

There’s always so many emotions involved when starting something for the first time…

My emotions today consist of excitement, fear, hope, and intrigue as I enter my first round of IVF. This morning I had my first of a series ultrasounds and lab draws. Today’s ultrasound and blood work will determine if I’m ready to start taking stim meds for my first IVF retrieval.

Having become way too accustomed to seeing my reproductive organs on an ultrasound monitor, I counted along as my doctor counted 10 follicles on the right ovary and 10 on left…

The ultrasound indicates that I’m ready to start injecting stimulation meds, Gonal-F and Menopur, but we still have to wait for the final results of lab work to get back this evening to confirm.

I’m excited to start this IVF process because I’m hopeful it will be successful and my husband and I will finally get to bring a baby home; however, with such a long road filled with pregnancy loss and unsuccessful IUI attempts, I can’t help but be a bit fearful as well. It’s quite challenging to keep the “what if this doesn’t work” thought out of my head…

Now, about the injections I’ll be starting! I’m no stranger to doing self-injections. During my first pregnancy I had to use a combination of regular and long acting insulins to control my blood glucose levels. I’ve also had to inject Menopur and HCG during my 4 IUI rounds, so when making the decision to move forward with the IVF process, I thought no problem me and the hubby have got this injection thing down… Welp, the box of mediations arrived this past Friday and Holy Crap! Let’s just say it made me rethink the whole “we got this” feeling. The amount of injections that have to be done simultaneously is a bit intimidating and does make me nervous. Below is a picture of the meds I’ll be injecting.

Update:

Labs came back. I’m confirmed to start stim meds tonight! I’ll be starting out with two injections every evening for the next four nights and then return to my doctor’s office on day 5 for a repeat ultrasound and lab draw to determine how my body is responding to the meds.