Stim Meds!

I have been on my stim meds since Thursday, so 5 days now!!

The Menopur does sting a little while being injected, but the stinging usually goes away in a few minutes. Also, the injection site is pretty tender for about a day, but that hasn't been a problem because we rotate sides. The Gonal-F Pen is great, I feel nothing, they have the tiniest needles ever, it's a piece of cake.  On the first night, while priming the pen, an entire 37 unit dose shot up into the air, definitely not what was supposed to happen while priming the pen. The instruction video said that only a drop was supposed to come out, so we were pretty freaked out thinking that we had gotten a defective pen or something. We still went on and did that first injection.  I felt nothing during, or after the injection, I was worried that maybe no medicine had come out, the shot just seemed too easy. The next night, we made note of where the medicine was in the pen to see if the remaining amount decreased, and it did. So the pen does work, I guess we just had a random medicine fountain for our viewing pleasure that first night. That pen is somewhat confusing when you look at it and try to figure out how it works internally. I keep trying to figure out where the medicine that is about to be injected goes once you load the proper dose. This is some high-tech stuff we're dealing with here. ;) It is also a little hard to gauge how much is left in the pen, but it lets you know if you don't have enough left to complete a dose.  We haven't finished one yet, tonight we will either barely have enough for the dose, or we will have to start a new one.

The first few days were OK with all of the shots, but I am starting to feel a little worse each day, which is probably pretty normal. I have been feeling sore, bloated, tired, and I have also been very irritable! My husband has been extremely forgiving and kind, even though deep down he probably wants to scream. :) I was also having weird cramping, almost numbness in my legs yesterday. Luckily it was happening while I was getting my blood-work and ultrasound done so I was able to ask our nurse about it. We came to the conclusion that I was not drinking enough water, I am so so so bad at that, and right now it is crucial to be drinking lots of water. When we got home I started to drink a lot of water, I also had some Gatorade (I was told that can help too.) That weird leg pain has gone away luckily, but it does go to show how important it is to stay hydrated!

So onto the follicle update...Yesterday went well, everything is progressing how it should at this point in time. The nurse counted 26 follicles, 14 on the left, and 12 on the right. They are all about the same size, which is really good.  They kept my meds the same, 1 vial of Menopur in the A.M. & 75 units of Gonal-F, along with 1 Dexamethasone in the P.M. We didn't have to go in this morning for the blood-work and ultrasound since things looked good yesterday, but starting tomorrow morning we will be going in every day.  We should be starting the Cetrotide any day now as well.  This medicine is used to prevent a premature LH surge that would cause the eggs to be released without them maturing enough. 

It was really nice to be able to see all of my little follicles growing on the monitor, it made it feel more real, like all of these shots are actually doing something. Things are a little rough for me right now just with how I am feeling, but I know that it is all worth it! We are about halfway through the retrieval process, and I am so thankful for that. I am excited that everything is coming along, but I cannot wait for the retrieval to just be over!

Hopefully when we go in tomorrow things will still be progressing nicely.

XOXO