Day 2 of Lovenex Injections

I could barely sleep on Sunday night because I was so terrified of my first Lovenex injection that I had to give myself on Monday morning. Well, much to my surprise it was super easy. Its a sub q injection- so it's given in the belly- where the fat is, and its a small needle. It doesn't burn, but it does sting a little when it's done, but nothing that I could not handle. I watched a video on youtube, which totally freaked me out- the girl in the video stated that to avoid bruising you should put the needle in very slowly, not pinch the skin and inject the medicine very slowly.

I have to disagree with the video- I say pinch the fat- hold the needle like a dart and go for it and inject. The syringes are prefilled and they have a very springy plunger- s it's very easy to inject quickly. I say screw the bruises- who cares if you get a bruise- it's your belly.

I was seriously so upset for no reason, they were a piece of cake. I will have no problem doing these shots for 9 months- hey if it gives us a healthy baby, I will do anything.

First comes Love, then marriage, and a baby carriage? Not in my world!

I remember that song- it made everything seem so easy. You fall in love, get married, throw out the birth control pills and 9 months later you bring home your little bundle of joy. But wait, no where in that song did it talk about IVF, daily shots, lots of doctors, and pain and sadness. Well, that is my world, welcome to the world of infertility.

This has been a long journey, about 2 years to be exact, and throughout those 24 months of pain, tears, and sadness John and I have stayed pretty close and never really let it get to us and our relationship. Lots of couples that deal with infertility end up divorced or in marriage counseling. I even know couples who have a baby and then divorce, that seems like such a waste to me. I guess I feel like if you can overcome infertility you can overcome anything in marriage. Now that is not to say that John and I have not had our share of arguments over this- but pretty much we share the same ideas- we will go to the ends of the earth to have a baby- now after #1 I don't think we are so sure. I will do whatever it takes to have one, after that its in God's hands- I don't know if I would ever do this again, it's a lot to handle.

I know this journey will end one day, and there will be a baby at the end, I consider that my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Nothing lasts forever- somehow someway we will overcome this.

I feel like a druggie!

I gave myself 3, yes 3 injections today. I never thought I could do it, but really it was not that hard. I fee like a druggie- I have syringes and drugs everywhere, its crazy! I also went to acupuncture today, it was great, SO RELAXING!
I am starting to get ovary pain, they are starting to feel full, which is good, that means the drugs are working!

I go back to Dr. Littman on Friday for another ultrasound, so hopefully all is growing well!

IUI #3 is done!

This morning was what I hope will be our final IUI. I have been feeling really bad going into this cycle, I only had 3 mature follicles and I usually have more. Then this morning I got a call from John saying that he thinks he did a crappy job with his collection. So all the way to the doctors I am thinking "great they are going to cancel our cycle and all the shots were for nothing." What a great way to think, right?

But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that John had put in his best numbers so far, 20 million post wash, which is great!

So I was totally wrong. The good news is that our doctor said we can get into the March cycle for IVF, because our transfer and retrieval will be after April 1st, which is when we have our new insurance. So I was happy to hear that I don't have to wait until May for IVF. So lets keep our fingers crossed that everything goes well with the insurance, we are almost at the 30 day mark for our insurance to kick in, we are in the home stretch now!

200TH post! Sex Scheduling.

I can't believe we have hit 200 posts! How excited, so in the spirit I though I would spice it up a bit and talk about our favorite subject, SEX!

Now, as most of us know the frequency of sex drops after marriage, my husband always says that wedding cake is the anti sex drug! But its true, I think about how different our lives were when we were dating compared to our lives married. Now we have a house, a business, jobs, and other commitments. I have less time then when we were dating. I think its also a matter of taking each other for granted, I know he will be there tomorrow night, so whats the harm in pushing it off a night? Its bad and I am not proud, but sex does take a back seat to all the other commitments that come with marriage.

Now, throw dealing with infertility into the mix and talk about having no sex life!
Trying to have a baby without having any problems definitely leads to sex on a schedule, however when you have the added stress of infertility sex is even more on a schedule and when you get to a certain point in the infertility treatment you don't even have to have sex to get pregnant, it all happens in a doctors office with the help of a lab.

A lot of the fertility drugs cause a decrease in your sex drive, so taking the drugs that are necessary to get pregnant causes your sex drive to be almost non existent.

A study conducted at Duke University Medical Center, and presented at ASRM by Dr. Jennifer Norten, examined “sexual satisfaction and functioning in patients seeking infertility treatment.” Dr. Norten proved what many suspected, and in doing so validated our feelings. “The results of this study suggest that women undergoing infertility treatment experience significant changes in various aspects of sexual desire, arousal, orgasm, length of foreplay and frequency of intercourse.”

How can you feel sexually attractive when your body is full of hormones and bruised or sore from injections? You have to keep the lines of communication open. Talk to your partner, try and laugh about it, and when you feel up to it, try and make sex romantic.

John and I talk about and laugh about how we never have sex and when we do get pregnant John may not even be in the room. We know this is not how things are always going to be, but right now this is our reality, we want a baby more then anything and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it.

Now if you feel that sexuality or lack thereof is seriously jeopardizing your marriage, I urge you to seek seek help and support. Individual counseling and/or support groups help you realize you are not alone. Sometimes it’s nice to hear someone else sharing the same problems. That alone may be enough to get you through this trying time.

Remember this is temporary and we can do anything as long as it is temporary.

IUI #1 we are a go for launch!

I had my day 3 appt today with our fertility specialist. I had my blood drawn, yet again! I swear they are vampires over there! No, the blood really doesn't bother me, I have had so much drawn, one tube is nothing! I also had an ultrasound, which shows how my follicles are growing so they can see how my eggs are developing. Everything looked good and I was told to start my injections of Follistim. Follistim is an overpriced drug (and I am not kidding, its way expensive) that causes your body to make more follicles, therefore producing more eggs. So the more eggs there are the more targets the sperm has.
Shots don't bother me, its such a small needle, but I had myself so psyched up for the shot that I made myself sick, I literally had a stomach ache after I left the doctors office. But after about an hour I felt fine.

So, I go back to the doctor on Friday for another ultrasound. to see how my follicles are growing, I will keep you updated!