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.

Lovin Lovenex!

Yeah right! More drugs came in the mail today. First off I must say how much I love our insurance- I paid a whopping $50 for all my Lovenex and my Luveris- they are both very expensive drugs and I am very grateful to have insurance coverage for all of it.
But can I say the Lovenex injections are kinda scaring me. They look like little guns-at least they are small needles- and they are sub q shots- so they go in the belly. I just keep hearing how bad the medicine hurts. I will do whatever it takes to get pregnant and carry our child to term, so this really isn't not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but goodness how much does one person have to go through to have a baby. Not only do I have to go through IVF, but I have to shoot myself up with drugs on a daily basis. Poor John thank god I don't have to ask him to give me my shots for me, because he can't even stand to be in the room when I do it. I think it's more he feels bad for me because all he has to do is jizz in a cup.

This is my first time with the Lovenex and I really hope this change helps things, I keep hearing how good it is to have the medicine before you get pregnant when you have the clotting disorder I have. So here's to the lovin the Lovenex and may it do its job!

MOTHER F**CKER

Made you look! HAHA! Just kidding, not I did not just swear at you, its actually a gene mutation that I have. MTHFR, looks a lot like Mother F**cker doesn't it? The long name is Methlyenetetrahydrifikate reductace (MTHFR) and it is a key enzyme in the metabolism of homocystine. Mutation sin the MTHFR gene have been reported as causes of hyperhomcysteinemia. The most common MTHFR mutation , C^&&T, is present in homozygous state in 5-10% of the general Caucasian population. Homozygous individuals are predisposed to developing hyperhomocysteinemia, particularly when deficient in foliate. I am oh so lucky to have this gene mutation. Which means that I have be on extra high doses of folic acid (5 times what the normal person takes) in order to protect my body and my baby. Folic acid helps to form the spine in the fetus, so not having enough folic acid could cause birth defects. I also will have to be on blood thinner once pregnancy is confirmed, via blood test. The blood thinner that is most frequently used is Lovenex, and it is an injectible medication. So needless to say, after shooting up for weeks prior to IVF, I will be shooting up for 40 weeks while pregnant. Not that I mind, if I had to take 100 shots a day to protect my child I would do it.

Having this gene mutation puts me at higher risk for developing blood clots and therefore late 2nd and 3rd trimester miscarriages. So the blood thinners are key in me having a successful pregnancy. There are a lot of horror stories on the Internet, however the thing to remember is that these horror stories are from people who did not know that they have the mutation, so knowing that I have this is very important in combating it. My doctor has been all over this and has been very proactive in treating my mutation.

I think what is so hard about this is that I will never have a easy pregnancy that is stress free. Not only have I had to jump through hoops to get pregnant- but once pregnant I will have to be seen by a high risk OBGYN, and seen almost weekly to make sure that they baby is okay. In a way I am happy because I will get lots of extra attention. This also makes me feel like this is it- with all my issues we may not be doing this again, this is where my hopes of having twins come in- my body may not be able to have another child after this. I don't want to worry about that right now, my goal at this time is to walk away with a healthy baby, if it's more then one then that's a bonus.

I really had to push to have the blood tests done that caught my gene mutation, and without this information I could have had one devastating miscarriage after another. So I really want women out there to be your own advocate, and talk to your doctor, especially if you have been suffering from miscarriages demand to have the repeat pregnancy loss blood panel done. It may answer all your questions.
Don't stop asking questions and demand answers, this is your body and your baby you are fighting for.