... We decided no secrets, and if anyone asked we would be honest; "Yes we're doing IVF".
Somehow you never think you will be that percentage and that statistic. I mean you spend so long, trying not to fall pregnant, that when you want to fall pregnant you'd think it would just happen. You know what I mean, like in the movies and how everyone around you just look at eachother and bam they pregnant.
Nope not quite the case for me.
So fast forward and I am 31 years old and waiting in the Dr's room for my first appointment at Vitalab. The Gynae had said it was the best suggestion to go to Vitalab to get a full understanding of how my womanly parts were functioning or not functioning in my case.
I truly was completely naive to the entire concept and even went to the first appointment on my own. With only a few minutes into the appointment and a scan the Dr was almost 99% sure I had what is referred to as Early Ovarian Aging which basically means I have the eggs of a woman in their late 40's not quite the ideal age you'd be hoping to work with to start a family.
So with all this new information, with more bloods and thorough tests - we needed to do IVF and we needed to start ASAP if we wanted any hopes of having a child. The Dr still sat us down and made us aware that we could probably only have this one chance. He asked if we were OK to only have one child before we went down this road... one child? Sure, one child is plenty.
So... you would think starting IVF this strangely taboo daunting process would've completely freaked me out and somehow I felt calm and ready to tackle it. I empowered myself by reading as many blogs of woman who had gone through the process and I made sure I could anticipate anything that came my way. If I'm being honest, the most difficult part of the IVF process for me was having patience, every step and any new meds you have to take is so calculated and takes so much time.
So the time officially came and I needed to start my first set of medication which was the pill, now that I can do. Take a tiny little tablet each day, same time - tick, I got that.
So a month on the pill comes and goes, and its now time to start the injections. I know I am going to sound completely crazy but I was so excited. I was so relieved and so looking forward to finally be doing something to get my body ready to make the perfect little eggs. I went and bought my first round of shots and got myself prepared and ready.
The very first injection I had to do, I went to Vitalab and saw the nurse who showed me how to inject it into my tummy. Its really not bad these needles were so tiny so you hardly feel the prick. You just gotta grab a nice piece of fat to the left or the right of your belly button (alternating sides is also recommended so if you do get tender your one side has a breather for a day) and push the magic liquid in. I remember being so careful to alternate sides but in my mind it was to make sure the eggs on each side had an equally fighting chance.
I also preferred to do the injections myself. I know a lot of people who preferred to have someone else do the shots for them. For me I needed to be in control of this because I could control how fast or slow the needle went in and pushing in the liquid.
Once the first stage of Lucrin (my first injections) was done it was time for the more complicated shots. Again I know I sound totally wack but this is when I really got excited. I was finally on the really strong and powerful stuff, the stuff that would really get those eggs growing.
Once I got all the meds together I made sure that each night before I had to inject myself I would prep my area and get everything ready. This really helped me to stay focused and not let the unknown affect me. I was just focusing on how this magic liquid was going to take my old little eggs and give them a serious makeover.
This was my evening prep:
Syringe
Menopur (the next set of injections)
Alcohol swab
Ice pack
Hot water bottle (that happens to be a comfy bunny)
These were a lot trickier to get ready, only because you had to break the tiny little water vile and suck up the water in the syringe then pierce the syringe into the smaller vile with the blue lid, pour the water in, dissolve the tablet and then repeat on each one.
I still remember I was trying to remove an air bubble and pulled the syringe the wrong direction and it started pouring out the top - I was so devastated and started crying because I was so worried I wasn't going to have enough of the 'goodness' to inject and I wouldn't give the eggs a fighting chance.
I read in another blog that I had found that the hot water bottle can really give you so much comfort. So I bought myself a really cute little one that made the process a little easier. These injections used to hurt quite a bit and used to burn so I always applied the ice pack just before and then after sat with the hot water bottle and a nice cup of tea and that really seemed to soothe the area and me.
I definitely think I was one of the lucky ones. My moods and hormones weren't effected and the injections and meds didn't bother me. I felt like I was actively contributing to the whole process. For me I really needed to feel like I was doing something because I knew it was my ovaries that were the problem and wanted to really feel like I was doing everything I could.
(Part 2 in the link below)
https://twinmammabear.wixsite.com/mammabearlove/post/my-ivf-journey-part-2