IVF, Stage 2

We're moving on to the second stage in the IVF. (Stage designations are my own). On Tuesday, I met with Julie, the RN in charge of our case. She looked at my ovaries and measured the lining of my uterus. After a blood pregnancy test, we were cleared to start stimulating the follicles.

Tonight I injected myself with three drugs. A lower dose of the Lupron (to keep my ovaries shielded from any hormones my body might make), Menopur (a mix of LH and FSH) and Follistim (FSH). I do the same amounts tomorrow night and then go in Friday morning for another ultrasound. This time we'll see if the meds are causing any changes to the follicles. Since they have been quite stubborn up to this point, I'm sending them positive thoughts about starting to grow. BUT, they need to all grow at the same rate. We need quite a few to harvest and they need to all be ready at the same time.

I'm glad to drop down on the Lupron dose. I didn't think I was feeling any side affects until about Sunday afternoon. Since then I've been tired, having trouble sleeping and my brain has been fuzzy at work. This isn't my stress insomnia, just more like I keep waking up and can tell I'm not sleeping very deeply. Some pretty good headaches, too, but difficult to tell it those are the drug or allergies. I'm also pretty emotional. I won't let the radio stop on a country stations because, invariably I find my self welling up at some tear-jerker of a song. I've been listening to CDs because even NPR is sometime too much -- I don't want to cry all the way to work!

After meeting with Julie, I had emotions that ranged all over the scale -- excitement to finally be moving on to this point, fear that it won't work, fear that it will and, of course, fear of needles. I'm still dreading the big ones that will have to go in my butt.

The only fly in the ointment is that we don't know exactly when we'll get to the egg retrieval stage, but it will be sometime right around Memorial Day weekend. The nurse said not to plan on going anywhere that weekend, which screws up plans to go to Ohio for the shower/picnic we're throwing for Josh and Allison. Bummer! I'm not counting it out yet, we'll have to see how it looks in the ultrasounds on Friday and next week.