All the Shots

My last post was “All the Doctor’s Appointments” because at the time we had an appointment every day. Now I’m taking a lot of shots and a lot of different kinds of shots. Let me back up and start at the beginning, at the ultrasound yesterday we saw that I had 4 excellent and growing follicles and a couple more smaller ones that probably wouldn’t be ready in time for the IUI, but that’s ok. Dr. Amols said we have a 5% chance of having triplets with the 4 eggs, but since we haven’t been getting pregnant with 2 follicles he isn’t super concerned. To keep me from spontaneously ovulating (they are that close!) he prescribed me Cetrotide which inhibits my own production of the ovulating hormone so we have more control over when I ovulate. I also did a shot of 75 mL of Gonal F (the follicle stimulating medication) at the doctor’s office before I went to work. I took the Cetrotide yesterday evening and will be doing the trigger shot tonight so we can do the IUI on Saturday morning. The Cetrotide injection was a bit daunting, only because I had to mix the medication with sterile water myself rather than having a ready to inject medication. The Cetrotide degrades the longer it is hydrated so it can’t be stored that way. It was quite an adventure trying to gently shake the vial to thoroughly mix the medication but not form any bubbles because injecting air bubbles can be a bad thing (and with this shot it is). I also had to figure out how to get the now liquid medication back up into the syringe. This isn’t as easy as you might think from watching TV. The stopper that kept the vial air tight before I was ready to mix the medication went past the neck of the vial, so I couldn’t just turn the vial upside-down with the needle in it and draw it out. I also needed every bit of medication in the vial. I found that by tipping it to the side and then angling the needle so it was in the very corner on the bottom of the vial I was finally able to get all of the medication drawn up. I was so nervous I was going to pull the plunger too hard and spray the medication out of the top of the syringe. The trigger shot is thankfully premixed so that won’t be an adventure tonight. I am very excited about this IUI, we have 4 good eggs and a possible couple of more just for insurance. I truly feel we have a good chance at getting those 2 pink lines this month. I’m also grateful that we are able to do the IUI on Saturday because Matthew and I both already have that day off.

In non-fertility related news (I’ve told some people but not everyone) we got a new dog! Ok, it’s been a little over a month, but I haven’t thought about putting it in here until now. She is another Australian Cattle Dog mix, but we aren’t sure what else is in her. We decided to name her Shenzi after the hyena in the Lion King because there are times where she will look at us and she looks like the character, there are also times her whine sounds like a hyena laughing. Raiden absolutely adores her and they play really well together.

Thank you all for all of your support and prayers through out this journey. I am praying we have some good news for you all in the next coming months 🙂