Saturday, July 30, 2011

Lupron, 10 Units... Done!

I set my alarm to wake me at 5:30 a.m.  Hit snooze once because I needed just 10 more minutes to get my mind prepared.  But I got up, got my Lupron, syringe, and 2 alcohol preps and got to work.  I used one prep to wipe the top of the Lupron bottle, then I peeled back the syringe packaging.  Stuck the needle through the cap, drew out 10 units (not at easy as I thought).  Wiped an area under my belly button and to the right.  I didn't hesitate -- I got a fatty pinch of skin in my left hand and stuck the needle in with the right.  Pushed down the plunger, waited a few seconds after that.  I then pulled out the syringe and discarded the needle in the biohazard container box that came in the FedEx shipment as part of my prescription. That's it!

Honestly, the hardest part was drawing out the 10 units of Lupron.  (All the Lupron injections will come out of this one bottle, FYI.) The syringe plunger was a bit stubborn but I tried not to let that raise my anxiety.

There's a slight, very mild burn at the injection site.  Tolerable but noticeable.  From setup to administering the shot to clean up, the whole process took me less than 5 minutes.  Helpful for when I get ready for work in the mornings; I thought my nerves would make this take a whole lot longer. Day 1, done!

Let the menopausal side effects begin...

Friday, July 29, 2011

Tomorrow's the Day

I decided to be a SMBC earlier this year and can't believe that I'm actually about to inject myself with Lupron tomorrow. Even though I was 'trained' in how to give myself injections at my doctor's office a couple weeks ago I just didn't process that I would actually be shooting myself up with fertility injectibles.

THEN three gigantic boxes were delivered by FedEx that contained all my meds: Lupron, Menopur, Bravelle, Estradiol, Doxycycline, Novarel... the reality of what I'm about to do to myself hit me and I immediately went into denial. Once the boxes were opened I just left them there on the floor until the next day. 'Overwhelmed' doesn't come close to describing what I was feeling but it's a fair start.

But I have been on BCP for three months and after wrapping my brain around this leap I made I told myself, this is the only way to get to the babies I have been dreaming of into my actual life.

I had my baseline ultrasound yesterday, finally get off BCP on Monday, go back for another ultrasound in less than 2 weeks, egg retrieval and transfer some time after that, God willing!

Got my act together and began to open all these boxes and get everything unpacked and sorted. Got the injection instructions out and reviewed them. Got on Youtube and found some great videos that walked me through how to give myself the injections. Began this blog that I hope will help me process all my feelings about this exciting, extraordinary, lonely, blessed journey.

I got this... tomorrow morning I'm going to give myself my very first Lupron shot!