Pulling the Trigger

A ton has happened since I last posted.  I had blood work and ultrasound appointments on both Friday and Saturday.  You know it's getting close when they make you come in everyday.  As you know, they had just decreased my dosages of medication to make sure things didn't progress too quickly.  Unfortunately, that slowed things down so much that it pushed back the schedule.  On Friday, my estrogen level was 2, 470 which is not quite double what it was on Wednesday.  (Double is the mark they are trying to hit every 48 hours.)  At the Friday appointment, the nurse let me know that they would probably have me taking stimulation medications for a few days longer than they originally thought.

Being the planner that I am, hearing that we were deviating from the initial plan really upset me.  Having unnatural quantities of hormones floating in my body also probably contributed to my overreaction.  I basically pouted the whole way home, but that wasn't the bad part.  My first official IVF meltdown came that night when I was giving myself the "big" shot.  As per usual, it hurt as I was starting to put in the needle, so I proceeded to pull out the needle, kick my flip flops to the ceiling, yell a few choice profanities, and heave the needle across the kitchen.  After that, I melted into a puddle of tears.

I think what upset me the most is that I had originally thought I only had one more day of shots left and then was told that I had to keep doing this for an undetermined amount of days.  There was no light at the end of the tunnel anymore.  They shut it out.  Lame.  I did eventually scrape myself off of the kitchen floor, pull down my big girl panties, and give myself the shot.  But all of the accolades I had given myself thus far about keeping my cool through the process melted into oblivion.

The next morning, I went back in for my blood work and ultrasound and was given the same vague "a few more days" answer when I asked about the schedule.  Not only that, but they added another shot to my daily routine.  Yes, that's right, more shots.  Ugh.  Fortunately, that afternoon when they called to tell me the results of my blood work, they also told me that Sunday night (that's tonight) I was to take the "trigger" shot.

The trigger shot is taken exactly 36 hours prior to the egg retrieval.  That means that the end is in sight.  Finally.  I'm so tired of being bloated and feeling full all of the time.  I'm ready to get these eggs out.  Basically, the shot triggers the oocytes to go through final maturation to prepare them for retrieval.  I am scheduled to take the shot at 11:00 pm Mountain time.  This is the last and largest shot of them all.  I've made it!!!

I go in tomorrow morning for blood work to make sure the shot took properly, then I go in at 9:15 on Tuesday morning for my egg retrieval.  After that, they fertilize the eggs and we watch the embryos grow until it's time to put them back in.  Almost there.  Can't wait to have a munchkin of our own.  Here's praying!

Practicing baby-holding with our niece the day she was born.