10-5-2012 - Shootin' Up

My mood while writing this blog: Ok

Well the day has come (and passed actually, since I started on Tuesday), and I'm offically now an injectable fertility drug user. Right now I'm taking daily injections of Lupron while I finish up my month of birth control, and will add in Follistim once I get my period. While I'm on the Follistim I have to go to the fertility clinic every other day or so to have ultrasounds and bloodwork. I guess they watch to see how your follicles are coming along and to tell you how much of a dose to take that night. Once I have a few good follicles (Hopefully a few! So far I've only ever had one, and I need every possible chance for this to work, even if it means multiples), I'll take another injection to trigger ovulation and then have IUI's on two consecutive mornings to increase the odds of success.

The good news? Insurance continues to cover all of my blood work and ultrasounds, leaving us to pay only for the medications and the IUI's, which is about half of what we were expecting to pay. The bad news? It's still super expensive, a few thousand dollars for this cycle.

So far, so good. I took an "injection class" on Tuesday to learn how to measure the proper doses and administer all of the different medicines. It made me laugh to go to a class to learn how to shoot myself up with drugs! I've had a few side effects to the Lupron so far-- feeling a little jittery (although that could be my normal, run of the mill anxiety!) and last night I woke up in a sweat and was SO HOT! The clinic told me to expect bloating and increased emotionality, both of which are the last things I need :) We'll see. Either way, if it works it will totally be worth it!