Well after a week of stim injections ( and I have to admit I've become rather attached to my injection pen ... it's absolutely true that you become completely used to injecting yourself very very quickly ) it was time for my first stim scan. This was to see how many ( if any ) folicules I have managed to grow.
I was quite pleased to discover that I have around 7 follies ... this is a fairly average number for my age I think. A lot of people get between 10 and 20 and I even heard of one person who got 40 but a lot of people also only get 3 or 4 ... so I'm happy with my 7 for now! Maybe round two they would up the med's to get a higher number. One thing I'm learning about IVF is that in general the first attempt is largely an experiment. The dr's don't know how you are going to respond until you start so on cycle two or three of IVF they have a much better idea of how your body will respond to the drugs and can alter the doses and protocol accordingly. They say there is a 1 in 3 chance of IVF working, so if we do it three times we should hit baby bingo. Unfortunatley it's a grueling process for the female body and I'm starting to wonder if I have the strength to do it three times, even with such an amazing prize at the end.
After the scan I was told to continue with my injection pen AND a new injection in the morning and a different second injection everynight ... so I am now injecting myself 3 times a day! Wow in a week I've gone from injecting virgin to injecting expert.
These two new injections are tricky, they are both the old style syringe types which are pretty hard to manouver with one hand. The night time one is even more difficult as it consists of two glass vials which need to be broken and mixed with a long needle, before transfering to a short needle for the actual injection. While attempting this last night I pricked my finger.
The syringe needles hurt a lot more going in than the pen needle, they seem blunter and wider ... nice! Pushing the liquid in rather than pushing a button is also harder ... I now realise how wonderful my lovely injection pen is! Today I feel like a pin cushion. I used to be able to see the injection spots on my tummy, now my tummy is just a mass of spots and I can't remember where I've injected anymore! The skin on my tummy hurts this morning where I've used the syringe ... I'm presuming this is internal bruising as I can't see anything on the skin, but my word it's tender underneath!
This is the reality of IVF! It's not difficult, but it's time consuming and it's uncomfortable and after a week or so you start to feel like a lab experiment. Half the injections have to be kept in the frigde and taken at particular times so you can't always go out when you want and the whole thing is fiddly and if you don't like needles quite frightening ... then there's the physical symptoms. I've been lucky as I've been stiming for 7 days now without too many physical symptoms but I'm starting to get bloated now and I'm constantly worried about my thyriod being affected.
Don't get me wrong I chose to do this and I'm glad I did, but if you are considering IVF it's important you know what you are letting yourself in for!
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IVF AND FERTILITY IN SPAIN
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