So in my first post I explained what cycles we had done. All of them were IUI which is just insemination, now I say that like... oh it is no big deal. That is because now to me it just isn't a big deal. I went through it too many times for it to be anything but normal. Let me outline the steps of an IUI.
- Ultrasound (inter-vaginal) to determine what ovaries and uterus look like.
- Start medication to develop follicles that carry eggs (hopefully)
- Few days (7ish) with medication and then another ultrasound to see how the follicles are doing.
- If all is good plan either another ultrasound or the IUI.
- Get and HCG injection to release the eggs.
- Send Hubby in to give sample. (You know what I mean)
- Go in and have "washed" sample placed.
- Wait 2 weeks and take a test. If the test is negative and you don't start your period you get to have a blood test to confirm.
I should have counted how long each of my cycles where but when I said you take meds for 7ish days that is for the "normal" person. I regularly was taking medications for 15-21 days. So my cycles were much longer than most.
As most people do, we started with clomid which is an oral medication just like your daily vitamin. We moved onto injection medications pretty quickly because my body was having a hard time reacting to the clomid. So what does injections mean? Well honestly it means a lot of mail ordered medications. The first injection was a pen. You pick the dosage and grab some belly fat and inject! No problem. It was so easy. However that only lasted once cycle then we moved onto my dear and close friend Menopur.
Ah yes good old Menopur. So each of these boxes contains 5 menopur powder vials and liquid mix. You have to mix the liquid and powder each time. The good news is that if your dose of menopur is all 5 vials of powder you can use just one bottle of liquid. Oh thank god. If not, it would be five different shots... I have been on 5 vials, and i would not be thrilled to have had 5 shots a night. Menopur is put into the upper butt area, so giving them to myself was a no go. Jeff and a few friends are the lucky ones to help with this.
The menopur is part of my shot work station. Wanna see the rest??? Oh good I knew you would.
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| Supplies unopened so far. |
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| More things waiting... yes with my salt and pepper shaker and tea pot. |
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| The bowl of Needles, alcohol wipes, and gauze |
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| Sharps container for used needles |
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| syringes in a nice vase and medication |
So let me explain some things. Syringes come with needles on them right? Right. However they are a huge ouchy gauge you don't want to put in you butt every day. So that is why there is a bowl of needles. Just as long (which is long) but a smaller gauge (smaller whole in the butt). Sharps container for the needles and syringes after use. The meds shown are 2 sets of menopur vials, progesterone in oil (another shot), and HCG (in the box but a shot).
Ok so now you can see what one cycle entails. It isn't all fun and games trying to make a baby people. It is shots in the butt! How many you ask? Well lets see here...... longest cycle was about 21 menopur shots, 14 progesterone shots, and one HCG shot. That is 36 shots in 37 days. Then you get about 7-10 days free before you start all over. Assuming it didn't work.
What does that equal?
I fill the containers so that they are full and I can't fit one more thing. So here is a pretty empty one... my current one. Here are the full ones.
Yep.... four filled to top ready to bust containers... that is a lot of needles. Well over 100.
The last thing my shot station has?
The carrying case. You don't want to walk around with people knowing you have needles in your purse. It just isn't smart. So I carry them in a sunglasses case with RX in my purse always.
So now I have some meds ready for IVF time but it isn't everything. There will be much much more. I think that is a good quick look at the process of IUI.
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