Up to now, Matthew has been quite happy watching me inject myself with the meds. Ok maybe not happy...but he was perfectly fine with not having any part in it. Even in my last IUI cycle, he watched as I gave myself the injection, night after night. He always told me he didn't think that he could do that to me, hurt me and stick a needle into me, which I found thoughtful and endearing. The problem is, in a couple of weeks he doesn't have a choice. After our retrieval the Progesterone shots (PIO) that I will have to be given need to be done in my rear end. I don't even want to consider attempting to reach back there with a 2 1/2 in long needle and try to get it in the right spot! Matthew has known for a long time that he will be the person giving me these shots, but that hasn't made him any less nervous.
Last weekend I decided the best way for him to become more comfortable with the PIO is to start practicing with smaller injections. The feel is a little different, since the shots right now are subcutaneous (under the skin) and not intramuscular, but it's a start. I showed him how to sterilize everything, draw up the medicine, and get read for the injection. Now even though he knows how to do all the prep, I still do it all. It's one of those control things ya know... ;o) Once I have everything ready I hand him the syringe, (He found out the hard way that you NEVER set the syringe down until the injection is given.) I sit on the toilet, pinch my skin and he sticks. We were both pleasantly surprised at how well he did the first time!
His confidence is definitely building. He's not nearly as nervous any more. Like most things, it's the fear of the unknown and the anticipation that's worse than the actual event. I am glad that he's agreed to do them for me. While I can do them on my own, it's actually less painful if he does them for me. It allows me to pinch more skin and pinch harder, resulting in a painless injection. I think it's also helping him feel a little more involved in the whole process. Men tend to feel like nothing more than a sperm factory when going through infertility treatments. I can't say that I blame them. There really isn't anything else that they can really do besides provide moral support, so it's nice that he's been able to give me the injection. It's more of a combined effort now, and not just me!
Yey for you Pam! I think I'm alot like you too...I am all about being in control and doing it on my own whenever I can. I think it's partly because my husband has alot going on with work as well...possible job changes too and so I don't want to give him more responsibility than is necessary if I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself...but you're right it's good to include them and also prep them as I know my DH will have to give me the Novarel injection..but my RE told me to do the Progesterone injections in my thigh so...we will see how this all plays out... Hooray for you and I can't wait to hear all of your updates!
ReplyDeleteYay for Matthew giving you the shots! I always liked that dh has wanted to give them, as you said - it gives me more ability to pinch my fat harder so the shot is virtually painless. :) Hope things are still going good. Only 1 more week left and then comes the real baby making days. And unfortunately it also means that the bigger shot is coming. But I'm sure you'll do fine.
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