My blog began as a way to vent my frustrations surrounding our struggle with infertility. I am now ELATED that it has moved from an infertility to pregnancy blog and finally our baby blog! The scars of infertility will never fade completely, and truthfully I don't want them to. Infertility has impacted our lives in a way nothing else ever could, and I'm very grateful for all it has taught me. At some point we will probably be traveling down this road again in order to complete our family, but for now we are enjoying our amazing little guy! He's so much more perfect than we ever imagined he could be. I guess it's true what they say...good things DO come to those who wait! :o)

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Oh the calendar...

Well this morning I went back to the RE's office to meet with the IVF coordinator and get my protocol calendar. I was excited but nervous at the same time. She went through the time line with me, pointing out days I begin a new med, days that the dosage changes, etc. There is SO MUCH to remember! Thank goodness for the rainbow color coded calendar. She showed me the legal forms that have to be signed and returned, and also gave me a packet with instructions for all of the injections. Some of the injections will be super easy, others a little more difficult. She showed me how to draw the meds up into the syringe, and also showed me how to mix my Menopur, (one of the follicle stimulating drugs.) The thought of mixing the powder and solution together kind of makes me nervous. That's a lot of money to throw away if I do it wrong! Eeek! My calendar also has the tentative dates for the egg retrieval and embryo transfer!

Everything is going to happen sooner than I expected! I start my stimulation drugs (stims) next Tuesday, and my egg retrieval (ER) is potentially scheduled for the first Friday or Saturday in April! The embryo transfer (ET) is tentatively scheduled for the following Monday or Tuesday. We will know by the end of April if we're expecting or if the cycle failed. Let's hope it's NOT the latter!

This is a picture of my list of meds...it's intense!


Here is my protocol calendar. I told you it was rainbow colored! Each color block is a different med I have to take. Some are in the mornings, some in the evenings, and thankfully a few are actually oral meds! Unfortunately most are injections.


So as you can see it's all pretty intimidating. I can only imagine how much more intimidating it's going to be when I get the true IVF med box. It's pretty ginormous from what I've heard! Hopefully I hear back from the 2nd pharmacy soon so we can decide where to order the stims from. I'm anxious to have it all here so I can organize it ahead of time. I don't want to be fumbling through all of this stuff when I need it.
Posted by at

11 comments:

  1. DandelionBreezeMarch 8, 2011 at 5:57 PM

    Great to have such an organised calendar :)) I found the thought of doing the injections worse than actually doing them... once you get started, you'll be an expert in no time. Best of luck with it all xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. PamMarch 8, 2011 at 7:17 PM

    I'm not afraid of giving myself the injections, well the PIO maybe...but that's down the road. I'm more nervous about mixing the Menopur than anything. I'm sure I will be an expert by the time this is over though! Thanks for the well wishes! The calendar is nice, and I am really thankful that the doctor's office puts it together for us!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Sancken'sMarch 9, 2011 at 11:50 AM

    Wow! That is a LOT of stuff. Is the PIO the one that has to be given in the muscle? The calendar is so nice. Imagine if they didn't have that! Thanks for putting the pics up. It gives those, like us, who are contemplating doing it a chance to see what is all involved. Are you still on the BC until next Tues?

    ReplyDelete
  4. PamMarch 9, 2011 at 12:23 PM

    My last bcp is the 20th. PiO is the progesterone. It's the big IM injection. It doesn't start until around/after the retieval though, so I have a while before I need to worry about it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Sancken'sMarch 9, 2011 at 2:12 PM

    Oh, I see. Yikes. But you are right, no sense worrying until it gets closer. It'll all be worth it when you see the beautiful baby on the u/s screen in your belly! Try to think of that while you're giving yourself that shot. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. CyndiMarch 9, 2011 at 2:36 PM

    It's nice you have the calendar to keep organized! I love how you uploaded pics for us to see. Not headed down the IVF road yet but I like that I can watch your journey from the very beginning. Good luck and keep us posted!

    ReplyDelete
  7. PamMarch 9, 2011 at 3:53 PM

    Glad it's helpful Cyndi! I had a friend show me her old protocol calendars a couple of weeks ago, and it helped to see what I was going to be receiving.

    ReplyDelete
  8. LeslieGailMarch 9, 2011 at 8:05 PM

    Good luck to you! I won't be too far behind you! I'm scheduled for my ER on April 14!

    ReplyDelete
  9. LCMarch 9, 2011 at 10:46 PM

    The calendar made it so much more REAL for me. Pam - we are really doing this! I'm so glad we are ending up going through it together. I hope motherhood is in both of our very near futures!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Kim HMarch 10, 2011 at 1:21 PM

    Best of luck to you! Let me know if you have any questions or need anything... You know I'm just around the corner. :) It will go faster than you think and each day will get easier. And just think... in about 6 weeks, you should have your results! Sending +++++ thoughts your way! -Kim

    ReplyDelete
  11. PamMarch 10, 2011 at 2:07 PM

    Thanks Kim! :o)

    Me too Christie!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)