Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Stim Update

This morning was Day 5 of the stims. Overall, I've been really blessed.

I do have some side effects, and for some strange reason, they seem to be the worst right around 5pm. Perhaps that is when the morning's dose makes it into the bloodstream? It's strange, but that’s when I feel most crampy and nauseous. The worse night by far was Sunday, and the rest have been a lot better.

When I read other blogs about this process, many people talked about Follistim injections causing stomach bruising. I expected this to happen to me, as I tend to bruise easily. Surprisingly, I am on day 5 and I have no bruising, just little red dots. More about those in another post. ;)

All in all, I have no complaints. I was able go to work and pretty much continue with life as usual. Besides the dull cramping, I do have lots of quick, sharp cramps and twinges in my abdomen. Tomorrow, I do injection number six. Then I have my next ultrasound immediately afterward.

I am excited to see what's going on in there. We are hoping for a couple nice, mature eggs and a good lining. What are we not hoping for? Too many mature eggs. Any more than 4, and I'm thinking we'll need to cancel the cycle. Which would be tragic, emotionally and financially. We opted for a very low dose, so hopefully we'll avoid that situation.

In the meantime, I snapped a couple pics of the Follistim. I did this for a couple reasons. First, I thought it would we interesting to look back on this process someday. And secondly, I had a hard time finding the process and pictures online when I was researching this treatment option. So, on that note, enjoy!

Most of the equiptment: The injection "pen", needles, alcohol swabs, sharps container... it's a party!

Regarding the process, it is quite easy. First, take the medicine out of the fridge and allow to come to room tempurature. Load the vial into the pen. Wipe down the end of the pen and your tummy with the alcohol swab. Attach a new needle. Spin the dial at the top of the pen to the required dose. Inject the needle into your abdoman and press down on the dial slowly. Then keep the needle in the skin for about 5 seconds. Pull the needle out, recap it and dispose in the sharps container.

And this is the tiny needle that put me into a sweat on Day 1. What a baby, huh? :) I'm pretty much used to it now.

2 comments:

Hillary said...

So glad things are going pretty smoothly! I love how easy the Follistim pen is to use :) You're doing great!

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Amy Nielson said...

You aren't a baby! I would of had anxiety about it too.

FAITH IN GOD MEANS HAVING FAITH IN HIS TIMING.