We would be starting IVF for the first time.
I had no knowledge of what we were getting involved in, but thank God I was assigned an IVF coordinator who guided us through the entire process. I couldn’t have thanked her enough! (Let’s call her Jen).
I had my baseline appointment on January 2nd, 2021. I was extremely grateful that my Husband was available for every step during this process, as my anxiety was sky high. The baseline appointment consisted of an ultrasound to ensure that I was not pregnant or had any grown follicles (eggs).
I was informed that I had a small cyst on one of my ovaries, and they required blood work to determine that my hormone levels were in the average range before continuing. My bloodwork came back in the normal range and we were given the green light to start our STIM MEDS (a stimulant drug) the following day. If you’re interested in more information, please checkout this link.
We returned to the doctor’s office that same evening and met with Jen to proceed with our next steps as we were utterly clueless. Jen printed us a calendar. The calendar consisted of dates for when certain medications would be taken, and the days I would need blood work and ultrasounds.
She helped me order my meds and informed me of a finance program as we couldn’t afford this process out of pocket. She then continued to demonstrate how the injections would be done. We even asked her if we could record her just in case we would forget the process, and she said yes! My Husband became a pro while I sat back stared at them practice with needles he would be injecting in me every night for 11 days.
When we returned home, I taped the calendar on the refrigerator with a sticky note that read, “we are going to get pregnant!”. I counted down the hours until my first injection.
The following day we received a telephone call from Jen at 7pm, who insisted we complete the first day of injections with her on facetime, which was so sweet of her to take the time out of her day to do. Our medications consisted of Follistim (which helps stimulate healthy ovaries to produce eggs) and 2 vials of Menopur (to multiply follicles), and a tablet of Letrozole (help induce ovulation) daily.
There I was, once again staring at my Husband mixing these medications together to inject into my stomach. It was time for my first injection!! I could feel the adrenaline rushing causing my heart to race; I was hit with an instant wave of nausea and dizziness. I almost fainted, but I did it!
On day 5, I returned to the clinic for my second ultrasound and blood work appointment. My body was responding appropriately to the medications. On day 11, I was informed that we would be moving forward with the “trigger shot.” Trigger day dictates the exact time your egg retrieval will be in 36 hours.
January 14th was egg retrieval day!
My retrieval was done at my doctor’s office, which was the first time I had ever been put to sleep. At the same time, my Husband had to produce a semen sample, and due to his antibodies in his semen, he was requested to return a second time. This was the time we’re the embryologist, created the embryos. Then we waited! We waited to see if any eggs were fertilized. The days after my egg retrieval were painful! I was bloated, crampy and generally felt like crap but it was worth it after finding out our news.
