I like Benadryl

Well I think I found a way to help the big red sore itchy reaction to the repronex. I took Benadryl and lots of ice yesterday and today the reaction is less. YAY!

The thing is that Benadryl has the same ingredient as unisom a sleep aid. The pharmacist said it would make me sleepy and wow is it ever true. I took 2 at 5:30 and went to church at 7 the other day. I was literally struggling to keep my eyes open and the whole thing was about rest. I would have gone home to sleep except I had something to do after. By about 10:00 I felt ok again. Yesterday I went to sleep at 8:30...well I'm going to be really fun on our trip! Ah well better than the itchy welts. Only about 8 more days of these injections.

Well I'm off to the lab soon to check how things are progressing and see if I need to start a third injectable med tomorrow. Then back home to do laundry and pack up for the trip tomorrow. Poor Monty has no idea his world is going to change tomorrow...he's off to 17 days at the kennel!

I'm off to see the ocean!

Getting sort of better

Well day two of injections went better. I was more confident and figured out a bit better way of doing things. It took less time too and I still had a supportive friend there which was great. I am also having a reaction to one of the meds though. From Monday's injection I still have a large red area all around the injection site and it still hurts to touch it two days later. I asked the clinic about it and they got back to me just after yesterdays injection saying it's common and to try taking benadryl beforehand and using ice. I did lots of ice yesterday and the reaction from yesterday seems less red/sore but still there. I'll do benadryl today. They said if it gets worse they may have to switch me to a different med. I don't really want that because I have a whole supply of a very expensive medication and what happens if I need to switch? Hoping and praying these reactions fade away. Otherwise I'm going to start running out of places to inject. Hmmm starting to think there are more fun ways to conceive! Ah well fun is over rated anyways...this is an adventure right?

Who's afraid of needles??

I AM!

Well I have successfully given myself two injections today. It was harder than I thought. When I go for bloodwork at the lab I never watch, that works great there but when I'm the one sticking the needle in I have to watch! It was all good until the moment I had to do the first injection. It took a while to work up to doing it...I'd start to do it and when the needle hit my skin I'd back out. Soo then there were several spots of blood where I kept starting and stoping. But hey I did it! The medication that came in a pen was alright, I think I can do that one again. The other one that needed to be mixed and given with the syringe actually hurt a fair bit after...maybe it's normal for that med?

I was very glad to have a friend there for support...I don't think I could have done it alone! Well no more needles til tomorrow...I'm sure it gets easier and hey I did it!

Should I?

Hubby doesn't want me to get excited thinking the IVF might work for us. I get it he doesn't want me to be excited because he doesn't want me to be disappointed if it doesn't succeed. I know it may not but on the other hand this is the best chance to conceive we've had and I am excited at the possibility of success. If it fails yes I will be very disappointed but hey I'm pretty experienced at that so I guess it's a risk I'm willing to take.

We also talked about what we will do if it fails. If we have frozen embryos we will go back and transfer them because well they are our embryos and also a frozen embryo transfer (FET) is much easier and less costly than a whole fresh IVF cycle. I'm not sure if we would do another fresh IVF cycle or just give up. Hubby thought kidnapping some children would be another good option...he was kidding of course! He suggested his little nephew would be a good prospect :) I dunno, his sister might notice if he was gone!

Anyways at this point I'm just trusting God through each step and I am excited! Dear hubby has his own perspective and I understand it too.

I'm ready!

I did my bloodwork today to make sure I'm suppressed and ready for the heavy duty meds. I got the results and I'm good to go for injections on Monday. I decided I better check out the box of meds and make sure I know what I'm doing. Well at first I could not find the needles for one of the meds so I called the clinic and figured out it was in the box with the DVD...ahh ok I should have known that. Then I called back with another question and now I think I'm good. I'm ready...I actually want to start the injections and get this all going! At least I think I do. No seriously I feel good about all this and I think I can do it.

Every time I go to the lab with my requisition from the doctor in BC I get asked if I live in Victoria...nope. We chose to go to the Victoria Fertility Centre because it has an amazing reputation. Well I never ever thought I'd be doing this but bring on the IVF!

Done!

No more birth control pills! If anyone's wondering why I'm taking birth control pills while wanting to get pregnant...no worries I'm not crazy. I'm only taking them for the few weeks pre-IVF at specialists direction to be able to control the timing of the treatment.


I get my IVF meds in the mail directly from my clinic and I get the rest of my meds at the local pharmacy. Every time I go in for refills they kindly let me know that I have lots of refills left on the birth control pills and do I need anymore. It would be funny if next time I can say 'no I don't need them...I'm pregnant...I only take birth control pills while trying to get pregnant and it worked so I don't need anymore thanks!"

Well our trip is all booked. We leave next Saturday. Monty is booked for his vacation at the kennel and we get to drive through the mountains on to BC. I can't imagine that in a month I could be pregnant. I want to be hopeful and excited but I'm kinda scared to deal with the crash of a negative. The bible is so true "hope deferred makes the heart sick BUT when the longing is fulfilled it is a tree of life" I so hope this works out.

So close!

Well only two more days of taking birth control pills then bloodwork on Friday to make sure I'm good to start injections next Monday. Ahhh we're really doing this! It's pretty hilarious to be taking birth control pills and prenatal vitamins at the same time but hey it's all for good reason.
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