Medications List

I said I'd post the medications list after I asked some questions about them, and so, here it is. I won't know all of the precise details of my protocol until my next cycle starts, but here's the low-down:

• Desogen: These are the birth control pills. I have to take these the cycle before my IVF cycle, probably for around 12-14 days. When my next period comes, I'll call my coordinator and she'll tell me when to start them and for how long I need to take them. This is the only medication I take the cycle before the IVF.
• Gonal-f: This is the stimulation drug that stimulates me to produce lots of eggs. This is a SHOT that I have to give myself every night for about 6-12 days. I will be having ultrasounds and/or bloodtests starting on about Day 6 of the stimulation to see how my body responds, which will determine how long I keep taking this drug.
• Cetrotide: This prevents early ovulation, so I won't drop the eggs too soon. It starts on about Day 6 of the stimulation. It seems that this is also an injection. Fun, fun... Again, how long I have to take it will depend on how my body responds - monitored by ultrasounds and blood tests.
• Ovidrel: This is the trigger for ovulation, that causes the eggs to release from my ovaries. This looks like it's also a shot, however it's only a single dose. I take this 35 hours prior to my scheduled egg retrieval.
  
• Doxycycline: Just an antibiotic to prevent infection from the egg retrieval process. This at least, like the birth control pills, I'm familiar with, and it's a nice pill to just swallow instead of needles to inject. It's a very common antibiotic used for all sorts of things from urinary tract infections to surgeries. In fact, I'm on it right now since I had to take it after my HSG. I'll take it for 5 days following the egg retrieval.
• Medrol: This is a steroid that helps with implantation. At least it's just a pill! One tablet a day for 5 days.
• Promedtrium: Progesterone to help with implantation. It says it's a capsule that's placed vaginally...well I'd rather do that than have another shot. 2 capsules 3 times a day. Whew.

That's all the medications! Everyone's protocol is different, but this is what I've been told will be the plan for me. I'm so scared about giving myself shots! It's hard enough to get shots when a nurse gives them to me. I just think it's so incredible that they expect people to be able to do this by themselves! How can people do this? I can't give myself shots! I just can't! But, I can't say I can't, because I guess I have to... Next cycle I'll make an appointment with a nurse to learn how to give the shots, although I think the video and instructions from Fertility LifeLines will be more helpful. I'm really freaking out about the shots...Three different drugs are shots, two of them multiple doses. Couldn't these be given in pill form? What's the difference anyway? Is all of this really better than another miscarriage? I only had one scary test before - the CVS. Now I've got days and days of self-given shots and pills and HSGs and needles going through my vaginal wall...

Time to go do something else for while, like go for a walk...

HSG - Horizontal Scary-o-Gram

Well, I had my hystero- sonogram (HSG) today. The good news? It's OVER and done with, and everything looked great. The nurses told me, "Congratulations!" :) . However, it was certainly not an enjoyable experience. First of all, I had to go to the bathroom really bad while I was waiting, and I didn't know how long it was going to be or if I even needed a full bladder, so I decided to go. Turns out, I did need a full bladder. The nurses should have told me that before hand, though. So, when the doctor came in, he couldn't get the catheter in because he said my bladder wasn't full enough. So he left, and the nurses gave me more and more water to drink for about 15 minutes. Colllddd water. I was getting really cold in there with no pants on and all the cold water so I actually put on my coat on my top half to keep from shivering. Not a great start. When the doctor came back in, his bedside manner could have been better. He was obviously in a rush, he barely even glanced at me, and he told the nurses,"Okay, let's hurry and get this done because I have to get back upstairs.". Hmm, that made me feel special! That made me really nervous that he was going to try and rush things. Then he tilted the table really far backwards, so my legs were much higher than my head. He didn't explain things, but I'm guessing that's so the solution/dye that they inject will run out my tubes to show that they're open. I had to hang on to the sides of the table though, to keep from sliding down. Then he was putting things in, and he told on of the nurses to come over and push something. Then he said,"Push harder. Push harder." Yikes! Although I couldn't feel much, I couldn't help wondering, what is she pushing and why does she have to much so hard??? What if they're damaging my cervix or something? If I have cervix trouble in my next pregnancy, I will wonder about this day.

All in all, I didn't cramp much like I expected to, from hearing other women's accounts, and really it didn't hurt much. I bled just a little bit afterwards, which they said was normal, but was a surprise for me. I also have to take antibiotics now for a week, which I didn't know I was going to have to do. I'm really glad I'm not doing the PGD at this doctor's office. I really haven't had a great experience there so far. Then when I went to get my completed paperwork for all my tests, at first the nurse gave me only the half completed form that I first came in with, with none of the new test results on it. It took me more than five times asking her to get all my test results. She would find one or two and write the results on it and give it back to me, then I checked and saw that some were still missing. Then she'd look through my records and give it back again, but she still missed some. But finally I did get my precious form with all the test results filled in. She said she had faxed all the results to Chicago, but I'm going to fax the complete form myself again tomorrow, just to be sure. Because now I'm DONE with all the testing! Hooray!!! :)

The next step is to finish all the paperwork, and call Mary, my IVF coordinator. I need to see if I can start the birth control pills with my next period, and I have a lot of questions for her. One thing about doing all this, is that I know I already love my baby so much, and they haven't even been conceived yet. Going through all these procedures isn't easy, but I know it will be worth it in the end, when I have a healthy baby in my arms.

All clear ultrasound :)

I had my Day 3 testing done this morning (four blood tests and the ultrasound), and now I am DONE with all the blood tests! Hooray! Also, my ultrasound looked perfect. I didn't realize I was worried about it until I felt the huge relief afterwards. I hadn't had an ultrasound since my miscarriage, so I wasn't sure how it would look. The tech said everything looked perfect - and I saw it for myself, too. It looked perfectly clear, nice and clean, and my lining looked good. My ovaries look good, and I think she said there were 5-6 follicles on my right, and 3-4 on the left, with my right one being dominant this month. She was a very quiet speaker and I had trouble understanding what she was saying, but I believe that's what she told me. I didn't know that you normally have more than one follicle per cycle, so that was interesting. It was just such a relief though to see my nice, clean, perfect uterus there, with no leftovers from the miscarriage or anything. For those of you that are counting, this is now my fourth period since the miscarriage. Next cycle I go on the birth control pills! I still have one test left - the HSG, which I had to move again because my period came later than I was expecting, so I have that next Monday now.

I still have those two packets of paperwork to go through that I just haven't had time for yet, but I'll hopefully be getting that done soon, since I need to figure out how I'm supposed to get my medications and the procedure for starting and whatnot.

Vampire Fest!

So much blood! Yikes! I just had a bunch of blood drained out of me for all the various non-Day 3 tests I hadn't done yet. But there was one redeeming factor to the experience - my husband had to get a lot of blood taken, too! Finally, we can share some of the pain ;) . As much as I tried not to watch, I couldn't keep my eyes from seeing the piles of rather large tubes, filled with my precious dark red liquid, as they meandered around the room, trying to stay focused on the rather uninteresting charts decorating the venue. There were two large tubes for each of us just for the DNA kit. I'm surprised I still had any left when I went back there this morning to do the fasting glucose.

We haven't heard back from our insurance yet, after I mailed them Dana's letter along with one from us and a claim form. I want to wait a couple more days, but not too long. We'll just pay it ourselves and get reimbursed if they decide to cover it, since we really have to get the PGD setup process started. I did my pap smear and cervical cultures with my GYN, so those are done now. All I have left is the HSG and the Day 3 tests, which I should be done with in two weeks. Then I'll be done with all the tests! I can't wait! Another nice thing I thought of, is that our children won't have to do many of these carrier tests, since both my husband and I are getting tested. It's one positive thing I can focus on.