My First Shot

So on June 6, we saw the doctor for some final tests before we began IVF.  Long story short, the tests results were good, so we were sent to the IVF coordinator, who gave us a calendar which laid out each day of IVF.  I had no idea the amount of shots, tests, and appointments that we would have! 

The doctor put me on an extended regimen of Lupron, which basically shuts off communication from my brain to my reproductive system so the doctor can "drive".  He wanted me to start right away, so he had the medication overnighted.  We were going to my sister's for the weekend, so we had to have it sent there.  Furthermore, Doug was going on a camping trip, so it was up to me to do the first shot myself.

When the package came in, I had a nervous breakdown.  The box was fairly large, and was full of all the injectables that I would have to take.  I just had this overwhelming sense that I was in way over my head.  Doug is usually the voice of reason, but he was out of cell phone range.  I just sat on my sister's living room floor, crying, with all the medication spread out before me.  And this was ugly-crying.  I knew that I was out of control when I heard my 4-year-old niece telling my sister, "Uh, mom, she's crying."  I started to pull myself together, so as to stop freaking my niece out. 

The dreaded meds!  Dun dun dunnnnn!

My sister came downstairs to my rescue.  She helped me sort through the medication, determining what was what, and what should be refrigerated.  She helped me decipher the code of instructions and watched the instructional video with me (that's right.  To teach me how to inject myself with needles, they had me watch a video on my own.  Seems like an effective teaching strategy.  Not.) 

Then, the clock struck, and it was time to get this show on the road.  My sister and I were both nervous, and looked like a couple of dummies with needles.  No one should have allowed us to perform this task.  First, I iced the injection site on my leg.  I couldn't ice it for long, because my hand started getting frostbite.  I sanitized the top of the vial, put the needle into the vial, and injected air into it.  Then I loaded the needle with 20 units of Lupron.  Next, Michele was to give me the alcohol swab to swab my leg (see, she helped), but we were in such a frenzy that she threw it in the trash.  We both laughed at how ridiculous we were being.  At least she had been enthusiastic about throwing it away!

Finally, it was time to do the deed.  I counted, "One...two...three..........four..." I'm not sure what I got to.  But I was probably supposed to stop at 3.  Oh well.  When I got up enough courage (probably at 25 or so), I injected it into my leg.  Not gonna lie; it stung.  But I did it!  When I was done, my sister and I jumped up and down like a couple of doofuses (doofusi?).  We were so proud of ourselves.  Dorks.

Today I will give myself my 23rd shot of Lupron.  I have to say, it has gotten much easier, and it's not as bad as I thought it would be.  One trick is to hold the ice with a towel so your hand doesn't freeze off.  That's helped.  Also, just stabbing it in quickly helps.  I have had a couple of days where I just can't seem to stab it in my leg the way I am supposed to, so I gingerly prick my leg about 3 or 4 times.  I know it's stupid, but it's just some mental block that I can't seem to get past.  The other thing I've learned is to inject the medicine quickly and steadily.  I feel like a pro now.  Tomorrow I go down to only 5 units of Lupron a day, which will be a cake walk.