The Worst is Over?

I tell ya, between the blood letting and injecting myself with used pregnant women's pee (that is how they get HCG for my Pregnyl shots), fertility treatment is downright medieval.  Today's big adventure solidified this thought.  Dr. Lecter...I mean Dr. D told me last week that he was not even interested in the results of my endometrial biopsy, he just wanted to damage my uterus.  Apparently reproductive endocrinologists are exempt from the hippocratic oath. Seriously though, the idea is that the healing process will make my uterus that much nicer of a place for my baby blastocysts to live for 37.5 more weeks.

So this morning, around 8:15 I took my trusty old dose of 1000mg of ibuprofen.  I did find my Xanex in my hidden stash of things to save for a rainy day, so I took one of those, too. It was a good thing for me because it stopped the shuddering. 

The one positive thing is that the procedure is relatively quick.  Dr. D doesn't like to make a big production of it, so he uses tools that are less painful and does not use a tenaculum that wounds the cervix.  The quickness is the trade-off for the lidocaine, however.  I haven't had it any other way, so I can't recommend one method over the other.  Not that I would ever recommend it, period.  So, sans any numbing agents, Dr. D did his thing.  It sobered me up right quick.  So much for my xanex high. It's a bizarre and unpleasant sensation of sucking and stabbing in your nether-regions.  Your uterus becomes real unhappy real fast, so it cramps in response to the foreign objects that have invaded its territory.  Once the biopsy is taken, Dr. D used what is basically a plastic rod complete with a ruler called a uterine sound to measure my uterus.  It is how he knows how far into my uterus he'll need to put the embryos during the transfer.  This also caused a lot of cramping. :(

BJ's hand and I survived the procedure.  I have a nice bruise on my finger from where I bit it, but I'm proud to say that I did not scream or scare anybody out of the waiting room.  Even Dr. D said I did great and that this was the worst thing that was going to happen this cycle.  Coming from the man who said IUI's were just like Pap smears, I'm not putting a lot weight into that statement.  They had me remain lying, because the procedure frequently causes a vasovagal response (fainting).  I admit I was completely ok with laying low for a few minutes. 

Dr. D told me I would be "back to normal in about 15 minutes."  Dr. D is a liar. It's 5:30pm and while I'm not in severe pain at all, I'm just uncomfortable. It feels kinda like I've been punched inside my uterus. I took 800mg more of ibuprofen around 12:15 and was able to go to my meeting at work, but my uterus made sure I was constantly aware of its disgruntlement.  This evening I'm continuing my ibuprofen regimen and have added a glass of wine and a heating pad.  My golden retriever puppy and I are having a lazy evening on the couch.  

This =

happier MK and Emma Grace.

BJ and I spent the next two hours signing consent forms and coming up with contingency plans for our snow babies if anything should happen to us.  We have decided to put our frozen children up for adoption in the case of our premature demise.  This all depends on us having enough surviving embryos to be frozen after my retrieval in 3 weeks (YIKES...SO EXCITED!). 

We also went over all the risks and reasons that the cycle might have to be cancelled.  I could care less about the risks to me, but the causes for cancellation were a bit overwhelming.  An IVF cycle can be cancelled for several reasons including not having enough follicles, lab error, developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), the egg retrieval may go badly, my eggs may be junk, BJ's sperm may be junk, fertilization may not occur, etc. and so forth.  So you can see where that can leave us kind of spooked.  My one big fear at this point is ovulating before my egg retrieval, which Pat assured me won't happen.  I love Pat.

I also got to learn how to mix my medications, some of which are a bit more complicated than others.  Some even come with DVDs!  My doses may be changing throughout my stimulation period, so I'll have to call in daily to check with my doctor and the embryologist on what needs to be adjusted.  I kind of feel like I'm someone's organic chemistry experiment.  I just hope they are better chemists than I was!

Well, I'm gonna pop some popcorn and enjoy my new flicks, Your Friend, the Menopur Injection and PIO:  More than Just a Pain in the Ass.

Happy Spawning...
MK & Emma Grace