IVF #2 (Cycle 8): Stim Days 1-4

Here's how stim days 1-4 went.

Sometimes I feel like I'm "pushing pills" through my TTC journey. Here is the pill line-up for IVF #2. The ones on the left are for morning, the ones on the right are for evening.

Morning: CoQ10, Pre-Natal Vitamin, Metformin, Decamethasone, Baby Aspirin
Evening: DHEA, Metformin, Zithromax, CoQ10

 Here's the Stim Line-up: 

Menopur, Gonal-F Pen, Lupron 

Stim Day #1

Starting stims again is almost like riding a bike. It is almost intuitive. I didn't really have to follow step-by-step directions, since I already know how to mix everything. I just double checked my IVF calendar to make sure I was administering the right dosages. 

The morning injection felt rushed. I had a class to get to and I had friends that were visiting that were leaving. So, I actually mixed my meds before they left. I showed them how I mix them. Was kind of nice showing someone else what I need to do for IVF. 

I waited until they left to inject. Then, had to rush to my class. Not much time to hesitate when doing my injection. 

After my class, I ran home to have lunch, then went to my acupuncture session. Acupuncture was really relaxing! I fell asleep and felt so good after. 

The evening injection was a little more relaxed, as I had plenty of time to mix and inject. 

After my last injection, I used the heating pad on my tummy for 20 minutes. 

Stim Day #2

These morning injections have felt rushed. On this day, I had Munchkin, my 8 month old foster baby, crawling up my leg crying. Of course he was perfectly fine until I needed to inject myself! I might get a bruise from this one, since he crawled up my leg right when I was injecting and it put me off balance and jiggled the needle a bit. 

At this point in the stims, I was already feeling a bit short tempered and impatient. All I can think was, it's going to be a long week of hormone-induced emotional imbalance. <sigh> 

I continued the heating pad after my evening injection.

This night I woke up with major sweating! I've had hot flashes with these medications before. But I can't remember a time when I woke up drenched. Ugh. Yucky.

Stim Day #3

Stim day 3 was probably the least stressful of the bunch. No work meeting conflicts for the morning injection (Yay!). 

The evening injection did burn a little more than normal. 

Used heating pad for 20 minutes after last injection. While sitting there with the heating pad on my tummy, I couldn't help but think that maybe the egg that will become my future child is growing right now in one of my ovaries. So much hope for Baby C. 

Stim Day #4 - Bloodwork 

Had my bloodwork this morning. I was a bit anxious to get the results and compare to IVF #1 E2 levels. Now that I understand what the E2 levels mean... I wish I didn't compare my numbers from last cycle. 

Estradiol Level: 192.3

Was a little concerned when I saw my E2 level. It's actually a little lower than it was for my cancelled IVF for Day 4 where it was 197... Even with the higher med dosage, the number was lower. Ugh. Let's see what tomorrow's levels look like.

Portal Message: No changes to your medications! Please continue your most current dosing (the same dosing you took yesterday) and to follow the calendar instructions at this time. 

See you at your next appointment tomorrow. If you have any questions please feel free to call us. 

Have to think E2 is good if my medication dosages haven't changed. But last cycle, they didn't change medication dosage after Day 4 bloodwork either. They upped it on Day 5 of meds. 

I would be lying if I didn't say that I'm worried this cycle will be cancelled too... Just have to see. I'm hoping my E2 levels will look better tomorrow. 

Hoping the monitoring appointment goes well. Maybe I will be able to see my follies growing? Fingers crossed... I really want this to work this time. In the back of my head I keep wondering, "What happens if this doesn't work? If I don't respond to the meds again?" Trying to keep those thoughts quiet, but it's so very hard. 

Hoping for the best... Let's see.

Next Steps: 

1. 2/10/16: Monitoring Appointment # (Day 5 of Stims) 

For more details on my IVF process, see my IVF Calendar/Timeline.