Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Birth Control: help get you pregnant?

Went off birth control last Thursday. Started my period yesterday. Boy does that suck. Luckily with the drugs - or maybe the residual BC, I'm not having horrific cramps like I normally do. Which works out really well considering I have a daily injection in my abdomen. The FABULOUS thing about having my period is my boobs don't hurt right now. And by "don't hurt", what I mean is I'm not thinking about just cutting them off today....and I only woke up TWICE last night because they didn't hurt - as bad.

The injections are going well. I actually had to call on a friend last night to be my back-up shot giver. She did a fabulous job. J has been traveling for work...he'll be home tonight though....just in time to stick me. "I missed you sooooooo much....now let me put this needle into your stomach." Jerk.

I start the scary drug on Friday. It's called Bravelle and it may or may not make my ovaries either: a) explode, or b) tie into knots and therefore have to be removed. Yeah, so I'm really looking forward to it. I'm TRYING not to turn into TOO much of a hypochondriac (ok, I was like that before IVF, I admit it), but I do want to be prepared for all the bad side effects that could happen. The doc tells me that at a minimum I will probably have *some* type of fluid build up...if not in my ovaries, at least in my abdomen. So I'll probably be sporting a little pot-belly for a few weeks. I'll have to get a picture of J and I belly to belly for comparison. Hmm, maybe I should get a pic of my nice semi-flat belly before all this begins. I'll want to remember it one day.

Apparently the fluid build-up issue will just be exacerbated if I actually get pregnant after all this. So the miserable part is...any fluid build up in that area is going to cause pain. And of course if I'm pregnant, there's not a whole lot of drugs I can take for it...it will just have to go away by itself. Doc said that will probably take a few weeks.

Ok, back to drug #2 -- Bravelle. I will still be on drug #1 (Lupron)...so starting Friday I will be getting 2 injections a day in my tummy. Oh my poor tummy...it's no longer sore...I've entered into "numb"...which is actually very nice. Then starting next Wednesday (day before Turkey Day) I will start getting bloodwork and ultrasounds every morning. I've gotten pretty good with the shots...but bloodwork I don't do. I think I'm dreading that part more than any other thing in all this. That needle in the arm...I don't even like to be touched there. Anyway...I'll have results of my bloodwork within hours everyday...and according to those results, they will adjust my meds on a daily basis until they determine it's time to rip my eggs out. I'm completely knocked out for the egg harvesting...so I'm not really worried....just dreading the damn IV they'll have to put in me (how screwed up am I?). 36 hours before the harvesting I have to get a BIG shot (in my rear). Not at all looking forward to that. J will be giving it to me. God...seriously, the doctor's not doing a damn thing in all this...can't HE do that one? Blah.

The super-exciting news of the day is this: a friend sent me the feng shui horoscope today. It says I have a "life altering event" in my future. For the good. Rock on. It also said that it would happen before my next birthday. J and I were just talking the other day about how my due date would probably be right around my bday (according to the doc, somewhere around August 23rd...depending on the exact implantation date). Of course...before that if it's twins. So yay...feng shui says I'll have babies before my 30th. I will be partying down (or at least taking a really long nap that day). :)

Well, that's the latest. I'm gonna go get my flu shot tomorrow. Don't want to be preggers with the flu...that would suck. Also getting my hair straightened this weekend and have plans to paint at least 3 rooms before implantation day....I have a lot of chemicals I need to expose myself to before I start totin' around the embryos. :) Luckily I'm on vacation all next week...so I have no excuses for not getting it all done. :)

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