And so it begins....

Most of my life I would think, “is it time for my period AGAIN? Didn’t I JUST have one?”. It always seemed that a month flew by so quickly and “Aunt Flo” (as many infertility websites term it) was never a convenient and fun thing. Then when going through years of trying to get pregnant, a month seemed to drag by and take an eternity, but you still didn’t want to see that period at the end. So this last month, the waiting for my period to start has been excruciating. I’ve never wanted to bleed more in my entire life. Well, I got my wish a couple of days ago. So now we are at the beginning of the IVF cycle.

The most important instruction that the clinic had was that I must call on the day I start my period. So I did and in turn got the calendar for the entire cycle. A couple of dates are set in stone and the rest are approximate. I’ll outline it below so you have an idea how it will progress. Unfortunately, this process isn’t free; so another important note is that we must also pay within 3 days of receiving my plan. Needless to say, my stress level hit DEFCON 1 in that same day. It’s so overwhelming because within the span of 2 days I received my cycle plan, mailed checks totaling about $15,000 and was contacted by the pharmacy to pay for all my injectibles (roughly $3000). I’m coming down from the anxiety A LITTLE and I think that the public is now safe from the potential of me picking people off in the parking lot of the clinic from the roof sniper style…for now. But just wait until I start shooting myself up with all the injections and jacking even more with my hormones…you might want to purchase some Kevlar to wear just in case.

So here’s what is going to happen and when:

2/26 – 3/18 – I will take birth control pills for the first 3 weeks. This helps keep me from ovulating and also helps prevent ovarian cysts during the cycle.
3/3 – 3/8 – Both Brandon and I will take an antibiotic. This helps clear out any bacteria that our bodies may have in them.
3/12 – I start giving myself injections of Lupron. This drug is used to regulate the ovaries and prevent spontaneous ovulation during the process.
3/22 – I have an appointment called a Suppression Check. This appointment includes a host of tests including checking my estrogen level, ultrasound, physical etc. Basically it’s to check how well my ovaries have been suppressed and if they are producing multiple follicles of similar size. At this time it will be decided what dosage of further drugs are needed to proceed. We’ll even get a voicemail box that I will call daily to check for instructions from my IVF nurse.

From this point on the timeframe becomes approximate. Everything will be based on periodic blood tests and ultrasounds. I’ll get more detailed about this when the time comes. But this process should complete around the week of April 5th…and then the waiting game begins.

But for now, all I have to do is take several oral meds and treat myself as if I’m pregnant. That means no alcohol, caffeine, take folic acid (which I’m taking an extra high dose of because I don’t metabolize it properly) and only take “pregnancy safe” drugs (Tylenol, Sudafed, etc.) if needed. I’m already struggling with the no caffeine. I’m not really a caffeine junkie, but since early last year, I stopped drinking many carbonated drinks because I get the hiccups so easily. And I switched to sweet tea……damn, I miss that already! Oh well, small price to pay and I’ll survive…I think.

Well, that’s what is happening now. I know I’m not supposed to be stressing….but you know me. Anxiety is my middle name. I’ll let everyone know what happens at my first appointment (3/22). Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

More later.