The End of 2012

I'm back! Well, briefly. It's been sad not having much surrogacy related to write about on here! I do have a couple small updates though, so I thought I'd take to the keyboard.

The wait for my body to get back to normal took longer than expected. The nurse originally told me 2-4 weeks post-miscarriage I should menstruate and be ready to start medications again. However, my body had different plans, so 6 weeks post-miscarriage the P Day finally arrived. However, that caused another setback. They had been hoping that I'd be ready to start my medications again at the beginning of November so that we could fit a transfer in by the end of November. That didn't happen. And apparently the lab closes for 4 weeks at Holidays' time. So...January it is! Yeah, it was a bit frustrating to have to wait so long, but time flies when you're ridiculously crazy busy AND it's Christmas time. So I'm sure January will be here before I know it. I did start on the birth control again. The birth control is meant to both control my cycle and prevent me from ovulating. I start the injections and other medications on January 3rd. My nurse sent me the calendar, chart and prescriptions for monitoring. While I'm on the medications, I have to go to a local IVF clinic for monitoring of my hormone levels and uterine lining, to make sure that my body is ready for the transfer. The transfer is tentatively scheduled for January 26th. That gives me time to turn 30 beforehand (:-o!!!!), and I must admit, it's kinda nice to be able to drink my way into my fourth decade. I wouldn't have been able to if I was pregnant. Though I would have been just fine, lol, but since this is a BIG one, I'll happily have a glass or two of wine, and perhaps some sushi :-D. 

I haven't had a chance to go through the chart yet and refresh my memory on all the medications next month. I'll take some time to sit down with that after Christmas. Over the course of the month, there will be about 7-8 different medications I'll need to use at some point or consistently. I like to make sure it's all clearly marked on the chart and calendar so I don't forget anything. I set an alarm on my phone too, to remind myself at the right time of day every day. I'm supposed to take most of them within the same 2 hour period each day, preferably evening. It's easy to get sidetracked, so for important things like this, I don't want to give myself a chance to forget. So that's the latest with the next attempt. More updates to come next month.

I also wanted to talk for a moment about Giuliana and Bill. I didn't start watching their show until recently because of their own attempts at IVF and eventually using a gestational carrier to carry their baby. I've got to say, their story brought me so many tears of both sadness and joy. I remember, last spring my mom and I went to dinner, and she mentioned to me that Giuliana and Bill were having a baby via gestational carrier. I pounded the table and said something along the lines of "See! That's why I'm doing this! Because I was so sad for them and their struggle, and it makes me so happy to hear they are going to have a baby this way now!" It brings me so much joy to be able to do this for someone. And while I'm sure they make lots of money putting their lives on TV, I do think it's very kind of them to share their painful but ultimately rewarding story with all of America on TV. I laughed and cried with them, and am so happy for them. Watching the delivery made me imagine what my own will be like with my IP's baby, and I've said before how I can't wait to see them hold their little bundle of joy I helped bring into the world. I do think that it's going to make me want a baby again, hahaha, but I'm fully aware the time is not right yet and I will have another of my own someday when my life's not so crazy anymore and we're settled again. I'm sure even though I may have baby envy post-delivery, I'm sure I will be happy to be able to get a full night's sleep! That would be what scares me about having more kids one day. Victoria was an angel and slept 6 hours through the night from birth. I can do 6 hours! I'm SURE my next will not be the same. So I can wait for that, especially wait for when I'm not doing it alone!

One more thing...I just wanted to say that my heart is broken for the families of the children who died in Connecticut on Friday. I cannot watch or read anything about it without sobbing. I don't know if it's because I'm a parent or not. I know that after I became a parent, I became much more sensitive to anything regarding children, especially tragic news stories. And after my separation and subsequent divorce, I became much more empathetic and selfless, and I already was those things. It's to the point now where I cry very easily over stories like this. Random acts of kindness and selflessness, neighbors helping neighbors truly inspires me and brings meaning to my life. Hearing of the events that unfolded and thinking about what happened...it just breaks my heart. I'm truly grieving for these families too. I take comfort in knowing the children probably didn't suffer long and are surrounded by angels now. I could not imagine being one of these parents though, or one of the children alive but now traumatized by what happened. My heart is with you all. I hope that you can move forward positively and thrive despite your tragic loss.

Much love to everyone. I hope your Holidays are wonderful and you have a fabulous New Year. Here's to 2013!

The Miscarriage

*Note: I wrote this on October 11^th, even though I’m not posting it until now. I wanted to get the blog up to speed chronologically first. As I referenced in the last entry, we encountered a problem, and I wrote this in the moment when dealing with it…

Yesterday was a bad day. Everything changed.

The day started off normal, leaving for my monitoring appointment at the local IVF center. I was supposed to have bloodwork and an ultrasound. I got my bloodwork done. Then the nurse comes over to tell me that they don’t do OB ultrasounds for anyone except their own established patients. I am infuriated because now they’ve left me in a bind. Why wouldn’t they have told my clinic this when my IVF nurse arranged to have my monitoring done here? She said that they didn’t specify what type of ultrasound it would be. My IVF nurse setup my monitoring here in June! I wasn’t pregnant until October 1^st.  I would think that it would be part of the discussion when setting up my monitoring that I’m a GC and the time will come when I’m pregnant, so obviously at that point in time, they will also need OB ultrasounds. Why wouldn’t this IVF center think to inform them then that once I become pregnant, they won’t do my ultrasounds? It sure does make logical sense to me, since the expectation is obviously that I will be pregnant at some point. But I guess we can’t all be that thoughtful and competent. So instead they send me on my way and I have to figure out on my own where I’m going to get my ultrasound done. Highly unprofessional, if you ask my opinion.

I left there, furious (and I let them know), and I started by calling my doctor’s office. They gave me the number of an imaging center next door. I called them, and thankfully they were able to fit me in! I just had to make sure the payment was sorted and I had the prescription for the ultrasound. I knew, worst case scenario, that I could just pay it myself and be reimbursed, but I called my contact at the reproductive agency, and she took care of it all for me!

The next hiccup was this…my prescription said OB ultrasound, meaning that I am pregnant. The alternative ultrasound would be checking my ovaries, follicles, endometrium, etc., in preparation of the IVF transfer. So my clinic marked off OB ultrasound. But apparently down here, they interpret that as transabdominal automatically, when in actuality, when you’re pregnant, it could be either transvaginal or transabdominal. At this early stage of pregnancy, you can only see anything transvaginally. But because my prescription didn’t specify, they automatically took it to mean transabdominal and told me I needed to drink 32 ounces of water by an hour prior to the appointment. Done. I drank it. And at appointment time, I wanted to cry my bladder hurt so much! Then, of course, while I’m squirming waiting to be called, there was an issue with the credit card they were given. The woman wrote down too many numbers. So they made me wait until they got that sorted. It was unbearable. Seriously! I had to let out a little before being called back. Have you ever tried to just pee a little when you have to pee so badly you want to cry? It’s not easy!

Finally it gets sorted and they take me back right away. However, that little bit I peed only did the trick for a couple minutes. I’m in pain again. I’m in so much pain that when I got in there, I just started stripping for her to do it as fast as possible (because I was thinking it would be transvaginal). Then she said according to the prescription it’s abdominal. So I pull my pants back up and jump up on the table. She tried to get a quick image first, but I couldn’t take it. I had to run to the bathroom and squeeze out a little again. So I did that twice. Again, not easy! And in the process I also got that ultrasound jelly all over the front of my pants. Oh joy! But I have to pee so badly, I don’t even care.

So I’m back on the table again, relieved just enough that I can get through the transabdominal ultrasound. She can’t really see anything, as she explains how at this stage it needs to be transvaginal, but my orders don’t specify that. She takes all the pictures she can take, and lets me go to the bathroom. Thank God!!!! I don’t think I’ve ever peed for that long! I felt so much better. But, true to form, because I’m pregnant and drank so much water, my bladder continues to fill even after that and for a good hour or two I had to pee constantly. The good news is that I won’t have to do that again! Because we determined that it is in fact supposed to be transvaginally. After waiting on hold for a while with my clinic, I finally got confirmation, and they faxed over an updated prescription immediately so we could redo the ultrasound right away, the correct way. The ultrasound technician was kind enough to even let me wait in the room while I was on the phone and just waiting for the updated orders. Fortunately, she didn’t have another appointment right away. So we got them, and she was able to do the correct ultrasound again. It was quick. I was in and out. I don’t have to drink water for that one, so even every time I need it repeated, I don’t have to worry about holding my bladder like that again!

So I was able to get all that sorted and could then be on my way. Did the rest of my errands and went home. Then I got the call…my results were abnormal. My HCG was at 416, and it should be around 1500. They also were not able to see much on the correct ultrasound, and it seemed that the pregnancy could be low in my uterus. These are indications that it’s an abnormal pregnancy. I had questions, obviously. If it turns out that in fact it is an abnormal pregnancy and not viable, the 2 options will be miscarry or abort. They can take me off my medications and allow my body to naturally miscarry, or they can do a D&C to remove it. I haven’t discussed the details of either of these with them yet. I want to wait to see what happens still. I’m told that I need to go back in 2 days for all these tests again to see if there’s progress to indicate a viable pregnancy or if it is in fact abnormal.

After I get off the phone, I’m in a daze, for a few hours. This is certainly not what I was expecting. The emotions I’m experiencing are all over the place. It’s only natural for me to be upset. Plus I’m upset for the parents. Plus this changes everything! It would take at least a month or so for my levels to return to normal before they can start again. So suddenly, I must start thinking about plan B as well when I thought plan A was working. I also just realized that I had not fully thought about the possibility of things turning out this way. I mean, I knew it was possible. But I didn't imagine going through a miscarriage alone. I imagined going through a pregnancy alone and I was fine with that. But not a miscarriage. And all I wanted in that moment was to be hugged. But it was only one night that I felt like that. I was better by the next day. I could deal with it then. I was anxious about the results, and generally felt from the conversation that they were expecting a confirmation of an abnormal pregnancy, so I wasn't very hopeful.

After those few hours in a daze, I took to google. I learned a lot. Yeah, it’s not good that my HCG isn’t growing as it should be. My HCG the previous Wednesday was 198, and this Wed was 416. It should be much more than that. But I also learn that the HCG growth rate of doubling every 2-3 days is true for 85% of pregnancies. There are still 15% of pregnancies that have a slower HCG growth rate. I also learn that until the HCG is at 1000, you can’t really see anything on an ultrasound. I also learn that even though the pregnancy may be low in the uterus, that is something that can correct itself as the pregnancy progresses because the placenta often moves up the uterine wall. So I read a lot of pros and cons. It’s highly likely that it’s an abnormal pregnancy that will end. But it is still possible that it may be okay. So I’m feeling more hopeful and positive.

I also did a lot of praying last night. I slept very well, and I woke up feeling okay. I still feel hopeful and positive, but I also feel okay with it however it goes. I do believe that everything will work out the way it’s supposed to, and everything will be okay. Everything always seems to work out. So I’m just going to trust that.

I did speak to my IVF nurse again today. Nothing new really. They didn’t get any better information from the imaging center today, so it’s all as planned with my tests for tomorrow. She did sound even more so like they are expecting the results to confirm an abnormal pregnancy. I asked her what the chances are that it is okay, and she said the chances are still there but they are very small. I mentioned the statistics I read and she said that is true and exactly why they continue the tests to make sure. I asked her if she told my IP’s, because I didn’t know if they knew. She said she did. I actually got an email from them today asking how I was as well. So we will see how tomorrow turns out, and we’ve all got our fingers crossed!

Update…the test results came back worse. My HCG had dropped to less than 300, and the ultrasound basically confirmed that it was an abnormal pregnancy. My IVF nurse told me that it was implantation failure, and that this occurs in 25% of cases. What makes me sad about it is knowing that it was a healthy embryo. It feels like a waste, or a lost baby, that way. But there’s nothing anyone could have done to prevent this. It’s just something that happens. So I was told to stop all the medications, and my body naturally miscarried.

Well, that was fun. Not! I was anticipating cramps, but I didn’t really know how bad it would get. Then, I was pleasantly surprised and thought it would be pretty easy. I didn’t even feel anything, but I saw what I believed to be the gestational sac, when it passed. All I had was some light spotting. However, the next day was different. That is when the light spotting became heavy bleeding and the cramps were very bad. Bad enough that I took 3 Excedrin Migraine pills. (They work for all pain, not just migraines!) They made it bearable to get through the day. Fortunately, the cramping was just the one day, though the bleeding did take the rest of the week to stop, even if it was pretty light. I felt bad for the ultrasound tech the next day because I had to go confirm that it was all cleared out and a D&C wouldn’t be needed even though the bleeding wasn’t done yet. But they said they’d do it, and she did. Fortunately, it was all gone and barely any lining was left. So now it’s the waiting game again.

We are going to try again, as soon as possible. I am now waiting to get my period again, which will take 2-4 weeks. Then I start the medications all over again. We are hoping for a late November or December transfer date. As my IP dad said, hopefully this time, those percentages (on implantation failure) will work for us instead of against us. Will keep you updated!

The IVF Transfer

So the IVF transfer was scheduled for September 22^nd. They flew me up the day before the transfer, and I was able to have dinner with my IPs. Oh yes, I forgot one more medication! That night, the night before the transfer, I had to put a special vaginal antibiotic gel in right before bed. Then I had to be at the clinic at 6am for monitoring. Starting a few days after the Lupron shots began, I had to go for monitoring almost weekly. They found an IVF center near me locally, and I go there for bloodwork to check my hormone levels, and prior to transfer, ultrasound, to check the lining of my uterus, to make sure the IVF can go ahead when planned. So I arrived at the clinic at 6am for another monitoring appointment to make sure we were all set for the IVF that afternoon. I was, and they gave me a vaginal progesterone pill to insert a couple hours before the procedure. Due to the time of the morning, I had trouble finding a cab service to bring me back to the hotel. But the hotel was just half a mile or so from the clinic, so I decided to walk back to the hotel at about 7:30am (though I had been done for an hour and just read a magazine). Then I took a nap since I was up at 5:30am, and a little while later my IP mom picked me up for lunch before heading to the clinic for the procedure.

When we got to the clinic, they asked us if we wanted to do laser acupuncture as well. They advised us that studies have shown that both normal acupuncture and laser acupuncture (which is faster than normal and doesn’t actually involving sticking needles in you!) increases the chances of success by 2%. Basically, helping to increase the blood flow to the uterus helps increase the chances of success, and acupuncture does that. Massage does that as well, and I actually had a 15 minute massage at Newark airport while I waited for my flight the next day!

I also want to add that the clinic we are using has significantly better success rates than the rest of the world because the researchers and doctors there have discovered a way to test the frozen embryos. These tests can tell you almost everything that an amniocentesis can tell you. The embryos are only 5 days old, but these tests can even tell you the gender. My IPs did not want to know the gender. That’s not the purpose. The purpose is to determine which embryos are healthiest and most likely to implant. I remember learning in college that 50% of first trimester miscarriages are due to chromosomal abnormalities. These tests can rule out those abnormalities. There are still other things that can go wrong, as we later learned. But these tests significantly increase the chances. Everywhere, the success rates are around 45%, I believe. Our clinic’s success rates for all IVF, which includes fresh or frozen (and you can’t test fresh embryos) as well as mothers or carriers, is 66%, I believe. And theoretically, healthy carriers combined with frozen embryos that are tested for abnormalities, should have even higher success rates, though they don’t have those documented. So basically, we were already going into this with pretty good odds, and added another 2% with the acupuncture.

The procedure itself was quick and painless. It was like having a pap smear in a surgical room. I did feel a little more exposed. With a pap smear it’s just my doctor or midwife. For the procedure, there was the doctor plus a few nurses. No biggie though. Once you’ve gone through childbirth, you don’t really care that much anymore about overexposure! At least not for me. They had a video monitor above me so I could watch them prepare the embryo in the catheter (not that I could actually see the embryo; I assume the person doing it had a microscope), and I had to confirm the correct names with it. Then they changed the feed to the ultrasound showing the insertion of the catheter and therefore, the embryo. And then it was done!  It took about 5 minutes or so.

The nurse came in and gave me specific instructions until the pregnancy test, which was 9 days after the transfer. I was on bedrest that night, and for the rest of those 9 days, I had to keep my heart rate down, so no exercise or any activities that would increase it. I flew home the day following the transfer, and then the waiting began, though the waiting was accompanied by the continual progesterone injections and estrace pills. As you know, 9 days after the transfer, we received a positive confirmation on the pregnancy test and were very happy. It proved to be fleeting, but it was still a success, which I think can only be a good sign for the next attempt.

The Process Part 3

Returning back to the long process before the IVF procedure was done…so far we’ve covered the application in January, the conference call with the IPs in March, the screenings in June, and that brings us to negotiating the contract in July. Due to confidentiality, I cannot go into great detail. I do want to touch on it a bit though.

The contract is between the Intended Parents and the Gestational Carrier. It is lengthy and full of legalese. So as you can imagine, even though for the most part it’s standard and straightforward, you really need a lawyer to review it properly. The good thing is, as a carrier, all expenses are covered, including legal expenses. So the agency provided the contact information for some lawyers relatively close to me who handle these sorts of things. Then it was up to me to contact them to review the contract with me and handle the negotiations. After that it was as simple as providing the attorney with the contact information for the agency for payment. So they keep it pretty simple and easy for the carriers.

I’m in South Florida, and the lawyers provided were in Boca Raton and Orlando. I had trouble reaching the attorney in Boca, so I decided to work with the attorney in Orlando. I didn’t have to worry about meeting with him in person. A draft copy of the contract was provided to me and my attorney. I read through it and then discussed it with him over the phone, going over any questions I had. Then he handled going back and forth with lawyers for the Intended Parents, until we reached an agreement and executed it.

It took a few weeks, but that was really more because after I chose my attorney, he became a bit more difficult to get in touch with. It ended up aggravating me a bit, because I had hoped to wrap it up in a week. But because I found myself waiting to hear back from him for days at a time both at the beginning and at the end of the negotiations, and then there were a couple things we went back and forth on, it ended up taking most of July to finalize.

As I said, the bulk of the contract is standard and not really something the carriers need to be worried about. Most of what was stated I was surprised about, and I would think wouldn’t even need to be stated. But I guess because of crazy people who take babies, they have to be stated. Overall, they need to cover any and all possibilities of outcomes and conditions based on pregnancy outcomes, carriers’ rights, intended parents’ rights, and compensation plus all covered expenses, etc. And when I say all possible outcomes, I do mean ALL possible outcomes, from failed attempts at pregnancy to the death of anyone involved. The bulk of the contract goes toward covering all the different possibilities. But it is important to read through everything and make sure you are clear on it all and ask any and all questions you may have. If there is anything you are in disagreement on, discuss it with your attorney and negotiate it.

Following the execution of the contract, at the end of July, I spoke with my IVF nurse at the clinic, and she coordinated with all parties involved to schedule the first IVF transfer and then start me on the medications for the cycle. Due to several factors including my cycle, the timeline on the medications, and everyone's schedules, the first IVF transfer was tentatively scheduled for September 22^nd.

At that point, I had already been on birth control for a couple months, to control my cycle and prevent ovulation. I had to continue the birth control for one more month. Then, at the end of August, I stopped the birth control pills and I started Lupron injections. All my medications were shipped to me overnight from a pharmacy that handles all this for our clinic, up by them. Anytime I need refills, I just contact them and they take care of it immediately. I never really have to worry about my medications other than making sure I don't run out. I also was started on estrace (oral estrogen) not long after starting the Lupron, and I stayed on that indefinitely. I believe it is supposed to go until the 9^th week of pregnancy. So back to the Lupron, this is the paragraph on Lupron from my information packet:

"Leuprolide Acetate (Lupron) is the synthetic hormone that stimulates the pituitary gland to secrete LH and FSH production. However, when a woman starts to take Lupron, her pituitary gland is exposed to a constant level and the effect is just the opposite. After an initial acceleration in LH and FSH production, the pituitary stops producing these hormones. Ovulation is prevented and estrogen levels drop. As a result, the patient often has symptoms of menopause, including hot flashes, headaches and mood swings. Other side effects include insomnia, night sweats and decreased libido."

While it's easy to look at the possible side effects and start to freak, I did not. I had committed to this and figured, if I felt any side effects, I'd get through it, but I wasn't all that concerned about it. In reality, there were two things I noticed, but they were very slight and didn't inhibit me in any way. I noticed that I was overall generally warmer. Usually, I get cold very easily, but after starting the Lupron, I was a little bit warmer. It's kind of hard to explain. It wasn't a significant difference. And it wasn't hot flashes. It was just all the time. I used to prefer my thermostat at home be about 77-78 degrees Fahrenheit. But now I prefer it to be about 75-77 degrees Fahrenheit. The other thing I noticed was that I had a little bit more trouble falling asleep. I didn't have full out insomnia, but it took me about 30-60 minutes to fall asleep at night. Aside from those two things, I did not notice any side effects, not even hormonal mood swings, which was the only thing I was really expecting. I only had to take the Lupron for a couple weeks, so these side effects were brief and went away as soon as I stopped.

As far as the injections went, they were every day during the same two hour period (preferably at night). The needle for these particular injections was small...about half an inch long. It is meant to be injected subcutaneously, or just under the skin. The injection site was my lower abdomen alternating the right and left side each day. I would have to pinch the skin together and inject it. My packet included careful instructions for the injections from prep to completion. I had the Lupron injections for about 3 weeks. I remember being somewhat nervous about it since I’ve never self-injected before. But I found it pretty easy and painless. Most of the time it didn’t hurt at all. It would occasionally hurt a little, but no more than a bug bite.

After 3 weeks of Lupron, it was time for me to switch to the big guns…progesterone. Progesterone was fun, in a not so fun way, because the needle was about an inch and a half long, and the progesterone is thick so it takes longer to inject. The Lupron was quick in and out. The progesterone, because of how it is, was a little more complicated and took longer. Progesterone comes in an oil. Don’t ask me why or to explain it because I can’t. But it comes in an oil. I actually had two different kinds over the time I was taking it. The first they put me on was in ethyloleate and wasn’t quite as thick as the second. So basically it was a little bit easier to inject. More on that in a moment. The second was in sesame oil, and because of this, they had to confirm I don’t have a peanut allergy as well. My IVF nurse told me that the reason for the switch was because the one in the sesame oil takes longer for the body to absorb so it lasts over a couple more days, which the doctor wanted. They didn’t expound on that further or indicate that there was any problem in my test results to indicate I needed the switch.  They just switched me. The switch actually came at the end of the week I found out I was pregnant. I started the progesterone a little less than one week before the IVF transfer, and it’s meant to be injected every day until about 9 weeks or so into the pregnancy. Remember, though, that the weeks of pregnancy are counted from the beginning of the cycle month. So when I found out I was pregnant, I would have been considered 4-5 weeks. I’m not sure which one exactly because the pregnancy test is done, in this case, a few days to a week sooner than it would be done in a normal pregnancy, because most women wouldn’t even notice that they need to take one that soon. So upon a positive pregnancy test, you’re looking at about another 4-5 weeks of progesterone injections. The purpose of the progesterone is to help support the pregnancy until the placenta is producing enough progesterone to support it without the injections. This is needed because the medications have basically turned off your natural reproductive cycle and are stimulating it synthetically in order to prevent you from ovulating. So your body needs the extra progesterone to support a pregnancy. The possible side effects pain/swelling at injection site, breast tenderness, headache, weight gain/loss, acne, nausea, increased body/facial hair, loss of scalp hair, drowsiness or dizziness, but I had none of them.

Anyway, back to the injections themselves…because it is so thick, it first requires a bigger needle to fill the syringe easily. Then you change the needle head (I really don’t know what else to call it!) with a smaller needle. When I say bigger and smaller, I don’t mean length, I mean width. An 18 gauge needle is used to fill the syringe, and then a 25 gauge needle for injection. I didn’t even know you could change the needle on a syringe like that. But it’s pretty easy!

Now we’ve just got the syringe filled, there’s still much more to come! The main issue with the progesterone injections is they cause muscle soreness. They are injected intramuscularly in the upper outer quadrant of the bum. I was really really nervous about these because of the length of the needle, but again, the injections turned out not to hurt, most of the time. Occasionally they’d sting, but not usually. I quickly learned the next day, though, that the true discomfort from these injections is the muscle soreness. So that brings me back to the process of the injections. After you fill the syringe, it’s highly recommended that you then hold the syringe under running warm water. To be honest, I used the hottest it would go, so that it would fully warm the medication throughout. If you remember your science, warming a liquid makes it more fluid so it flows faster. Or something to that effect. I don’t remember the specific terminology! Less viscous maybe?  But it was easier to inject the progesterone after the fluid was warmed by hot water. Now, I say this, but it still wasn’t a fast injection. I guess you could say a normal injection would take literally a second to push the liquid through the syringe. The progesterone injections would still take a good 20-30 seconds to push all the way through the syringe because it is that thick. After you’re done, it’s also highly recommended to massage the site with a washcloth soaked in warm water while walking. And I do mean all 3 things…warm washcloth, massage, walk. You do this for a few minutes. All of these things combined would help the muscle soreness not be quite as bad. It was still always there, but I did notice a difference the more effort I put into following all these steps. It would be the difference of a mild, tender soreness to feeling like a bad bruise that hurt a lot every time you hit it. If I didn’t do it well, if my daughter would accidentally hit the area, it would hurt enough for me to jump and yell. There was one time as well that, I don’t know how I managed to do it, but something must have gone slightly wrong when I injected the needle. The progesterone went in fine. But when I took the needle out, it came out at an different angle, and I accidentally cut myself with it. The tip basically scraped across the skin when it came out and cut me. It wasn’t a bad cut. It was more annoying than anything else, and I still don’t know how I managed to do that! It was my only mishap with the needles though. It is a little tricky to do it since I’m injecting myself in the butt, so you have to turn funny to do it. But I’ve managed fine.

Once they switched me to the progesterone in sesame oil, I found that the oil was even thicker, and even harder to inject. Even holding it under steaming hot water for 5 minutes barely helped. It would actually hurt my thumb when injecting it because it was so thick and difficult to push through the syringe. I would have to stop and reposition my thumb while doing it. BUT, I found that with the sesame oil version, the muscle soreness was much much less. Even though the injections were much more difficult, I do think that I prefer the sesame oil version because of the difference in the level of muscle soreness. I must admit though, after 4 weeks of progesterone injections, I was growing weary of it. I definitely think that is one of the hardest parts of this process because of the length of time you have to do it. It’s worth it in the end though, for the final result.

One other thing I have found, which I can only assume is a result of the progesterone injections, is it seems to have possibly affected my nerves on the sides of my hips in those areas. I don’t really know how to describe it. It has been about a week and a half since I stopped the injections, and I will still occasionally have pains there. Once my daughter hit me in the area, and I had a very sharp pain deep within the area. That happened a couple other times as well. I feel like it’s almost like those areas were practically pin cushions and perhaps it just takes a bit of time to fully heal.

Anyway, the last set of medications I had to take in preparation for the IVF was some extra pills the week of the transfer. One was an antibiotic and the other was Methylprednisolone, a corticosteroid hormone. I’m not exactly sure of why I needed to take the Methylprednisolone. I trust the doctors; they told me what I needed to take; I took it. It was only for one week. But remember, I was already taking the estrace as well. The estrace was 2 in the morning and 2 at night, and it didn’t matter if they were with or without food. The antibiotic was 1 in the morning and 1 at night, recommended without food to improve absorption. The Medrol was 1 in the evening with food. And don’t forget the prenatals. I have a prenatal pack that is 2 vitamins a day, 4 calcium supplements a day, and 3 omega supplements a day, all best to take with food. And on top of that, I also was prescribed synthroid for my thyroid in June. At my screenings, they found that my thyroid was slightly hypo. Not enough to be a significant problem for an adult, but enough to cause birth defects if trying to have a baby. So I also have to take 1 Synthroid pill in the morning, 30-60 minutes before eating.  So what I had that one week was a very complicated pill schedule! The first day I took the antibiotic, without food, I quickly learned that I could not do that again. It may have been recommended, but it made me so nauseous that I really thought I was going to puke and didn’t trust myself to drive to my appointment. I didn’t even trust myself to stand up! So after that, I did have it with a little bit of food. Not too much, but enough so that I did not experience that level of nausea again. And I must say, I’m very glad it was only 1 week that I had to take all of those medications! The rest of the time, the pills aren’t bad. They’re easy to manage.

So…that finally brings us up to speed on the process, from the first application to the medications prepping me for the IVF transfer, which I took for about a month prior to the transfer, and continue to about the 9^th week of pregnancy.