It’s official: I am in cycle.
Two days ago I got my DEIVF calendar, and suddenly things got a lot more real. I excitedly printed a copy for my acupuncturist who I was seeing that morning, and by lunchtime I had already memorised its dates.
Lunch was with my friend, E, who is now 13 weeks pregnant. No stranger to loss herself, she indulged my excitement by asking lots of questions (and called me ‘Breaking Bad’ when she saw my drugs the next day!). It’s beginning to hit me in waves: this is really happening! Holy shit, there is a woman out there whose eggs give me the chance of having a baby or two! Please let it be so…
After lunch I checked my email and had two: one from the financial person at the RE’s clinic, outlining what we have to pay ($37,050*) and by when (January 28th). The other was from a specialty pharmacy saying they had received an order from my doctor for my donor’s meds as well as my own, and to please give them a call to make a payment.
* includes everything, including donor compensation and PGD costs, except for meds.
When I got home, I called the pharmacy as soon as my dog had stopped greet-barking. Bearing in mind I had mentally budgeted $8,000 for meds, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Nellie’s meds cost $2,271.97 and mine cost $825.31, for a grand total of $3,597.28.
A 10″ x 10″ x 10″ box arrived the next morning… Here’s what was inside (rollover image to see what’s what!).
Jan 10th: I started taking the 4mg of folic acid — two pills in the morning, two in the evening — which is in addition to the 800mcg in my prenatal.
Jan 16th: DH and I will have our injection instructions session.
Jan 19th: I begin injecting myself in the belly with Lupron (leuprolide acetate) which shuts down my reproductive system and ensures I don’t ovulate. At just ½” / 1cm long, the needles are small — looks like I’ve been given the same kind as diabetics.
Jan 23rd: I take my final birth control pill (not shown). Hey, I’m synced up to Nellie by now, woohoo!
Jan 28th: DH begins injecting me in the butt every three days with the Estradiol (oestrogen) which builds up my uterine lining. Yes, those needles are big — 1½” / 4cms!
Feb 7th: Around this time, DH and I will take the Azithromycin, a short but intensive course of antibiotics that we start together. It not only minimises any infection, but augments implantation of the embryos.
Feb 14 – 21st: We will have the embryo transfer around this time. A few days before the transfer, I think I start the Prometrium (oral progesterone), as my body’s own progesterone levels will likely be low after all the hormones I’ve been on. On the actual day of transfer, I start a three-day course of Prednisone, which is an immuno-suppressant steroid that stops my body from rejecting the embryos. (I will have to stop taking my baby aspirin as well as avoid live vaccines and newly vaccinated people!)
After the transfer I will be on progesterone pessaries* for three weeks
*Pessaries are what Americans call ‘vaginal suppositories’. In the UK, we make a distinction between a capsule that goes up your hooha (pessary) and one that goes up your arse (suppository)!
I don’t have a breakdown of Nellie’s meds’ cost, but here’s mine:
| Prednisone | 3 x 20mg tabs | $4.95 |
| Progesterone (generic Prometrium) | 20 x 200mg capsules | $75.40 |
| Folic Acid | 200 x 1mg tab (4x daily) pills | $16.50 |
| Endometrin | 42 x 100mg (2x daily) pessaries | $274.58 |
| Azithromycin | 2 boxes of 3 x 500mg pills | $36.00 |
| Estradiol Valerate (generic Delestrogen) | 2 x 20mg/ml vials | $268.00 |
| Leuprolide Acetate | 1 x 14mg/2.8cc vial | $149.88 |
I can’t believe that this coming Thursday I will learn how to inject myself and that I will be doing so in a week’s time!!
Have you ever injected yourself for DE/IVF? What are the side effects like? What should DH and I know? All tips welcomed, so do share!
“Move Over Walter White,” HAAA!
Wishing you the best in your cycle, Lauren.
Jackie
:D A Breaking Bad fan, I take it? Haha xx
Yes, love BB!
I was curious about something. Are you going to have the donor’s eggs frozen in the event you have to try again? I can’t remember if you have already talked about this, although you must have!
Thanks,
Jackie
It all depends on how many mature eggs are retrieved, Jackie. If we had 30 or more, then I think we would. But because our donor has done this 7 times before, the RE has a pretty good sense of how many eggs we’ll retrieve. We’re probably looking at 16-20 eggs. Then of course there’s the attrition rate for mature eggs, eggs that fertilise, embryos that make it to Day 5, then embryos that test normal in PGD (an extra step we are planning to do). In all likelihood, we will end up with around 6 healthy embryos. Two for fresh, four for FET — hopefully won’t have to do FET for a couple of years :)
xx
Lauren,
Got it. It sounds promising that you will also be able to freeze! I can’t believe she has done this 7 times already, wow.
Best of luck to you in the coming weeks, Lauren,
Jackie
Thanks, Jackie! Yes, a proven donor was very important to us. One of her retrievals yielded 47 mature eggs! She is off-the-charts fertile and we feel hopeful that we will be parents, thanks to her. Here’s to the first time lucky!
47? My ovaries hurt thinking about it. OMG!
Again, best of luck :)
So exciting!!! All the injections that I have ever had to do to myself have been subcutaneous ones. Gonal-F was easy and painless, but fragmin hurt like hell! Best advice I can give is to jab quickly with the needle, but inject slowly. That makes it more tolerable. Can’t wait to hear more!!!
AN EXCELLENT TIP!! Thanks for that!
That’s sooooo exciting Lauren! I’m so pleased everything’s going well for you! I found injecting really easy (did them all myself although I didn’t have any that went in my rear). I found them all fine except for Lupron which gave me a range of side effects, all of which were horrible but bearable, especially if you’re pregnant at the end of it. Good luck!!!
Tash xx
Thanks, Tash! Yeah, I’m pretty good with physical pain — especially, as you say, if there’s a baby at the end. What side effects did you get from the Lupron? Seems to be a hideous drug.
L xxx
I had a whole variety. It was a lucky dip each day as to which I’d have for the day (at least it wasn’t the same every day!). Started with headaches then had nausea, vertigo (that was the worst), extreme tiredness. Here’s my post on it although there’s not much more info in there than what I’ve said above: http://waitingforbumble.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/but-whos-counting/
GREAT post, thanks for sharing! So far, no side effects that I’ve noticed — but I’m only two days in…