Hi all!

nickyggg

My husband and I are both 33 and due to male factor infertility, we have known since early on that IVF would be the only option for us. We will be trying for our first child in April, and I am nervous about this big undertaking. For one, I’m very sensitive to medications (I go the homeopathic route when possible), so the idea of taking so many injections in 1 month freaks me out! But the cause is a worthy one and we are grateful that IVF is an option we can choose. No one close to me has been in my situation, so I am thankful to have found this great community of women who I can relate to on this journey!

kristimh80

Best of luck to you!! There should be an April IVF thread starting soon, so you'll have other ladies doing IVF with you to talk to during the process. This community is a great support system

mcgeeva

Welcome and good luck!!!

mich_elle

Hi there! Welcome! I should be doing IVF in April too! GL!

greenhillgirl

nickyggg Welcome and glad you've joined the community. I'm also very sensitive to medications and have about every side effect imaginable! I'm happy to answer any questions and feel free to message me if you want to talk more in depth. If I drink a cup of coffee after 3pm I can't sleep all night and 1 benadryl makes me act crazy, so definitely sensitive here Good luck!

nickyggg

Thank you all for your sweet welcoming messages!
@mich_elle, I'll look out for you on the April board : ) Isn't it exciting that our month is almost here?
@greenhillgirl Oh coffee is the worst - I need a little in the morning to get me started, but after 12 it will give me a full-on panic attack. Thank you for your offer to chat more in depth - I'm relieved to know that there are other sensitive women out there who have survived the meds!! I'll send you a chat once it gets closer to time.

suzycupcake

@nickyggg Hey there and welcome! Like you, I'm completely freaked out by meds too but I do it. I've had to calm the inner med activist in me so many freaking times, but just know that you can still make choices that are best for you. You don't have to do every single thing if your body already does certain things on its own. I hope that your stay here is short. 

mayflower513

Welcome @nickyggg!

nickyggg

Thank you for your reassurance, @suzycupcake. You've touched on a good point about being able to choose a personalized path. What are some ways of thinking about it that have helped you to calm your inner activist during this process? I'm trying to reason with mine, but it just feels like a big leap of faith to trust the science that is still so mysterious to me!

suzycupcake

@nickyggg I fought the first two treatment cycles, but it was a good thing. I was on Clomid and I was over responding and getting multiple big cysts. I made sure to remind my doctor that I did tell her I am med sensitive. She was like yea I know but I didn't realize how sensitive. She right away switched to femara and I've not had the same reaction at all. The 3rd cycle while taking femara, I was told by an np that I need to take estrace. I didn't do it and it turned out, my body created the lining thickness that it needed on its own. 

Anyway, I think what keeps me calm about it is meeting other ladies on here that are big proponents of natural like I am. Also, the board organization over in ttgp (Trying to Get Pregnant) keeps me super sane during wto (waiting to ovulate) and tww (two week wait). You probably didn't need me to parenthesis things but just in case. The more I fought the treatment, the more I received a desire for a baby until I stopped fighting so much. I still fight when it comes to making sure everything is done correctly, but other than that, I make rules for myself. No looking up side effects, no watching the news, and doing things that promote relaxation. I've accepted the fact that my body needs help getting pregnant and that's okay. It's not like I'll be on these meds for the rest of my life. 

Oh another thing and completely unrelated to ttc, before Christmas, I came down with the flu and it was horrible. For the first time ever, I forced myself to get out of bed and go to an urgent care. If I had not gone, I wouldn't have known that I also had a double ear infection. I took Tamiflu and antibiotics. Gasp! But I was able to function again 24 hours later. It was a super important time in my life and I needed help. I decided that it's okay sometimes. The goal of natural is that sometimes you need help from unnatural medicine, but not to make it a life long habit. The same with food. The goal is to eat organic, raw, grass fed, non gmo any time that you can, but it's okay to eat some junk sometimes as long as it isn't a life long habit. Know what I mean?

I hope this helps  

nickyggg

@suzycupcake thank you for your very thoughtful reply! Yes, isn’t natural so wonderful? What a great advocate you have been for yourself! I’ve been trying to do that too... For example, I am high risk for cancer through family and I kept reminding the docs about it and as a result they decided I won’t need to prep with estrace since I have normal cycles anyway, just to cut down a little on my hormone intake.

nickyggg

@suzycupcake I think your approach of avoiding google searches and horror story blogs is one that I will take advice from!!! I’ve been slowwwly feeling more trust for meds in recent years since I met my husband whose father is a surgeon. My father in law always reminds me that medical advancement has helped people live longer healthier lives so there is definitely something to be said about that!!

suzycupcake

@nickyggg You're welcome and totally. I always say that okay, I cannot go to medical school and get a degree in this stuff, but I can at least be well informed. If I'm going to take such and such med with such and such side effects, I at least want to know what I'm getting myself into. But with the tamiflu, I didn't care. ... I just didn't want to possibly experience an MS flare which would've kept me in bed for weeks. Sometimes the benefits outweigh the scary feelings. Well, I've had to work my way up to that though lol

nickyggg

Well @suzycupcake, I think you are very brave for forging ahead and doing what you have done for yourself and your family. I hope so much that things go the best way they can for you in all this!!

nickyggg

@mich_elle did you see that there is an April IVF board now? Woohoo! 

suzycupcake

Aww thanks @nickyggg I wish the same for you. See you around!