IVF Newbie

MarylandWed

Just waiting for cycle day one and then I start the BCP. I am nervous about all the meds I will be taking when we get going. Mostly that I will get confused. It seems very overwhelming. I do have a nurse who is supposed to walk me through it. Also should I plan for downtime after the transfer? Any advice on navigating this is appreciated!

QOTR

I don't have experience with IVF yet, but I wanted to wish you luck!

Jacque Sills

Hi MarylandWed,

I was an IVF Newbie, too.  Just finished the egg transfer and in my 2WW. 

Yes, you will have a specific nurse that will be there for the whole journey.  Don't hesitate to ask any questions, remember she is suppose to be there for you.  You will go in the next day after you finish the BCP's to learn how to give yourself injections, and don't do what I did and think that the nurse practices on an orange or anything like that, you will be the orange.  Don't worry.....  Once, she shows you how to do it, you will be asked to demonstrate the process of setting up the Gonal pen,(which has saline water in it)  to the dose that you will be prescribed and clean the area where you are to inject, pinch the skin on your tummy that you just cleaned and take a deep breath and poke!    You will be surprised that it doesn't hurt at all, you might just feel a tiny prick but that will be the worst of it.  Once, you get that over with, you will either collect your medicines there or if you ordered them, they will be on there way or you already have them.  I organized mine on my dresser to make it easier and to give me room for when I gave myself injections that everything was there and I had a system of what shot I did first and last to remind myself to take all my shots, I am sure you won't forget...Lol.  My husband helped me do the mixing part of one of my shots and just left it for me to give myself a shot, while I was taking my Gonal F pen shot.  If, giving shots is too hard for you, maybe, your hubby can help.  Your choice....  The Gonal pen is pretty easy.  You just set the dosage, clean the injection site, take off the protective plastic cover and then, do it.   I am sure you will get the hang of it.  

After you learn the shot business, then in the next day or so, you will have had your period and on cd3 you will go in for your baseline monitoring appt.  They will check you to see, if you have any cyst, or issues that will impede you moving forward, as well as, check the amounts of your follicles.  That is an important question I would ask your nurse when you see her that morning, what is my AFC? That is your follicle count, how many follies that you have total in both your ovaries.  So, you will give blood and have a vaginal ultrasound.  Then, you will see the nurse to discuss the results.  If, all is ok...then, you will be ready to rock and roll.  When she calls you that afternoon, she will give you your blood results and then, tell you how to start your meds and how much.  You might want to write down and keep a journal of your results.  But, that is up to you.  In addition, she will tell you the next time that you will need to come in for your monitoring.  As you proceed, you will start going in everyday the closer you get to the egg retrieval date. 

Just remember to take it a day at a time, to help not make this overwhelming for ya. The blood withdraws will get to be a bit tuff on your arms...and the shots.  IVF is not an easy journey but, is hopefully, a rewarding one..... 

Once, your ready to do your Trigger shot, they will call you to tell you the, 'Exact Time" for this shot, it is crucial that you do the shot at the exact time they tell you, not one minute late.... and you might take one last larger dose of Gonal, called a, "Push Pen" shot to just get your smaller follicles one last chance to get to the required size, you will stop all your meds and 36 hours later, you will go in for the retrieval.  After retrieval, they will tell you how many mature follicles that they retrieved.  As, you are monitoring they will tell you the sizes of the follicles.  They should be anywhere from 18mm-24mm.  Your doctor will decide when to proceed due to the sizes and numbers of follies you have.  It is a fine balance, like a dance that they follow. 

After the retrieval they will monitor your follies for the require time frame that you agreed to, you might have a 3day transfer or 5 day transfer, you might elect to do PGS testing and so on.  You might decide to freeze all of your embryos and the next month get ready to do the egg transfer, as I choose to do.  It is up to you and your doctor to determine what the best course of action is for you.  The reason I chose this route was due to I was going to do the PGS testing on day 5 but my embryos were too slow, so the doctor, my husband and I decided not to jeopardize our embryos and just froze them.  But, that didn't have anything to do with why I froze them in the first place.  When you do a 5 day transfer, your hormones, uterine lining are not in the best state due to the meds and all to be receptive to implantation and all.  Oh, by the way.....when I was taking the BCP, I had a endometrial biopsy to help with the implantation of the embryos, talk to your doctor about it.  They scrap the uterine lining, and it supposedly makes you more fertile.   If, you chose to do a 3 or 5 day, you will start taking the estrogen and then add the progesterone, for your egg transfer at that time. 

But for me, after they froze my embries, I waited until my menstrual cycle started and went in for day3 monitoring and started taking estrace for so many days, that is estrogen and in about 5 days, I think, I went in to have my uterus lining check for thickness, you want a least .8mm in thickness.  Once, you get there.  Then, the doctor puts you on Prometrium/progesterone for 5 days and then, in for Egg Transfer.  Viola!  Long story....but, hope it helps in giving you an idea of what an IVF protocol looks like.  Not that yours will be exactly like mine, but there will be some similarities. 

Best of Luck and if, you have any questions and or want to share your IVF protocol plan, let me know.  I would be happy to help, if I can. 

 

PPL2011

The meds seem overwhelming. Have it all written out...day by day...the only shot that makes me nervous is the HCG shot 35 hours prior to the retrieval. You'll be fine...Good Luck!!

MarylandWed

Thank you! That's about what the nurse described although she told me to just take it one step at a time and call on CD1 tomorrow and don't worry about the details of the rest so that's what I am trying to do. Like pp I am most concerned with the trigger shot and i am also worried about remembering all the details. I tend to get flustered with medical stuff. h is not paid if he doesn't work and we are shelling out a bundle so i cant have him take off for everything but it does make me feel a little alone. And now that I know the trigger shot can't even be a minute late that's even more pressure. Where I live has a lot of traffic and people are always late. I don't know if I want to count on someone to help me now. H is too stressy about needles and stuff to be of much assistance.

Jacque Sills

Like your nurse said, don't worry and take one day at a time.  She will walk you through it.  Talk to her about your concerns and I am sure she can help you create an organized system for your meds and all.  Write it all down in an outline to review and it might help to keep you calm because it won't let you forget anything... 

The Trigger shot should be fine.  At least my Trigger shot was the same size needle and I could give it to myself in the same area of the tummy, so it shouldn't hurt or be any different, except for you having to take it at the exact time, I am sure a a couple of minutes before or later wouldn't be detrimental but since this is OOP, I would at least try to be pretty close to get the best results. But, don't stress there is no reason to.....I am sure you will do just fine, just remember to breath and take the time to get your self organized to have the best plan for success. 

Best of luck....

 

Reilly626

It was overwhelming for me too but it's worth it! I didn't have any side effects but putting on some weight. After the transfer I literally laid with my legs up on pillows for hours. Sounds extreme but it worked!!! Best of luck to you!