Friday, February 27, 2009

Watery Syringes and Fake Tummies

Picture this: a half-dozen jittery infertiles, gathered around a table of syringes, bottles of "medication" (water), and fake rubber abdomens. Sounds like more fun than a double episode of Grey's Anatomy, right?

Wrong. Well, sort of wrong. I have to admit that the "IVF Class" experience (couldn't they come up with a catchier title, like "Sticking a Needle in Your Ass 101"?) was at least marginally entertaining. What's not fun about discussing the potential side effects of myriad Class C drugs? Or what to do with our embryos if the IVF process drives us to a) divorce, or b) drive ourselves over a cliff? Do we want to donate extra embryos to another infertile couple? Medical research? None of the above?

Good times. I did get a kick out of how excited my husband was to learn how to administer a progesterone shot. I also had fun shooting water out of a syringe into his right eye from across the table. You have to get your jollies where you can.

All kidding aside, I am actually eager to get this show on the road. We're set to get ultrasounded and (if everything looks OK) start injections next Thursday. I am still awaiting receipt of the giant box 'o meds from the Special Infertility Pharmacy (is there anything about this process that doesn't make you feel so SPECIAL?), which should be a fun reality check.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Welcome to the wonderful world of IVF

I start this blog not really sure why I'm doing so. Part of me just wants a place to vent, part of me wonders if reading about my experience might be helpful to others, part of me is so thankful to have read the accounts of other bloggers going through IVF, and part of me just enjoys writing. (And a part of me who really doesn't want to jinx herself is thinking that there might be a little one who might want to read about this someday.) So there you go.

I'm about to embark on my first IVF adventure. We've been trying for 2 years, and are pulling out the big guns. We'll be starting injections in about 2 weeks. And you can hear about it all right here.

And maybe some other stuff too.