Just trying to chill the hell out

T minus 24 hours until transfer, and I am fighting the urge to Google the heck out of "embryo transfer stories." I thought being back at work would help, but no such luck. It's funny, because the only thing I'm really dreading is the no peeing thing. Otherwise, between the acupuncture and the Val.ium I'm sure I'm going to be feeling juuuust fiiiiinnne.

In other news, the Mr. shot me in the butt with PIO when we were at our friends' house last night. It was pretty comical. I think I'm almost going to miss these exciting shooting up situations.

Side Effects

Not too much to report in the Barefoot household. We continue to stim away (with much less bloody results, thankfully), and will know after tomorrow's wand-o-rama just how things are going in there. It feels like stuff is going on.....but that could be the spicy enchiladas.

On a lighter note, has anyone else noticed just how many side effects (or, as the brochures like to call them, "adverse events") the packaging on all of the meds lists? They've got it all covered, from the short term (hot flashes) to the long term (ovarian cancer). Honestly, I'd be willing to believe that I could wake up with a second head tomorrow. And I love all of the stickers on the prescription bottles: eat with food, don't chew, may cause dizziness, do not operate heavy machinery, don't dispense to other patients, etc. It's kind of awesome.

Amateur Hour

So, we started stims last night. I have to admit, I didn't really go into it with the best attitude -- I'd attended a family baby shower earlier in the day, and sat across from someone who basically spent the whole party complaining about how hard it is to have a newborn. I know, I know -- it IS hard (as I hope to find out someday), but it was a little difficult in the moment to see past the Lu.pron and the pre-stims anxiety. On the plus side, there was really good cake.

Anyway, back to the stims. My pre-game thinking: "Wow, those Lu.pron shots have been kind of a breeze, this should be no big deal." Um, yeah. I started with the Lu.pron, just to get things rolling, and managed to hit a blood vessel and bleed all over the place. Not so smooth. Then, a little rattled, we spent 20 minutes trying to figure out if we were mixing the Re.pronex correctly. I'm still not entirely sure, but it seemed to work out. And finally, I came within about a 1/2 inch of impaling myself in the eye with the Go.nal-F pen while trying to "prime" it for its first usage. I'm really not very good with this stuff, apparently.

And now I've had a raging headache for the last 24 hours. Ah, Tylenol, how I love you.

On the bright side, the wonderful Mr. surprised me with this little gift yesterday:

Probably my favorite TV series ever. Definitely my favorite series finale ever. It's nice to have 63 hours of distraction on tap for the next few weeks. Although who am I kidding, I'll probably be done before we get to retrieval.

(Thinking good thoughts here for Carrie, who had her retrieval this morning. Hope all went well!)

Adventures in Injectables, Part 2

As if Tuesday's experience wasn't enough excitement for one week, last night I got to shoot up in the parking lot of a school. Thank goodness there were no small children around.

I think I'm going to have to up the ante next week -- maybe on the train on the way home from work? On the treadmill? On a videoconference? The possibilities are endless.

Off to LA

Lu.pron? Check.
Syringes? Check.
Cold storage bag and ice pack? Check.
Note from the doctor for the TSA? Check.
High likelihood that I'm going to have to shoot up in the bathroom at a work dinner tomorrow night? Check.

And who said business travel wasn't fun?

What a prick

Actually, it wasn't anything compared to the prick I got giving 13 vials of blood for my pre-IVF workup. But that did not stop the Barefoot household from getting geared up for the drama. Husband was grinning like an idiot, I was reading the instructions for the fifth time, and even the cats were looking up from the kitchen floor. You can tell what an exciting life we all lead, since this was front-page news.

All in all, though, it was pretty anticlimactic. The only weird part was after I stuck the needle in -- I didn't really quite know what to do with myself. No pain, though, and no side effects other than a mild headache which I've had all week.

I did hint to the Mr., as we were watching Tatiana Del Toro's predictably dramatic exit from American Idol, that that could be me in a few days. He's pretty fired up.

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.