ME: I have a bag of needles and a sharps bin because
THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!
SISTER: Ooh, stabbies! F.A.B!
Yes, we are go! IVF information session was a success and
suddenly, everything is happening! I have a bag of needles and a sharps bin,
I’ve learned how to do 3 different types of injection that I’m going to need,
and we’ve signed all sorts of scary consent forms.
Leading up to the information session, I was definitely
getting nervous, mainly because no-one had made it clear what to expect from
it. After digging through forums and articles online, I’d worked out that I’d
probably be taught how to do the injections and we would start working out a
schedule for things, but part of me didn’t dare to hope that it would actually
kick-start things properly! My husband was definitely surprised when he
realised that it was really beginning, rather than just giving us some more
theoretical and hypothetical information!
Yet here we are, waiting for the start of my next cycle
(should be within a few days) so that I can call the clinic and they’ll tell me
which day to take my first injection.
“In the event of your death…”
Got to love a question that begins that way.
Being confronted by your own mortality when you’re
discussing creating a new life is rather discomforting.
Pages and pages of consent forms, some with easy questions
to answer and others that required more thought and discussion – things that
we’d never even considered we’d have to consider! What we would like to happen to any embryos
that we create and are in storage, should we both die while going through IVF,
for example.
I know it isn’t exactly a cheery thought but if anyone else
starting IVF ever ends up reading this blog, I think it’s important that I not
sugar-coat the less than pleasant aspects.
All that being said, the consent forms are important and
signing them made everything feel so real. This is really, honestly and truly
happening.
Oh how true this is!
If we get a baby out of it, it will be worth it. If we get a
baby out of it, it will be worth it. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I don’t actually have a problem with needles or injections
but the idea of injecting myself every day for weeks on end (and then multiple
times a day) is daunting, especially because I don’t yet know how my body will
react to the medication.
Will I be grumpy, will I be overly emotional, will my body
change? Will I develop Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome and get so poorly
that they have to abandon the cycle? I know that this is rare and a worst case
scenario, so am trying not to worry myself unduly, but for someone with a
propensity towards anxiety, a sense of zen and calm isn’t easy to achieve!
So what next?
We’ve got to take my prescription to some pharmacies to compare
prices; I have to call the clinic on day 1 of my next cycle; and we have to
attend an information and consent session for the Embryoscope (essentially CCTV
for the embryos).
All positive, everything moving forward, and while I'm not going to get my hopes up too high, it feels good to be going in the right direction.
