Read Part 1: Our Infertility Journey – Where It All Began
Read Part 2: Our Honeymoon – Babymaking time…Or Not?
Read Part 3: Semen Analysis – Strict Kruger – Abnormal Sperm – Now What?
Read Part 4: Selecting A Reproductive Endocrinologist
Read Part 5: Fallopian Tube Perfusion – Intrauterine Insemination

We met with Dr. M after work one day. He basically went over the process of IVF and confirmed that we were good candidates. He asked us if we wanted to begin immediately or to wait a few months. Mike and I both agreed, the sooner the better. They ran some blood work that day and it was dependent on the results on whether or not I would be able to be put on the “pill” to begin the very first phase of IVF.
We got call the very next day from the IVF nurse coordinator, it was a go!!!! We were thrilled and really were looking forward to moving on to the next phase of our fertility treatment. I spoke with the nurse for about an hour that night, in a weird way, it was very exciting. We scheduled a few appointments, one of them was the IVF teaching visit and the other was a financial visit (yikes, can we be lucky enough to win the lottery?) I picked up my birth control pills and began that evening. The purpose of the pill was to suppress my ovaries for a while before they began to really stimulate them.

I was on the pill for about 12 days; at the end of the twelve days I began the stimulation medications:

• Follistim (about 10 days) – this was an injection shot that I gave to myself in the abdomen. Early on I thought it was a pain until I had to add two more daily injections, making a total of 3 a day at one point. Needless to say, I was very bruised.
• Low Dose HcG (approximately 5-6 days, close to the egg retrieval date) – this was another injection shot that I did in the abdomen as well.
• Ganirellix (a few days close to the egg retrieval) – the “hell” shot!!! This one hurt and was very difficult to give. The syringe was very stiff and it was extremely difficult to push all of the medication through.
• Lupron – I took one injection about 36 hours prior to the egg retrieval and another one the morning before. At this point I was so used to all of the injections that it didn’t faze me. It was a bit tricky drawing up the medication.

Read Part 7: IVF Egg Retrieval and Embryo Transfer