We have officially started IVF!
It feels so good to finally be DOING something. I had my first appointment on Saturday, 7/10. We had to leave our house at 6:45am to be there bright and early.
They took blood, did an ultrasound, a Covid test, and gave me a little more training on how to do the shots.
There were also a mountain of consent forms to finish signing and a just a tiny little payment of $11,100 to take care of.
We have already paid $400 for a deposit, $3800 for the meds, and $550 for David's side of things. That adds up to a grand total of (drumroll please) $15,850. Not counting the other testing we've had done over the last year and a half.
Thankfully, we were extremely financially blessed a few months ago. Right before Covid shut everything down, David had interviewed at a different company. He decided to accept the new job literally one day before his former company furloughed him with no pay (having NO idea that would happen).
The new job included a significant raise and a $10,000 signing bonus... all of which has of course gone towards our treatments. The timing was seriously amazing. We would not have been able to pay for IVF ourselves (at least without a loan) if we hadn't experienced this blessing.
Last night I had the go ahead to do my very first shot. Eventually I will have to do multiple types of injections, but right now I'm just doing a morning and an evening shot of Follistim.
This is the medication that's supposed to stimulate multiple eggs in my ovaries to mature. Usually in your normal cycle, only one egg matures. During IVF, the more eggs you can get to mature, the more likely it is that IVF will be successful.
I am on a higher than normal dose of Follistim, which I am thankful for. I don't care if I'm uncomfortable or have more side effects... just hoping for a happy outcome.
From what I've read online, most women don't feel any effects the first few days. But I could feel things happening right after I took the first dose! I'm hoping that's a good sign!!
I have only done 2 shots so far, but both times I could start feeling it about 20 minutes afterwards. I feel bloated, basically like I ate way too much... but it doesn't go away. I haven't had any appetite and have had stomachaches off and on. It's kind of a weird feeling.
So far the symptoms will lessen a couple of hours after I do the shot, but they don't totally go away.
I'm also taking a steroid, which apparently has several benefits and is supposed to improve your chances of success. The one I'm taking causes insomnia, which is probably why I woke up at 4am last night and couldn't fall back asleep. There are also a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head, so that might have contributed too.
All in all, it doesn't look like I'll be doing much physical activity during the next few weeks!
I'm proud of myself for doing the shots easily. It really wasn't bad or very painful, although it's a weird thing to get used to stabbing yourself.
On Tuesday I'll be going back to the clinic to see how things are going... fingers crossed that everything's going well.
It feels so good to finally be DOING something. I had my first appointment on Saturday, 7/10. We had to leave our house at 6:45am to be there bright and early.
They took blood, did an ultrasound, a Covid test, and gave me a little more training on how to do the shots.
There were also a mountain of consent forms to finish signing and a just a tiny little payment of $11,100 to take care of.
We have already paid $400 for a deposit, $3800 for the meds, and $550 for David's side of things. That adds up to a grand total of (drumroll please) $15,850. Not counting the other testing we've had done over the last year and a half.
Thankfully, we were extremely financially blessed a few months ago. Right before Covid shut everything down, David had interviewed at a different company. He decided to accept the new job literally one day before his former company furloughed him with no pay (having NO idea that would happen).
The new job included a significant raise and a $10,000 signing bonus... all of which has of course gone towards our treatments. The timing was seriously amazing. We would not have been able to pay for IVF ourselves (at least without a loan) if we hadn't experienced this blessing.
Last night I had the go ahead to do my very first shot. Eventually I will have to do multiple types of injections, but right now I'm just doing a morning and an evening shot of Follistim.
This is the medication that's supposed to stimulate multiple eggs in my ovaries to mature. Usually in your normal cycle, only one egg matures. During IVF, the more eggs you can get to mature, the more likely it is that IVF will be successful.
I am on a higher than normal dose of Follistim, which I am thankful for. I don't care if I'm uncomfortable or have more side effects... just hoping for a happy outcome.
From what I've read online, most women don't feel any effects the first few days. But I could feel things happening right after I took the first dose! I'm hoping that's a good sign!!
I have only done 2 shots so far, but both times I could start feeling it about 20 minutes afterwards. I feel bloated, basically like I ate way too much... but it doesn't go away. I haven't had any appetite and have had stomachaches off and on. It's kind of a weird feeling.
So far the symptoms will lessen a couple of hours after I do the shot, but they don't totally go away.
I'm also taking a steroid, which apparently has several benefits and is supposed to improve your chances of success. The one I'm taking causes insomnia, which is probably why I woke up at 4am last night and couldn't fall back asleep. There are also a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head, so that might have contributed too.
All in all, it doesn't look like I'll be doing much physical activity during the next few weeks!
I'm proud of myself for doing the shots easily. It really wasn't bad or very painful, although it's a weird thing to get used to stabbing yourself.
On Tuesday I'll be going back to the clinic to see how things are going... fingers crossed that everything's going well.
So exciting that your journey has begun! Can’t help but feel that David’s new job plus bonus coming when they did are signs of heavenly parents watching out for you guys and giving thumbs up. Love you. Love that you’re keeping a journal of this incredibly emotional and important endeavor. 💗
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