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Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Progesterone

***1st of all thank you so much for all of your comments on my last post. I felt much better when I read that many of you had similar fertilization rates and subsequent BFP's.

Had my first progesterone shot on Sunday night. J mixed and administers all of my shots and when I saw the progesterone needle I wanted to run out of the house. It wasn't the thickness that scared me but the length. I followed some advice I've read and applied heat to the site before hand and even warmed up the needle a little. We weren't confident on the location...we were told to divide one buttock into 4 quarters and inject into the upper outer quarter. Let me mention that one quarter of one of my butt cheeks is the size of a small post-it note. I have a bony ass and bony hips. We didn't have much to work with.

J finally administered the shot and it was pretty painful. What was worse was that I felt pain up and down my thigh. I didn't think we hit a nerve b/c I'd assume I'd be screaming bloody murder if we had but I had these very painful aches and cramps in my leg all night long. I couldn't sleep b/c of it. My leg hurt much worse than the injection site.

Last night we did our second shot and I was very reluctant. I thought J might have to hold me down. I finally held and squeezed my stuffed monkey "Charlie"...and silently chanted , baby, baby, baby to remind myself why I was doing this. Oddly and thankfully enough this one wasn't nearly as bad. J administered the shot lower than the first one and he inserted it 2/3 of the way in. Initially I was so freakin' grateful that I wasn't limping afterwards, but then became a little concerned that he didn't push the shot all the way in. J said he could feel the needle enter my muscle after 1/3 of the needle was in and didn't think we needed to use the entire length. I told him I don't want him to do that again unless Dr. Z says it's okay. Any comments on this? I won't be able to walk if we have many repeats of the first night.

I'm driving up North tonight. We're staying in the city and will have our transfer late tomorrow morning. I'm excited and nervous. I had a really odd/bad dream last night. I was going through IVF in my dream and in my IVF dream cycle they combine the eggs and sperm until they form what looks like a tiny piece of dry rice. Then they give you two to "transfer" and in order to do that you have to make them stick to your skin.... on either your lower back or lower abdominal area. So I was pushing these little pieces of "rice" into my skin until they dug in and slipped under my skin. (took many tries as they fell on the ground over and over) Then they started to grow and form a bubble that you can feel when you pressed on your skin. After 6 weeks you go in and they do an u/s to see how you are doing. I was told that my babies didn't make it. One had a crushed skull and the other didn't develop. I was told I probably crushed the skull when I dropped them repeatedly. I was crying hysterically at this point in my dream and the nurse told me that I just needed to pay another $10,000 and try again.

I told J about it when I woke up and he said it was interesting that the sites on my skin where I had to attach the "rice embryos" were the same sites that we're doing our injections. Lovenox on my abdomen and progesterone on my lower back. And that my biggest fear is that I'll do something wrong to prevent this cycle from working or worse yet I'll get pregnant and lose the baby(ies).

Sad and disturbing dream! I vow to only think of dancing bears and lollipops before drifting off to sleep from now on.

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22 Comments:

At 2/06/2007 7:15 AM, Blogger Jaimie said...

Good luck Faith. I'll be praying for you.

 
At 2/06/2007 7:38 AM, Blogger Heather said...

You poor thing! That was a horrible dream. Hang in there. You're in my thoughts.

 
At 2/06/2007 7:47 AM, Blogger Serenity said...

I wish I had advice about the PIO... but I don't - have only had pro.metrium during my IVF cycles.

About the dream - wow, what a horrid one. I hope you don't have to have one of those every again.

*HUG* Good luck tomorrow, sweetie.

 
At 2/06/2007 7:53 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

KTF-
So sorry about your dream! How awful! If it helps, I don't think a mix up or three really make a hill of beans in this IVF stuff... they call it "art" for a reason, you know? (Assvice alert: you can ask the nurse to put an X in magic marker on the injection area on both butt cheeks so you can be sure of the spot.) And I prefer to think about baskets of kittens. How can you not have sweet dreams when thinking about kittens?
Yellowgirl

 
At 2/06/2007 8:15 AM, Blogger Kirsten said...

What a dream (nightmare??)...it's wild what our brain does sometimes.
As fas as the PIO shots, I'd go ahead and get it all the way in there, just in case. My IVF coordinator told Daniel to make sure it was all the way in and then to withdraw a little to make sure there was no blood mixed in before injecting. I know it sucks; I dreaded that time of the night every single night. Just do your best to relax the muscle; that always made a BIG difference in the pain level for me. Daniel could tell when I was tensed up, too.
It will all be worth it...

 
At 2/06/2007 8:56 AM, Blogger ellie said...

No real advice on the PIO shots- but keep in mind that the longe you do them the more sore the sites will be. No way to avoid that. I wish you luck for the transfer!

 
At 2/06/2007 9:46 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is some advice on the PIO shots, from someone who also has a small bony butt! First, I asked to use 1" instead of 1 1/2" needles. If you only have the 1 1/2" needles, see if your doctor with prescribe the smaller needles or if your DH can put it only 1" in. Second, warm the PIO first. I put it in my bra for a half hour before each injection. It made it much more viscuous and went in easier. Third, to do the injection, lay on your bed face down with a pillow under your hips. Put your feet facing toward each other so that your muscles are completely relaxed. Have DH find the upper outer quadrant and then have him inject it. After the injection, have him (or you) massage the area for a minute or so to disperse the oil. After a couple of days you run out of injection spots, but I found that if I followed these instructions, I was in a lot less pain. Good luck with the shots and this cycle!!! -Leighann

 
At 2/06/2007 11:19 AM, Blogger Kristy said...

Faith - I remember reading somewhere if you don't have a lot of "meat" on your butt, that you can ask your dr. for a shorter needle, because your muscle is not as deep, as say, my muscle, which is hiding behind my big a$$ :)

Good luck - I will be praying for an uneventful transfer!

 
At 2/06/2007 12:12 PM, Blogger Watson said...

Good lord!

The shot and that dream sound horrible. But the small ass? That sounds nice! (Wish I had that problem.)

Butt seriously (okay I'll stop) I am sending you good vibes for your trip tonight and for the transfer.

Just remember how much we love Dr. Z and trust that he totally knows what he's doing...

And I'm going to call you later, gator!

 
At 2/06/2007 2:53 PM, Blogger Carol said...

GOOD LUCK TOMORROW!

I had a heck of a time with the PIO in my first cycle - I was really sore. But after 6 times I've figured out a system that works pretty well for me.

1) heating pad. worth its weight in gold. lay on it for a good 10 - 15 mins before and after the shot. And put the needle under it to heat up too - to thin the oil.
2) lay down for the shot. I think this helps ensure that the muscle is not tensed up.
3) nice deep breaths. Also helps to make sure the muscle is relaxed when the shot goes in.

You can also try a smaller needle. They probably gave you a 22g needle? Try using a 25g. They're thinner, so they hurt less. But if you do this - then you definitely have to warm up the shot first, because it will be a bit harder to get the oil through the needle.

And I have also heard that it's ok to use a shorter needle.

Hope this helps a little.

 
At 2/06/2007 3:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for your comment on my blog!

Wishing you some great embies for transfer tomorrow.

That dream sounds awful. I've had several dreams about messing up injections, wierd egg retrievals, my doctor and frozen embryos. Probably 10 different dreams over the last few months. Our subconscious can not let go!

I've never had that problem with the PIO because I have all the fat on my butt that you don't have! I will say that finding a good spot is part of the battle. We were going a little too far "in" towards the middle of the butt last time, and those were much more knotty and itchy than this cycle when we went further "out." And the heating pad is good.

Are you using PIO or prog. in ethyl oleate?

Best of luck tomorrow! You will be in my thoughts!

 
At 2/06/2007 4:47 PM, Blogger Baby Blues said...

That was a horrible dream. I hope that's the last one. Happy thoughts Faith! :)

 
At 2/06/2007 4:49 PM, Blogger Stephanie said...

Sorry about that horrid dream. I hope you have sweet dreams tonight. Best of luck at transfer! Can't wait to hear how it goes!

 
At 2/06/2007 5:05 PM, Blogger Ali said...

Good luck!

 
At 2/06/2007 6:23 PM, Blogger Bea said...

Good luck... and yes, sounds like an anxiety dream to me. Ouch about the POI.

Bea

 
At 2/06/2007 9:24 PM, Blogger grits said...

I am new to the whole blogging world, but good luck sweetie! I will be praying for you.

 
At 2/07/2007 6:31 AM, Blogger Dr. Grumbles said...

I found you because Watson linked to this post. Good luck! That all sounds scary, I hope the transfer goes well!!!

 
At 2/07/2007 9:16 AM, Blogger Ali-Cat said...

K-
I am so sorry about this horrible dream that you had. I believe it is fear, and worry that is going through your mind to make you dream this way.
I had to look up your page again, I'm glad I found it. It's good to hear all the things you are going through. Wow!
Take care of yourself!
Love ya -
A

 
At 2/07/2007 6:06 PM, Blogger Carey said...

PIO advice: Ask your RE for a prescription of EMLA cream. It will numb the injection site. You'll still feel the meds a little, but you won't feel the poke. Magic stuff I tell you! (Before I got the cream, I would ice the injection site). If you get it, just apply it one hour before your injection and cover it with a larger band-aid so it won't rub off.

Also, what helped me was to warm up a washcloth in the microwave and then really massage my injection site with it afterwards. That seemed to help a ton!

Good luck to you!!!

 
At 2/07/2007 7:32 PM, Blogger Jaimie said...

I've been thinking about you all day. I hope everything went well and you are tucked safely in bed!

 
At 2/08/2007 6:02 AM, Blogger Kellie with an "ie" said...

Here's hoping that every shot, every bad dream, every moment of pain is worth it. I'll check back often hoping for lots of good news from you in the months to come.

 
At 2/08/2007 9:32 AM, Blogger x said...

Bad dreams and hormones seem to go hand in hand - I hate them. I am still laughing at the fact that a 1/4 of your bum is only the size of a post it note (because I've got a stack of post-it's in front of me and my butt is alot bigger than that). I think those needles are made for ample bottoms so J might be onto something with not sticking it in all the way, but I also understand wanting to be safe and do what the doctor says. Best of luck with the transfer.

 

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