Needles, Injections, Hormones, Stimulation, Viagra, Vaginal Suppositories? Yikes!

Just giving a little personal humor and delight to my never ending list of my IVF Meds! I mean who can say they have taken Viagra vaginally? I will be sure to check that off my bucket list...be jealous my friends as I embark on the hormonally roller coaster ride of hormone and stimulation meds! I will go ahead and warn all my friends and family that I cannot be held accountable for anything I say or do in this time period! If someone tries to commit me or arrest me I will be sure to give them the link to blog so they will understand...I am just overstimulated and super hormoned up!

Dexamethasone 0.75 mg Tablet or Prednisone 10 mg

A lovely STEROID tablet (Gotta love Steroids). This little pill is going to help fight off inflammation or my body's need to fight off the embryo thinking it is a foreign invader of my body!

• Potential side effects are insomnia, increase in appetite and bloating. (these 3 together sound a little scary!)

Lupron (Leuprolide Acetate)

This is wonderful drug suppresses my "Pituitary Hormones" What are these you might ask? Stuff like the adrenal and thyroid. Even though my Ovaries are connected to the pituitary hormones my Ovaries will NOT be suppressed...Whew! Relief! This is another lovely stomach shot- yay me! We get to use "insulin syringes"

• The most common side effect is hot flashes, this will be relieved by the start of your hormone medication (i.e., E2V or Gonal-F or Follistim (Hot Flashes sound like I'm going to get a preview into menopause- good practice I shall never forget!)
  

E2V = Estradiol Valerate = Delestrogen

Basically a shot in the "buttocks" that gets my Stimulators primed and ready for Stimulation. Women who have had a hysterectomy take this for hormone supplements. I am going to venture to say that this medication is ONE of the meds that will probably make me feel like hormonal crazy mess! When I Googled It the med is described a Hormone Replacement Therapy.

Folic Acid 1mg tablet

This is one medication that I actually knew the functionality and have taken before as all pregnant women or trying to conceive women should! It prevents Spina Bifida.

SDF (Viagra) Suppositories (Let's Get the Party Started)

• Given to increase blood flow to endometrial lining
• Take vaginally 4 times daily (Really?!?!)
• No side effects, except possible vaginal irritation from so many suppositories. (No side effects? Irritation in the HooHaw is a big side effect in my opinion).
  

Terbutaline 5 mg Tablets

• Given to relax the uterine muscle which will allow more blood flow through the uterine vessels
• Starts with SDF suppositories. (I had to look this up- this is a suppository that goes in your HooHaw- I was hoping I was done with this part at the Viagra- guess not!)
  
• One tablet three times a day
• You will experience the side effects of nervousness, shakiness and a racing heart! If your heart rate is over 120 beats per minute, please skip a dose
• Your body will adjust to the Terbutaline in 2-5 days and you will no longer experience the side effects

I don't think I need to anything to this med- it pretty much says it all in the outline above! Sounds like this one is going to be LOTS of FUN!

Gonal F / Follistim

From what I have read this is the BIG DADDY in the stimulation meds. This is the medication that kicks your follices into overdrive and helps your woman business produce LOTS of EGGS! Yay for Eggs- we love Eggs!

Luveris

So what is exactly is a "pure Lutenizing Hormone"? Well I Googled It (imagine that). Here's what I got: A hormone used to support Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) therapy.

It is always taken with Gonal F. So basically it is a booster for stimulation! Got it!

Read more: http://www.drugs.com/luveris.html#ixzz10XyZ8KxF

Don't forget the Important Warning: Contact your healthcare professional immediately if you experience severe pain or bloating in the stomach or pelvic area, severe upset stomach, vomiting and / or weight gain.

Progesterone in oil

This syringe and gauge process is enough to make my head spin! Use the 1 1/2 " this or that and 3ccs of this or that...I am confused- are you?

Injections sites

Intramuscular injection sites- this looks painful...all I'm saying!

Subcutaneous Injection Site (use upper thigh or lower abdomen)- never had a shot in the abs before this should be interesting since mine are obviously covered by layers of stretched marked skin! This should be fun!

So my fellow readers- what do you think of all this, as I like to call craziness, JICK JACK? It's amazing what medications can do to our body and how doctor can manipulate my entire reproductive system to make a baby! I feel like a science experiment! But a good one!

Let The Testing Begin

I know I know, I already have two kids, I should know all about how this baby making stuff works. After doing a crash course of IVF- let me tell you- I knew very little leading up to this point.

Just to get the go ahead to do IVF you have to undergo a few tests. Well, not a few, ALOT! Starting with blood work. Not just normal blood work but specific blood work in addition to both of us having a full CBC and getting tested for every genetic or sexually transmitted disease under the sun. The specific blood work is when things get a little confusing for me as a female.

Let's talk FSH- Follicle Stimulating Hormone- this is a BIG DEAL in the world of IVF. This determines how "young and fertile" your eggs are and how healthy your follices are. Your FSH can only be measured correctly on the 3rd day of your cycle. To let you know how clueless I was about everything- I had to ask my nurse the dumb question- "when is the 3rd day of my cycle?". Um that would be the third day of your period for those other reproductive challenged folks out there. the magic number for FSH greatness is any number below 6 above 1. I am a lucky 5! This means you will stimulate easily or normally when you undergo fertility medications. There are also is another test that coincides with FSH and determines your egg quality it is called Estradiol. This test determine what shape your Ovarian Reserve is in. They want the numbers below 80 and mine is 64. Looks I passed the blood work test with flying colors- praise the Lord!

Just to whine a little- the blood lab chic poked me 7 times, blew 3 veins and bruised me in three places to get the 14 VIALS of blood they needed for all the testing! Not for the faint at heart! Be prepared future IVFers- get those veins plumped up!

Then comes the FUS test- this is a fluid ultrasound of your uterus and uterine wall cavity. Being the challenged individual that I am I had to research this a little more to understand exactly where they would be putting a catheter and inserting fluid for an ultrasound. The research scared me to death- it looked very invasive and very painful...and IT WAS! BUT all was well with uterus and uterine cavity and the doc said he was impressed because I had had two children before and there were no scars in that area from C-Sections or carrying a babies! WOO HOO! Great news!

Then came basic physicals saying we are healthy enough to do IVF and of course a normal pap- that was cake! Check Check- we are healthy and ready!

Lastly, but the first test that we did because the hubby could go anytime to do his- he doesn't have to work around a "cycle"- the Semen Analysis. He had to do the test because he has no children- which he says- he took preventative measures NOT to have children UNTIL he was married- what a smart man! Let's just say- his swimmers are above average! His numbers were off the charts and right on target for baby making! YAY Hubby! (I'm sure he's going to love this blog).

So we conquered all the testing and we were overjoyed that everything came back normal! Truly an answer to prayers! Who knew how important all these numbers and crazy terms were to make a baby?!?! I am thankful that our chances of a successful IVF are excellent and I am counting down the days (46) to Vegas...BABY!