Use a Jabbing Motion to Inject Intramuscular?! What?!

I'm figitng. I am nervous and my stomach is upside down.  Only a few short days until the shots start. Lots of shots.  I have never been scared of needles and shots but this many and not done by a medical professional makes me queezy all of a sudden.  I have shots that need to be taken both Intramuscular and also Sub Q.  With the sub q injections, I can use my upper thighs or I can pinch my belly to use that area.  In the upper buttocks/hip area, I am pretty sure the intramuscular and stabbing action needed is what frightens me there. :)  I'll be fine but it makes me nervous.  I am hoping Nate will be good at helping with the injections.  The timing is important though so I am sure there will come times when I need to do them.

We have delayed our IVF from January to now (March 2012) because of my extensive travel schedule.  For work I have had the opportunity to travel to more than 15 cities in the US and Canada in less than eight weeks.  I did get some great experiences in before starting this actual process.  With Nathan's azoospermia, we have no choice other than medical intervention for us to conceive or at least have a chance at it.  As a reminder, Nathan carries the CF (cystic fibrosis) gene and was born without vas deferens which are the vessel for sperm to be carried out of the body.  After having a testicular biopsy, we found sperm and here we are now on a calendar. An actual cycle that we have planned for months.  I feel fluttering of nerves as I blog.  Excitement and possibility just pump me up.

So, over the last five weeks I have taken birth control pills to start regulating my body.  I took the last dose yesterday the 18th of March, 2012.  On this Wednesday morning at 7:30 is my sounding.  This is where the cervix is measured and the shape is noted.  I will then be given the ok to start injections which we believe will be the next day, March 22nd.  The injections will consist of the following medications, however, some of this is cloudy to me and I have a lot of questions on Wednesday so bare with me while I learn this myself :)

With these injections we want to produce several eggs in one cycle.  Menopur which stimulates the development of follicles.  There is also Ganirelix which suppresses hormone production, prevents ovulation and allows improved stimulation of ovarian follicular development.  Chorionic Gonad prepares the oocytes for the final maturation process which takes 36 hours for eggs to be released after injection.  The last of the items I will be using is Clomid- I am not positive as this is one of my questions for Wednesdays appointment and Progesterone which prepares the uterus for attachment of on the lining.



Nathan and I will have retrieval on the same day and I will be sedated but Nate will not be.  He will receive a block again as when they did the initial testicular biopsy.  When the follicles have matured, I will do the HCG injection and 34-36 hrs later I will have my eggs removed from my ovaries with a needle and ultrasound probe guiding it.  The retrievals will be either April 1st or 2nd with us resting the remainder of the day.  At that time there will be an Embryologist that mixes eggs and sperm for fertilization.  2 or 3 days later will be the embryo transfer to my uterus.  At that time I am on bed rest with only bathroom privileges for 24 hours.  This is our now planned infertility journey.  We can just pray and hope that the embryo implants and the pregnancy sustains.

So here I am.  Preparing for this very important journey...