First let me go over what a Down Regulation Protocol is. Down Reg, or the long protocol, starts in the
middle of one cycle and continues through the next. You are generally started on a medication
that will basically tell your pituitary gland to not produce the hormones that
tell your follicles to release eggs. It
pretty much turns off your reproductive cycle so that the doctor has all the
control with the stimulation medication that you start when the next cycle begins.
So here we are. I have been so anxious to start the down reg
IVF cycle that now that the time is finally here… I am (surprisingly) very
relaxed about it. I have been really
working on trying to not be so stressed about this; I really feel that stress
has such a huge impact on the body. I
started to get a tad stressed when all the meds for this cycle came a couple
weeks ago.
Here they
are – this is what $7,000 in Fertility Medication looks like. Thank goodness for insurance or we would not
be able to do this.
Doesn't look like much huh? Here we have some
antibiotics to start before and after the egg retrieval (I think), alcohol
wipes, a lot of syringes with another bag full of different gauge needles, Lupron
, Follistem (along with the Follistem pen to administer it), Menopur, HCG
trigger shot and Progesterone in Oil (PIO).
Five different injections this cycle.
If that didn't cause a little stress then I clearly have been at this
too long, lol.
I started
the Lupron on Sunday night (please excuse the chipped bowl I use for my ice
cube, lol). Ice is the key folks. Just hold it on the injection site for 25
seconds and I swear you don’t feel a thing.
This is the
fourth cycle with injectable meds so I don’t have any jitters with giving
myself injections anymore. Kind of crazy
that I’m used to jabbing myself in the stomach with a needle? I’m not feeling any side effects but I
currently have a cold so that could be masking it. Some people say that they have major
headaches and mood swings. I've only
given myself 2 injections so far and the only thing I have noticed is that I
don’t have much tolerance for stupidity (haha) but I tend to be that way when
not feeling well so like I said, it could be the cold.
In an attempt
to try and relax and de-stress during the down reg I ordered a yoga dvd. Sounds like it would be a simple task but- it
was not. There really are a lot of yoga
dvd’s and I had a heck of a time choosing one.
I have taken a few yoga classes in the past but I still consider myself
a beginner. Then I started to think
about how my ovaries are going to be ginormous and I needed to be careful about
anything that would have me twisting too much… which had me start to think that
I should look at prenatal yoga. I had a
really hard time doing that because I feel like it’s kind of “cart before the
horse” and what if this doesn't work I am going to have this flippin dvd laying around…
I really
hemmed and hawed over this for a few days.
I know that sounds a bit dramatic and over the top but I honestly was
afraid to jinx myself. There I said
it. Doesn't that sound silly? Like a prenatal yoga dvd is going to change
the cosmos and impact the results of the cycle- that all of the other things
and the injections I am doing are going to be for nothing the second I click
the “add to cart” button… I finally told myself to get over it and ordered the
stupid thing. Haha. I mean, I want to have a relaxing yoga dvd
and I want to be careful of my gigantic ovaries so it makes sense to get a
prenatal dvd, right? I seriously think I
was making this harder than it needed to be.
(I tend to do that sometimes, if you haven't noticed - hey at least I'm honest with myself!)
This is the
one that I got – should be coming in the mail today. Doesn't she look very relaxed? Haha. I’ll let you know how it is…
xo j.
Hi, it's Ann. Seems like you are on the Long Protocol with Lupron? I'm on an antagonist protocol, so I'm doing B.C pills for 13 days, followed by Menopur and Follistim, and then Galirenix.....I have just finished my first 5 days of down reg. Man, we are basically on the same schedule! YAY, a cycle buddy on the biggest ordeal of my life!
ReplyDeleteI haven't gotten all of my meds yet, waiting for a friend to donate some of hers from her cycle last month that resulted in babies! And also waiting on more direction regarding my prescriptions. We are paying ALL CASH!!! It's insane, this is a huge financial investiment with no guarantees. That's the worst part....no guarantees. Oh my god.
The med that scares me the most is the PIO. I hear it hurts and causes blisters and welts and we're talking about the whole tww on this?? Jeez........
And I'm also trying to destress and meditate through this whole thing using a program called Cirle and BLoom.
Yes that's what we're doing :) I am also on birth control, which I agree is very strange to be on after years of not being on it. I stop that this weekend so I'll have been on it for 3 wks. The PIO wasn't that bad - I only had 2 nights of it though before we found out the embryos hadn't survived. Hubs had to give it to me which I think was harder for him than for me! I iced the area before hand and I honestly didn't feel a thing! From what I read you should massage the area and switch sides .... I will be doing more research on that when the time comes. I'll have to look into the Cirle & Bloom :)
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