If at first you don't succeed...
Try Try Again? Is this REALLY supposed to be the rule of thumb when it comes to needles?
I was exhausted this morning, all the cleaning yesterday had me wanting to spend the day in bed. But at just past 8:00 am I found myself sitting with a 1/2 dozen other couples in the waiting room of our doctor's office. Blood work was a breeze, and moments later we were ushered into the ultrasound room. It was the first time Mike had joined me for an ultrasound, and I think he was met with fascination and horror, at what he saw. Yes, I still had those damn fibroids... lots and lots of them that were smaller than 1cm each. The doctor laughed and said that it seemed that EVERY part of my uterus had fibroids EXCEPT the inside wall where implantation occurs. Apparently, he was pleased with the fact that although the fibroids will need to be taken care of eventually, he really didn't think it would case concerns with the IVF treatment. To make matters even better, the 8 cm fibroid seems to have shrunk to less than 4 cm!! Of course the doctor wouldn't give credit to Acupuncture, but I for one, feel like it is definitely the reason for the drastic improvement.
So off I went, ready for the injections that would be facing me later today.
After finally hearing back from the nurse saying my blood work checked out fine, and I was fully suppressed and ready for step #2 I gathered my stuff at the office and headed home to try this injection thing in the privacy of my own bedroom (I will tackle the staff bathroom a bit later... baby steps!!!)
After gathering my supplies of needles, ice, alcohol swabs and my needle disposal box; I prepared myself in front of the mirror for the unimaginable.
I dialed the measuring tool on the Gonal-F pen; 150 IU...
Started icing my tummy (but then remembering I needed to prep the pen by attaching the needle...
Back to icing, then the alcohol swab to the area and.... STAB....
I DID IT!!!!!
Ok, the needle was in, now what? I was supposed to depress the pen's counter and listen to the clicks that indicated the medication was being injected into my stomach. 1 click... 2 clicks... That's it right? My mind raced, I was pretty sure that was what the clinic's pharmacist said would happen... 2 clicks= 150 IU, so I pulled the needle out. DONE!
Ummmm.... wait.....
The counter on the side of the pen still reads 75IU???? What does that mean? Is it SUPPOSED to read like that? Did I do the injection wrong? Don't panic... we just have to think... what do I do next?
After 5 minutes of panicking, I realized I would need to re-prep the pen and stab myself again to determine if there was medicine left from the prescribed dose. MAN... how could I have done this???? So I repeated the process, prepared yet ANOTHER area on my tummy and stabbed away for the second time. Click... yup, just as I suspected, it's a good thing I went back for round 2, since I indeed had left some of the medication in the needle!
So here I sit, 1 day down... and who knows how many more to go. I have learnt that I am less of a wimp that I thought... that needles don't have to hurt that bad... that my husband will spoil me for the next 3 weeks just for the privilege of not having to inject himself with needles daily, and most of all... to listen for 3 clicks!
I was exhausted this morning, all the cleaning yesterday had me wanting to spend the day in bed. But at just past 8:00 am I found myself sitting with a 1/2 dozen other couples in the waiting room of our doctor's office. Blood work was a breeze, and moments later we were ushered into the ultrasound room. It was the first time Mike had joined me for an ultrasound, and I think he was met with fascination and horror, at what he saw. Yes, I still had those damn fibroids... lots and lots of them that were smaller than 1cm each. The doctor laughed and said that it seemed that EVERY part of my uterus had fibroids EXCEPT the inside wall where implantation occurs. Apparently, he was pleased with the fact that although the fibroids will need to be taken care of eventually, he really didn't think it would case concerns with the IVF treatment. To make matters even better, the 8 cm fibroid seems to have shrunk to less than 4 cm!! Of course the doctor wouldn't give credit to Acupuncture, but I for one, feel like it is definitely the reason for the drastic improvement.
So off I went, ready for the injections that would be facing me later today.
After finally hearing back from the nurse saying my blood work checked out fine, and I was fully suppressed and ready for step #2 I gathered my stuff at the office and headed home to try this injection thing in the privacy of my own bedroom (I will tackle the staff bathroom a bit later... baby steps!!!)
After gathering my supplies of needles, ice, alcohol swabs and my needle disposal box; I prepared myself in front of the mirror for the unimaginable.
I dialed the measuring tool on the Gonal-F pen; 150 IU...
Started icing my tummy (but then remembering I needed to prep the pen by attaching the needle...
Back to icing, then the alcohol swab to the area and.... STAB....
I DID IT!!!!!
Ok, the needle was in, now what? I was supposed to depress the pen's counter and listen to the clicks that indicated the medication was being injected into my stomach. 1 click... 2 clicks... That's it right? My mind raced, I was pretty sure that was what the clinic's pharmacist said would happen... 2 clicks= 150 IU, so I pulled the needle out. DONE!
Ummmm.... wait.....
The counter on the side of the pen still reads 75IU???? What does that mean? Is it SUPPOSED to read like that? Did I do the injection wrong? Don't panic... we just have to think... what do I do next?
After 5 minutes of panicking, I realized I would need to re-prep the pen and stab myself again to determine if there was medicine left from the prescribed dose. MAN... how could I have done this???? So I repeated the process, prepared yet ANOTHER area on my tummy and stabbed away for the second time. Click... yup, just as I suspected, it's a good thing I went back for round 2, since I indeed had left some of the medication in the needle!
So here I sit, 1 day down... and who knows how many more to go. I have learnt that I am less of a wimp that I thought... that needles don't have to hurt that bad... that my husband will spoil me for the next 3 weeks just for the privilege of not having to inject himself with needles daily, and most of all... to listen for 3 clicks!
posted by moi at
2:12 PM
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