And So It Begins

So although I was supposed to start taking my Lupron on Monday (whoops), a couple days isn't the end of the world (even though it DOES mean two more days of the evil BCPs!), so I was given marching orders to start taking it today. Of course, my protocol has me taking Lupron in the morning, and I didn't find out about this until, oh, 2 o'clock-ish.


No problem, because as much as the clinics all like you to *think* that the timing on these meds is super-duper important, the fact of the matter is, there's plenty of room to fudge it. So really, it's all good. Just for good measure, I emailed my nurse to make sure and she said it was fine to take it when I got home today, then take tomorrow's dose around noon, and then Friday's dose on my morning schedule. Fine. No problemo.


Meanwhile, technically speaking, I shouldn't have been allowed to have gotten any of this started, because technically speaking, they don't have my current pap smear on file (I just had that done this week, results aren't in yet), my ID bloodwork isn't back yet (I just had that drawn yesterday, and the labwork from The Hatchery hasn't been faxed over yet), etc. But they trust me. Heh. Oh, and then there's the fact that both of us are supposed to have taken doxycycline within the past year. I took Doxycycline in November before my HSG, so I'm covered. But they'd asked me if my husband had taken any sort of antibiotic in the last year and I'd said, "sure, I think so." He wasn't so sure, so I told my nurse that today and she said, "Yeah, we need to get right on that."

So anyway, I get home to take the Lupron. Bear in mind, I've never taken Lupron before. And we didn't take an injection class, because, seriously? Why would we? So I'm looking over the stuff, and it's a multi-dose vial, with insulin syringes, etc. Easy. Except then I start realizing I'm not sure I understand the unit of dosage. My instructions say 20 units. But what KIND of unit? I call my husband and ask if he's close to home. Fortunately, he's just pulled into the driveway. It is handy having a pharmacist for a husband. So he came down and explained to me like I'm a five year old that "unit" was exactly the word they'd intended to use because some medicines are measured in "units of activity" or some such thing. Whereas I'd thought they were using some nebulous, non-exact unit of measurement, it turned out, they were using the technical term, and if I'd looked at the syringe, I would have seen that the syringe also had things labeled as "units" so my minor panic attack was unwarranted.


He showed me how much to draw up and then stepped far away from the needle I was waving all around (sorry honey!) as I tried to remember how to do all this. Seriously, you'd think this was like riding a bike, right? I mean, one subcutaneous injection is just like any other, RIGHT? But it's been like 2 YEARS, people! And man, the needles on insulin syringes? They're way bigger than I remember. (I mean, they're not big, but they're way bigger than the follistim needles)


Anywhozit, aside from having to shoo my eldest away a few times, it went smoothly and in plenty of time to let my nanny go for the night. Tomorrow will be trickier because I'll have to take it at work since I'm supposed to take it at noontime, which presents two separate problems: first, now that it's been opened, the Lupron has to be refrigerated. We do have a refrigerator at work, but ... sheesh. Secondly, doing this in a cramped bathroom stall? Not my idea of fun. Nevertheless, it's not like I haven't done it before!


And now, the requisite IVF Med shot:


Not pictured is my Follistim Pen, which I forgot to include.