Being our first and hopefully our only IVF cycle, I have quickly learned that completing the hormone shots and the egg retrieval process are both huge milestones. Sharing my STIMS (stimulation medication/hormone shots) protocol and my egg retrieval story as the next part of our infertility journey. I found these types of posts so helpful when I was scouring the internet before we started hormone shots.
The one piece of advice I want you to take with you from this post is this – Read enough to be educated, but don’t over read to the point of obsessing. Each woman is unique in her story, outcome, and how her body reacts to all IVF aspects. There are so many factors that go into this that it isn’t fair to yourself to compare. I learned this the hard way.
Top Knots & Hormone Shots
Ok, I just need to confirm your shipping address and take your payment of $4,500. I can’t stress this enough. The financial part of IVF is no joke. I highly recommend to ask your doctor, what medications they would have you take and then research your insurance plan to have an idea how much will be covered.
Some plans group medical and medicine together and others give you separate coverage for each. They most likely will have a max lifetime limit for infertility services as well. The research is worth the time to know what you are getting into. Most clinics also have a financial coordinator that can help you navigate as well.
Medicine has arrived and we officially look like an episode of Narcos, IVF edition. My acrylic containers are out and ready to organize. I thought I would be overwhelmed but it all came packaged very well and it was easy to figure out what goes with which medication. My STIMS came a couple days before I was to start so that helped give me some time to get familiar with it all.
In my first post on our infertility journey, I shared that we have unexplained infertility and I am 41 years old. Each clinic and doctor has their own recommendations for each of their patients. This was my STIMS protocol recommended by our doctor for us and your doctor will know which protocol is best for you! I won’t be sharing the dosage of each medication but know that I was on the highest dose that was safe for me.
To start, we went in and I had bloodwork and an ultrasound. They needed a baseline of where things were at before starting the injections. That evening we got the call that tonight is the first night of hormone shots!
- First Night: Gonal-F and low dose Hcg
- Night 2: Gonal-F and low dose Hcg
- Night 3: Gonal-F and low dose Hcg
- Day 4: Bloodwork and Ultrasound
- Night 4: Gonal-F and low dose Hcg
- Night 5: Gonal-F and low dose Hcg
- Day 6: Bloodwork and Ultrasound
- Night 6: Gonal-F and low dose Hcg
- Night 7: Gonal-F, low dose Hcg, and Cetrotide
- Day 8: Bloodwork and Ultrasound
- Night 8: Gonal-F, low dose Hcg, and Cetrotide
- Night 9: Gonal-F, low dose Hcg, and Cetrotide
- Day 10: Bloodwork and Ultrasound
- Night 10: Gonal-F, low dose Hcg, and Cetrotide
- Day 11: Bloodwork and Ultrasound
- Night 11: Trigger! Ovidrel and Luprolide Acetate
- Day 12: Bloodwork and Luprolide Acetate 12 hours after first injection
When it comes to medication, I’m someone that doesn’t like to take Tylenol when I have a headache. Having to take all this medication had me so worked up. The thoughts of if it would hurt and how these hormone shots would make me feel came rushing into my mind.
For the injections, I iced my stomach 20-30 minutes beforehand to help with any discomfort. As the injection sites were becoming tender, the ice didn’t help as much. It was tolerable though. If you can have your husband or partner do the injections for you that is ideal. Tristan did all my injections and he did so great. He was so gentle and even gave me a 1, 2, 3, slight pinch 🙂
As far as the side effects, I was so incredibly fortunate. On the 2nd day, I had a pretty decent lingering headache but I’m not sure if that is because I chose to drink decaf through this process and my body really wanted some coffee or if it was from the medication. The only other side effect I had was the injection sites were sore and I had some bloating but not bad. At times I felt like maybe the medicine wasn’t working because I wasn’t feeling any side effects! I’m still so grateful for this.
Trigger Shot Time
It’s go time, literally! After day 11 bloodwork and ultrasound the doc said ok, we are going to trigger tonight so we don’t overcook em! My nurse was to call me that afternoon with the specific instructions. I again found myself extremely nervous and anxious. Two new medicines and my angst of how this was going to make me feel started all over again.
Our nurse called and said Ovidrel and Luprolide Acetate tonight at 9:30pm and then tomorrow morning come in for bloodwork and take a second dose of Luprolide Acetate at 9:30am. Then I will call you after we get your bloodwork results and we will have the egg retrieval the next day. Everything looks good and be here tomorrow morning at 8:15am!
At this point the phrase all the feels takes on a whole new meaning. It is the weirdest emotional feeling I have ever felt. It was equally strong parts of nervous, scared, anxious, excited, and hopeful. I only have had one other surgery under anesthesia and that was my wisdom teeth when I was a child. With that being said, the anesthesia alone had me freaked out! I was a pure mess needless to say. Tristan was my rock as he assured me and listened to all my nonsense I was spewing out.
Everything Is For This Moment – The Egg Retrieval
The morning of the retrieval I was out of my element. I couldn’t have my celery juice or breakfast, couldn’t put my contacts in or makeup on or put deodorant on! I folded some laundry, got a small bag together, and said some prayers. It was time to go and I felt excited and pretty nervous. It was a small price to pay for the chance of a baby, or a bean as we have affectionately named.
The nurse came out and called my name. They took me back alone at first so they could get me dressed and hooked up to the monitoring. Tristan at this point had his one job to do 😉 He then was able to come back and sit with me. The Anesthesiologist came over and chatted with us. He and our nurse were very personable and funny and we were all just chatting away. It really helped me relax and I am so grateful.
When they took me back, I Iaid on the table and they started hooking the monitors back up. They were asking me questions to get my mind off what was happening and asked my dream vacation. I looked up at the tiles on the ceiling and they started looking really weird and that was that! The next thing I knew I was back in the recovery area starting to wake up. Tristan came in as I was starting to wake up, kissed me on my forehead, and I was so happy to see him.
As I was waking up they gave me ginger ale and some crackers that Tristan fed me. I was shaking a bit which was normal from the anesthesia they said. The more awake I was I started to feel some cramps and then it eased up. Apparently, they had given me a dose of a pain reliever and it was kicking in.
The nurse had me slowly sit up to see how I felt and then told Tristan to take me to use the restroom. We came back and Tristan helped me get dressed and I sat on the bed as we waited for the doc. When he came in he said everything was smooth and the eggs were nicely detached floating around. He was able to retrieve 5 eggs! Tristan and I expected 3 from our last ultrasound so we were elated! The doc did say the two extra were smaller but they could be mature.
Home & Resting
Docs orders were to be on bedrest for the remaining of the day and to have Advil at 3:30 and then again at 9:30 wether I feel like I need them or not. I got home and was actually not feeling that bad so I told Tristan I would rather lay on the couch instead of in bed. He heated up some soup for me and gave me a liquid IV to drink. I watch You’ve Got Mail and a couple YouTube videos and then we had Jersey Mike’s delivered. I devoured my buffalo chicken wrap! We headed to bed early and this morning I felt really good! The best part is that the doc called and said 4 of the 5 eggs are mature and he will call tomorrow to let us know how many fertilized! We are one step closer to our bean.
Till Next Time,
