| The bruise |
| The needle and a colored pencil for perspective |
Well it's been well over a month of medicines for me. I completed my round of birth control on March 11th. I began taking Lupron on that same day. Clearly I wasn't thinking when I decided to stop drinking caffeine cold turkey that same day. I had the worst headache ever that evening. I almost vomited, it was so severe. I felt pretty bad for the first half of the week, but my body adjusted and I survived :) The medicine caused me to have a lingering headache for weeks. The headache wasn't excruciating like the first one, but it was annoying. I decided it was probably not only the Lupron's fault but a combination of caffeine cravings, sinus pressure and the Lupron. Abby called the doctor to see if I could take sinus medicine, but sinus medicines cause a decrease in the lining of the uterus. Who would've known, right? So sinus meds weren't an option.
After taking the Lupron injections for a week, I began applying estrogen patches. Apply one, leave it on for 2 days, take it off, add 2 more. I added patches until I was wearing 4. They are spread from one hip to another now. I will be wearing patches for awhile. I found an awesome way to get the gross sticky residue off without rubbing my skin raw..... Mary Kay eye makeup remover. I tried this product because it takes fake tattoos off of the kids without any harsh scrubbing. Oh and I just love Mary Kay products. Anyway. I was taking a shot of Lupron and rotating patches as directed every morning. This combination caused some tears for no reasons. If you missed my last post about my emotional meltdown, you can read it here. I had several tear filled evenings that accompanied this combination of medicine. They weren't as extreme as the emotional meltdown though.
I finished taking the Lupron and I was very thankful. I had a week long break from injections. Praise The Lord. I found that the longer I gave the shots, the more difficult it was for me to give it to myself. I began the progesterone shots. The progesterone is in oil. The liquid is quite thick and pulling it into the syringe takes some time. I then change the needle to a 23 gauge. This shot is inter muscular so it must be injected into the hip/rear end area.
I went for a visit to Jacksonville for a checkup (you'll hear more about this soon and no it wasnt for the invitro). I asked the nurse to draw boxes where the shots could be given. The last thing I need is to hit a nerve or aggravate my back. She drew a box on either side for me. She also gave me the first injection so I had an idea of how it would feel. Needless to say, the shot was rather painless. The next day I had to give myself the shot. Eric was gone and someone had to do it. I'm very independent so after I convinced myself to do it.... I did it! I was very proud of myself. Haha. I gave myself shots or a few days, but the left side was hard to do. I am right handed so twisting to the left side and stabbing yourself with a needle is challenging. I decided to let Eric try giving the injection. I told him all the directions and let him give it. He did a great job. The progesterone has started to bruise me. Eric tries to move around the boxes on my hips to keep it from being so sore.
So for now, it's injections and patches. All is well. Please remember that I will not and can not disclose the date for the invitro. If I'm asked, you will probably get an answer like this "I can not disclose the date of the ivf for privacy reasons." Just know it is sooner rather than later and all prayers are appreciated :)
I thought you'd enjoy some pictures so in the pictures above you will see the needle and my poor bruised and very sore hip. The dark bruise was yesterday's shot. The lighter bruise on the right was from a few days ago.
