Persistence
New Year, New Blog post, New site! A quick way to lose my business is to have terrible customer service. Did I think I would spend much of December completely rebuilding my website? Nope. In the end, am I glad I did? Abso-freaking-lutely. But that’s another story for another day. Let’s get to why we’re really here in the first place…
I know I’m totally late to the game, but I kinda digging this idea of choosing a word for the upcoming year. I’ve had resolutions in the past (most of which are tossed to the curb by mid-year). Choosing a word doesn’t seem so permanent or scary, though. It seems attainable. It seems like something I can totally get behind.
If I had to look back and pick a word for 2021, it probably would have been HOPE. Kirk & I walked into 2021 ready to begin our fertility journey with naive little hearts. We were hopeful of things to come. We had what turned out to be unrealistic expectations of how the world of infertility even worked. With each nugget of bad news we were given, we hoped good news would follow behind it. Yet here we are: one year later with our hearts & arms are still empty…
So, my word for 2022: Persistence
It takes a special kind of person to go through fertility treatments. There are no guarantees here. We’re spending TENS of THOUSANDS of dollars for just a CHANCE to get pregnant. The odds are against us; have been since the start. But we push on. We’re persistent in our journey to have a baby because, well frankly, there are no other options. It just doesn’t sit right with me to not at least TRY. I have to know that I’ve tried everything in my control before we can even decide what to do if none of this works. So, 2022: I vow to be persistent. I’m sure you’ll knock me down a few times, but I’m going to keep getting back up. I’m stubborn like that. I’m going to keep coming back like a dang gnat you just can’t get rid of! Ha!
Our plans for New year’s Eve were COVID Canceled, so for the first time in probably EVER, Kirk and I spent NYE by ourselves at home. It actually worked out for the best, though, seeing as how Kirk had to work New Year’s Day. Our little neighborhood puts on quite the fireworks show. I am a HUGE fan of fireworks, but I also didn’t want to just creep on the front porch, so I came up with a plan to be able to enjoy the show without freaking out the neighborhood kids. I decided to move my hammock from the back patio to the middle of the backyard. I even lit a few citronella candles to keep the bugs away. (This is what happens when it’s almost 80degrees on December 31st in Louisiana.) There I was, persistent as ever, trying to get the best setup to ring in the new year. And man… what a great way to do so!
We are rapidly approaching our next phase with IVF. Baseline labs and scans have been taken. Birth Control has been ordered. (Fun Fact: My FET - Frozen Embryo Transfer - schedule and our trip to Cabo overlap a bit, so Dr. Huber is putting me on birth control to help manipulate my cycle until I can get back to the states.) My new transfer meds have arrived. ::deep breath:: These meds are probably going to be the most painful of all the meds I’ve taken. There are new shots for my booty. You know it’s bad when I’m prescribed Lidocaine patches to go with these shots. Legit. When I had my Zoom call with the pharmacist, she didn’t sugar coat things either. “I won’t lie to you. You’re getting Synera patches because the PIO can be pretty brutal.” Um…excuse me? You couldn’t even lie to me a bit? Toss in a “awww, it’s not THAT bad.” or a “with all the shots you’ve already done, this will be a breeze!”. Nope. Straight up told me this is going to suck. Lovely.
I’ll be on 4 new meds for our transfer. None of which I’ve done before (well, none in this form before).
Synera: These are those lovely Lidocaine patches I mention above. I’m to put these on my tushy 30 minutes before administering my PIO shot. Side Effects: dizziness, headaches, nausea, drowsiness, euphoria (ha!)
Progesterone in Oil (PIO): This is a massive needle that I have to inject into my booty. Side Effects: bloating, nausea, insomnia, fever, hair loss.
Endometrin: This is a vaginal suppository of more progesterone. I’ll have to administer this 2x a day: morning & night. Side Effects: bloating, stomach pain, nausea, headache, drowsiness, sore boobies, mood swings
Pregnyl: This is a HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) shot. (Also known as a Trigger Shot.) This is similar to the Novarel I took for all 4 IUI’s and my 1st egg retrieval/extraction. I will have to mix this shot before administering into my tummy. NBD. Totally got this one down. Side Effects: headache, depression, irritability, bloating .
I’ll head back to the clinic when we’re home from our trip for more labs and scans. Based on those results, I’ll get my marching orders for all the meds and schedule our transfer date. Eeekkkk!
For now, we’re off to CABO!
