Our Story Part Three: Starting IVF and STIMS

It's always fun getting packages in the mail, especially when it's boxes full of hormone medications and bags of syringes...right? Actually, no it's not. It's quite the opposite - it's very overwhelming and for us- it made everything feel REAL.

When we were ready to get started, I called the Fertility Clinic because I knew that our cycle would be starting soon and I wanted to get an update on what we needed to do. A three minute phone call and small anxiety attack later...I was driving to the clinic for a spur of the moment appointment. Ya see, infertility schedules and appointments are all based off of the woman's cycle and certain days within that cycle. It just so happened that the day I called was the 12th day of my cycle- AKA prime time ovulation time. AKA the perfect time for a baseline ultrasound.

So, I went to the appointment and everything was set to go. The ultrasound was looking good and now I was on a mission to get a medication that I needed to start a few days later. Another fun little thing about infertility is that a lot of the pharmacies don't carry the specific medications at all times. So, really, it's a hit or miss about whether the pharmacy will have it AND if your insurance will even cover the prescription. Some of our medications were covered, but not all of them. The specific prescription I needed that day was a nasal spray that tells my body not to pick a dominant follicle. This way, my body will create many follicles (eggs) at the same rate so they can be retrieved at a later date. The nasal spray without insurance was a pretty penny of $2,500...YIKES! But I am so thankful that our insurance did cover it so it brought it down to a beautiful total of about $30. Talk about a major blessing! After visiting two pharmacies, I found the prescription- which to us, is a lucky day!

We turned in the prescription to get it filled and while they were filling that prescription, our nurse sent over five other prescriptions for them to fill as well. I picked up our order and the pharmacist told me everything I needed to know about how to use them etc. I was a little overwhelmed when I got home and unloaded the bag of prescriptions to show Alex. It's intense to see so many different medications knowing that I'll have to remember how and when to take them.

But we still weren't done. The prescriptions we got from CVS were minimal. Local pharmacies carry the smaller prescriptions, but for the hormone medicine and syringes, our prescription was sent to a separate pharmacy that specializes in infertility prescriptions. We had to complete our order online and the medications were sent to us in the mail. Since the medications were about $3,200.00, they needed a signature upon delivery.

I didn't open the box right away when we got it in the mail. I knew we were having our medication teaching a few days later so I chose to wait until then. Our medication teaching was held at the Fertility Clinic with the IVF coordinator. Alex and I were waiting in the small conference room when we decided to go ahead and open the box together.

The box had a beautiful blue tissue paper over all of the medications with a note from the provider. We skimmed through the letter, barely reading it, but one line we do remember seeing was, "Don't be overwhelmed by the contents of this box." Well, after removing that perfectly placed note and tissue paper, our mouths dropped to the floor, we laughed awkwardly, and said- "Ohhh, boy." I'm really thankful we didn't open that box before we got to the office. If we had, I would've been a HOT MESS for the two days leading up to our meeting.

The meeting we had with the IVF coordinator was really nice. She showed us exactly what we needed to do and when we needed to do it. The hormone medication comes in two forms- a liquid and a powder. We use a syringe to pull out a precise amount of liquid to apply to the powder form and then we SWIRL, don't shake, it all together. It was overwhelming, but it made sense and we knew that we would be pros at this whole thing in no time. Overall, the medications made sense. The clinic made it very clear that the embryo is VERY important to each party involved, so they're going to take every precaution necessary to make sure all goes well. Being in that mindset and having that in the back of our minds makes all of these medications much easier to understand.

However, it doesn't make it easier to remember when and how to take all of them, but BLESS THEM. They gave us a calendar of each day's dosage and a space to mark it off. The calendar was a very helpful little pamphlet that had a timeline, dosage, and link for reference videos in case we needed them. As overwhelming as this whole process was, our Fertility Clinic went above and beyond to make sure we were all on the same page. Having them so organized and strong with communication really helped us ease into this process.

For the rest of the week, I went in for ultrasounds to check my lining and bloodwork to make sure my body was ready to receive the stimulants for retrieval. And just to go ahead and get one thing straight- pre-pregnancy ultrasounds are NOT jelly on the belly ultrasounds. They are internal ultrasounds using a large wand and some jelly. Those in the infertility community like to refer to this as "Wanda" as in, "I have an appointment with Wanda today." And I'll also just go ahead and say, I had too many appointments with Wanda...or at least a lot more than I cared to have.

ANYHOW! When my lining was just right, we got the okay from our fertility specialist to begin STIMS shots. If my lining wasn't right or my levels (estrogen etc.) were down, we wouldn't have been able to start STIMS and we would've had to wait until the following month to try again. That's one super sucky part about IVF, IUIs, and infertility. You want to start things like yesterday, but they have to coincide with your cycle, levels, lining, etc. Everything has to be PERFECT because well, you're spending a lot of money and you don't want to waste it if things aren't as perfect as they can be.

I was a little nervous starting STIMS, but it wasn't that bad. We had two prescriptions- Menopaur and Gonal-F (the liquid and powder that needed to be mixed together). These shots were given to me in my belly on alternating sides every day. We only had to do one shot every evening and we did them around the same time every night. Some nights went well and others the mixture would give me a burning tingle. But overall, it was fine.

Mad props to Alex because he gave me my shot every single night and he did a great job. The first night, it took us almost an hour to get it figured out and by day five we had it done in 15-20 minutes. So, if you're going through this or getting ready to go through this, I PROMISE- it gets easier and is not as intimidating as it seems. It becomes a part of your nightly routine and daily life. You can do this!

During the first week of STIMS, we were having ultrasounds every 2-3 days to monitor follicle growth, my lining, my levels,...basically everything. We had to keep track of how my body was reacting to the stimulants and I'm honestly so blessed to say that it reacted really well. The picture here was a little over a week into the STIMS process and we were monitoring 40 follicles! I was blown away. Had they all been mature, that's 40 eggs that we could get in retrieval...and that's A LOT. 40 chances for our babies. Wow, God.

We did STIMS for about two weeks and like I said, I'm thankful that my body responded so well to the medication. Here a few things I did intentionally during that time to make the process easier:

- Drink! Water! Granted, it was the dead of summer. But I made sure that I was drinking a lot of water every single day to help with the bloating. It made me feel so much better. I limited alcohol completely to maybe, maaayyyybbeee a glass or two total in that two week span. I wasn't going to risk anything.

- Walk, run, MOVE! I could tell that some bloating was starting to set in, especially towards the end of STIMS. I started to feel like a storage unit for all of these follicles! But drinking a bunch of water and moving in some way every day whether it be a long walk or a jog, it made me feel much better.

- Eat your veggies, kids! Okay, no I didn't eat veggies for every meal and yes, I definitely splurged on chicken tendys and fries when I wanted to. But overall, I tried to maintain a pretty healthy diet. Putting all three of these together just helped me to feel better overall and helped me to avoid being uncomfortable as much as possible. I don't know about you, but if I ate whatever I wanted and didn't move, I'm sure that my bloating would've been more and possibly more uncomfortable than what I experienced. I just remember thinking that the better I maintained my body, the *hopefully* better condition my follicles would be in.

I definitely just want to say that this was my personal decision. Every day, I had to evaluate how I was feeling and listen to what my body needed. Towards the end, I didn't get out of pajamas because the bloating was so much and I didn't want anything pressing against my belly. My biggest piece of advice for STIMS and for all of IVF, listen to YOUR body. Do what YOU need to do. Now is not the time to feel pressured to do something if your body is telling you no. Listen to your body and do what you need to do to feel comfortable and at ease. This is a stressful time already, don't allow yourself to add more unnecessary stress.

And my biggest piece of advice: REMEMBER WHAT YOU ARE FIGHTING FOR! This is for your baby! This is the biggest, most challenging, yet most beautiful thing you will ever do. I know it takes a toll on you and from day to day it can be a challenge to stay positive, but you can do this! And if you are struggling or feeling less than adequate, send me a message because I would love to connect with you!

The rest of the story will unfold in the days to come and I encourage you to subscribe to the blog if you haven't already. My posts will be sent directly to your email and I usually only send about one a week to give you updates. This week is a little different since I'm rolling out posts daily, but other than that I promise I don't spam you.

Thanks for being here and until next time, GO SHINE YOUR LIGHT!

 SB