Drug Diary

As a part of treatment you are given a 'drug diary', which is basically a sheet of paper where you mark which meds you have to take on each day.


Here is my cocktail mix: 


Cycle Day (CD) 1 - Baseline Blood test, collect meds
CD2 - Gonal F (150) - (a hormone injection that stimulates the ovaries to mass produce eggs)
CD3 - Gonal F
CD4 - Gonal F
CD5 - Gonal F
CD6 - Gonal F 
CD7 - Gonal F & start Orgalutron (another injection. This one stops your ovaries from releasing the eggs they're producing)
CD8 - Blood test & Ultrasound scan @ 7.30am. Showed 4 obvious follicles and a few others that may not mature in time. Gonal F & Orgalutron
CD9 - Gonal F & Orgalutron
CD10 - Gonal F & Orgalutron
CD11 - Gonal F & Orgalutron
CD12 - Blood test & Ultrasound scan @ 8am. Showed TWENTY (!!) suitable follicles! 8 on my left ovary, 12 on my right. Gonal F & Orgalutron - LAST DOSES! :) Egg Pick Up (EPU) scheduled for 9am on CD 15.
CD 13 - Ovidrel (Trigger injection given precisely 38 hours before EPU occurs) @ 7pm.
CD 14 - Jab-free day - woo hoo! My poor pin-cushion tummy is grateful!
CD 15 - Egg pick up. Start progesterone support, which is NOT an injection - thankfully!


My thoughts on self-injecting - it's not as bad as I expected. All shots are given into the stomach, about an inch or two beside, or slighty under, the belly button. I alternated sides each night. Gonal F is a nice easy to use 'pen', looks similar to an epi-pen and has a short, fine needle that I barely felt going in. Orgalutron was not so kind to me - the needle seems a bit 'blunter' than the Gonal pen, and stung a bit more going in. For about an hour or so after that injection I got a stinging/itchy sensation under my skin and often some redness. I only managed to give myself one bruise in almost 20 injections, and that was on my second last night!

The drugs that are going to help make a baby!

My own personal 'sharps disposal bin' - anyone that breaks in will think I'm a junkie!

Underway!

Our first IVF/ICSI cycle began on July 4th. I went to the fertility nurse to have my baseline blood test and all came back OK. After parting with a large sum of money I had my bag of drugs and was off! I started injecting on the 5th July with nightly injections of Gonal F (to stimulate my ovaries so they produce more eggs). The injection isn't bad at all, although the first one took a lot of mental preparation before I could actually jab myself! On the 7th the nurse called to schedule a blood test and ultrasound for Monday 11th July. I also had instructions to begin my Orgalutron injections on Sunday night. This came with a warning that 'the needle is blunter than Gonal, so expect it to hurt a little more.' Great. The injection itself didn't hurt but the injection site got red, sting-y and itchy for about an hour or so after.

So, BT & U/S Monday - there are about 5 follicles on each ovary. Three on each ovary are growing at the correct rate, whilst the others are a little small and may not mature in time for egg collection. I think we're looking at a haul of 4 (but secretly hoping for 6!) eggs. Back for another BT & U/S on Friday 15th where I expect them to tell me that egg retrieval will be on Monday 18th July....my vacation time will be a little longer than expected!