Schedule for our Cycle

MEDICATIONS:

• Birth Control Pills - 21-day pack (1-2 packs)
• Lupron 2.8cc multidose vial (1-2 vials)
• FSH 175 IU (Bravelle) Sub-cu injection
  
• 75 IU LH & FSH (Menopur) Sub-cu injection
• Ovidrel 250 mcg, prefilled syrine (1) "Trigger" injection
• Zithromax 1 gram - taken when directed evening before egg retrieval
• Estrace 2 mg (#60) - taken when directed to start evening of egg retrieval
• Progesterone in Oil (#2 vials) - 1 cc IM injection to start evening of egg retrieval - this is the one that goes into my ass, so Bill has to do it. The needle is so big and it can apparently coagulate upon injection, so I could end up with huge lumps all over my ass...nice, huh?
• Prenatal Vitamins - 1 tablet every day
• Children's Aspirin (80-81 mg) - take when directed.

SCHEDULE:

10/31 - start birth control pills
11/18 - begin Lupron (20 units) each morning. Begin 1 Children's Aspirin each day.
11/18 - 11/20 - Take birth control pill AND Lupron on days 11/18, 11/19, 11/20. Then Lupron alone thereafter.
11/24 - expect menses. Call your primary nurse with first day of full flow or if no period after 9 days of Lupron. MAKE APPOINTMENT for day 2 or 3 menses for Lupron evaluation (take Lupron that morning)
11/25 - Lupron evaluation - Bloodwork (E2, Beta) and ultrasound. You will be called in the afternoon with your results and given instructions regarding medication dosing and follow-up appointment.
At this point, I will start the Bravelle. I will be monitored with ultrasounds and bloodwork every other day until the clinic tells me to take my trigger shot. I will travel to Columbia and be late to work every other day until they tell me to stop.
12/6 - Egg retrieval (approximate date). This is the day that they put my under twilight sedation and put a large needle into my vagina to harvest my eggs. I will not remember any of it, but it's still a huge needle going into my vagina. The risks are minimal, but it's still scary. At the same time that they're doing this, Bill will be giving his sample...should be easy to keep his mind on that, huh? I will not be allowed to go to school that day because of the sedation, so that's another sick day and another round of hours making sub plans - ugh!
After they have harvested the eggs, they will take each of the and evaluate how good they are. They will take the good looking eggs and put them in a sample dish surrounded by a sample of sperm. They will monitor these samples for the next 3-5 days to figure out the best embryos for transfer. The embryos that are good, but are not transferred will go through cryogenic freezing. They will be stored for future pregnancies at a fee - of course. With the embryo that the are going to use, we're going to get this service called Assisted Hatching - they put a microscopic crack in the hard shell to ensure that the embryo will have a better chance of implantation. Since I'm on the border-line of so many possible treatments, I think this is one that I will definitely get.
12/9 or 12/11 (depending on how good the embryos look) - Embryo Transfer (approximate date) - now I get to start those ass shots...should be a good time in my house that night. I won't be in school this day either, so another round of creating sub plans - yippee!

Now we wait...I hear this block of 2 weeks is the worst because you can do nothing but wait. I can't even have a glass of wine to ease my mind because I could be carrying our child. Who knows? So, the pregnancy test will be right around Christmas...either the day before or the day after. As if the holidays aren't hard enough...oh well - this is my life!